||||  A Brief History of the Humanitarianism and War Project
	THE PASSING OF THE COLD WAR has challenged the world's humanitarian system in many ways. Populations in countries suffering from civil wars have become increasingly accessible to outsiders. Yet international efforts to provide emergency relief and to protect basic human rights are threatened more than ever before by political and military insecurity. In greater demand, humanitarian organizations are also experiencing greater difficulty in carrying out their tasks. ASSISTING IN THE RESPONSE to the heightened challenges, the Humanitarianism and War Project was an independent policy research initiative based at Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies in Providence, Rhode Island, and is now part of the Feinstein International Famine Center at the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. The project is underwritten by funds from practitioners themselves -- United Nations organizations, government aid agencies, and private relief groups -- and by interested foundations. DURING THE YEARS 1990-1996, it conducted more than 3,000 interviews in complex emergencies around the world, producing an array of case studies, handbooks and training materials, books, articles, and op-eds for an audience of practitioners, policy analysts, academics, and the general public. Reviewing conflicts in the Persian Gulf, Central America and the Caribbean, Cambodia, the former Yugoslavia, the Great Lakes region of Africa and the Horn, and the Caucasus, the project analyzed humanitarian activities in their interplay with political and military institutions and formulated practical recommendations. In the years 1991-1994, the Refugee Policy Group of Washington, DC as well as the Watson Institute provided a home base for Project activities. IN 1997, the Project launched a third three-year phase of activities. Building on its work in individual countries, it sought to identify recurring challenges and to formulate effective strategies for meeting them. Its earlier monitoring and analysis of the humanitarian and political impacts of economic sanctions, international military forces, and the media continued. The Project focused, however, on the dynamics of institutional learning and change among humanitarian organizations after the Cold War. BEYOND COLLECTING DATA from practitioners, the Project has sought to engage them with its findings and recommendations. This has taken the form both of debriefings on individual studies and of several ongoing dialogue series with NGOs and donor organizations. Participation by Project staff and consultants in international conferences and agency meetings also facilitates the circulation of its work. AS THE INITIAL POST-COLD WAR EUPHORIA gave way to a more sober view of the difficulties of international humanitarian action, the Project reviewed the operational dilemmas and vexing questions of humanitarian ethics that increasingly preoccupy practitioners. It has sought to identify concrete ways for practitioners to move from reflexive compassion to complex humanitarian action.
	INSTITUTIONS CONTRIBUTING to the project since its inception include the following: 8 governments: Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and United States. 12 intergovernmental organizations: European Commission Humanitarian Office, International Organization for Migration, OECD Development Centre, UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs / Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, UNDP, UNDRO, UNHCR, UNICEF, UN Special Emergency Program for the Horn of Africa, UN University, UN Volunteers, and WFP.  20 nongovernmental organizations: American Red Cross, CARE Canada, Catholic Relief Services, Danish Refugee Council, International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development (Canada), International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, International Orthodox Christian Charities, International Rescue Committee, Lutheran World Federation, Lutheran World Relief, Mennonite Central Committee, Nordic Red Cross Societies (Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish), Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam-UK, Oxfam-US, Save the Children-UK, Save the Children-US, Trócaire, World Vision, and World Vision Canada.  9 foundations: Aga Khan Foundation, Arias Foundation, Ford Foundation, Gilman Foundation, McKnight Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts, Rockefeller Foundation, and U.S. Institute of Peace.
	DURING PHASE FOUR, which began in September 2000 with the move of the Project from Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies to the Feinstein International Famine Center at Tufts University's School of Nutrition Science and Policy, the Project will build on its data and conclusions during Phases 1-3. It will draw together the lessons learned to date and step up its outreach and dissemination activities.
	WE WELCOME YOUR FEEDBACK. Comments, suggestions, recommendations and questions on this Web site should be sent to H&W@tufts.edu. Humanitarianism and War Project Tufts University Feinstein International Famine Center Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy 11 Curtis Avenue Somerville, MA 02144 Phone: 617-627-5953 Fax: 617-627-5952