NOHA 2010

12th Edition 

August 2010 

Connecting humanitarian ideas and experiences 

NOHA STUDENT NEWSLETTER 

INSIDE THIS EDITION 

EVHAC - Is it Time for a 

European Aid Corps? 

‘New Humanitarianism’ & 

‘Integrated Missions’ 

The Challenge 

of Measuring Impact 

Chagos - 

A Silent Human Rights Crisis 

NOHA-Fieldtrips 

Bosnia & Northern Ireland 

On Duty in Emergency - 

NOHAs in Haiti 

NOHA 2010 

... preparing for emergency

...c’nect 

_ c o n t e n t _ 

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04 

06 

07 

08 

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12 

16 

_ p a g e _ 

Giving Voice to a Silent Human Rights Crisis 

EVHAC - Is it Time for a European Humanitarian Aid Corps? 

New Humanitarianism & Integrated Missions 

Searching for Impact - The difficulties of measuring NGO-success 

NOHAs in Haiti - Ruben Wedel and Ignacio Fernandez 

Srebrenica - Memorial of a Massaker 

NOHA-Fieldtrips: Northern Ireland & Bosnia 

In Memory of Dr. Richard Munz 

Letter from the Editors 

Welcome to the latest issue of C’nect! 

In this C’nect we cover, amongst many other 

things, the various field-trips that have 

been undertaken by most NOHA students. 

Whether organised by the respective 

universities or by the students themselves, 

they have formed a particularly rich source 

of inspiration! 

But in this issue, hardly any subject is 

left unexplored as we are brought up to 

speed about a largely unknown humanrights 

violation in the Chagos archipelago 

while in another article we learn about 

the difficulties of measuring the impact of 

humanitarian projects. 

Speaking of impact: what would the 

establishment of a European Voluntary 

Humanitarian Aid Corps mean for the 

humanitarian community? And how, if at all 

possible, can UN integrated missions benefit 

a broadened concept of humanitarianism? 

We also provide first-hand accounts of two 

NOHA students who share their experiences 

of working in the field. They recount the 

chaos, destruction, miscommunication, lack 

of co-ordination and the joy of seeing a 

familiar face: it is a small world after all... 

And last, but not least, we would like to 

mention our grief at the loss of a great 

humanitarian and a dedicated member of 

the NOHA faculty. The sudden death of Dr. 

Richard Munz has moved everyone who had 

the pleasure and honour of working with 

him. 

As a new academic year approaches, with 

the refreshing addition of a new generation 

of NOHA-students and undoubtedly no 

shortage of issues to write about, we would 

like to say: the show must go on! 

Help us improve C’nect by sharing 

your feedback or suggestions with the 

Editorial Team. 

Please feel free to e-mail us at: 

cnect.noha@gmail.com 

Title-page photo: istockphoto 

EDITORIAL TEAM 

Joint Chief Editors: 

Design: 

C`nect Links: 

Big thanks to: 

Bo Hurkmans, Lena Zimmer 

Lena Zimmer 

Roger Dean, Matthieu Desselas, 

Laurélie Di Filippantonio, Lottie Helmore, 

Ana Markulin, Rocío de Miguel, Anna Wrocha 

Giacomo Corticelli, Ignacio Fernandez, 

Marina Flevotomas, Corinne Grant, 

Natalie Spießer, Ruben Wedel


Giving Voice 

– by Coco des Iles, 

C’nect’s special envoy to Mauritius 

Even though the right to remain in and 

return to one’s own country is a basic 

human right, it has been violated in the 

Chagos, a tropical archipelago located 

in the middle of the Indian Ocean. This 

violation of human rights has been ongoing 

for almost forty years and yet it 

has barely echoed in the international 

forums. 

The Chagos (with its main island Diego 

Garcia) was as of 1814 a British colony, 

administratively attached to Mauritius. 

Its first inhabitants arrived in the 

late 18th century and remained there 

throughout the British colonial rule. 

to 

a silent Human Rights Violation 

Chagossians in Exile on Mauritius and the Seychelles 

From a peaceful insular lifestyle to a 

Human Right struggle 

In the 1960s, in the height of the 

decolonization process and the Cold 

War, the Chagos became a geopolitical 

hotspot for the United Kingdom (UK) 

and the United States of America (USA). 

Both powers concluded a deal, whereby 

the UK leased the Chagos to the USA 

for the implementation of a military 

base. Thus, from 1965 to 1973, the 

2,000 Chagossians were progressively 

expulsed from their islands. They were 

deported, in horrendous conditions, to 

the Seychelles and Mauritius. They were 

and still are living in dire poverty, with 

high levels of psychological, social and 

physical vulnerabilities. 

Refusing their conditions, the 

Chagossians in exile got organized into 

a resistance movement and undertook 

several legal actions to serve their plight. 

From 1998 to 2006, they filed lawsuits 

at the High Court in London against 

the British government, challenging 

the legality of their expulsion from the 

Chagos. The High Court ruled twice in 

their favour, rendering their expulsion 

unlawful. Moreover, in 2010, the 

Chagossians have brought their case to 

the European Court of Human Rights 

Photo: Anne Sheppard, creativecommons 

(ECHR). Their case should be heard at the 

ECHR in Strasbourg during the summer 

of 2010. 

Despite these rulings and the human 

rights law (i.e.: the right to return to one’s 

own country and the right to enter one’s 

own country), the British and American 

governments remain adamantly opposed 

to the return of the Chagossians on their 

islands. Up to today, in August 2010, the 

Chagossians are not authorized to return 

to and resettle in their archipelago. 

The backstage of a silent human right 

violation 

After a forty year-struggle, the violation 

of the Chagossians’ rights keeps 

unfolding far away from the public eye. 

It seems to be deliberately forgotten. It 

has been neglected by the international 

community, due to lack of “apparent” 

interest. The “small” Chagossian issue 

has been overshadowed by “greater” 

emergencies, which were more likely to 

attract publicity and subsequently donor 

funding and humanitarian interventions. 

Thus, the Chagossians’ needs and rights 

remain uncovered. 

The Chagossian issue has been further 

silenced by the British and American 

governments. They have carefully staged 

this oversight in order to protect their 

own diplomatic interests: the UK wants 

to keep its initial deal with the USA (i.e. 

the people-free lease of the Chagos 

archipelago); and the USA wants to 

keep secure and active their strategic 

military base on Diego Garcia, Camp 

Justice, from where B-52s were launched 

during the Gulf war in 1991 and the 

Afghan operations in 2001. In parallel, 

the British and American governments 

have pressurized and manipulated third 

parties such as the United Nations. They 

have claimed that the Chagossians’ 

resettlement on their archipelago would 

be too expensive and would jeopardize 

the Chagos marine reserve (established 

in 2010). 

The silence that prevails on the violation 

of the Chagossians’ human rights raises 

the broader question of the politicisation 

of the human rights and their lack of 

enforcement. 

3

...c’nect 

EVHAC 

Is it time for a European 

Humanitarian Aid Corps? 

