The familiar and the new

I'm back in Pader, northern Uganda, 2 1/2 years since I left. It's a very different place. The threat of the LRA is now long gone, for Ugandans anyway. The IDP camps have dispersed or morphed into new trading centres. Pader Town's former landscape of congested mud and thatch huts is now interspersed by brick and corrugated sheeting buildings. Where once there were no boundaries and everyone lived on top of each other, now there are clearly demarcated plots and elements of the traditional family homestead life appears to have resumed for some. The town has grown out, the perimeters of town no longer associated with insecurity. Pader is no longer cut off - buses run in and out of the town and motorcycle taxis can ferry you to and fro. Routes which were narrow tracks enveloped by 2m high grasses are now open dirt roads. Electricity plyons have appeared, with the promise of power next year. The town has two banks and five very basic petrol stations, and guesthouses and restaurants now line the dirt roads. Goats and chickens wander everywhere. When once you needed to order in meat or fish from the neighbouring district a day or two in advance to stand any chance, now it's relatively easy to find chicken, fish, beef, apples, oranges, albeit still mostly from the neighbouring Districts. WFP distributions have stopped and consequently food prices in the market have soared as there's less flooding into the market and more demand for it. The military detaches have disbanded and moved onto new assignments and the police have scaled up their presence. The local government's capacity seems to have grown, with fewer vacant posts and more activities. Many old friends have moved on. A couple have passed away.

But there are still some familiar faces and experiences. I still wash by pouring a jerry can of cold water over my head. I am still covered in a thin layer of red dirt by the end of every day. The guesthouse generator still only runs 7pm-10pm. Young children still excitedly shout out 'mono, bye, mono, bye' and wave frantically as you pass by and laugh hysterically and slightly bemused at the novely of shaking a white person's hand. You can still mobilise fifty or more children in a matter of minutes with a football. They still run rings around you, despite their swollen bellies, bare feet and 30 degree heat. Livelihoods still precariously rest on the NGO community and today's erratic weather. Car journeys in and out of the District still take hours along the albeit slightly less potholed dirt roads. The music from the all night promotional events that the mobile phone and alcohol companies organise still travels kilometres on the wind. And the storms still feel like the heavens are coming crashing down.

DRC: Sunset on 2 weeks in Congo...

Take your choice, marriage or 2 goats and $17

For Jessica, this particular marriage proposition wasn't made in heaven.

At 16, Jessica was raped. Not by government soldiers, rebels or UN peacekeepers - the most high profile groups of perpetrators - but by a District Chief. In 2004, an estimated 13% of all rapes were committed by civilians, but the impunity of soliders, rebels and peacekeepers is being linked to an increase in the proportion of sexual violence committed by civilians. In 2007, the estimate had risen to 40% of rapes being committed by civilians (Institute of War and Peace Reporting, 2008).

Worse still for Jessica, she fell pregnant. For reasons we don't know - perhaps fear of an unwanted pregnancy, perhaps the stigmatisation, perhaps under the duress of the District Chief - she sought an abortion.

Abortion remains illegal in DRC, despite the incidence of unwanted pregnancy, the risk of mother-child transmission of HIV, and the prevalence of sexual violence. (According to a recent survey by the International Centre for Transitional Justice, the University of California, Berkeley's Human Rights Centre and Tulane University's Payson Centre, 16% of of those surveyed in North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri have been sexually violated, and almost 12% raped multiple times.)

Broadly speaking there are three options: seek an illegal 'backstreet' abortion which uses a medical procedure; abort the foetus or induce a miscarriage using local practices such as drinking herbal concoctions, laundry detergent, bleach or gasoline; or invoke the exception to the law. Abortion is illegal except when a doctor considers that the pregnancy could be fatal for the mother. Mothers therefore often self-harm to the point where doctors are compelled to act.

