A journalist from the Swedish daily Sydsvenskan called the other day for an interview. It is always a bit weird to read what you are trying to explain in an article when you dont get a chance to give long explanations. Anyway, for those of you who read Swedish:
Bättre beredskap begränsade dödstalen
Vattnet har dragit sig tillbaka från de stormdrabbade kustområdena i Bangladesh. I många byar står bara husens lergrunder kvar.
Men snabbare än efter någon tidigare naturkatastrof börjar livet återgå till det normala.
En tröst inför framtida översvämningar är att dödstalen hamnade på en rekordlåg nivå.
– Det finns en vana vid katastrofer, system som sätts i gång med kort varsel, säger Gabrielle Jönsson, biståndssamordnare på hjälporganisationen Svalornas kontor i Dhaka.
Gabrielle Jönsson kommer från skånska Höör och har mångårig erfarenhet av biståndsarbete i Sydasien. Hon berättar på en sprakande telefonlinje från Dhaka om hur Bangladesh enbart i år drabbats av tre svåra naturkatastrofer.
I januari förstördes många skördar av en köldknäpp, i augusti drabbades kustområdena av svåra översvämningar och nu i november ödelades stora delar av landet av den tropiska cyklonen Sidr.
Som en följd av cyklonen ställer Svalorna om en del av sin långsiktiga jordbrukshjälp till snabba krisinsatser. I dagarna får organisationen CFD, Campaign for Sustainable Development, ett kontant stöd på 20000 kronor för inköp av ris – dels som nödmat, dels för nya utplanteringar.
– Den hjälpen gör stor skillnad för dem som får del av den, säger Gabrielle Jönsson.
Häromdagen besökte hon några av de områden i Bagerhatdistriktet som låg i stormens öga. Det finns byar där ingenting finns kvar. Husen är totalförstörda. Det syns tydligt var den tropiska cyklonen drog fram.
– Hjälpbehoven är stora. Folk vandrar omkring utan kläder och mat. Många bryter ihop när vi västerlänningar kommer. Vi symboliserar att hjälp är på väg. Men på individnivå är det svårt att hjälpa, säger Gabrielle Jönsson.
– Många nödställda berättar sin historia och vädjar om stöd. Men de betonar att hjälpen inte bör gå genom lokala politiker och partier. I så fall försvinner den på vägen. Korruptionen är utbredd i Bangladesh.
Mitt i allt elände visar katastrofen på förbättringar. Sidr skördade visserligen 3500 dödsoffer. Men det är ändå en rekordlåg siffra. I 1991 års cyklonkatastrof, som var mindre turbulent rent metereologiskt, omkom 1,4 miljoner människor.
– Bangladesh har utvecklat sitt förvarningssystem för annalkande tropiska cykloner. Dessutom spelar det roll att militären styr landet. Av rädsla för plundrare vill folk ogärna lämna sina hus, men nu tvingade militären fram en evakuering av utsatta byar, säger Gabrielle Jönsson.
Även i Bangladesh ökar den folkliga medvetenheten om att naturkatastrofer kan bero på klimatförändringar. Bangladesh är det land i världen som påverkas mest av stigande havsnivåer. Om hundra år kan en fjärdedel av landets yta ligga under vatten.
Issmältningen i Himalaya skapar dock även mänskligt styrda översvämningar. I Indien rinner vattenmassorna via flera jättelika dammar. När luckorna öppnas ligger Bangladesh illa till.
– Trots stora akuta hjälpbehov måste alla biståndsorganisationer fortsätta jobba långsiktigt. Nya naturkatastrofer är att vänta. Vi måste uppmuntra jordbruksutveckling som förebygger framtida katastrofer.
Den tropiska cyklonen Sidr
Sidr var den fjärde namngivna stormen i Sydasien under 2007 års tropiska cyklonsäsong.
Vindbyarna hade som mest en hastighet på 215 km/tim.
Sidr bildades i de centrala delarna av Bengaliska viken den 9 november och nådde Bangladeshs kust sex dagar senare.
Enligt officiella uppgifter omkom 3 500 personer i cyklonen. Rädda barnen uppskattar dock dödstalen till 5000–10000 personer.
