MONDAY

DEVELOPMENTS
The Latest Issues and Trends in International Development and Humanitarian Assistance

how
CLIMATE CHANGE
affects your work

August 2007
Vol. 25, No. 8
InterAction
 THREE ERAS 6 THE KEY TO GREEN 9 UNCERTAIN URGENCY 10 AFFECTING THE POOR 22
Climate change was described as the “defining issue of our era” by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the 2007 G8 Summit in Germany. In this edition of
Monday Developments, we explore how climate change is impacting the poor around the world. Learn about the history of climate change, why development
organizations should care, current legislation on this issue, what Japanese NGOs are doing in preparation for next year’s G8 Summit and more...

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04 Climate Justice: The Basics
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Why Should Development Groups
Care About Climate Change?
By Elizabeth Bast, International Policy Analyst,
Friends of the Earth
Evidence is now overwhelming that climate change will seriously harm
the world’s poorest people and hamper development efforts globally.
Climate change will hit hardest in those places least responsible for
contributing to the problem, such as sub-Saharan Africa.
This year, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) released its latest assessment report on the state of the
world’s climate. The report, which includes input from hundreds of
climate scientists from around the world, affirms that human actions
are contributing to climate change. It also describes expected impacts
of climate change around the world, including increasing droughts
and flooding, changes in crop yields and water supplies and health
impacts.
The achievement of the Millennium Development Goals will be
seriously compromised by the consequences of climate change, as its
increasing impacts exacerbate hunger and poverty, disrupt schooling,
disproportionately impact women and increase health risks, as well as
fundamentally alter the natural environment.
Worldwide, in addition to widespread food and water disruptions,
climate change is expected to affect the health of millions of people
through malnutrition, diarrhea, cardio-respiratory diseases, changes in
the range of disease-spreading insects and other carriers, and deaths,
disease and injury from heat waves, floods, storms, fires and droughts.
Africa is one of the most vulnerable continents, particularly due to
the lack of capacity to adapt to these impacts. The IPCC report finds
that in Africa, yields from rain-fed agriculture in some countries
could be reduced by up to 50 percent by 2020, while rising water
temperatures will decrease fisheries resources in large lakes. Between
75 and 250 million people are expected to experience problems with
water availability by 2020.
Development organizations are uniquely situated to help those
affected by climate change to adapt to the impacts. They can help
communities build resilience and adaptive capacity and can encourage
the consideration of climate change impacts in development planning.
They can prioritize climate change in policy planning, incorporate
climate resistance into current projects and create new projects that
address climate change issues.
Being on the front lines of the problem, development organizations are
also well-placed to speak to the impacts of climate change around the
world and to our responsibility to keep the problem from worsening.
In the United States, we are responsible for 25 percent of the world’s
emissions, with only five percent of the world’s population.
Climate change impacts will become worse if polluting countries
including the United States do not act now. But even with dramatic
reductions in emissions, the impacts on developing countries will be
serious and the United States has a responsibility to assist impoverished
communities around the world to adapt to these impacts.
The challenge of addressing climate change is a substantial one, but
there is a clear and compelling role for development organizations in
combating the problem and creating solutions.
IN THIS ISSUE
AN OVERVIEW
A Brief History on Climate Change
1827 Greenhouse analogy is first used by Jean-Baptiste Fourier who predicts an
atmospheric effect keeps the Earth warmer than it otherwise would be.
1957 Oceanographer David Keeling sets up first continuous monitoring of carbon
dioxide levels in the atmosphere and finds a regular year-on-year rise.
1979 First World Climate Conference adopts climate change as a major issue and calls
on governments “to foresee and prevent potential man-made changes in climate.”
1988 United Nations (UN) sets up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) to analyze and report on scientific findings.
1990 Statistics reveal that the 1980s was the hottest decade on record, with seven of
the eight warmest years recorded before 1990. Even the coldest years in the 1980s were
warmer than the warmest years of the 1880s.
1990 The first report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) finds
that the planet has warmed by over 1°F in the past century and warns that only strong
measures to halt rising emissions will prevent serious global warming.
1997 Kyoto Protocol agreement reached on legally binding emissions cuts for industri-
alised nations, averaging 5.4 percent, to be met by 2012. Though the Clinton Administration
was involved in negotiating the protocol, the U.S. Senate votes not to ratify unless it sees
evidence of “meaningful participation” in reducing emissions from developing countries.
2001 U.S. president George W. Bush renounces the Kyoto Protocol because he believes
it will damage the U.S. economy. After some hesitation, other nations agree to go ahead
without the U.S.
2005 Second warmest year on record. New studies find that emissions are increasing
faster than expected and are coming close to the worst case scenario predicted by the
IPCC.
01.2007 The U.S. Climate Action Partnership, a coalition of major U.S. corporations
and environmental groups, calls “on the U.S. government to pass legislation that requires
significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.”
02.2007 A prominent group of evangelical leaders, including many InterAction mem-
ber CEOs, issues a call to action on climate change citing that “millions of people could die
in this century because of climate change, most of them our poorest global neighbors.”
05.2007 The IPCC releases its fourth assessment report, which warns that: serious
effects of warming have become evident; the cost of reducing emissions would be far less
than the cost of damage they will cause; and poor and developing countries will be the
hardest hit because they depend more directly on the environment and have less ability to
adapt.
06.2007 In advance of the G8 Summit in Germany, President Bush announces a
plan to set up separate negotiations, outside of the existing UN process, that would aim to
agree to voluntary emissions caps. The plan is widely criticized by European leaders and
environmental organizations for not going far enough.
2012 Kyoto Protocol expires.
AUGUST 2007 
THE BASICS
Climate Justice: The Basics
By Paul L. Joffe, Senior Director, International Affairs, National Wildlife Federation; Kelly Rand, Policy Coordinator,
International Affairs, National Wildlife Federation
T
here is growing recognition that
global warming threatens all na-
tions and especially the poor,
who are, in fact, the most vulner-
able. Expected impacts include coastal
flooding, storm damage, drought, water
shortages and spread of disease vectors.
These impacts will continue to increase if
we do not reduce global warming pollu-
tion. However, even with limits on pol-
lution, action is necessary to reduce the
unavoidable impacts and damage due to
global warming pollution already in the
atmosphere.
The burning of carbon-based fossil fuels
such as coal, oil and gas and the destruc-
tion of forests worldwide are the driving
force behind global warming. Scientific
studies show a direct relationship be-
tween the amount of carbon dioxide
(CO2) and other heat-trapping gases in
the atmosphere due to human activity
and the increase in the earth’s average
surface temperature. The more CO2 that
is emitted, the more the planet warms.
In February 2007, the Intergovernmen-
tal Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) re-
leased its fourth assessment of the large
and growing body of science concerning
global warming. The report calls global
warming “unequivocal” and “very likely
due to the observed increase in anthro-
pogenic greenhouse gas concentrations.”
[emphasis in the original]
Since the start of the Industrial Revolu-
tion, the amount of carbon pollution in
the atmosphere has risen to a level greater
than at any other time in at least 650,000
years, and perhaps as long as 20 million
years. As a result, in the 20th century
alone, the Earth’s average temperature
rose more than 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit.
This may not seem like much, but just
a couple degrees change can take you
from healthy to having a fever. Eleven of
the past twelve years (1995–2006) rank
among the twelve warmest years on re-
cord since 1850. Moreover, the IPCC
projects that the earth’s average temper-
ature will rise between four and eleven
more degrees Fahrenheit before the end
 InterAction MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS
of this century if the current extensive In 1995, the IPCC released its second
dependence on fossil fuels continues. report, concluding that climate change
caused by past emissions may have already
Since the 1980s, scientists have recog-
started. The Parties negotiated what has
nized the impact of humans on the at-
become known as the Kyoto Protocol,
mosphere. In 1988, the World Meteo-
which sets legally binding targets and
rological Organization and the United
timetables for cutting the emissions of
Nations Environment Program estab-
developed countries. It was adopted at
lished the Intergovernmental Panel on
the third COP in Kyoto, Japan in 1997.
Climate Change (IPCC) to study these
impacts and in 1990 the IPCC released While the U.S. produces 25 percent of
the world’s total greenhouse gas pol-
its first report. The report confirmed that
lution with only five percent of world
climate change was a looming threat and
population, it has not ratified the Kyoto
called for a global treaty to address the
Protocol and is not legally bound by it.
problem.
However, the Protocol officially came
Just two years later at the “Earth Sum- into force in 2005 when Russia became
mit” in Rio de Janeiro, the United Na- a party to it.
tions Framework Convention on Cli-
As the third IPCC report (released in
mate Change (UNFCCC) was ready for
2001) concluded, climate change will
signature and countries began signing
most acutely affect developing countries,
on. It entered into force in 1994. The
which are least responsible and have the
UNFCCC recognizes climate change as
fewest resources to adapt. The fourth
a problem and sets a goal of stabilizing
IPCC report (released this year) also
“greenhouse gas concentrations in the
found that impoverished countries will
atmosphere at a level that would pre-
have the least capacity to cope with in-
vent dangerous anthropogenic (human-
creasingly devastating impacts, including
induced) interference with the climate
extreme weather events, rising sea levels,
system.” The Convention also states that
drought, disruption of water and food
the stabilized level must be achieved in
supplies, and impacts on health. Because
a timeframe that: allows ecosystems to
of this, the UNFCCC calls upon devel-
adapt naturally to climate change; en-
oped nations to help developing coun-
sures food production is not threatened;
tries meet the costs of adapting to these
and enables sustainable economic devel-
impacts.
opment to occur.
The Stern Review on the economics of
Today, over 180 countries, including the
climate change (released by the UK Trea-
U.S., are Parties to the UNFCCC, mean-
sury in late 2006) highlights some grim
ing they are legally bound by its obliga-
prospects. Rising sea levels could flood
tions. Under the Convention, the Par-
hundreds of millions of people each
ties meet annually at the Conference of
year. Two hundred million more may be
the Parties (COP) to review, debate and
permanently displaced by flooding and
further the implementation of the treaty.
drought. Scientists at the World Health
The Convention allows Parties to take
Organization have estimated that, world-
additional, more specific action through
wide, about 160,000 people already die
amendments and protocols. It also ac-
from side-effects of global warming,
knowledges the different responsibilities
ranging from malaria to malnutrition,
of developed countries versus those of
and that the numbers could nearly dou-
developing countries – distinguishing be-
ble by 2020. Developing countries will
tween those historically most responsible
need to adapt to reduce their vulnerabil-
for the problem (i.e., developed coun-
ity to these and other impacts.
tries) and those historically less respon-
sible (i.e., developing countries). Several different funds were created un-
der the Framework Convention and the
THE BASICS
Since the start of the Industrial Revolution,
the amount of carbon pollution
in the atmosphere has risen to a level greater
than at any other time in at least 650,000 years,
and perhaps as long as 20 million years.
Kyoto Protocol to help developing coun-
tries adapt. While the UNFCCC calls for
developed countries to provide adapta-
tion assistance, all contributions to the
funds are voluntary. Unfortunately, only
$232 million has been pledged to these
funds to date. The World Bank has esti-
mated the annual cost of adaptation in
developing countries to be approximately
$10 to 40 billion, while new studies esti-
mate these costs to be at least $50 billion
a year. Without early and strong mitiga-
tion (cutting of emissions), adaptation
costs could rise even more.
The earth has already warmed 1.5 de-
grees Fahrenheit since the start of the in-
dustrial revolution. Scientists say that to
avoid dangerous impacts of global warm-
ing, we must keep warming at less than
an additional 2.1 degrees Fahrenheit.
Climate modelers believe that to have a
good chance of doing this, we must stabi-
lize atmospheric concentrations of global
warming pollution at 450ppm (parts per
million). To do its fair share to meet that
goal, the U.S. must reduce its emissions
by about two percent per year, or about
80 percent in total by 2050. The longer
we wait to begin cutting, the faster we
will need to reduce emissions in the end.
In fact, scientists say a global delay of 10
years nearly doubles the reduction rates
required around 2025 and may make
avoidance of dangerous climate change
impossible.
Carrying out adaptation programs raises
many issues, including finding financing
and clarifying the relationship between
efforts to adapt to climate change and ef-
forts for poverty alleviation such as the
Millennium Development Goals. Carbon
permits are a “hot” topic in this area,
potentially providing a funding source
for climate change adaptation including
poverty alleviation. Under cap and trade
systems, such as the kind currently being
debated in Congress, major producers
of greenhouse gases would need to have
sufficient numbers of carbon permits to
cover the amount of greenhouse gases
they produce. If they have more cred-
its than they need to cover greenhouse
gases they emit, holders can trade or sell
their extra credits to producers who need
more. One of the outstanding issues is
whether polluters should simply be given
the necessary credits or whether they
should be auctioned off with a portion of
the proceeds being used to help meet the
U.S. responsibility to provide adaptation
assistance in developing nations.
The coming months will also see a re-
sumption of international negotiations
aimed at reaching agreements on the next
round of obligations for both mitigation
and adaptation. Concerned groups and
individuals must press the U.S. govern-
ment to re-engage in these negotiations
and support a strong agreement. Fortu-
nately, there is growing public support
for action.
The current and upcoming debates also
provide an opportunity to promote
greater understanding of the links be-
tween global warming, development
and effective foreign assistance. Environ-
mental and development groups all have
important experience and important
roles to play. Working together, they can
ensure recognition of the links between
global warming and development and
that policies on these issues are mutually
reinforcing.
While no one will be able to escape global
warming, it is the poorest people and na-
tions who are most vulnerable to its neg-
ative impacts. They are also most in need
of strong advocates and practical policy
solutions to help build resilient commu-
nities and reduce their vulnerability. Oth-
erwise, the poor face further devastation
and the world faces rising instability. The
U.S. has an interest in preventing this
and a responsibility to address both miti-
gation and adaptation needs.
© 2007 National Wildlife Federation
AUGUST 2007 

