Iceland review - 2015, Side 43

ICELAND REVIEW 41
HUMANITARIAN RELIEF
was nowhere near enough for what we
had to do. At first I think people thought:
‘What do you know about this field?’ but
I explained that I had operated hotels for
many years and participated in renovating
and building them so I thought of it as
transferring my experience from that to
the healthcare system and the rebuilding
of primary healthcare centers. The money
has to go as far as possible—that’s very
important.”
For all the challenges, Hlín says there’s
much about the job that she has enjoyed,
including working with the people. “It’s
particularly good to work with volunteers
in different countries. I’ve also often felt
that my local colleagues are much more
knowledgeable than us visiting foreign rep-
resentatives. You learn a lot.”
POVERTY AND POVERTY
For a country of just 330,000 inhabitants,
Iceland is well represented abroad, accord-
ing to Hlín. “I’m always surprised by how
many Icelandic delegates there are. Raising
money can of course be much more dif-
ficult in Iceland than in a country with a
much larger population, but Iceland has
managed to send a lot of delegates abroad,
especially given the [2008] economic col-
lapse. The Icelandic Red Cross uses a large
proportion of its funds to send delegates
out. In some cases, it makes more sense for
us to send a delegate to a country to train
and support others than to just send money.
Investing in training people abroad can be
much more valuable,” she says.
Iceland allocated 0.21 percent of its GNI
to development aid in 2014, well below
the United Nations target of 0.7 percent;
while Sweden, Norway and Denmark all
exceed the target, with Sweden allocating
as much as 1.1 percent of GNI to develop-
ment aid. While wary of criticizing those in
government, Hlín admits Iceland could do
more. “We can do much more. Maybe not
percent-wise but via a shift in knowledge,
increase our efforts in training within the
energy and fisheries sectors, for example.
It’s not always a question of poverty per se,”
she says.
On the subject of poverty, Hlín is phil-
osophical about the definition. “What is
poverty really?” she asks. “People who
have nothing but live richer lives than us
here, are they necessarily ‘poorer’ than
us? Icelanders are sometimes crazy about
the krónur… there is poverty and there is
poverty but at the end of the day everyone
has the right to, for example, healthcare
and education but there is so much politics
in everything… and I’m not a political
person.”
While much progress has been made in
development over the years, Hlín is critical
of wasted funds and opportunities. “There
needs to be more coordination and focus.
Some organizations get money for projects
which are not a first priority, but develop-
ing countries will never say no to money.
It’s also important to have the participa-
tion of the local population to ensure the
long-term success of a project. It would be
interesting to know, for example, how much
money was given to installing water wells
and how many of those are actually still
working today.”
DELAYING RETIREMENT
Malaria is an issue Hlín is particularly
passionate about. Based in West Africa, her
last project was overseeing the financing
of all malaria prevention projects for the
International Federation of the Red Cross,
a position she held for five years.
Hlín with residents of a village in Sofala province, Mozambique, where 90 percent
of children have lost one or both of their parents to HIV/AIDS.
Outside a Red Cross shelter in Hindane, Mozambique, where
Hlín was posted.
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