Internationella biståndsorganisationer har utlovat hjälpinsatser för drygt 150 miljoner kronor.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
The Cyclone Sidr
I just returned to Dhaka after visting Bagerhat, a Southern district of Bangladesh. Bagerhat is one of the districts severly affected by the cyclone Sidr which devasted large parts of the country during the night between Thursday and Friday last week. Also in Dhaka the cyclone was felt with heavy rains and winds disrupting electricity and phone and internet networks for days.
In the South it is reported that thousands of people died when their houses were destroyed by the winds. In the region we visited these last couple of days trees had fallen everywhere and electricity will probably not be back in months. A local ferry was thrown from the middle of the river far up on the shore by a 15-20 feet high tidal wave. Devasted people showed their totally destroyed homes, crying that they had nothing left. No food, no clothes for their children and no safe drinking water. We passed shelters where the local governemnt distributed 10 kgs rice per family and thay also had a small amount of money from the central governmnet to hand out to people in need. But 500 taka amounts to alsmot nothing under the circumstances, rebuildning a home would cost around 20 000 taka. Frustration was visible, both among local officals and all the people in dire need of assistance.
World Food Program, UN agencies and other NGOs have started their relief efforts and we watched as rice and bisquits were loaded on boats to be taken to the worst hit areas were there is no functioning infrastructure. The military supplied water pumps. Hopefully the international community will continue to respond to the needs as expressed by the Bangladeshi government for assistance in this very difficult situation. Just a few months back is the devastating flooding, people just started recovering from that catastrophy. One man told us that now the affected areas has been thrown back 20 years in time. Bangladesh is not a country who can afford such a backlash.
Pictures from the area will be posted tomorrow.
In the South it is reported that thousands of people died when their houses were destroyed by the winds. In the region we visited these last couple of days trees had fallen everywhere and electricity will probably not be back in months. A local ferry was thrown from the middle of the river far up on the shore by a 15-20 feet high tidal wave. Devasted people showed their totally destroyed homes, crying that they had nothing left. No food, no clothes for their children and no safe drinking water. We passed shelters where the local governemnt distributed 10 kgs rice per family and thay also had a small amount of money from the central governmnet to hand out to people in need. But 500 taka amounts to alsmot nothing under the circumstances, rebuildning a home would cost around 20 000 taka. Frustration was visible, both among local officals and all the people in dire need of assistance.
World Food Program, UN agencies and other NGOs have started their relief efforts and we watched as rice and bisquits were loaded on boats to be taken to the worst hit areas were there is no functioning infrastructure. The military supplied water pumps. Hopefully the international community will continue to respond to the needs as expressed by the Bangladeshi government for assistance in this very difficult situation. Just a few months back is the devastating flooding, people just started recovering from that catastrophy. One man told us that now the affected areas has been thrown back 20 years in time. Bangladesh is not a country who can afford such a backlash.
Pictures from the area will be posted tomorrow.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Pakistan follows Bangladesh?
The latest developments in Pakistan show some similarities to the situation in Bangladesh. Will the two nations, not so long ago being one single country, choose a path of democracy or slide back further into military rule and dictatorship?
Below article from Bangladeshi newspaper:
Rice urges Mosharraf to take off uniform: US defence team puts off visit to Pakistan; UK, Holland review aid programme
Tuesday November 06 2007 02:26:12 AM BDT
Police fired tear gas and battered thousands of lawyers protesting President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's decision to impose emergency rule, as Western allies threatened to review aid to the troubled Muslim nation. More than 1,500 people(New NationBD)
have been arrested in 48 hours, and authorities put a stranglehold on independent media.
Musharraf, who took power in a 1999 coup and is also head of Pakistan's army, suspended the constitution on Saturday ahead of a Supreme Court ruling on whether his re-election as president was legal. He ousted independent-minded judges, stripped media freedoms and granted sweeping powers to authorities to crush dissent.
Though public anger was mounting in the nation of 160 million people, which has been under military rule for much of its 60-year history, demonstrations so far have been limited largely to activists, rights workers and lawyers. All have been quickly and sometimes brutally stamped out.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Washington was reviewing its assistance to Pakistan, which has received billions in aid since Musharraf threw his support behind the U.S.-led war on terror after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
At a news conference in the West Bank on Monday, Rice urged Musharraf to follow through on past promises to "take off his uniform."
