Just a link to resources of interest to the NGO and relief communities. I've used it several times in the past to reference material on NGO practices, maps, and population information.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/dbc.nsf/doc100?OpenForm
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Just a link to resources of interest to the NGO and relief communities. I've used it several times in the past to reference material on NGO practices, maps, and population information.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/dbc.nsf/doc100?OpenForm
An excellent link that provided re-directs to search engines, directorates, organizations within the UN structure.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/doemoff/...tl/gov_un.html
That is a great site. Here are a few more OSI sites.Quote:
Originally Posted by jcustis
UNJLC
http://www.unjlc.org/
UN MAPS
http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/english/index.htm
Ship Tracking
http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shiplocations.phtml
Now going on three and one half years, I requested UNICEF assistance with a campaign to promote Mine Action Information Awareness. USEUCOM's HDO provided me with the names and operational HQs.
We wanted to get more info out to the schools; Spring was fast approaching and as the ground thawed, things would begin to surface. We had leaflets and brochures, and finally a tape (the link is here with SWJ under education).
We offered up half (about one grand USD) and asked for contributions which would obviously include space for advertising, should that become an issue.
Nothing, not even a negative reply.
Bogus comes to mind.
An organization with children in mind.
Yea, Christmas cards at reduced rates.
To date, only the USG, has replied, sent funds and PSYOPS to assist to the tune of 56 grand.
I suppose if we had more dead children as a result of playing with UXO, we would have gotten the population's attention, but would that mean UNICEF would then consider our little spot on earth ?
They have some nice websites, unfortunately I remain disappointed :mad:
I no longer make contributions to any fund-raising organization, and yes, the UN is a very large fund-raising organization. My personal bad experiences with the Red Cross, CFC and United Way, has led me to targeting contributions to individuals, and executive-type groups.
Fund-raising = Criminal, almost always.
120mm,
I often wondered about those Command "suggested" automatic allotments from my 23 years of active duty. Mine were CFC and the American Cancer Society.
I quit giving, and started making references to how the regs treated commanders who "suggested" such things. Surprisingly, despite what everyone warned me, my career has not been adversely impacted by this decision.
Instead, I decided to go 4GW on giving: We give 10% of our income to organizations and causes that we personally know and vett. Additionally, we donate time to these same organizations, part of which, we continue to evaluate the organization and the value of our monetary gift.
We've found that we can become very big fish in a small pond this way, and we find that we no longer become "slob givers". The difference between giving to allay corporate guilt, and giving to actually and truly make a difference makes one feel very good about ourselves.
I made the decision long ago that the very fact I was wearing a uniform--in the 1970s when President Carter forbade the wearing of uniforms inside the National Capitol Region, told Congress that people in uniform don't go into the service to get rich as an explanation for denying military pay increases for 4 years, and I got a welcome packet from the Naval Postgraduate School that explained how to apply for food stamps--was my own charitable program.
My own sensing is that in the long term charity programs do 2 things: they tend to create their own clientle and they obviate responsibilty from those who should be addressing the problems which stimulate a need for the charity in the first place.
Best
Tom
I always had the feeling that many charities, and a lot of social welfare programs, were designed to create jobs for social work graduates. I'm not sure about the US, but in Canada, it is really difficult to get ff the welfare programs - you are actually penalized if you try.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Odom
Marc
Hello Marc, Tom and 120 !
What a day !
I like 120's approach. A shame, I gave up soon after retirement and now just spend my own time (no longer money) with programs here assisting foster homes (when USN ship visits are in port). It's far better and you see immediate results.
Tom brings up a rather embarrassing DC story. Also bake in the 70's we would routinely see food stamp owners at the local watering holes and restaurants. Trading in their food stamps for a drink or two and then promply drive off in their Beemers :rolleyes: I don't think I ever understood that nor the system my taxes were paying for.
Marc, the US version of the Canadian social work for graduates is a trash truck driver :eek: You indeed are penalized if you jump the truck prematurely (it's called being run over by the Beemer driver in rush hour) :D :DQuote:
I always had the feeling that many charities, and a lot of social welfare programs, were designed to create jobs for social work graduates. I'm not sure about the US, but in Canada, it is really difficult to get ff the welfare programs - you are actually penalized if you try.
Regards, Stan
The thing that struck me most about the Rwandans (the new government and new army) was their attitude toward assistance. I was married to a USAID officer for nearly 10 years. I worked drought relief and looked at security assistance in the Sudan. I was in the Sudanese Army as a student for 4 months and got a real feel for what the military thought and felt. At the conclusion, my classmates asked me, "when is the US goong to come run this country? And when are you going to head the effort?" Startling to hear that as a junior Captain, especially from Majors and Lieutenant Colonels; it also indicated that ever present Arab/Muslim fatalism that translates Inshallah as the American S$%# Happens without the smiley face.
