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Jersey Overseas Aid (JOA) has committed £375,000 in response to the crisis in Afghanistan.

With almost half of Afghanistan’s population assessed as requiring humanitarian assistance, Jersey has pledged funds to three organisations to provide lifesaving support to those most in need. £150,000 is going to the UNHCR (the United Nations High Commission for Refugees), £125,000 to British NGO ‘Street Child’ and £100,000 to the British Red Cross.

Jersey’s Minister for International Development, Carolyn Labey, said “Following a detailed assessment by my experienced team at Jersey Overseas Aid (JOA), the JOA Commissioners have agreed a package of measures to help innocent Afghans affected by the current crisis. Through the UNHCR, the Red Cross, and Street Child, we will assist thousands of families forced to flee their homes, people in remote areas in need of food and healthcare, and vulnerable children, including 7,500 girls in two provinces.”

Jersey’s contribution to the UNHCR will assist the organisation in delivering an emergency response that meets the immediate needs of up to 600,000 newly-displaced people in Afghanistan and helps prepare neighbouring countries (Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) for any influx of additional refugees. Assistance will include tents and emergency shelters, medical supplies, safe drinking water and sanitary facilities.

Rossella Pagliuchi-Lor, UNHCR’s UK Representative, said “Jersey’s generous donation to UNHCR’s Afghanistan Appeal is timely and greatly appreciated. These funds are urgently needed and will help provide more life-saving humanitarian support to the many Afghans uprooted inside the country – almost 600,000 have been displaced this year alone – as well as refugees in neighbouring countries. They have already suffered huge upheavals and face more uncertainty and a gruelling winter ahead.”

Street Child will use Jersey’s funding to help provide emergency support for 15,000 vulnerable children in two Afghan provinces (Baghlan and Bamyan) with the highest proportion of displaced persons caused by the ongoing conflict. Notably, Jersey’s aid will help to protect and educate around 7,500 girls who are at extreme risk of violence, exploitation and early marriage.

Recognised for its neutrality, impartiality and independence, the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement has a vast network of local volunteers and over thirty years’ experience in navigating the complexities of working in Afghanistan. Jersey’s support will enable it to provide health care, food and other life-saving aid in even remote areas of the country.

Deputy Carolyn Labey added “Jersey is playing its part alongside larger countries in the international effort to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe from unfolding in Afghanistan”.

(In accordance with OECD rules about what constitutes overseas aid (Official Development Assistance), JOA’s budget must be spent in low or middle-income countries. Assistance for wealthier countries – including in the resettlement of refugees – is beyond JOA’s remit).

Jersey Overseas Aid (JOA) has committed £375,000 in response to the crisis in Afghanistan.

With almost half of Afghanistan’s population assessed as requiring humanitarian assistance, Jersey has pledged funds to three organisations to provide lifesaving support to those most in need. £150,000 is going to the UNHCR (the United Nations High Commission for Refugees), £125,000 to British NGO ‘Street Child’ and £100,000 to the British Red Cross.

Jersey’s Minister for International Development, Carolyn Labey, said “Following a detailed assessment by my experienced team at Jersey Overseas Aid (JOA), the JOA Commissioners have agreed a package of measures to help innocent Afghans affected by the current crisis. Through the UNHCR, the Red Cross, and Street Child, we will assist thousands of families forced to flee their homes, people in remote areas in need of food and healthcare, and vulnerable children, including 7,500 girls in two provinces.”

Jersey’s contribution to the UNHCR will assist the organisation in delivering an emergency response that meets the immediate needs of up to 600,000 newly-displaced people in Afghanistan and helps prepare neighbouring countries (Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) for any influx of additional refugees. Assistance will include tents and emergency shelters, medical supplies, safe drinking water and sanitary facilities.

Rossella Pagliuchi-Lor, UNHCR’s UK Representative, said “Jersey’s generous donation to UNHCR’s Afghanistan Appeal is timely and greatly appreciated. These funds are urgently needed and will help provide more life-saving humanitarian support to the many Afghans uprooted inside the country – almost 600,000 have been displaced this year alone – as well as refugees in neighbouring countries. They have already suffered huge upheavals and face more uncertainty and a gruelling winter ahead.”

