Humanitarianism & War Project

	\|\|\|\| Status Report #9: March 1, 1993
	THE LAST FEW MONTHS since our progress report of early December have been busy ones for the international humanitarian community and the Humanitarianism and War Project alike. The period has witnessed both the best and the worst in the world's efforts to deal effectively with the urgent needs of vulnerable civilian populations. On the positive side of the ledger, the international community authorized Operation Restore Hope in Somalia and a rallied around the first organized repatriation to Guatemala of the indigenous peoples who had fled into Mexico to escape the violence of the 1980s. On the negative side was the worsening plight of civilians in Bosnia, the outbreak of fresh fighting between Croatia and Serbia, the return of civil war to Angola, and the serious challenges to the peace process in Cambodia.
	The Project continues to conduct field interviews to assess what works and does not in war zones. Larry Minear joined John Mackinlay and Jarat Chopra of the Watson Institute in a mission to Cambodia in November, where military, civil, and humanitarian activities intersect in what represents the UN's most ambitious undertaking in the post-Cold War era. While events have taken a decided turn for the worse in the interim, the findings of the team should still help to clarify the issues at stake. The mission was undertaken in collaboration with the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, which has published a short white paper for the Norwegian government. A more extensive version will be published in March as a Watson Institute Occasional paper, United Nations Authority in Cambodia.
	Intensive field work has also been completed in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala for our regional case study of humanitarian issues. Two regional specialists working on this effort–Cristina Eguizabal from the University of Costa Rica and Peter Sollis, formerly of OXFAM–were joined by project co-directors Larry Minear and Thomas G. Weiss, as well as David Lewis from the Watson Institute. Some 150 persons were interviewed. They represent the widest possible spectrum of actors, including not only staff from external agencies, but also representatives of governments, the military, the former armed opposition, and people's organizations. A cooperative undertaking with the Arias Foundation, the case study will be discussed at a conference in San Jose to be organized by the Foundation later this year. The English version of the report, Humanitarian Challenges in Central America: Learning from Recent Armed Conflicts, is scheduled to be published by the Watson Institute in May; the Spanish-language version will be published by the Arias Foundation in August. The research and the report have been made possible by a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts.
	The planning for field work in former Yugoslavia continues for an exploratory mission by Larry Minear in March. Following his visit to the area, a follow-up mission by a team of researchers will be launched later this year. The focus throughout will be on the work of UN humanitarian organizations and their interface with other institutions: military (UNPROFOR), political (the Security Council, the European Community, and governments), and private humanitarian agencies (NGOs and the ICRC).
	The Project continues to serve as a resource for other similar undertaking on humanitarian issues. Larry Minear and Thomas Weiss participated in an on-going study group of the Council on Foreign Relations on Collective Involvement in Internal Conflicts. Minear met with a visiting team of Dutch officials seeking to review and clarify the policies of the government of the Netherlands towards emergencies. Weiss, who is also the Executive Director of the Academic Council on the United Nations System, organized with Japanese counterparts a January workshop in Tokyo on "strengthening the United Nations for Peace and Environment." The Project's co-directors have also been working with staff at Brown University's World Hunger Program to plan the annual April Conference at which an award will be made this year to the International Committee of the Red Cross acknowledging its efforts in Somalia, former Yugoslavia, and elsewhere.
	On the publication front, we are very pleased that the final version of Humanitarian Action in Times of War: A Handbook for Practitioners is now at the printer's. Multiple copies will be mailed to the Project's sponsors and other interested observers after publication in May. The volume will be available from Lynne Rienner Publishers (Boulder, Colorado) at a cost of $8.95. We are very pleased that the cost of the paperback remains affordable as the result of a subsidy provided by a new Project sponsor, the International Center for Human Rights and Democratic Development in Montreal, Canada.
	Also moving forward nicely is our next major publication, Humanitarianism Across Borders: Sustaining Civilians in Times of War. Following a conference of authors and others held in Providence in early December, revised chapters are now being edited by the Project's co-directors, who are also preparing an analytical commentary. This finished volume should be available from Lynne Rienner in autumn of this year, for which the table of contents is appended.
	In response to several inquiries, a list of publications is attached, along with reprints of three recent articles: "Groping and Coping in the Gulf Crisis: Discerning the Shape of a New Humanitarian Order," by Larry Minear and Thomas G. Weiss, World Policy Journal (Fall/Winter 1992-1993); "New Challenges for UN Military Operations: Implementing an Agenda for Peace," by Thomas G. Weiss and Jarat Chopra, The Christian Science Monitor, 2 February 1993.
	We are pleased with the response to our publications to date. Making use of first-hand field research and framing recommendations for practitioners and their agencies, our products have also been well received by policy makers. In Guatemala, we discovered that the January issue of Reencuentro–the monthly publication of the Guatemalan Coordinating Committee of NGOs and Cooperatives working with refugees and internally displaced persons–reprinted, interpreted, and endorsed our "Providence Principles."
	The Rockefeller Foundation has kindly awarded resident fellowships at Bellagio, Italy to Larry Minear and Thomas G. Weiss for the month of July. We intend to make use of the time and support to work on the first draft of a book for a non-technical readership interpreting some of the findings of the Project, Humanitarianism and War: Reducing the Human Cost of Armed Conflict.
	Payment of outstanding pledges to the Project would be welcome. Organizations which are interested in making a contribution for 1993-1994 period, are encouraged to do so.
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