Humanitarian Relief

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Humanitarian Relief

Famines in Africa and the Western Consciousness

In spite of our collective past experience of seeing food crises and famines unfold, overall the international community is still too focused on last-minute emergency interventions, an approach reinforced by a powerful and popular narrative that underscores African weakness and victimization.

Whither Haiti Reconstruction Funding?

American funding for longterm Haiti reconstruction is held up in a bureaucratic logjam. Meanwhile, a UN official aptly describes the situation as "a humanitarian crisis the needs a development solution."

Two Thirds of Benin Under Water

Severe flooding hits Benin, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria.  Welcome to the next big humanitarian crisis.  But after Hait and Pakistan, will there be enough money for emergency relief for the region?

The Top 5 Most Ignored Humanitarian Crises

The sluggish international response to the Pakistan floods emergency is actually not all that sluggish, at least compared to these humanitarian crises. Introducing the five most under-funded and ignored humanitarian crises:

1) Iraqi Refugees


Remembering Attacks Against the UN

Seven years ago today, an al Qaeda affiliate blew up the UN headquarters in Iraq, killing the diplomat Sergio Vieira de Mello and 23 others.  This was the single deadliest attack on UN civilian staff in the field and for the past two years August 19th has been honored as World Humanitarian Day.