Street Child will use Jersey’s funding to help provide emergency support for 15,000 vulnerable children in two Afghan provinces (Baghlan and Bamyan) with the highest proportion of displaced persons caused by the ongoing conflict. Notably, Jersey’s aid will help to protect and educate around 7,500 girls who are at extreme risk of violence, exploitation and early marriage.

Recognised for its neutrality, impartiality and independence, the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement has a vast network of local volunteers and over thirty years’ experience in navigating the complexities of working in Afghanistan. Jersey’s support will enable it to provide health care, food and other life-saving aid in even remote areas of the country.

Deputy Carolyn Labey added “Jersey is playing its part alongside larger countries in the international effort to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe from unfolding in Afghanistan”.

(In accordance with OECD rules about what constitutes overseas aid (Official Development Assistance), JOA’s budget must be spent in low or middle-income countries. Assistance for wealthier countries – including in the resettlement of refugees – is beyond JOA’s remit).

Since 1972, JOA has provided the opportunity for islanders to volunteer overseas as part of a Community Work Project (CWP). JOA’s CWPs are usually launched annually, in or around October.

This year, a team of 28 islanders were due to travel to Lebanon in May 2020 to provided one-to-one care to underprivileged people suffering quite profound physical and mental disabilities. Similarly, a group of 14 were due to support the construction of a community building in rural Nepal in October 2020. A team of 12 islanders were also due to travel to Kenya in February 2021 to support the construction of a sand dam that would provide a subsistence farming community with a reliable, year-round water source.

However, due to the outbreak of COVID-19, each of these CWPs have been postponed. It is hoped that these projects will be possible in 2021/22, and that the initial teams will have the opportunity to partake. It is currently not possible to determine when it might be possible for these CWPs to take place. Once new project dates have been agreed, the initial teams will be advised and invited to participate.

In the event that additional volunteers are required, JOA will invite islanders to apply for the opportunity to volunteer on a CWP.

International development is an incredibly rewarding career, but getting your first job is hard. This exciting programme will give someone from Jersey the chance to spend a year learning the ropes with the professionals, including six months on assignment in a developing country.

Starting in October 2020, the successful applicant will spend two months in JOA’s office in St Helier, before transferring to UK Charity Send a Cow in Bath. By April or May the successful applicant will be heading to their first field posting in one of Send a Cow’s offices in Africa – probably Ethiopia, where Jersey is planning to roll out its hugely-successful dairy programme for smallholder farmers.

The successful applicant will be paid an entry-level salary of £20k, plus a modest UK living allowance and should have a demonstrable interest in international development and the proven ability to manage a full and varied workload.

Experience of working or travelling in developing countries is also desirable. No age limit applies, and career-changers are welcome. However, applicants should be serious about embarking on a fulfilling but demanding new path, including being prepared to spend significant time in challenging places.

Applicants must have the right to live and work in Jersey.

The deadline is 3rd August 2020.

For more details and to apply, please see www.joa.je/internship

As well as posing a significant health risk, COVID-19 has undermined livelihoods and disrupted essential supply chains, increasing the threat of hunger and resulting in a rise in death from treatable diseases.  Vulnerable health systems in low-income countries risk being overwhelmed as they attempt to respond to the pandemic in addition to facing serious restrictions on access to essential medicines. Experts anticipate that the impact of the pandemic will result in a substantial rise of deaths related to diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV/AIDS, whilst the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 could plunge many back into extreme poverty.

Emergency Responses

In response to the global impact of the pandemic, JOA has provided emergency funding to four leading humanitarian organisations:

• Funding provided to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is being used to protect and assist refugees and displaced persons, who are particularly at risk during the pandemic as they often have limited access to water, sanitation systems and health facilities.
• JOA is supporting International Health Partners (IHP), an agency that works with pharmaceutical companies to distribute medicine to developing countries in order to ensure that vulnerable health systems continue to have access to essential supplies.
• The British Red Cross, has been granted funds to contribute to their response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which includes raising awareness of ways to prevent infection, supporting heath care services, and meeting the basic needs of communities affected by the pandemic.
• Jersey funds have also been allocated to the Start Network – a rapid pooled financing mechanism created to ensure that funds are available at times of emergencies for NGOs.