A volunteer force designed on the model of the US Peace Corps, 

to be deployed in humanitarian emergencies - a good idea? 

– by Lena Zimmer 

Europeans care. A recent Eurobarometer 

survey on humanitarian aid revealed that 

eight out of ten citizens think that it is 

important that the EU funds humanitarian 

aid in non-European countries. When 

disaster strikes, for example with the 

earthquake in Haiti, the Asian tsunami or 

the recent floods in Pakistan, disturbing 

pictures are broadcasted on every 

channel. These pictures motivate many 

people to contribute to the humanitarian 

effort in order to relieve suffering, also 

by other means than financial ones. 

This sense of global solidarity, combined 

with the virtue of volunteering, is 

precisely what the EU strives to preserve 

and promote. In doing so, it announced 

that 2011 would be the European Year of 

Volunteering. But besides this, there are 

also other reasons that led to the plans 

for a European Volunteer Corps, which 

would be deployed in humanitarian 

emergencies worldwide. 

Inspired by the model of the US 

Peace Corps, the idea of a European 

Humanitarian Corps was brought up in 

2003 during the Greek EU-presidency. 

At that time a broad vision of a pool 

of volunteers engaging in development, 

humanitarian aid, environment- and 

climate protection, education and civil 

protection was embraced. Furthermore, 

in response to the increasing pressure 

on the EU to improve its coordination in 

crisis response, the model of a voluntary 

aid-force of young Europeans engaging 

in humanitarian assistance and civil 

protection seemed an elegant answer, 

thus EVHAC was born. 

Even though this gesture of solidarity 

and unity of the EU Member States is not 

directly linked to the solidarity clause 

of the Lisbon treaty (which guarantees 

mutual support in terms of military 

defense), it can also be read as an 

effort to shape up the profile of the EU. 

Just as the US Peace Corps, which was 

founded in 1961 by John F. Kennedy, it is 

meant to be a tool to bring Europeans 

into the world, and the world closer 

to Europeans. A positive image of the 

EU will be created by the presence of 

young enthusiastic European helpers in 

struggling communties throughout the 

world, so it is envisaged. 

Photo by Lena Zimmer 

At the same time, European youth will 

get a better understanding of what 

the world is like beyond the borders of 

the EU. Enhancing and profiling the 

European image, educating the youth 

and promoting a positive European 

identity, will also have another positive 

side effect. It creates future advocates 

and supporters of the humanitarian 

and development cause, which is crucial 

in the race to reach the Millennium 

Development Goals in time. “Providing 

an opportunity for Europeans to 

prove themselves” could be a premise 

underlying this endeavor, mimicking 

precursors of this kind like the German 

“Weltwärts-Program”. 

Apart from the rhetoric of identity and 

solidarity, however, the needs of the 

humanitarian sector are put forward as 

the main reason for such a volunteer 

program. Human resource shortages and 

the necessity to enhance efficiency of 

humanitarian action are the most urgent 

problems, which will allegedly be 

4


solved by EVHAC. However, in addition 

to the lack of clarity regarding who 

should provide the resources for EVHAC 

(neither DG ECHO, nor the Member 

States are capable or willing to cover the 

estimated 170 million euro), actors in the 

humanitarian sector such as ECHO and 

VOICE also raise conceptual concerns. 

The core of these concerns can be found 

in the debate about the politicization 

of aid. Whereas on one hand, the need 

for a coordinated and comprehensive 

response to complex emergencies is 

rarely doubted, the opinions about the 

extent of humanitarian aid that may be 

deployed as part of a political strategy 

differ significantly. The legitimacy of a 

European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid 

Corps cannot merely be based on its 

function as a political tool or a visibilityproject, 

humanitarians argue. Besides 

the minimum requirement - that it is 

based on the humanitarian principles 

and avoids convergence with the 

military - it should not be supply-driven 

or even impose aid on ‘beneficiaries’. 

Rather, the only reason for bringing 

into existence any project of this scale, 

should be if it was the true answer to 

actual humanitarian needs. This is what 

the humanitarian imperative demands. 

As a result, educational and political 

aims, however important, should not be 

allowed to serve as an end in itself. 

The EU’s drive for coherence and 

coordination in foreign and security 

policy, and the strive for an efficient 

response to complex crises are important, 

but it should be carefully considered if 

yet another humanitarian dilemma could 

be avoided at this time. Humanitarian 

action should not me transformed into a 

‘soft’ tool of European policy. But besides 

the politicization debacle, there are two 

other reasons why humanitarians have 

doubts about the EVHAC-idea. 

First of all, unlike the US Peace Corps, 

which deploys recent college-graduates 

in fairly stable development environments, 

EVHAC-volunteers are foreseen to work 

in humanitarian emergencies. Since most 

of these emergencies nowadays occur in 

conflict-settings and thus bear security 

risks, it does not seem wise to send 

inexperienced staff into such settings, 

especially since this would also clash 

with the attempted professionalization 

of the humanitarian sector. 

Photo by Stefan Wetzel 

Secondly, the deployment of even 

more Europeans in non-European 

settings could undermine the effort 

to increase participation and capacity 

building at the local level. Instead of 

relying on expatriates more and more, 

local volunteers should be trained 

and employed instead, in order to 

systematically stimulate local ownership. 

“There is no alternative to the 

establishment of a European Peace 

Corps”, the German Institute for 

International and Security Affairs argues, 

but from the humanitarian perspective, it 

is not quite clear as to why this would 

be the case. Since NGOs, who would 

be the ones employing the volunteers, 

already have volunteer-schemes at 

their disposal, the new pool seems to 

merely duplicate existing models. So far, 

increasing reliance on volunteers has 

not been identified as the answer to the 

growing demand for skilled humanitarian 

staff, so it seems. The strict adherence to 

the American model, thus, seems more 

like a ‘me too’ reaction than a problemtailored 

solution. 

If the humanitarian community truly 

lacks professional human resources, and 

the budget to employ more Westerners, 

why not expand professional training 

on one side, and build capacities at 

the local level on the other? The issues 

of enhanced coordination of security 

and foreign policy, of proliferation of 

European identity and the fight against 

an anticipated erosion of solidarity 

maybe need to be solved by other means 

than by setting up a humanitarian 

volunteer corps. 

But if there is really no alternative to 

EVHAC, it needs to be needs oriented and 

established in sincere collaboration with 

existing agencies and local partners. The 

EVHAC-proposal mentions the benefit 

for NOHA-students: possible practical 

training units for the course. Maybe 

an expanded master programme with 

improved hands-on training modules 

could be a practical alternative? 

5

...c’nect 

& ‘Integrated 

‘New 

Missions’ 

Humanitarianism’ 

At the crossroads of two evolving concepts 

– by Bo Hurkmans 

Aid workers and humanitarian 

organisations increasingly fall victim 

to violent, and deliberately targeted, 

attacks. Today’s emergencies are more 

and more of a complex political nature, 

meaning that a singular approach based 

on either diplomacy, development 

assistance or military intervention 

will not be sufficient to bring about a 

sustainable transition from war to peace. 