Three Eras of
Climate Change
By Saleemul Huq, Head, Climate
Change Group of the International
Institute for Environment and
Development (IIED) and a
coordinating lead author of the
IPCC’s 4th Assessment Report, and
Camilla Toulmin, Director, IIED
Learn about the latest IPCC
Report on page 8.
 InterAction MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS
C
limate change as a global challenge has evolved through a series of stages
in recent decades. We are now on the brink of a new era that will see the
terms of the debate shift once again. The different eras are characterized by
the scientific evidence, public perceptions, responses and the engagement
of different groups addressing the problem. In the first era, from the late 1980s to
2000, climate change was seen as an “environmental” problem concerning preven-
tion of future impacts on the planet’s climate systems over the next fifty to one
hundred years through reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases, a process also
known as “mitigation.”
The second era started around the turn of the millennium, with the recognition that
there will be unavoidable impacts from climate change in the near term (over the
next decade or two). These impacts must be coped with through “adaptation,” as
well as mitigation, to prevent much more severe and possibly catastrophic impacts in
the longer term. It has become clear that many of the impacts of climate change in
the near term are likely to fall on the poorest countries and communities. The third
era, which we are just about to enter, will see the issue change from tackling an en-
vironmental or development problem to a question of global justice. It will engage a
much wider array of citizens from around the world than previous eras.
While the characterization of the first two eras will be widely accepted by many, the
third era is more contested. This is especially true in the United States (and Austra-
lia), where public and political opinion are lagging behind that of Europe and many
parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America.
First Era
The first era can be dated from the preparation and publication of the first assessment
report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), established in
1988, which alerted the world to the problem of the runaway greenhouse effect.
This was predicted to occur sometime in the 21st century if emissions of man-made
greenhouse gases continued unabated at current rates. The IPCC assessment was
based on computer models of the Earth’s atmosphere and the physics of heat entrap-
ment by a number of gases, but principally carbon dioxide, from burning of fossil
fuels like coal, petroleum and natural gas.
This led to the governments of the world agreeing to the United Nations Frame-
work Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit,
whereby all signatory countries accepted the problem and agreed to take measures to
reduce their emissions. They also recognized that the rich countries (listed by name
A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
in the annex of the UNFCCC and hence
known as “Annex I countries”) were the
countries principally responsible for past
emissions and would take action first.
In 1995 the IPCC published its second
assessment report. It highlighted the fact
that despite pledges to reduce emissions
of greenhouse gases, they were continu-
ing to rise and would result in severe im-
pacts if nothing were done to cut them.
This in turn led to the negotiation of the
Kyoto Protocol of the UNFCCC, which
was agreed upon at the third conference
of parties (COP3) to the Convention in
Kyoto, Japan in 1997. This committed
signatory countries to targets for reduc-
ing emissions by an agreed amount by
the end of the first commitment period
in 2012, after which the targets would
become more stringent. Developing
countries did not have to accept any tar-
gets for emission reductions in the first
commitment period, but would make
commitments after 2012.
During this era, the issue was seen prin-
cipally as an environmental problem to
do with the global atmosphere and the
people involved were scientists and na-
tional environmental policy makers. The
solution was also seen in terms of preven-
tion of impacts that would occur in the
distant future.
Second Era
The start of this era can be traced to 2001
with the publication of the IPCC’s third
assessment report which, for the first
time, alerted the world to the unavoid-
able impacts of human induced climate
change in the near term (the next decade
or two). The report thus raised the need
to cope with impacts through “adapta-
tion.” It also pointed out that impacts
would not be uniform across the globe,
but that poor countries and poor com-
munities in all countries (including rich
nations) would be vulnerable and need
assistance to adapt.
In policy terms, this led to the Marrakech
Accords agreed at the seventh conference
of parties (COP7) held in Marrakech,
Morocco in November 2001, where a
number of new funds were created to
help poor countries to adapt. These in-
cluded the least developed countries
(LDC) fund as well as the special climate
change fund (SCCF). It also highlighted
the connection between adaptation to
the impacts of climate change and devel-
opment on the ground, especially in the
water, agriculture, disaster preparedness
and coastal management sectors.
At this time the perception of the prob-
lem shifted to include the need to see
climate change not just as an environ-
mental issue but also as a growing threat
to development. Thus, a wider range of
people became engaged with the issue,
including the NGO and development
community, with solutions sought not
only in mitigation but also in necessary
adaptation.
Third Era
The third era began to really take off with
UK Treasury’s publication in late 2006
of the Stern Review on the Economics
of Climate Change and the IPCC’s pub-
lication in 2007 of its fourth assessment
report. Both reports stated unequivocally
that climate change is already happening
and that human activities are largely to
blame.
The Stern Review concluded that climate
change could shrink the global economy
by up to 20 percent, but that acting now
to face the threat would cost just one
percent of global gross domestic product
(GDP). The IPCC, meanwhile, conclud-
ed that climate change is inevitable, that
adaptation to it is critical and that those
who contributed least to the problem
will suffer the most.
The IPCC warned that extreme climat-
ic events from droughts to floods are
set to become more frequent. While it
may not be possible to attribute a single
event, such as Hurricane Katrina, which
struck New Orleans in 2005, to human
induced climate change, the accumula-
tion of evidence of major, climate-related
occurrences is a very strong signal that
human-induced climate change is already
happening. Examples include glacial ice
melt in Greenland, heat waves in Europe,
droughts in Africa, floods in Asia and
hurricanes in the Caribbean. The costs of
adopting low carbon technology are now
recognized as insignificant in comparison
to the risks of massive and catastrophic
changes if we do nothing.
A shift is happening in the way climate
change is perceived: moving from a view
that it is just an environmental issue, or
even an environment and development
issue, to one of global justice, or, more
correctly, global injustice. One group of
people (namely rich people everywhere,
but mostly in rich countries) have caused
the problem, and another group of peo-
ple (namely poor people, especially in
poor countries) will suffer most of the
adverse consequences in the near term.
Thus, the issue goes beyond mitigation
alone, although this is urgent to prevent
even greater and more catastrophic prob-
lems in fifty years’ time. And it goes be-
yond adaptation, such as helping people
prepare for the unavoidable impacts in
the next few decades. A major challenge
now is to find ways to compensate peo-
ple for the damage that has already been
done.
This new characterization of the climate
change problem binds together every
single person on the planet, as each hu-
man has a “carbon footprint” that is
contributing to the problem, although
the size of individual footprints varies
by many orders of magnitude. Everyone
has a responsibility to reduce their emis-
sions commensurate with their footprint,
while seeking to offset what cannot be
reduced. The germ of the solution to
climate change must grow from each
individual taking responsibility not only
to reduce their own individual impacts,
but also to urge leaders to choose poli-
cies and actions that will enable a stable
and just planet.
People from all walks of life around the
world, especially in the richer parts of
the world, are beginning to realize the
magnitude of the climate change prob-
lem and their responsibilities for emis-
sions of greenhouse gases that cause the
problem.
As they do, they must also take action.
They can act both as consumers, by mak-
ing conscious decisions to reduce the car-
bon footprints of their lifestyles, and as
citizens by urging action by political and
other leaders to take the necessary policy
decisions both nationally and globally.
The most pressing need, by 2009 at the
very latest, is for a globally agreed, eq-
uitable treaty on climate change for the
post-2012 era to follow up on the Kyoto
Protocol.
AUGUST 2007 
A CALL FOR ACTION
IPCC Issues New Global Warming Report: The Impact of
Climate Change and a Call for Action
By Andrea Barron, Adjunct Professor of History, George Mason University
T
he Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC), a net-
work of more than 2,000 scien-
tists from over 150 countries, re-
cently issued its fourth assessment report
on climate change.
The IPCC is organized into three sepa-
rate working groups, each of which issued
a separate assessment. Working Group I
focused on the physical science of climate
change. Working Group II assessed the
impact of climate change on vulnerable
populations, glaciers, forests and other
natural systems, and how they can adapt
to global warming. Working Group III
discussed the state of knowledge on miti-
gating climate change by reducing the
concentration of greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere, the policies governments
can adopt to create incentives for mitiga-
tion and the relationship between mitiga-
tion and sustainable development.
In its February report, Working Group
I stated, “warming of the climate sys-
tem is unequivocal,” as seen from in-
creases in air and ocean temperatures,
the widespread melting of snow and ice,
and rising sea levels. The scientists said
it is “very likely” (more than 90 percent
probability) that these developments are
due to human activities, specifically the
burning of coal, petroleum and natural
gas. Climate scientists predict that be-
cause of the concentration of carbon di-
oxide and other greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere, temperatures will probably
rise from 3.2°F to 7.2°F (1.8-4°C) by
the end of the 21st century and possibly
as much as 11.5°F. The oceans have also
absorbed this heat, causing sea levels to
rise 6.7 inches in the last 100 years and
affecting ocean currents.
What will happen if global warming con-
tinues at the same pace? The IPCC’s
Working Group II Report, issued in
April, explained how extreme weather
events (such as heat waves, droughts,
fires and heavy rains) can have severe con-
sequences for every region of the world.
Countries can develop strategies to adapt
to these weather extremes, but adaptabil-
ity “depends on such factors as wealth,
 InterAction MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS
IPCC Summaries for
Policymakers
Working Group I: The Physical
Science Basis
www.ipcc.ch/SPM2feb07.pdf
Working Group II: Impacts,
Adaptation and Vulnerability
www.ipcc.ch/SPM13apr07.pdf
Working Group III: Mitigation of
Climate Change
www.ipcc.ch/SPM040507.pdf
technology, education, information,
skills, infrastructure, access to resources,
and management capabilities.” Not sur-
prisingly, countries in the developing
world have far less adaptive capacity and
will suffer the most, even though they
contribute very little to global warming.
For example:
a In Africa, millions more people
could go hungry because of a 50
percent decrease in crop yields by
the year 2020. By 2020, from 75
to 250 million Africans will suffer
from an increase in water stress due
to climate change. Eighty million
more people are at risk of being ex-
posed to malaria in the 21st centu-
ry. Malaria is expected to increase in
Zimbabwe and in parts of Angola,
Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda
and Somalia, with some decreases in
the western Sahel and other areas.
a In Asia, “coastal areas, especially
heavily-populated mega-delta re-
gions in South, East and Southeast
Asia, will be at greatest risk due to
increased flooding from the sea and,
in some mega-deltas, flooding from
the rivers.” Some good news: crop
yields could also increase up to 20
percent in East and Southeast Asia.
a In Latin America, “changing pre-
cipitation patterns and the disap-
pearance of glaciers are projected to
significantly affect water availability
for human consumption, agricul-
ture and energy generation.” Rising
sea levels will likely increase flooding
in low-lying areas. More salinization
and desertification of agricultural
land is also expected.
a On small islands in the Caribbean,
and the Indian and Pacific Oceans,
rising sea levels could have severe
consequences, “exacerbating inun-
dation, storm surge, erosion and
other coastal hazards, thus threat-
ening vital infrastructure, settle-
ments and facilities that support the
livelihood of island communities.”
The April Report also outlines what peo-
ple can do to adapt to climate change,
ranging from building levees to altering
their eating and recreational patterns to
changing the way they farm. Adaptation,
however, can only go so far. What is re-
ally necessary is to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions in order to stop or mitigate cli-
mate change in the first place.
This is what Working Group III conclud-
ed in its May Report, recommending a
series of actions that could prevent tem-
peratures from rising more than 3.6 to
4.3°F (2 to 2.4°C) above pre-industrial
levels. It is at those increased levels that
we would begin to see the worst effects of
global warming. Stopping that rise would
involve, for example, setting higher stan-
dards for fuel efficient cars, investing in
public transportation and alternative fu-
els, making buildings, factories, homes
and appliances more energy efficient, and
reducing deforestation. Governments can
offer financial incentives to increase forest
areas, use fertilizers and irrigation more
efficiently, improve waste and wastewater
management, and transfer technology
to developing countries. The mitigation
measures recommended by the IPCC
would not cost more than three percent
of global gross domestic product (GDP)
by 2030, and would have a significant ef-
fect on climate change.
Ten Ways to Make
Your Office Greener
1. Use less paper. Print double-sided
copies when possible, buy recycled paper
and use real mugs instead of paper cups or
Styrofoam.
2. Recycle paper, plastic, glass,
batteries, and toner and ink cartridges.
If your office uses bottled water, try to
use the big coolers instead of individual
serving plastic bottles.
3. Reduce transportation costs. Urge
workers to use public transportation,
carpool, bike or walk to work. Seek
out government programs that provide
incentives for people who use such means
of transportation.
4. Buy more energy-efficient equipment
for your office.
5. Turn down the thermostat one or two
degrees in the winter. During the summer,
turn the thermostat up a few degrees
or open the windows to use less air
conditioning.
6. Turn off the lights when you are not in
the office and keep the lights off during the
bright daylight hours. Switch from standard
light bulbs to compact fluorescent bulbs.
7. Shut down your computer at night.
Screensavers just keep the computer
running as normal.
8. Bring green plants into the office to
absorb CO2. They make your office more
attractive too!
9. Organize a workshop to educate
employees about global warming
and actions they can take to reduce
greenhouse gases.
10. Establish a “Green Team” in your
office to encourage workers to adopt
environmentally friendly practices and
recommend new, creative ways of making
the office green.
MUST READ
Using Gender Research in Development
Reviewed by Hilary Sims Feldstein, independent consultant specializing in the use
of gender analysis in agricultural research and projects
Using Gender Research in Development, by Agnes R. Quisumbing and Bonnie
McClafferty, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), 2006
Since the early 1980s, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
(CGIAR) and other agricultural research entities have developed a substantial body of work
focused on gender in research. Similarly, many development practitioners have argued
for making gender issues part of development planning and project implementation.
These efforts have been driven by two similar, but not identical, incentives: equity and
effectiveness. Equity argues that development is slanted if it does not address the needs
and strengths of women as well as men. Effectiveness argues that without the whole
picture of who is doing what, why and when, the lack of information on gender roles and
interests will skew the picture, leading to mistakes that could be avoided if that information
(and the people involved) were included in planning and research. Because equity is (still!)
such a loaded issue in development planning, it is very useful to be able to garner and use
well-argued, convincing information on women’s and men’s roles and interests.
Using Gender Research in Development by Agnes R. Quisumbing and Bonnie McClafferty,
both with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), is just what we all need: a
source of guidance and inspiration. As the authors note, “Many researchers are resistant
to modifying their tried and tested methodologies to incorporate gender sensitive data
collection and analysis methods.” The book addresses this problem directly in three major
chapters.
The first chapter, “The Importance of Using Gender and Intrahousehold Research to
Inform Projects and Policies,” pulls together the salient findings of over ten years of
IFPRI’s detailed research on gender issues. Specifics on how certain studies were carried
out – what kinds of surveys, what kind of anthropological data preceded a survey, how
researchers constructed measures of bargaining power by understanding the assets
women brought to marriage – are given in sufficient detail that one will be inspired to
seek such solutions for one’s own work. The strongest message from this chapter is that
households do not act as one when making decisions; therefore, researchers and project
planners must understand the assets, demands and preferences of household members in
order to understand how choices are made and the implications for overall production and
household well-being.
The second chapter, “Gender and Intrahousehold Aspects of Food Policy,” brings together
IFPRI research findings relevant for development projects and outcomes. For example,
researchers found that households may not pool resources, that women and men bring
different assets to a household, that women and men accumulate different forms of social
capital, and that improving women’s status and increasing their resources increases
household allocations for education and child health.
The third chapter links the research findings to project design and public policy. The wealth
of data from IFPRI research provides a series of essential questions related to gender for
each project stage (design and appraisal, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation)
that help the researcher determine which questions are most salient in his or her particular
situation. The appendices are also helpful: illustrating survey data and summarizing the
IFPRI studies and their major findings.
Do not wait until you need it to get this book. Request it now and roam through it for
inspiration and reassurance in your next fact-finding endeavor!
Using Gender Research in Development can be downloaded and ordered at:
www.ifpri.org/pubs/fspractice/sp2.asp
AUGUST 2007 
 Urgent but Uncertain
The Dilemmas of Climate Change, Development, Adaptation
and Justice for Development and Humanitarian Work
By J. Timmons Roberts, Fellow (2006-07), Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University, Professor of
Sociology and Director of Environmental Science and Policy, The College of William and Mary

Hurricane Stan caused flooding and mudslides that led to over 1,500 deaths in southern Mexico during 2005. Photo: courtesy of Laura Swenson

Climate change presents a painfully The current rush to address climate change rekindles many of
vexing dilemma for development and these fears. The fact that poor nations neither caused the prob-
lem nor can afford to deal with the consequences it has unleashed
humanitarian organizations. On the heightens the strong sense of injustice. Yet adequate funding for
one hand, it seems a distraction from poorer nations to cope with climate change has not appeared,
the core work of economic and social and the funding that has appeared is not clearly “additional” to
development, threatening to derail an earlier levels of aid. In short, fears that environmental protection
and development are in a zero-sum game appear to have some
agenda worked out over decades. This foundation.
perception is not new. For example, On the other hand, agencies working on the ground in Africa,
in response to the great wave of Asia and Latin America are finding that all kinds of their activities
environmentalism in the late 1960s, many are threatened by new unpredictability or measurable changes in
developing nation governments made the weather. Extended and unpredictable drought, heat waves,
very clear that their priority had to be on rising sea levels, severe flooding and hurricane intensity are caus-
ing many groups to rethink decades of accumulated experience
meeting the basic human needs of their on what to tell people are good choices about food production,
people. They feared greatly that foreign housing and infrastructure.
aid for addressing these needs would be Agricultural projects are among those most vulnerable to climate
diverted to environmental projects. change, and all types of projects (from capacity-building to trans-

