Armed Conflicts

Humanitarian Summit Must Address Weapons Shipments Too

By Lyndal Rowlands
Boats carrying refugees and boats carrying aid supplies will be on the agenda at the World Humanitarian Summit this week, but advocates say discussing the free flow of shipments carrying bombs and guns might be even more critical.

When Emergencies Last for Decades

By Lyndal Rowlands
For the millions of people whose lives have been uprooted by conflict and natural disasters the average amount of time before they can return home is now 17 years.

Refugees Bring Economic Benefits to Cities

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
Refugees are now more likely to live in cities than in refugee camps, bringing with them planning challenges but also opportunities for economic growth.

Will Canada Recognise Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Developing Countries Too?

By Aruna Dutt
While Canada’s long-awaited support for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples brought hope and celebration last week, it's not yet clear whether the rights of Indigenous people in developing countries harmed by Canadian mining companies will also be included.

A Latin American Humanitarian Emergency Invisible to the World

By Daniela Pastrana
“This is a humanitarian crisis,” said Bertha Zúñiga Cáceres, referring to the generalised violence in Mexico and in Honduras and other countries of Central America, which has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and is a product of transnational crime, but is invisible to the international community.

Humanitarian Situation in Yemen Seriously Deteriorating

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is very seriously deteriorating, said Office of the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs’ (OCHA) Operations Director John Ging.

A Refugee Crisis with No End in Sight

By Silvia Boarini
"We don't want charity, we want a long-term solution."

Analysis: Why the UN Needs a “Peace Industrial Complex”

By Jonathan Rozen
In a world where annual defence spending is over 1.6 trillion dollars and the UN Peacebuilding Fund receives less than 700 million dollars, it would seem that the military industrial complex is unwaveringly entrenched.

Industrial-Level Aid Logistics in Colombia’s Decades-Long Humanitarian Disaster

By Constanza Vieira
“If you’re going to talk about Colombia and the peace process, do it somewhere else,” was heard at a regional preparatory meeting for the World Humanitarian Summit, according to Ramón Rodríguez, with the Colombian government’s Unit for Attention and Integral Reparation for Victims (UARIV).

Weather Wars

By Zarrar Khuhro
When Alexander the Great`s army faced Raja Porus at the battle of the Hydapses the smart money, despite Alexander`s formidable reputation, should have been on Porus. Large and disciplined, Porus’s fighters had the home ground advantage, included war elephants in their ranks (terrifying to the already tired Greeks) and, notably, deployed archers who could more accurately be classified as artillery.

Justice for Berta Caceres Incomplete Without Land Rights: UN Rapporteur

By Lyndal Rowlands
The murder of Honduran Indigenous woman Berta Caceres is only too familiar to Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Why Set Up a Shell Company in Panama?

By Robert J. Burrowes
A previously little-known law firm called Mossack Fonseca, based in Panama, has recently been exposed as one of the world’s major creators of ‘shell companies’, that is, corporate structures that can be used to hide the ownership of assets. This can be done legally but shell companies of this nature are widely used for illegal purposes such as tax evasion and money laundering of proceeds from criminal activity.

FAO’s Peace-Building Efforts Through Food Security

By James Kanu
At the launching today, of the FAO-Nobel Peace Laureate Alliance for food security and peace, FAO’s Director-General said that “peace and food security are inextricably linked – we cannot achieve one without the other. By integrating food security and peace-building initiatives, we can work together to ensure that hunger is neither a cause nor a result of conflict.”

Why Peacebuilding is Part of the Sustainable Development Agenda

By Patrick Keuleers
We tend not to worry when things are going well. If people can take care of their daily business and send their kids to school without fear of violence, resolve disputes through a functioning justice system when the need arises, express their views both in private discussions and in public processes, feel they can truly contribute to decisions that affect their lives, and know effective institutions are in place to deliver basic services to their families and communities without interruption or the need for bribes, chances are they will be broadly content with the way their society is managed.

Nobel Laureates Join Forces for Food Security and Stability

By Maddie Felts and Robert Williamson-Noble
"Where food security can be a force for stability, we have to look to food and agriculture as pathways to peace and security. This is a great challenge, but one that we can meet together as we embark on achieving the 2030 Development Agenda." These were the words of FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva as he discussed the interplays between food security and peace in New York last March.

Mass Migration, EU, European Nationalisms

By Johan Galtung
We are dealing with mass migration, basically into EU, and European nationalisms, many in favor of exits from the EU. Why this mass migration, maybe to the point of Völkerwanderung, mainly into EU–but then what kind of EU–and why the European nationalisms now found one way or the other in many member states?

Hunger, a Matter of Global Security

By Enrique Yeves
Desperate, frustrated, and with little hope for the future, on 17h December 2010, the Tunisian Mohamed Bouazizi doused himself in petrol and set himself alight. Thus began the popular revolution that toppled the dictatorship of Zine El AbidineBen Ali, in power since 1987, and with it a domino effect that spread across North Africa and the Middle East.

Kenyan Refugee Camp Closures will have Disastrous Consequences

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
The Kenyan government's decision to close its refugee camps will have disastrous consequences and must be reconsidered, international organisations have stated.

Refugees and Migrants: A Crisis of Solidarity

By Ban Ki-moon
This September, the United Nations General Assembly will bring together world leaders to address one of the leading challenges of our time: responding to large movements of refugees and migrants.

UN Releases Plan to Increase Refugee Responsibility Sharing

By Lyndal Rowlands
The UN wants to create a new Global Compact to encourage countries to share the responsibility for hosting the 19 million refugees who have fled their home countries.

Asia’s Indigenous Communities Marred by Militarisation

By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
Militarisation in indigenous territories in Asia is exacerbating conflict and human rights violations, said Secretary-General of the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact Joan Carling at an event during the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) held here Monday.
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