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The use and abuse of humanitarian principle
19 February 2013
(IRIN
),
Following the 9/11 attacks and the launch of the Global War on Terror, many humanitarian policy wonks spoke of a new era of heightened aid instrumentalization - that is the use of humanitarian action or rhetoric as a tool to pursue political, security, development, economic, or other non-humanitarian goals, which would muddy humanitarian principles and constrain access to those in need.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/97502/The-use-and-abuse-of-humanitarian-principle
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Preparing for urban disasters - challenges and recommendations
10 January 2013
(IRIN
),
Electrical engineers and hazardous waste experts join emergency rosters. Power mapping becomes as important as hazard mapping in emergency prevention and response. #fragilecities shows up as often as #fragilestates in Twitter searches. Humanitarian science fiction? No, welcome to what demographers call the new urban millennium and the challenges, as well as changes, aid groups face responding to emergencies in urban areas.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/97199/Preparing-for-urban-disasters-challenges-and-recommendations
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Urban violence - new territory for aid workers
8 January 2013
(IRIN
),
The gradual expansion by a small number of humanitarian agencies beyond their traditional remits of war and natural disaster towards tackling the consequences of large-scale criminal violence in urban settings raises questions about the legal framework and working methods of such interventions.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/97188/Urban-violence-new-territory-for-aid-workers
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Urban water woes
2 January 2013
(IRIN
),
In Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare (population 3,000,000), a man relieves himself in the dirt next to his tin shack, holding his nose to ward off the stench of a nearby overflowing latrine. In Ramallah (population 300,000) in the occupied Palestinian territory a 14-year-old girl wakes with menstrual cramps - and skips class because her school lacks a washroom where she can clean herself in private. In Bangladesh’s mega-capital (population 12 million), a monsoon-season flash flood leaves thousands with cholera.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/97161/Urban-water-woes
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Analysis: The militarization of hospital beds
20 December 2012
(IRIN
),
Delivering health aid to hotspots including Haiti and Afghanistan has brought together - and at times pitted against one another - humanitarians and militaries in an uneasy but increasingly necessary union.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/97088/Analysis-The-militarization-of-hospital-beds
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DISASTERS: Slow-onset disasters take toll
7 December 2012
(IRIN
),
In southwestern Bangladesh, recent large-scale water-logging - stagnant flood water that fails to recede - threatens agriculture and public health for years to come. It is a crisis in the making, highlighting the risks slow-onset natural disasters pose to poor countries, and how ill-prepared officials are to respond - even with ample early warning.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96989/DISASTERS-Slow-onset-disasters-take-toll
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Analysis: When lack of early warning becomes manslaughter
4 December 2012
(IRIN
),
The recent conviction in Italy of seismologists on manslaughter charges, based on their failure to warn residents about a 2009 earthquake, could have serious repercussions for earthquake preparedness, experts say.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96965/Analysis-When-lack-of-early-warning-becomes-manslaughter
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Analysis: Why dead body management matters
31 October 2012
(IRIN
),
Dead body management is a key element of disaster response: How corpses are dealt with can have a profound impact and long-lasting effect on the mental health of survivors and communities, say experts.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96673/Analysis-Why-dead-body-management-matters
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GLOBAL: Fighting for the rights of child soldiers
17 January 2012
(IRIN
),
At end-November 2011, Somalia and the Central African Republic became the latest countries to commit to end the use of child soldiers – a move seen as “encouraging” by the UN, albeit with the proviso that the situation in both countries remains volatile.