10 InterAction MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS

Development, Adaptation AND Justice
port and crop substitution) require efforts to adapt to current
and expected changes.
Adaptation to climate change can be extremely expensive. From
building sea walls and flood protection to reorganizing whole
productive and housing systems, the possibilities are almost end-
less. With great coastal and river delta regions and semi-arid areas
potentially becoming uninhabitable, relocation of whole com-
munities may be needed.
The world’s wealthy countries are already undertaking huge ef-
forts, some costing billions of dollars, to protect themselves. The
outcry over lack of preparation and response to climate-related
disasters shows that politicians and administrators neglect their
own countries’ likely future changes at their peril.
Very recently, many observers have begun to argue that “good
development is good adaptation.” What they mean by this is that
carefully done development projects with a primary focus on is-
sues other than climate change can at the same time serve to
make communities more “resilient” to climate shocks and vari-
ability. This thinking focuses on “no regrets” efforts that will be
useful even if predicted changes do not materialize – ones that
will help economic development regardless of what the climate
does. This is a good idea overall, and it serves to bring together
the two sides of the dilemma.
However, without good research, we do not know just how great
the overlap is between “good development” and “good adapta-
tion”: it may not be as great as we hoped. So we probably need
to consider thoughtfully how we can pay for pure adaptation
projects – ones with few significant development benefits.
Clearly the world’s wealthy nations should be paying for much
adaptation in developing countries since we created a dispropor-
tionate share of the problem of climate change and we will not
be suffering the worst from it. The world’s poorest people, who
least caused this problem, can least afford to adapt. Benito Muller
of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies argues that adaptation
funding is required by the basic legal doctrine of restoring those
things which we have damaged and of compensating the victims
for those things which we cannot.
A pivotal question is where the funding for adaptation will come
from. Cost estimates of the needs for adaptation funding to de-
veloping countries are still extremely rudimentary, but vary from
$8 billion to over $40 billion per year. Estimates at the low end
of the scale were compiled by Ian Noble of the World Bank in
2005; higher end ones by Oxfam in an April, 2007 report.
An Adaptation Fund has been set up under the Kyoto Proto-
col and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change. Early contributions were voluntary, and the current to-
tal in the fund is under $50 million total (not annually). Its on-
going funding is dependent upon a two percent levy on carbon
trading under Kyoto’s “Clean Development Mechanism” and,
therefore, its size is uncertain and potentially unstable. A battle
over who will oversee the fund has slowed its disbursal. Increases
in ODA (Official Development Assistance – voluntary gifts from
national governments) are needed, but seem unlikely to be ad-
equate without additional mandatory contribution mechanisms.
In the meantime, some “innovative finance” for adaptation seems
necessary to address this global injustice, perhaps in the form of a
tax on carbon or progressive levies on airline travel.
The dilemma of climate change for development and humanitar-
ian organizations has a final twist. The push to add labels to food
or other products documenting their country of origin or their
carbon footprint potentially threatens some key traditional and
new, non-traditional exports from developing countries. Faced
with competing products, many ethically concerned consumers
are confused about which label to favor. For example, the Inter-
national Institute for Environment and Development in London
recently estimated that over one million Africans’ livelihoods
rely on the air freighting of fresh fruit and vegetables to the UK
alone. This places humanitarian and development organizations
in another difficult position: to reduce this problem consum-
ers need to reduce emissions, but doing so sometimes threatens
livelihoods of the same people they are attempting to assist. A
decade’s worth of work on “Fair Trade” labels is also threatened
by rising consumer concern about climate change, since many
people are dedicating themselves to buying only local products.
This final point raises the issue that simply “climate proofing”
individual development projects based on predictions of climate
variability and change may be fatally inadequate. For example,
farmers might install rainfall capture or irrigation systems to wa-
ter their new export crops, but then find that the market for the
products has collapsed. This supports the need for far greater di-
versification in local economies, especially into sectors that have a
lower-carbon impact and create higher social benefits than many
export commodities generate.
Of course finding new product niches will be an evolving chal-
lenge, especially for products with low capital and technical
barriers. That is, nations across the world will copy a successful
product and the price will drop quickly. If scientific assessments
are correct about the needed levels of greenhouse gas emissions
reductions, diversifying products and markets, including a sub-
stantial focus on provisioning local markets, may be the safest
way for countries and producers to orient their production.
There are win-win-win solutions that are clearly good develop-
ment and good adaptation, and those should get our immediate
attention. Highly efficient cooking stoves, for example, reduce
deforestation, CO2 emissions, indoor air pollution, and risks and
stress on women who must walk miles to collect firewood. Well-
designed and reliable small-scale, decentralized and renewable
energy systems likewise may satisfy donors, consumers and local
needs, while making remote locations more resilient in the face
of infrastructure damage from severe weather events. But repeat-
edly pointing to these few examples makes for thin understand-
ing of how the two issues can truly be joined.
Of course there will not be a single answer to the climate/devel-
opment dilemma everywhere. Solutions will have to be created
jointly by local people and their technical and funding partners.
We have much to learn about what to do to help people around
the world adapt to the effects of climate change and how to turn
a clear injustice into sustained, adequate funding and real devel-
opment assistance.
The author has been researching climate change, development and en-
vironmental justice for fifteen years. His 2007 book with Bradley C. Parks
published by MIT Press is entitled A Climate of Injustice: Global Inequal-
ity, North-South Politics, and Climate Policy. He is also the co-author of a
major examination of the environmental implications of foreign assistance,
entitled Greening Aid? Environmental Implications of Development As-
sistance, which is forthcoming from Oxford University Press.
AUGUST 2007 11
A HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE
A Humanitarian Approach to Climate Change
By Madeleen Helmer, Head, Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre
There are two primary reasons
why humanitarian organizations
have been slow to arrive at the climate change table...
F
ive years ago, the Red Cross/Red
Crescent Climate Centre (RC/
RC Climate Centre) launched an
effort to address the humanitarian
impacts of climate change. This quickly
proved easier said than done. How can
humanitarian organizations address the
uncertain impacts of climate change?
What are some characteristics of a hu-
manitarian approach to climate change?
There are two primary reasons why hu-
manitarian organizations, the first to
join communities in dealing with the
consequences of climate change (such
as famine due to drought), have been
slow to arrive at the climate change ta-
ble. Firstly, climate change has tradition-
ally been perceived as an environmental
rather than humanitarian problem. The
scientific, political and public debate has
focused on the cause of climate change
– the emission of greenhouse gases. In
contrast, humanitarian organizations are
concerned with the impacts of climate
change on vulnerable communities.
Secondly, climate change risks have been
debated primarily as future risks, with
projections for temperature and sea level
rise as far out as 2080. These risks seem
far from the daily, pressing humanitarian
agenda, which has already left humani-
tarian organizations and the communi-
ties they serve stretched thin.
In reality, climate change is here and
now, and it is directly affecting the hu-
manitarian needs of communities. The
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) has issued a series of re-
ports – the conclusions of which reflect
consensus among scientists and govern-
ments – that draw important conclusions
for humanitarian organizations.
The IPCC has reported that climate
change is resulting in new weather pat-
terns and extreme weather events involv-
ing floods, heat waves, droughts, hur-
ricanes and typhoons. It predicts that
these weather phenomena will accelerate
12 InterAction MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS
in coming decades, before greenhouse
gas emission reduction measures can be-
come effective. Furthermore, the IPCC
has reported that climate change will dis-
proportionately affect the world’s most
vulnerable people, including the sick, el-
derly, and impoverished.
However, despite certainty that the cli-
mate is changing, the local impacts of
climate change remain highly uncertain.
Hit by unexpected floods in 2002, Cen-
tral Europeans were surprised a second
time by drought and a deadly heat wave
in 2003. And they are not alone.
So how do humanitarian organizations
know for which climate change impacts
they should prepare? The RC/RC Cli-
mate Centre has developed a five-prong
approach to addressing climate change
risks:
1. Consult with experts. Regular dia-
logue with the foremost experts in the
fast-evolving field of climate change sci-
ence can help humanitarian actors to
understand better the humanitarian con-
sequences of climate change. Although
many of the trends that experts identify
are too general to be operational (for
example, “10 to 20 percent more rain
anticipated in 2050”), dialogue with
knowledge centers, such as meteorologi-
cal offices, can turn available knowledge
into practical information.
2. Adapt programs to address the
anticipated impacts. Humanitarian
organizations can use the information
they glean from experts and knowledge
centers as they work with communities
to assess the risks they face from climate
change. A malaria program in Kenya may
look at the increased risk of malaria in
high latitude regions. A water and sanita-
tion program in India may take into con-
sideration changing monsoon patterns.
3. Raise awareness within communi-
ties. Assessing climate change risks is new
not only for humanitarian organizations,
but also for the beneficiaries of humani-
tarian programs. Awareness-raising, and
participatory risk assessment and pro-
gram development, will help communi-
ties to prepare physically and mentally for
new and unexpected weather trends and
events. It will also encourage communi-
ties to become engaged by overcoming
the perception that the problem is simply
too big to tackle.
4. Communicate with governments.
Assessing the humanitarian consequenc-
es of climate change is also new for most
governments, whether they are local,
provincial or national authorities. Un-
fortunately, there are very few examples
of governments implementing climate
change risk assessments and adaptation
programs. Dialogue with governments
at all levels will be vital to developing
programs that are embedded in sound
policy, and backed-up by human and fi-
nancial resources.
5. Learn by doing. Within the context
of climate change, there will always be is-
sues that require further research. None-
theless, there is enough information to
address at least some of the existing and
emerging climate change risks that com-
munities face. Disaster risk reduction pro-
grams alone offer many opportunities,
such as building schools that can serve
as shelters during floods and developing
improved early-warning systems.
Climate change is an unprecedented,
global challenge for humanity. The en-
gagement of humanitarian organizations
is vital to meet this challenge.
The Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre
seeks to address the humanitarian impacts of
climate change and to elevate the humanitar-
ian perspective within the climate change
debate. It is a joint collaboration between the
International Federation of Red Cross and Red
Crescent Societies and the Netherlands Red
Cross.
Photo: courtesy of Ben Granby
ADVOCACY
Climate Change Legislation in the U.S. Congress
By David Turnbull, Communications Coordinator, U.S. Climate Action Network
E
arlier this year, the Intergovern-
mental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) released a series of reports
stating that there is unequivo-
cal evidence humans are causing global
warming, that the effects of such warm-
ing will be extremely costly, and that
there is still time to act to avoid many
of these effects. The U.S. Congress, af-
ter years of inaction, has finally begun to
take on the issue of global warming in
earnest. This past June, the Senate passed
an energy bill that calls for increases in
automobile fuel efficiency, increased en-
ergy efficiency in buildings and appli-
ances, and encourages greater use of bio-
fuels. The House of Representatives was
also scheduled to debate an energy bill
with similar aspirations before the start
of its August recess. However, while this
legislation takes steps towards reducing
the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions,
the drastic cuts required to avoid danger-
ous climate change require a more direct
approach.
To achieve the necessary levels of emis-
sions reductions, many are looking to-
wards a federal cap and trade system on
greenhouse gas emissions. In such a sys-
tem, a cap on greenhouse gas pollution
is set and industries and other emitters
subject to the cap must acquire rights in
the form of credits in order to emit these
greenhouse gases. These credits are auc-
tioned or otherwise allocated by the gov-
ernment to those seeking permission to
emit. As the IPCC has concluded, drastic
cuts are needed worldwide to avoid dan-
gerous climate change. In order for the
U.S. to make its fair share of the needed
reductions, a federal cap and trade sys-
tem must achieve an 80 percent cut in
U.S. emissions by 2050 (based on 1990
levels).
Congressional Leadership
Prioritizing Climate Change
Legislation
In the Senate, Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
now chairs the Environment and Pub-
lic Works (EPW) Committee, which has
jurisdiction over global warming legisla-
tion. She has made producing legislation
aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emis-
sions a priority for her committee, mark-
ing a key shift from the previous chair of
the committee, Senator James Inhofe (R-
OK) who is famous for having stated that
climate change is “the greatest hoax ever
perpetrated on the American people.”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-
NV) has also stated that floor time will be
reserved for climate legislation this fall.
In the House, Representative John Din-
gell (D-MI) chairs the Energy and Com-
merce Committee, which has jurisdiction
over climate change legislation. Both he
and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) have
stated that climate change legislation
will be debated this fall. The Speaker has
shown strong interest in the issue, having
created a Select Committee to investigate
solutions to global warming. Further,
Chairman Dingell, once skeptical of cli-
mate change legislation, has stated that
he agrees with the need to cut emissions
on the order of 80 percent by 2050.
Current Proposed Legislation
and Efforts
In the House of Representatives, several
bills featuring a cap-and-trade system
have been introduced. Representative
Henry Waxman (D-CA) introduced the
Safe Climate Act of 2007, which man-
dates economy-wide emissions cuts with
targets set at reducing emissions to 1990
levels by 2020 and to 80 percent below
1990 levels by 2050. The Safe Climate
Act is broadly endorsed by the environ-
mental community. Also introduced in
the House earlier this year is the Olver-
Gilchrest Climate Stewardship Act, which
sets targets at 1990 levels by 2020 and
70 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
Similarly, several bills have been intro-
duced in the Senate that call for econ-
omy-wide emissions reductions. The
Sanders-Boxer Global Warming Pollu-
tion Reduction Act, broadly endorsed
by the environmental community, is the
most ambitious of the economy-wide
bills, calling for a series of emissions tar-
gets that include reaching 1990 levels by
2020 and 80 percent below 1990 levels
by 2050. Another economy-wide mea-
sure that has garnered support in the
Senate is the McCain-Lieberman Cli-
mate Stewardship and Innovation Act of
2007. This bill focuses on major emit-
ters, covering roughly 78 percent of U.S.
emissions, and requires achieving 2004
levels by 2012 and 60 percent below
1990 levels by 2050.
Other bills introduced in the Senate in-
clude the Bingaman-Specter Low Car-
bon Economy Act of 2007, which fea-
tures a “safety valve” on credit pricing
that could compromise the integrity of
its cap by allowing extra credits to en-
ter the system. The Kerry-Snowe Global
Warming Reduction Act calls for a 20
percent renewable electricity standard
by 2020 and emissions 60 percent below
1990 levels by 2050.
Looking Forward
Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and
John Warner (R-VA) recently announced
that they would work together to draft a
new piece of global warming legislation
by September, and have recently released
an outline of their potential legislation.
This development has pushed the debate
in the Senate forward as Senator Boxer
has said that the Lieberman-Warner bill
will be the starting point for legislation
that comes out of the committee she
chairs. The proposal released by Senators
Lieberman and Warner outlines a solid
starting point, but should be strength-
ened to meet the needs scientists have
detailed. Senate Majority Leader Reid’s
office and Senator Boxer’s office have
both stated that a bill could reach the
floor before the end of the year. In ad-
dition, a bill sponsored by Senators Jo-
seph Biden (D-DE) and Richard Lugar
(R-IN), which calls for the U.S. to re-
engage in international climate negotia-
tions, could also be voted on this fall.
In the House, Chairman Dingell has
stated repeatedly that his committee will
debate climate change legislation this fall.
Support for the Safe Climate Act contin-
ues to grow, with 140 Representatives
currently cosponsoring the bill.
This fall looks to be an active time in Con-
gress with respect to the climate change
debate. After too many years of inaction,
Congress appears ready to move. But
whether or not President Bush will sign
any legislation that takes the necessary
steps to make the emissions reductions
that the science requires is a question
that looms large over the debate.
AUGUST 2007 13
FAITH-BASED DEVELOPMENT
Global Climate Change: A Moral Response
By Stan Doerr, Executive Director, ECHO, Inc.
K
iffa, 600 kilometers into the Sa-
hara, had been our home for
over a year. We were the only ex-
patriates in the area, but in the
early 2000s we were feeling the effects of
9/11 even in places like Kiffa. We awoke
one morning to find a note posted on
our gate declaring a jihad against my wife
and me. We took the normal precautions,
but then one day the police conducted
a survey and found that 95 percent of
the local population didn’t even know
we were Americans. (They thought we
were French, not because my French is
so good but because most of the popula-
tion didn’t speak French.) And 99 per-
cent of the local population were simply
attempting to find ways to feed their
families and didn’t care about politics.
Obviously someone in the remaining one
percent posted the note!
What does this have to do with “A Moral
Response to Global Climate Change?”
In 25 years overseas working with small-
scale farmers, I have observed that most
of the poor don’t care about big issues
like CO2 emissions or carbon credits.
They are simply trying to survive. It is
obvious to most of these poor farmers
that the rains are no longer as predictable
as they used to be. They see that fire-
wood or charcoal is scarcer and more ex-
pensive. The woman in the cook hut has
noticed that she is coughing more and
has less energy from years of breathing
thick smoke. Those that live below the
mountain see that the rivers are less pre-
dictable and the snows on the mountains
are vanishing and cannot help but ask if
there will be snow for their grandchildren
to see. Cool seasons are warmer and pests
are more prevalent. This is what global
climate change means to the poor. It is
about survival.
Survival in a time of highly unpredictable
weather patterns and natural resource
shortages has become a moral issue. Ad-
vocacy has a role to play, encouraging
government action on climate change.
In the field, we also have a role to play by
increasing the options for the poor that
will improve their chances of surviving.
In a time of highly unpredictable weath-
er, several ways exist to increase the likeli-
hood of some crop production. One ex-
ample is planting various crops instead of
14 InterAction MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS
mono-cropping. In Burkina Faso, I saw a costs and wood use, they also burn more
field where rice was planted on the valley efficiently and thus produce less damag-
floor, maize at the edge of the valley, and ing smoke. Biogas generators are also
sorghum on the side of the hill so that becoming more popular and there are
if the rains were good you got produc- numerous simple designs that produce
tion from all three crops, but if the rains methane that can be used for cooking,
didn’t come you could at least get some heating or light.
sorghum production. Urban and roof- We have a moral obligation to provide
top gardening techniques can be used options for the poor with whom we are
to grow vegetables using small spaces, called to work: options for better, more
scrap materials and waste water. New nutritious food production, less expen-
varieties of non-hybrid grain crops that sive, more efficient energy production,
grow in a wide range of rainfall levels and and a higher quality of life, in spite of the
new crops or niche crops that provide climate changes taking place.
both good nutrition and income genera-
tion are also options. While in Mali, we
used “drought tolerant” sorghum seed. ECHO provides agricultural technical support,
We planted this seed in Mauritania on a seeds, appropriate technologies, ideas and
sand dune after the last rain and still got training to over 3,000 organizations in 180
a great crop. countries. ECHO is based in Ft Myers,
Florida on a 50-acre training farm with one
There are also technologies that can re- of the largest collections of tropical fruits and
duce costs and negative environmental vegetables in the U.S. and a seedbank with
impacts. Energy efficient stoves are be- hundreds of seeds from tropical crops that
it distributes to international organizations
coming more common. And for good working with the poor.
reason. These stoves not only reduce fuel
The Mexican farmer looked hopeless as he told us, “About ten years ago the rains stopped
coming on time. A couple of years later, the bark beetles arrived. And then, a few years after
that, it was the forest fires.” He pointed to a nearby lake that had been a source of water but
was now almost dry.
Everything I am seeing corroborates Stan’s experience and some of the worst predictions
of climate change. Taking rain from farmers dependent on rain-fed agriculture is a potential
death sentence with dramatic impact on our work in rural development and huge moral
implications.
For Christians who believe we have been called to be stewards of the earth, the moral
responsibility extends even further. It is a responsibility that sadly we have not always taken
to heart. Thankfully, the church is waking up to responsibility for the care of creation. Notably,
many prominent evangelical leaders took a stand in 2006 with the Evangelical Climate
Initiative, which helped to put the issue in the consciousness of our supporters.
Nonetheless, many members of the Association of Evangelical Relief and Development
Organizations (AERDO) had long recognized the connection between environment and human
wellbeing. In fact, Floresta, a Christian nongovernmental organization founded in 1984 to
reverse deforestation and poverty by transforming the lives of the rural poor, was specifically
created to focus on the connection between healthy forests and healthy communities,
although climate change presents a new challenge.
However, the poor are not only among the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change,
they also can be an important part of the solution. One of the most important causes of
greenhouse gas emissions is deforestation. By working to encourage sustainable agricultural
techniques that limit the need for shifting agriculture, by encouraging agro-forestry, by
providing alternatives to firewood and charcoal (as a fuel and as a source of income), we
can help the poor to become an important part of the solution, even as they improve their
economic lot. With a change in opportunities and incentives, the poor can become important
agents of reforestation rather than deforestation.
– Scott Sabin, Executive Director, Floresta USA
ACCOUNTABILITY
UNDP Steps Up for Climate Change
By Cara Santos Pianesi, Communications Officer, United Nations Development Programme
M
ost people agree that climate
change is finally and defini-
tively on local, national and
international agendas. But
how many of us know about the UN’s
role in creating a sea-change of public
opinion on the issue? How many know
the significant and specialized work that
has been ongoing under UN auspices?
Foremost, the UN has been crucial in
finding out the facts – bringing the best
scientific assessments of the likely impacts
and costs of climate change to the at-
tention of governments and the general
public through the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This
year’s series of IPCC reports
has been broadly recognized
for its serious message which,
while acknowledging the
dangers of climate change,
also suggests that the world’s
destiny is still manageable if
quick, concerted action takes
place. An important result of
the IPCC on public aware-
ness of climate change is
widespread acceptance of its
use of the word “unequivo-
cal” to describe the links
between human activities
– from burning fossil fuels to
cutting forests – and climate
change. This linkage has had
an immeasurable effect on mobilizing
populations and governments around
the globe.
Now, as the world moves forward from
deliberation to action, the UN’s role
continues to be critical. Climate change
is a global problem that needs a long-
term, international solution. The UN is
at the center of brokering a fair, equitable
and decisive climate change regime for a
post-Kyoto Protocol world.
While the UN Secretariat seeks to achieve
international consensus and take advan-
tage of the momentum on this issue,
many UN agencies and programs, along
with governments and nongovernmental
organizations, are working on different
aspects of climate change. Traditionally
the United Nations Development Pro-
gramme (UNDP) has focused on six
areas within its energy and environment
practice: frameworks and strategies for
sustainable development; effective water
governance; access to sustainable energy
services; sustainable land management to
combat desertification and land degrada-
tion; conservation and sustainable use of
biodiversity; and national/sectoral policy
and planning to control emissions of
ozone-depleting substances and persis-
tent organic pollutants. Given UNDP’s
work in 166 countries, the following
represent just a few examples of UNDP’s
impact on the environment and sustain-
able development.
With UNDP help, many countries have
woven environmental targets into na-
tional development plans. For example,
Cambodia has set targets to double fish
sanctuaries and reduce fuel wood de-
pendency by almost 50 percent; Albania
adopted a target of universal electricity
availability through increased power gen-
eration from renewable energy sources
coupled with reduced transmission and
distribution losses. In the Ukrainian au-
tonomous region of Crimea, UNDP has
supported community projects that not
only supply water, but also help reduce
tensions among different ethnic groups.
In Fiji, a UNDP-supported community
initiative that began as a local experiment
in one village to return to traditional and
sustainable modes of marine manage-
ment has now spread successfully to six
national districts throughout the coun-
try.
UNDP, together with the UN Environ-
ment Program and the World Bank, also
implements the Global Environment Fa-
cility (GEF), an international financial
mechanism with 176 member countries.
Large and medium-sized projects, given
impetus by GEF seed funding, can at-
tract additional investments by other
partners. In 2006, the GEF Council ap-
proved $203 million in grants for UNDP
projects. UNDP leveraged an additional
$500 million in project co-financing
from governments and other partners.
UNDP believes that climate change is at
the very heart of its development mis-
sion. We emphasize that the poorest and
most vulnerable members of the global
community will bear the brunt of climate
change’s immediate effects and will be
least able to recover, thus widening the
chasm between the haves and the have-
nots and deepening global in-
equality.
As a result, UNDP is stepping
up its efforts in advocacy and
in pioneering solutions. Last
June, UNDP announced it was
bolstering the current carbon
finance system when it named
European banking and insur-
ance giant Fortis to be the fi-
nancial services provider for
UNDP’s MDG Carbon Facil-
ity. (MDG refers to the Mil-
lennium Development Goals.)
The facility is a bridge between
developing countries and the
global carbon market and pro-
vides an innovative means of har-
nessing the vast resources of the carbon
market to bring long-term, sustainable
development to a more diverse group of
developing countries.
Under the terms of the partnership with
Fortis, UNDP will help developing coun-
tries conceive projects intended to reduce
emissions of greenhouse gases, and will
ensure that these projects meet the Kyoto
Protocol’s agreed standards and deliver
real, sustainable benefits to the environ-
ment and broader human development.
Fortis will then purchase and re-sell the
emissions-reduction credits generated
by these projects. Proceeds from Fortis’
purchases will provide developing coun-
tries and communities with a new flow of
resources to finance much needed invest-
ment and to promote development.
UNDP’s MDG Carbon Facility will op-
erate within the framework of the Clean
continued on page 17
AUGUST 2007 15

