When it comes to food security, it is vital to address immediate and institutional needs - as well as policy and livelihoods dimensions of crises - to decrease vulnerability while building viable and resilient mechanisms in these societies. It would require “thinking beyond even when you cannot yet act beyond”.   Read More

posted Wednesday, September 24, 2008 by Luca Alinovi and Luca Russo, FAO | 5 Comments

Recent trends raise important questions with regard to the relevance of applying humanitarian principles in the current environment. Should agencies pull out, reject funds or suspend activities if they feel the principles are being overly compromised? Or is there a case for enhanced coherence between political and humanitarian objectives in order to support the long term welfare of these societies – and perhaps also their security in the shorter-term?   Read More

posted Thursday, August 07, 2008 by Samir Elhawary, Humanitarian Policy Group at ODI | 1 Comments

Last year, I found myself watching an early round of the African football cup finals on the television at the Acholi Inn in Gulu, Northern Uganda. Next to me was a former senior leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army who had said he might give me an interview.   Read More

posted Wednesday, October 10, 2007 by Hugo Slim | 5 Comments

In a recent position paper MSF posed itself the question “…. what will better serve the populations in need: will MSF’s independent approach be beneficial to the most vulnerable at the end of the line?   Read More

posted Monday, September 03, 2007 by Eric Stobbaerts | 6 Comments

A new round of pledges to the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) this December is an encouraging sign of donor commitment to providing greater and more predictable financing for humanitarian assistance.   Read More

posted Thursday, January 18, 2007 by Toby Porter | 8 Comments

A new round of pledges to the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) this December is an encouraging sign of donor commitment to providing greater and more predictable financing for humanitarian assistance.   Read More

posted Saturday, December 02, 2006 by Eva von Oelreich | 3 Comments

The current discourse of post-conflict recovery or peace in Colombia fails to recognise the fact that over 2.5 million remain internally displaced.   Read More

posted by Samir Elhawary | 0 Comments

For too long, humanitarian actors have been reactive. Now is the time for agencies, the UN and donors to be pre-emptive, crafting a common position in advance of any further restrictions or conditions imposed by the Sudanese government. What are the non-negotiables when it comes to the return of expelled agencies, or the relationship between the Government and those agencies that have remained?   Read More

posted by Michael Kleinman | 1 Comments

The use and misuse of humanitarian assistance has long been a dilemma for organisations working in conflict areas, where the steady leaking of resources to thieves, bandits, rebels and government raise serious ethical dilemmas. A new study by MSF has sought to examine the extent to which assistance may be doing harm in eastern Chad and Darfur. It looks specifically at one organisation’s financial contribution to the war economy of the region and assesses the results using the core humanitarian principles of neutrality and ‘do no harm’.   Read More

posted by Elena Lucchi and Clea Kahn, MSF | 3 Comments

When a major disaster hits, we are all familiar with what devastated populations need. Or rather, we think we are. Food. Water. Tarpaulins. Medical supplies, and expertise. All these things are critical. This list, however, has one critical omission: information.   Read More

posted by Imogen Wall, Project Manager, BBC World Service Trust | 2 Comments