The Egyptians and the Israelis each had their own spin on assistance. The Egyptians with their background of assistance from the USSR/Warsaw Pact seemed to concentrate getting the best toys for whatever and--especially in the non-military arena--getting a PhD (or 3) in the process. Israel is essentially get us the check--early if possible and certainly never late; the local and government reaction when the few times the US has said, "enough" on a money-pit project is amusing and disturbing to watch. I saw Israeli Aircraft Industries bus workers down to stage a protest at the US Embassy when we shut off funding to the Lavi fighter project. If the US check does get there late, the embassy gets a written protest.
And then there are the Zairians/Congolese. two words describe it: steal or break. Steal whatever comes in and break it as soon as possible. Demand more. Start the most fanciful projects possible--and never complete them as they are cash cows to be bled not milked. Stan has years on the ground wtaching this. In writing two books before I went there as DATT, I was well aware of this dynamic.
In contrast, Rwanda when I was there and according to folks who have followed me broke this mold/pattern. They are hper-sensitive to the colonial and post-colonial models of dependency often attached to donor programs. In my case, they looked to build capacity in their leaders and the people and sustainment in the military. And they will do so in charge of their own fates. It was amusing to watch when then VP Kagame ordered all the NGOs to take down their vehicle flags and forced them to register. Prior to the war Rwanda had one of the largest assortments of NGOs in Africa; in the post-genocide, you weren't a real NGO unless you had been to Rwanda. Many were shocked and dismayed when the new Rwandan government actually proved it was determined to govern, set its own goals, and then actually evaluate its progress in meeting those goals.
I hope they continue.
Best
Tom
Ding, ding, ding! We have a winnah!Quote:
Originally Posted by marct
So Tom/120mm, you don't feel that NGOs provide any type of value for us in the GWOT or COIN campaigns? Wouldn't we rather have NGOs conducting development efforts in countries where we are trying to create an environment unfavorable to terrorists, rather than bringing in the US military? Islamic extremists are exploiting NGOs to their advantage, why shouldn't we?
I wouldn't give two squirts for any of the UN run relief organizations, but there are private NGOs who are doing good work all over the world and helping to prevent the next generation of folks in these places from repeating the mistakes their uneducated parents have made.
Uh, you're not speaking with the right folks. I know this was originally posted a long time back, but if you still need this assistance, please send me an e-mail at jdonahue@vi.org. Generally, the Humanitarian Mine Action (HMA) community has a lot less, um, attitudinal trouble working with military entities, particularly on something as necessary as Mine Risk Education (MRE - what we call it now - the relief and development communities like to change up their jargon just as often as the military).Quote:
Originally Posted by Stan
HMA is heading in a direction that is usually termed "main streaming", meaning that it is becoming less the primary focus in international responses, and more a part of other efforts such as refugee return or WASH (the new name for Water and Sanitation/WATSAN). For that reason, some of the UN agencies and NGOs that had previously had a tremendous amount of focus on Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) are now adding/shifting to things such as Small Arms/Light Weapons (SA/LW) and Disarmament/Demobilization/Reintegration (DDR, and I always screw up what this one means). Long preamble for the explanation that this might not be as high on their list of priorities at the moment.
Anyway, if this is still something you're trying to address, drop me a line and I'll try and get you linked up with the right folks. My organization works closely with DoD, as well as the Canadian Forces, and if we can't help, we can point you to someone who can.
Cheers,
Joe
As a member of one of these almost always criminal organizations, I have another equation for you - Beltway Bandits (particularly doing relief and development work) = Waste, Fraud, Abuse, almost always.Quote:
Originally Posted by 120mm
Cheers,
Joe
My organization works very closely with UNJLC. They are a good outfit, very mission/results oriented.Quote:
Originally Posted by sgmgrumpy
If any of you happened to catch the Hazards to Movement map series that made it onto ReliefWeb and the UNJLC site last summer during the Lebanon conflict, those maps were done by my folks on the ground in Lebanon.
We have gone "independent", branching off from Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF)/Veterans for America (VFA) (the International Campaign to Ban Landmines folks) to form the Information Management & Mine Action Programs (iMMAP). Our website, www.immap.org, will be up in a few days (we just brached off a couple of months back). Within a couple of months from now we'll add a pretty robust map library that features the thousands of maps our personnel have created around conflict and post-conflict areas over during the previous nine years, and it will also feature the maps we're generating during ongoing crises. Might be a good resource from some of y'all, once its percolating.
Cheers,
Joe
Quote:
Originally Posted by redbullets
Hey Joe and Welcome to the Forum !
I will indeed send you an email or two. Thanks.
The EOD Center is a civilian organization subordinate to the Rescue Services, which in most cases almost always means no funding from DOD elements. We are also responsible for typical LEO functions, but we're not connected to LE whatsoever, and that normally means no funding from DOJ.
However, the WRA folks continue to assist us and I even talked them out of cash this year.
EUCOM always always comes through. DOD and DOS are not the problem.
