By Irene Lagan
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 11/20/03)

Despite daily reports of increasing violence in Iraq, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) officials say that human suffering is only one face of the situation. The voices behind the media’s focus on insurgency and death are voices of hope, they said.

"There is another side to the picture," said Kate Moynihan, deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa. "There are a lot people of good will trapped in the chaos who participate in rebuilding their communities."

Moynihan and her associate, Christine Tucker, recently returned to Cairo, Egypt after a weeklong assessment of programs in Basra, a predominantly Shiite city located in southern Iraq.

During a telephone interview, Moynihan said that while there is still grave danger, she did not feel threatened as an American and most Iraqi citizens greeted her with curiosity and interest. Indeed, Moynihan said that in some places initial doubts about CRS relief workers have been replaced by a sense of welcome.

"In the early days, we were met with some apprehension, but the Iraqis are slowly becoming more comfortable working with an American faith-based agency," Moynihan said.

Local communities, she said, are "sophisticated." Most people are literate and most of Basra has water and electricity. While the rogue elements get the most attention, Moynihan said that in urban areas there is a lot of good will.

CRS, the U.S. bishops’ international relief and development agency, provides emergency and long-term assistance in over 80 countries. Throughout the Middle East, and especially in Iraq, Moynihan said that CRS relief efforts concentrate on the "human element." The success of the agency’s efforts in gaining acceptance as an American faith –based organization is due to their approach to providing assistance. Rather than focusing on providing humanitarian aid to large teams of people, the agency has employed "peace-building methodologies," forming partnerships with local leaders and allowing them to take the lead in identifying priorities.

"It is the priniciple of subsidiarity," she said. "We went into these communities with a profound respect for the culture. We sat down with local leaders to see what they need and how we can best be of service. This helps pave the way for long-term reconciliation between people."

The Iraq Community Action Project (ICAP) is one such community-based initiative. Local leaders identify their priorities, such as school rehabilitation, paving roads or sanitation projects and CRS helps local communities develop programs that will meet their priorities and offer vocational training.

"This sets the foundation for other initiatives down the road. It puts decision making back where it has been taken away under the former regime," Moynihan said. "These projects are awakening a civic awareness that has not existed in recent history. These are the real human moments, when you see local people assume leadership."

According to Moynihan, awakening local community participation is the key to rebuilding Iraq, since ultimately, the Iraqi people are the ones who will establish justice and maintain order in their society. In addition to partnering with local churches, Moynihan said that CRS is working with the local Caritas and Save the Children on several initiatives.

The "Well Baby Program" is a second major initiative designed to address chronic malnutrition among infants and children and to work with mothers. The program has been in place since the end of the Gulf War, when United Nations figures indicated that infant mortality rates had nearly doubled from the 1980s to the 1990s. The program is administered through Caritas, and receives technical and financial support from CRS. At the same time, CRS contributes to bolstering the capacities of local non-governmental organizations to address malnutrition. As with ICAP, the Well-Baby Program employs local citizens and raises awareness among local community members of basic issues such as proper hygiene and nutrition. According to CRS reports, the program helped more than 20,200 children and 11,900 mothers in 2002 alone. With centers in various locations in southern Iraq and in Baghdad, Moynihan said the intervention is a model example of "the universal Church.

"These are transnational solutions to transnational problems," she said. "The Church’s social network is second only to the Red Cross."

While CRS relief efforts have been in place since before the war, Moynihan said they are as equally complex now, but "in a different way." In addition to delivering goods and services, they must also help build a national infrastructure that was already seriously weakened by pre-war conditions. Along with programs that directly alleviate suffering and address injustices, they must help emerging authorities establish and administer a network of social programs.

Engaging other organizations and individuals in the reconstruction efforts is an important aspect of rebuilding Iraq, she said.

"Americans have a really great history as a social community because we are willing to ask ourselves tough questions and to adjust our behavior and attitudes.

"This is a cosmopolitan community. The recovery must be more holistic," said Moynihan. "There are many things that bring our cultures together, and we need to mobilize skilled and talented individuals who are willing to ask questions about this region, to look at it with kinder, softer eyes and to see a different face to the suffering here."