Strengthening the third pillar
Two key components of the HC pillar of reform – the HC pool and improving the appointment process of HCs – need to be moved forward by the UN, and particularly by OCHA under the leadership of the Emergency Relief…
Humanitarian reform: a view from CAR
The intensity of the debate around humanitarian reform is heartening. It is good to know that the challenges that we face in the field on a daily basis – such as scarce or belated funding and gaps in the humanitarian…
Humanitarian reform: saving and protecting lives in DRC
A few weeks ago, a fresh outbreak of fighting brought me back to the Congolese Province of North Kivu. This lush area is home to fertile agricultural land, vast reserves of gold and the famed mountain gorillas. It also harbours…
Assessing the impact of humanitarian reform in DRC
The original version of article draws on observations from more than 60 meetings and interviews in Kinshasa, North Kivu and Ituri in late 2006 with donors, international and local NGOs, the UN Mission in DRC (MONUC)[1], other UN agencies and…
Migration and trafficking: putting human rights into action
Human trafficking – the modern day slave trade in women, children and men – occurs around the world but the limited data available shows south-east Asia to be a particular hub. Within this region, Myanmar is a key country of…
Asia’s new boat people
On 25 November 2007, a trawler and two ferry boats carrying some 240 Rohingyas being smuggled to Malaysia sank in the Bay of Bengal. About 80 survived; the rest drowned. A week later, another boat sank, allegedly fired at by…
Myanmar’s forgotten people
The Rohingyas have a history which dates back to the beginning of 7th century when Arab Muslim traders settled in Arakan. They were recognised as an indigenous ethnic group by the U Nu government during the parliamentary era in the…
Difficult to remain: the impact of mass resettlement
“Chuwa ma yeh, ga ma ye” is an expression in the Karenni language that translates roughly as “between a rock and a hard place” or, more accurately, “difficult to move forward, difficult to go back.” The phrase aptly characterises the…
Karen voices on resettlement
In 2005 the Royal Thai Government eased restrictions and allowed resettlement from the camps on the Thai-Burmese border to countries in the west. The impact of resettlement in the camps has been of great concern to the Karen Women’s Organisation…
Educational change in a protracted refugee context
Throughout this time, political uncertainties, protracted and constant refugee flows, and a changing policy environment have affected refugees’ access to education, the quality and relevance of the education they receive and their ability to use the skills and knowledge acquired…