It took Jessica several weeks to recover from the abortion. In the meantime, there were several developments. The rape was reported to the local police and a case filed. On the face of it, this seems promising given the District Chief's stature. Furthermore, since 2006 rape laws in DRC have been strengthened. The law now includes forced prostitution, sexual mutilation, forced marriage, sexual harassment and slavery, HIV transmission and forced pregnancy; cases must go to court within 3 months; victims have a right to see doctors and psychologists and to have a closed trial if they wish; and soldiers can be arrested without the permission of their unit commanders.

However, the practical reality of getting justice is very different. 6 months on the case has not been heard due to a backlog of cases and staff shortages. Out-of-court settlements are instead the norm.

The District Chief offered to take Jessica as his second wife. For Jessica's family this seemed a pragmatic solution to the problem: Jessica was now unlikely to marry because she had had sex outside of marriage, and worst still, an abortion.

Fortunately for Jessica, an alternative was agreed. The District Chief gave Jessica's family 2 goats and 10,000 Congolese Francs (c.$17). This bears remarkable parallels to the findings of a recent report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the African Great Lakes which found that "men have been known to set aside a couple of goats as compensation before even raping the girl".

Now 17, Jessica is trying to rebuild her life, 140km away...

DRC: Random scenes - restaurants, rivers and roads

Views over River Congo towards Brazzaville, from a restaurant atop a delapidated

building which was the tallest building in Kinshasa when it was built in 1943

Roads become rivers in the rainy season...

DRC: Photographing Kinshasa's tourist attractions

The first challenge is finding Kinshasa's tourist attractions. Wooden masks and carvings of giraffes long lost their novelty and exotic appeal, for me anyway. So after ruling out visiting the markets these were the only two tourist options:

1. Visit Laurent Kabila's mausoleum

Taking photographs in Kinshasa seems to be a huge no-no, regardless of how sensitive or innocuous your subject is. So visiting Laurent Kabila's mausoleum, in the hope of having a photograph outside it, perhaps doesn't seem the most promising idea. The area surrounding the mausoleum is like a ghost town, barricaded and guarded by a few soldiers. But sat under the tree you'll discover a couple of men with cameras who will take the photo for you, for - wait for it - a throwaway price of $10. After protracted negotiations with the photographers and soldiers we agreed a $5 fee for us to use our own digital camera.

The mausoleum was a gift from the North Koreans, in recognition of their close relationship - after coming to power with the support of the Americans, Kabila switched sides! And a mighty fine gift it was. Even the wreaths of luminous plastic flowers which now adorn it cannot detract from its undeniable aesthetic qualities.

Beside Kabila's statue, with the striking mousaleum in the background...

...complete with enormous fists

2. Visit the Bonobo sanctuary

You'll learn that everyone confuses Bonobos with chimps; that Bonobos are a 99% genetic match with humans; and that they settle their conflicts and tensions within the group through sexual acts. You'll also learn that if you come within a metre of the electric fence they will throw handfuls of dirt at you and that they are a remarkably good aim, covering me head to toe 4 times.

A baby Bonobo in sleeping quarters; the 99% genetic match is self-evident

DRC: The fate of North Kivu lies with the Indians

Yesterday Nkunda again threatened war. It’s a credible threat: Nkunda has a strong grip on North Kivu; some government troops have abandoned their positions and are instead looting the local population; MONUC’s internal reports document government troops switching sides; the country is frustrated by the government’s failure to deliver on its election promises; the population of Kinshasa and the west is increasingly vocal in its anger that money is now being redirected to fund the war in the east; and the UN peacekeeping mission in North Kivu is fundamentally flawed.

Indian troops make up 95% of the peacekeeping troops in North Kivu; the least diverse peacekeeping contingent in all DRC’s provinces. It’s a reflection of how hard it is for the UN to secure troop contributions from the international community for the peacekeeping mission in North Kivu. Which means the UN is more wary about raising grievances with the contributing government and the mission is exposed to significant risks.

According to sources within MONUC, the Indian troops are fully equipped but spend most of their time barricaded in their barracks. The soldiers themselves see no reason to put their life on the line for the people of North Kivu; they have no empathy for the Congolese. The Indian government are similarly reluctant to fulfil the role and responsibilities of their lucrative mission, perhaps fearful of the public outcry if there are casualties.

