CONTENTS:

1 - GLOBAL: UN calls for continued humanitarian funding
2 - INDONESIA: Quake survivors start rebuilding as agencies warn of funding gaps
3 - PHILIPPINES: Clan violence could undermine humanitarian work - aid officials


1 - GLOBAL: UN calls for continued humanitarian funding

GENEVA, 30 November (IRIN) - The UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian
Affairs, John Holmes, urged donors not to squeeze funding to humanitarian
emergencies while launching the annual Consolidated Appeal Process (CAP) in
Geneva on 30 November.

"It is vital that humanitarian assistance be insulated from budget pressures;
it is important to make sure that people are not put under pressure from a
financial crisis that was not of their making," he said, clearly concerned that
the global economic crisis would leave traditional grant-makers strapped for
cash.

Humanitarian funding remained strong throughout 2009, but most donor budgets
were approved before the crisis hit; in 2010 aid budgets will be competing with
domestic economic stimulus packages in many countries.

The UN CAP process provides a mechanism for combining humanitarian aid requests
for a specific country or region to make coordination more effective. "The idea
is to present a concerted and strategic action plan," Holmes said.

The 2010 appeal covers 48 million people in 25 countries; at least 380
international agencies and NGOs have submitted projects, with a combined price
tag of US$7.1 billion - roughly $2.6 billion less than in 2009.

On average, donors eventually provide just over half the funding requested. The
2009 CAP initially called for $6.3 billion, but a series of additional appeals
linked to crises - including Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan - eventually
raised the amount to $9.7 billion. A total of $6.3 billion was eventually
raised, setting a new record.

By far the largest request is for Sudan and the ongoing Darfur crisis, where
humanitarian projects are costed at $1.878 billion, a similar amount to last
year's; Afghanistan is in second place with $871 million; next, the Democratic
Republic of Congo, which hosts the largest UN peacekeeping mission, at $828
million.

Needs

According to Robert Smith, head of the CAP section in the UN's Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, "aid needs to be holistic and incomplete
aid doesn't get people out of crises."

People tend to have several kinds of needs at once, he added. "It's not enough
to give treatment to a malnourished child. The child's family will also need
food aid and help in restarting their livelihood. The child must be getting
clean water from a protected source or else she can get an intestinal infection
- that throws her back into malnutrition."

Despite the pressure on the world economy, there are no indications so far that
overall humanitarian aid is likely to be cut, according to analysts IRIN spoke
to. "At this point, it seems unlikely that the financial crisis will have a
negative impact on humanitarian funding levels," said Rachel Scott of the
UK-based Development Initiatives, which tracks aid funding.

Many countries base their contributions on a percentage of their GDP, and if
their economies contract, the danger is that their contributions will also
shrink.

Jonathan Mitchell, Emergency Response Director of CARE International, a global
aid agency, pointed out that humanitarian funding was particularly difficult to
forecast, given the unpredictability of disasters.

The best guarantee for continued humanitarian funding might be that it in the
long run it made economic sense. "It's a drop in the ocean compared to the
budgets of most rich countries," said Mitchell.

"It is not as though anyone is going to help their budget by making cuts. If
they cut humanitarian funding, they would only be cutting a minimal part of
their total government expenditure, and it wouldn't help much. Most governments
realize that spending money on overseas development and emergency assistance is
critical for stability."

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2 - INDONESIA: Quake survivors start rebuilding as agencies warn of funding gaps

PADANG, 30 November (IRIN) - Funding shortfalls and a lag in government grants
have left thousands of people without adequate shelter two months after a
devastating earthquake hit Indonesia's West Sumatra province, agencies say.

The survivors are still living in makeshift tents and damaged houses after the
quake on 30 September, and NGOs are appealing for more funding.

Graham Eastmond, coordinator of the emergency shelter cluster of the
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), said
NGOs needed US$25 million for transitional shelters in rural and semi-rural
areas.

"They need the funding urgently because they are running out of money and
because of the urgent need on the ground," Eastmond told IRIN. "It is the
monsoon season. People are still under canvas or under tarps or returning to
heavily damaged houses which are unsafe and it is raining hard every night."

The 7.9 magnitude earthquake off West Sumatra's coast hit the provincial
capital of Padang city and surrounding districts, leaving 1,117 people dead.

Eastmond said National Disaster Management Agency data showed 182,000 houses
moderately or severely damaged in the quake.

In rural and semi-urban areas, "around 30,000 transitional shelters are
currently planned by NGOs and we've identified a gap of about 80,000 shelters",
he said.

Charlie Mason, deputy team leader of Save the Children's West Sumatra
earthquake response programme, said funding was so tight that his NGO was now
focusing on advocacy to raise more money for a transitional housing cash grant
programme.

"There's very little donor interest and funding in transitional shelter at the
moment," said Mason.

Funding delays

The government plans to disburse cash grants to assist victims with rebuilding
permanent housing, but officials said there would be a wait for the funds to
come through.

"That probably won't be at least until March, when the central government
revises the budget," said D Nuzul Putra, head of public relations for the West
Sumatra government.

Akhi Ruddi, 46, from Koto Buruk in Padang Pariaman, the worst-affected
district, said his village was starting to rebuild, but "we need wood, cement
and nails. There are some people around here selling the materials, but we can't
all afford to buy them."

He said people in his village were not prepared to wait for government help.
"The government takes so long to do anything. We are worried that they'll never
come. If they do, they'll probably take most of the money for themselves."

