Displaying items by tag: Security

Just after World Food Day, this event launches the new report Escaping the hunger cycle: pathways to resilience in the Sahel, commissioned by the Sahel Working Group. It guides decision makers to strengthen preparedness, early response and rural livelihoods; and emphasise policies on social protection, disaster risk reduction, malnutrition and food price volatility. This important research has already generated considerable interest among the aid community and policy makers in the Sahel. It is based on interviews with over 70 practitioners, researchers, representatives from donors, governments and the UN, as well as field visits in Niger and Chad, and relevant literature…

Following the famine in Somalia, this virtual issue of Disasters brings together a number of seminal articles on previous famines in the Horn of Africa and elsewhere. The collection includes articles by world class scholars on early warning systems, targeting of emergency food aid, effectiveness of famine response, interface between war and famine, malnutrition, disease and mortality in times of famine and discussion of the definition of 'famine'. It is hoped that this rich literature, spanning almost 30 years, can be of help in informing the current response. Disasters publishes high-quality topical research to inform current debates, and has produced…

(Opinions stated here do not necessarily reflect those of the Humanitarian Practice Network or the Humanitarian Policy Group, ODI) Over the past few days, Somalia has made a noticeable return to the front pages of the media. The United Nations no longer hesitates to talk about famine in southern Somalia. Once again, shocking images of starving, skeletal children are to be seen everywhere in the media and are focusing the public’s attention on the fate of the deprived populations of the Horn of Africa. Even as a new international humanitarian operation gets under way to save the starving, it is…

One of the more exciting innovations in the response to humanitarian crises of recent years has been the use of cash.  Across the humanitarian sector there is growing recognition that cash and voucher transfers can support people affected by disasters in ways that maintain human dignity, provide access to food and shelter and help rebuild or protect livelihoods. The question is no longer whether cash is an appropriate way to meet the needs of people engulfed in crisis, but how organisations, donors and governments can use cash transfers to best effect.This edition of Good Practice Review is intended primarily for…

In the Pakistani city of Karachi, an innovative cross-sector partnership is incrementally improving public safety, security and social justice within the context of a highly complex emergency. In a city deeply affected by crime, violence and fear, the partnership creates ‘safer spaces’ for humanitarian activities. This approach may offer new insights for the humanitarian sector, which struggles worldwide with emergency response and longer-term recovery in situations with serious security challenges. Karachi: complexity and chaos Specific areas of Karachi are experiencing what amounts to a slow-onset complex emergency. Violence and conflict have caused social and economic disruption resulting in humanitarian crises…

This book authored by D. John Shaw gives the first comprehensive account of the transformation of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), previously a major development organisation in the UN system, into the world's largest humanitarian agency, and of the conversion of food aid into food assistance interventions that end hunger and malnutrition in sustainable ways. In so doing, it describes the strategic deployment of WFP staff throughout the developing world, how the agency has assumed responsibility for global logistics, telecommunications and food security operations on behalf of the entire international humanitarian system, and how it has established partnerships with…

La primera edición de este Informe de Buena Práctica sobre La Gestión de la Seguridad de las Operaciones en Entornos Violentos (‘Good Practice Review on Operational Security Management in Violent Environments’), conocido también como GPR 8, fue publicado en 2000 en inglés y francés. Desde entonces el documento ha cobrado gran influencia en la gestión de la seguridad de las operaciones humanitarias, y tiene el mérito de haber incrementado un mayor entendimiento de la buena práctica en este campo en toda la comunidad de organizaciones involucradas en operaciones humanitarias. Aunque gran parte del Informe original, GPR 8, continúa siendo válido,…

Dans sa réponse immédiate au tremblement de terre d’Haïti, le Ministère de la coopération économique allemand (BMZ) débloqua 1 million d’euros pour une assistance alimentaire d’urgence.  GTZ organisa l’approvisionnement et le transport par son bureau de pays en République dominicaine voisine, utilisant un projet existant d’aide transitoire et d’urgence (Emergency and Transitional Aid/DETA) orienté vers le développement pour déployer le personnel et les facilités en vue d’organiser des distributions sur le terrain.  Léogâne, une ville sévèrement atteinte et située à 35km à l’ouest de Port-au-Prince, fut sélectionnée pour l’intervention, et la distribution des vivres commença le 22 janvier.  Pour sélectionner…

La première édition de cette Revue des bonnes pratiques sur la Gestion opérationnelle de la sécurité dans des contextes violents (également appelée RBP 8) a été publiée en 2000. Elle est, depuis, un document novateur en matière de gestion de la sécurité opérationnelle humanitaire et on lui attribue d’avoir facilité la compréhension des bonnes pratiques dans ce domaine pour l’ensemble de la communauté des organisations opérationnelles. Elle a présenté des concepts fondamentaux de gestion de la sécurité et a mis en relief les bonnes politiques et pratiques des diverses approches de la sécurité opérationnelle dans les contextes humanitaires. Bien qu’une…

The devastation caused by unprecedented flooding in Pakistan between July and September 2010 triggered a massive humanitarian response. The government of Pakistan, international donors, UN agencies, NGOs, faith-based groups, private sector organisations and volunteers alike mobilised to assist more than 20 million people directly affected by the floods. Foreign governments stepped forward to offer cash assistance as well as in-kind aid, including military assets. On the ground, humanitarian actors were grappling with the challenge of launching an emergency response of unprecedented scale, across a huge and geographically diverse area. For the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) in Islamabad,[1]this meant making decisions…