Displaying items by tag: Protection

Health Care in Danger – a global challenge. Every day health workers face one of the most serious and yet unacknowledged humanitarian challenges of our times. Patients and medical workers are attacked, ambulances are obstructed, hospitals are shelled and violent intrusions disrupt the working of clinics, dispensaries and first aid stations. These are daily occurrences which endanger the delivery of effective and impartial health care. There are many challenges and the health care community has a central role in addressing them. A one-day symposium in London on Health Care in Danger, hosted by the International Committee of the Red Cross,…

The Dadaab refugee complex in north-east Kenya was established in 1991. Originally designed to accommodate 90,000 refugees, the camps now hold over five times their intended capacity, making Dadaab the third-largest population centre in Kenya after Nairobi and Mombasa. The region is remote and harsh, with temperatures of up to 48 degrees Celsius in the dry season and extreme flooding in the rainy season. The main Dadaab complex consists of the ‘older’ Dagahaley, Hagadera and Ifo refugee camps, with three further sites, Ifo East and Ifo West (combined they are known as Ifo 2) and Kambioos. These sites are being…

UN integration arrangements are the strategies and structures developed to facilitate greater coherence and coordination among UN agencies, funds and programmes, with the aim of maximising the collective impact of the UN’s response. The benefits and risks of UN integration for humanitarian space have been intensely debated for many years. Most humanitarian actors accept the need for greater coherence within the UN system, at least at a strategic level. However, many NGOs object to greater structural arrangements because they claim that this would result in the subjugation of humanitarian priorities to the UN’s political objectives. UN humanitarian actors have expressed…

Are aid agencies coordinating efforts for protecting children in large scale emergencies? Join Keeping Children Safe on its 10th anniversary for topical presentations and a panel discussion on the successes and challenges of protecting children and keeping them safe from harm in large scale emergencies. All children, whoever they are and wherever they are, have a right to be protected from harm and have their welfare promoted. While it has been known for some time that children are especially vulnerable to natural disasters and armed conflicts, we know that to protect children requires coordinated efforts amongst aid agencies and this…

This event launched Network Paper 72: Local to Global Protection in Myanmar, Sudan, South Sudan and Zimbabwe. The Local to Global Protection Project (L2GP) is an initiative to document and promote local perspectives on protection in major humanitarian crises. Based on research in Myanmar, Sudan, South Sudan and Zimbabwe, L2GP explores how people living in areas affected by natural disaster and armed conflict understand ‘protection’ – what they value, and how they go about protecting themselves, their families and their communities. The research also examines how people view the roles of others, including the state, non-state actors, community-based organisations and…

This event launches the Network Paper 72, Local to Global Protection in Myanmar, Sudan, South Sudan and Zimbabwe.  The Local to Global Protection Project (L2GP) is an initiative to document and promote local perspectives on protection in major humanitarian crises. Based on research in Myanmar, Sudan, South Sudan and Zimbabwe, L2GP explores how people living in areas affected by natural disaster and armed conflict understand ‘protection’ – what they value, and how they go about protecting themselves, their families and their communities. The research also examines how people view the roles of others, including the state, non-state actors, community-based organisations…

This Network Paper presents the findings of five community-based studies on self- protection in Myanmar (Burma), Sudan, South Sudan and Zimbabwe. The studies demonstrate how vulnerable people take the lead in activities to protect themselves and their communities, and how local understandings of ‘protection’ vary from how the concept is used by international humanitarian agencies. While hugely important for everyday survival, local understandings and self-protection activities are rarely acknowledged or effectively supported by aid agencies. The case studies also illustrate that, while self-protection strategies may be crucial for survival, they are rarely fully adequate. Local agency cannot be regarded as…

Shining the spotlight on humanitarian accountability again is healthy given this month’s New Deal for Engagement in Fragile States with its focus on transparency and ownership of aid, and Busan’s effective development cooperation agenda. The recent HPN debate on accountability left me reflecting on how much focus should be on accountability to - and as defined by - beneficiaries given the concerns about possible over-riding pressures for output-driven results-based aid in the UK, or in other countries. DfID’s humanitarian policy seems to try to balance accountability to taxpayers and to beneficiaries. It also contains a very clear commitment to strengthening…

Event report Wendy Fenton, Coordinator , Humanitarian Practice Network welcomed the speakers and attendees and introduced the speakers and discussant.  Amany Abouzeid, Human Security Policy Coordinator, ActionAid and co-author of the report then discussed the ideas behind the research. The research for the report followed the first cluster evaluations of the humanitarian assistance delivered after the conflict. ActionAid felt that these cluster evaluations were too mechanical and raised questions about the effectiveness of the humanitarian response. ActionAid felt there was a need to ask questions about humanitarian principles; perceptions of humanitarian assistance; and the global humanitarian project as a whole…

7 December 2010 15:00-17:00 (GMT+00) - Public event, Overseas Development Institute and screened live online Since the publication of the first edition of Good Practice Review 8 on Operational Security Management in Violent Environments a decade ago, the global security environment has changed significantly. New conflict contexts have created new sources of threat to international humanitarian action. Increasing violence against aid workers and their operations, including more kidnappings and lethal attacks, has had serious implications for humanitarian relief work in insecure contexts. Meanwhile, agencies themselves have become much more conscious of the need to provide for the safety and security…