Humanitarian Emergencies

Sharing the Burden of Refugees; the World Can Do Better

By Siddharth Chatterjee
As the world marks World Refugee Day on June 20th to celebrate the strength, courage and perseverance of refugees, a glaring concern remains just how inadequate the global response to the refugee crisis has been.

The Importance of the Upcoming FAO Election

By Kip Tom
With each passing day, the world gets just a little smaller as the internet and cell phones bring our communities together, reveal our shared challenges, and lay bare our failures. As global citizens, we are all concerned about the growing number of hungry people around the world and the threats to food security. The simple fact is that more than 800 million people go hungry every day, and if that number shocks you, know that experts predict the number to grow significantly over the next ten years.

The Storm is Over, But in Southern Africa, Cyclone Idai Continues to Rage for Women and Girls

By Edinah Masiyiwa
In late March Cyclone Idai carved a path of devastation across Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Malawi.  It was the deadliest cyclone to hit the region in more than a century, others have even referred to it as “Africa’s Hurricane Katrina.” More than 1,000 people were killed. Many more saw their homes, food crops, and even entire villages washed away.

World’s Displacement Crises Worsened by Lack of Funds, Political Will or Media Attention

By Thalif Deen
The world’s 10 most under reported displacement crises— which have rendered millions of people homeless– have continued to worsen due either to political neglect, a shortage of funds or lack of media attention, according to a new report released by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).

Mobilisation Needed for Climate-Related Disasters

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
Climate-related displacement and food insecurity is not a future possibility, but it is already happening and it’s only projected to worsen without urgent action in coming years.

Pakistani and Afghan Refugees Seek Safe Haven in Sri Lanka

By Caroline Gluck
Thirteen-year-old Bariea, a Pakistani asylum seeker in Sri Lanka, is taking shelter at a mosque in the city of Negombo, where an uneasy mix of high anxiety and extreme boredom hover over the room.

Realistic & Fair Immigration: A Policy to Unite Denmark

By Mette Frederiksen
Immigration policy has divided the people of Denmark for many years. There are few other areas where the fronts are drawn so divisively and where arguments become attacks. Maybe this is understandable? Immigration policy plays an important part when it comes to defining the country we want to be. There are deeply held emotions at stake. And more and more people are experiencing for themselves what happens when integration fails.

The Time is Now: End Sexual and Gender-Based Violence

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
It’s time to end sexual and gender-based violence once and for all, participants of a two-day conference said.

The UN Has Failed Civilians

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
Despite the United Nations Security Council’s task of protecting civilians, millions around the world are still being displaced and killed with little to no accountability for perpetrators.

The Contribution of Humanitarian Action to Peace

By Peter Maurer
The connection of humanitarian action to broader objectives like peace, development and human rights is understandably complex, but it is also an area in which some fresh thinking is important.

Cyclones and Struggling Economy Could Impact Mozambique’s Elections

By Amos Zacarias
Mozambique, which was affected by an unprecedented two tropical cyclones over a matter of weeks, is still reeling from the impact a month after the latest disaster. But resultant devastation caused by the cyclones could impact the country’s elections as concerns are raised over whether the southern African nation can properly hold the ballot scheduled for later this year.

Stop The War on Children

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
Too many children are dying as a result of explosive weapons, and the international community must step up to protect and declare children off limits in war.

Do We Need a Global Convention of Common Principles for Building Peace?

By Thalif Deen
When the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) concluded a three-day forum on “Peace and Development” on May 16, the primary focus was the daunting challenges threatening global security, including growing military interventions, spreading humanitarian emergencies, forced migration, increasing civil wars, extreme weather conditions triggered by climate change and widespread poverty and conflict-related hunger.

Cameroon Crisis “More Alarming Than Ever”

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
The United Nations must act to prevent further devastation from the escalating crisis in Cameroon, human rights groups said.

Frontex Mandate Expanded

By Ida Karlsson
The European Union plans to deploy 10 000 armed border guards by 2027 to patrol its land and sea borders. The force will have the power to use armed force on the EU's external borders.

Global Hunger Is Threatening Families Because of Climate Change

By Siddharth Chatterjee
There is barely a corner of human life that will not be affected by climate change, and some of its impacts are already being felt. Consider this, 821 million people are now hungry and over 150 million children stunted, putting the hunger eradication goal, SDG 2, at risk. Today 15 May, is the United Nations International Day of Families and the theme for this year is, ‘Families and Climate Action’.

Internal Displacement “Deserves Visibility”

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
More people are displaced inside their own countries than ever before, and only higher figures can be expected without urgent long-term action, a new report found.

An Urgent Need to Advance Peace

By Dr Marina Caparini
Let us be blunt: the world is in crisis. Peace, human rights, our planetary ecosystem, and our systems of conflict management and global governance are under enormous strain.

Women, Peace and Security: Let’s Turn Words into Action

By Dr. Denis Mukwege
To be able to tackle a problem we must first recognize that it exists. When I first spoke at the United Nations Security Council in 2009, I was asked why the issue of sexual violence was even relevant to peace and security. At that time, it was not generally accepted that rape is in fact a weapon of war. Today, that statement is both widely accepted and central to the international community’s understanding of this crucial issue.

US & Western Arms in Yemen Conflict Signal Potential War Crime Charges

By Thalif Deen
When US political leaders urged the Trump administration to either reduce or cut off arms supplies to Saudi Arabia – largely as a punishment for its indiscriminate bombings of civilians in the four-year old military conflict in Yemen—President Trump provided a predictable response: “If we don’t sell arms to Saudi Arabia, the Chinese and the Russians will.”

Women and Girls “Preyed on as the Spoils of War”

By Sam Olukoya
“They forcefully took us away and kept us like prisoners,” Lydia Musa, a former Boko Haram captive who was abducted at the age of 14 during an attack on her village in Gwoza, in Nigeria’s north eastern Borno State, tells IPS. Musa and two other underaged girls were captured and forced to marry Boko Haram fighters in spite of their protests that they were too young to marry.
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