Cramped conditions

Along the roads of Padang Pariaman, thousands of houses bear pink signs that
read "rusak berat" (severely damaged) and too dangerous to inhabit.

Many residents, however, are still living in these dwellings, while others are
camped outside their homes under blue tarpaulins distributed by NGOs. Some have
more substantial temporary shelters made of timber.

Many families have no choice but to cram into tents.

"Families living in overcrowded conditions can lead to separation of children,
who are often sent to relatives and orphanages," said Mason. "There are health
risks and risks of abuse. We've had reports of 20 people living in one tent."

CHF International [http://www.chfinternational.org], which specializes in
housing, has begun a temporary shelter pilot project. It has erected 82 so far
and plans to offer Pariaman residents 5,000 shelter kits.

"It will be a challenge to reach this target on schedule because of the rain,"
said CHF construction manager Muhamad Afrianto Fajrin.

Novridayanti, 30, a mother of three, has received a CHF shelter. She has access
to electricity in her home and has started up a stall, where she sells rambutan
fruit and fried snacks.

"I feel more independent now. I can do everything myself again," she said.

Novridayanti was sceptical of the government's plan to give cash grants next
year, and would prefer NGOs to administer shelter aid.

"The government was supposed to give 80,000 rupiah [$8.50] to each Pariaman
resident in a family of five or more. We only got payment for four people.
Everyone I know in a family of five says the same," she said.

Novridayanti first lost her home in a 2007 earthquake. "The government was
building us another house, but they still hadn't finished it when this one hit.
What they had built was completely destroyed anyway," she said.

Instead of waiting for the government, many survivors have built their own
temporary shelters or begun reconstructing their homes.

"The self-recovery rate is high, but families require technical assistance to
ensure that the homes they are building meet international standards and are
earthquake resistant," IFRC's Eastmond said.

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3 - PHILIPPINES: Clan violence could undermine humanitarian work - aid officials

MANILA, 30 November (IRIN) - A further increase in clan violence on the southern
Philippine island of Mindanao could undermine humanitarian work for tens of
thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs), aid officials warn.

"We are not pulling our staff out but if the security situation deteriorates
further, it could affect us," Stephen Anderson, country representative for the
World Food Programme (WFP), told IRIN.

"We don't want tensions to increase in a way that could certainly impact on our
ability to continue to assist," he said, noting the agency was closely
monitoring the situation.

His comments follow the massacre of 57 people, including 30 journalists, on 23
November, just six months before key elections.

About 100 armed men - allegedly under orders of an influential local warlord,
Andal Ampatuan Jr - kidnapped the group, took them to a grassy hill and
systematically murdered them.

Authorities say some of the bodies had been mutilated, and there are now fears
that more violence could occur in Maguindanao Province and outlying areas as
troops and the military go after those responsible for the crime.

"The issue of 'rido' [see: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=84979]
or clan violence is a longstanding issue in Mindanao and the government
recognizes this as a particular source of displacement," Matthew Serventy, head
of the sub-office at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA) in Mindanao, said.

"In the short term, the impact on the delivery of assistance is limited as
agencies are redirecting their aid; however, should such violence continue or
escalate, relief assistance could be affected," Serventy added.

Clan rivalry

Those killed included the wife of Ampatuan's rival Esmael Mangudadatu, his two
sisters and supporters, who were on their way to the provincial capital to file
his candidacy for governorship of the impoverished province, a post that
Ampatuan is also contesting.

The military and police have since relieved their commanders on the ground, and
disarmed hundreds of pro-government militiamen under the control of the Ampatuan
family to prevent further bloodshed.

Ampatuan himself surrendered three days later to Philippine President Gloria
Arroyo's chief adviser in the region. The Ampatuan clan is a close ally of
Arroyo and has traditionally delivered crucial swing votes to candidates in the
ruling administration coalition.

But the Mangudadatu family is also an old, powerful clan and it is now feared
that they will soon begin revenge killings, which could plunge the region into
further crisis.

"The area is under our direct control now to prevent further violence. We don't
expect the Mangudadatu family to just sit down and accept the deaths," military
spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Romeo Brawner told IRIN. "There remains an
uncertainty in the area."

"The recent carnage in Maguindanao is an empirical validating of the worsening
armed violence in Mindanao," said Rommel Banlaoi, executive director of the
think-tank Philippine Institute for Political Violence and Terrorism Research,
[http://pipvtr.com/pipvtr/index.php?section=1] which has closely followed the
Muslim insurgency in the south.

"If justice is not served in the Maguindanao massacre, it will set a very bad
precedent in other areas [of the Philippines] where private armies and clan
conflicts exist. This will make the Philippines the epicentre of armed violence
in Southeast Asia in the 21st century, an ugly truth that we have to overcome,"
he told IRIN.

Food aid

Anderson conceded that any movement of staff at present would need to be
closely coordinated with security forces. "We can't yet determine whether it
will have an impact in terms of access. Right now, our 40 staff are pretty much
confined in Cotabato. We will have to see in the coming days. The last thing we
want is to see disruption of food distribution to cause further tensions and
problems in the area."

WFP has been providing vital food aid to tens of thousands still displaced by
fighting between the government and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front
(MILF) in late 2008.

Nearly 400 people were killed and 700,000 people displaced at the height of
last year's conflict, after the Supreme Court outlawed a proposed deal that
would have given the 12,000-strong MILF control over 700 villages and townships.

According to the National Disaster Coordinating Council,
[http://ndcc.gov.ph/home/] more than 250,000 people are still in camps or with
friends and relatives.

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