Impact on Long-Term Development Projects

With restrictions on movement and assembly now in force in most developing countries, many long-term development projects have had to adapt or curtail project activities. JOA has been working closely with its 35 current grantees to ensure that ongoing projects can adapt or postpone interventions and protect staff and beneficiaries.

In our effort to be a supportive and effective donor, we are arranging No-Cost Extensions and agreeing Activity and Budget Revisions where required. For example, in Ethiopia and Rwanda, some funds have been redirected from activities which cannot currently be implemented, such as workshops and training events, to provide emergency food and hygiene products to vulnerable communities. In addition, several of our partners have taken steps to ensure that their health workers are better protected and trained in disease prevention and control.

JOA continues to closely monitor the situation and is ready to adapt its support to vulnerable to communities as and when the need arises.

Image: Boxes of essential medicines arriving at Panzi Hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo (photo credit: The Dr Denis Mukwege Foundation)

Press Release

Jersey’s Minister for International Development, Deputy Carolyn Labey, has led a successful official visit to Rwanda where the Island’s development interventions were praised by Ministerial counterparts and UN representatives.

The Minister held bilateral meetings with Rwanda’s Minister for Agriculture, Minister Gerardine Mukeshima, discussing a range of topics including the ongoing JOA funded dairy project, Jersey Inka Nziza, that is using improved genetics to lift hundreds of thousands out of poverty and improve daily nutrition in households across Rwanda. Both Ministers addressed the opening session of the World Jersey Cattle Bureau that was attended by international representatives, including over 20 from African countries, all of whom heard about the merits of the Jersey cow and its ongoing success in the development sector.

Jersey’s commitment to moving its aid upstream and increase knowledge transfer and capacity building was explored with Rwanda’s Minister of State, Dr Claudine Uwera, and there was a joint commitment in strengthening existing ties in the Financial Inclusion space.

Other engagements included a visit to the mass grave at the Kigali Genocide Memorial. 2019 marks the 25th anniversary of one of Africa’s darkest chapters when nearly 1 million Rwandans, mainly Tutsi, were murdered in the space of just 100 days.

Speaking of her visit, the Minister said, ‘visiting the communities and projects here and speaking to Ministers, it is hard to imagine where this country was 25 years ago. I found the Genocide memorial incredibly moving both as a place to remember those who died and as a symbol of reconciliation and what can be achieved in the wake of such national trauma. I have been hugely encouraged by the bilateral meetings I have attended and the enthusiasm and warmth of the people I have met. It is clear Jersey’s expertise in dairy and finance have a role to play as Rwanda continues on its impressive trajectory.’ 2

During the 5-day visit Deputy Labey met with the UN Resident Coordinator and Resident Representative in addition to staff from UNCDF and UNHCR as she visited a refugee camp where JOA and Comic Relief are supporting a project for displaced communities – Rwanda is home to over 75,000 refugees who have fled violence in the neighbouring Democratic of Congo.

Left. Deputy Carolyn Labey with Rwanda Agricultural Minster, Minister Gerardine Mukeshima

Centre Deputy Carolyn Labey visiting a JOA/ Comic Relief project

Right. Deputy Carolyn Labey with UN Resident Coordinator, Fode Ndiaye (L) and UN Resident Representative Stephen Rodriques.

JOA is looking to expand its list of possible grantees, and wants to hear from UK-registered charities with specialist experience in its three priority programme areas (and ideally also in its six focal countries of Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Zambia, Nepal).

Forms can be found HERE and should be returned to enquiries@joa.je by 8^th July. Please keep all submissions to a single page. Successful organisations will be notified and invited to participate in JOA’s upcoming RFP process, which will be launched on 5^th August.

A video featuring a JOA funded programme in Rwanda has been published on Comic Relief’s website as part of World Refugee Day. With a voice over from broadcaster Sara Cox, the short video demonstrates how providing access to basic financial services can provide resilience and opportunity for refugee communities displaced by conflict and persecution. The project is part of JOA’s and Comic Relief’s 4 year partnership on Financial Inclusion –  Branching Out: Financial Inclusion at the Margins.

Award winning broadcaster and adventurer Ben Fogle sent a message of thanks to Jersey for its support of the British Red Cross following the devastation of Tropical Cyclone Idai in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe in March. 1.85 million people remain in need of humanitarian assistance with huge numbers displaced and outbreaks of disease, including cholera, being widely reported.