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Lives on Hold: The Human Cost of Statelessness

This report highlights the difficulties faced by an estimated 11 million individuals worldwide who have no citizenship or effective nationality. The report includes the following sections:

- Nationality: a fundamental human right
- No right to reside: conditions that create statelessness
- No country to call home: the scope of statelessness
- Whose job is it anyway? UNHCR's second mandate
- "Citizen, third class": findings from RI's statelessness project
- Conclusion and recommendations.

Documenting the human costs of the problem
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Cash and vouchers in emergencies: a Discussion Paper from the Humanitarian Policy Group

This discussion paper attempts to answer to the following question: when does it make sense to give people cash or vouchers in emergencies, rather than in-kind assistance? To this purpose, it looks at the following issues:

- The impact of recent cash and voucher projects;
- How decisions about whether cash is appropriate in particular contexts are made;
- What the barriers to the adoption of cash-based approaches are.

Based on the growing body of experience with cash- and voucher-based responses, the paper is the first product of an ongoing research project.
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Mental Health and Conflicts: Conceptual Framework and Approaches

Report
World Bank
The paper provides an overview of the Bank's role in conflict and development, and explores the links between poverty, social capital and mental and psychosocial disorders in conflict settings. The premise of the paper is that increased understanding and targeted interventions to deal with mental health can play an important role in effective post-conflict reconciliation and reconstruction. It also argues that there are effective approaches that can be adapted to different conflict settings. The paper presents a conceptual framework based on experiences in and outside the
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Hyogo Framework for Action 2005 - 2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters

This paper is the output of the World Conference on Disaster Reduction (WCDR) 2005. It highlights its objectives, defines the priorities for action from 2005 to 2015, as defined during the conference, and focuses on their future implementation and follow up. The following actions are discussed:

1. Ensure that disaster risk reduction is a national and a local priority with a strong institutional basis for implementation

2. Identify, assess and monitor disaster risks and enhance early warning

3. Use knowledge, innovation and education
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Mind the Gap: Policy Development and Research on Conflict Issue

Report
INCORE
This document seeks to find an answer to this question: to what extent, if any, is research on conflict issues being used in the development of policy? The document examines the relationship between the research and policy worlds and provides a series of tactics that policy oriented researchers can adopt to increase their influence. To this purpose, the following topics are discussed:

- Realities of the policymaker's world
- Why the gap? impediments to interaction and influence
- Tactics for improving research utilisation
- Conclusion: research - policy interaction:
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Gender Guidelines for Mine Action Programmes

These guidelines highlight a range of gender considerations that should be taken into account in four of the five main areas, or "pillars", of mine action:

- Mine clearance
- Mine risk education
- Victim assistance
- Advocacy.

While the fifth pillar, stockpile destruction, might offer opportunities to advance the goal of gender balance, no relevant gender considerations have yet emerged for inclusion in the guidelines.

This document is intended to help UN mine action policy makers and field personnel incorporate gender perspectives
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Support to Internally Displaced Persons - Learning from Evaluations

In May 2003, representatives of four donor organisations, the Danish and Dutch Ministries of Foreign Affairs, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the European Commission Humanitarian Office (ECHO), agreed to undertake a collaborative evaluation process focussing on the theme of support to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). The objective of the process was to 'to draw out key, system-wide lessons and thereby improve the provision of humanitarian assistance and protection to IDPs in the future'.

This synthesis is based on 17 reports
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Putting a Human Face to the Problem of Small Arms Proliferation - Gender Implications for the Effective Implementation of the UN Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its Aspects

This project aims to examine the potential impact that gender issues have on small arms and light weapons (SALW) proliferation generally and specifically in relation to the 2001 UN Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (PoA).

