FRANCAISNorwegian Church Aid - History
1990-1999
-1990-1991, Kenya: NCA acts as an intermediary between Oslo and Nairobi after the two countries severe diplomatic relations in October 1990 (because of the trial of an opponent, Koigi waWamwere, who had been granted political asylum in Norway and was kidnapped by the Kenyan secret police at the Uganda border in 1987). In Nairobi, NCA helps street children with a local NGO, Undungu, whose name means “solidarity” in Swahili. Founded in 1973 by a Dutch Catholic priest, Father Arnold Grol, Undungu had started to work in Mathare Valley, Kibera and Majengo-Pumwani slums in Nairobi. Registered in 1978, this NGO then extended its operations in other areas. Thanks to foreign donations, its income increased from $67 000 in 1981 to $1,4 million in 1991, while its fundraising capacity in Kenya fell from 59% of its budget in 1986 to 36% in 1991. Undungu also got institutionalised: 30% of its operating costs were for administration only and its board included “big men” like Reverend Samuel Kobia, the general-secretary of the National Council of Churches of Kenya, Effie Owuor, a judge at the Supreme Court, and Amos Wako, the general attorney. Such a “protection” allowed Undungu to plead the squatters’ case. For instance, the organisation negotiated with the authorities and participated to the rehabilitation of Kitui (a slum destroyed by fire in Majengo-Pumwani in 1983) and the surrounding “villages” of Kanuku and Kinyago in 1985. But Undungu wished to avoid politicisation and did not protest against brutal evictions by the Government. Unlike the militant Green Belt Movement of Wangari Maathai, Undungu did not apply for a legalisation of squatters, who were still insecure after the rehabilitation of their settlement.
-From 1993, Laos: NCA, which supports similar programmes in Northern Thailand, tries to develop alternatives to opium growing in Muang Long district of Luang Namtha province. But money allocated for distributing anti-drug literature is used to pay the per diems of local officials to cut down poppies. According to Ian Baird and Bruce Shoemaker, opium eradication destroys traditional economies, is being implemented too quickly, and leaves many upland communities without adequate food and income for survival. NCA can not provide empirical evidence or independent confirmation that opium is successfully replaced with other crops. The programme continues because the UN funds it and the US pressure Laos to eradicate opium, even if the country (the world’s third largest producer) exports little compared to Burma or Afghanistan. Inefficiency is not the only problem. In 2006, the Akha Heritage Foundation also accuses NCA staff of forced sex with young girls.
-From 1994, Afghanistan: NCA, which helps Afghan refugees in Pakistan since 1979, opens an office in Kabul and soon becomes one of the top ten international NGOs in the country. It focuses on peace-building and the civil society, not only on relief. Out of a budget of US$ 10 millions between 1997 and 2000, a fifth goes into emergency activities and the rest into reconstruction and development; two thirds of this amount is channelled through local NGOs like ADA (Afghan Development Association), RRAA (Rural Rehabilitation Association for Afghanistan) and the Anti Tuberculosis Programme. After the American military intervention and the fall of the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban regime in October 2001, NCA resumes its operations. In 2002, it begins a water programme. Despite its Christian faith, the organisation feels more confident and has numerous connections with the new government of Hamid Karzai. A minister for Rural Reconstruction and Development in 2002, then Education in 2007, Mohammed Hanif Atmar, for instance, is a former director of NCA programmes for Afghan refugees in Peshawar, Pakistan, and he is a potential candidate for the presidential elections in 2009.
-August 1995, Norway: in co-operation with the World Council of Churches and the Lutheran World Federation, NCA participates to the foundation of ACT (Action by Churches Together), an international fundraising organisation based in Switzerland.
-From 1997, Iraq: opposed to the embargo imposed by the international community, which worsens the living conditions for the local population, NCA starts a clean water rehabilitation programme. In co-operation with the authorities, it opens an office in Baghdad in 2002. The organisation keeps up its activities after the American military operation against Saddam Hussein in April 2003. But the security situation does not improve. In May 2004, NCA removes its international staff from Baghdad and Basra to Jordan and Kuwait.
-From 1998, India: NCA establishes in February 1998 a Co-ordination Office in Bangalore to assist the Central Tibetan Administration and His Holiness the Dalai Lama's Charitable Trust (HHDLCT) in helping refugees who escaped Communist China. The HHDLCT was set up in 1964 by the Dalai Lama after he fled Tibet and sought asylum in India with thousands of refugees. Since 1975, it is administered under the Department of Finance of the Central Tibetan Administration, i.e. the government in exile of the Dalai Lama. In July 2000, NCA extends its mandate to cover Nepal.
-From 1999, Russia: while the war for independence in Chechnya starts up again, NCA backs the Centre for Peace-making and Community Development, an organism created in 1995 to help displaced populations in the region, notably in Ingushetia. There are many difficulties to deal with. An employee of this NGO is kidnapped and held hostage from November 2002 to January 2003. Moreover, the Russian military impede aid operations. Last but not least, the Russian Orthodox Church is not an easy partner and takes side with the Government in Moscow.
