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Status
Report #19: July 14, 1995.
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THIS
IS ANOTHER
in our series of reports designed to keep the stakeholders of the Humanitarianism
and War Project and its increasingly wide circle of users current on our
work. This report covers the period since April 14 1995.
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CONTENTS:
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 Recent
Activities
Work
in Progress
New
Developments
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RECENT
ACTIVITIES
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On May 18, the Project and the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs co-sponsored
a meeting in New York on the subject, "Whither Rwanda?" Chaired by Under-Secretary-General
Peter Hansen and Project co-director Thomas Weiss, the gathering brought
together a small group of outside experts and UN officials to review a background
document prepared by Antonio Donini and Peter Uvin from Brown University.
The group explored the cultural, economic, political, and conceptual difficulties
in moving beyond the present emergency. The Project has communicated its
willingness to cooperate on future activities with DHA. |
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Project
co-directors Larry Minear and Thomas Weiss have participated in a number
of international meetings and conferences in recent months. For Minear these
included a week long conference on "Humanitarian Assistance and Peace Operations"
at Camp Pendleton, California in April, where a diverse group of several
hundred civilian and military UN and US government officials and humanitarian
aid personnel explored the roles of the military in humanitarian activities.
In early June Minear made a presentation on "New Opportunities and Dilemmas
for Independent Agencies" at the 75th anniversary conference of the Mennonite
Central Committee in Waterloo, Ontario. |
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Weiss attended a conference
in mid-April on "Learning from Operation Restore Hope: Somalia Revisited,"
sponsored by the Program in African Studies at Princeton University. His
presentation was entitled "Finding Hope in Humanitarian Intervention:
Opportunities in the Post-Cold War Period." In July he participated in
a conference in Washington, DC organized by Science Applications International
on behalf of the US Secretary of Defense. The topic was a draft conceptual
framework for weapons control and disarmament activities performed in
the context of UN peace operations.
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WORK
IN PROGRESS
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Activities
are proceeding on a number of fronts. The manuscript by Minear and consultant
Philippe Guillot for publication by the OECD is nearing completion. Its
working title is now Soldiers to the Rescue: Humanitarian Lessons from Rwanda.
Under the leadership of consultant Colin Scott, a draft manuscript entitled
The Media and Humanitarian Action: A Practical Guide is also being finalized.
The text will serve as the basis for workshops in Geneva and Washington
in October prior to revision toward year's end and publication next spring.
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Two publications in
the Watson Institute Occasional Paper series are also nearing completion.
Armed Conflicts in Georgia: A Case Study in Humanitarian Action and Peacekeeping,
authored by S. Neil MacFarlane with assistance from team members Larry
Minear and Stephen D. Shenfield, will be available in the fall. Soon thereafter
will follow a review by Antonio Donini, UN Coordination in Complex Emergencies:
Lessons from Afghanistan, Mozambique, and Rwanda.
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NEW
DEVELOPMENTS
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We
are pleased to announce a number of new participants in the Project. The
Australian Agency for International Development (AUSAID) is now a contributor,
bringing to five the number of governments supporting our work. The American
Red Cross Office of International Services has also indicated support. The
Nordic Red Cross Societies have also confirmed their intention to participate.
The Mennonite Central Committee, a contributor to Phase I of the Project,
has made a contribution to Phase II as well. This brings the number of participants
in Phase II of our activities to thirty-two and in the Project since its
inception to forty-one. |
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We
are also pleased to note what we hope will become a new collaborative undertaking
reviewing the impacts of economic sanctions on civilian populations and
humanitarian organizations. The research, under the umbrella of the Fourth
Freedom Forum, involves collaboration between the Project and the Joan B.
Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre
Dame. It is anticipated that activities carried out over a 28-month period
will begin in September 1995. They may involve field studies on the impacts
of sanctions, workshops among UN and government officials and NGOs, an international
conference, and a series of publications, including a set of recommendations
for changes in current sanctions policy and practice. Funds are being sought
from several foundations for this initiative; the availability of resources
will determine our level of involvement and the extent of the activities
undertaken. |
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We would also like
to pass on the Project's new e-mail address, which is H&WProject@brown.edu.
Project Director may still be contacted directly via e-mail at Larry_Minear@brown.edu
(telephone 401-863-2728).
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