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01 Dec 1998

World
Coping with the Humanitarian Impact of Sanctions: An OCHA Perspective

Report
— UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
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With regard to UN efforts to minimise the humanitarian impact of sanctions, this paper reviews the need for new institutional arrangements in the elaboration and implementation of sanctions regimes. For this purpose, the following issues are examined:

- OCHA as intermediary between humanitarian organisations and sanctions authorities
- Institutional arrangements to process information on humanitarian impact of sanctions
- Measures to facilitate the provision of humanitarian relief under sanctions regimes
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs:

To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit http://unocha.org/.

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01 Dec 1998

World
Forced Migration Review No. 3

Report
— Forced Migration Review, University of Oxford
Download PDF (1007.51 KB)
Forced Migration Review provides a forum for the regular exchange of practical experience, information and ideas between researchers, refugees and internally displaced people, and those who work with them. It is published three times a year in English, Spanish and Arabic by Refugee Studies Center/ University of Oxford in association with the Global IDP Project/ Norwegian Refugee Council.

Contents:

What can we do to support children who have been through war?, by Anika Mikus Kos and Sanja Derviskadic-Jovanovic
Environmental programmes with refugees:
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01 Dec 1998

World
Banning Anti-Personnel Mines: The Ottawa Treaty

Report
— ICRC
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The Ottawa treaty is part of the international response to the humanitarian crisis caused by the global proliferation of anti-personnel mines. Millions of these deadly weapons are already contaminating more than 70 countries, creating one of the most serious man-made problems of our time. Their longterm impact upon individuals, communities, and entire societies is startling. Recognizing the seriousness of the problem, countries from all regions of the world voluntarily came together in 1997 and negotiated the Ottawa treaty, an international agreement comprehensively banning the
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01 Dec 1998

World
Partnership with NGOs

Report
— World Food Programme
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WFP, like most United Nations agencies, has a primary mandate to work with governments. However, since its inception, provision for working with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has been included in the "Basic Documents of the Programme." There has been a major increase in partnerships with NGOs in recent years-in part as a consequence of the rise in emergency situations-necessitating that WFP find flexible partners with logistics and funding capacity. WFP has also adopted a policy of enhancing partnership, based on the recognition
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26 Nov 1998

World
FAO: Annual state of food and agriculture report shows worldwide number of hungry people rising slightly

Report
— Food and Agriculture Organization
Press Release 98/69
FAO RELEASES ANNUAL STATE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE REPORT SHOWING WORLDWIDE NUMBER OF HUNGRY PEOPLE RISING SLIGHTLY; WARNS OF SLOWER ECONOMIC GROWTH IN MOST DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Rome, November 26 -- The number of undernourished people in the world has increased since the early 1990s, mainly because there has been little progress in reducing poverty, according to new estimates released today in the annual UN Food and Agriculture Organization report, The State of Food and Agriculture 1998 (SOFA 98). The report notes

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19 Nov 1998

World
UN Security Council Resolution 1208 (1998) on the Situation in Africa: Refugee Camps

Report
— UN Security Council
S/RES/1208 (1998)
19 November 1998

RESOLUTION 1208 (1998) Adopted by the Security Council at its 3945th meeting, on 19 November 1998

The Security Council,

Reaffirming its resolution 1170 (1998) of 28 May 1998,

Reaffirming also the statements of its President of 19 June 1997 (S/PRST/1997/34), 16 September 1998 (S/PRST/1998/28) and 29 September 1998 (S/PRST/1998/30),

Emphasizing that the provision of security to refugees and the maintenance of the civilian and humanitarian character

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17 Nov 1998

World
El-Niño kills almost 22,000 people and runs up huge damage bill: WMO

Report
— Agence France-Presse
GENEVA, Nov 17 (AFP) - El-Niño killed 21,700 people, caused damage of more than 33 billion dollars and set back development in many countries, the World Meteorological Organization said Tuesday.

But while El-Niño ended in May after a year's ferocious activity, La Niña is currently on the rampage.

She has already caused havoc in the form of Hurricane Mitch which destroyed the economies of Honduras and Nicaragua when it swept through central America earlier this month.

El-Niño is caused by a rise of surface water temperatures in the southeast Pacific region, off the coast of South

Agence France-Presse:

©AFP: The information provided in this product is for personal use only. None of it may be reproduced in any form whatsoever without the express permission of Agence France-Presse.

