How foreign aid cuts have sparked a humanitarian crisis

0:01David Miliband:WBUR Podcasts, Boston.

0:05Eyad Amawi:We've got to bring diplomacy back center stage. Sixty-five wars is going to inevitably create a degree of human suffering that overwhelms the humanitarian systems. A world at war is failing to live up to its promises to the poor.

0:29Eyad Amawi:It is Thursday, September 23rd, and this is Here and Now, Anytime from NPR and WBUR. I'm Chris Bentley. Today on the show, with world leaders meeting at the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week, we're checking in on the state of international aid and the people who need it most. A little later, we'll hear from a Palestinian in Gaza about life in the territory. He says humanitarian aid is not a substitute for political courage and accountability. Every day the world waits, another child pays the price here in Gaza. Gaza does not need any more exhibitions or concerns or political statements.

1:06Eyad Amawi:We need actions, we need protections, we need justice, we need freedom. But first, on top of big conflicts like war in Iran, Ukraine, and Sudan, The world is falling behind on its mission of alleviating extreme poverty. The United Nations always has a challenge in corralling humanitarian aid from countries that disagree with one another or have their own financial problems. But that's become particularly acute lately, says David Miliband, president of the International Rescue Committee. He's a former British foreign secretary and is in New York this week calling on leaders to recommit to helping the world's most vulnerable people.

1:46Eyad Amawi:Here's his conversation with Indira Lakshmanan.

1:49David Miliband:Well, I want to start out by asking you, you, of course, have been a foreign secretary. You once sat in on all those high-level meetings like those going on at the UN General Assembly this week. You know, what are the conversations that you expect are going on in those private hallways, and what do you think the world body should be focused on?

2:09Eyad Amawi:Look, I think that this week, this ministerial week, is the chance for the world to come together. It's really a vital moment. The danger of this week, obviously, is that the differences get larger rather than smaller. And so the absolute priority is to address some of the pressing, really glaring wounds that exist in the global system and that are affecting literally hundreds of millions of people. So the decisions here really affect them.

2:36David Miliband:Well, I want to ask you, you know, the United Nations was formed, of course, in the aftermath of World War II to try to prevent wars, prevent conflicts and alleviate humanitarian suffering. The current and outgoing U.N. Secretary General has warned of the world body's imminent financial collapse because of funding cuts and non-payment of dues. Do you think that the United Nations is still able to fulfill its mandate?

3:01Eyad Amawi:Well, yes, the United Nations is only as strong as the nations that are its membership. At the moment, we're seeing not just a redistribution of power around the world, a diffusion of power. We're also seeing great powers at loggerheads. We're seeing the international system suffering from fragmentation rather than coordination. And that leaves the United Nations trying to pick up the pieces rather than forging a more coherent future. I think it's up to the powers that be who are in the nation states to enable the UN to do its job.

3:37David Miliband:Well, the U.S. in the past has prided itself on being the world's most generous donor to humanitarian aid. It's not anymore. President Trump eviscerated the U.S. Agency for International Development when he came back to office last year. And he's completely ended U.S. aid to your organization, the International Rescue Committee. So tell me what happens to the world if the U.S. is retreating? Who's filling the void?

4:05Eyad Amawi:Well, at the moment, no one's filling the void. It's a very good image that you create. I mean, the metaphor I use is that the U.S. was the anchor of the global system. That didn't mean it provided all the money. It provided about a third of the money for the global aid system. And no other nation has stepped in. In fact, a number of other nations are cutting their budgets like the U.S., Germany, the U.K. the European Union is the only major donor that is increasing its aid budget at the moment, even though there are record numbers of wars, 65 wars going on, 800 million people living on less than$3 a day.

4:38Eyad Amawi:So the needs are there. We know what to do if we have the money, but the money is being reduced on a pretty striking scale. I think that you'll see from the figures that humanitarian aid has been more or less halved globally over the last year and a half.

4:51David Miliband:You know, I'm wondering, you've talked a lot recently about the breakdown of world order. We've all heard the arguments about how ineffectual the United Nations has been in the face of this. Tell us what the impact is on the ground. What is not getting done and who is suffering as a result?

5:10Eyad Amawi:Well, as always, it's the weakest who suffer the most. So 45 million children under the age of five suffering from acute malnutrition today. One and a half million women a year die in childbirth from hemorrhagic bleeding today. 120 million refugees and displaced people from conflict and disaster today. 300 million people depend on humanitarian aid to survive. Those are big numbers. And the way we see it, there are more shocks, but fewer shock absorbers. And one of the best shock absorbers was a well-functioning aid system.

5:47David Miliband:Now, you're not only a former foreign minister, you also are yourself the child of refugees. In your role as the head of the International Rescue Committee, what are you telling world leaders in New York this week that they can do about the humanitarian aid crisis that they're facing and not solving?

6:07Eyad Amawi:One is that we've got to bring diplomacy back center stage. Sixty-five wars is going to just inevitably create a degree of human suffering that overwhelms the humanitarian system. The absolute root of these humanitarian problems are political problems. So diplomacy is absolutely core.

6:26David Miliband:If there are one or two countries or places that you want us to be focused on this week while world leaders are giving their speeches, what are those places that you're going to be sort of pulling on their elbows and telling them they need to pay attention to?

6:40Eyad Amawi:This year, the biggest humanitarian crisis is one that is hardly ever mentioned. It's the war in Sudan. It's ripped apart a country that is strategically important. 12, 13 million people have been forced from their homes by a terrible civil war. And there's 30 million people who depend on organizations like mine to survive.

6:58David Miliband:In the current climate, though, with, you know, more wars being started than ended, with the United States on the world stage pulling back from humanitarian aid, promises were made to Gaza a year ago that have not yet been fulfilled. I'm wondering how you can keep hope about the mission in front of you.

