Page 10 - DIVA_1_2009

We spent a lot of tiine in Yes, the Iranian Red Crescent
meetings, that's tiue, but there society is very active and they
is no other way to coininui'ii- have branches all over the
cate. One-to-one meetings: countty. They have very well
the civil arithorities, the developed standard operating
tnilitary, the UN agencies, etc. procedrires; they know what
-all of them. I also used to to do because the coru'ihy is
have a weeUy tea with local very vulnerable to nattiral
r 'notables' as they were called. place in Iran quite often, and
disasters. Earthquakes
take
I had prit together a group of
aborit ten people, foririer it depends on the scale. The
President of the Pakistani one that took place in Batn
Adtninistered Kashinir, was probably on the extreme
businessmen, a professor side: more than 25,000 people
frotn the riniversity, a lawyer, were killed and aborit 200,000
coming from all over the etc., who rised to come to my were affected in one way or
day 25 ... So it is iinpossible
world. Wasn't there a tent once a week and have tea, another. It was huge, knit very
to say whether an operation
kind of chaos? and discuss varioris issues for localized. It affected the city
has been a success or not.

100% success - never! two horu's. I listened to them of Bam and the sru'rounding
I do not think that there will and told them what we wcre villages , because the epi-
ever be benchmarks to ai+ning to do. This is a riseful centre was very shallow and
Yori tnay say that an operation
tneasure the success of way to understand what the just below the market place.
is successful if you liave veiy
coordinating an operation. thinks aborit yori.
good co-ordination among poprilation
For iiistance, if yori say that The population was in shock! Yori have to rmderstand
UN agencies and with the
assistance reached eveiybody, They were not rised to something! There rised to be
governunent, the Red Cross
tis is impossible. It corild foreigners, and all of a sudden about seven Red Crescent
and the NGOs. In this respect,
never happen. there were white cars with workers living in Bam. Three
I think it worked qriite well.
We knew that the UN flags eveiywhere. or fotir of them were lcilled by
I will give yori an example. the earthqriake, and one of
Intet'national Coininittee of
One day I was in For ix'istance, after the earth- those who srirvived lost forty
the Red Cross was cover'ng
Muzaffarabad and some certain parts of the Pakistan - qriake in Iran in December of his relatives thatveiynight.
senior officials were ari'iving. 2003, the govei'nor of the How can yori expect tis per-
Adyninistered Kashinir-and
Since I was the senior {JN province told me that one of son beiiig able to do anyihing
that they were deliveffig the
staff there, I had to receive the biggest challenges for Mn for the next month?
full package -food, watei',
them. As these persons was how to deal with the
tents, shelters, etc.-every-
arrived at the helipad, I saw becarise there Sitnilar things happened in
thing! So the {JN did not need intemationals,
two helicopters coming in - were htmdreds of them Pakistan. In Pakistan there
to go there, which was very
one frotn the Red Cross and doing their
good. nug around was no epicentre, it was along
the other from the Pakistani business. At some tiine there the farilt line, so eveiybody
Anned Forces. I asked the were more than thirty search who lived near the fault line
We had an enoi'inous munber
visitors to remain on the attd rescue teams. There were suffered. The Cief Secretary
of meetings with local and
heliport and watch. I told and inMrizaffarabad, who was the
international NGOs. They Inure Than liOOo searc"
them: "Yori will never forget WorkerS 'ere at a senior civilian adininistrator,
told us "we are doing this and resclle
what yori are going to see
that, we are here", etc. certain point. Tbis means that was living in is office becaril
now." The staff started to take most of thein had very, highly se he had lost his house iii the
injured people orit of the eqriipment and earthquake. His office used to
We also had veiy good specialized
helicopters. Tbree weeks had dogs! It is a big challenge. have this small back room
relations with UN agencies.
passed since the eaithqriake, The earthquake happened in a where he slept. His fainily
For this you have to invest
and people were still silently
yorir tiine and effort, to show remote province, so the locals had been sent away to the
dying at home-becarise probably had not seen many place where he came from.
understanding to their
there were no roads, and the- foreigners before. In Bam, There he was, operating out
respective mandates, and to
refore no access to medical there is this beautiful, of a building that had cracks
make it lmown that yori are
assistance! These people absohitely magnificent fort, over it and that could
not hying to direct them. On all
could not believe it! It was 29 thousands of years old, so collapse at any moment.
behalf of these {TN agencies,
October-exactly three weeks foreigners come there, but not
we negotiated varioris aspects
after tlie earthqriake-and in hrige nunbers. of400 civilian staff of
of the operations with the Almost
sotne of the injrired had still the Pakistani Administered
local civil and military
not seen doctors. were living in tents.

authorities and the police, Q: Somebody said that Kashmir
who were in charge of securi- the Iranian Red Crescent How they would be expected
These injrired people were on Society had done a tre- to administer the province
ty. The police were vei'y
stretchers. And yet, we do not
concerned aborit orir secririty mendous job during the while living in tents them-
lcnow how many of them earthquake in Bam. selves? Onehas to show some
as we were just living in this
passed away on day 3, day 5, of the turmoil
camp with very little understanding
protechon.
8 1 2009 Diva

w w w d i v a i n t e r n a t io n a I c h