One might wonder: what do these 

observations have in common? The 

answer to that question could be: the 

solution for both trends has to be 

sought in an increasingly integrated, 

comprehensive and coherent approach 

in which 

humanitarian action can no longer 

be kept separate from military and 

political action. In this short article I 

will draw upon the reasoning behind 

‘new humanitarianism’ to indicate why 

the UN’s so-called ‘integrated missions’ 

might provide an opportunity for 

humanitarian actors to find just such a 

solution. 

The first statement, to begin with, is 

not uncontroversial. Although it is 

considered almost a fact that aid workers 

and humanitarian organisations are 

increasingly the target of violence, this 

obviously only represents one side of the 

story. When looking at the absolute 

figures there is no denying that the 

increase is worrying, but when compared 

with the, also, increasing number of aid 

workers in the field the figures suddenly 

become less dramatic. The second 

statement then, is one that might find 

broader support. It is clear that ever 

since the end of the Cold War interstate 

conflict has been largely replaced 

by intrastate conflict, which by its very 

nature and context requires a very 

different response from the international 

community. No longer can humanitarian 

Miss 

or Match? 

organisations, in these situations, rely 

upon (the perceptions of) neutrality, 

impartiality and independence to provide 

them with the necessary security and 

access to carry out their work. 

Enter the UN and their concept of 

‘integrated missions’, which they 

themselves describe as: “... an instrument 

with which the UN seeks to help countries 

in the transition from war to lasting 

peace, or address a similarly complex 

situation that requires a system-wide 

UN response, through subsuming various 

actors and approaches within an overall 

politicalstrategic crisis management 

framework.”. On a more practical 

level, this would entail joint planning, 

execution and evaluation of the mission, 

which guarantees that all actors 

involved agree on both the objectives 

and the ways to achieve these. But what 

about the earlier mentioned principles 

and how would such a mission affect 

the security situation for aid workers 

and humanitarian organisations? 

The strict adherence to the 

aforementioned principles is something 

that is at the core of the debate 

surrounding ‘new humanitarianism’. 

Proponents of this strand of thinking 

argue that the scope of ‘classical’ 

humanitarian action - where we merely 

alleviate suffering - should be broadened 

to include, for instance, peace-building, 

promotion of human rights and longterm 

development. 

“Helicopters from UNMIT land in Uatucarbao (Timor-Leste) to deliver relief 

supplies in co-operation with the National Disaster Centre. The area has 

suffered from heavy rains and floods which have affected over 230 families”. 

Photo: UN PHOTO, 2010 

6 

This broadening is deemed necessary to 

address the root causes underlying the 

suffering we try to alleviate, instead 

of only remedying the effect. However, 

such activities inevitably clash with the 

principles that have guided humanitarian 

action since its inception. 

Continued on page 11


Searching for Impact: 

The difficulties 

of measuring NGO-success 

- by Roger Dean 

How can a donor choose between 

NGOs competing in the sector’s pseudomarketplace? 

If they were to be given 

a say, how could the beneficiary/client 

community and host government make 

their choices? How can they know which 

set of organisational characteristics 

really gives a project the best chances of 

having the right impact? 

If a comprehensive project impact data 

set can be found and is made available 

to all, decision-makers could statistically 

review which organisations and types 

of organisation have succeeded in 

various types of project. The best ways 

of doing the job would be quantitatively 

demonstrable, donors would be less 

able to dictate politically motivated aid 

agendas, and the ‘used car traders’ of 

NGO public relations would lose some 

of their influence. The communities and 

governments of the target less developed 

countries (LDCs) would be the winners. 

What is impact? 

Impact is the key concept for longterm 

aid effectiveness. The OECD calls 

it “positive and negative, primary and 

secondary, long-term effects produced 

by a development intervention, directly 

or indirectly, intended or unintended.” 

Input, process and output indicators 

look at project implementation, are 

easy to measure, and will be part of the 

logframes of project proposals. Impact 

and outcome indicators are about the 

effects of programmes. 

A framework of accountability 

Donors are not the only stakeholders 

to whom NGOs are theoretically 

accountable, although their position at 

the top of the funding tree gives them 

enormous influence over the sector as a 

whole. The client / beneficiary community 

is also a legitimate stakeholder, as is the 

host government. These three groups 

are thought to have the right to define 

how accountability is to be achieved. In 

addition, various other interested parties 

may also claim NGOs owe them an 

explanation of their activities. 

The data we need – a statistical utopia 

If the three stakeholders are to be 

considered decision-makers, they need 

data on which to base those decisions. 

This data should be common to all three, 

be trusted by all three, and not create 

a necessary power imbalance between 

them – this implies they should jointly 

conduct the project evaluations, and 

produce a single combined report. In order 

that the findings can be examined and 

conclusions drawn by any stakeholder or 

interested party, it is vital that all data 

be made freely available. And to allow 

for the most comprehensive comparisons 

and reliable conclusions, every project 

by every NGO should be assessed in this 

way. 

In search of this broader impact, donors 

conducting project evaluations have 

used some or all of the following criteria: 

poverty reach, participation, gender, 

environment, replicability, flexibility 

and innovation, pre-project appraisal, 

evaluation and monitoring, sustainability 

and cost-effectiveness. 

This list represents what is important 

to the donors. However because our 

data set is to be used to satisfy the 

accountability requirements of three 

stakeholders (donors, community and 

host government), to this list should be 

added some criteria important to and 

identified by the other two parties. 

Donors, of course, would be unhappy at 

the dilution of their decision-making 

7 

power, in judging success and failure. 

NGOs would be uncomfortable being 

judged by host governments and 

communities who they may perceive, 

rightly or wrongly, as corrupt, politically 

motivated and lacking the capacity to 

make balanced judgements. It is, however, 

precisely this kind of institutional and 

grassroots capacity that so many actors 

in the sector are committed to helping 

build. 

The data we have – back to earth with 

a bump 

Unsurprisingly, the existing data falls far 

short of the exacting requirements above. 

A few main types of information exist - 

End-of-project reports by NGOs are 

typically not public – they tend to be 

made available even to host governments 

only under pressure, and never to the 

community. NGOs are likely to release 

more positive than negative reports. 

This unsystematic and partial data is of 

very limited value to decision-makers 

and researchers. Project evaluations by 

donor-appointed consultants sometimes 

make their way into the public domain. 

Again, their release is unsystematic, 

partial and political factors may influence 

the decision to publish or withhold. 

Although the evaluator is nominally 

independent, they have a contractual 

relationship with only one stakeholder - 

the donor. 

Meta-surveys are becoming more 

common, whereby researchers or 

agencies attempt to combine all data 

available to them. 

Continued on page 11

...c’nect 

On Duty in Emergency 

Ruben Wedel 

Your profile: 

I am a mechanical engineer by profession 

and I worked in Emergency Relief 

and Reconstruction in the following 

humanitarian contexts: Haiti prior to the 

earthquake, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Kosovo 

and Bangladesh. 

I did my first and second NOHA semesters 

in Dublin and went on a two and a 

half week mission to Haiti as a relief 

coordinator. 