By Shimosawa Takashi, Japan NGO Center for International Cooperation (JANIC)
T
he 2008 Japan G8 Summit NGO
Forum network was formed in
anticipation of the 2008 G8 sum-
mit in Toyako, Japan. Organized
in January 2007 with 50 nongovernmen-
tal organizations (NGOs), the Forum
now includes 100 organizations working
together to address global issues. The
Forum is an exciting opportunity for
Japanese NGOs and JANIC is serving as
its Secretariat.
What is JANIC?
The Japan NGO Center for Internation-
al Cooperation (JANIC) is a non-profit,
non-partisan NGO network founded in
1987 by a group of NGO leaders who
saw the need to better coordinate ac-
tivities in Japanese society and facilitate
communication with overseas groups.
Most JANIC members are involved in
overseas cooperation, such as promoting
child education, women’s empowerment
and social forestry activities in develop-
ing countries. Over 140 NGOs are now
JANIC members and they are actively
involved with all of its activities. JANIC
is governed by a board of trustees, and
daily operations are run by a secretary
general and16 staff members.
Some of JANIC’s many activities
include:
a serving as the secretariat for the
annual all-Japanese Network NGO
Forum;
a conducting NGO human resources
development training courses;
a offering accounting courses to
NGOs;
a establishing an information and
resource center;
a conducting global citizenship,
organizing seminars all over Japan,
researching and advocating for
NGO support schemes such as
official development assistance for
NGO activities; and
a providing information and advisory
services to local governments, eco-
nomic organizations, labor unions,
media and other groups interested
in NGO activities.
16 InterAction MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS
Japan-Based NGO Forum for
the 2008 G8 Summit Seeks
International NGO Participation
We invited InterAction’s
counterparts around the
world to contribute to Monday
Developments. Last month,
we heard from the UK NGO
coalition, BOND. This month
the Japanese-based coalition,
JANIC, shares its perspective
on the 2008 G8 Summit.
Look for more articles in
future issues.
G8 Kyushu-Okinawa Summit
in 2000
At the 2000 Kyushu-Okinawa G8 Sum-
mit, the Japanese government highlight-
ed the need to battle infectious diseases.
More than 45 Japanese NGOs signed a
JANIC-organized joint statement that
called on G8 governments to take more
responsibility for poverty reduction and
human development in their ODA poli-
cies. While the joint statement was a step
forward, limitations in funding and prep-
aration limited JANIC’s ability to make
the effort a truly widespread movement.
In 2005, the Make Poverty History
movement was introduced in Japan
and its white wrist bands became very
popular. Sales of the White Bands in
Japan reached 4.6 million and generated
enough funding for subsequent advocacy
work, including the creation of a
foundation for Japanese NGOs that has
facilitated a good start in preparations for
2008 G8 summit.
The NGO Forum
As mentioned above, the G8 Summit
NGO Forum was established in January
2007 to strengthen our collective voice.
Japanese NGOs strive towards a sustain-
able society and work to address diverse
issues such as the environment, peace,
human rights, global poverty and devel-
opment. This Forum is the first time that
all the Japanese NGOs working on issues
of environment, human rights and/or
development have come together to col-
laborate on a common goal and it has
created an opportunity for NGO leaders
to learn together and from each other on
an on-going basis.
Forum Goals for the
Upcoming G8 Summit
The issues we are addressing are of global
scale and they require global efforts to
resolve them. The G8 countries have
tremendous influence on global politics
as well as the globalized economy. It is
essential for the G8 Summit to address
these issues and agree upon effective
measures to resolve them. NGOs have
extensive experience promoting social
justice, fostering civil society participa-
tion and resolving issues through cross-
border cooperation. The Forum provides
us with a channel to share this unique
experience and to fulfill our responsibil-
ity as members of civil society to propose
practical solutions based on what we have
learned.
Groups participating in the Forum are
divided into three units, each with its
own office: poverty and development,
environment, and peace and human
rights. The governing body, called Se-
waninkai, consists of six leaders selected
to coordinate the units and joint activi-
ties. JANIC serves as the secretariat of
both the Poverty and Development Unit
and the Sewaninkai.
NGOs will use the Forum to cooperate in
areas beyond their specialized fields and
to appeal to the G8 leaders to commit
to effective measures to address global
environmental issues, promote develop-
ment, eliminate poverty in developing
countries, safeguard human rights and
build peace.
The Forum’s priority topics for the 2008
G8 Summit include climate change,
biodiversity and other environmental
issues, severe poverty in developing
countries, communicable diseases such
POINT OF VIEW
as HIV/AIDS, and other global issues
that are threatening the survival and
sustainable development of global society.
The inclusion of such issues as major
agenda items at various G8 summits since
the 1980s has led to various agreements
on these issues.
It is noteworthy that climate change and
poverty in Africa were among the main
agenda items for the 2005 G8 Summit
held in Gleneagles in the United King-
dom. A proposal was made to establish
a framework for dialogue, including with
developing countries, on future initiatives
to address climate change. A report on
this issue is due at the 2008 G8 Summit,
and its presentation will be an important
opportunity for further negotiations. On
poverty, though many promises have
been made, none have been adequate.
The prospects for truly resolving this is-
sue remain unclear. It is hoped that the
G8 Summit in Japan will address existing
barriers and achieve agreement on effec-
tive policies to truly address the issues of
global poverty.
The NGO Forum will appeal to the G8
leaders at the 2008 Summit and in the
continued from page 15
Development Mechanism (CDM) and
Joint Implementation, the market-based
mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol
that allow developed countries to meet
their compliance targets by financing
projects in developing countries that
contribute to reducing greenhouse-gas
emissions. The CDM has been at the cen-
ter of a rapidly expanding, billion-dollar
international market for carbon credits.
However, early signs indicate that the
CDM is unlikely to deliver the broad-
based benefits that many hoped it would,
at least in the near to medium term.
CDM projects so far have been limited in
geographic reach and focused primarily
on “end-of-the-pipe” technologies that
generate limited benefit for long-term,
sustainable development.
The partnership between UNDP and
Fortis covers an initial pipeline of proj-
ects that will generate 15 million credits
during the Kyoto Protocol’s first com-
mitment period (2008-2012). UNDP
began evaluating potential projects for
the MDG Carbon Facility as soon as the
project was launched in June.
The MDG Carbon Facility capitalizes on
Fortis’ resources and substantial carbon
related ministerial meetings, encouraging
them to commit to effective measures to
address global environmental issues, pro-
mote development and eliminate poverty
in developing countries, safeguard hu-
man rights and build peace.
Challenges
While Forum activities have benefited
from good organization and coordina-
tion by the participating NGOs, we are
facing two significant problems.
One is a serious funding shortage for the
Forum’s activities. Most Japanese private
donors prefer to support tangible devel-
opment projects or charities rather than
advocacy work. Furthermore, exten-
sive media coverage of violent activities
by anti-G8 groups at the G8 summit in
Germany has made people more nervous
about what outside groups might do
at the summit in Japan and made them
wary of supporting NGO advocacy ac-
tivities for the summit. As a result we still
lack the funding needed to support even
the minimum level of necessary advocacy
activity.
experience as well as UNDP’s specialized
expertise and global reach. By expanding
the CDM’s presence into countries and
regions previously inaccessible to carbon
finance, the MDG Carbon Facility will
help people in these areas acquire the
resources and knowledge to take greater
control over their future environment
and development paths. Once a develop-
ing country gains proficiency in carbon
finance, attracting private-sector invest-
ment and developing project technolo-
gies that deliver longer-term development
benefits, the MDG Carbon Facility will
exit that market, having accomplished its
market transformation objectives.
On the advocacy side, UNDP’s flagship
Human Development Report for 2007
will focus on climate change. This year’s
report, to be released in November, will
explain why the world has less than a
decade to change course and start living
within its global carbon budget. It also
will depict how climate change will cre-
ate long-run human development traps,
pushing vulnerable people into down-
ward spirals of deprivation. Further, the
report will stress that, because it is a
global problem with global causes and ef-
The second challenge is determining how
to deal with anti-G8 groups in Japan that
believe the organization is illegitimate
and oppose its existence and the holding
of the summit in Japan. Some of these
groups may take physical action to stop
the G8 summit and that could precipi-
tate a strong police crackdown against
all NGOs. We are trying to engage these
groups in dialogue and create a good at-
mosphere to understand each other.
Finally, we need advice from other ex-
perienced NGOs around the world. We
hope that we can work together with our
NGO counterparts from other nations to
create a united NGO voice that will effec-
tively present its messages to the political
leaders at the 2008 G8 Summit. We look
forward to working with you and hope
to see you in Toyako next year.
Groups and individuals interested in learning
more about the Forum and JANIC can contact
the author at simo@janic.org.
fects, climate change demands a response
by countries acting on the basis of their
historic responsibilities and capabilities.
UNDP understands that climate change
can no longer be regarded solely as an
environmental issue. It now threatens ev-
ery aspect of human development. And
because of this, UNDP notes that the in-
ternational community must manage the
global economic risk from climate change
just as we manage our risks in other are-
nas. UNDP maintains that all poverty-
reduction strategies must account for
climate–related risks and further protec-
tions against economic risk must be seri-
ously considered in the near term.
In tandem with other UN organizations
in the field and in major developed coun-
try capitals, as well as the rest of the de-
velopment and environmental commu-
nity, UNDP hopes to make a difference
in our common effort to mitigate to the
extent possible the known ill-effects of
climate change. As interest, innovation
and political will increase, UNDP and its
UN, governmental and nongovernmen-
tal partners are poised to push this critical
envelope.
AUGUST 2007 17
TELL YOUR STORY
Climate Witness: Telling Your Story
Compiled by the World Wildlife Fund Climate Witness Team
C
limate Witness is World Wild-
life Fund’s (WWF) initiative to
document the direct experiences
of people who are witnessing the
impacts of climate change on their lo-
cal environment. By demonstrating that
climate change is already affecting the
lives of a growing number of people to-
day, WWF brings a real-life perspective to
what many view as a somewhat ambigu-
ous and distant threat. These stories help
WWF promote effective solutions to cli-
mate change.
WWF works with scientists around the
world who provide scientific background
information to the climate witness testi-
monies. The role of the Science Advisory
Panel is to establish if the impacts reported
by Climate Witnesses are consistent with
known trends, and if these stories can be
placed in the context of current scientific
knowledge of human-induced climate
change events in a particular region. This
will help WWF to understand better how
the reality on the ground is in line with
scientific model projections.
Are you a Climate Witness?
Many people around the world have start-
ed to notice shifts in our climate and some
of us are also noticing how these changes
impact the local environment. Others are
noticing changes that they suspect might
be linked to climate change. In some
places these changes are small shifts in
the timing of nature or seasons, in other
places around the world these changes
are causing real danger and heartache to
communities and families.
WWF is interested to hear from indi-
viduals about the changes you are seeing
– they believe that some of these changes
could be caused by human pollution of
the atmosphere causing global warming.
WWF invites you to tell your story. Your
story can help identify the kind of impacts
climate change is having and could have
in your local area. Your observations are
valuable and important – your involve-
ment, along with others around the
world, will help the world take action to
address this problem. Only by working
together can we help to prepare our local
communities for some of the inevitable
changes in the climate.
Visit www.panda.org/climatewitness
18 InterAction MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS
Climate Witness, 06.20.07
Written and Submitted by Linda Morton,
Cook Islands, Micronesia
My name is Linda Morton and I am 53 years
old and have lived in Boise, Idaho for 22 years.
Currently I work as a Lactation Consultant and
Public Health Nutritionists for a local hospital. I
feel my purpose in life through beautiful, natural
environments so I like to spend time outdoors
rafting, skiing, hiking, and bird watching.
Over the past 10 years, my husband and I have
traveled to the Cook Islands because of its gentle people and culture, the magnificence
of the beaches and water, and the opportunity to spend time outdoors.
I felt compelled to be a “climate witness” on a dramatic event I observed about a year
ago while snorkeling in the lagoon on Aitutaki and Rarotonga. I have been traveling
to the Cook Islands over the past 10 years, and these changes seemed interesting and
concerning.
Aitutaki Observation. I was on Aitutaki for a week in 2006 and for several days in April,
2006, I spent hours observing this most beautiful “field” of magenta colored coral. It
was breathtaking. I had never seen coral quite so abundant and beautiful. On my last
day on Aitutaki, I went to observe the coral field one last time and the entire group
of coral had turned bright white: no color at all. From one afternoon to the next, the
coral changed. One year later, this striking change is still very clear in my mind, and
has seemed disturbing to me, so I thought I would send this story to you. From your
website descriptions, it sounds like this striking change in color could be the result of
a change in water temperature and possibly related to global warming. Could a water
temperature change cause such a dramatic overnight change this quickly, or was what I
observed some natural cycle for coral that I was just lucky to have observed?
Rarotonga Observation. In general, there was much less colorful coral; many more
“grey rocks” in the lagoon that I believe were remnants of dead coral; and the water
seemed much less clear. If these changes I observed could be related to climate changes
resulting from global warming, please let me know how I can get involved in any Cook
Island projects. We will be returning to the Cook Islands over the coming years, and
I would be interested in observing and reporting what I observe in a more scientific
way, if the data is useful to someone. Please advise as to how I can be involved in Cook
Island work.
The Scientific Explanation by Prof. John E. Hay (johnhay@ihug.co.nz)
The observations Linda describes for Aitutaki are consistent with the response of corals
to physiological stresses. Given the relatively pristine nature of the Aitutaki lagoon, it is
quite possible that the observed event was the result of high sea surface temperatures
and/or excessive sunlight. The observations are thus consistent with peer-reviewed lit-
erature describing climate-related impacts already being experienced by reef ecosys-
tems.
The observations for Rarotonga reflect past bleaching events and highlight the delayed
recovery of such reef systems when they are suffer stresses, including high pollutant
loadings and high sedimentation rates. The latter may be related to climate conditions,
but indirectly.
Based on the information provided, my conclusion is that the observations for Aitutaki
in particular appear somewhat consistent with peer-reviewed literature about climate
impacts already happening today.
A paper by Ainsworth et al. which provides additional background information can be
downloaded from the website of the new Australian Research Council Centre for Excel-
lence for Coral Reef Studies: www.coralcoe.org.au
Climate Witness, 04.20.07
Written and Submitted by Norbu Sherpa, Nepal
My name is Norbu Sherpa.
I am 41 years old and I
am a trekking guide in the
Khumbu region in Nepal,
not far from Mt. Everest.
I think this is one of the
most beautiful places in the
world and I feel proud that
I live and work here.
I was born in the small vil-
lage of Ghat to the son of
a senior monk, Lama Ang
Dorja Sherpa. After completing my secondary education I took
classes at a monastery for two years to become a monk. I finished
the training and became a junior monk. I was ready to follow in
my father’s footsteps.
The flood. My career, however, took a dramatically different
turn on 4 August 1985 when a glacier lake above my village
collapsed. My family and I were all in our house when we heard a
big explosion. We rushed outside to see what had happened. To
our astonishment we saw a big black stream of mud, including
rocks and trees, rushing down the mountain. We scrambled
about collecting a few belongings we could carry and ran out of
the house. We got out just in time. In a few minutes the flood
had swept away five houses, including mine, as well as cattle and
crops. I saw my cow drowning in the flood near a suspended
bridge. The flood kept raging on for hours and washed away all
our possessions. Those were the most distressing hours of my
life.
The next morning we went to the place where our house once
stood, but it was as if the houses had never been there. Our
neighbors who had not lost their homes came to help us to look
for our possessions. There I was, homeless, landless and jobless
at the age of 19. But still I thank God that the flood occurred
during day time. Had it occurred during night it would have
washed away everything, including us.
Later on we came to know that the flood had also washed away
an almost completed hydropower plant in Thamo, which cost
U.S. $1.5 million. Bridges were damaged and lines of commu-
nication were cut off.
Melting glaciers. In order to earn a living and support my
family, I had to give up my career as a monk. I decided to start
a trekking business. In the past 20 years I have participated in
various expeditions. I have trekked Mt. Everest three times
and scaled many famous mountains: Mt. Choyo (8100m), Mt.
Dhaulagari (8200m), Mt. Sheeapangama (8200m), Mt. Borunja
(7000m) and many more. And in that time I also started a family
and a business of my own. My wife Kandu runs the tourist lodge
and restaurant we own in Ghat.
I have more than two decades of trekking experience in this
region. There have been many occasions where I have noticed
changes in the glacier environment. I have seen many glaciers
melting and glacier lakes expanding. These expansions of the
lakes greatly increase the risk of more glacial lake outburst flood
(GLOF) events occurring in our region.
I go to the Mt. Everest Base Camp about four to five times a
year. The glacier used to be three hours away; now it has shifted
upward and you can actually have a base camp nearer to where
the foot of the mountain is. Before, an expedition would take
around 90 to 100 days and there was no guarantee of success.
Now people come for 30 to 40 days and complete the climb.
We are noticing many other climate changes in my village and
its surroundings. Rainfall has declined and we are experiencing
more droughts; trees are dying. This winter there was no snow
and no rainfall. Instead, we had snowstorms when we least ex-
pected them, in spring, baffling locals and tourists alike.
We normally plant potatoes in February and March and harvest
them from July to August. However, due to the lack of rainfall
we have been unable to grow anything at all this year.
In the old days when we still had cold winters we made the walls
of our houses about 20cm thick, so they would be well insu-
lated. Now we only have to make them about 8cm thick because
there’s less snowfall and it’s just not as cold as it used to be.
More floods. I am not the only person whose life was impacted
on by the Dig Tsho flood in 1985. There are many other families
in Ghat who were also badly affected. Sadly that event will not
be the last time these kinds of disasters happen. There are many
more glacier lakes on the verge of expanding and collapsing. I see
them all the time when I go trekking.
About two years ago the Imja glacier lake was small and you
could walk around it. But now it is much bigger and is expanding
two to three metres every year. Whenever I trek to the lake, the
biggest glacier lake of Khumbu region, my body starts shaking,
reminding me of the event that occurred in my village 20 years
back. The terror that I experienced when I was young flashes in
front of me and reminds me of the sorrow and misery that we
were forced into.
I am now 41 years old and fear that more floods will occur. I
would not be able to restore my life a second time, nor would
any villager be able to sustain their livelihood. So I pray it won’t
repeat again and sadly that is all I can do.
Natural beauty at risk. Through my work as a trekking guide
and through my participation in various community groups,
I have come to understand that the entire world community
praises the natural beauty of my region. I feel happy when I think
about this. But it makes me sad to realize that this natural beauty
is now at risk. We are facing lots of environmental problems in
our daily lives. What worries me most is global warming. The
majestic Himalaya Mountains and glaciers that have stood for
thousands of years are now melting away, forming glacier lakes.
We as mountain people don’t normally have access to the various
international media and other fora where we can express how
threatening it feels to live a life in the mountains. WWF’s Cli-
mate Witness initiative has given me a platform to tell the world
about the impact of climate change that we are facing now.
I would like to request everyone around the world to take cli-
mate change seriously and act quickly to reduce the impacts.
The Scientific Explanation
Scientific analysis has shown that annual temperature increase in
the Trans-Himalaya region is on average 0.09 degrees Celsius.
The annual temperature increase throughout Nepal is 0.06 de-
grees Celsius. This high increase in temperature has resulted in
the melting of glaciers and the formation of glacial lakes, which
have resulted in glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF). Sixty-seven
percent of glaciers are retreating in the Himalayas and climate
change has been identified as the major factor.
AUGUST 2007 19
 Helping do-gooders do better
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Program on Forced Migration and Health
HEILBRUNN DEPARTMENT OF POPULATION AND FAMILY HEALTH
MASTER IN PUBLIC HEALTH
The Program on Forced Migration and Health is committed to improving the health and well-being of people affected by conflict and
forced migration. The Program offers a Master in Public Health (MPH) through the Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family
Health at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. The MPH curriculum is intended to prepare health professionals
for the practice of public health in complex emergencies and post-conflict settings.

The Program’s teaching and research components emphasize pragmatic, inter-disciplinary, and human rights-based problem-solving in
the health and social sectors. Upon completion of the Program, graduates will be able to:

 Lead the field of humanitarian response in the 21st century;

 Define the nature, impact, and determinants of health and social sector problems in complex emergencies;
 Develop effective policies to alleviate problems in the health and social sectors;
 Design, manage, and evaluate health and social sector programs;
 Undertake population-based research to improve humanitarian response policies and practice.

For information about the Program: www.forcedmigration.columbia.edu

For admissions information: www.mailman.hs.columbia.edu/admissions The deadline for fall 2008 is February 1, 2008.

MPH, Forced Migration & Health Track, Student Practicum Photos, 2005: (L to R) Rachel Goldstein; Daniel Gerstle; Sara Saad El-Dein; & Lindsay Stark

AUGUST 2007 21
Strange and extreme weather
events are on recent record.
Seven of the ten hottest
years in the past 130 years
occurred in the 1990s. In
1998 alone, at least fifty-six
countries suffered severe
floods, and forty-five suffered
from drought in which vast
tracks of tropical rainforest
were burned.
How are practitioners
responding?

