Upcoming Event

Reuters/Khaled Abdullah Ali Al Mahdi - A woman and children displaced by ongoing hostilities in northwestern Yemen are seen in tent in al-Mazraq refugee camp.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
3:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Washington, DC
Every year, humanitarian crises threaten the lives and livelihoods of over 250 million people worldwide. Whether caused by conflict, climate change or the global financial crisis, increasing numbers of people will need humanitarian assistance in the coming years. To increase the quality and effectiveness of their humanitarian assistance, donor governments must make the best use of their resources, knowledge and capabilities to respond to humanitarian challenges. On November 10, the Brookings-Bern Project will host a panel discussion around the Humanitarian Response Index 2009.
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Foreign Aid, Foreign Assistance Reform, Internal Displacement, Human Rights, Natural Disasters
In Focus: African Union

Reuters/Noor Khamis - A woman holds her two children outside her tent in Nakuru's Gicheha farm, west of Nairobi.
Walter Kälin, October 23, 2009
Forced displacement is a devastating experience that often takes years or even decades to recover from. Africa hosts the worlds largest population of internally displaced persons and, as Walter Kälin points out, has taken the initiative to go beyond the existing state of law by creating the first binding international law on internally displaced persons.
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Africa, Internal Displacement, International Organizations, Human Rights, Global Governance
In Focus: Internal Displacement

Reuters/Akhtar Soomro - A boy, who was fleeing a military offensive against Taliban militants in South Waziristan, stands waiting for his family at a registration point for IDPs in Dera Ismail Khan.
Walter Kälin, October 26, 2009
Since 2004 there have been encouraging trends related to internal displacement. Walter Kälin notes that the use of the Guiding Principles as the relevant framework for protecting IDPs and the development of national and regional laws and policies on internal displacement have been positive trends. However, despite such positive trends, the challenges presented by climate change, the disregard for civilian populations in conflict zones, a shrinking humanitarian space, and protracted displacement situations still remain unchanged.
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Internal Displacement, Human Rights, United Nations, Climate Change, Natural Disasters
In Focus: African Union

Reuters/Finbarr O'Reilly - Women walk through the town of Nasir in southeastern Sudan.
"I truly welcome the adoption of the African Union Convention on the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa," the Representative of the Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, Walter Kalin, said today. "It is a tremendous achievement and a beacon of hope for the over 12 million people in Africa internally displaced by conflict and natural disasters."
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In Focus: Africa

Reuters/Zohra Bensemra - A displaced Sudanese girl who just arrived from Muhajirya stands next to her family's belongings in Otash IDP camp in Nyala.
Andrew Solomon, October 23, 2009
Decades of armed conflict, natural disasters and climate change, have given rise to sizable populations of internally displaced persons (IDPs) throughout Africa. On October 23, African heads of state and government signed a legally binding convention on internal displacement, which as Andrew Solomon notes, demonstrates their commitment to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of IDPs, to facilitate durable solutions and to ensure that millions of people are no longer excluded from society as a whole.
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Africa, Internal Displacement, International Organizations, Human Rights, Sudan