Instead the Indian troops are trading the arms they have recovered in the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration process for minerals provided by Nkunda’s forces. Witnesses report that Indian troops have been using UN helicopters to fly arms into rebel held territory at night and take minerals out.

The UN and Congolese government have no recourse when there receive these reports. Or reports of Indian troops sexually exploiting girls and women. The command and control structures, and their dependence on these peacekeepers, mean they are unable to hold them to account and secure improvements.

However, when the UN approved the deployment of an additional 3,000 peacekeeping troops for the Kivus, and the Indian government offered to deploy 1,000 of these additional peacekeeping troops, the Congolese government sent a formal letter to Delhi declining the offer.

Worldwide, peacekeeping missions are flawed by similar issues. The solution? Perhaps recruiting a permanent peacekeeping force, that is committed to the peacekeeping mission.

DRC: Conflict cheese, the root of all the problems

DRC: One of those encounters...

We met Francine on a dark, dirt road in one of Kinshasa’s poorest neighbourhoods. She was among a group of young women, stood outside in the feint flickering light of a small bar. They were waiting for free condoms, and discussing how slow business had been that evening. They weren’t sure why, perhaps men were saving for Christmas. Francine had reason to worry. At 22 she already had 4 children to support.

Her story is not unusual though. There are thousands of women like her in Kinshasa alone. But, Francine stood out. Usually it’s challenging to build rapport in these circumstances and to elicit real substantive insights. Rapport can be broken, and the beauty of people’s language and the depth of their thought lost in translation as things are reinterpreted or paraphrased by the translator. And often you subconsciously expect the character of language and thought to reflect the harsh reality of the person’s life and their surroundings. But for 45 minutes Francine talked openly and eloquently, sharing opinions that were always philosophical, pragmatic and astute.

On how they protect themselves from the risks they face: “We work as a group, and only here. We won’t go away with a man in his car or to his house. We stay here beside this open space where there are lots of places to have sex but we’re always close enough for the others to hear our screams if we need help.”

On how they negotiate safe sex with clients: “If a man demands sex without a condom we argue a lot. If he still refuses but he’s drunk, then we take the money, put a female condom on and guide his penis in a way that avoids him noticing. But it’s difficult...”

On how organisations can help her and her peers to protect themselves: “The best person to protect me is me. Everyone has the knowledge here, it all depends on how you use it… But there are two things. I want to stop falling pregnant. I want the injection [referring to a form of contraceptive]” Would this mean you stop using condoms? “Not with customers because with customers I worry most about HIV. But we don’t use condoms with our boyfriends because they don’t like it. That’s the problem. And I want support for my children...” It wasn’t clear why, but Francine didn’t want to change her career. But she wanted a different life for her children.

On her own childhood, Francine was more withdrawn. It seemed like dropping out of secondary school was a turning point but she didn’t elaborate. There was only one glimpse when discussing her parents: “They are now where I am going to go in the future”.

DRC: A night bus service delivering healthcare

DRC: Adrenaline

There are few occasions when bumping into a Rapid Intervention unit would be a pleasant experience. In fact I can’t think of any off the top of my head. Whilst I was working in neighbouring Rwanda, the Rwandan Rapid Intervention units were known for extra-judicial killings and arbitrary violence. In the chaos of DRC their reputation is no better. In fact they thrive it Congo’s lawless, chaotic, corrupt environment. Their job descriptions don’t read ‘responsibility to protect and uphold justice’; they read ‘licence to use arbitrary violence for any means’.

So bumping into them when standing in a dark alley in one of Kinshasa’s poorest neighbourhoods at 11pm, conducting a sexual health sensitisation programme with young women involved in sex work, is probably not going to be included in the ‘100 Things To Do Before You Die’ list. Bumping into them after they’ve spent the evening drinking, again probably wouldn’t make the list. And a confrontation that involves both? Well, that’s perhaps something to put off altogether. Unless you need to revive a heart attack victim.