http://www.irinnews.org/In-depth/94657/94/GLOBAL-Fighting-for-the-rights-of-child-soldiers
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FILM: Heroes of HIV: The Prison Educator
1 December 2011
(IRIN
),
The latest chapter in our Heroes of HIV film series follows former prisoner Jean Julux Alusma as he works to increase awareness and understanding of HIV/AIDS among inmates of Haiti’s jails.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/94362/FILM-Heroes-of-HIV-The-Prison-Educator
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FILM: Haiti's Rape Survivors
2 November 2011
(IRIN
),
More than 18 months since the earthquake struck Haiti in January 2010, women and girls living in makeshift camps remain vulnerable to sexual violence.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/94118/FILM-Haiti-s-Rape-Survivors
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GLOBAL: Thai rice policy sows worldwide uncertainty
6 October 2011
(IRIN
),
A new paddy-pledging programme in Thailand that has already pushed up the cost of rice globally will go into effect on 7 October, amid uncertainty and scepticism.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/93899/GLOBAL-Thai-rice-policy-sows-worldwide-uncertainty
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DISASTERS: New risk index helps identify vulnerability
5 September 2011
(IRIN
),
A new disaster risk index launched by the UN University Institute for Environment and Human Security in Bonn could help donors and aid organizations better understand why some countries are more at risk of calamity than others, and shape their responses when disaster strikes.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/93658/DISASTERS-New-risk-index-helps-identify-vulnerability
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HAITI: Political stalemate adds to reconstruction woes
9 August 2011
(IRIN
),
Disaster-scarred Haiti heaved a sigh of relief after emerging relatively unscathed at the beginning of August when tropical storm Emily skirted the capital Port-au-Prince, where more than 600,000 people still live in camps with little protection from the elements.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/93460/HAITI-Political-stalemate-adds-to-reconstruction-woes
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GLOBAL: Stillbirths could be halved
27 April 2011
(IRIN
),
Preventing stillbirths can cost just US$2.32 per mother if governments, the private sector and international institutions adopt a package of 10 health interventions, rather than allowing stillbirths to be an almost invisible problem.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/92590/GLOBAL-Stillbirths-could-be-halved
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GLOBAL-HAITI: Search and rescue standards turn 20
10 January 2011
(IRIN
),
When Mexico City was hit by a magnitude 8.1 earthquake in 1985, disaster response teams searched the same buildings over and over again. During search and rescue efforts for the 1986 El Salvador earthquake, two European rescue teams clashed over the appropriate approach. Twenty years ago, international search and rescue was "very chaotic indeed", said Joe Bishop, an emergency management consultant. "It was a free-for-all, there was no commonality at all... the tools were totally inappropriate for the job, all to the detriment of the affected people."
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/91584/GLOBAL-HAITI-Search-and-rescue-standards-turn-20
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HIV/AIDS: MSM groups hail pill to prevent HIV
24 November 2010
(IRIN
),
Gay rights groups have hailed the results of the first study to show that an antiretroviral (ARV) drug can prevent HIV as an important step in the fight against HIV, but say that in countries that criminalize homosexuality, the breakthrough is unlikely to have a significant impact.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/91180/HIV-AIDS-MSM-groups-hail-pill-to-prevent-HIV
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HAITI: HIV-positive people especially vulnerable to cholera
22 November 2010
(IRIN
),
As the death toll from the cholera epidemic sweeping through Haiti surpasses 1,000, with more than 19,000 confirmed cases, officials say people living with HIV are especially vulnerable.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/91152/HAITI-HIV-positive-people-especially-vulnerable-to-cholera
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HAITI: Combating TB in Port-au-Prince's tent cities
17 November 2010
(IRIN
),
Health workers in Haiti are concerned about the spread of tuberculosis (TB) in the tent cities that have housed more than one million people since the massive earthquake in January.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/91113/HAITI-Combating-TB-in-Port-au-Prince-s-tent-cities
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HAITI: Unarmed in the fight against cholera
4 November 2010
(IRIN
),
A colourful cholera prevention poster in Haiti has images of smiling people getting water from a tap, a man using a sturdy latrine and people walking a sick boy to a health centre. But these vital tools for fighting the infectious bacterial disease are absent in most communities.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/90979/HAITI-Unarmed-in-the-fight-against-cholera
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