Mark Chadwick's blog

The United Kingdom's bilateral aid to Iraq through the Department for International Development (DFID) is ending, but it is not time to walk away from the needs of millions of Iraqis who are struggling for a better life. Photo: Sebastian Meyer for Mercy Corps

As unrest throughout North Africa and the Middle East dominates the headlines and underlines the problems of lack of democracy, civic participation and unemployment, it’s a surprising time for the United Kingdom (UK) to be ending development assistance to Iraq.

It is often argued that Iraq, a middle-income Country, should be able to support its own people and that international donors including the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) have already provided millions of pounds of development and humanitarian aid since 2003. In some ways this is right, but Iraq still lacks the capacity to deliver essential basic services in an efficient and transparent way.

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Haiti – one crisis where the Scottish Government aid is helping. Photo: Miguel Samper for Mercy Corps

This week Mercy Corps, alongside other Scottish aid agencies, has called on the First Minister of the Scottish Government to stay true to his 2007 manifesto commitment and maintain Scotland's international development fund at its current level so as not to jeopardise the lives of the world's poorest.

The Scottish Government will publish their budget plans for 2011-12 this week, at the end of a year that has seen severe humanitarian disasters across the world — including the earthquake and subsequent cholera outbreak in Haiti, the worst floods in Pakistan for 80 years and two earthquakes in Indonesia. With people in developing countries also struggling to cope with the economic crisis and the effects of climate change that are hitting poor countries worst, we’ve stood firm with Scotland's other aid agencies to warn that humanitarian and development aid is needed now more than ever.

As a Scot myself and particularly as I work at Mercy Corps’ Edinburgh office — just up the road from the Scottish Parliament — I’m proud we’ve joined with Oxfam Scotland, the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund, Islamic Relief, Christian Aid Scotland, Save the Children, Concern Worldwide and Tearfund to highlight this issue. Though the £9 million Scottish Government International Development budget equates to a relatively small 0.026% of total government spending, the Scottish aid budget has in recent times been effectively used to support HIV/AIDS work in Malawi, save lives in the wake of the Haiti earthquake and Pakistan floods and to respond to crises in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Darfur, Gaza and Zimbabwe.

In the last twelve months, Scottish Government funds have helped Mercy Corps respond to the emergencies in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti and Pakistan, making a real difference to the lives of thousands of people in need.

We hope that the Scottish Government will remember its commitment and continue to help some of the world’s poorest people.

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I should have explained, but I didn’t. Phagal, thankfully, didn’t need an explanation.

She was standing by the tap stand in the hot sun and started shouting. “These people will take your photograph and tell others in their own countries, then people will understand and perhaps they will help us.” I asked her if that’s what she wanted — to tell people her story — and she agreed.

Phagal (in orange) gets clean, fresh water from a tap provided by Mercy Corps. Photo: Mark Chadwick/Mercy Corps

Phagal and her family lived in Tul village in the Jacobabad district of Sindh, Pakistan. They were at home on the August 11 when the flood waters came. It happened so quickly that it was all they could do to get out with just the clothes they were wearing.

Then they started to walk — for three days in the baking heat — to the city of Sukkur, to get some help.

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What’s the big idea? In 2000, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously passed a resolution to declare the 21st of September as the International Day of Peace. The idea is that, if more and more people begin to recognise a single day for ceasefire, then it would also bring peace a tiny bit closer on the other 364 days.

The title "no substitute for peace" is a terrible pun on the fact we didn't have very many folk participating in our game in Edinburgh — although, with 11 people, technically we did have one substitute. Photo: Mercy Corps Scotland

Public awareness is still limited, but it’s slowly growing. Although it’s largely symbolic, concrete things are also happening. For example, in Afghanistan, thousands of children were vaccinated by UNICEF thanks to a local truce called on September 21, 2008.

The idea came from an organisation called Peace One Day. Mercy Corps has been supporting their One Day One Goal campaign, which uses football to raise awareness of the day of peace, since it was launched at the Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana three years ago.