When did you arrive in Haïti? 

I started my journey on the 12th of January 

2010, reached the Dominican Republic 

on the 14th and crossed the border into 

Haiti on the 15th. I was wondering how 

IDRL would be implemented in Haiti as I 

was approaching the border. How would 

taxes, visas, work permits and other 

issues be handled by the Haitian border 

control? It turned out that nobody was 

even present from the Haitian side. The 

heavily armed Dominican soldiers just 

opened the border and wished us luck. I 

received no Haitian stamp in my passport 

and had no need for a visa. 

What were your first impressions upon 

your arrival? 

We set up our headquarters on a football 

pitch that belonged to an American 

school in the heart of Port – au – Prince, 

one of the few buildings still standing 

in the city after the earthquake. My 

first impressions of the situation were 

devastating; people were digging with 

their hands in what was left of the 

buildings. There was an overwhelming 

distinct smell in the air and a shortage of 

basically everything, including medicine, 

water, food and fuel. 

What were your main responsibilities 

as Relief Coordinator for Kindernothilfe 

(KNH)? How did you carry them out? 

I was the only one from Kindernothilfe, 

a German based non-governmental 

organisation focused on child care, who 

went to Haiti. I was accompanied by a 

German medical team along with several 

journalists. KNH has been working with 

local partners in Haiti for over 20 years 

Mechanical Engineer 

but had not been able to contact these 

partners after the earthquake. Therefore, 

the first task was to re-establish contact 

with the local partners, organise aid for 

them, assess their capacity for relief 

projects and start emergency relief 

projects with them focused on child care. 

After organising aid through the German 

embassy for one local partner we started 

the first child protection centre in Delmas 

2 in Port-au-Prince. 

The child protection centre focused on 

the areas of health, nutrition, hygiene, 

psycho-social care and child protection, 

providing for 200 children under the age 

of 6. This model was then expanded to 

15 child protection centres after three 

months. 

Photo: Kindernothilfe 

The second task was to accompany the 

German medical team and to help them 

become operational. This worked out 

fairly well and the doctors were able to 

reopen a clinic which had been forced to 

close due to lack of medical supplies. 

The third task was to coordinate and 

to facilitate media (TV, newspaper, 

radio) visits to KNH projects. A rather 

challenging task was ensuring the 

– Interviews by Coco des Iles, 

C’nect’s special envoy without borders 

sensitivity of the media towards the 

earthquake victims. 

The fourth and most challenging task 

was to coordinate our work with the 

Lead Agencies through UNOCHA, the 

US military and the German embassy as 

they were still in the process of getting 

organised when we arrived. Coordination 

was essential even when it was difficult 

as it helped us to get food aid for our 

local partners. 

What were the main challenges for you, 

as humanitarian actor? 

Communication was the main challenge 

in the beginning; even the satellite phone 

was less than reliable. The situation 

improved when the US army moved in to 

provide logistical assistance. 

What are your main recommendations 

to NOHA students as prospective 

humanitarian workers working in Haiti 

or other emergencies? 

It is important to find an organisation 

with a clear mandate and experience 

in what they are doing. Then it is also 

important to take a break from the very 

demanding work in order to recharge the 

batteries. A burned out humanitarian 

worker is not helping anybody. 

Closing words in Haiti Creole? 

Anecdotes? Something else to add? 

UNOCHA was situated in the airport in 

Port – au – Prince. When I went there 

to register our organisation I noticed a 

familiar face, a NOHA Dublin face to be 

precise. It was Brian Casey, one of our 

lecturers during the first semester, who 

had just arrived with the team from 

GOAL. We had a quick chat and a laugh 

on how small the humanitarian world is. 

Even though I had experience in 

coordinating relief missions before I 

enrolled at UCD, I felt better prepared this 

time around after having completed even 

only one semester of the programme. 

- 

8


- 

NOHA-Students in Haiti 

Ignacio Fernandez Administration-Finance Officer 

Your profile 

I studied Economics in Madrid and have 

also a Masters in International Cooperation 

and Project management. 

I worked two years in the public sector 

on a Co-operation program with Latin 

America, Africa and Asia before having 

my first field experience with Action 

against Hunger in Guinea-Conakry for 

more than a year. As I was studying the 

NOHA Masters I received a call from 

Intermón Oxfam to work as an Admin 

Fin Officer in Haiti. I couldn’t refuse it… 

When did you arrive in Haïti? 

I arrived to Port au Prince (PAP) February 

4th, and moved to Petit Goave - a small 

costal village West to the capital, which 

was also very affected by the earthquake 

- 3 days later. I was supposed to stay for 

2 months but I finally stayed 1 month in 

Petit Goave and 1 in Port au Prince. 

What were your first impressions upon 

your arrival? 

What I will tell you will not surprise 

you: destruction overall, but also, as 

soon as I got to the Airport they took 

me to the Headquarters and there I 

found a total chaos. Nobody knew who 

I was, even more! Nobody really even 

cared! The reason in the end was that 

they took me to the wrong building, as 

my organization had several countries’ 

delegations in PAP. Nevertheless, when I 

got to the right building (an improvised 

tent working as an office), things weren´t 

that different as people were way too 

busy for a “formal introduction” , ha-ha! 

What were your main responsibilities as 

Admin-Fin Officer for Intermón Oxfam? 

How did you carry them out? 

Intermón Oxfam had two bases in Haiti: 

Port au Prince and Petit Goave. The 

second one was on the coast 4 hours far 

away from the capital, so the options 

weren’t as many as in PAP. My team and 

I had to open the base there and start 

a distribution program including clean 

water, emergency latrines, portable 

latrines, emergency showers, hand 

washing points, garbage containers and 

hygiene kits (containing 2 blankets, soap, 

Photo by Ignacio Fernandez 

and so on). As an Admin Fin officer I 

was in charge of Human Ressources 

(interviews, contracts, evaluations, 

Salary payments, etc.), Accountancy 

management (Incomes and outcomes 

registration, cash balances, etc.) and the 

financial management of the base (doing 

financial reports, financial follow-up, 

treasury forecast, etc.). 

Actually Human Resources was one of 

the toughest part at this point as we 

were opening the base and everyday we 

were receiving hundreds of CV´s of people 

desperate looking for a job. Lawyers 

looking for job as a driver or whatever 

was available… 

What were the main challenges for you, 

as humanitarian actor? 

Getting adapted to a completely new 

context in hours, with few hours sleep, 

bad and scarce food, no coordination 

and no talking among your own team 

(not just the other actors!) and problems 

getting the basic info you need to do 

your job, among many others!!! 

What are your main recommendations 

to NOHA students as prospective 

humanitarian workers working in Haiti 

or other emergencies? 

Prepare yourself! Mentally first, and 

also physically. Be aware of where you 

are going and do not underestimate 

9 

the conditions. Prepare to be flexible, 

PATIENT, and most of all, hard worker! 

Closing words in Haiti Kreol? 

Koman ou ye ? (How are you?) It was 

the same question that my Haitian 

colleagues used to ask me every morning 

at the office, and Nap kembé! (Keeping it 

up!) was always my answer. 

