It has been said that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly’s wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world. This is the part of Chaos Theory, called the “Butterfly Effect”, that explains that one small change can influence a big change later. The quote has also been used to express the idea that we are all connected and that the borders of countries are porous such that problems in one area spill over to others.
I thought about this today as I read a series of articles on food insecurity. World Watchers who participated in last year’s Mitzvah Day and Walk to End Genocide activities know that the Darfuri refugees living in the camps in Chad have had their food rations cut several times, leaving them with daily rations which have been reported to be no more than 800 calories per day. We have been advised by on-the-ground sources that this number may be a gross exaggeration and that the real daily ration amount is much closer to 250-500 calories. That is the equivalent of a Quarterpounder with cheese (540 calories), or a Starbucks Grande Java Chip Frappuccino with Whip Cream (400 calories).
Last week we sent hundreds of H.A.N.D.S. (Help And Nourishment for Darfuri Survivors) decorated by JWW activists to Ann Richard, Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, along with a letter (you can read a copy of the letter here).
In the letter, we called upon Ms. Richard to take action as follows:
- Work with your colleagues in the State Department, USUN, and partners from other donor countries to lead in appropriating funds to immediately restore the rations in the Darfuri refugee camps to 2,100 calories per person/per day.
- Develop long-term sustainable solutions for the Darfuri refugee population and the Chadian host communities. Continuing only with humanitarian aid is not sustainable. There must be an investment in income-generation, livelihood, community integration, and peacebuilding programs to support the Darfuri refugee community and to help them to become self-reliant until they are able to return home.
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Why did this make me think about the butterfly? It is because I know that the food crisis is not restricted to the camps in Chad, nor does it impact solely the Darfuris living there. Actions taken by the UN to help the Darfuris may impact other, equally food insecure, refugees in other countries.
We usually think about Sudan, and Darfur in particular, as a place people flee from, not a haven refugees flock to. But this is not the case in our butterfly connected world. Just recently the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, reported that refugees fleeing South Sudan passed the 1 Million mark. This horrific statistic includes the mostly women and children, survivors of gender based violence and violent attacks, some elderly or disabled and many in need of medical care, who have poured into East Darfur, South Darfur and White Nile states. Increased food insecurity has caused more South Sudanese to migrate to additional neighboring countries, but the South Sudan Regional Refugee Response Plan that covers refugee programs in these countries is funded only at 2%, leaving a severe funding shortage for the provision of clean water and food.
Recently, more than 15,000 South Sudanese arrived in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), only to find the same food shortages and lack of humanitarian aid that plagued them back home. Authorities in DRC sent more than 300 South Sudanese refugees back to the UNHCR for transport to Uganda where they will join more than 88,000 South Sudanese who are crowding Ugandan refugee camps already overburdened and under-provisioned. Just as in Chad, the UN food rations have been drastically reduced, water is in short supply and diseases like cholera are rampant in the most crowded camps. These refugees are among the lucky ones, however, because the Ugandan government has a policy of providing refugee families with land to farm and equipment to build a home so they can contribute meaningfully to economic development in that country.
The Butterfly Effect links hungry Darfuri refugees in Chad to the food insecure South Sudanese refugees in Sudan, DRC, and Uganda, and to the more than 50 million people around the world in places like Syria, Yemen, Burundi and Central African Republic (CAR) who lack sufficient food as a result of violent conflicts in their countries. The UNHCR and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) are underfunded and overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the need.
So we asked Ann Richard to take action, even while appreciating the magnitude of the problem. And we ask each of you to help in all the ways that we can: by raising awareness, advocating for change and raising funds that will help alleviate refugee hunger. It is not nearly enough, but “one small change can influence a big change later.” Be the Butterfly.