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News from the field

Published 16. May 2016
Expert Deployment NORCAP

Latest news from the field

Ukraine |

On the frontline of Europe’s forgotten conflict

The conflict in eastern Ukraine has cost more than 10,000 lives. Unarmed internationalobservers monitor the ceasefire, but the parties to the conflict continue to disregard it.

DR Congo |

We are failing DR Congo - again

The international community has failed to help and protect the people of DR Congo. 13.1 million people need humanitarian assistance, more than a double since 2014. Despite the situation getting worse, donors have reduced funding to the country.

Makeshift shelters in Kutupalong camp where the majority of Rohingya refugees have settled after fleeing violence in Myanmar. (Photo: Ingrid Prestetun/NRC)
Bangladesh |

Rohingya refugees bracing for another disaster

Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh have nowhere to evacuate if a cyclone hits their overcrowded camps. The monsoon and cyclone season is fast approaching and aid workers are struggling to make improvements, but admit that it will not be enough.

Henry Renna Gallano, education in emergencies expert, with Rohingya refugee children in a learning centre in the refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. (Photo: Ingrid Prestetun/NRC)
Bangladesh|Myanmar |

Lifelong learning in a refugee camp

"Our challenge is to guarantee the right to education, lifelong learning and wellbeing of more than 370.000 refugee children”, says education in emergencies expert, Henry Renna Gallano. He is one of 20 NORCAP deployees currently working in the Bangladesh refugee camps.

Bangladesh |

Bangladesh refugee crisis poised for massive health epidemic

“The crisis facing 800,000 refugees in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazaar today is alarming, but we’re on the brink of a large-scale health catastrophe if the situation isn’t turned around,” warned Benedicte Giæver, Director of the Norwegian Refugee Council’s expert deployment roster, NORCAP.

NORCAP Climate Information Services Expert, Philip Omondi (right) with a local representative showing impacts of prolonged drought in Tana River County. The drought was exacerbated by 2016/2017 La Niña phenomenon (Photo: Philip Omondi/ICPAC/NORCAP)
Africa|Asia and Oceania |

Preparedness key to tackling El Niño

The last El Niño phenomenon brought droughts and floods that increased humanitarian needs around the world. NORCAP experts have worked in some of the hardest hit areas, putting preparedness in the priority seat, to increase national and regional ability to cope with future events.

Bangladesh|Iraq|Kenya|Pakistan |

Addressing broken promises: education for all

Around the world, millions of children and youth are deprived of the right to education. Every day, NORCAP experts work hard to support our partners to reach the global goal of education for all by 2030. Meet four of our deployees who have dedicated their lives to fighting for children’s right to education.

Site planner Shyam Sundar is one of three NORCAP experts contributing to building a new camp for the refugees from Myanmar in Bangladesh. (Photo: Shyam Sundar/NORCAP/IOM)
Bangladesh |

Building a city in a matter of days

Close to 800, 000 refugees in Bangladesh need shelter urgently. Our NORCAP experts are involved in constructing what might become one of the world's largest refugee camps.

The Nigerian election delegation speaking to a representative from the Conservative party, the largest party in government in Norway, during the campaign. (Photo: NORCAP/Ida Sem Fossvik)
Europe |

Learning about Norwegian elections

What can the Norwegian parliamentary elections learn from countries with far less experience in democratic election processes? Election observers from seven countries gave their recommendations to Norway after the parliamentary elections earlier this month.

Bidibidi settlement in northern Uganda was established in August 2016 and has quickly become one of the world's largest refugee settlements. (Photo: NRC/Tiril Skarstein)
Uganda |

Uganda: Inadequate response for women and girls

Ahead of the ‘Uganda Solidarity Summit on Refugees’ on June 22-23, NORCAP experts stress the urgent need for more funding to Uganda’s refugee situation. The humanitarian response particularly fails to address the needs of women and girls.

NORCAP expert Hari Prasad Vajja (left) with a UNOSAT colleague looking at flood maps connected to the UNOSAT Flood finder tool. (Photo: UNOSAT)
Global |

Using satellite technology for humanitarian relief

With the assistance of satellite technology, NORCAP deployees to UNOSAT in Geneva develop new tools and initiatives in disaster risk reduction and climate services.

Representatives from several EU countries have participated in the EU meeting in Oslo. (Photo: NORCAP/Ida Sem Fossvik)
Global |

Discussing challenges in election observation

Social media, accusations of fake news, and nations trying to influence elections in other nations are crucial challenges for election observers to handle on future missions, says Emanuele Giaufret, Head of Division, Democracy and Electoral Observation in the European External Action Service. Giaufret is in Oslo for the EU focal point meeting for election observation, organised by NORDEM.

Myanmar |

"Not just paying lip service to humanitarian ideals"

“We can see exciting new developments in Myanmar, both economically and politically. However, there are further humanitarian needs and human rights violations, including in Rakhine State, that should be addressed to ensure all people in Myanmar enjoy peaceful coexistence and prospects for prosperity,” says Ingvill Tveite, NORCAP deployee in Myanmar.