Only a very naïve foreigner would entertain the notion that the police here are concerned about the threat you pose to law and order, so you know their agenda – they want to intimidate you into parting with something of value. You can crack immediately and start negotiating how much it will cost for the problem to go away, or you take a stand – remain calm, cooperative and non-confrontational but never agreeing to part with anything of value.

On this occasion, fate intervened. After a 20 minute stand off, the unit commander received a telephone call and when he return he had had a change of heart. We’ll never know whether he was being called away to more pressing matters or being reprimanded by superiors. But all the gun waving, shouting and demands for identification papers earned them nothing more than a wholesale-size packet of condoms and a few insincere efforts to caress his ego.

Sadly the national organisation running these sensitisation programmes is frequently intimidated and harassed by the police. But they persist in spite of this. And every night, at every location they stop, the children and young women are waiting for them.

DRC: Sabutteo!

DRC: Bravado

Picture this: three 12 year old girls; exuding confidence and full of energy; standing on the street late at night trying to solicit business; collecting free condoms distributed by an NGO; wearing short skirts, tight t-shirts and traditional decorative headwear; periodically gyrating their hips provocatively; using sexually explicit and crude language; quarrelling and hitting out at the boys on the street. The image is arresting. There is so much wrong about it, so many apparent contradictions – vulnerable yet resilient, feminine yet masculine, child yet adult.

To survive on the street a 12 year old girl has to display bravado. Rationally, everything should shout “I am vulnerable” – she is a 12 year living along on the street, whose choices and protection were so limited she has resorted to selling her body to survive. But she has adopted behaviours that try to counter this, to convey an alternative reality, to deter the abusers and exploiters. A coping strategy that enables her to protect herself as best she can.

The following evening I told Francine about these girls and asked her for her opinion. “That saddens me. She is too young to have sex. Her body is not ready. She will get health problems, she might even become infertile.” What could help change the course of their lives? “It’s too late to do anything now. They are already earning money. They are already used to the freedom. Letting go of this is too hard”.

DRC: Now everyone knows what they'll be getting for Christmas from me

DRC: Friday night in Kinshasa

How many evenings are this diverse? My evening started dining out on frogs legs and crocodile brochettes (ruined only slightly by a cockroach running across the table); was followed by an impromptu stop on the drive home to play a game of football with a crowd of street kids under the light of one of Kinshasa starkly out of place digital advertising screens at a crossroads; included a visit to a supermarket where yoghurts cost $4 and bars of chocolate $6; and ended offering to laminate the mechanics and driving certificates of a street youth patrolling the supermarket car park looking for someone trusting enough to help him turn his qualifications into a livelihood, concerned that his life and future rested in those few fragile, fraying and stained pieces of paper.

DRC: All smiles

Aid Worker Deaths

AFGHANISTAN: 15 Things You Should Know

Some alarming facts and figures:

1. Since 2001, Afghanistan has received more than $15 billion in assistance.
2. Afghanistan’s biggest donor – USAID – allocates close to half of its funds to five large US contractors.
3. Each full time expatriate consultant costs approximately $200,000 per year, and in some cases up to $500,000 per year.
4. According to the former NATO Special Civilian Representative, the cumulative impact is that 40% of aid to Afghanistan flows out of the country.
5. The US military is spending $65,000 a minute in Afghanistan ($35 billion in 2007).
6. Only 20% of teachers are professionally qualified.
7. Teachers are paid an average of $50 per month.
8. Last year there were at least 131 violent incidents directly targeting or impacting on NGOs, caused by both criminal and insurgent activities.
9. Last year 15 NGO staff were killed and 88 abducted.
10. WFP have lost over 100,000 tonnes of food as a result of criminal and insurgent attacks in 2007.
11. Agriculture and connected trades support 80% of all Afghans but donors spend a fraction of their assistance on agriculture. This amounts to $300-400 million over the last six years, or in USAID’s case 3-4% of their spend.
12. In 2007, the cultivation of poppy and opium was up 17% and 34% respectively, year on year.
13. Production has doubled in two years and now accounts for 93% of global illicit supply.
14. The opium industry is valued at $3 billion per year, accounting for up to 1/3rd of the economy.
15. Only 4% of Afghanistan’s agricultural land is used for poppy production.

