There is increased acknowledgment in the development community of the links between food insecurity and HIV, and the corresponding need to integrate food and nutritional support into a comprehensive response to the epidemic. In areas of high HIV prevalence, many food assistance agencies have recognized the need to adjust conventional food assistance interventions to respond to vulnerabilities related to HIV's impact on individuals, households and communities.

Efforts to effectively respond to food insecurity and HIV are hindered by the lack of both documented, sector-based

"Determing the Best Interests of Unaccompanied and Separated Children: Lessons from Guinea" provides some practical recommendations for the establishment and implementation of Best Interest Determinations (BID) mechanisms for separated children, based on the BID process in Guinea for Sierra Leonean separated children.

In most refugee situations the majority of separated and unaccompanied children are reunified with their families. However, a number of children always remain for whom tracing is unsuccessful

During the last three months the world, once again, has been heavily affected by major natural disasters. The exceptional floods, particularly devastating fires and hurricanes in July and August are still fresh in our minds.

Since EM-DAT is not a day-to-day database and the process of data validation and quality control remains lengthy, we would like to remind you that the 2007 first semester figures presented in this issue only represent a first outline which is subject to change in the future.

The 2007 first semester figures show

Of the many countries hit by the tsunami in the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka was also one of the worst affected. Forty-thousand people were killed, many were severely injured, and approximately one in every thirty Sri Lankans lost their homes. After the tsunami, mental health needs in Sri Lanka increased due to: a) exposure to extreme stressors and b) increased poverty. Exposure to extreme stressors and increased poverty after mass disasters are risk factors for social and mental health problems, including common mental health disorders. WHO predicts that 5-10% of people

Disaster is unnatural and risk reduction measures diminish the odds of it occurring by doing everything possible before the event to protect life, limit damage and strengthen a vulnerable community's ability to bounce back quickly from adversity. The solutions may lie in simple things like educating children on what to do in emergencies, or planting trees on unstable hillsides to stop those releasing landslides. The more complex include early warning systems, coastal protection, earthquake-safe construction and urban planning.

Whatever they are, thousands of lives

The number of disasters and the scale of their impacts continue to grow, driven largely by the increasing vulnerability to natural hazards, but also by the effects of climate change, threatening the lives and livelihoods of ever more millions of people and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. There is growing urgency to increase efforts to implement the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters. The world is not on track to achieve the aim of a substantive reduction in disaster losses by 2015.

This real-time evaluation (RTE) report is one in a series which seeks to analyze and assess UNHCR's initial experience in the implementation of the Cluster Approach, with the aim of identifying lessons learned and effective practices which may be drawn upon as that approach is rolled out to other ongoing humanitarian emergencies. The evaluation process also provided an early opportunity to review field operations in the light of the IDP Policy Framework referred to above, together with UNHCR's policy paper on "The Protection of IDPs and the Role of UNHCR",

The year 2006/7 has been one of consolidation for the Feinstein International Center after major changes were implemented in the preceding year.

Our partnerships with African universities and research groups continue, as do those with western aid agencies. We have started a new partnership with Transparency International on a research program into the prevalence and effects of corruption in the humanitarian aid business.

Throughout the year, Center faculty have been sought out by UN agencies, NGOs, and government aid departments

The aim of this report is to consider how the issue of internal displacement can best be integrated into peace processes, peace agreements and peace-building.

Internally displaced persons have rights grounded in international human rights law and international humanitarian law; and states in post-conflict situations have an obligation to protect those rights.

Resolving displacement is inextricably linked with achieving peace, especially where the scale of displacement is significant. Helping displaced populations to return and reintegrate