Storella on World Refugee Day 2023
Today, June 20, 2023, World Refugee Day, Ambassador Mark Storella, Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy at Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies and Director of the School’s African Studies Center, was published in The Boston Globe for his article “All refugees are created equal – but they aren’t treated that way.”
In the article, Ambassador Storella, asks an important question: “Are all refugees and internally displaced people treated the same?” According to the Norwegian Refugee Councils’ annual report, “The World’s Most Neglected Displacement Crisis,” the answer is no. The NRC assesses certain metrics every year to determine what countries are most at risk of a humanitarian crisis. These metrics include, “how much political will the international community devotes to each crisis; how much media attention crises receive; and how much aid is provided for a crisis as a percentage of international appeals.”
Ambassador Storella also raised the point that discrepancies in global attention can also be astonishing. For example: for every dollar of humanitarian aid raised per person in need in Ukraine, just 25 cents were raised per person in need across the world’s 10 most neglected crises.
The article continues by elaborating on how inadequate resources are provided and how this will lead to many needs going unmet and the loss of future opportunities. Ambassador Storella touches on “earmarked” donations and how this prevents the flexibility needed to endure that humanitarian advocates can reach the most vulnerable. Earmark donations are typically driven by media coverage of events and situations. When press coverage wanes, so does the attention from the international community.
“The NRC report does not advocate shifting funds from some crises to others. NRC recommends that the press, diplomats, and donors increase overall support for neglected crises, ensure greater reliability and flexibility of aid, and push for diplomatic solutions.”
Read the full article here.
Ambassador Mark C. Storella was a United States Foreign Service Officer for over three decades serving as Ambassador to Zambia, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration, and Dean of the Leadership and Management School of the Foreign Service Institute. Storella is a recipient of the Presidential Rank Award, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Excellence in Service Award, the Thomas Jefferson Award presented by American Citizens Abroad, and several Department of State superior and meritorious honor awards. Learn more about Ambassador Storella on his faculty profile.