The Climate Change Crisis and How the Poor Can Adapt
By Jefferson Shriver, Head of Programming, Catholic Relief Services in Nicaragua

F
or the first time, human influence
on the environment is leading to
the destabilization of climate. This
destabilization has its most pro-
found effect on those who depend
on consistent weather patterns
for their safety and livelihoods: the poor
and marginalized in the global South.
There has never been greater urgency
to reduce emissions and assist the poor
in adapting to climate change.
Strange and extreme weather events
are on recent record. Seven of the ten
hottest years in the past 130 years oc-
curred in the 1990s. In 1998 alone,
at least 56 countries suffered severe
floods, and 45 suffered from drought
in which vast tracks of tropical rainfor-
est were burned. As Al Gore showed
so vividly in his film An Inconvenient
Truth, glaciers are dwindling in many
parts of the world at unprecedented
speed, endangering the world’s stock
of fresh water supplies. Farmers from
Africa, Asia and Latin America are tell-
ing the same story: the predictability
of the seasons, of rainfall, water-levels
and wind patterns that make the Earth
inhabitable for humans, animals and
plants have become more random and
unreliable in recent years
Rising global temperatures caused by
fossil fuel emissions in industrialized
countries and destruction of the earth’s
natural “sinks” (namely forests) that
sequester CO2 from the atmosphere
in the global South are creating a
crisis that is threatening and even
destabilizing the living systems upon
which the world’s poor depend to

22 InterAction MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS

survive. Communities already living
in harsh climates and environments –
water scarce, arid regions, on hillsides
and along deforested riverbanks – will
be the first to feel the devastation
caused by climate change and will be
the worst hit. Those without safety nets
– those who depend exclusively on
rainfall for subsistence farming, those
without solid social networks, and
those without insurance, food stocks
and solid infrastructure around them
– will be hit earliest and hardest.
According to author Paul Hawken, cli-
mate change is now perceived as the
“invisible hand behind agricultural
decline, social disruption and migra-
tion.” Climate change studies using
Global Circulation Models (GCMs)
show that countries in Africa, Asia, and
Latin America will become more arid
over the next 80 years. This trend could
generate a more profound crisis in food
production as populations continue to
rise. These same studies demonstrate
the varying effects of climate change
and its relation to the ecology of pests
and diseases, salt-tolerance of plants as
oceans rise, the adaptation of food pro-
duction systems to extreme weather,
and plant responses to increased tem-
perature and CO2 concentrations.
In the face of these threats, poor com-
munities will need to adapt to a warm-
ing and less predictable climate, and
be better prepared for more intense
and frequent disasters. Innovative ad-
aptation strategies are already proving
successful in communities around the
globe, and can be applied on a mas-
sive scale if the development and do-
nor community prioritize them. Three
adaptation strategies are described
below.
Integrated Water
Resource Management
Water, although fundamental to life and
livelihoods, is usually taken for granted
until it becomes unavailable. A shared
water resource in communities living in
a watershed area can be an excellent
medium for planning and cooperation
(or conflict if neglected). Community
or municipal (county) management of
water resources can ensure the sustain-
ability of water quantity and quality
and help to mitigate the major climate
change-related disasters of flooding
and drought. To be effective, land use
planning carried out jointly by the local
government and communities is criti-
cal for the successful governance of a
watershed. Good local environmental
laws and regulatory counsels help en-
sure a supportive legal framework for
improved water resource management.
Communities must protect water
springs through protective vegetative
buffers and forest cover. Agriculture
activities, particularly on hillsides,
should incorporate soil and vegetation
conservation techniques to prevent
erosion. Contour infiltration canals or
strip vegetation, tree windbreaks, ter-
racing and drip irrigation are excellent
conservation techniques. Families, par-
ticularly those living in water scarce
regions, should be able to harvest rain-
water with mini-reservoirs, small ponds
or household water tanks connected to
their roofs.
Promoting Climate
Resilient Livelihoods
Currently, half of the world’s workforce
is employed in agriculture, and agricul-
ture production makes up 25 percent of
the world economy. In order to adapt to
climate change, many farmers will need
to transition away from current agricul-
tural approaches that require more rain
and lower temperatures. Greater atten-
tion to soil health will be key. Soils high
in organic matter (decomposed leaves,
plant stubble, manure, ash, etc.) retain
water longer in drought and drain it
faster in flood. Soils high in nutrients
help plants resist drought longer.
Farmers will require access to seed va-
rieties for subsistence and cash crops
that are resistant to flood and drought.
They will need information about plant
reactions to a warmer climate in order
to know what can be effectively grown
in their region as the climate changes.
Tree-based and shade grown crops that
require less water, prevent erosion and
keep moisture in the soil will help farm-
ers adapt to climate change threats. In-
creased access to and sustainable use
of surface and ground water for irriga-
tion to reduce dependence on rain is
also needed.
The promotion of climate resilient live-
lihoods will also necessitate moving
away from income generation that re-
lies solely on agriculture. This will re-
quire creativity and resourcefulness,
as migration out of the rural sector is
a common coping strategy for families
without alternatives, but is not a desir-
able solution. In Nicaragua, Catholic
Relief Services (CRS) is helping indig-
enous communities reap the benefits of
a standing forest without cutting down
a single tree. Communities are organiz-
ing cooperative businesses and being
trained in sustainable rubber extraction
methods to take advantage of a growing
natural rubber market. Projects in Haiti
emphasize trees that can be coppiced,
re-growing after sever pruning for fuel
or livestock fodder. Rural families in
Central America with access to natural
capital, scenic beauty and supportive
government policies are also finding
opportunities in community-based eco-
tourism. Carbon trading schemes are
also a viable way for communities with
abundant standing forest to both earn
income and help reduce overall global
CO2 emissions. Communities and the
private sector can effectively work to-
gether through the growing carbon
trading market and the growing num-
ber of related mechanisms.
Helping Communities
Prepare for and Respond
to Disasters
Communities need to be prepared to
face stronger and more frequent natu-
ral threats due to climate change. Ox-
fam recently published one of the most
comprehensive studies on adaptation,
Adapting to Climate Change: What’s
Needed in Poor Countries, and Who
Should Pay. In it Oxfam cites successful
experiences of “climate proofing” infra-
structure. Investments to strengthen or
modify the structures of bridges, roads,
homes, rural electrification and com-
munity shelters will help protect these
assets in the face of extreme weather
events. Communities that have maps
that identify local risks, emergency re-
sponse task forces, and/or early warn-
ing systems will all withstand future
weather threats better than those with-
out.
Immediate reduction of greenhouse
gas emissions is a moral imperative to
reduce the severity of climate change
threats. Even so, current greenhouse
gas levels in the atmosphere are pro-
ducing changes in climate that require
urgent action. Time is of the essence for
the international development and do-
nor community to seize opportunities to
assist the most vulnerable in adapting
to climate change, making adaptation
an important part of our collective insti-
tutional missions.
Read more on how other
InterAction members are
responding to climate change on
the next page. Additional examples
online at www.interaction.org
AUGUST 2007 23
A PRACTITIONER’S PERSPECTIVE
T
he poorest of the poor are likely to be most affected
as a result of climate change” according to Dr. Ra-
jendra K. Pachauri, the Chair of the UN Intergovern-
mental Panel on Climate Change. It is now common
knowledge that global warming will disproportion-
ately affect the poorest people in the world, and the
poorest people within each society. Adding to the existing
environmental, economic and social challenges they face
daily, the very poor will soon be dealing with massive wa-
ter shortages, decreased crop yields and shifts in water
supply routes that will further complicate their livelihood
activities and increase their vulnerability.
Responding to these changing conditions in the communi-
ties in which we work is an ongoing challenge for Trickle
Up. Our mission is to work with the very poor, and this
focus drives our organizational and programmatic deci-
sions. We and other organizations focused on extreme
poverty must ask ourselves: What role will climate change
play in the lives of the extremely poor and how can we
proactively address these needs? Clearly, climate change
and the vulnerability it creates will prove to be a major
factor in the success or failure of our clients’ livelihood
activities.
Trickle Up recognizes, as many of our peers do, that a
number of variables contribute to extreme poverty. Like
others, we use the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework
(which recognizes that poverty is multi-faceted) as a mod-
el for developing and implementing our programs. Within
this framework, we evaluate vulnerability on the local lev-
el – looking at a community’s vulnerability to both natural
and manmade disasters. Development organizations, in-
cluding Trickle Up, understand that climate change will
increase the “vulnerability index” for the communities in
which we work.
24 InterAction MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS
Taking Our
Blinders Off
Programmatic
Preparation for Climate
Change
By Allyson Wainer, Director of
Communications, Trickle Up
For example, when Trickle Up enters a community, we
work with our partners to identify all the factors that affect
income-generating possibilities for that community. Obvi-
ously, local knowledge is key. For instance, if a village in
Honduras is no longer able to make a living from fish-
ing due to environmental changes, we must take that into
consideration as we work with the community to develop
a poverty alleviation strategy that includes income-gener-
ating activities.
Trickle Up’s programs currently address extreme pov-
erty through our unique training-grants-savings model
focused on individuals living at the bottom rungs of the
economic ladder: those people living on less than $1 per
day. We work closely with local partners on the ground
to train individuals in basic business skills and provide
either seed capital or physical assets necessary to start a
business. We also offer additional services including sav-
ings group support, links to sources of capital, and ongo-
ing business training and development services.
As organizations with limited resources, the next step is
to commit to planning for the future, recognizing the vast
and complex ways climate change will impact the poor-
est and working together to share the programmatic and
technological innovations that are being galvanized to re-
spond to this challenge. Beginning in September of 2007,
Trickle Up will start the process of analyzing the vulner-
ability context of each community we are in; and we are
interested in how other organizations have incorporated
analysis of global climate change into the implementation
of their poverty alleviation programs.
To respond to this article, please email Susannah Hop-
kins-Leisher, Director of Programs and Strategic Planning
at shleisher@trickleup.org.
A PRACTITIONER’S PERSPECTIVE
Leading from the Ground Up: The Role of Community-Based Action in
Reversing Climate Change
By George Hamilton, President, Institute for Sustainable Communities
M
uch of the policy discussion on reversing cli-
mate change has been at the global level, as
it should be. But tackling an issue of this scale
also requires a transformation of our societies,
and it is at the local level where this change can
start. Communities the world over have a pow-
erful and constructive role to play in pioneering practical
solutions; and international development organizations
can help.
At the Institute for Sustainable Communities, we’ve seen
this firsthand. In 1997, we began working to protect one of
the world’s largest carbon sinks: the vast Russian forests.
As a carbon sink, these woodlands absorb carbon dioxide
and release oxygen, thus playing a major role in mitigat-
ing climate change. We helped local organizations
successfully advocate for the expansion of
nature reserves and other protected ar-
eas. At the same time, we introduced
sustainable forestry practices and
helped communities develop eco-
nomic alternatives to resource
destruction, including non-tim-
ber forest products such as tea
and eco-tourism.
In 2001, we began to de-
velop community-based
approaches to energy ef-
ficiency in Russia. Years of
artificially low energy costs
had provided little incen-
tive to conserve heating fuel
or upgrade outdated boilers.
It had been cheaper to turn
up the heat, for example, than
to make repairs or invest in new
technology. With our help, a number
of communities made energy efficiency
improvements in district heating systems
as well as in public and residential buildings,
created revolving loan funds with the money saved,
and, in some cases, switched from high-carbon fuels to
natural gas. In six years, 26 pilot municipalities across
Russia reduced greenhouse gas emissions by more than
500 tons per year and saved millions of rubles. Our part-
ner, the Fund for Sustainable Development, continues this
important community-level work, with the aim of influ-
encing practice and policy nationwide.
This year, we are bringing this approach to the industrial
province of Guangdong, China, where we are launching
a comprehensive program to reduce climate-changing
emissions, promote energy efficiency and improve envi-
ronmental health. China recently surpassed the United
States as the world’s largest carbon emitter and uses more
than twice the energy per unit of gross domestic product
(GDP) than most industrialized nations. Given its size
and its rapidly expanding economy, China could be the
most influential country in helping the world arrest global
warming.
As in Russia, we will demonstrate the effectiveness of
community-based action on climate change through pilot
projects to make energy improvements in businesses, resi-
dential buildings and public buildings such as schools and
hospitals. This summer we began to work with universi-
ties, NGOs, government and business officials to create
state-of-the-art training programs in environmental man-
agement and energy efficiency. A school-based education
program will enable us to reach young people about the
importance of sustainable development.
One thing we have learned in doing this kind of work over
the last decade is that it is critical to gain the support of a
broad cross section of community members. Global warm-
ing is not an urgent priority at the local level, so we have
focused on other benefits, such as saving money
and improving health, in order to gain the
necessary support. We have found that
it is essential to demonstrate how
businesses and municipalities
can save substantial amounts
of money by installing energy
efficient systems. Experi-
ence has taught us to select
pilot projects that have the
potential to create broad
awareness, thus encourag-
ing others to follow suit. In
our pilot schools in Russia,
for example, dramatic im-
provements in children’s
health due to cleaner air
quality – respiratory illness
decreased by 30 percent in
less than five years – helped
create a groundswell of sup-
port.
At the same time, we have come to
see that concrete improvements are not
enough: it is also critical to build the capacity
of local and national organizations to continue this
work and to advocate for bringing it to scale. We have
seen this not only in Russia, but also in our work on the
U.S. Gulf Coast. There, our international development
perspective has prepared us to approach rebuilding after
the hurricanes as a long-term process. We have learned
that developing leadership and local institutions is as es-
sential as building the physical infrastructure in order to
improve the resilience of communities.
Whether it be protecting the ability of the Earth to absorb
carbon, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, or dealing
with the consequences of climate change, locally driven
action can show the public and policy-makers how criti-
cal it is to transform our communities from the ground up.
Even as momentum builds for decisive global action, com-
munities can take the lead and demonstrate what is pos-
sible.
AUGUST 2007 25
INSIDE OUR
COMMUNITY
IMC Receives $2.7 Million UNICEF Grant to Revamp
Education in Lebanon
The International Medical Corps (IMC) and the United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have joined forces to develop 25
Child-Friendly Schools in some of Lebanon’s most vulnerable
regions. The Child-Friendly School concept seeks to promote a
holistic approach to education through activities that advocate
good health and hygiene, initiatives to ensure children’s physi-
cal and emotional well-being, and environments conducive to
learning.
UNICEF’s $ 2.7 million grant to IMC will benefit an estimated
6,000 children, aged three to fifteen, living in 25 villages cov-
ering four regions of Lebanon that have historically struggled
with poverty and instability or were affected by last summer’s
conflict.
“I am very pleased that UNICEF has recognized IMC’s recovery
efforts in Lebanon and has offered us the opportunity to expand
upon those efforts with this grant,” said IMC President & CEO
Nancy Aossey. “The partnership between IMC and UNICEF
will help make education in Lebanon a positive, fruitful experi-
ence for students, teachers and parents in some of Lebanon’s
most challenging regions.”
IMC’s new program, which began earlier this month, will dra-
matically reshape 25 schools, transforming them into stimulating
educational environments conducive to learning and develop-
ment. To achieve these goals, IMC, in collaboration with Leba-
non’s Ministry of Education and UNICEF, plans to: train teach-
ers to understand and identify behavioral problems in children
and address them creatively; offer teachers health education and
first-aid training; rehabilitate playgrounds and provide schools
with toys and recreational equipment; and encourage parents to
become involved in decisions about their children’s health and
well-being at school and in the community.
ADRA Responds to Disasters Across the Globe
The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) re-
sponded immediately to the needs of survivors of the severe
earthquake that destroyed hundreds of homes in northwestern
Japan on July 16, leaving thousands homeless and at least nine
people dead in its wake. The magnitude 6.8 earthquake left at
least 20,000 homes in the Niigata region without electricity and
40,000 homes without water.
ADRA provided initial funding as workers assessed damage and
responded to the needs of survivors. ADRA Japan also immedi-
ately began distributing emergency water supplies to earthquake-
affected families, and will continue to expand its relief efforts ac-
cording to its assessments of survivors’ changing needs.
In addition to the earthquake relief, the ADRA has been prepar-
ing its extensive outreach network to cope with what is expected
to be an above average year for weather-related disasters. Since
January 2007 alone, ADRA has helped 64,000 people worldwide
including projects for flood victims in Kenya, cyclone survivors
in Mozambique and tsunami survivors in the Solomon Islands.
“A natural disaster can strike at any moment,” said Frank Teeu-
wen, bureau chief for emergency management at ADRA Inter-
national. “With ADRA’s global network, we have the ability to
respond quickly to emergencies like hurricanes and typhoons.
26 InterAction MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS
ADRA’s emergency responses provide the essential goods and
services that survivors desperately need to cope and get back on
their feet.”
Philippe Cousteau Joins Counterpart International’s
Advisory Council
International explorer and conservationist, Philippe Cousteau,
Jr. has joined the Advisory Council of Counterpart International,
the Washington, DC-based non-profit development and human-
itarian agency.
“Philippe Cousteau’s knowledge and deep experience, particu-
larly in relation to coral regeneration and ocean conservation,
will prove invaluable for our restorative ecology projects,” said
Counterpart President and CEO Lelei LeLaulu. “Over the
course of his 27 years, Philippe Cousteau, Jr. has already blazed
a reputation as a multi-talented conservationist with enormous
communication skills in a field brought to the world’s attention
by his grandfather and subsequently by his late father, the dash-
ing Philippe Cousteau,” said LeLaulu.
Philippe’s passion for the environment first manifested itself
while he was a student at St. Andrews University, when he and
his sister Alexandra Cousteau created the non-profit organization
EarthEcho International. The siblings formed the organization
to raise awareness of individual human action on the environ-
ment. Philippe joins Alexandra, a noted diver and oceans advo-
cate, on the Counterpart International Advisory Council.
Cousteau says his basic mission is “to empower individuals to
take action for a sustainable future,” which, according to LeLau-
lu, meshes seamlessly with the mission statement of Counterpart
International.
Speaking from Fiji where Counterpart is implementing its noted
Coral Gardens reef regeneration program, LeLaulu said Coun-
terpart was honored that Philippe Cousteau “recognized how his
efforts, combined with ours, will make a positive change for the
sustainable management of the ocean’s dwindling resources.”
ERD Aids Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza Following Ongoing
Unrest
Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) has provided emer-
gency assistance to the medical staff of Ahli Arab Hospital in
Gaza following the intensifying conflict that led to Hamas taking
control of the region. The hospital is located in the Gaza Strip
area of Palestine and improves the health of people living in the
area, particularly during times of crises.
The emergency room team worked non-stop as the fighting en-
sued and increased its staff to handle the surge of patients seeking
emergency room treatment. In order to accommodate the influx
of patients, an extra ward was been opened and medical treat-
ment for the poor began through a free medical outreach pro-
gram twice a week. Emergency food baskets and commodities
were distributed to 300 families in need through the hospital’s
social department and as a result, Ahli Arab Hospital began to
run out of food, medicine, drugs, and blood quickly.
ERD has been working in partnership with the Episcopal Diocese
of Jerusalem to provide emergency assistance to Ahli Arab Hos-
pital for extra emergency staff, additional medicine and medical
supplies, as well as food aid and commodities for patients. “The
people of Gaza are so vulnerable after this prolonged and agoniz-
ing conflict. ERD will do all we can with Ahli Arab Hospital as
they reach out to the wounded and sick,” said Janette O’Neill,
ERD Senior Director for Africa Programs.
InterAction President Reaches out
to Global Community
By Matt DeGroot, Press Intern, InterAction
InterAction President and CEO Sam Worthington recently had a
series of meetings in Paris and Geneva focusing on the grow-
ing partnerships between American NGOs and their European