"I want to be very clear," she said, as a team of U.S. defense officials postponed plans to travel to Islamabad for talks Tuesday because of the crisis. "We believe that the best path for Pakistan is to quickly return to a constitutional path and then to hold elections."
Britain also said it was reviewing its aid package to Pakistan, and the Dutch government suspended its aid on Monday.
Musharraf reiterated to foreign ambassadors Monday that he was committed to complete the transition to democracy, though, under a state of emergency, elections scheduled for January could be pushed back by up to a year, according to the government.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan government, under mounting pressure from Western allies after declaring emergency rule, has decided to hold a general election by mid-January, the government's top lawyer said on Monday.
Attorney-General Malik Abdul Qayyum said Pakistan's National and provincial assemblies will be dissolved in 10 days' time.
Critics say Musharraf imposed emergency rule in a last-ditch attempt to cling to power.
His leadership is threatened by the Islamic militant movement that has spread from border regions to the capital, the reemergence of political rival and former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, and an increasingly defiant Supreme Court, which has been virtually decimated in the last two days.
Since late Saturday, between 1,500 and 1,800 people have been detained nationwide, an Interior Ministry official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. They include opposition leaders, lawyers and human rights activists who might mobilize protests.
At least 67 workers and supporters of Bhutto - who has held talks in recent months with Musharraf over an alliance to fight extremism - had been arrested, said Pakistan People's Party spokesman Farhatullah Babar.
Lawyers - who were the driving force behind protests earlier this year when Musharraf tried unsuccessfully to fire independent-minded chief justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry - attempted to stage rallies in major cities on Monday, but were beaten and arrested.
Chaudhry was removed from his post on Saturday, just as the Supreme Court was preparing to rule on whether Musharraf's Oct. 6 re-election. Opponents say he should be disqualified because he contested the vote as army chief.
In the biggest gathering Monday, about 2,000 lawyers congregated at the High Court in the eastern city of Lahore. As lawyers tried to exit onto a main road, hundreds of police stormed inside, swinging batons and firing tear gas. Lawyers, shouting "Go Musharraf Go!" responded by throwing stones and beating police with tree branches.
Police bundled about 250 lawyers into waiting vans, an Associated Press reporter saw. At least two were bleeding from the head.
In the capital, Islamabad, hundreds of police and paramilitary troops lined roads and rolled out barbed-wire barricades on Monday to seal off the Supreme Court.
Only government employees heading for nearby ministries were allowed through. Two black-suited lawyers whose car was stopped by police argued in vain that they should be granted entry. They were eventually escorted away by two police cars.
A few dozen activists from hard-line Islamic parties gathered nearby, chanting slogans including "Hang, Musharraf, hang!"
As well as calling for protests, lawyers' groups have vowed to boycott all court proceedings held in front of new judges sworn by Musharraf.
Rana Bhagwandas, a Supreme Court judge who refused to take oath under Musharraf's proclamation of emergency orders, said he has been locked inside in his official residence in Islamabad and that other judges were being pressured to support the government.
"They are still working on some judges, they are under pressure," Bhagwandas told Geo TV in a phone interview.
Authorities have imprisoned or put under house arrest key Musharraf critics, among them Javed Hashmi, the acting president of the party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif; cricket star-turned politician, Imran Khan; Asma Jehangir, chairman of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan; and Hamid Gul, former chief of the main intelligence agency.
Pakistan's largest religious party Jamaat-e-Islami reported that more than 500 of its workers and supporters had been detained since Sunday, including its leader, according to senior members of the party and police.
Attorney General Malik Mohammed Qayyum said Sunday a new panel of Supreme Court judges would rule "as early as possible" on Musharraf's eligibility for a new five-year presidential term.
Below article from Bangladeshi newspaper:
Rice urges Mosharraf to take off uniform: US defence team puts off visit to Pakistan; UK, Holland review aid programme
Tuesday November 06 2007 02:26:12 AM BDT
Police fired tear gas and battered thousands of lawyers protesting President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's decision to impose emergency rule, as Western allies threatened to review aid to the troubled Muslim nation. More than 1,500 people(New NationBD)
have been arrested in 48 hours, and authorities put a stranglehold on independent media.
Musharraf, who took power in a 1999 coup and is also head of Pakistan's army, suspended the constitution on Saturday ahead of a Supreme Court ruling on whether his re-election as president was legal. He ousted independent-minded judges, stripped media freedoms and granted sweeping powers to authorities to crush dissent.
