Despite political progress in Iraq, sectarian violence continues to claim new victims. While the eyes of the world have been on the conflict, its humanitarian consequences have largely been ignored. For quite some time now, we have witnessed an exodus…
Iraq’s neighbours are refusing entry and imposing onerous new passport and visa requirements for Iraqi nationals. Saudi Arabia is building a $7bn high-tech barrier on its border to keep Iraqis out. Kuwait is equally categorical in its rejection of Iraqis.…
Evidence gathered by the NGO Coordination Committee in Iraq[1]– a network of about 80 international and 200 Iraqi NGOs – shows that Iraq – once the Middle East’s most developed country – today has benchmarks and indicators normally associated with…
Alarmed about the worsening humanitarian situation resulting from the continued conflict and sectarian violence inside Iraq, in early 2007 UNHCR undertook a series of consultations with the United Nations Secretary-General, the Iraqi authorities and a number of interested States, to…
The UN Country Team and NGO humanitarian assistance to Iraq has so far averted a full-scale breakdown in basic social services. Major disease outbreaks have been avoided and health and education campaigns are being delivered to millions of citizens in…
This comment by a young Iraqi artist to a friend in Baghdad last summer captures the essence of the painful paradox that grips Iraqi society nearly four years after the 2003 invasion triggered a colossal upheaval. On the one hand,…
"One problem," he continued, "is institutional. Humanitarian agencies do not often publish discussions of their work. They release lists of, and sometimes accounts of, the assistance they have given, but rarely offer real analysis… As a result, mistakes are repeated…
This article is based on analysis of recent evaluation reports and consultation with evaluators and agency staff. It indicates that although many agencies have prepared best practice evaluation guidelines their use has not yet become common practice. This article is…
Drawing upon experience gained from community-based research in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Liberia, it challenges the conventional academic argument that insecurity makes it impossible to secure valid data and that serious research has therefore to wait until the fighting stops.…
Phenomenology is concerned with the study of lived experiences, an endeavour to gain a deeper understanding of the nature or meaning of everyday experiences through first-hand experience of the people being studied. When I decided to go to live in…