Unfortunately, Mwen grangou (I´m 

hungry) was also the highlight those 

days… 

Anecdotes? 

Well, rice and chicken (if you are lucky…) 

is the main meal in Haiti, so after two 

months having the same meal night and 

day I promised myself that I wouldn’t eat 

it again in a looooong time. 

Do you want to know the first meal I had 

when I came back to Spain? 

Paella!!! 

Something else to add? 

It was a great experience for me working 

in Haiti, but the miscoordination, the lack 

of communication, the lack of leadership 

(or too many leaderships maybe…) 

and also the willing to do as much as 

possible but individually, really made me 

come back with a bittersweet taste in 

my mouth. Feeling proud for what you 

have done in such a situation is mostly 

impossible.

...c’nect 

Srebrenica 

1st April 2010 

Memorial of a Massacre 

“What we are doing must be guarded as the deepest secrets. 

Moreover, one State is based killing, arresting, interrogating. 

It’s so all over the world, so also for our state”. 

(Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic during a conversation intercepted) 

Bosnia- 

Herzegovina 

- by Giacomo Corticelli 

It was July 1995, between the 6th and the 

11th , when the Serbian troops of Bosnia 

put the village of Srebrenica in check 

by “Wolves of the Drina” and “Brutunac 

Brigade”. The resistance of Bosnian 

Muslims was almost non-existent and 

also the UNPROFOR’s Dutch contingent 

was attacked, despite the UN having 

declared Srebrenica a “safe area” in 

1993. The Srebrenica massacre is the 

largest mass murder in Europe since 

World War II. 

8372 men and boys were murdered in 

one week. 

Much audio and video evidence, beyond 

that of the survivors and families of the 

victims, has emerged during the latest 

Photo by Giacomo Corticelli 

hearings at the International Criminal 

Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). 

These videos are shocking and poignant. 

During the attack, thousands of women, 

children and elders were brought to 

Potocari in a barracks of the Dutch 

battalion. A second group of about 15 

thousand people, including about 5 

thousand Bosnian army members were 

gather in the village of Susnjari and 

displaced, setting out through the woods 

of reach Tuzla, in the north. 

The process of deportation began when 

the men were separated from women 

and children. After that the brigades 

“Bratunac, Zvornik and Milici” positioned 

themselves to intercept the displaced 

15 thousand. Following an attempt at 

10 

resistance, thousands of men, including 

civilian, are captured. In Kravica, for 

instance, thousands of muslim hostages 

were grouped in a department store and 

executed with automatic weapons and 

grenades. Or in the factory of Branjevo, 

a slow motion of a recording, made by 

a passing car in front of the building, 

shows dozens of bodies piled on one 

another. 

Sensations in the “Srebrenica-Potocari 

Memorial and Cemetery for the Victims 

of the 1995 Genocide”. 

I visited Srebrenica memorial last 1st 

April, with the international students 

of international relationship and 

humanitarians affaires (UCL and NOHA 

network). The main monument is in the 

area near the “Dutchbat” building of 

UNPROFOR and is situated on the former 

cemetery. Costed 5 million euros, the 

memorial was inaugurated by Bill Clinton 

in 2003, financed by international 

community, private donors and some 

Bosnian institutions. The University of 

Sarajevo has installed a photographic 

and film exposition in one of the 

buildings used for the massacre, in front 

of the cemetery. 

More than 5 thousand victims have 

been identified with DNA tests and 

all of the names are engraved on a 

marble wall. Seeing this, eyes swell and 

breathing stops, feeling every single life, 

every personal history of this people 

terminated here, a day in 1995. The stale 

inscriptions are in Bosnian, Arabic and 

English and talks about genocide, word 

politically dangerous to use just a few


years after the conflict, but maybe 

necessary to keep a little beat of peace 

inside the heart of people close to the 

victims. In 2004, the president of ICTY 

Theodor Meron, stating that, “by seeking 

to eliminate a part of Bosnian Muslims, 

the Bosnian Serb forces committed 

genocide, (...) they stripped all the male 

Muslim prisoners, military and civilian, 

elderly and young, of their personal 

belongings and identification, and 

deliberately and methodically killed them 

solely on the basis of their identity”. But 

the Tribunal did not identify the details 

throughout the Bosnian war in order to 

hide the extremes of mass destruction. 

Maybe the time will be given to the 

victims an impartial version of the facts, 

today impossible to know by the local 

population, also from our Sarajevan 

guide. 

Seeking the truth, Courts are at work. 

Radovan Karadzic, poet and psychiatrist, 

has always been considered the most 

influential leaders of the massacre from 

the judges of the ITCY and the instigator 

of a plan for permanent expulsion of 

Muslims and Croats who lived in areas 

of Bosnia and Herzegovina controlled by 

Serb during the war 1992-1995. However 

in some part of Balkans I saw last summer 

t-shirt for sale with Karadzic’s photo and 

the words “hero”. History needs time, the 

memory of war is too recent in many 

parts of Balkans. 

Karadzic is accused of crimes against 

humanity and war crimes on the killings, 

the rapes, forced expulsions, tortures 

committed in 19 municipalities as well as 

during the siege of Sarajevo, which lasted 

44 months. Surviving witnesses are 

deposing in these months their testimony 

at the ICTY court against Karadzic – who is 

entitled to question all witnesses against 

and has called the accusations against 

him “a myth” and the war in Bosnia “an 

act of legitimate defence against Islamic 

threat”. The process against Karadzic will 

end probably in 2013. The case against 

him is of particular importance but it is 

not the only one still pending against the 

others executives for violence in Bosnia. 

The defendant psychiatrist will 

meanwhile continue to write his poems 

behind bars. 

“Samo da rata ne bude”. 

No sentence can give justice to the 

victims and perhaps can not give peace 

to the hearts of the relatives of the 

victims. And can not make peace in the 

conscience of the Western states that, 

despite efforts in post conflict, can 

not forget the serious diplomatic and 

military mistakes made in the nineties in 

the Balkans: from the fast recognition of 

independences of Slovenia and Croatia, 

to the NATO’s campaign for the bombing 

of Kosovo. What I found in Srebrenica, 

is that war is always the worst of nonsolutions. 

Roger Dean: Searching for Impact 

... continued from page 8 

Notable was a very ambitious early 

attempt by the OECD, which combined 

data from ten major donors with selfgathered 

information from 13 country/ 

donor case studies. Although the study 

stressed the need for better data, some of 

its conclusions were profound, including 

the following: 

- “even the best livelihoods projects are 

insufficient to enable the beneficiaries to 

escape from poverty”. 

- “in most cases the poorer the 

beneficiaries the less likely a project is to 

be financially sustainable”. 

- “innovations … appear to be linked to 

close interaction with the beneficiaries 

and often arise following years of 

research”. 

Sadly the raw data for this study is not 

readily available alongside the report – if 

it were released it would satisfy many 

of the requirements of our utopian 

statistician. 

