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241. The State of the Humanitarian System

Author:
Abby Stoddard, Adele Harmer, Paul Harvey, and Glyn Taylor
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on International Cooperation
Abstract:
This report, commissioned under ALNAP's Humanitarian Performance Project, aims to provide a system-level mapping and assessment of international humanitarian assistance. To this end, the report 1) defines key criteria for assessing system performance and progress, 2) assesses the system's performance over the past two years against these criteria, 3) presents new, previously unavailable descriptive statistics and 4) highlights some new initiatives in policy and practice. The research team synthesised the findings of roughly 500 global survey responses, 100 recent evaluations, 89 interviews, staffing and budget information of over 200 aid organisations and a financial analysis of global humanitarian aid flows. The resulting report represents a pilot effort to broadly assess the 'state of the system' with the intent, if it is found useful, to repeat the exercise once every two years.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Disaster Relief, Human Welfare, and Humanitarian Aid

242. Education and Conflict in Haiti

Author:
Ketty Luzincourt and Jennifer Gulbrandson
Publication Date:
08-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
The massive earthquake of January 2010 devastated almost every aspect of Haitian society, but it also presented an excellent opportunity to address the problems of the largely dysfunctional education sector. Education has not only served to prevent, mitigate, and resolve conflict in Haiti, it has also functioned as an underlying cause of, contributor to, and trigger for violent conflict. These issues must be addressed if Haiti's rebuilding efforts are to succeed. The Haitian authorities need to implement substantial structural reforms to address past policies of exclusion and overcentralization, as well as financial and language barriers. Primary education for all children under the age of fourteen should be free and compulsory. Substantial investment is needed in vocational training, as well as in adult education and civic and peace education. Teacher and technical education should be promoted through campaigns to improve the status of these professions, incentives to participate in pre-service and in-service programs, and financial and other awards. Curriculum and training options need to reflect the number and types of jobs that may be available after students graduate, providing the skills necessary to support a modern economy. The state should work with the private sector in expanding public-private partnerships, for example in the areas of school construction, scholarships, trainee programs, long-distance radio programs, and internships. Haiti needs to do much more to develop students' and teachers' capacities to manage conflict peacefully by making teaching methods more student-centered, promoting critical thinking and creative problem solving, and reforming curriculum to encourage tolerance and inclusion. The international community must recognize that long-term security and development depend on a well-functioning education system. The international community can help by assisting with the establishment of a clear strategic plan for education, including ways to monitor and assess reform.
Topic:
Education, Humanitarian Aid, and Natural Disasters
Political Geography:
Caribbean and Haiti

243. Flooding Challenges Pakistan's Government and the International Community

Author:
Mary Hope Schwoebel and Altaf Ullah Khan
Publication Date:
08-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
The flooding and associated devastation that have battered Pakistan since late July 2010 present yet another series of challenges to its government, already contending with violence from extremist groups. The international community would do well to assist the Pakistani government in responding effectively to these challenges. Natural disasters are social as well as environmental events. The poor and marginalized members of society suffer the most. Marginalization is one of the root causes of violence and militancy in Pakistan. As the government of Pakistan responds to the suffering of its people and the damage to the environment and infrastructure, it should seek to provide relief and recovery assistance in ways that contribute to ameliorating marginalization. Disaster managers should ensure that urgent humanitarian demands do not miss the opportunity to achieve relief and recovery in ways that contribute to good governance, sustainable development and stable peace.
Topic:
Humanitarian Aid and Natural Disasters
Political Geography:
Pakistan and South Asia

244. Pakistan: The Worsening IDP Crisis

Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
The monsoon floods in Pakistan have caused massive de- struction and turned a displacement crisis in the insecure western borderlands into a national disaster of mammoth proportions. When the floods hit, almost all those displaced from Malakand had returned hom e and were struggling to rebuild lives in a region where much of the infrastructure had been destroyed in fighting; 1.4 million more displaced from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) were living in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province. The disaster would have proved challenging under any circum- stance. The fragile civilian government, already tackling an insurgency, and its institutions, neglected during nine years of military rule, lack the capacity and the means to provide sufficient food, shelter, health and sanitation without international assistance. The Pakistan govern- ment and international actors should ensure those in the flood-devastated conflict zones are urgently granted the assistance they need to surv ive and to rebuild lives and livelihoods. If military objectives dictate rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts, a population exhausted by con- flict could become a soft target for militants, making sta- bility in the northwest even more elusive.
Topic:
Human Welfare, Humanitarian Aid, Natural Disasters, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Pakistan and South Asia

245. Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR): Reducing Human Vulnerabilities To Natural Disasters

Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS)
Abstract:
Over the past decade, the world has witnessed several major natural disasters, from the boxing day tsunami in 2004, to the Haiti earthquake in January 2010 and the recent floods in Pakistan in August 2010. The 'World Disasters Report 2009' states that 3,605 natural disaster occurrences were recorded from 2000 to 2008. In many of these disasters, critics have repeatedly brought up the issue of the failure to provide adequate response, calling on states and international communities to shift from reactive to proactive approaches to disaster management. In fact, as the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) acknowledges, policymakers have come to better understand how natural disasters exacerbate vulnerabilities of states and communities (UN, 2005). It should be noted that natural disasters have greater impact on poor countries and communities in particular as they tend to be more exposed to hazards and have less capacity and awareness to manage disaster risks (Concern Emergency Unit, 2005:2). This places greater importance on disaster risk reduction (DRR) as a means of reducing vulnerabilities of such states and communities and building their resilience to natural hazards.
Topic:
Health, Human Welfare, Humanitarian Aid, and Natural Disasters
Political Geography:
Pakistan

246. Halving Hunger: Still Possible? Building a rescue package to set the MDGs back on track

Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Ten years after the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) agreed by world leaders became the greatest-ever commitment for a 'more peaceful, prosperous and just future', progress is slow and many hard-won achievements have been undone after the global food, fuel and economic crises. Unless an urgent rescue package is developed to accelerate fulfillment of all the MDGs, we are likely to witness the greatest collective failure in history.
Topic:
Development, Human Welfare, Humanitarian Aid, and Poverty
Political Geography:
United Nations

247. Improving the Governance of the Food Aid Convention: Which Way Forward?

Author:
Jennifer Clapp and C. Stuart Clark
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
Informal talks began in mid-2010 on renegotiating the FAC with a view to adopting a new agreement by June 2011. The FAC is an international agreement that sets out the rules and minimum commitments for member countries which donate international food aid to feed hungry people in developing countries. The existing Convention is dated and requires revision on a number of fronts (Clay 2010; Hoddinott, Cohen and Barrett 2008; Barrett and Maxwell 2006), particularly in the current context of high food insecurity and volatile world food markets (FAO 2009a; FAO 2010). The effectiveness of the FAC as a mechanism to provide appropriate and predictable minimum levels of food aid to those in need has been diminishing to the point of virtual invisibility in the midst of the recent food price crisis — a clear illustration of its fading legitimacy.
Topic:
Security, Humanitarian Aid, Poverty, and Food

248. The Road to Olive Farming: Challenges to developing the economy of olive oil in the West Bank

Author:
Lara El-Jazairi
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
For thousands of years, the olive tree has been an integral part of the Palestinian landscape: a symbol of Palestinian identity, culture and tradition. The majority of Palestinian farmers are at least partially dependent on olive cultivation. The current profitability of olive farming is evident in the increase in recent years of farmers who are planting new trees and tending to their orchards. In a good year, the olive oil sector contributes over $100 million income annually to some of the poorest communities. Olive cultivation also has strong social and political aspects, as the planting of olive orchards is often an attempt to prevent the confiscation of land by Israel or settlers and to protect Palestinian livelihoods.
Topic:
Agriculture, Development, Humanitarian Aid, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Palestine and Arab Countries

249. Renegotiation of the Just War Tradition and the Right to War in the Twenty-First Century"

Author:
John W. Lango
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Carnegie Council
Abstract:
What were the primary justifications for the Iraq War, and how do they relate to classical and contemporary just war thought? Identifying three such justifications—anticipatory, punitive, and humanitarian—Cian O'Driscoll clarifies the debate within the just war community about the invasion.
Topic:
Humanitarian Aid and War
Political Geography:
Iraq

250. Examining Pandemic Responses in Asia

Author:
Li Hongyan and Ong Suan Ee
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS)
Abstract:
The recent pandemic disease outbreaks which affected many Asian countries underscore the need for appropriate pandemic responses to be developed in order to contain and mitigate the spread of pandemics that emerge in the future. Through an examination of the different responses to SARS and H1N1 in the region, and the effects of those efforts, this NTS Insight seeks to highlight issues which should be considered when developing pandemic response programmes.
Topic:
Health, Human Welfare, and Humanitarian Aid
Political Geography:
Asia