Newswise — Little did anyone know that less than one year after the world watched in horror as a tsunami hit southeast Asia, Hurricane Katrina would pound America's Gulf Coast, giving many Americans a first-hand experience.
Faculty members from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University who have worked extensively in humanitarian disaster relief commented on Katrina's impact and aftermath, shedding light on international perspectives, opportunities for change, and the limitations of humanitarian aid.
Patrick Webb, dean for academic affairs at the Friedman School, led the emergency food and nutrition needs assessment for the United Nations' World Food Program in the Indonesian province of Aceh, only weeks after Aceh was destroyed by the tsunami. The target of a rare drive-by-shooting during his relief efforts there, Webb understands well the dangers that accompany humanitarian workers in many emergency settings.
"Most systems for warning and relief around the world still assume a mainly rural population will be affected. The world is changing fast. Most people in most countries are concentrated in a few urban locations, almost invariably near water where the risk factors increase. The relief response needs to plan differently for worst case scenarios in these urban environments. Choices about where and how we live need to be better informed by an assessment of environmental risks, which then need to be included in our building decisions, and based less on the assumption that we, by controlling our urban environment, have minimized the risks."
Larry Minear, co-founder and director of the Humanitarianism and War Project at the Feinstein International Famine Center at the Friedman School addressed other issues in an interview. These thoughts were also conveyed in an article Minear wrote for a humanitarian news network.*
"Katrina has turned the world's pre-eminent aid donor into an aid recipient. While the international solidarity is welcome, the stunning role reversal is an opportunity for Americans to reflect upon our own foreign aid policies." Minear suggests that being on the receiving end of assistance—some of it provided with political strings attached—the US may become more prepared to divorce political agendas from the assistance it provides to other nations and more supportive of the United Nations, which anchors global humanitarian arrangements. Katrina also laid bare "the structures of vulnerability caused by poverty, race and class. These underlying factors cry out for attention, although the political pressure for change can be diffused by the outpouring of sympathy for the survivors. "¦ International experience confirms that when humanitarian aid substitutes for political solutions, it becomes overextended and leaves the structural underpinnings of need unaddressed," Minear wrote.
Peter Walker, director of the Feinstein International Famine Center, adds, "there is no humanitarian fix for deep rooted development and political problems. Humanitarian crises and mega disasters are the visible tip of the poverty iceberg. Inquiries into what went wrong with the humanitarian operation miss the point. Humanitarian aid is a vital band-aid on a gaping wound, but when the band-aid doesn't stop the bleeding and the victim dies, don't seek to develop a better band-aid, seek to find out why the victim had the wound in the first place."
In the end, however, Walker points out that "the heroism and humanity of individuals always shines through. Stranded youths broke into supermarkets and hauled out water and food to distribute to others in need. Some of the so-called looters were doing exactly what needed to be done—getting food and water to those who could not get it themselves. Emergency personnel, medical and other staff in hospitals, and other volunteers worked round the clock under conditions more commonly seen in a war zone."
*Minear, L Reuters AlertNet, Sept. 13, 2005, "Viewpoint: Katrina turns tables on US aid." [http://www.alertnet.org/thefacts/reliefresources/112661025318.htm]
The Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University is the only independent school of nutrition in the United States. The school's eight centers, which focus on questions relating to famine, hunger, poverty, and communications, are renowned for the application of scientific research to national and international policy. For two decades, the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University has studied the relationship between good nutrition and good health in aging populations. Tufts research scientists work with federal agencies to establish the USDA Dietary Guidelines, the Dietary Reference Intakes, and other significant public policies.
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