7:20Eyad Amawi:Well, that's a very good point. But what I would say to you back is what right do I or you have to give up hope in an NGO, in a non-governmental organization? You see the people every day. They're the source of hope. And it's important that we don't lose sight of the big picture.

7:35David Miliband:David Miliband is a former British Foreign Secretary who now leads the International Rescue Committee. David, thank you so much for joining us.

7:44Eyad Amawi:Thank you so much, Indira. Well, Indira mentioned promises to Gaza, not kept. We're going to delve more into that after the break. Stick around.

8:14Eyad Amawi:hard when it could be easy. Visit Carvana.com today. Terms may apply. It's been nearly a year since President Trump said he brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, but life has hardly improved for Palestinians in Gaza. Most of the territory's 2 million residents live in tents or bombed-out buildings, squeezed into the mere 30 % of Gaza that is not occupied by the Israeli military. The ceasefire deal promised to ease Israel's blockade of aid into Gaza, but human rights groups and the UN report that the volume of trucks getting in is still well below levels they agreed upon, not to mention daily needs.

8:56Eyad Amawi:The aid being blocked includes things like medical supplies and electrical infrastructure. So what's life like for people who live in Gaza? Ayad Amawi is an aid worker with the Gaza Relief Committee. We reached him yesterday in the Nusirath refugee camp in central Gaza. He spoke to Indira.

9:14David Miliband:Let me ask you, there was a ceasefire last October. However, Israeli forces continue to strike what they say are military targets. Casualties since that ceasefire include more than 1 ,300 Palestinians, according to Gaza Health Ministry figures, including many women and children. What are you seeing on the ground?

9:35Eyad Amawi:So when you talk about the ceasefire, there's no real ceasefire here as a relief coordinators and NGOs coordinator. What's still happening here in Gaza is selective firing from time to time. And also we're still witnessing the catastrophe and higher level of the suffering for civilians, especially when we're awaiting the upcoming winter in the next few weeks here in Gaza.

9:59David Miliband:So Ayyad, lay out for us what has and hasn't changed since last year's ceasefire.

10:06Eyad Amawi:Look, the main things here in Gaza, just the huge bombardment, they suspended. But the rocket from the Severance War Plan still hitting tents, hitting people when they're walking in the street without discriminations. When they need to kill one person, they may cause collateral damage for more than 15 up to 20 civilians around that man. And we're still living here in the 30 percentage. No safer place to escape for the civilians, especially when they hit a rocket among the tents.

10:40David Miliband:Just last week in Gaza, there was a bombed out building that a lot of civilians were sheltering in. The building collapsed, killing at least 21 people and wounding dozens of others. It's just one of 200 ,000 buildings in Gaza that the UN says were damaged or destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in two years of war. Describe to us what it is like walking in the streets of Gaza. What does the landscape look like?

11:06Eyad Amawi:We see the full destruction and the full collapse of the streets. The full collapse of everything, not just buildings. The site of life is completely destroyed. And the air we breathe is poisoning with the waste around us and the sewage water around us. So it's an infectious environment. You can imagine what's the meaning when you're walking around the collapsed buildings and the destroyed roads and the complete destruction for the infrastructures and the sewage. We need cranes, we need bulldozers, we need trucks to remove the rubbles, to make safe places for the people here.

11:46David Miliband:Well, let me ask you, why are so many Palestinians living in unsafe buildings rather than in tents?

11:53Eyad Amawi:It's better than the tents. The living in tents and living in the hill, it's not a normal life. You can imagine what's the meaning in living in tents in the winter, in the summer, and your children still facing the horrible scenes from the insects, from the dogs, from the rats.

12:10David Miliband:So basically, these buildings that are crumbling need to be crushed, taken away. New buildings need to be put up. It hasn't happened yet. You work for the Gaza Relief Committee, So you're focused on immediate humanitarian needs for people who are injured, suffering, starving. Tell us how your humanitarian operations have been affected by blockades or other restrictions in getting aid to people.

12:36Eyad Amawi:As our NGOs and all of other remaining charities in Gaza, we noted that the last month they reduced the number of aid trucks entering Gaza and they refused to enter enough number of shelters and tents. So, yes, we affected our distributions number is decreased and our ability decreased. And also we talk about this is a slightly planned from the Israeli side that caused full collapseation for everything that can help people remain alive.

13:10David Miliband:Ayyad, you know, the world's leaders are gathered in New York right now at the United Nations. You've got President Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu will be speaking on Thursday. what is the message that you want to send to the world community about the needs of the people in Gaza right now?

13:33Eyad Amawi:Yes, that's the main thing that we're still following the news and linked our hope to their statements. Even though they're still repeating the promises they will bring the peace for Gaza, but nothing really happened here. Gaza is just still killing. So we send our humanitarian message. Silence is not neutrality. Delay is not diplomacy. And the humanitarian aid is not a substitute for political courage, justice, and accountability. Every day the world wears another child base that place here in Gaza. Gaza does not need any more exhibitions or concerns or political statements. We need actions. We need protections.

14:09Eyad Amawi:We need justice. We need freedom.

14:12David Miliband:Ayyad, I understand that you and your family have been displaced more than nine times in the last three years. Tell us about your personal experiences. What is your daily life like there?

14:23Eyad Amawi:From the start, every moment, you spend searching for the drinking water, securing foods for your children. And also, if you have any patients in your family, you will spend many, many times searching medicines, searching doctors to investigate, to check, and to take care for your elderly people around you. And there is no any facilitation that can ease our lives.

14:49David Miliband:Ayyad, you're not just an aid worker. You're also a parent. I understand you have four children ranging in age between age four and age 15. What is life like for them? Are they able to attend school? Are they getting enough food?