Protection expert Helene Ruud, deployed to WFP in Haiti after hurricane Matthew in October 2016, talking to an affected family in Jeremie, Grand Anse province. (Photo: Ingrid Prestetun/NRC)
Haiti |

"Communication is key to protection"

“The most important thing is to make sure people get information about what, when and where. That takes a way a lot of frustration”, says NORCAP protection expert, Helene Ruud. She recently finished her first mission to the World Food Programme, in Haiti.

Landslide in Mocoa, Colombia. NORCAP and GenCap expert Devanna de la Puente, currently deployed to OCHA in Colombia.
Colombia |

Fear of increased emergency in Mocoa

The upcoming rainy season in Mocoa, Colombia, could increase the vulnerability of women and girls in the area, fears GenCap adviser, Devanna de la Puente. Heavy rains and mudslides resulted in over 300 deaths in Mocoa earlier this month. Women and children are in particular need of help and attention.

A presentation of the winning design, the Women's Bazaar, by the architecture students at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design. (Ill: Maria Årtun and Nicole Lilly Gros/AHO)
Jordan |

Prize-winning humanitarian architecture

Architecture students from the Oslo School of Architecture and Design have won a prestigious award in the competition “Place and Displacement: A marketplace in a refugee settlement”. NORCAP experts and teachers Tone Selmer-Olsen and Håvard Breivik are impressed with their students.

Ethiopia is experiencing one of the most severe droughts in half a century due to the effects of El Niño. Significant rainfall deficits – up to 50 percent below average – have severely impacted the lives and livelihoods of farmers and herders throughout the country. Following two consecutive poor rainy seasons – belg (February to May) and kiremt (June to September) – harvests were well below average, with some regions experiencing between 50 and 90 percent crop loss.
Africa|Kenya|Niger|South-Sudan |

How accurate climate information save lives

NORCAP work hard to help people most affected by climate changes. Meet five of our climate experts explaining why it is important to understand the need for accurate climate information and what they do about it.

From left: Amal Zakir (Oxfam), Saba Gawbah (OCHA), Deborah Clifton (GenCap/OCHA) and Layla Lutf (Sam Ban Noah Organisation). (Photo: Alvhild Strømme/NRC)
Middle East|Yemen |

Yemen: An extreme situation for women

Since the war in Yemen started two years ago, women have been pushed to the margins of political influence in the country. GenCap Advisor Deborah Clifton says the situation has gone from bad to worse.

7 March 2017, local women sit under the tree waiting for food distribution in Ngop, Unity State, South Sudan. Photo: Albert Gonzalez Farran/NRC
Africa|South-Sudan |

"If we give up, they might give up"

"It is us, who are outsiders, who need to engage and encourage," says Jeffrey Mapendere, a NORCAP mediation expert deplyed to Juba.

Makonde Chairman Thomas Nguli has his finger prints taken during the launch of the naturalisation and registration drive in Kenya. The Makonde people came as labourers from Mozambique and Tanzania in the 1930s, and their descendants have long been ineligible for citizenship. Photo: Wanja Munaita/UNHCR
Africa |

Confronting statelessness with statistics

People who have no official nationality are often denied their most basic rights. Understanding the scale, causes and consequences of statelessness is vital to addressing the issue.

An internally displaced family in a make-shift shelter in Muna Garage Camp, Maiduguri. (Photo: Tommy Sandlokk/NORCAP)
Nigeria |

Fighting a double crisis

“People in north eastern Nigeria is battling one of the most severe humanitarian crises of today. Most of the food production has collapsed completely, and the conflict with Boko Haram makes it impossible for people to return home and pick up their lives”, says NORCAP expert, Virginia M. Moncrieff.

From left: Benedicte Giæver (NORCAP) and Leni Stenseth (NMFA) signing the new framework agreement. (Photo: Mariken Bruusgaard Harbitz, NMFA)
Global |

76 million to improved crisis response

NORCAP has signed a three-year framework agreement with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “It is important to ensure quick and efficient access to competent and experienced personnel when a crisis hits, the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Børge Brende, says.

Jacqueline Frize, deployed from the CashCap roster as focal point to the Cash Learning Partnership (CaLP) in the Middle East. Amman, Jordan 2017. (Photo: NORCAP/Tuva Raanes Bogsnes)

Why cash matters

Want to know more about the use of cash in humanitarian work? NORCAP cash expert, Jacqueline Frize, currently working in Jordan, gives you the basics.

Many refugees in Moria camp in Lesvos have been living in tents in the cold weather. NORCAP experts work with Greek authorities and international aid agencies to move the refugees to warmer locations as snow and cold weather has hit the Greek islands and mainland. (Photo: Anthony Geddes/NORCAP)
Europe|Greece |

Greece: Frustration mounts as temperatures fall

Snow and freezing temperatures have made it impossible for refugees in Greece to continue living in tents. NORCAP experts are alarmed and urge the EU to accelerate the relocation process.

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