AFGHANISTAN: Increasing hardship and limited support for growing displaced population

Key findings of new IDMC report:

• Over 235,000 IDPs in the country originating from pre 2004.
• Thousands more displaced by the conflict between the government, international coalition forces and the armed opposition but their number has been impossible to determine due to a lack of access to the conflict zones.
• About 185,000 IDPs live in three main camps in Kandahar, Herat and Helmand provinces
• 1,843 IDPs in the north
• 119,958 IDPs in the south
• 14,624 IDPs in the south-east
• 55,884 IDPs in the east
• 36,288 IDPs in the west
  

Source: http://www.internal-displacement.org/8025708F004BE3B1/%28httpInfoFiles%29/E7493C8872C5F6B9C12574EF005CD9A5/$file/Afghanistan_Overview_Oct08.pdf

AFGHANISTAN: Rohullah, 13, "I was trained to carry out a suicide attack, but I failed"

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80996
KHOST, 20 October 2008 (IRIN) - Rohullah, 13, ran away from home in Gardez city in southeastern Afghanistan to Miramshah in neighbouring Pakistan. Unwittingly he was drawn into a suicide-bombers’ cell, and trained to use explosive vests to kill Afghan and US forces. Arrested soon after re-entering Afghanistan, he is now in prison in Khost Province. From his cell Rohullah told IRIN his story:

"I had serious disputes with my parents on many issues and as time went by I felt I could not tolerate that, so I escaped and went to Miramshah. I bumped into an old man there whom I had seen in our village. He took me to his home and I stayed there for two nights.

"After that the old man introduced me to a middle-aged man [Shawkat] and asked him to take me to a Madrasah [an Islamic school with free board and lodging].

"Shawkat took me to a house where about 26 other boys - some younger and some older than me - were housed. Shawkat and other men were teaching us about Jihad, Islam and holy wars, and at night they were showing us films about the cruelty of foreign infidels to Muslims, the bombing of women and children, and the struggle by the Taliban.

"For six days I did not know why they were showing and telling us all those things. Then one afternoon Shawkat congratulated me and said that I had been selected for martyrdom. He also told me that after the martyrdom I would enter Heaven and would be remembered as a hero.

"Shawkat and two other men trained me how to use explosive vests. They also told me that I would earn more blessings from God if I detonated my vest in a crowded area and killed as many infidels as possible.

"The arrangement was: I should go to Khost [province] and do the suicide attack. Three weeks later I travelled to Khost and met an intermediary who was supposed to give me a suicide vest. I could not carry a vest with me because of the security checkpoints.

"But on my first night in Khost I was arrested [by Afghan intelligence forces]. I know I did wrong and I regret it. I miss my parents and my brothers and sisters. I wish I had never escaped from home."

IRAQ: It's Friday, time to take a litmus test

If you want to know what's going on in Iraq, and to get a glimpse into the future, you monitor Friday prayers. This Friday, the clerics were speaking out about the US-Iraqi security pact under discussion at the moment. Their concerns?

The key concern appears to be the lack of consultation and transparency about the security pact and the negotiations. Politicians are elected to take decisions on behalf their constituents, but on a matter as significant as this there has to be more consultation. How long do US troops remain in Iraq? Do they leave behind 'forward operating bases' to protect commercial interests? Who are the US troops accountable to? What of the hundreds of private security contractors in Iraq?

So Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and others have spoken out and called Iraqis to stand up and speak out. Did the Iraqi Government and the US did not anticipate this? Or did they judge it insignificant? The drop in violence in Iraq is attributed at least in part to Muqtada al-Sadr's brigades standing down, while Al-Sistani influence is unparalleled in Shiite areas of Iraq. Religious leaders supercede politicians in Iraq.

