Interagency meeting - July 21st (I know its late, I'm sorry...)

We had our first interagency meeting with the UN today. This interagency meeting is designed to bring all of the UNHCR Implementing and Operating Partners (IPs and OPs) together and includes the UNHCR Officials, the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Community Development and Social Services(MCDSS), and FORGE. FORGE is the only NGO still operating in Meheba and is the only OP instead of IP. There are a variety of reasons FORGE operates as an OP instead of IP, and perhaps I’ll bore you with that in another post some time.

This meeting was quite informative. I have heard a lot of different things about these meetings and have all sorts of preconceived ideas about the UN. I was anxious to see for myself what it was really like.

In college I visited the UN in New York as a tourist. I remember there were so many people, waiting in a long line to get inside, going through metal detectors and having to leave all their bags at a coat check before entering. There was a tour guide and a preset route to take. We were given tourist badges to wear the whole time and there was of course no leaving the group or going where we weren’t cleared to be. Everything was scheduled and precise. I remember being in awe. I even bought a United Nations t-shirt at the gift store.

The UNHCR headquarters in Meheba was also swarming with people when we got there, but there were no lines; these weren’t tourists and they certainly didn’t have badges or security clearance. These were refugees waiting for a chance to see the UN officers who come to the camp from Solwezi. There were no guards or metal detectors, no security at all. In fact, the UN headquarters in Meheba looked very much like any other building in Meheba. The doors to the offices surrounded a courtyard where the UNHCR vehicles were parked amidst bicycles and the waiting crowd. We rode up on our bikes and parked them in the courtyard with the others.

The beginning of the meeting was spent recapping the projects accomplishments and trials during the past quarter- it was a great introduction to see how each agency has a hand in the goings-on in the camp. I’ll admit the meeting was a bit long, but I couldn’t help but smile when I realized I was in a UN meeting, something that requires years of hard work and many more diplomas then I possess to attend in New York or Geneva. It was also great to see the way FORGE programming was received by these agencies and the UN- we are clearly well respected by the powers that be in the camp.

When I visited the UN in college, I remember marveling at the idea of one day attending a UN meeting. This isn’t exactly what I had in mind, but then again I’m a good deal younger than I imagined I’d be when I attended my first UN meeting. I look forward to working more with UNHCR. We have a camp-wide health campaign coming up that is sponsored by UNHCR and FORGE is responsible for canvassing blocks B, C, and G. I’ll let you know how it goes...I may even get a t-shirt. :)