Analysis: Behind The Expulsion of the NGOs

In 2001, the Information Coordination Center of Relief Web published a report entitled “Who Does What, Where In Eritrea”, a compilation of all the agencies providing aid to Eritrea. There were 75 organizations, whose value of projects, then in various stages of implementation, was reported to be over 74 million USD.

Of the 75 organizations, 39 were international NGOs, 4 were International Organizations, 3 were Red Cross agencies, 12 UN agencies, and 16 were national NGOs. The national agencies were affiliates and mass organizations of the ruling party, like the National Union of Eritrean Women as well as government-approved “non-political” organizations like the Eritrean Development Foundation, Family Reproductive Health Association of Eritrea, Citizens for Peace, and the Eritrean War Disabled Fighters’ Association.

Since the publication of the report, many of the projects have been terminated, either due to phase out, or an abrupt governmental action. The most recent terminations announced this month affect three international NGOs—ACORD, CONCERN, Mercy Corps--and one national NGO, HEWO (Hansenians Eritrean Welfare Organisation.)

Reportedly, the reason for the expulsion of the international NGOs is their failure to comply with registration mandates that were proclaimed in May 2005. The government proclamation required of NGOs to have 2,000,000 USD in working capital in Eritrea, and to pay taxes on all imports, including food. When the fact that urgently-needed aid was stocked up in Massawa due to these new proclamations became public, the government implausibly argued that it would pay the taxes on behalf of the NGOs.

The government’s 2005 proclamation was preceded by an intense campaign in state-owned media which described all international NGOs as “neo-colonialist” who were undermining the government’s myth of a policy of self-reliance. Moreover, the July 05 expulsion of USAID could not possibly be explained by failure of USAID to meet registration requirements.

It is not clear whether the closure of Hansenian, the Eritrean NGO, is due to undercapitalization, political rift within the ruling party, or whether it is a ruse designed to counter arguments from the international NGOs that they were arbitrarily expelled. The latter appears to be the most probable given the government’s precedence. In 2001, when the government of Eritrea closed down all of Eritrea’s private press and arrested its editors and journalists, it explained that this had nothing to do with politics but simple enforcement of a 1994 government proclamation dealing with press licensing, which was, it accused, being violated. To prove that this was so, the government shut down Tirigta, a paper published by the ruling party’s National Union of Eritrean Youth & Students (NUEYS), then as now a vociferous supporter of the government, despite the defection of its chairman to the United States. When the licensing issue did not find acceptance, the government accused all arrested journalists, editors and publishers of being spies and agents of foreign governments. Nearly five years later, they remain in jail, without charges.

If past patterns of the government are an indicator, it appears that this is yet another arbitrary decision meant to grab the attention of Western governments and reinforce the myth to its supporters that the government is self-reliant. The "self-reliance" myth is agressively propagated despite the fact that Eritrea is ranked third in the world (after Sao Tome Principe and Guinea Bisau) for having the highest Aid to GDP rate (29%.) In the same arbitrary way the NGOs were expelled, they can expect to be invited back, only to be expelled again (as was the case with Amnesty International.)

It is ill-advised to expel NGOs when Eritrea is going through an underreported famine. It is also not clear whether the government intends to provide the services that were being provided by the expelled NGOs or if they will be absorbed by NGOs who have not been expelled yet. Here’s the profile of the three expelled NGOs as provided by their websites and, where applicable, a summary of the service they provided in Eritrea:

1. MERCY CORPS
http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/eritrea/599

Mercy Corps is improving quality of life for more than 350,000 Eritreans by empowering local partners and communities to lead and implement programs that build a more secure economic future for this East African nation.

Mercy Corps' relationship with Eritrea dates to the mid-1980s, when the agency provided support to Eritrean refugees in Sudan. Since opening an office in the capital city of Asmara in 2000, Mercy Corps has carried out more than $39 million worth of assistance and development programs.

Eritrea, which borders the Red Sea between Sudan and Djibouti, gained its independence from Ethiopia in 1991 but later fought a costly, two-and-a-half-year war with its neighbor that ended in 2000. Several years of drought and erratic rainfall further destabilized the economy, and today Eritrea is among the world's poorest 10 countries according to per capita GDP.

Eritrea's economy is based largely on subsistence agriculture, with 80 percent of the population involved in farming and herding. Mercy Corps promotes self-reliance through programs in food and nutrition, agriculture, education, community mobilization and water and sanitation. Each program is integrated into the Kehil Initiative, a holistic approach to development in the regions where Mercy Corps operates. The word Kehil refers to the ability to face challenges and overcome obstacles in Tigre, the dominant language of the eastern lowlands of Eritrea.

Programs in Focus

Development Relief Program

Working with beneficiaries that are recovering from both war and drought, this flexible program enables Mercy Corps and partners to allocate food aid, community-based nutrition, agriculture and fishing and water resource management projects to the communities for which they are most needed. The program, which will run through 2007 and benefits 300,000 beneficiaries, is supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) Office of Food for Peace.