counterparts. These meetings sought to advance InterAction’s
goal of enhancing its relationships with NGO platforms and
strengthening partnerships with organizations such as the Red
Cross Movement and United Nations agencies.
The meetings began in Paris with representatives from Coordi-
nation SUD, Interaction’s counterpart in France. Coordination
SUD represents over 100 French NGOs that work for develop-
ment, aid and emergency humanitarian action around the world.
For the first time, InterAction and Coordination SUD created a
formal relationship by signing a Memorandum of Understanding
that will strengthen collaboration between them and enhance
the international efforts of both consortia.
Benefits of this new relationship include sharing information on
the effectiveness of aid, strengthening other NGO platforms in
countries such as Chile, India and Senegal and strengthening
the partnership between NGO platforms in the North and South.
Information sharing programs will include activities such as a
staff exchange. Above all, this relationship opens wider lines
of communication that will ensure greater learning between
French and U.S. NGOs that will ultimately lead to a more effec-
tive use of resources.
The second half of his trip took Mr. Worthington to Geneva
where the Global Humanitarian Platform met in a ground-break-
ing session that created the first formal partnership arrange-
ment between major, relevant UN entities and non-UN humani-
tarian organizations including humanitarian NGOs and the Red
Cross Movement. The entities involved are responsible for the
bulk of humanitarian work around the world. For the first time,
organizations including InterAction and its European counter-
part signed a Principals of Partnership agreement with the UN.
This partnership paves the way for better coordination when
natural disasters or other humanitarian emergencies occur. The
arrangement is also careful to respect diversity and the unique
characteristics of each organization. Throughout the next year
these Principals of Partnership will be applied around the world.
A related meeting for humanitarian NGOs is planned for Janu-
ary to continue discussion on how NGOs and the UN can best
coordinate during disasters.
These partnership efforts are just the beginning of efforts to
address the U.S. NGO community’s need to increase its col-
laboration with the global NGO community. As Mr. Worthington
explained, “This agreement with Coordination SUD and our
signing onto the Humanitarian Principals of Partnership reflect
InterAction’s aim to reach out to the Global NGO community,
to create new linkages and to help shape our evolving global
NGO community into a more effective and capable group of
organizations.”
NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
People from Developing Countries Testify About
Impact of Europe on Their Lives
The European Union is the biggest economic actor and aid
donor in the world. What is its impact on developing countries
and on the lives of the populations? How do the people living
in these countries really see the impact of Europe?
To find out, CONCORD is inviting people from developing
countries to take photos illustrating how Europe positively
or negatively influences their lives and their country. Any
theme is allowed: environment, agriculture, migration,
music, infrastructure, and health, to name a few. People from
developing countries will give free rein to their creativity and
their imagination! Contributors should post their pictures and
comments on CONCORD’s website (www.concordeurope.
org) before August 31.
All photos will be displayed website and citizens from all over
the world can vote online for the best 50 pictures through
August 31. Those fifty photos will then travel within Europe
for a number of years, and be display in an exhibition at the
EU institutions this autumn.
This initiative has been launched by CONCORD, the
European NGO Confederation for Relief and Development,
which campaigns to influence European decision-makers and
public opinion so that the impact of the Europe in developing
countries will be a positive, respectful and sustainable one.
Echos Communication, which strives for the recognition
of cultural identity and equal exchanges, is supporting
CONCORD in the implementation of this project. This call
has been organized on the occasion of the 50th anniversary
of the European Union in 2007 and has received the financial
support of the European Commission and the European
Cultural Foundation.
Call to Join OneWorld Community Against Climate
Change
OneWorld is building a community
of individuals taking action against
climate change at our new social
networking site, OneClimate.
net. On the OneClimate island
in SecondLife (accessible through
OneClimate.net), people interested
in climate issues are interacting in
real time – meeting up, attending
presentations, even gathering to
watch the Live Earth concerts
together – all without emitting any
carbon. The OneClimate.net site
offers everyone the chance to be inspired by others’ work,
add their voice to the growing global chorus of people taking
action against climate change, upload their cell phone videos
or pictures, and post their climate solutions.
www.oneclimate.net
Email newswire@interaction.org if you would like
to submit an announcement for this section.
AUGUST 2007 27
PARTNERSHIPS
InterAction Member CEOs Launch Civil-Military Guidelines with
Department of Defense
By Linda Poteat, Senior Program Manager, Humanitarian Policy and Practice, InterAction
O
n July 24, InterAction CEOs joined colleagues from
the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Joint Forces
Command, the Department of State’s Office of the
Coordinator of Reconstruction and Stabilization,
representatives of regional Combatant Commands and USAID
to celebrate the launch of the Guidelines for Relations between
U.S. Armed Forces and Non-governmental Humanitarian Orga-
nizations in Hostile or Potentially Hostile Environments. These
Guidelines are the result of more than two years of hard work by
the Working Group on Civil-Military Relations in Non-Permis-
sive Environments, made up of representatives from all of these
organizations. The launch was held at the United States Institute
for Peace (USIP), which has been the mediating body for the
Working Group.
The launch of the Guidelines represents a significant step forward
in InterAction’s efforts to reduce the risks posed to NGO staff
working in non-permissive environments such as Afghanistan
and Iraq. In March 2005, the CEOs of several NGOs operating
in these countries met with U.S. government civilian and
military leaders to discuss how these communities can best relate
to one another when operating in the same space. In keeping
with the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality and
independence, NGO staff in the field wanted to maintain a
certain distance from the military. Many NGOs also believed
that a clear distinction between their staff and the military
would reduce the risk posed by perceptions of being to closely
associated with a belligerent group. However, as it is difficult to
work out relationships in the highly charged atmosphere of the
field, the Working Group was formed to address these issues in a
neutral environment.
The Guidelines contain recommendations to the U.S. Armed
Forces on how best to relate to NGO staff in the field, many
of which were derived from specific issues encountered in
Afghanistan or Iraq. These include the requirement that military
personnel wear their uniforms when conducting relief activities
so as not to be mistaken for NGO staff. Other recommendations
state that the military should visit NGO sites only by prior
arrangement and that NGOs should not be referred to as
“force multipliers” or “partners” of the military, as this could
compromise the perception of NGO independence.
The Guidelines also include recommendations for NGO
personnel, including the requirement that NGOs should not
have facilities co-located with facilities inhabited by military
personnel and that NGO staff should minimize their activities at
military bases and their activities with military personnel that are
of a nature that might compromise their independence.
One of the key elements of the Guidelines is the set of
recommendations on information-sharing and liaison
arrangements. InterAction has in the past provided liaison officers
to military commands to advise on humanitarian issues, and this
option has been included in the Guidelines. There are also a
number of suggested procedures for sharing information across
communities, including shared access to assessments available on
28 InterAction MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS
a common, open-source website. The Guidelines also suggest
a number of organizations or individuals that could serve as
a bridge between NGOs and the U.S. Armed Forces, such as
USAID, the State Department’s Office of the Coordinator for
Reconstruction and Stabilization and the UN’s Humanitarian
Coordinator.
During the launch event at USIP, participants discussed how best
to disseminate the Guidelines and monitor their implementation.
The Department of Defense announced that it would re-issue its
Joint Publication on Interagency, Intergovernmental Organization,
and Nongovernmental Organization Coordination During Joint
Operations (JP 3-08) to include these Guidelines, thus making
them part of military doctrine.
The Department of Defense will also send hard copies of the
Guidelines to the doctrine, education and training communities,
as well as to the Services and the Combatant Commands with a
cover memo endorsement from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff. The Department of Defense has also invited InterAction
members to submit articles on the Guidelines to professional
military journals.
InterAction will send copies of the Guidelines to all of its
member NGOs and will also disseminate the document to other
NGO networks in Asia, Europe and the South, as well as to UN
agencies. The Guidelines will be publicized at the upcoming
InterAction CEO retreat and will be discussed as part of a wider
civil/military event at the InterAction Forum in May 2008.
The Guidelines are already available on the home page of the
InterAction website.
Once the Guidelines have been widely distributed, the Working
Group will need to determine how best to monitor their
implementation, as well as what steps to take in the case of non-
compliance by the U.S. military or member NGOs. Over time,
the Guidelines can be revised and improved based on practice.
In addition to tracking the distribution and implementation of
the Guidelines, the Working Group will address a number of
emerging policy issues such as U.S. Africa Command, the new
unified command for Africa that will be officially stood up in
October 2008.
It is important to remember that these Guidelines represent an
agreement between InterAction NGOs and the U.S. Armed
Forces, and so they are not binding concerning NGOs outside
of the InterAction membership. However, the Department of
Defense has stated that it would use the Guidelines when relating
to all NGOs.
InterAction and its members will continue to educate the U.S.
military on NGOs, humanitarian principles and emergency
response. InterAction staff regularly lecture at the National
Defense University, the Expeditionary Warfare Training Group
of the Atlantic, Fort Bragg and other venues, and continue to
attend various conferences and workshops in order to ensure that
NGO perspective is accurately represented.
PARTNERSHIPS
Lessons on Partnerships
By Erica Sewell, Acting Executive Director, Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy
A
s a field, multi-track diplomacy,
which involves nongovernmen-
tal entities in the diplomatic
process, offers valuable insights
into best practices for developing part-
nerships. The experiences of the Institute
for Multi-Track Diplomacy (IMTD),
founded in 1992 by Ambassador John
McDonald and Louise Diamond, are no
exception.
IMTD expands peacemaking and peace-
building to tracks outside traditional gov-
ernment-to-government channels (track
one) and involves nongovernmental ac-
tors and informal actors to ensure conflict
is transformed both on the surface as well
as at a deeper level.
IMTD does not intervene in a conflict
unless requested to do so. As a result,
it focuses on developing partnerships
with local organizations and individuals.
IMTD defines a partnership as a relation-
ship between professionals in the field of
conflict resolution and people affected by
the conflict in which the parties are work-
ing together to achieve a common objec-
tive. Once invited to participate in the
peacebuilding process, IMTD works with
local partners on the ground to foster re-
lations with the affected population.
Programs and Practices
Examples from four IMTD partnerships
provide insights into different lessons in
building partnerships.
Kashmir. In 1993 Ambassador Mc-
Donald formed a partnership with Shah
Ghulam Qadir of Pakistan while at-
tending a conference on Kashmir at the
United States Institute of Peace. Due to
insufficient funds, they were unable to
execute a project, but their relationship
continued. Then, in 1995, Ambassador
McDonald was visited by two lieuten-
ant generals, one from India and the
other from Pakistan, who wanted him
to solve the Kashmir conflict. Both had
recently retired from the military after be-
ing involved in two wars in which they
fought against each other over Kashmir.
Even though Ambassador McDonald
told them that he was unable to solve the
conflict, it was the beginning of IMTD’s
work in Kashmir.
When IMTD finally conducted its first
Kashmir project in 2000, the partnerships
involved went much further, including
relationships with a member of the Paki-
stani Kashmir Legislature, the U.S. Fed-
eral Mediation and Conciliation Services,
the Kashmir Institute of International
Relations and individuals in both Pakistan
and India. IMTD’s work has subsequently
continued in Kashmir and the project has
expanded significantly based on the part-
nerships formed. This project highlights
that developing partnerships requires a
steady, multi-step process based on trust
and can take years to evolve.
Bosnia. After observing the positive
impact of IMTD’s work in Cyprus, a
businessman named Dan Whalen sought
to form a partnership with IMTD to
engage in peacebuilding in Bosnia-Her-
zegovina. After visiting Bosnia with Am-
bassador McDonald in 1999, Mr. Whalen
became personally committed to the idea
of working with young people there as
agents of peace. Thanks to the financial
support of Mr. Whalen, this partnership
gave Bosnian youth the opportunity to
attend a year-long youth leadership ad-
venture program, develop youth peace-
building projects in their communities,
and receive a college education. This
relationship shows that effective partner-
ships do not necessarily have to be with
large organizations or NGOs but can be
formed with an individual who has the
desire to make a lasting impact.
Global Water. Global Water is an
NGO that researches safe drinking wa-
ter and sanitation issues and is a sister
organization to IMTD. Global Water
develops projects to make clean drinking
water more accessible to rural people in
developing countries. The partnership
between the two organizations is unique,
and together they have simultaneously
addressed issues of water and peace. This
collaboration shows how NGOs with dif-
ferent missions can partner in order to ex-
pand the scope of their work and achieve
a greater result.
Program Officers. Since 1992,
IMTD has partnered with young profes-
sionals from all over the world. Each se-
mester, seven dedicated graduate students
join IMTD to serve as intern program of-
ficers. They manage and oversee domestic
and international projects, infusing their
own expertise and experiences into the
organization. The link between IMTD
and its former program officers enhances
the organization’s profile and capabili-
ties by creating a network of contacts and
practitioners worldwide. These partner-
ships differ from collaboration with finan-
cial donors or local NGOs, because rather
than aiding specific projects, they expand
and promote peacebuilding among
younger generations and strengthen IM-
TD’s influence throughout the world.
Best Practices
In 15 years of developing partnerships,
IMTD has seen that there is more than
one model for success. IMTD and the
recipients of its support have achieved
tangible benefits from the partnerships
that have been formed regardless of their
composition. Since each partnership
develops in a unique way, meeting the
needs of all the parties requires different
approaches and methods. IMTD’s years
of partnership work highlight several best
practices. First, when working on inter-
national projects, it is imperative to form
partnerships with local organizations and
only intervene when invited by a party to
the conflict. Second, it is crucial that all
partners involved subscribe to the same
vision and goals for the project because
often partners come from different back-
grounds and fields. Third, one must
be conscious of people or organizations
that want to partner in order to further
their own reputation or needs. Fourth,
all strong partnerships must be based on
trust. Trust can take a long time to de-
velop and without it, the partnership may
not work effectively. Finally, part of build-
ing trust is having both sides demonstrate
a commitment to the endeavor, which is
the reason that IMTD makes a five-year
commitment to each partnership.
For the past 15 years IMTD has been
committed to international peacebuilding
and through that obligation has formed
hundreds of local partnerships all over the
world with other NGOs, development
agencies, governments, universities, and
individuals. IMTD’s success in fostering
positive partnerships has been our com-
mitment to mutual respect and the build-
ing of trust. There are no shortcuts to
the development of strong partnerships
but these efforts have a lasting impact.
AUGUST 2007 29
READERS
RESPOND
Why We Need Foreign Aid Reform
By William F. Reese, President and Chief Executive Officer, International Youth Foundation
W
e are all familiar with the ex-
pression, “If it ain’t broke,
don’t fix it.” A Washington
sage added a corollary, stat-
ing, “If you can’t fix it, don’t (expletive
deleted) with it.”
Well, I am a realist who believes our for-
eign aid needs major fixing in this new
century. But I am also an optimist who
thinks that well intentioned, progressive
bipartisan Americans can work together
to fix – and permanently improve – our
official development assistance (ODA)
efforts. To do so, however, the NGO
community needs to be more than a crit-
ic. Indeed, we need to be a trusted mem-
ber of a barn-raising party to fashion and
build an effective foreign aid apparatus
that the developing world expects – and
that we Americans need – to promote
both their interests and ours.
Why reform? Most agree that our foreign
aid priorities are too many, the structure
is outdated, the funding insufficient, the
politics complex and the results over the
last decades often disappointing.
Where we then quickly divide – whether
we are NGOs or foreign service profes-
sionals, conservatives or liberals, Repub-
licans or Democrats (or neither) – is over
what to do about it.
Let’s face it. Our development commu-
nity today is confused, and our messages
are confusing. We are sending very dif-
ferent messages to our would-be part-
ners (the Congress and the Executive
Branch, be it the current administration
or its possible successors) about what
we want and think. At times, we seem
to fear change and want to protect the
status quo, current funding and existing
relationships. Yet at other times, we pro-
pose dramatic innovations, such as the
creation of a brand-new, first-ever, cabi-
net-level department for development.
Lost in the mix, I fear, is a serious under-
standing of and engagement with Secre-
tary of State Condoleezza Rice over logi-
cal first-steps in what will politically and
realistically need to be an evolutionary,
step-by-step process to construct a new
30 InterAction MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS
This commentary is in response to the focus on foreign assistance
reform in the July issue of Monday Developments.
rationale and delivery system for effective
foreign aid. USAID’s Acting Adminis-
trator Henrietta Fore said precisely this
in her June 12 testimony before Con-
gress: “We are at the beginning of this
important reform process, not the end.”
Indeed, Development – the third “D,”
along with defense and diplomacy, in
America’s triad to engage the world
– needs no less than a Goldwater-Nichols
type reform both to fashion the “joint-
ness” across our government’s disparate
set of ODA mandates, budgets and au-
thorities and to bring coherence and
effectiveness to America’s foreign aid.
Goldwater-Nichols did this for the de-
fense establishment in 1986 as a way to
reshape our national security strategies in
response to a changing world. Now it’s
time to apply that same spirit of reform
and coherence to this newly prioritized
development D.
By commencing a process to coordinate
State and USAID, even while the Presi-
dent’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief
(PEPFAR) and the Millennium Chal-
lenge Corporation (MCC) have separate
authorities, the Secretary of State is field-
testing how parts of our official devel-
opment assistance can become mutually
supportive, complementary and certainly
more effective. She isn’t tackling yet a
full merger of these functions – let alone
important parts of our foreign aid that
live in the Departments of Agriculture,
Defense, Health and Human Services,
Justice, and Labor just to name a few.
Secretary Rice asked at one point, “How
much money is the U.S. Government
spending on democracy programs in
country X?” That simple question – and
the inability to answer it – speaks volumes
about the confusion our government is
in. Without a clear notion of how much
money is being invested in a single coun-
try, and for what, how can we possibly
expect a global development effort to be
understood and thus saleable to taxpay-
ers and the Congress?
Former USAID Administrator Ambas-
sador Randall Tobias’ framework offers
us a good starting point. Each develop-
ing country deserves a single plan – and
an agreement with the U.S. government
– that it participates in designing. We,
as taxpayers and development partners,
need to see goals, metrics and programs
on a country basis that are coherent and
measurable.
Our community has been very ambivalent
about the MCC. NGOs and many in the
press have criticized it: either for starting
too slowly or dumping money too quick-
ly. We criticize it for buying or investing
in “things” (e.g. infrastructure) versus
the three-year projectized programs we
have come to love (be they basic educa-
tion, micro-enterprise, child survival or
whatever). In fact, when Undersecretary
of State Alan Larson called the Millen-
nium Challenge Account (MCA) “a new
Saturn Company for development,” he
was implying that the old automobile
factories (USAID) couldn’t be relied
upon to deliver a brand-new product.
For years, the NGO community has ad-
vocated that our government should in-
vest more money in very poor countries
over a longer period of time, addressing
priorities the host country owns and
plans itself. In other words, we advocated
for ODA disassociated from short-term
politics. Well, the MCC in many ways
offers just such an approach. Very few
of the current designated countries are
strategically important to long-term U.S.
security needs. They are simply deserv-
ing countries ready (presumably by vir-
tue of having met the MCC criteria) for
take-off and real transformation. If these
countries can’t transform themselves,
then very few can.
To my mind, transformational develop-
ment will only happen in reasonably gov-
erned, secure countries where people can
work, invest in and earn their futures.
Education and health systems are pri-
mary means to get there. Yet I feel the
NGO community pays too little atten-
tion to the issues and challenges that can
promote sustainable economic growth
opportunities for the poor. This is anoth-
er reason why the MCC must succeed. A
very clear, multi-year goal of a successful
MCC country would be increased direct

