Editorial. Mexico and Central America: humanitarian problems between the structural and the urgent

2023-04-13 01:45:00

By Olivier Dubois, head of the ICRC delegation for Mexico and Central America

Humanitarian Balance 2022-2023

Violence in our region is persistent, historical, its causes are deep-seated and it is also a daily reality: it generates new victims every day that need to be attended to immediately. In that difficult balance between the structural and the urgent, between attacking a problem that requires long-term solutions and attending to and mitigating the permanent humanitarian consequences that it generates, we work as the ICRC in Mexico and Central America.

I first came to this region in 2015 to coordinate the ICRC’s program for missing persons and their families: many families have been looking for their loved ones for several years and probably still are; others struggled to understand the complexities of the system to activate urgent search mechanisms in the face of the recent disappearance of a loved one. They all needed attention and answers: the structural and the urgent.

Upon my return, in 2022, when I assumed the leadership of the delegation for the region, I saw with hope some processes that were consolidating and that had the purpose of attacking those structural causes of the humanitarian problems. The promulgation of the General Law of Disappearance in Mexico, the creation of institutions and protocols on various issues are a good example of this. However, I also watched helplessly as many of the humanitarian problems of the past were still present in the same patterns and had even worsened: migration and internal displacement due to violence, separation of families, disappearances, threats, communities trapped in the fire without access to basic services such as health and education, among others.

The continuity and persistence of violence reduces opportunities and decimates the hope of millions of people. This invites organizations like the ICRC to reflect on our role: We have extensive experience, more than 160 years, in responding efficiently to humanitarian crises generated by armed conflicts and violence in different parts of the world and in adapting our humanitarian action to the particularities of countries.

After spending many years in various contexts, we also know that we need to strengthen the work with multiple actors to build long-term structural solutions, those that prevent new pain. It is the States that have the responsibility to avoid new victims and attend to the current ones: our role, by accompanying the humanitarian response, demands permanent work with victims, authorities and other organizations to add and multiply in facing these historical causes.

Joint work with other organizations, especially National Red Cross Societies, accompanying families and victims, creating more favorable environments for respect for human rights and strengthening the state response was and continues to be part of of the ICRC’s approach to addressing the structural causes of these problems: We know that profound changes are needed, institutions that respond, legal frameworks that protect the life and dignity of people, that prevent new violence and allow victims to access their rights. We also know that political will is needed for this to be achieved and for this reason we maintain a confidential, advocacy and training dialogue with the authorities responsible for these issues.

Action must also be taken to help people facing immediate humanitarian consequences: a displaced person who leaves everything behind and needs means to survive in a new place, a family member of a missing person who urgently needs to receive psychological attention and deploy search mechanisms. immediately, a migrant person who died on the route and whose remains must be repatriated to receive a dignified burial next to his loved ones. We work daily to mitigate the pain generated by these deep problems, but our action is strictly humanitarian and the response we can provide is only a grain of sand in the structuring of lasting solutions..

With our partners in the International Movement of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, we have experience in dealing with the most varied crises: we respond immediately to armed conflicts and natural disasters in many parts of the world, but we are also permanently in the communities, trying to create environments that are more humane and respectful of life and dignity. We know that our mere presence can often bring hope to communities affected by violence and indirectly deter those who perpetrate violence at times.

The complex and persistent crises and the attack on the causes that generate them are a challenge for States, diplomacy and for us humanitarian workers. We will continue working hand in hand with the authorities, civil society, communities, victims and our partners in the Movement to mitigate daily suffering, but also to contribute to building solutions to those causes that underlie violence and that jeopardize the lives of so many citizens. by reducing their opportunities, their dynamism and their hope.