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17 Nov 1998

World
The first intergovernmental meeting of experts reviews the 1997-98 El Niño event

Report
— World Meteorological Organization
Geneva - Tuesday 17 November 98 - The First Intergovernmental Meeting of experts to review the 1997-98 El Niño event, called for by the United Nations' General Assembly, within the framework of the International Decade for International Disasters Reduction (IDNDR), was held in Quayaquil, Ecuador from 9-13 November 1998. Hosted by the Government of Ecuador and co-sponsored by member agencies of the UN Task Force on El Niño and the Permanent Commission for the South Pacific, the meeting was attended by more than 450 delegates from all over the world.
The Declaration of Guayaquil, adopted
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02 Nov 1998

World
Weather experts join forces to combat El Niño and La Niña

Report
— World Meteorological Organization
Geneva, Monday 2 Nov. 1998 - Declining sea-surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific is expected to intensify the "La Niña" extreme weather phenomenon through the end of the year, according to "El Niño Update", a bulletin issued by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) in Geneva today. The bulletin indicated that the developing La Nina condition is consistent with the enhanced hurricane activities in the Atlantic. For the first time this century, on 24 September, four Atlantic hurricanes and eight named storms were active at the same time.
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01 Nov 1998

World
The Gender Dimension of Internal Displacement : Concept Paper and Annotated Bibliography

Report
— Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children
Download PDF (194.96 KB)
Aiming to increase awareness of gender dimensions in policies towards the internally displaced, this paper examines the main issues and rights concerning displaced women and girls. For this purpose, it analyses the following issues:

- Gender approaches of different organisations
- Human rights applicable in the case of displaced women
- Analysis of the different roles of UN agencies and non- governmental organizations
- Annex: Annotated bibliography and the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement

The analysis was compiled to give initial
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01 Nov 1998

World
Humanitarian Coordination: Lessons Learned

Report
— UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
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This document reports on the outcome of a seminar on issues relating to the functions, nature and direction of the humanitarian endeavour in the post Cold War world. Aspects considered include:

- Key issues raised in evaluations of strategic coordination of humanitarian activities
- Policy and operational implications for future international humanitarian response
- Adjustment to lessons learned in crisis settings by the humanitarian community
- Further actions to be undertaken regarding the issues examined

Held in Stockholm in April 1998, the seminar
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs:

To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit http://unocha.org/.

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01 Nov 1998

World
Assessing Aid

Report
— World Bank
This report aims to contribute to a "rethinking of aid" that the international community is engaged in. For this purpose, it provides the following chapters:

- Money matters-In a good policy environment
- Aid can be the midwife of good policies
- Money matters - In a good institutional environment
- Aid can be the midwife of good institutions
- Money, but more ideas, too

The report draws extensively on previous World Bank evaluations and studies and much of the underlying research was presented and discussed at the joint OECF-World Bank symposium, "A
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01 Nov 1998

World
A Synthesis of Evaluations of Peacebuilding Activities Undertaken by Humanitarian Agencies and Conflict Resolution Organisations

Report
— ALNAP
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Aiming to contribute to the debate around possible criteria and the need for conceptual frameworks for assessing peace building interventions, this synthesis report is concerned with the content of peace building interventions by humanitarian agencies and the methodologies employed to evaluate them.

For this purpose, the report pulls together 15 country case studies concerning third party humanitarian agencies and conflict resolution/transformation organisations.
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01 Nov 1998

World
Guidance for the Development of Common UN Ground Rules Based on Agreed Principles

Report
— Inter-Agency Standing Committee
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This Guidance aims to assist UN country teams in the development of common "UN Ground Rules", based on agreed principles, for UN activities in countries in crisis or emerging from conflict. This Guidance has four linked objectives:

- Develop common Ground Rules for UN activities in specific countries
- Facilitate negotiations with national and local authorities
- Facilitate the joint development of strategic plans in the field
- Reconcile differences between UN agencies on mandate and principle
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01 Nov 1998

World
Protection of Children and Adolescents in Complex Emergencies

Report
— UN High Commissioner for Refugees
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This report evaluates the follow-up to the conference in 1998 on the UN Study on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children of August 1996. The following issues are discusses for this purpose:

- Children in captivity
- Importance of the Convention of the Rights of the Child (1989)
- Addressing the causes of armed conflict
- Relevance of international agencies in the field

In addition to the follow-up to the study, the report provides recommendations for future action for all actors concerned, including governments, NGOs and UN agencies.
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01 Nov 1998

World
Humanitarian Exchange Magazine No. 12 - RNN Newsletter

Report
— ODI - Humanitarian Practice Network
Download PDF (362.69 KB)
This issue features articles on the rights and roles of children during and post violent conflict with specific attention being paid to former child soldiers in Liberia and the struggles they face to find an identity. The monitoring of children's rights in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is also covered in this issue where a general review shows economically, socially and politically there is a lack of administrative bodies that can deal with child related issues. This section is completed with an article on the integration of human rights in all sectors of field work.

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