foreign investment and job creation for
the poor. There are other reasons that
MCC must succeed. First, if countries
really take off, they become models of
what increased ODA can do to help very
poor countries meet their plans for trans-
formation. Second, if they succeed, they
can be models (economic and political)
for other countries striving to reach the
MCC threshold. The State Department’s
new F (foreign assistance) Bureau and
the strategic framework have not pleased
all by any means. Categories may not
fit each country easily. Goal attainment
metrics can be discussed (sometimes to
death). But frankly, we need some or-
ganizing framework to differentiate and
package our approaches. We simply can-
not have 165 hand-embroidered strate-
gic approaches for 165 countries.
Some argue that major transformation
comes from thinking boldly, setting auda-
cious goals, and then implementing them
carefully and in proper sequence. I agree.
While the Bush Administration deserves
credit for big new financial commitments
to fight poverty, malaria and HIV/AIDS,
we must now develop structures, systems
and human resources to manage these
programs most effectively. In her recent
testimony, USAID’s Fore called this ap-
proach “integrated planning…based on
[a] government-wide commitment to
a shared goal – transformational diplo-
macy.” I urge the NGO community get
behind this new approach by working in
good faith with an administration that
still has 17 months to go, assessing our
progress, and bringing more coherence,
cohesion, synergy and accountability to
disparate development needs.
For larger reforms to be attractive and
doable, we need to see MCC flourish,
PEPFAR continued, and then coordinate
them with the various earmarks and pro-
grams that live within today’s USAID. If
reform’s “baby steps” can be practiced
and proven, we will then be ready, with
progress and lessons learned today, to
finish the governmental reorganization
of foreign assistance – with progress and
lessons learned today – applied to and by
a new administration and Congress in
2009.
The world admires American efficiency
and effectiveness, and often points to our
Apollo program and our business inno-
vations. Let’s work together to ensure
that our international cooperation and
development strategies can be the best
they can be.
New Column
Career Development
By Josh Kearns, Communications Associate, InterAction
Monday Developments always strives to be a good career resource for job seekers in the
international development and humanitarian relief community. Along with our job listings, MD
arms the job-seeker with pertinent information on trends and events in the field, on topics
ranging from advocacy to food aid, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis to news on the G8 and the
international financial institutions. Having digested a recent issue of MD, the reader can arrive
at a job interview better prepared than his or her competitors, or at least we like to think so.
In an attempt to make MD even more useful for job seekers, each edition will now include a
column devoted to career development.
Career Development aspires to be a meeting place for job seekers and human resources
professionals. To make this column as helpful as possible, you the reader will provide the
content. We will take comments, questions, suggestions, articles and advice from you, and
publish what we think you will find most useful, and what we think is most interesting. Job
seeker: do you have a question you would like to ask an HR person? (Why didn’t you hire me?)
HR person: do you have a question you would like to ask a job seeker? (Why didn’t you use
the spell check on your resume?) All published submissions will be printed anonymously. Send
your questions to us and we’ll help you solve the mysteries of the job hunt.
The theme of next month’s column is faith and development, so we want to
know: How comfortable would you be working for a faith-based organization
whose faith you do not share? Send your responses by email to Josh Kearns at
jkearns@interaction.org, with “Faith-based” in the subject line.
This month, we offer a list of online and print resources for job seekers of all levels.
JOB RESOURCES
Volunteering
Aid Camps International – www.aidcamps.org/
Aid Workers Network Volunteers Guide – www.aidworkers.net/introduction/voluteering
Ashoka – www.ashoka.org
Food for the Hungry – www.fh.org
Global Service Corps – www.globalservicecorps.org
International Service – www.internationalservice.org.uk
Maryknoll – http://home.maryknoll.org
Mennonite Central Committee – www.mcc.org
Peace Corps – www.peacecorps.org
U.N. Volunteers – www.unv.org
Volunteers Service Overseas – www.vso.org.uk
Job Searches
InterAction Weekly Email Job Announcements – www.interaction.org/pub
Aid Workers Network – www.aidworkers.net
British Overseas NGOs for Development – www.bond.org.uk
Experience Development – www.experiencedevelopment.org/home.php
Idealist – www.idealist.org
International Career Employment Weekly – www.internationaljobs.org
International Council of Voluntary Agencies – www.icva.ch
Microfinance Gateway – www.microfinancegateway.org
OneWorld – http://us.oneworld.net/section/us/latestpositions
People in Aid – www.peopleinaid.org
Red R – www.redr.org
ReliefWeb – www.reliefweb.int/vacancies
Further Reading on Pursuing a Job
Do No Harm by Mary Anderson
Another Day in Paradise by Carol Bergman
Going Global by Marc Lindenberg
Humanitarian Enterprise by Larry Minear
Voices of the Poor by Deepa Narayan
A Bed for the Night by David Reiff
AUGUST 2007 31
Interested in placing a job announcements or advertisement? Email publications@interaction.org
POSITION
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Sr. Agriculture Director > Boston, MA
Oxfam America is an international relief and
development organization that creates lasting
solutions to poverty, hunger and injustice.
Because the majority of poor people in the
developing world depend on agriculture for
their livelihoods, Oxfam America and the
Oxfam International confederation are mak-
ing an increasing strategic commitment to
agriculture programs. The Senior Agricul-
ture Director is responsible for developing,
articulating and advancing Oxfam America’s
vision and mission for its agriculture-related
programs, internally and externally. S/he
will coordinate with Oxfam International af-
filiates worldwide to develop a conceptual
framework on agriculture and related topics.
The primary responsibilities of the position
will be to contribute to the conceptual devel-
opment of Oxfam America’s work on agricul-
ture and related fields, including sustainable
rural livelihoods, the agricultural impact of
climate change, and agri-business, especially
as they relate to poor people. Work with coun-
terparts to ensure consistent strategy across
Oxfam International affiliates worldwide.
Advise program management and Sr. VP of
Programs on issues of strategic concern for
the agency from an agricultural perspective.
Candidates will have an advanced university
degree (Ph.D. or equivalent) in agriculture,
agronomy, agricultural economics, develop-
ment sociology, rural policy and planning,
or related field. 15+ years of progressively
responsible professional experience in in-
ternational development, rural livelihoods or
related field. 5+ years of experience working
in developing countries. Preferred fluency in
Spanish or French. For a full job description
visit www.oxfamamerica.org/jobs. Send cov-
er letter and resume to jobs@oxfamamerica.
org, Subject: Sr. Ag Director. Please include
desired salary expectations.
Senior Counsel to the Vice President >
Boston, MA
Oxfam America is an international relief and
development organization that creates lasting
solutions to poverty, hunger and injustice.
The Senior Counsel to the Vice President
for Policy and Communications will provide
strategic and conceptual leadership for Ox-
fam’s policy, advocacy, campaigning, com-
munications and private sector engagement
activities. S/he will maximize the position-
ing, content, quality and impact of Oxfam’s
32 InterAction MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS
policy, advocacy, campaigns, communica-
tions and private sector work. S/he will also
acts as a coach and mentor as well as team
leader and counsel to guide and coordinate
the policy and communications programs of
Oxfam America. In collaboration with the
Vice President, the Sr. Counsel is respon-
sible for the overall quality, efficiency and
effectiveness of the policy and communi-
cations activities of Oxfam America. S/He
will provide administrative, managerial and
programmatic assistance and support to the
Vice President in the Boston office and en-
sures that OA activities in the DC office and
those in the Boston office operate in close
coordination. The Sr. Counsel will supervise
all Campaign Managers in Policy and Com-
munications Division. Candidates should
have a Master’s degree in a development-re-
lated discipline, business administration, or
policy and minimum fifteen (15) years’ expe-
rience in international development, design-
ing and managing development programs at
not-for-profit organizations, preferably with
some experience in distance management.
Also experience dealing with: political risk;
policy, advocacy and campaigns; and private
sector engagement. View www.oxfamameri-
ca.org/jobs for a full job description. Please
send cover letter and resume to jobs@oxfam-
america.org, Subject line: Sr. Counsel.
Vice President for International Programs
> New Windsor, MD
IMA World Health, a non-profit organization
advancing health and healing in communi-
ties the world over, seeks a professional with
strong interpersonal and leadership skills;
knowledge and experience in developing
strategic partnerships with a diverse network
of donor and partner organizations; and a
proven track record in proposal development
and successful resource mobilization in sup-
port of major international health program
services. Requirements include: Doctorate
or Master’s Degree in Public Health or medi-
cal doctor with significant public health ex-
perience; minimum five years’ documented
international experience in field positions in
Africa, Asia or Latin America; and proven
proficiency in a second language such as
French or Spanish. FT position with excel-
lent benefits. EOE. Send resume and salary
requirements to Ms. Carol Hulver, IMA, PO
Box 429, New Windsor, MD 21776. Fax
410-635-8726. Email carolhulver@inter-
church.org.
Director, Human Resources > Baltimore,
MD
Realize the difference you can make. Balti-
more-based Lutheran Immigration Refugee
Service and Lutheran World Relief seek a
Director for Human Resources. This is an
excellent opportunity for a dynamic, experi-
enced HR professional to provide leadership
within two highly respected, mission-driven
non-profits agencies. Realize the difference
you can make while managing HR programs
for 140 US based and 48 international em-
ployees who literally work to change their
world for the better each day. The Human
Resources Director will report to LIRS and
provide overall strategic HR leadership to
both LIRS and LWR; oversee the develop-
ment and implementation of human resourc-
es policies, programs and services; serve as
the chief human resources officer, consultant
and chief advisor on strategic and operation-
al issues among and within the agencies; and
manage the payroll and benefits administra-
tion for Lutheran Services in America with
15 employees. The ideal candidate will have
a breadth of technical and strategic HR expe-
rience; a deep commitment to the core values
of each agency; at least a bachelor’s degree
in business administration, organizational
psychology or communications; minimum
10 years of experience in human resources
or a related field; excellent communication
and interpersonal skills; and a demonstrated
track record of proactive leadership and ini-
tiative in developing and implementing HR
processes and programs. Experience in the
nonprofit arena is helpful. Salary commen-
surate with qualifications and experience.
Additional details, including full position de-
scription, are available at: lirs.org/jobs.
Director of Strategic Affairs > New York,
NY
The Women’s Commission for Refugee
Women and Children is looking for an ex-
perienced manager with a minimum of ten
years of proven communications experience
including brand management, media rela-
tions and marketing to provide vital leader-
ship as the Director of Strategic Affairs. The
position will be responsible for the overall
management of the Women’s Commission’s
Communications department and ensure
that communications is integrated with the
organization’s advocacy and fundraising ef-
forts at every level. This position will serve
on the senior management team and will be
the primary external spokesperson to the me-
dia. Please send cover letter and resume to
Mary Jane Escobar Collins at marye@wom-
enscommission.org
Community Driven Reconstruction
Program Director/Chief of Party >
Democratic Republic of Congo
The International Rescue Committee is look-
ing for a Community Driven Reconstruction
Program Director/Chief of Party to imple-
ment a large-scale, Community Driven Re-
construction program in the Democratic
Republic of Congo. This position will lead
a Consortium to implement a large scale
CDR program in the DRC. If you are bilin-
gual English-French, with at least six years
Interested in placing a job announcements or advertisement? Email publications@interaction.org
of senior international management experi-
ence, and a strong grasp of both consortium
management and community driven recon-
struction-type programming, please apply at
www.IRCjobs.org.
Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation
Research & Analytics Manager > Little
Rock, AR
Heifer Int’l, a progressive, world hunger,
non-profit org seeks an individual to man-
age all aspects of the Planning Monitoring &
Evaluation processes which directly relate to
statistical analysis & reporting, data integrity
& data access for Heifer. Duties: ensure that
info from the prog info system/database is
accessible at multiple levels; define, manage
& produce custom reports from the system/
database for use in prog’s & the prog info
team; & work w/ Information Technology
Dept., as well as other depts, to ensure coor-
dination & integration of the prog info sys-
tem/database w/ other depts. Ideal cand will
have strong knowledge of planning, monitor-
ing & evaluation techniques using complex
database. Knowledge of Spanish highly de-
sired. Bachelor’s degree, + 7 yrs exp in mon-
itoring & evaluation. Master’s degree in the
social sciences w/course work in monitoring
& evaluation/statistics pref’d. Ideal candi-
date will demonstrate a good understanding
of databases & electronic systems for moni-
toring & evaluation. Competence w/SPSS &
other statistical packages necessary. Work in
an int’l org & exp in the use of computers
for monitoring & evaluation are req’d. Salary
$48, 160-54, 180 + benefits. Closing date
8/16. For more info about our org, detailed
job desc, & online application visit www.
heifer.org/careers HEIFER INT’L IS AN
EOE/AA EMPLOYER BY CHOICE.
Director of Development > New York, NY
International Women’s Health Coalition
seeks a Director of Development in our NY
office, responsible for the design, implemen-
tation and evaluation of IWHC’s strategy to
move from a $6 million budget in FY2007
to $10 million in FY2010. Build on a strong
revenue base of private foundations and Eu-
ropean governments, while growing support
from individuals and corporations in the U.S.
and Europe. Accountable for: fundraising
results; building a productive, well-function-
ing team; and working with senior manag-
ers, program staff, an active Board and vol-
unteers. For more information: www.iwhc.
org/jobs.cfm. Apply by email: recruitment@
iwhc.org or fax 212-979-9009. No telephone
calls please.
Senior Program Officer, International
Policy > New York, NY
International Women’s Health Coalition
seeks a Senior Program Officer in our NY
office. S/he will participate in a unique initia-
tive reshaping the global HIV/AIDS response
to better meet the needs of women and girls,
and contribute to design, implementation and
monitoring of IWHC’s international policy
program together with President, Vice Presi-
dents, and Senior International Policy Advi-
sor. Cultivate relationships with colleagues
and stakeholders, maintain knowledge of
issues, policies and networks, and write and
present on primary topics; collaborate with
program officers. For more information:
www.iwhc.org/jobs.cfm. Apply by email:
recruitment@iwhc.org or fax 212-979-9009.
No telephone calls please.
Director of Development > Berkeley, CA
Seva Foundation seeks a highly competent
and creative Director of Development to help
lead an intensive process of expansion and
growth. The ideal candidate will have 7-10
years of fundraising experience with a proven
track record of closing major gifts from indi-
viduals, foundations and corporations. Expe-
rience with comprehensive campaigns and
planned giving programs preferred. Must be
able to simultaneously fundraise for three or
more diverse programs, develop and manage
calendar of fundraising activities, lead and
mentor Development Department team, and
collaborate with Communications Director
on marketing, public relations and commu-
nications outreach. Experience with interna-
tional programs a plus. Must have an aptitude
for working in a highly diverse environment
and ability to interact with a wide variety of
constituencies. Approximately 25% travel.
Bachelor’s or comparable degree and CFRE
preferred. Send your resume and cover letter
to jobs@seva.org with subject line: Develop-
ment Director. Seva Foundation is an equal
opportunity employer.
Advocate > Washington, DC
Purpose: the Advocate is the core program
position at the staff level for Refugees Inter-
national. Advocates travel to countries and
regions experiencing humanitarian crises and
carry out assessments of the level and causes
of displacement. These assessments involve
interviews and discussions with displaced
persons, UN and NGO personnel, and gov-
ernment officials. Upon completion of the
assessment missions, Advocates are respon-
sible for writing up their findings in short
reports called bulletins and devising and car-
rying out an advocacy strategy to advance
their recommendations. Please see Refugees
International website for full description of
position. Application Process: applicants
should submit a cover letter, cv, writing sam-
ple and references to jobs@refintl.org . Ap-
plicants should specify “Advocate Position”
in the subject line. The position will remain
open until filled, and only finalists will be
contacted for interviews.
Program Director Latin America and
Caribbean Employability Programs >
Baltimore, MD
The International Youth Foundation (IYF) is
a nonprofit organization that prepares young
people to be healthy, productive and engaged
citizens. IYF seeks a Program Director for
Workforce Development in Latin America
and the Caribbean for the Employability
Center in Baltimore, MD. Responsibilities
include providing leadership in designing
and managing IYF’s youth development
activities focused on workforce develop-
ment in Latin American and the Caribbean,
taking signature program entra 21 model
to scale, and developing other employabil-
ity programs in the region. Requirements:
Master’s Degree in field relevant to IYF’s
mission and programs, at least 10 years work
experience in international development and
experience managing complex international
programs and budgets with multiple funders,
large grantmaking component, and a strong
learning and evaluation component. Strong
communication skills, both oral and writ-
ten, including public speaking. Bilingual in
Spanish and English. Fluency in Portuguese
a plus. See complete job description for
more details at www.iyfnet.org. Submit ap-
plication to jobs@iyfnet.org.
Monitoring & Evaluation Expert >
Research Triangle Park, NC
RTI International (www.rti.org) seeks an
accomplished professional with significant
experience in applied M&E for international
development. Responsibilities include work-
ing with RTI and project partner staff across
all programs to strengthen understanding and
promotion of accurate M&E concepts and
state-of-the-art proven practices. Ph.D. pre-
ferred or Master’s Degree in a social science
field relevant to health, governance, and/or
education. At least ten years’ experience
working in M&E in international develop-
ment. Please visit RTI’s website for full job
description and to apply: https://erecruit.rti.
org/PRODRECRUIT/,DanaInfo=.agfov6Ex
0qIy2s,SSL,SSO=U+index.htm??&JobOpe
ningId=10934. RTI is an independent orga-
nization dedicated to conducting innovative,
multidisciplinary research that improves the
human condition.
Representative, CWS Overseas Processing
Entity > Accra, Ghana
The Representative is responsible for the ad-
ministration and oversight of the Overseas
Processing Entity Headquarters in Accra,
Ghana. OPE Accra processes eligible refu-
gees in West Africa for the U.S. Resettle-
ment Program and operates under the terms
of a cooperative agreement between the
U.S. government and Church World Service
(CWS). CWS/OPE is expected to process
6,000 refugees in West Africa which will re-
continued on next page
AUGUST 2007 33
Interested in placing a job announcements or advertisement? Email publications@interaction.org
continued from previous page
sult in approximately 4,000 African refugee
applicants in West Africa for departure to the
U.S. The Representative works closely with
the UNHCR, IOM and U.S. government offi-
cials to coordinate all aspects of West African
refugee admissions to the U.S. Preference
is given to candidates who are U.S. citizens,
have a Master’s Degree or equivalent in in-
ternational relations, business or public ad-
ministration, familiarity with U.S. Resettle-
ment Program and U.S. resettlement policy,
previous work experience in domestic refu-
gee resettlement preferred, work experience
overseas, preferably in Africa, a minimum of
five years experience managing staff, opera-
tions and budgeting for a complex non-profit
organization and a basic knowledge of U.S.
immigration law. Send resume and cover
letter by August 31, 2007 to cwshr@church-
worldservice.org , fax to 574.266.0087, or
mail to HR Manager for Intl Staff, Church
World Service, PO Box 968, 28606 Phillips
Street, Elkhart, IN USA 46515.
Associate Director, Institutional Giving
And Grants > New York, NY
Unique opportunity for creative self-starter.
Establish a comprehensive grants program
for HIAS, the 125 year old Jewish int’l hu-
manitarian organization assisting refugees
and immigrants. Research, write and report
on grants from government agencies, NGOs,
private foundations, corporations and Jew-
ish federations. Recommend and implement
organizational strategies for grant seeking.
Establish and maintain personal relation-
ships with program officers and directors.
Collaborate closely with directors of HIAS
international and domestic programs and de-
velopment staff. Maintain organization-wide
schedule for communications with grant-
making institutions. Five plus years of grant
writing and grants management with dem-
onstrated track record in obtaining grants re-
quired. Experience with government grants
and knowledge of immigration/refugee
services and humanitarian assistance field
preferred. Knowledge of Jewish foundation
world a plus. M.A. preferred. Candidate must
possess strong analytic, written and verbal
communication skills and the ability to write
on a variety of topics and juggle multiple
assignments simultaneously. Send resume
w/cover letter indicating salary history/re-
quirements to: HIAS, Inc., HR Dept. at: 333
7th Ave., NYC 10001; FAX (212) 760-1833;
dev.positions@hias.org. EOE M/F/D/V.
LOOKING FOR A JOB?
Subscribe to our weekly job
listing at www.interaction.org
34 InterAction MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS
Associate Director, Public
Policy and Advocacy
Lutheran World Relief(LWR),
an international nonprofit
organization, works to end poverty
and injustice by empowering some
of the world’s most impoverished
communities to help themselves.
With partners in 35 countries,
we seek to promote sustainable
development with justice and
dignity by helping communities
bring about change for healthy,
safe and secure lives; engage in
Fair Trade; promote peace and
reconciliation; and respond to
emergencies.
The Associate Director, Public
Policy and Advocacy will:
Collaboratively, design and
implement an advocacy strategy
to promote more peaceful and
just U.S. policies, especially
on issues related to Africa.
Maintain substantive links with
U.S. Lutherans, ecumenical and
interfaith organizations, LWR
partners and other organizations
that promote peace. Research,
write and edit action alerts,
position papers, web updates
and other documents intended
to educate LWR’s constituency
on advocacy issues. Represent
LWR as part of key U.S.-based
coalitions and other relevant
coordinating bodies, as well as
maintain contact with other U.S.-
based agencies working for peace
and development.
Successful candidates will have at
least 3 years’ relevant experience.
More details can be found at lwr.
org. Please submit a cover letter
and resume to hr@lwr.org.
Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation
Program Officer,
Reproductive Health,
Global Health Advocacy,
Seattle, WA
The Global Health Advocacy group
works to improve the awareness of
and commitment to the major health
interventions that will reduce global
health inequities.
This position will be responsible
for driving the development and
management of strategies, plans
and a portfolio of grants that will
promote an accelerated response
by both developed and developing
country governments to support the
foundation’s Reproductive Health
priorities. The Program Officer will
bring leadership to the identification
and selection of partners and creativity
to the implementation and management
of new and existing programs and
partnerships. The Program Officer
will collaborate closely with other
Global Health program and other
advocacy team members to leverage
and coordinate all efforts related to
implementing the Reproductive Health
Advocacy strategy. The Program
Officer will bring a depth and breadth
of experience in and knowledge
of donor and developing country
governments’ global health activities
and mechanisms, including legislative
and administrative; international public
health needs; grassroots and leader-
level campaigning; and working with
and supporting non-governmental
organizations engaged in policy and
advocacy work.
An advanced degree in public health,
public policy, international relations,
or a related field and a minimum of
10 years’ experience, preferably with
a strong mix of service in either the
public or non-profit sectors both in the
U.S. and abroad.
If you are interested in applying for
this position, please visit http://www.
gatesfoundation.org/AboutUs/
WorkingWithUs/Jobs/JobsSearch.htm.
Interested in placing a job announcements or advertisement? Email publications@interaction.org