Even the US Embassy spent thousands to have our materials translated into English if we agreed to go to the International Schools and present the awareness program (which I did).
I basically need a contact at UNICEF to send the MRE project to or ask them for some ideas.
Thanks again and regards, Stan
Thanks, I'm happy to have found this (quite late in the game, given my line of work, so the lick's on me).
WRA is our largest donor, bar none. The head of the office is my former immediate supervisor at VVAF/VFA, and the HMA community is a small one, so everyone knows everyone.
Where are you, by the way? We might have some folks nearby your location.
What needs to happen with this project? I think you'll find that the UN agencies are more involved in coordinating and usually use NGO implementing partners to get things done. However, if you e-mail me what you need from UNICEF, or more generally what your trying to accomplish and what resources you're trying to obtain, I'll share what I know.
Cheers,
Joe
...and some of you who are involved in trying to get cooperation from NGOs may occasionally, and increasingly, find yourselves entangled with the competing demands of experimental social scientists.
We have seen this growing in the last five years or so, under the rubric "field experiments." Tried to hire a couple of these young bucks in the last couple of years as it is an increasingly hot area in Econ. Particularly in Africa, but also elsewhere. Typically, an established academic big shot at Harvard and some grad students plan some experimental intervention on the back of things NGOs are already doing. For instance (real example), some NGO might have an information program designed to inform teen girls in rural Kenya about HIV risk. So the experimentalists get them to randomly piggyback some kind of extra information on exactly half of the high school curricula they have. Then down the road, you look for the treatment effect of the added information on outcomes you do and do not want.
The thing is, uncontrolled and unplanned variation during a study period is anathema to experimental design. And this kind of work is booming right now--I mean growing exponentially. It is very hot. So I wouldn't be surprised if, in future, some of you find an NGO contact saying: "No, sorry, can't do that. We're currently in the middle of a controlled study for Herr Doktor Professor SuperBigshot..." :(
I have experienced similar issues among the NGO community dealing with education/awareness programs. There is a lot of reinventing the wheel, and academic sharpshooters who parachute in at times, and admittedly, there are those of us in the mine action community who say "since when did this stuff become rocket science" and require so many Ph. D's in one location?
Cheers,
Joe
Quote:
Originally Posted by redbullets
Joe,
I'm in Estonia. I've known Dennis H. for years and USMC COL Stu is, or already has retired. Marcus is now doing our program management. They came by this year (a tad early as it was friggin' cold), and things went extremely well.
I want to sell a MRE campaign to UNICEF - target audience 7 to 15. I know I can bug the folks at EUCOM (Stu C. is no longer there, but he has always helped out and promised to do so again, and his staff there know me from my RONCO days).
My beef was/is with UNICEF. They could've at least sent me hate mail with a big fat NO. The contact info I received was from EUCOM. I doubt I got the wrong person at UNICEF. Maybe I asked for too little ?
I wanted them to come in and tell me what they do. I can and already do preach at schools - nothing new there.
Regards, Stan
Yep, Stu just retired last week. Dennis is still the man. Marcus is a good guy, I think he's going to be a great addition to that office. I'm doing my office call with Stu's replacement later this week.
Who are you working for in Estonia? My advice in dealing with this would be to get buy in with whatever UN offices are on the ground there (probaly UNDP?). There seems to be a bit sharper leadership in UNDP Mine Action these days, and John Flanagan is still the number 2 at UNMAS, so I can just ask him who's the power-that-is in Estonia for this stuff. Since you've been around this, you know how this stuff is different from one country to the next, depending upon which UN agency has the lead, and the quality of the people leading it.
I have heard that there has been a person above the UNICEF mine action office/NYC in the chain-of-command there who is not a big mine action supporter - one of those who view mine action as a distractor (when approached as a seperate sector/cluster as opposed to being integrated with the "traditional" sectors/clusters). I'll call the number 2 at UNICEF mine action and find out what they know about this, and if they can do anything.
Do you have a concept paper or outline that I can review and send on to them?
Cheers,
Joe
P. S. I'm still by visiting with somone or another at the RONCO offices in Washington about once a month. Now that Larry S. is gone, the guy I'm tightest with is probably Mike H. in Baghdad.
Glad to see Stu retired and hopefully off doing what he wants (he will never forget the USMC). Dennis has saved our program more times than I care to count. When RONCO's contract ended, the Rescue Board took over and kept me on. Long story, and we'll need a few beers in order to cover the last 12 years :DQuote:
Originally Posted by redbullets
My initial step with UNICEF is to duplicate our MRE onto CDs in three languages and say 150 copies. About 2 grand USD. If willing, get same on a website. Just small steps as the critical period (Spring) is gone. Now need to try and address school children in February 08.
I'm also interested in what they would like to do. I've got the history and ugly pictures of children blown in two.
Regards, Stan
PS. Don't know Mike very well, but Larry was number one during my RONCO time and Bart handled my programs.
All these retired dudes !