In the absence of available 

comprehensive, trustworthy statistical 

data at project level, researchers 

wishing to test a hypothesis often have 

to collect and rely solely on empirical 

data from the field, a hugely inefficient 

undertaking for basic needs. The lack 

of local, national and global baseline 

data makes conclusions less valuable 

than they would otherwise be. The client 

community and host government might 

justifiably feel systematically excluded 

from information and decision-making 

about their own futures. 

When this breakthrough does happen the 

whole humanitarian / development sector 

will benefit from the institutionalising of 

community knowledge, the consequent 

improvement of data, situational 

understanding, and finally of programme 

impact. Programmes will be both on a 

firmer moral footing, and better able to 

achieve what’s needed. 

Bo Hurkmans: ‘New Humanitarianism’ 

and ‘Integrated Missions’ 

...continued from page 7 

But maybe, today’s complex political 

emergencies leave us no choice but to 

11 

deviate from this strict and principled 

‘modus operandi’. 

In the end, security strategies relying on 

protection and deterrence are secondbest 

options to improve the situation 

while the best option, acceptance, is 

too often foregone in favour of the 

first two. Integrated missions, because 

of their joint nature, could provide a 

valuable framework for humanitarian 

organisations who wish to operate in 

insecure environments, such as complex 

emergencies, where principles are no 

longer able to provide access or security. 

And last, but not least: the causal link 

between increasing violence against 

aid workers and the presence of an 

integrated mission, remains, as of yet, an 

uncertain one. 

The effect of integrated missions on the 

security of aid workers and humanitarian 

organisations will be the topic of my 

forthcoming thesis. Comments, thoughts 

and ideas related to this subject in 

general, or the article in particular, are 

much appreciated and can be send to: 

bo.hurkmans@ucdconnect.ie

...c’nect 

UCD’s Fieldtrip to 

Northern 

- by Natalie Spießer Ireland 

From 25-27 of March 2010, the second 

semester class of the University College 

Dublin (UCD) undertook their field trip to 

its neighbouring part of the UK, Northern 

Ireland, to study conflict resolution in 

this post-conflict transitional society. 

In the weeks before the trip, we learnt 

about Northern Ireland’s troubled past, a 

society divided by a conflict which had 

started over 800 years ago. Probably 

the most interesting thing to learn for 

us non-Irish students was the fact that 

the conflict was actually not merely 

about clashes between Protestants and 

Catholics, but went much deeper than 

that. Some people would say the conflict 

was about British and Irish identity; 

others argued it was all about human 

rights. So we were curious to meet the 

people from both sides of the conflict 

who were and are directly involved and 

to learn about what they had to tell and 

how Northern Ireland had evolved since 

the peace agreement, concluded on Good 

Friday 1994 and therefore called “The 

Good Friday Agreement”. 

Our first stop brought us to the PSNI 

Police Station in Ardmore, Newry, where 

we met with Inspector David Beck who 

gave us an interesting first insight on 

the conflict from the security services 

perspective. 

We then went on to Mullaghbane, 

located in South Armagh which is 

tragically infamous as most people 

directly associate South Armagh with the 

troubles that had happened during the 

conflict. The rest of the day was reserved 

for the “Republican Side” of the conflict. 

We met with IRA Ex-prisoners, with one 

of them giving us a political tour through 

South Armagh where we visited places 

like Crossmaglen, Fordes Cross and the 

Hunger Strike Memorial. We also visited 

the Forkhill Enterprise Center, a good 

example of communities taking initiative 

Photo by Natalie Spießer 

of economic development in post 

conflict settings. Pat Gibbons, our NOHA 

coordinator from UCD, kept reminding us 

that what we learn here about conflict 

resolution and community development 

in NI can be applied to all other conflicts 

around the world, which is why we went 

on this trip. 

On the morning of the second day 

we were honored to meet with Conor 

Murphy, MP and Minister for Regional 

in the Northern Ireland Government. It 

was definitely a great privilege for us 

to hear a Minister’s insight about the 

development of the region and his views 

on the future of Northern Ireland. 

After Mr Murphy’s visit, we travelled to 

Belfast to hear about the “Protestant 

side of the conflict” and their efforts of 

peacebuilding and regional development. 

We started with the UDA perspective 

and met with Frankie Gallagher at 

the CHARTER office and study walk 

down the Newtownards Road in East 

Belfast. The day ended with some 

traditional protestant music in the 

evening and another meeting with UDA 

representatives about the challenges for 

UDA constituents to realise the Peace 

Agreement. 

On the morning of the third day, we 

met the very inspiring social worker 

Stephen Hughes, who took us to 

visit some of the poorest republican 

communities, telling us about his work 

with the poor and marginalized youth 

in West Belfast. Our study trip ended 

with meeting representatives from 

the UVF Ex-prisoners association, who 

gave us a political tour of a protestant 

marginalized community and walked us 

down Shankhill Road to visit memorials 

and wall paintings of importance to 

them, before we headed back to Dublin 

in the afternoon. 

All in all, the whole class agrees that 

our field trip was an excellent firsthand 

learning experience from which 

every single one of us has benefitted 

greatly, and we would like to thank our 

coordinator Pat and everyone who had 

made this study trip possible. 

12


Uppsala’s Fieldtrip 

24th of April to 1st of May 2010 

- by Ana Markulin 

One part of the NOHA Master Programme 

in Humanitarian Action is University 

field trip. The aim of that trip is to visit a 

country, chosen by the NOHA University 

and to visit different kind of organizations 

relevant for humanitarian assistance. 

In student year 2009-2010 Lebanon 

was a chosen destination by Uppsala 

University, but due to security reasons 

and lack of finances from the University, 

the trip was cancelled. Wishing to 

gain more experience and combine the 

theory learned through 2 semesters and 

practise, eight NOHA students decided 

to organize a field trip by themselves. 

We decided to visit Bosnia, country highly 

devastated by the war in the 1990’s and 

spend a week there. We gathered needed 

information and arranged meetings 

with UN and local organizations in order 

to get, at least possible, picture of the 

events that Bosnia experienced during 

the war. 

We visited four cities in Bosnia and 

Herzegovina: Sarajevo, Tuzla, Mostar 

Photo by Ana Markulin 

to 

and Srebrenica, city which, after Dayton 

Peace Agreement, became a part of the 

territory of Republic of Srpska. 

Events during and after the war left many 

material losses and physical destruction, 

but also many unresolved issues and 

many gaps still remain. 

Organizations, UN and local ones 

working on the territory are putting a lot 

of effort in solving and facilitating some 

issues such as human rights, return of 

the refugees and IDP’s, mine problems, 

missing persons etc. in order to ensure 

and promote regional stability. 

One of the main issues and challenges 

are still 117,000 officially registered 

IDP’s in Bosnia and Herzegovina (June 

2009. UNHCR). UNHCR is assisting the 

Government to find durable solutions for 

refugees and displaced persons. Thanks 

to national and international efforts 

that made improvements in security, 

the repossession of property and the 

reconstruction of the houses, more than 

a million refugees and IDP’s returned to 

their place of residence. 