Education Improvement Program

Mercy Corps distributes locally made, high-energy biscuits to 60,000 students per day. In these school communities, Mercy Corps also provides training, support and school-improvement grants to local Parent-Teacher Associations, and works with community members to improve girls' enrollment. The program, which began in 2001 and has supported more than 400 projects and 130 communities to date, is supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and will run through mid-2006.

Red Sea Rural Development Program

Mercy Corps' newest program in Eritrea is designed to promote self-sustaining community development with an emphasis on water and sanitation, food production and education. Small grants will fund projects selected and prioritized by communities, and will help rural communities lay the groundwork for more secure livelihoods. Supported by USAID's Mission to Eritrea, this program will run through December 2006.

2. CONCERN

http://www.concern.net/overseas/programmeoverviews.ds2?pg_country_id=15

Eritrea lies to the north of Ethiopia on the Red Sea. Along with its border with Ethiopia, it also shares a frontier with Sudan and Djibouti.

The country became independent in 1993 and has become embroiled in a border conflict with Ethiopia since 1998. While there is no fighting between the two countries, the lack of a final agreement has led to a tense stand-off.

Eritrea also suffers from a prolonged drought. There is an ongoing food shortage in the country, which is reaching emergency proportions and there is a serious problem with access to clean water.

Less than half the population have access to clean drinking water.

Periods of long drought in the country make it very difficult to carry through programmes to help alleviate food shortage. But Concern is continuing to help 14,000 children under five and another 3,500 pregnant women through its nutritional programme.

Concern is working in areas where a mere two per cent of the people have an adequate supply of safe water.

As a result of Concern’s work in Eritrea, Mohmmed Idris can now draw water from a well close to his home. Before the Concern-funded well was developed, Mohammed, father of nine children, or one of his family had to walk 90 minutes every day to supply the family with badly needed water.

Concern in 2005 is concentrating on putting in place programmes which will help prepare people for impending emergencies.

The cereal harvest is expected to yield 58 per cent of average production and less than 20 per cent of the total annual food requirement. A nutritional survey carried out by the Ministry of Health has shown that malnutrition rates had risen significantly since the previous survey in December 2003.

In 2005 Concern is focusing on building and strengthening local institutions in the four sub zones, Adikeih and Senafe in Debub and Habero and Asmat in Anseba. Concern is involved in soil and water conservation measures, building up livestock levels and helping in crop production.

Concern’s watershed programme in Anseba this year is set to benefit 7,152 households, which means it will be making life easier for approximately 35,325 people. The Concern programme in Debub Zone is benefiting 6,157 households or approximately 24,165 individuals.

There are serious malnutrition problems in the country and Concern, in co-operation with the Government, is involved in emergency operations in the three sub zones of Hagaz, Asmat and Habero in Anseba.

Concern is recruiting in 2005 an HIV/AIDS officer who will be primarily responsible for making available information on HIV/AIDS in all the Concern programmes in Eritrea.

Concern is helping to battle against some of the world’s greatest poverty problems in Eritrea.

3. ACORD

http://www.acord.org.uk/b-aboutacord.htm

The New ACORD

Moving from delivering services to leveraging change

ACORD was established in 1976 as a consortium of international agencies headquartered in the North to provide its members with operational capacity to address poverty issues resulting from the drought in sub-Saharan Africa. By 2001, ACORD was implementing 45 long-term community-based development programmes in 17 countries in Africa focusing primarily on poverty alleviation. Throughout its history, it remained independent of political or religious orientation.

ACORD has now refocused its vision, profile and strategic orientation. Based on a joint analysis with its partners of the issues and challenges that are currently facing Africa, and backed by its reputation and experience for cutting edge research and development practice, it is building its future as a genuinely international Africa-led alliance of groups and individuals addressing aspects of rights and social justice that underlie the poverty of those on the fringes of African societies. ACORD now seeks to go beyond addressing the consequences of poverty to understanding, challenging and changing the conditions that cause poverty and exclusion through a global programme that unites practical work with advocacy. ACORD believes that people have a right to a just and equal society, and it is committed to making that right a reality.

To enable ACORD to achieve its many new objectives, it is currently restructuring its 45 separate interventions in Africa into 10 -12 larger area programmes and five cross cutting thematic programmes. It is also in the process of moving its strategic leadership, identity and management from the UK to Africa.

How we effect social change

ACORD's methodological approach to programming entitled 'Critical Enquiry, Analysis and Action' involves joint analyses by ACORD and its partners of the context in which participants co-exist, joint identification of critical areas for change and joint setting of priorities for common action.

The five critical areas for change that have been identified are:

· Strengthening civil society

· Creating the conditions for resolving conflicts

· Overcoming gender and other forms of discrimination

· Improving livelihoods

· Addressing the causes and consequences of HIV/AIDS

The common actions aimed at effecting these changes include:

· Research, action and reflection

· Support to local organisations/structures

· Mobilising resources

· Influencing relevant policies, practices and attitudes

· Working in alliances with others