For a moment, imagine you are an aid worker in the international field operations of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), the humanitarian assistance arm of The United Methodist Church. You have a warehouse with enough drugs to save 100 babies from certain death—yet there are 1000 babies in your area facing a tragic end without this medication. How do you decide who lives and who dies?

 

Throw into the equation a war or the aftermath of one. Religious and ethnic tensions constantly flare, the murder rate is running at 50 per week, and massacres of civilians are common. The country is effectively controlled by warlords who demand extortionate bribes to allow aid to pass.

 

The babies you could save all lie within a warlord’s territory. These same warlords are the ones causing the conflict that brought aid workers here in the first place. In order for you to save lives, you have a choice. Do you work with the warlords, knowing that they are the perpetrators of mass murder, and get the drugs through? Or do you let the babies die?

 

You know that working with the warlords will bestow a modicum of respectability on them that they will use to exploit the international media and garner support that will help them continue the killing. You know that without the warlords’ help, you will be unable to save lives, but with their help you may be helping them to destroy more lives.

 

Add the presence of international troops, who may be viewed as either peacemakers or invaders by the local population. They have offered their assistance to force through your drugs at the point of a gun (or, in this case, many guns). But you know that this will link you with the international forces, thus exposing you, your staff, and the communities you work with to danger from those who regard the troops as invaders.

 

What would you do? Whatever you do, people will die. How do you live with yourself after you make your decision? These are the types of dilemmas facing UMCOR staff in war and postwar zones.  

 

The public image of humanitarianism is the delivery of food and medicines to a needy population. The aid gets delivered, everyone is happy, and lives are saved. Unfortunately, the reality is quite different. The field of humanitarian assistance has changed dramatically over the past 15 years. Aid plays an increasingly important role in the political maneuvering of the major and minor world powers. The phrase “no such thing as a free lunch” has never been more apt. In this article, I would like to look at UMCOR’s missions in Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Bosnia, as well as areas such as Iraq, as illustrative examples.

 

Dilemmas in Kosovo

The war in Kosovo ended in 2000 with the ethnic Albanian majority effectively in control and the mass displacement of Serbs, the majority of whom have yet to return. The violence continues against those Serbs who have returned and the minorities seen as their allies. UMCOR, based in the capital, Pristina, and headed by New Zealander Kelly Miles, works in Kosovo primarily to provide the opportunity for Serbs to return to the homes from which they fled in 1999. A core value of UMCOR is that people have the right to live peacefully in their own homes, as stated in the universal declaration of human rights.

 

As part of its efforts to assist the internally displaced people of Kosovo, UMCOR accepts donations from governments such as Great Britain and the United States. Over the past four years, UMCOR has assisted tens of thousands of people from all ethnic groups. Yet, tens of thousands of families wish to return to their homes in Kosovo, and they need help with construction materials and the basic necessities of life. But the United States and Great Britain were part of the NATO action to force Serbian troops to relinquish control of Kosovo, and they are not highly regarded by Serbs who lost their homes. This puts UMCOR in an awkward position and compromises its staff’s security.

 

Many ethnic Albanians do not want the Serbs to return and regard with hostility any attempt to assist them. UMCOR is in the middle, alternately vilified and respected by both ethnic groups. UMCOR field staff has been attacked on more than one occasion. These events tend not to get reported in the press. Every time UMCOR applies for funding from a government, it has to ask whether the funding will put lives at risk and whether such a risk is acceptable. The short answer is that it may put UMCOR staff at risk, but the risk is understood and accepted as part of the job by all who work in Kosovo.

 

On a larger geopolitical level, another question must be asked. How much does accepting funding from governments involve UMCOR in their political agendas? Organizations operating in Iraq and Afghanistan that are similar to UMCOR (which does not operate directly in Iraq, but channels funds through partner organizations) have found that anti-US forces see aid organizations as a legitimate target because they work with international governments viewed as the enemy.

 

The situation is similar in Kosovo, where UMCOR workers tread a fine line between the two main rival groups. If UMCOR succeeds in being regarded as neutral, the situation remains calm. Get it wrong, and UMCOR staff are ambushed, stoned, and beaten.

 

UMCOR-Kosovo exists by accepting donor funds. Some of these donors are international, such as the United Nations. Others are national, such as the provisional government of Kosovo. UMCOR-Kosovo has little in the way of

its own funds. The only way for UMCOR to assist the most vulnerable populations is to remain in the country.

 

However, sometimes funds are offered for projects that UMCOR does not consider to be equitable. We have precisely this dilemma in Kosovo. March 2004 saw a widespread outbreak of violence. Following the death of a Serbian youth and the drowning of three Albanian children, violence erupted as ethnic Albanians rioted, destroyed Orthodox churches, and burned the homes of returned Serbs. Many people were murdered and the international peacekeeping forces were unable to defend communities. UMCOR immediately sprang into action and currently manages camps for some 4000 Serbs whose houses were burned. International donor funds are flowing in to help those Serbs displaced by the March violence.

