Humanitarianism & War Project

	\|\|\|\| Status Report #14: May 20, 1994.

	CONTENTS:
	Activities Publications

	ACTIVITIES
	Our last Status Report noted the publication and circulation of our review of the UN’s Response to the Humanitarian Crisis in the Former Yugoslavia, Occasional Paper # 18 of the Watson Institute, published with the Refugee Policy Group. Following briefings on the report by three members of the team in New York and Washington, Larry Minear presented the findings and recommendations at similar sessions in Geneva and Zagreb. The report has won praise for its comprehensiveness and its formulation of the major policy challenges. The major criticism has been its presentation of the issue of protecting human rights and its perceived understatement of the problems of maintaining humanitarian access. Recent developments, confirming problems identified by the team, should give it continuing relevance.
	As we move into Phase 2 of our work (1994-96), we are pushing ahead with activities described in Status Report13. In the area of training, Larry Minear is participating this month in training sessions for UN officials in Nairobi and Madison, Wisconsin, as part of the DHA/UNDP Disaster Management Training Program cycle. He is also working with a group of NGOs which is exploring setting up a multi-year series of training activities to equip staff to deal more effectively with complex emergencies.
	We had planned to hold a consultation on Liberia in West Africa, June 22-23. However, due to political and security problems in the region and at the suggestion of trusted colleagues in the area, the meeting has been postponed until later in the year. In the meantime, the project is finalizing an Occasional Paper on the lessons from the international response to the Liberian civil war, with particular reference to the interface between regional and UN efforts and between humanitarian and military activities. Our work in this area to date has been supported by special grants from UNDP, UNICEF and the British Overseas Development Administration.
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	PUBLICATIONS
	Our major preoccupation has been with our full length book which Westview Press will publish early in 1995. The title is now Mercy Under Fire: War and the Global Humanitarian Community, a change from the working title of last summer at Bellagio. The finished product, which will be an affordably priced paperback volume written with readers from academic and practitioner institutions in mind, draws on our country and regional case studies to illustrate the current workings of the international humanitarian system and to recommend changes for the future. We look forward to sharing copies with you in due course.
	Work is also going forward on a volume entitled The United Nations and Civil Wars, edited by Thomas G. Weiss. The "Table of Contents" is attached for the chapters that dissect the military, civil government, and humanitarian components of the former Yugoslavia, Cambodia, Somalia, and El Salvador. This is scheduled for publication by Lynne Rienner in early 1995.
	We continue our practice of attaching to our Status Report a number of recent publications for your review. We hope you will feel to mention them in agency journals and newsletters.
	In summary, we are pleased with the progress of the project in recent months, thank you for your continuing interest and support, and welcome whatever suggestions you may have on our recent or future efforts.
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