So far, Mercy Corps has organised 22 games in 12 countries, bringing people together in communities affected by conflict. This year has been our strongest contribution yet, with matches taking place in Colombia, DR Congo, Haiti, India, Iraq, Kenya and Tajikistan. Look out for reports on the matches in other upcoming blog entries on this website.

Not wanting to be left out, we also organised a five a side game at Meadowbank Stadium in Edinburgh, a venue provided free of charge by Edinburgh Leisure. Alongside Mercy Corps staff, players included staff of Edinburgh Council Social Work Department and loyal supporters of Hibernian and Aberdeen football teams, and the game ended as a hard-fought 8-8 draw.

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I should know by now, but the important lessons are always worth repeating. Although blessed with the opportunity to travel often, I packed a lot of preconceptions when I set out for Afghanistan; this country that dominates our headlines but whose people we know so little.

I was ready for palpable tension in Kabul; no one wanting to linger on the streets, a pervading sadness. But in my short time there (and it was a short time), I saw nothing of that. Instead bustle, chatter, shops with names like “Kabul Asia Fashion”, advertisements for mobile phones, clothes, college courses and smiling teenagers — everything I ought to have expected but somehow didn’t — the old truth (and one time British Airways slogan) that there’s more that brings us together than keeps us apart.

Alongside the more immediate tragedies of this conflict are the missed opportunities of our mutual isolation. It’s a pity that the construction contractor I got talking to on my flight home never got to see anything of Afghanistan except the inside of Kabul compounds and armoured vehicles. It’s a shame that Afghans with expertise in development can’t always get visas to attend training courses in the United Kingdom that will help them contribute even more to their country.

Mercy Corps works closely with communities and implements programmes together with them, wherever security allows. It is a privilege in these difficult times to have the chance to meet with ordinary Afghans in an uncomplicated way.

I had the chance to visit a Mercy Corps agricultural programme, funded by the European Commission, in a comparatively stable part of the country in the east. This programme is demonstrating improved seeds and planting techniques, setting up women with poultry as a source of income, linking farmers to markets and putting money into the household budgets and local economy by hiring local labour to build and improve infrastructure, not least irrigation.

From the air, it’s hard not to be struck by the difference that canals make to the otherwise sparse and arid country and just how important these arteries are to rural life. Building this water infrastructure and helping Afghans improve its management is a big part of what Mercy Corps does around the country.

I accidentally stepped in one of the water channels, to the amusement of local children in one village. I’m claiming this was a deliberate ice-breaking strategy…or at least I’d use that excuse if we hadn’t already been warmly welcomed. Everywhere we were met with great warmth and we had to reluctantly decline many offers of lunch, (although still managed to eat some excellent watermelon). We promised we’d take up their lunch offers next time.

I hope we can.

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Thirty-five players took part in a Peace One Day football tournament at the Spartans Community Football Academy in Edinburgh. Photo: Mercy Corps

Following last year’s success, Mercy Corps again participated in the One Day One Goal campaign of the organisation Peace One Day, to mark the International Day of Peace through football games that bring people together. Mercy Corps country teams in Colombia, India, Iraq, Kenya and Lebanon organised five unique events bridging local divisions. In solidarity, Mercy Corps staff in Edinburgh also organised a series of games bringing the campaign to Scotland for the first time.

On the 21st of September, the International Day of Peace was celebrated by a round robin of seven-a-side games at the Spartans Community Football Academy involving 35 players and organisers from Mercy Corps, Edinburgh University, the United Nations Association, Engineers without Borders and Challenges Worldwide.

Players were informed about the campaign to raise awareness of the International Day of Peace, and of some of the games taking place around the world. Jamie Hitchens, a Mercy Corps Climate Change volunteer, scored an impressively opportunistic goal from a goal kick but while Graeme Farmer of the MCS Finance department maintained an admirable one-goal-per-game ratio, in general the best play came from the students from Ewing House, at Edinburgh University’s Pollock Halls of Residence.

Check the blog for more accounts from Peace Day events by Mercy Corps teams around the world.

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