Humanitarianism & War Project

	\|\|\|\| Status Report #10: June 15, 1993
	THIS IS ANOTHER in our series of reports designed to keep our network of contributors and others in touch with our activities. Since our network is an extensive one and time for conversations with individuals limited, we encourage you to share with us your comments on our activities and your suggestions for the future.

	CONTENTS:
	Handbook Publication Central America Research Case Study on the Former Yugoslavia Other Research and Publications Resources Provided Future Activities

	HANDBOOK PUBLICATION
	We are pleased to enclose with this Status Report an initial copy of Humanitarian Action in Times of War: A Handbook for Practitioners, the first of three book-length publications by our Project. Copies requested by contributing organizations are being mailed by the publisher this week; additional copies may be obtained from Lynne Rienner Publishers at $8.95, plus handling. Spanish and French language editions are expected to be out later in the year, facilitated by UNICEF's provision of translation services. We hope that you will share your reactions to the Handbook with us and will keep us informed of your use of it in staff training, board discussions, and media outreach.
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	CENTRAL AMERICA RESEARCH
	The team which carried out field research in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala in November, January, and February met in Providence in April to review data and agree on conclusions and recommendations. The team's report is in the final stage of editing. Humanitarian Challenges in Central America: Lessons from Recent Armed Conflicts will be published in the Watson Institute's Occasional Papers series scheduled for late this month. The report is a joint of the Arias Foundation and Humanitarianism and War Project, with special support provided by the Pew Charitable Trusts. It will be the subject of a small consultation in San Jose in November, to which former President Oscar Arias is inviting representatives from the region and from selected humanitarian organizations.
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	CASE STUDY ON THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA
	Initial field research was conducted in March by Larry Minear, who interviewed more than sixty officials in Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia. A second round of interviews is planned for late June, followed by a team visit to the region in September. Interviews are also being conducted in New York, Geneva, Brussels, and Washington. The focus is on the UN's humanitarian activities in the former Yugoslavia, including the interface between the UN's humanitarian organizations on the one hand and UN peace-keeping operations, governments, NGOs, and the ICRC on the other. A joint undertaking of the Refugee Policy Group, the Watson Institute, and the Project itself, the initiative has received special funding from UNHCR and the British government. A report is scheduled for publication by year's end.
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	OTHER RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS
	Also in progress are several other volumes, including an Occasional Paper on the UN Transitional Authority for Cambodia (UNTAC), a training module in the DHA-UNDP series on humanitarian principles and operational dilemmas, and a book entitled Humanitarian Intervention to be published by the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. Our edited volume of collected essays, Humanitarianism across Borders: Sustaining Civilians in Times of War, is scheduled for publication in August. Its Table of Contents is attached. Also attached are two op-eds commenting on the situation in the former Yugoslavia.
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	RESOURCES PROVIDED
	Given the timeliness and popularity of our issues, the Project has received a large number of invitations to attend conferences and other discussions. While we have disciplined ourselves to say "no" wherever possible in order to keep our own research and writing on track, we have given priority to gatherings of persons for whom our data and reflection are particularly relevant and from whom we ourselves, have benefited. During the past three months, such gatherings have included:
	Consultations on coordination of humanitarian assistance in conflicts, co-sponsored by UNDP and the Department of Humanitarian Affairs and attended by UNDP resident coordinators from many of the countries involved in major civil strife; on humanitarian assistance in conflict situations convened by UNICEF, drawing together with senior staff in New York a number of country representatives; and on humanitarian intervention with congressional staff on Capitol Hill.
	Consultations involving headquarters staff of Church World Service, Lutheran World Relief, and the Mennonite Central Committee and at InterAction, the professional association of US NGOs, along with informal discussions at the US Department of Defense.
	Presentations about Humanitarian Efforts at the Crossroads at the US National War College (Washington, DC), the US Army War College (Carlyle, PA) Columbia University School of Journalism, and the Canadian Ministry of Defense. We also made a presentation to UN secretariat staff in New York as part of a Roundtable series on Emerging Global Issues organized by the UN and the Academic Council on the United Nations System.
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	FUTURE ACTIVITIES
	Thomas G. Weiss will make a presentation in June in Oslo on the "Obligations and Limits of International Intervention" for a sub-group of the Commission on Global Governance organized by the Norwegian Ministry of Defense. Weiss and Minear will spend the month of July residence at the Rockefeller Center in Bellagio working on the manuscript of Humanitarianism and War: Reducing the Human Cost of Armed Conflict. The Project will join with the InterAfrica Group in sponsoring an invitational consultation in Addis in October reviewing the impacts of the use of military forces on humanitarian and conflict resolution efforts in Somalia.
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