Seeking safety in the city

LONDON, 21 May 2013 (IRIN Global) - Every year, hundreds of thousands of people are forced from their homes by violence or natural disasters. But the face of displacement is changing: While the popular view of displacement is one of sprawling rural camps, displaced people are now just as likely to be living in urban areas, often hidden from view. full report

Report calls for radical reforms to reduce inequality

NAIROBI, 21 May 2013 (IRIN Africa) - The hunger afflicting millions of people in the world’s poorest regions will not end unless there is radical shift in governance and development work toward narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor, says a new report by the aid agency Oxfam. full report

The making of the Hyogo2 disaster prevention framework

JOHANNESBURG, 17 May 2013 (IRIN Global) - A month after the Indian Ocean tsunami struck in December 2004, affecting millions, 168 countries signed on to a 10-year plan to make the world safer from natural hazards. Yet the plan, the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) 2005-2015, focused primarily on “what to do to prevent disasters, but not enough on how to implement it,” says Neil McFarlane, chief coordinator and head of all regional programmes at the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR). full report

Humanitarian intervention in violence-hit slums - from whether to how

RIO DE JANEIRO, 15 May 2013 (IRIN Global) - In a move that experts say could open the door to a more robust aid response to chronic violence in urban areas, the European Commission’s humanitarian aid arm, ECHO, has approved 2 million euro in funding for interventions in cases of violence outside of conventional war in Central America and Mexico until the end of 2014. If large-scale aid work in so-called 'other situations of violence' is the way of the future, there are certain things humanitarian workers will have to keep in mind. full report

The price of fear

RIO DE JANEIRO, 15 May 2013 (IRIN Global) - In slums where killings, rape, kidnappings and other criminal violence are commonplace, say researchers, lives and livelihoods are hampered by a force that is tough to measure: Fear. full report

Tracking vaccine scares

LONDON, 14 May 2013 (IRIN Global) - Vaccine scares have emerged as a major challenge to global efforts to eliminate preventable diseases, with rumours and conspiracy theories proliferating faster than health authorities can respond to them. Now researchers, led by Heidi Larson of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, are developing a tool to identify the first signs of these negative reports. full report

Analysis: Helping local aid workers build meaningful careers

DAKAR, 13 May 2013 (IRIN Global) - There has been much talk of decentralizing the northern-centric humanitarian aid sector to give more power to southern staff, but how much has changed over recent years? full report

Marshalling smartphones, gravediggers to fight dengue in Pakistan

LAHORE, 10 May 2013 (IRIN Asia) - On the frontline in the fight against dengue fever in Lahore, Pakistan’s second largest city, the authorities have a sharp eye for spare car tyres. full report

Briefing: The UN’s integrated mission in Somalia

NAIROBI, 10 May 2013 (IRIN Africa) - Following the unanimous adoption of a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution setting up an integrated mission in Somalia, the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) will be set up for an initial one-year period beginning on 3 June; it will be based in the capital Mogadishu. full report