 

However, UMCOR has pointed out that there still remain tens of thousands of Serbs displaced since 1999. The latest funding excludes this group as the world rushes to salve its conscience over the events of March. Imagine how difficult it is to say to a family, destitute since 1999, that they cannot receive help—but that a neighbor family that lost its home four months ago can receive reconstruction and income-generating assistance. This disparity is clearly unfair. UMCOR staff take the brunt of the understandable anger. What UMCOR can do is advocate for justice.

 

Decisions of Life and Death

In other postwar scenarios, such as Afghanistan, the dilemmas are on a more basic level. Warren Harrity, head of mission in Kabul, and his staff have limited resources but supply fresh drinking water to returned communities by building wells. Only a finite amount of money exists for building wells, yet thousands of wells are needed.

 

The difference a well makes is significant and far-reaching. Without a well, crops cannot be irrigated nor families fed. Without a well, contaminated water kills children and the elderly. In short, no community can survive without wells. With so many desperate communities, UMCOR staff must decide who will receive a well and who won’t.

 

Staff are always mindful that the community that receives a well will be able to thrive for generations to come. Those that don’t will have little chance of existing, and the families will either stay as refugees in Pakistan or Iran or will be scattered. It is an awesome responsibility and one only slightly lessened by the application of beneficiary selection criteria. At the end of the day, the decision will mean life or death to one or more communities.

 

Landmine Dilemmas

As in all postwar countries, landmines in Kosovo, Bosnia, and Afghanistan are a constant hazard, resulting in their own unique dilemmas. In Bosnia, after the war, communities were desperate to return home. These families were usually rural farmers who needed their land for food and income. The problem was that their land had been the scene of fighting and was covered with mines, and there were not enough demining organizations to remove all the landmines. Every day, farmers were being blown up by landmines as they tried to cultivate their land. Community leaders would come into the UMCOR offices and ask for assistance to return to land that was known to contain mines. UMCOR staff warned them against the mine hazards but to no avail—they returned regardless of UMCOR’s warning. The staff had to decide whether to assist the return of these homeless people, knowing the dangers, or to refuse to assist and watch as they struggled to survive, daily confronting the mine hazards. This was a difficult choice. In this case, UMCOR decided to assist the returning refugees. Part of that assistance included advocacy with the UN to step up landmine-removal efforts. The area was cleared within a matter of weeks.

 

Financial Independence

So what is the solution to the dilemmas detailed in this article? For some of the problems there are no easy solutions. Such decisions often must be subjective, but no decisions are made without our asking advice from colleagues at UMCOR’s home office in the United States or colleagues in the field, like the United Nations.

 

Other dilemmas, such as the reliance on outside funding and the consequences of that, can be mitigated; but as with many things today, the answer is money. In order to assist people in the fairest way, UMCOR needs financial independence—a stepped-up level of support from United Methodists—in order not to rely solely on government donors.

 

Were UMCOR to raise additional donations from congregations to fund its operations, projects might better serve the needs of the poor, as Christ taught, and not the needs of international politicians. For example, United Methodists contributed nearly all the funds to start UMCOR’s Afghanistan and Democratic Republic of Congo postconflict responses and much of its response in Liberia. This generosity has allowed UMCOR to provide assistance to communities forgotten by institutional donors and governments. Communities have sprung back to life—communities that, without United Methodist funds, would have had little chance of reviving.

 

United Methodists can also take satisfaction in UMCOR’s leveraging of their donations. In countries where UMCOR’s work is supported by funds from government and United Nations sources, funds from churches are multiplied more than 20 times. The use of funds from major grants extends the reach of United Methodist humanitarian work.

 

The nature of humanitarian aid has changed beyond recognition. Today, giving aid involves the complexities of religion, international politics, and militarism, as well as a desire to help humanity. In all of this, the staff of UMCOR field operations serves The United Methodist Church in its quest to help the poor and desperate in today’s conflicts. Please spare a thought and a prayer for these staff members as they daily confront moral dilemmas and the consequences of their decisions.           

 

Supporting the Work of UMCOR

The UMCOR ministries mentioned in this article can be supported by individuals and congregations through United Methodist giving channels. Gifts to the following UMCOR Advance project numbers will undergird the work of UMCOR: Kosovo, Advance #333405   Afghanistan, Advance #602225 Liberia, Advance #150300

 

 

* Guy Hovey is regional director for United Methodist Committee on Relief operations in Europe and Asia.