Humanitarian Affairs

On Topic

The purpose of humanitarian assistance is to save lives, alleviate suffering and maintain human dignity in response to man-made crises and natural disasters. Brookings experts discuss how to best deliver assistance through an increasingly complex system of NGOs, international organizations, governments and individuals.

Debris lies piled up near a railroad destroyed by Typhoon Rusa in Samcheok, about 200 km (124 miles) east of Seoul (REUTERS/Kim Kyung-hoon).

Opinion | Brookings Northeast Asia Commentary

Counter-Terrorism and Emergency Management: Keeping a Proper Balance

May 2013, Jibum Chung

Jibum Chung analyzes some of the tensions that often lead governments to emphasize civil defense against relatively rare and small-scale events over civil protection against more common and more destructive natural and man-made disasters. He offers suggestions for strengthening the decision-making process and maintaining an appropriate balance between civil defense and civil protection.

Recent Activity

Refine by: Internal Displacement | Human Rights | International Affairs | Natural Disasters

Interview | Voice of Russia

Will reports of chemical weapons spur global action on Syria?

May 2, 2013, Salman Shaikh
Interview | NPR

Syria, Chemical Weapons, And The Intervention Question

April 29, 2013, Shadi Hamid
Expert Q & A | Elizabeth Ferris and Megan Bradley

Syria's Humanitarian Crisis Has No End in Sight

April 25, 2013, Elizabeth Ferris, Megan Bradley and Shelly Pitterman
In the News

Perhaps three million people, 10 percent of Iraq's population, remain displaced - and forgotten.
April 23, 2013, Elizabeth Ferris, IRIN
In the News

There are unclear mandates for [aid] agencies to respond to cross-border displacement, since no NGO or agency has responsibility for overseeing people displaced by natural disasters.
April 17, 2013, Walter Kälin, IRIN
Interview | NPR

The Fear That Drives Russia's Support For Syria's Assad

March 27, 2013, Fiona Hill
In the News

It’s never easy to predict change in a society. Just remember the fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the changes in Arab countries ― they were hardly foreseen. Continuing to chip away at the Kim regime and working to penetrate the information wall around North Korea could in time lead to change.
February 26, 2013, Roberta Cohen, The Korea Herald
In the News

[U.S. support for a U.N. inquiry into human rights abuses in North Korea could prompt other nations] especially those on the fence, to come forward in support of the initiative.
February 20, 2013, Roberta Cohen, Washington Post
In the News

The rioting in Ismayilli -- as the rioting in Guba last year -- is an indication of popular concern about continuing human rights abuses and corruption in Azerbaijan… It is similar to incidents in China where local abuses and corruption have led to similar riots.
January 26, 2013, Richard D. Kauzlarich, Contact.az
Podcast

@ Brookings Podcast: Syria’s Escalating Humanitarian Crisis

January 25, 2013, Elizabeth Ferris