Spotlight: Natural Disasters
Reuters/Romeo Ranoco - People walk on a flooded street in Malabon City, Manila after tropical storm Kalmaegi dumped rains on the Philippines.
Walter Kälin, July 16, 2008
One of the visible impacts of climate change is the increasing numbers of persons displaced by natural disasters. In the course of the past year, more than 400 natural disasters affected over 234 million persons, cost over 16,000 lives, and also displaced millions of people. The existing system is only partially equipeed to deal adequately with this challenge and it is necessary to develop appropriate humanitarian responses both at the normative and operational levels.
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Climate Change, Internal Displacement, Natural Disasters, Human Rights, Migration
Spotlight: Afghanistan
Reuters/Ahman Masood - An Afghan refugee girl watches as her parents wind thread in their mud house in Herat province, west of Kabul.
Monday, June 23, 2008
9:00 AM to 10:30 AM
Washington, DC
The resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan has complicated the displacement crisis in the country, as fighting continues to displace both new groups and IDP and refugee returnees. Finding durable solutions for the displaced will be an essential component of peace-building and post-conflict reconstruction.
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Afghanistan, Asia, Internal Displacement, Central Asia, Migration
Spotlight: Iraq
Reuters/Mohanned Faisal - Palestinian children walk inside a refugee camp near the Iraqi-Syrian border.
Khalid Koser and Daljit Dhaliwal, July 03, 2008
A new United Nations report finds that in the past year the number of refugees worldwide has increased from 9 to 11 million. Khalid Koser discusses the causes behind this increase as well as possible implications if the number of refugees continues to climb.
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Iraq, Migration, Afghanistan, Syria, Middle East
Spotlight: Mozambique
Reuters/Reinhard Krause - People wade through the water in Mozambique where floods destroyed the main road from Maputo to the north.
Mozambique is a disaster-prone country, affected by recurrent floods, cyclones and droughts, exacerbating the already high vulnerability of the population. While on a recent visit to Mozambique, RSG Kälin, urged the government to only resort to the relocation of the people living in these areas only if there are no other options and if the relocation is sustainable, which is crucial for protecting their human rights.
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Spotlight: Bosnia
Reuters/Damir Sagolj - A Bosnian man walks through a refugee camp built between a coal mine and its waste heap near Banovici.
Although most of those displaced by the war in Bosnia have been able to rebuild their lives, a large number still live in displacement and returnee sites in miserable conditions, with insufficient assistance, and with hardly any hope for the future. On his recent mission to Bosnia, RSG Kälin welcomed the government's plan to revise its strategy for resolving forced displacement issues and saw it as an "opportunity to make sure that no one...will be left alone, and that those who have returned will be able to stay, rebuild their homes and reintegrate into society."
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