FOR CEOs ONLY

A special opportunity for InterAction member CEOs to work with their peers on
strategic issues and to gather informally.

Women’s CEO Retreat CEO Retreat 2007

November 5 November 6-7
At the request of InterAction members, we will Possible workshop and discussion areas include:
have a retreat for InterAction women CEOs prior InterAction in a Global Community
to the CEO Retreat. Examine our relationship with NGO platforms in the north
Focus areas include: and south
Ensuring gender equality as a part of the Civil-Military Relations
development agenda Explore the effects on InterAction member organizations
Unique challenges of being a woman CEO Elections 2008
The value of gender diversity on boards and How can we make our voice heard?
staff, including recent research findings Board Relationships
Women CEO networks and roundtables How to maximize your effectiveness with your Board of
Directors and other CEO management topics

Both retreats will be in Washington, DC. Watch for invitations!

*If you are not a CEO and you read this, please invite your CEO to attend.

Sphere Training Course Certificate Course in Preventing Violent Conflict

The Sphere Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards training
course is designed to give people who work in the humanitarian sector
the skills they need to apply Sphere throughout their work both at field
and head office levels. We welcome applicants from non-profit and
for-profit firms working in disaster relief and humanitarian assistance.
This three-day course highlights the principles upon which Sphere is
based, provides knowledge of the standards and looks at practical issues
in its application. In particular, the course will cover the Humanitarian
Charter, Disaster Assessment, Analysis, Program Planning and Sphere
Monitoring & Evaluation.
Space is limited and reservations will be made on a first-come first serve
basis.
Date: October 2, 3 and 4, 2007 regulatory mechanisms; (2) addressing underlying structural
Time: 9:00am – 4:30pm
Venue: Farragut Conference Center –
1725 I Street, Washington, D.C. 20006
Price: $500 Registered Non-profit (PVOs)
$900 For Profit and academic violence (operational prevention) by targeting the decision
organisations. 3 day training including making of parties to an incipient conflict. For each broad
manual, lunch and morning and afternoon tea
Registration: Email: sphere@crownagents.com or
Call (202) 822-8052 ext. 447
October 1-2, 2007
Washington, DC
The U.S. Institute of Peace is offering a two-day certificate
course in developing strategies to prevent violent conflict.
This course will provide students with a strategic framework
for the prevention of large-scale violent conflict, reinforced
with an experiential learning component. The strategic
framework describes three broad preventive strategies: (1)
counteracting global risk factors (systemic prevention),
typically through strengthening global institutions and/or
conditions in high-risk states (structural prevention) by
focusing on long-term drivers and mitigators of conflict, such
as governance, social well-being, rule of law, etc.; and, (3)
halting and reversing active escalation toward large-scale
strategy, instructors will discuss critical objectives for
analysis and warning as well as for preventive actions. The
course will also highlight a set of cross cutting leadership
responsibilities in the areas of institutional capacity and
preparedness, prioritization and planning, and timing and
coordination.

Contact: Aaron Teeter, 202-429-3825, ateeter@usip.org

www.crownagentsusa.com

AUGUST 2007 35
Interested in placing a job announcements or advertisement? Email publications@interaction.org

Legislative Associate for

Humanitarian Affairs

Washington, DC
InterAction seeks a Legislative Associate for Humanitarian Affairs to facilitate advocacy by our crisis-specific
humanitarian working groups. These working groups consist of staff from InterAction member organizations that
meet regularly to share information and coordinate work on issues related to refugees and/or internally displaced
persons, natural disaster response and post-conflict reconstruction and recovery. This work includes advocacy on U.S.
policy toward relevant countries or regions, as well as on aspects of U.S. relationships with the United Nations, the
World Bank and other bodies. Working groups active currently are focused on Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic
of Congo, Iraq, Northern Uganda, Sri Lanka and Sudan.

The Legislative Associate for Humanitarian Affairs will be part of InterAction’s Public Policy Unit, work closely with the
Senior Legislative Associate and report to the Senior Director of Public Policy and External Relations. S/he will work
closely with the Humanitarian Policy and Practice Team to assist and coordinate the working groups’ advocacy efforts.

QUALIFICATIONS: Ideal qualifications include congressional experience and/or advocacy experience, at least a
bachelor’s degree, experience abroad, experience with or interest in humanitarian and/or development work, good
people skills, research and organizational skills, and the ability to juggle multiple tasks and prioritize.

To apply, please email a cover letter, resume, and writing sample to advocacy@interaction.org. Applications will be
accepted until the position is filled. See InterAction’s website for more details: www.InterAction.org.

Project Coordinator for

Gender Equality and
E-Learning Initiative

Washington, DC
The Project Coordinator will oversee the production of an interactive E-learning Tool on Gender Equality in
Humanitarian Action under the auspices of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Sub-working Group on
Gender in Humanitarian Action. The Project Coordinator will develop and finalize an E-learning tool in consultation
with and for use by members of the UN and NGO community drawing on expertise in gender, adult pedagogy, and
humanitarian assistance.

The overall objective is to strengthen the understanding and capacity of humanitarian actors from the NGO and UN
communities on the importance of gender equality programming and how it can be implemented in practical ways
in the delivery of humanitarian protection and assistance programs. The proposed E-learning Tool, in the form of a
CD-Rom/Internet-based learning tool, will cover the basic information on what gender equality programming is, why
it is important, and provide simple approaches to sector-specific actors on how to ensure the needs of women, girls,
boys and men are being met in humanitarian situations. The IASC Gender Handbook will form the foundation for this
creative training approach.

This is a 12 month position. Interested parties please send resume and cover letter to Veronika Martin at hpowell@
interaction.org.

36 InterAction MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS

Interested in placing a job announcements or advertisement? Email publications@interaction.org

Solicitation for Bids

Consultancy on NGO Staff
Well-being in Darfur and Chad

InterAction, the largest alliance of U.S.-based NGOs working in relief and development overseas, is soliciting bids
for a consultancy to assess NGO staff well-being in Darfur and Chad. The Terms of Reference for the consultancy
and the quotation submission requirements are listed below. Interested applicants should send their bids for
the consultancy to Jim Bishop at jbishop@interaction.org by Friday, August 17, 2007 with the anticipation that
work could begin in September (though there is flexibility understanding that some bidders may already have
commitments).

Terms of Reference for Staff Well-being Consultant(s)

The purpose of this consultancy is to strengthen the ability of InterAction members to meet the psychosocial needs
of national and international staff working in Darfur and eastern Chad. Specifically, the consultancy will review the
efficacy of policies and programs to:

Prepare staff to work in high threat and high stress environments.

Prepare staff for and support staff after critical incidents.
Mitigate cumulative stress.
Respond to other common stressors (quality of life issues, logistics, working in a multi-cultural environment, etc.).

The consultant(s) will visit selected NGO headquarters in the U.S., as well as country offices in Khartoum and
Ndjamena/Abeche and field offices in Darfur and eastern Chad. The consultant(s) will hold focus group discussions
and select individual interviews with field staff, both national and international. The consultant may also propose
additional methodologies.

The consultant(s) will produce a final report that includes:

1) a review of policies, programs and/or other interventions currently in place to support staff and mitigate stress;
2) an assessment of the adequacy of these policies, programs and interventions in these complex and highly
insecure environments;
3) recommendations for realistic adjustments in these policies, programs and interventions that should result in a
reduction of stress for field staff;
4) recommendations to InterAction about activities and/or deliverables that would contribute to improved
practice within the humanitarian community; the recommended activities/deliverables should be appropriate
for inclusion in an amended grant with USAID’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA). These
recommendations could form the basis of a “Minimum Operating Standards in Staff Well-Being in Insecure
Environments.”

Duration of Consultancy: TBD (level of effort and size of consulting team to be suggested by consultant).
Location of Consultancy: U.S., Khartoum, Darfur states, Ndjamena/Abeche, eastern Chad.

Desired Qualifications:
Background in psychology, social, counseling or allied mental health field.
First-hand knowledge of NGO field work.
Demonstrated success in organizational consulting, analysis and development.
5-7 years of experience in the field of staff well-being, particularly in regards to work carried out in highly
insecure environments.
Knowledge of French a plus (for work in Chad).

InterAction expects to be able to award the contract to the successful bidder within 30 working days
of the closing of this call for bids. For complete description, including the quotation submission
requirements, please visit www.interaction.org/jobs.

AUGUST 2007 37
Interested in placing a job announcements or advertisement? Email publications@interaction.org

Beautiful Meeting Facility

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Free Weekend Use
Want to write for Monday
Developments? Could your group use a rent-free facility in
Santa Barbara for a week-end meeting?
We are seeking contributions for the October
issue on “State of the World: Progress Being
The Eleos Foundation, a multi-faith
Made in Development.”
organization committed to ending world
We are looking for first-hand perspectives poverty, is offering InterAction members
from recipients in the field on how a full-service facility on the campus of
international development and humanitarian
Pacifica Graduate Institute rent-free. It
aid programming has made a difference in
their lives. can sleep up to 76 overnight guests from
Thursday to Sunday. You’ll enjoy meeting
Do you know someone that would be perfect? rooms of various sizes and the tranquility of
Contact Julie Montgomery by August 31, 2007 at
open spaces in beautiful surroundings. Paid
jmontgom@interaction.org meal services are available. Availability is
limited to specific weekends.
WANT TO WRITE FOR ANOTHER ISSUE? CHECK OUT
THE EDITORIAL CALENDAR ONLINE AT OUR WEBSITE!
www.interaction.org
For more information and to apply, contact
EleosFoundation@gmail.com

Budget Officer “The mission of Medical Teams International

is to demonstrate the love of Christ to people affected by
International Relief and Development (IRD) seeks a
disaster, conflict and poverty.”
Budget Officer based in Arlington, VA. The Budget
Officer will prepare cost proposals for submission
to donor agencies and will be responsible for the
U.S.-based Positions:
development, implementation and monitoring of the
Regional Manager East Asia
organization’s administrative budget. The Budget Officer
Senior Technical Advisor, Health
will work closely with the CFO in developing budget
Commodity Support Officer
scenarios and ensuring the compliance of budgetary
procedures and guidelines.
International Position:
Community Health Project Manager - Indonesia
A bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance or equivalent
and a minimum of five years’ experience in costing and
pricing for an international non-profit required.
Visit our website at www.medicalteams.org for further
information.
Please submit your cover letter and resume to kwarren@
Medical Teams International, 14150 S.W. Milton Ct.
ird-dc.org.
Portland, OR 97224

38 InterAction MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS

Interested in placing a job announcements or advertisement? Email publications@interaction.org
Senior Program Officer
Natural Capital Project
World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the
global conservation organization,
seeks a Senior Program Officer to
lead the policy and finance work of
the Natural Capital Project. This
Project is a collaboration among
WWF, The Nature Conservancy,
and Stanford University, focused
on integrating ecosystem services
into conservation and development
efforts worldwide (www.
naturalcapitalproject.org). The
policy and finance group builds on
the Project’s science and mapping
work to devise and recommend
policies and payment schemes
to reward the conservation of
ecosystem services. Position will
be responsible for working with
field programs to identify potential
policy and payment opportunities,
building broad partnerships with
development institutions and with
leaders in private financial markets,
and developing the overall strategy
for the policy and finance group (in
close collaboration with other group
members at WWF, TNC, Stanford,
and elsewhere).
Basic requirements include:
significant and successful
experience in international policy,
conservation finance, or related
fields, with advanced degree in
law or policy preferred. Excellent
analytical and communication
skills, creativity and an ability
to lead by persuasion and build
consensus. Strong organization
skills and experience in fundraising
and project development.
AA/EOE Women and minorities are
encouraged to apply. To apply visit
http://www.worldwildlife.org/about/
jobs.cfm # 28033
Math Content Specialist
Are YOU ready to take YOUR
teaching/education experience
to the next level and work
internationally? If so, the
Academy for Educational
Development (AED) currently
has open positions for Math
Content Specialist in Doha, Qatar.
AED is paying a competitive
salary along with free housing,
project laptop and cell phone,
business class ticket to Qatar and
transportation allowance.
This position will be working
with the Supreme Education
Council of Qatar. The Math
Content specialist will be
working with a team to
strategically manage project
activities in all areas surrounding
Math coursework to ensure that
teacher quality and development
is accelerating and student
achievement is improving;
s/he will provide daily technical
assistance to the math teachers
and necessary leadership to
independent school operators and
teachers.
The ideal candidate must have a
Master’s Degree and five years’
teaching experience.
To learn more about the position
and to apply, applicants should
send resume with cover letter
referencing position title and
reference #BPQatar to: AED/HR,
1825 Connecticut Avenue, NW,
Washington, DC 20009; fax: 202-
884-8413, or email to:employ@
smtp.aed.org. For additional
information, visit our website at
http://www.aed.org.
AA/EOE/M/F/D/V
Representative,
Southern Africa
CHURCH WORLD SERVICE has
an opening for a Representative for
Southern Africa. In consultation with
the Regional Coordinator for Africa,
the CWS Representative develops and
guides CWS programming in Southern
Africa to achieve Regional Objectives.
The CWS Representative oversees all
CWS operations in Southern Africa,
identifies opportunities for CWS
Program Office engagement and support,
provides program interpretation for
CWS constituencies and donors, and
as guided by the Regional Coordinator,
seeks to add value to the work of CWS
member communions in Southern
Africa and maintains key relationships
in Southern Africa with an emphasis on
ecumenical and interfaith institutions
and networks. Qualified candidates
will possess a minimum of a Bachelor’s
degree in a related field, a Master’s
degree in a related field is highly
desirable, excellent interpersonal skills,
teamwork skills, written and verbal
communication skills, facilitation and
organizational development skills, and
computer skills; 4-7 years of experience
in an overseas management role in a
development organization; experience in
administration of overseas development
or humanitarian assistance programs
in Southern Africa or elsewhere in
Africa is highly desirable; experience
in both development and humanitarian
arenas preferred; demonstrated
commitment to ecumenical cooperation;
experience providing funding and other
support to local non-governmental
organizations very useful; previous
experience living and working in
assigned country/countries desirable;
experience facilitating disaster response
and development programs desirable;
fluency in English, written and spoken
is required and a working knowledge of
Portuguese desirable. Send Resume and
Cover Letter by 8/31/2007 to Human
Resources Manager for International
Staff, Church World Service, 28606
Phillips Street, PO Box 968, Elkhart,
IN, 46515. Fax 574.266.0087, E-mail:
cwshr@churchworldservice.org.
AUGUST 2007 39
Interested in placing a job announcements or advertisement? Email publications@interaction.org

VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER – PARTNERS OF THE AMERICAS
I. Partners of the Americas - historical background/organization description

Established in 1964, Partners of the Americas brings together citizen volunteers from Latin America, the Caribbean and
the United States to build opportunity, foster leadership and create mutual understanding among the people of our hemi-
sphere. The organization exemplifies the idea that people working together can make a difference. We pair U.S. states with
Latin American and Caribbean countries in international partnerships that focus volunteers’ skills and energies on common
concerns of social, economic, and cultural development. We draw on this network of enduring linkages among professionals,
institutions, and communities to mount a diverse array of activities and professional programs. These initiatives range from
disaster assistance to cultural exchange, from strengthening democracy to preventing domestic violence, and from building
the rule of law to better managing our natural resources. Partners represents a committed base of volunteer professionals –
doctors, farmers, artists, city administrators, business people, professors, students, community leaders – as well as staff in the
Washington, DC and several field offices. The CEO will find a unique moment to lead the organization toward new horizons.

II Seeking Chief Executive Officer with following attributes:

a. A senior level professional with significant experience, recognition and demonstrated achievements in
administrating staff and volunteers of a successful international NGO or private sector institution, development
agency, foundation or institution focusing on Latin America, the Caribbean and the United States.

b. A fundraiser who has a track record of demonstrated successes in obtaining revenues, major grants – restricted and
unrestricted – private, public and corporate revenues, as well as annual volunteer giving.

c. An individual who is a visionary with a high energy level and is willing to commit four to seven years to reframing
and repositioning Partners as a leading hemispheric PVO with relevant niches that meet the needs of its constituent
groups including major donors, grantors and volunteers.

d. An individual who is willing to be creative in sharing the challenge and leading the charge with board members,
staff and volunteers.

e. A decisive and disciplined administrator who has a firm grasp on inter-american affairs, is able to articulate the
Partners of the Americas vision effectively and undertake the necessary challenges to move through a transitional
period and elevate the organization to a higher plateau.

f. An individual who is a “mover and shaker” within the area of development and understands the importance of
strategic alliances, institutional linkages, people-to-people programs and exchanges.

g. An individual who has demonstrated success with legislative advocacy, marketing and institutional image building.

h. The candidate should have the ability to communicate effectively in English, with working knowledge of Spanish
and/or Portuguese. French a plus.

i. A candidate who has lived and/or worked in Latin America/Caribbean and the United States and has knowledge of
grassroots development.

Please send resumé, cover letter, and a list of three references to ceosearch@partners.net by August 31, 2007. Partners of the
Americas is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

40 InterAction MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS

Interested in placing a job announcements or advertisement? Email publications@interaction.org

Clements International continues to meet the

unique international insurance needs of
individuals and organizations abroad, now as
it has for more than five decades. Our
programs provide complete international
insurance protection including worldwide
coverage for automobiles, property, liability,
health and life. In addition, we offer critical
insurance protection for projects in high risk
areas including Kidnap & Ransom and War &
Terrorism coverage.

1.800.872.0067 or 1.202.872.0060

AUGUST 2007 41
Interested in placing a job announcements or advertisement? Email publications@interaction.org

National Director-India
CCF-India, one of the largest International child development
organizations in India, is seeking a National Director.
Responsibilities include providing the vision and strategic
leadership for the program in India, full operational
responsibility for the country program, articulating the vision
and mission, and designing and implementing a strategic plan
to address the causes and effects of poverty and other adversity
conditions on children in the country.

Postgraduate level degree, 10+ years of experience managing

development work in a senior management position working
with INGOs and 3+ years of international/overseas work
experience. Prior working experience in India. Demonstrated
strong management skills. Outstanding written and oral
communication skills and proved ability in the English
language. For full description please visit our website www.
christianchildrensfund.org EOE M/F/D/V

The International Rescue Committee

responds to the world’s worst crises,
helping refugees running from the horrors
of war and persecution. We rescue their
lives with immediate relief. We rescue their
futures by supporting them through
recovery toward renewal. We rescue their
freedom, enabling those given a new
home in the U.S. to become settled and
self-reliant. For 75 years, the IRC has been
raising alarms with a global call to action
and restoring hope, dignity and opportu-
nity for vulnerable people worldwide.
Add your skill and passion to our
worldwide team of professionals in:
Health • Finance • Program Management •
Community Development • Protection •
Gender Based Violence • Operations •
Post Conflict Development • Education
Apply now at:
IRCjobs.org
From Harm to Home
SENIOR MANAGER, GRANTS
SAVE THE CHILDREN (U.S.)
SUDAN COUNTRY OFFICE - Khartoum
Save the Children is a leading emergency response, relief and development
agency striving to improve the lives of women and children in need around
the world. We are currently seeking a Senior Grant Manager to work in
close collaboration with the Country Office Finance Manager and Re-
gional Finance/Administration Managers to provide efficient and effective
management of the Country Office grant portfolio. S/he will efficiently
manage the Grant Management System for the Sudan program - ensuring
the timely posting of all grant documentation requiring approval, oversee-
ing responses provided to approver questions and constantly liaising with
Home Office to ensure approval is expedited in a manner to accommodate
the high grant turnover. As the in-country expert on donor regulations,
the Manager will ensure that the management systems are compliant
with donor requirements; inform finance, administration and program
staff if specific grant requirements are not consistent with Sudan Country
Office Policies and Procedures; and advise on and ensure the setting-up
of mechanisms to meet donor requirements. Qualified candidates should
possess a Masters degree in relevant field plus a minimum of 5 years of
professional experience in the above fields. Strong knowledge of Grant
Management and Donor Regulations (USAID, UN, and EC preferred);
solid computer skills in Excel and database systems; and proficiency and
knowledge of Sun System Software preferred. Strong organizational skills,
attention to detail and proven willingness to work in a team is critical for
success. Please visit our Career Website at http://www.savethechildren.
org/careers/index.asp and apply online for position # 3400 EOE

42 InterAction MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS

Interested in placing a job announcements or advertisement? Email publications@interaction.org

AUGUST 2007 43
1400 16th Street, NW, Suite 210
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: (202) 667-8227
Fax: (202) 667-8236
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InterAction is the largest alliance of U.S.-based
international development and humanitarian
nongovernmental organizations. With more than 160
members operating in every developing country, we
work to overcome poverty, exclusion and suffering by
advancing social justice and basic dignity for all.

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