Expect tense times ahead of the 31st December deadline for reaching an agreement...

It's nice to be appreciated...

Dear [me],

I have not enough words to reflect what is inside me when I read your approval. In addition, I don’t know how I can thank you.

So I would like to gather all thanks phrases in the world and put them between your hands, Master.

I will keep praying to be safe.

Best regards,

[colleague overseas]

IRAQ: Street Children Searching Through Rubbish

IRAQ: IDP living conditions

IRAQ: Behind the headlines - the humanitarian crisis

The headlines focus on the 'success' of the surge and troop withdrawals, but the humanitarian crisis persists and assessments suggest it is worsening.

Displaced families have fled with little but a legacy. A legacy of the insecurity which has eroded livelihoods, traumatised children and carers, weakened coping strategies, increased family breakdown, reduced the number of able bodied adult males, fuelled domestic violence, reduced school attendance, increased children's domestic and economic responsibilities, and reshaped local practices, beliefs and values as desperate people increasingly pursue self preservation strategies at any cost.

Displacement multiplies the impact of this. Social capital is eroded, constraining livelihood opportunities, undermining coping strategies and driving children into the most exploitative, dangerous and demeaning of jobs. (Re)enrolling children is hindered by the domestic and / or economic responsibilities children have assumed, the limited capacity of the educational system, registration requirements, attendance costs, discrimination, and behavioural problems. Flight and displacement exacerbates pre-existing trauma and its symptoms. Overcrowded, insecure and poor shelter exposes children to exploitation, health problems and marginalisation.

According to IOM (August 2008), more than 70% of IDPs do not have regular access to food rations from the Public Distribution System (food ration) and 14% have no access to health care. Living arrangements have been ad hoc. Some found shelter with families and friends, many sheltered in abandoned public buildings, others built on empty land, those with resources have rented or purchased properties. But hosting IDPs puts pressures on the resources of families and friends - without financial support it is not sustainable. More concerning though is a recent Government initiative to eject persons sheltering in public buildings.

Faced with such challenges, negative coping strategies such as child labour, drug abuse and criminality spiral. The collective impact is an erosion of the protective capacities of families and the wider community, and an increase in child protection issues and rights deficits.

IRAQ: Partitioning - the taboo subject

Partitioning Iraq into Kurdish, Shi'a and Sunni areas is a sensitive subject. It's something most do not want to consider. A sign of the failure of the regime change, it reflects badly on how tolerant society is and raises questions about how transferable western democracy is.

The pragmatic reality though is that the violence has moved Iraq closer to this. 2 million Iraqis have fled the country, and 2.7 million people remain displaced in Iraq (UNAMI 2008).That's 15-20% of the population. Perhaps more significantly, only 17% of IDPs intend to return to their communities of origin (IOM 2008).

Furthermore, this displacement has in part led to a reduction in violence, alleviating the risk of the civil war which Iraq was on the cusp of in 2005/2006. Averting a Sunni-Shiite civil war, which would have significant ramifications for regional dynamics, is surely a potent argument in favour of 'soft participation'.

That said, there are powerful arguments for resisting a 'soft-partition'. It may not be workable. As the recent discussions on Kirkuk have demonstrated, reaching an agreement on control of oil extraction, transportation and processing, and apportioning of oil revenues, would be fraught with challenges. Pursuit of this could itself trigger more violence. Pre-2003, 35% of marriages were mixed. Regional interests may also resist 'soft-partition', e.g. a more autonomous Kurdistan could unnerve Turkey. And the Kurd - Shi'a - Sunni analysis is a gross over-simplification of the ethnic divides, and overlooks the power dynamics that exist on a local level where tribal leaders and militia groups compete for influence and resources. Basra being a great example. Partitioning along the lines of Kurd (north east) - Shi'a (south) - Sunni (centre and west), would be no guarantee of stability and peace.

This whole debate of course overlooks the practical challenges of either option - political systems (whether unitary, decentralised federalism or something else), property and compensation mechanisms, and facilitating population movements (relocation or return).