13 

Bosnia 

Although high number of IDP’s has 

returned, many of them face legal, 

economic and administrative obstacles. 

Often returnees experience harassment 

and discrimination which also 

discourages other IDP’s from returning 

back. Moreover, return is not an option 

for the most vulnerable groups such 

as physically or mentally challenged, 

chronically ill and elderly persons due to 

very basic living conditions and limited 

assistance that collective temporary 

accommodations (Collective Centres) are 

providing. 

UNHCR undertakes a wide range of 

activities to assure durable solutions. That 

includes national policy development, 

which includes cooperation with Ministry 

for Human Rights and Refugees, free 

legal assistance, reconstruction and 

livelihoods support in form of farm 

animals and machinery donation, 

awareness-raising and capacity-building 

on IDP rights etc. 

In Human Rights Ombudsman in 

Sarajevo we established that human 

rights issues are still active. Help for 

the population is consisted with legal 

support and dealing with reported cases 

and law suits. We were told that many 

cases exist, organization is providing 

counselling and they enhanced how 

important the population’s trust is, who 

are encouraged to report cases of human 

rights violations. 

Furthermore, we were curious about 

high-level authorities, at what level is the 

cooperation between the Government and 

international community happening, so 

we were satisfied to have an opportunity 

to talk to High Representative in 

Bosnia and Herzegovina. We were little 

bit surprised to find out they tried to 

withdraw a couple of years ago but failed 

to do so which is an indicator of the slow 

pace of post-conflict reconstruction and 

state-building.

...c’nect 

Non-governmental organization 

“Horizonti” in Tuzla referred us in 

seriousness and dedication to their 

work. Although a small organization, 

they provide psycho-social support for 

women. The aim of the psychological 

services is support and psychological 

treatment to women who had been 

exposed to war traumas and who were 

at risk of developing serious mental 

health impairment due to this. They are 

facing lack of finances, but we were 

excited by our respondent who, although 

being nervous about having a meeting 

with “serious” Swedish students, spread 

optimism and enthusiasm about projects 

that organization is working on. 

Srebrenica Memorial, photo by Ana Markulin 

Furthermore, we were curious about 

high-level authorities, at what level is the 

cooperation between the Government and 

international community happening, so 

we were satisfied to have an opportunity 

to talk to High Representative in 

Bosnia and Herzegovina. We were little 

bit surprised to find out they tried to 

withdraw a couple of years ago but failed 

to do so which is an indicator of the slow 

pace of post-conflict reconstruction and 

state-building. 

We also had an opportunity to visit 

EUFOR military camp in Sarajevo. The 

total number of troops in EUFOR is 

approximately 2.000 (deployed in 2004 

by EU) A total of 25 nations including 

20 EU Member States and 5 non-EU 

Troop Contributing Nations provide 

the necessary capabilities to carry out 

EUFOR’s tasks. From March 2007, the 

Multi-National Manoeuvre Battalion, 

made up of troops from Spain, Turkey, 

Hungary and Poland, is the base of 

EU new force structure in Bosnia and 

Herzegovina. Battalion is based in 

Camp Butmir, a former air base of the 

Yugoslavian Army near Sarajevo. Forces 

carry out from a full-scale peaceenforcement 

mission to small mission 

focusing on observation to contribute 

to the safe and secure environment. 

Interesting fact is that major provider 

of troops is Turkey, but they cannot be 

deployed in Bosnian-Serb areas due to 

ever present ethnic tensions. 

After every armed conflict reconstruction 

process begins, but the process of 

rehabilitation and peace-building takes 

longer time, especially with more ethnic 

constitutive nations living in the same 

area. We were wondering how active 

the process of rehabilitation is, which 

organizations are dealing with that 

issue and in what way. Since Bosnia 

is still dealing with missing persons, 

exhumations, mines, war crimes and 

psychological consequences of the 

war, we arranged meetings with ICRC, 

Handicap International, State Court, 

Research and Documentation Center, 

International Committee for Missing 

Persons (ICMP), Caritas, Horisonti 

(local organization based in Tuzla) and 

Abraševic (youth organization based in 

Mostar). 

Some of the organizations cooperate 

closely; ICRC, ICMP and Caritas work on 

family reunion. ICRC is also involved in 

advocating for implementation of IHL, 

while Caritas is focused on psychological 

counseling and human trafficking. 

Human trafficking is one of the problems 

that occurred after the war making poor 

families with many children and women 

very vulnerable groups. 

Handicap International is focused on 

de-mining and advocating for better 

well-being of handicapped people (e.g. 

access). They are also having support 

from ICRC. 

Another grass-root organization that 

we had an opportunity to visit was 

organization “Abraševic” in Mostar. It is 

a youth culture center, filled with young 

and creative people who are fighting 

against negative attitudes in the society, 

discrimination, racism or nationalism. 

Undertaking a lot of activities such 

as radio station, organizing concerts, 

exhibitions or just having a center 

as a meeting place for youth, this 

center is working on reconciliation and 

rehabilitation from the bottom, from 

the place where real people meet, where 

young people disregard the past, join 

together to create something good and 

new in the name of art, freedom, ideals 

and new views about the future. 

ICMP is one of the organizations that 

left a strong impression on us. It’s a first 

organization of this kind; it consists 

of two major centers: morgue with 

human remains and DNA laboratory for 

identification of remains. Based in Tuzla, 

we visited them both, but some moments 

were hard to bear. Organization is putting 

a lot of effort for family reunion and to 

provide consolidation for families who 

are waiting to find out about the destiny 

of their loved ones and to burry them 

properly. It is not an easy task, we were 

told that many times people don’t want to 

face the truth and if there aren’t at least 

75 % of the remains identified, they don’t 

want to be contacted. Whole process of 

the exhumation and identification is very 

demanding and slow due to secondary/ 

tertiary graves (human remains are often 

moved from one mass grave to another 

making human samples collection very 

difficult). 

14


War crimes topic led us to State Court 

in Sarajevo where we spoke to Swedish 

judge, having a role as international judge 

involved in war crimes trials. She shared 

her professional and private experience 

with us, generously describing her life 

in Sarajevo and professional role in the 

Court. We visited the courtroom, found 

out about prosecution of war crimes, 

witness protection and relationship 

between victim and perpetrator during 

and after the trial which is, as told, one 

of the hardest parts of trial. 

One of the RDC’s projects that we were 

introduced to was “Bosnian War Crimes 

Atlas”, a digital memorial which uses 

Google Earth technology to present 

the facts about 1992-1995 war on the 

territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

Atlas has informative and educative 

purpose because it offers access to the 

facts about mass murders, rapes, war 

victims, courts judgments, but also data 

of the destruction of religious, cultural 

and historic heritage of Bosnia and 

Hezegovina. 

explained the situation that people of 

Srebrenica experienced, he showed us the 

Center, photographs museum and the 

Battery Factory, former Dutch base which 

is intended also to become a museum. 

We saw one part of the future museum 

which was Memorial room with many 

photographs and we had an opportunity 

to see a short documentary about 

Srebrenica which left us speechless. 

