Galway aid worker leads GOAL effort in Syria

Date Published: 28-Dec-2012

 HAVING worked in some of the toughest and most inhospitable places in the developing world with GOAL for more than a decade, Frank McManus’ latest challenge is perhaps the greatest he has faced yet.

The 41-year-old aid worker from the Lower Newcastle area of Galway city, and former pupil of Colaiste Iognaid, has just returned from northern Syria, where he is heading GOAL’s emergency response programme to assist families displaced by the on-going conflict.

This is just his latest assignment with the aid agency. The first, eleven-and-a-half years ago, saw him travel to Mozambique as a field accountant, and three months later, to Sierra Leone, where he took up a position as financial controller. He has since worked in Iraq, Central America, Darfur, Pakistan and Ethiopia, and in recent years was employed as GOAL’s Country Director in Zimbabwe, South Sudan and Sudan.

Having taken a career break for twelve months to complete a Masters in Development Management, Frank re-joined GOAL in October to take up a position as the organisation’s humanitarian advisor. His return to work coincided with GOAL’s decision to respond to the crisis in Syria. Having followed the situation there with interest for the past year-and-a- half, he was more than willing to play a key role in the new programme.

Since October, he has visited Syria several times and understands better than most the plight of men, women and children who have lost their homes, most of their possession and even, in the worst cases, members of their family.

“Tens of thousands of people have been driven from their homes by the conflict, which has been raging now for more than 21 months,” he explains. “Many of them have little access to the basic essentials of life such as clean water, food, medical aid and warm clothing and blankets. Families are being forced to take shelter in public buildings, schools, farm sheds and under trees.”

Although GOAL has already supplied thousands of blankets and 25 tonnes of flour to more than 15,000 people displaced families in the northern Syrian provinces of Aleppo and Idlib, and is planning more aid deliveries in the coming weeks, there are many thousands of families that GOAL will not be able to assist unless it receives the required funding.

Currently, there are more than two million displaced people within Syria. In total, in excess of three million are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. The UN expects this latter number to exceed four million by the beginning of 2013.

“There is a huge sense of frustration at the moment. Although we have completed our needs assessments, found a viable programme area, identified capable, trustworthy and hardworking local partners, and established access routes for supplies, the lack of funds coming through means we have been unable to respond at the level that we would like.

With the onset of winter, the plight of families with young children is becoming particularly acute in the north of the country, where temperatures are expected to drop to almost freezing.

“During a recent planning meeting one of our partners turned to me and said that when the conflict ends the people of the world will not be able to say they did not know of the suffering that went on in Syria; that they didn’t know about the millions of men, women and children who lacked basic services or access to sufficient levels of food.

“And at that time, the question will be asked – knowing what we knew at the time – what did we do about it? “As things stand, the simple answer will be ‘not enough’.”

Frank McManus returned to Syria yesterday.

For the full interview see this week’s Tribune