Displaying items by tag: Gender

The British military has faced a range of challenges when engaging with non-military actors in ‘population-centred’ counter-insurgency and stabilisation operations. Such actors include humanitarian agencies, non-government organisations, civilian populations and national and international government institutions. There has been considerable resistance, especially from the British Army, to processes that have the potential to undermine traditional military combat skills. Managing the interface with civilian organisations is the task of the tri-service British Military Stabilisation Support Group (MSSG), formerly the Joint Civil Military Cooperation Group. Members of the MSSG must learn and then embody a new set of rules and cultural codes that…

There have been an unprecedented number of both natural and conflict-related disasters in recent years. Much has been learned about how to reduce the risk of disasters and prepare communities to respond and increased attention has been given to protecting vulnerable groups in crisis contexts. There are now numerous case studies and toolkits on gender and humanitarian relief and the body of knowledge is growing on age and disability. But there is one area about which we still know very little - the experience and needs of an estimated 21 million lesbian, gay and bisexual people believed to be affected…

Evidence of the particular vulnerabilities of LGBTI people (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) has been documented in several emergency and disaster situations. For example, men who have sex with men (MSM) in Haiti were denied food aid after the 2008 earthquake because ration schemes were targeted only at women, and these men had no women registered in their residences; transgender people reported being denied entry to IDP camps after the floods in Pakistan because they did not possess proper government ID that matched their appearance; and aravanis (feminine, male-bodied, gender-variant people) routinely faced discrimination in access to housing, medical…

Life is not easy in the Sahelian and Northern regions of Burkina Faso. These regions are characterised by arid soils, land and resource degradation and recurrent droughts, aggravated by persistent high temperatures, erratic rainfall, violent winds and deforestation. Other recurring shocks, such as epidemics and disease, further undermine development gains. Many villages are caught in a perpetual cycle of drought, floods, hunger and locust invasions. Efforts to build local communities’ resilience to these risks and crises are being put to the test by the complex and deepening food crisis across West Africa. Eighteen million people are affected, including a million…

Global ageing is a great achievement of our times. Rates of ageing in developing countries are increasing three times faster than in Western Europe. But in disaster settings the very organisations set up to deliver to those most in need sadly often end up marginalising older people and people with disabilities. I was part of this community during my time in the Red Cross and when working with Save the Children. We need to stop putting communities in boxes and not addressing their holistic needs; this seems very hard to do. Many older people in disaster settings work hard to…

International jury selects only global NGO with singular focus on improving the lives of the world’s older people The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation presents the annual award, the world’s largest humanitarian prize, to an organisation that is doing extraordinary work to alleviate human suffering. The foundation made the announcement today on International Women’s Day in recognition of the invisible role of older women in maintaining the welfare of families, communities and food production across the developing world. Read more: Help Age wins Hilton Humanitarian Prize on International Women's Day

The environments in which humanitarian and development organisations work are continually changing and there is a growing demand for security training on specific issues. We are aware of the differing demand, with some security and programme management professionals looking to pick and choose topics, while others want an opportunity to refresh their knowledge. In order to meet this need, RedR will be hosting a range of one day sessions on key security issues across one week. Each component will reflect the latest thinking from within the sector and reflect the global challenges that we face in ensuring a safe environment…

This conference will bring together humanitarian organizations, relevant research institutes and donors to discuss different organizational perspectives on cash transfer interventions as a tool in humanitarian operations. HPG’s Sarah Bailey co author of GPR 11 Cash transfer programming in emergencies will facilitate the event over two days.

Faith-Based Communities (FBCs) provide 40% to 50% of healthcare in developing countries and contribute greatly to HIV responses. One in five organisations working on HIV programmes are faith-based. Yet, during large-scale emergency responses, humanitarian actors have not realised the potential of FBCs to undertake HIV programming, nor have they utilised it by supporting or partnering with them. This may be due to humanitarian organisations’ preconceived ideas about FBCs’ capacity and their approaches to HIV services.A collaborative study between ODI, World Vision and Tearfund in 2009 aimed at understanding the role of Christian FBCs in responses to HIV in humanitarian settings,…

The special feature of this issue of Humanitarian Exchange focuses on humanitarian action in the Middle East.