Organization that we visited in Srebrenica 

was UNDP. They explained that progress 

is slow, but they are putting a lot of effort 

in order to strengthen local economy 

and authority, support entrepreneurship 

and housing programs. These efforts are 

made to encourage people to return to 

their homes. 

Photo in Exhibition of Srebrenica Memorial 

Organization that also supports and 

cooperates with State Court and ICMP 

and facilitates rehabilitation process 

is Research and Documentation Center 

Sarajevo. It is an independent, non-profit, 

non-governmental institution, formed in 

2004. In the same year The Memorandum 

on regional Cooperation was signed 

between the Fund for Humanitarian 

Law, Belgrade, Documenta-Center for 

Facing the Past, Zagreb and Research 

and Documentation Center Sarajevo 

with aim to strengthen mutual relations 

and encourage joint projects. Under the 

motto “Truth now-Peace Forever”, their 

task is to deal with the past in the wartorn 

and post-conflict countries which 

are one of the key preconditions for the 

lasting peace. Main task is to investigate 

and gather facts, documents and data 

on genocide, war crimes and human 

rights violations, regardless of ethnic, 

political, religious, social and facial 

background of the victims. In that way, 

Center helps institutions, organizations 

and individuals involved in processing 

war crime suspects and prevents 

manipulations. 

This project is a great value to specific 

target groups, such as school and 

university students, but more important 

to the members of Bosnian Diaspora. 

We were curious about cooperation with 

population and how do they perceive 

about this tool which reveals many 

information, but also opens old wounds. 

We were explained that cooperation 

with victims and witnesses is extremely 

important and that institution has 

support from the community. 

Last stop of our field trip was visit to 

Srebrenica, town well known by the 

genocide that occurred in 1995. Arrival 

in Srebrenica was characterized with 

dignified silence. We visited Memorial 

Center and Cemetery in Potocari, location 

near Srebrenica dedicated to people killed 

at the fall of Srebrenica in July 1995. 

Every year on the 11th of June there are 

new burials when remains are identified 

and completed for 75%. 

Our guide, one of the massacre survivor, 

who was only sixteen during these events, 

Leaving Sarajevo we gathered our 

experience, knowledge and impressions. 

We concluded how theory about post-war 

reconstruction, peace-building, statebuilding 

etc. differs from the practice. 

All the theories learned and studied 

make sense and look very applicable, but 

on the field it is a whole different story 

with real people, victims and witnesses 

that we had a chance to talk to. When 

you are trying to find optimism, people 

have tendency to smile, but behind that 

smile a sorrow and disbelief is visible. 

That feeling is something that is not 

mentioned in handbooks and theories 

together with true war life stories which 

many people don’t understand and 

usually don’t want to hear about. 

Bosnia is, fifteen years after the war, 

marching towards a new future, but 

also needs to tackle many problems and 

obstacles. It is important to stress out 

that constitutive nations in Bosnia and 

Herzegovina have a different approach 

than international community about 

how the state structure should be like. 

International and national organizations 

are engaged in many activities, but more 

initiatives and determination should be 

present form the Government and local 

authorities. Furthermore, there should 

be more support from the international 

community through donors which would 

be able to finance Governmental, but 

also smaller, local NGO’s who are, besides 

lack of finances and sometimes support, 

doing a good job in taking care of people’s 

needs and helping them to overcome the 

traumas of the war and to look into the 

more brighter future. 

15

...c’nect 

In Memory of 

- by Lena Zimmer 

Dr. Richard Munz 

Dr. Richard Munz was a true 

humanitarian. As a medical doctor he 

has worked extensively with national 

Red Cross societies and the ICRC. He 

dedicated his life to relieve the suffering 

of victims from both natural disasters 

and armed conflicts, and garnered 

support for the plight of those who suffer 

in so-called ‘silent’ emergencies. 

He was passionately involved in training 

and preparing people for deployment to 

disaster zones. His position as lecturer 

in the NOHA master programme in 

particular, is the most recognisable 

example for us of the positive influence 

that he has had on all of those who have 

had the honour and pleasure of working 

with him. 

“What is the first and foremost thing 

you have to consider in an emergency? I 

will tell you a story and you will always 

remember, what the first and most 

important measure in an emergency 

is and why. Sit back, you don’t need to 

write now, just listen....” . 

Probably generations of Dr. Munz’s 

students immediately remember what 

come next and can’t help but smile, even 

though deeply saddened. “The Emir is 

always with us”, a post on the facebooksite 

in his memory confesses. The Emir, 

we all know and love him. Dancing 

dervishes and a castle in desert-sand, 

why would we consider them when 

preparing a vaccine campaign - and how 

many expats do you need to vaccinate 

two million people in West Africa? We 

remember - the battle cry “Red” - “Cross” 

(or “NO”-”HA”) respectively, still echoing 

in our ear. 

There are some things you’d rather 

talk about over a beer rather than in 

classroom, and that’s why ‘The Clochard’ 

was always crowded at night after Dr. 

Munz’s seminars - even though at times 

we were waiting in vain for our teacher. 

Bochum January 2010, photo by U Moe Thaw 

Because busy, that’s for sure, he was, 

and if any kind of emergency struck - as 

it frequently did - he was just gone, of 

course. But when the time finally came 

to share, it was intensive and we never 

regretted having waited for. 

He was a legend, even before we met the 

first time. There was an aura preceding 

him. In the first semester, we waited for 

him for a couple of months: Sumatra. 

Last year’s NOHA’s had assured us, 

it was worth the patience. We were 

rewarded. The second semester module 

was cancelled altogether: Haiti. 

Waiting doesn’t help this time, though - 

unfortunately. 

We’re crowded in the corner of the 

classroom on the seventh floor of the 

concrete building, in the concrete spaceship, 

Ruhr University. Outside everything 

is grey, the buildings, the sky, it is 

winter in Bochum. We are 20 students, 

resembled from all over the place - until a 

moment ago we were chemists, marinebiologists, 

anthropologist, medical 

doctors, political scientist, pedagogues, 

or human rights lawyers.... and NOHA’s. 

We are standing so close that we are 

touching each other, some are at ease 

about this, some a bit nervous. What is 

happening here? Now we are prisoners, 

somewhere on this planet, we have been 

standing here for months, no bathroom, 

no shower, no fresh air, no light. 

“What are the needs you have to be 

prepared for, when opening the door as 

a Red-Cross delegate?” 

Something light, something sparkling, 

something adventurous, and a great 

portion of fun came with his lectures. The 

most notorious critics turned into fans - 

who wasn’t in awe of him? (...by the way, 

“What’s the first surgical intervention 

in (almost) every emergency?”) Yet, 

something like: ‘this is indeed amazing, 

but absolutely no joke’. Grave-seriousness 

in excitement. 

As friends, but as an envoy, we met him 

With a message to deliver. 

We grasped it, we’ll carry it, we’ll do our 

best to share and deliver it. 

We thank you for what you shared with 

us. 

16

NOHA 2010 - NOHA Alumni Community

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NOHA 2010 - NOHA Alumni Community

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