Though public anger was mounting in the nation of 160 million people, which has been under military rule for much of its 60-year history, demonstrations so far have been limited largely to activists, rights workers and lawyers. All have been quickly and sometimes brutally stamped out.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Washington was reviewing its assistance to Pakistan, which has received billions in aid since Musharraf threw his support behind the U.S.-led war on terror after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
At a news conference in the West Bank on Monday, Rice urged Musharraf to follow through on past promises to "take off his uniform."
"I want to be very clear," she said, as a team of U.S. defense officials postponed plans to travel to Islamabad for talks Tuesday because of the crisis. "We believe that the best path for Pakistan is to quickly return to a constitutional path and then to hold elections."
Britain also said it was reviewing its aid package to Pakistan, and the Dutch government suspended its aid on Monday.
Musharraf reiterated to foreign ambassadors Monday that he was committed to complete the transition to democracy, though, under a state of emergency, elections scheduled for January could be pushed back by up to a year, according to the government.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan government, under mounting pressure from Western allies after declaring emergency rule, has decided to hold a general election by mid-January, the government's top lawyer said on Monday.
Attorney-General Malik Abdul Qayyum said Pakistan's National and provincial assemblies will be dissolved in 10 days' time.
Critics say Musharraf imposed emergency rule in a last-ditch attempt to cling to power.
His leadership is threatened by the Islamic militant movement that has spread from border regions to the capital, the reemergence of political rival and former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, and an increasingly defiant Supreme Court, which has been virtually decimated in the last two days.
Since late Saturday, between 1,500 and 1,800 people have been detained nationwide, an Interior Ministry official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. They include opposition leaders, lawyers and human rights activists who might mobilize protests.
At least 67 workers and supporters of Bhutto - who has held talks in recent months with Musharraf over an alliance to fight extremism - had been arrested, said Pakistan People's Party spokesman Farhatullah Babar.
Lawyers - who were the driving force behind protests earlier this year when Musharraf tried unsuccessfully to fire independent-minded chief justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry - attempted to stage rallies in major cities on Monday, but were beaten and arrested.
Chaudhry was removed from his post on Saturday, just as the Supreme Court was preparing to rule on whether Musharraf's Oct. 6 re-election. Opponents say he should be disqualified because he contested the vote as army chief.
In the biggest gathering Monday, about 2,000 lawyers congregated at the High Court in the eastern city of Lahore. As lawyers tried to exit onto a main road, hundreds of police stormed inside, swinging batons and firing tear gas. Lawyers, shouting "Go Musharraf Go!" responded by throwing stones and beating police with tree branches.
Police bundled about 250 lawyers into waiting vans, an Associated Press reporter saw. At least two were bleeding from the head.
In the capital, Islamabad, hundreds of police and paramilitary troops lined roads and rolled out barbed-wire barricades on Monday to seal off the Supreme Court.
Only government employees heading for nearby ministries were allowed through. Two black-suited lawyers whose car was stopped by police argued in vain that they should be granted entry. They were eventually escorted away by two police cars.
A few dozen activists from hard-line Islamic parties gathered nearby, chanting slogans including "Hang, Musharraf, hang!"
As well as calling for protests, lawyers' groups have vowed to boycott all court proceedings held in front of new judges sworn by Musharraf.
Rana Bhagwandas, a Supreme Court judge who refused to take oath under Musharraf's proclamation of emergency orders, said he has been locked inside in his official residence in Islamabad and that other judges were being pressured to support the government.
"They are still working on some judges, they are under pressure," Bhagwandas told Geo TV in a phone interview.
Authorities have imprisoned or put under house arrest key Musharraf critics, among them Javed Hashmi, the acting president of the party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif; cricket star-turned politician, Imran Khan; Asma Jehangir, chairman of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan; and Hamid Gul, former chief of the main intelligence agency.
Pakistan's largest religious party Jamaat-e-Islami reported that more than 500 of its workers and supporters had been detained since Sunday, including its leader, according to senior members of the party and police.
Attorney General Malik Mohammed Qayyum said Sunday a new panel of Supreme Court judges would rule "as early as possible" on Musharraf's eligibility for a new five-year presidential term.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
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