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“Do no digital harm”

17 October 2018

As data and digital tools become standard in humanitarian work, so do concerns over power, access and limiting risks

News

Caribbean tsunamis, migration art and humanitarians and climate change
12 October 2018
Stay in the loop on humanitarian issues
Analysis

Famine and the machine
12 October 2018
The World Bank has big plans to defeat famine. Not everyone’s convinced.

Latest Video“Welcome to Refugee Purgatory on the Hungary Border,” a 2017 film by Jaime Alekos for IRIN News, is a winner of the Migration Media Awards.

Feature

Abuses and disappearances mar Nigerian counter-insurgency campaign
11 October 2018
How Nigeria’s attempts to weed out Boko Haram are backfiring
News

Oasis amid the drought: Local water systems give Afghans a reason to stay home
11 October 2018
Severe drought has uprooted a quarter million Afghans this year. Could the aid sector and government have done more to prevent mass displacement?
Special Report

How climate change is plunging Senegal’s herders into poverty
10 October 2018
Global warming is more than a buzzword for six million people in the Sahel, who face food shortages and may be at risk of losing...

New health threats emerge for Sulawesi survivors
9 October 2018 News
Sexual violence and war, from Congo to Iraq
8 October 2018 News feature

Analysis

Why Indonesia’s rules on foreign tsunami relief are rattling the aid sector
16 October 2018
Foreign aid groups must now take the back seat in Indonesia disaster response. International responders are scrambling to adjust, as the humanitarian sector rethinks how...
Analysis

Famine and the machine
12 October 2018
The World Bank has big plans to defeat famine. Not everyone’s convinced.
Feature

“Do no digital harm”
17 October 2018
As data and digital tools become standard in humanitarian work, so do concerns over power, access and limiting risks
Feature

How best to save the Dead Sea?
14 September 2009
Jordan's plan to save the shrinking Dead Sea by channelling more water to it from the Red Sea could have a detrimental environmental impact, environmentalists...
Feature

WTF? A guide to disaster aid acronyms
3 October 2018
Your handy navigation tool for disaster alphabet soup (updated October 2018)
Analysis

Ten humanitarian stories to look out for in 2017
2 January 2017
IRIN’s tip sheet on the issues that will have an impact in the new year
Interview

Um Muhammad al-Daraj, Iraq, “I had to forget my honour to save my husband’s life”
2 August 2007
Mother of three Um Muhammad al-Daraj, 35, recently went through a traumatic ordeal to try to save her husband’s life. She told IRIN her husband...
Feature

Abuses and disappearances mar Nigerian counter-insurgency campaign
11 October 2018
How Nigeria’s attempts to weed out Boko Haram are backfiring

"(Western) humanitarianism has reached its historical limits and is now on the cusp of retreat"

The crisis of multilateralism and the future of humanitarian action

In Depth
From the ground up: Inside the push to reshape local aid
In a Nigerian migration hub, a local group swaps work skills for European dreams
3 October 2018 News feature

In the Caribbean, local aid helps tackle a surge in Venezuelan asylum seekers
1 October 2018 News feature

Local aid groups want more of a say in the Rohingya refugee response
18 September 2018 News feature

Solutions and Innovations

News feature

In a Nigerian migration hub, a local group swaps work skills for European dreams
3 October 2018
Business or tailoring know-how allows Nigerians to build better lives at home, without crossing harsh deserts and unpredictable seas
Photo feature

HAS VIDEO

3D printing offers new hope for war-wounded
29 August 2018
Lightweight and custom-made 3D options mean the replacement arm may never be the same again – but what’s next?
Feature

Returning from Libyan detention, young Gambians try to change the migration exodus mindset
16 August 2018
Youth groups are using radio shows, social media, events, even hit singles to try to turn a long-running tide

Aid and Policy

News

Tsunami aid, Spanish surge, and sexual violence in war
5 October 2018
Stay in the loop on humanitarian issues
News

Toilets and tents: A week after Indonesia’s tsunami, survivors still need basic aid
4 October 2018
Local volunteers are reaching remote villages in Sulawesi, but the official response lags behind and relief supplies are slow to arrive
News

US and UK halt key Syria aid shipments over extremist “taxes”
2 October 2018
Hundreds of thousands of civilians require humanitarian assistance in Idlib, the last rebel pocket in northwestern Syria

Migration

Special Report

An open secret: Refugee pushbacks across the Turkey-Greece border
8 October 2018
Rights groups say the shadowy practice violates international law and that the fate of those who are thwarted is largely unknown.
Photo feature

“If the water finishes, we will leave”: Drought is forcing hundreds of thousands of Afghans from their homes
4 October 2018
Barren fields, rising debt, and desperate measures: What daily life looks like in the drought-stricken provinces of Herat and Badghis
News feature

In the Caribbean, local aid helps tackle a surge in Venezuelan asylum seekers
1 October 2018
As 100,000 Venezuelans flee to unprepared Caribbean nations, a local aid group in Trinidad & Tobago plays a critical role helping newcomers

Environment and Disasters

News

Indonesia tsunami: Aid briefing
1 October 2018
Aid roadblocks, early warning, and rising casualties: Relief efforts struggle to reach hard-hit areas after the Central Sulawesi tsunami
News

Tripoli clashes, dying with dignity, and AI for good
28 September 2018
Stay in the loop on humanitarian issues
News

UN challenges, Myanmar crimes, and banker bonuses
21 September 2018
Stay in the loop on humanitarian issues

Conflict

News feature

A vote without a say: Cameroon’s displaced anglophones wait for peace to return
5 October 2018
As Cameroon votes, fighting is escalating in the anglophone regions and those displaced bear the brunt of a worsening humanitarian situation
Analysis

After Russia-Turkey deal, the fate of Syria’s Idlib hangs in the balance
2 October 2018
A buffer zone is supposed to prevent a bloody battle in Syria’s last rebel-held province, but are Assad’s forces and rebel factions on side?
Opinion

No child soldiers: The next steps in Central African Republic
25 September 2018
Local efforts may be the key to ending the use of child soldiers in Central African Republic, but volunteers and workers need support

Food

News

Mali peace wreckers, messy food aid, and well-meaning celebrities
31 August 2018
A weekly read to keep you in the loop on humanitarian issues
News

Zimbabwe ruling party accused of using food aid to buy votes
24 July 2018
The days of buying votes with rice are supposed to be over. But it seems not everyone got the memo
News feature

“The conflict must end”: Fighting threatens to drive up hunger in South Sudan’s lean season
2 July 2018
The combination of continued conflict, heavy rains, and limited access to food could prove deadly

Health

News

Iraq’s new blues, Lake Chad’s daily perils, and that G-word
7 September 2018
A weekly read to keep you in the loop on humanitarian issues
Interview

Q&A: Congo Ebola outbreak at critical juncture, says top WHO official
31 August 2018
What keeps responders up at night?
News feature

Congo becomes a testing ground for experimental drugs as it fights off Ebola in a warzone
24 August 2018
As the country’s latest outbreak spreads, drug companies find a rare opportunity

Human Rights

Opinion

First Person: Want to thwart human traffickers? Just add water
10 September 2018
Two girls displaced by Boko Haram went to fetch water and nearly became trafficking victims. Their close call inspired a move that may save other...
News

UN experts signal possible war crimes in Yemen
28 August 2018
The report points at high civilian casualties from airstrikes but also says sea and air restrictions may violate international humanitarian law
News

Genocide, hate speech, and the Rohingya: Key takeaways from UN probe on Myanmar
27 August 2018
In addition to calling out alleged military crimes, the fact-finding mission also says UN actions in the country require further examination