This paper is the first output of the project and is intended to give the reader a general background to the interrelationship between the PoA and gender before going on to provide recommendations on how the PoA can be better implemented by taking into
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The Long Journey Home: An IRIN Web Special on the challenge of refugee return and reintegration

Report
IRIN
In the hearts and minds of uprooted people, the power and mystique of the word 'home' inspire the greatest efforts to return. However, there are times when the reality of home and the initial euphoria of going back sour and turn to frustration as families struggle to reintegrate into societies ravaged by war and social dislocation.

In most cases returnees do not have the choice of becoming refugees again, and for economic and political reasons have to survive and rebuild their lives in their homeland - whatever its condition.

IRIN's new Web Special on Return and
IRIN:

A selection of IRIN reports are posted on ReliefWeb. Find more IRIN news and analysis at http://www.irinnews.org

Une sélection d'articles d'IRIN sont publiés sur ReliefWeb. Trouvez d'autres articles et analyses d'IRIN sur http://www.irinnews.org

This article does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. Refer to the IRIN copyright page for conditions of use.

Cet article ne reflète pas nécessairement les vues des Nations Unies. Voir IRIN droits d'auteur pour les conditions d'utilisation.

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Definition of Emergencies

WFP's existing definition of emergencies dates from 1970 and was last reviewed in 1986. This paper reviews the WFP definition as well as definitions of emergencies used by other humanitarian agencies and donors. It concludes that the definition continues to set the appropriate general framework for WFP's emergency work, with some modifications to reflect changes and trends in the global humanitarian environment.
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Safety and Security of Humanitarian Personnel and Protection of United Nations Personnel (A/RES/59/211)

The General Assembly examined the document, "Safety and Security of Humanitarian Personnel and Protection of United Nations Personnel" which expresses its deep concern at the dangers and security risks faced by humanitarian workers and United Nations staff in the field, as well as the erosion, in many cases, of the respect for international humanitarian law.

It strongly deplores the rising toll of casualties among such personnel in complex humanitarian emergencies and urges all parties involved in armed conflict to respect their international
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US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2004

The Country Reports on Human Rights Practices provide a key framework that the United States and others around the world use in assessing the state of human freedom and in marshalling efforts to advance it. The conscientious compiling of these reports equips the U.S. to more effectively stand against oppression and for human dignity and liberty. These volumes, available in the languages of most of the world's peoples, foster discussion, promote advocacy, permit the measurement of progress, and show where improvements are needed.

This 28th edition of U.S. Country Reports
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Conflict Prevention in Africa: Theoretical Construct or Plan of Action?

The aim of this paper is to critically examine the concept of conflict prevention as a viable means for enhancing peace and security in Africa, in order to suggest meaningful points of engagement for concerned donors and partners. It does so against the background of seemingly ubiquitous conflict potential, and a brief conceptual analysis of conflict prevention and peace-building. This framework is then applied to perceived national capacities for preventing violent conflict; and the regional capacities for conflict prevention that are intrinsic to the emergent
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Hospitalos Seguros - Una Responsabilidad Colectiva - Un Indicator Mundial de Reducción de los Desastres

Cuando se piensa en los desastres ocasionados por las amenazas naturales, lo primero que viene a la mente son sus consecuencias humanas. Las pérdidas físicas y emocionales que causan nos han impulsado a aspirar a un mundo más seguro, por lo que un desastre sigue siendo principalmente un asunto de índole social y sanitaria.

En 1994, la Conferencia Mundial sobre la Reducción de los Desastres Naturales, celebrada en Yokohama (Japón), propició un enfoque más previsor que hace hincapié en la conexión económica entre los desastres y el desarrollo sostenible. En la última Conferencia
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Safe Hospitals: A Collective Responsibility - A Global Measure of Disaster Reduction

Disasters brought about by natural hazards are, first and foremost, thought of in terms of their human consequences. The physical and emotional losses they cause have moved us to aspire for a safer world. A disaster remains primarily a social and health issue.

The 1994 World Conference on Natural Disaster Reduction in Yokohama, Japan prompted a more far-sighted approach, stressing the economic link between disasters and sustainable development. It is now well recognized that disasters do affect the GNP of developing