ODI: Is cash a feasible alternative to food aid for post-drought relief in Lesotho?

This report summarises the findings from a study undertaken to assess whether or not a cash based response by World Vision to the current drought in Lesotho would be appropriate and feasible, as part of the organisation's overall relief response. This was motivated both by a desire to respondwith the most appropriate and effective resources in Lesotho and to increase the capacity within World Vision more globally to use cash basedresponses as one of a range of options for response in humanitarian crises.

The report concludes that a cash programme would be preferable to an in-kind or voucher based response and would be unlikely to have negative side effects.

Migration

• The UNHCR have published a discussion paper on their strategy for dealing with increasing numbers of mobile people, and
• The Forced Migration Review No. 29 is jam-packed with interesting articles about humanitarian reform and its impact on migration, and asks - Is it fulfilling its promise? The contents list is in the longer post (click the link to read it).
  

Forced Migration Review contents:
- Humanitarian action: a Western-dominated enterprise in need of change by John Holmes
- The Global Humanitarian Platform: opportunity for NGOs? by Elizabeth Ferris
- Challenges of collective humanitarian reponse in Sri Lanka by Firzan Hashim
- Unity in diversity - the One UN, UNHCR, and Rwanda by Tim Maurer
- UNHCR, IDPs and humanitarian reform by Jeff Crisp, Esther Kiragu and Vicky Tennant
- Is humanitarian reform improving IDP protection and assistance? by Anne Davies
- Reform in focus: the IFRC perspective by Robert Mister
- Integration and UN humanitarian reforms by Eric Stobbaerts, Sarah Martin and Katharine Derderian
- Insecure environments: the missing piece? by Matthew Benson
- Iraq: towards a field-focused humanitarian reform by Cedric Turlan
- Strengthening the Humanitarian Coordinator system by Claire Messina
- Neglecting the third pillar by Manisha Thomas
- Humanitarian reform: a view from CAR by Toby Lanzer
- Humanitarian reform: saving and protecting lives in DRC by Ross Mountain
- Assessing the impact of humanitarian reform in DRC by Nick Bennett
- The state of humanitarian funding by Peter Walker and Kevin Pepper
- Worlds apart? Muslim donors and international humanitarianism by Mohammed R Kroessin
- Cluster approach - a vital operational tool by Allan Jury and Giammichele De Maio
- Early recovery from disaster: the Pakistan earthquake by Andrew MacLeod

Climate Change: UNDP and IDS reports

Several things have emerged recently relating to climate change:

• UNDP have warned in a new Human Development report that the world should focus on the development impact of climate change that could bring unprecedented reversals in poverty reduction, nutrition, health and education
• The Institute of Development Studies has produced a set of eight two-page briefing notes on a variety of issues relating to adaptation to climate change
  

Tufts: HA2015 - Sri Lanka country study

Tufts have announced the publication of the latest study in their Humanitarian Agenda 2015 (HA2015) series. This report examines the issues of universality, terrorism, coherence, and security in relation to the humanitarian enterprise in Sri Lanka.

International humanitarian involvement is widely welcomed in Sri Lanka provided assistance arrives, as the Good Samaritan, in a spirit of an unconditional universality that strives to help a country in need. However, in a society already polarized by notions of contested identities — be they spatial, ethnic or political — the humanitarian enterprise is soon sullied by powerful national stakeholders who deploy divergent claims and constructs of international humanitarianism as they compete to advance their own interests and objectives.

The report is available to download from the Tufts website; click on the link below for more information on the conclusions of the report.

Through individual interviews, focus group discussions, and questionnaires, this study analyses the responses from 245 respondents comprising aid workers, aid recipients, non-recipients, and observers of assistance in Colombo and the districts of Galle, Trincomalle, Kandy, and Anuradhapura. The study’s four themes and the shaping of the respondents’ perceptions are framed against descriptions of four key periods: the first conflict period (1983-2001) between the forces of the secessionist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL); the post-ceasefire agreement period (2002-2005); the post-tsunami period (2005-2007); and the overlapping emergence of a second conflict phase (2004-2007).

Universality was found not to be significantly challenged in Sri Lanka. Western involvement, as long as it avoided clashing with local culture and religion, was both welcomed and expected. However, the humanitarian community is widely regarded as a self-serving enterprise. The suspicion that agencies were using humanitarian action to pursue other agendas, especially pro-LTTE leanings, was found to be particularly prevalent. Aid agencies were identified as being ineffective in communicating their mandates. This failure of communication enables local political interests to construct populist interpretations of humanitarianism.

Local political interests relating to the prosecution of the war between the LTTE and the GoSL were found to inform popular perceptions of the relationship between terrorism and international humanitarian involvement. While the GoSL has been influenced by the Global War on Terror in adopting the rhetoric of humanitarian intervention in wresting back territory occupied by the LTTE, the international community has struggled against allegations of internal meddling and support for the LTTE when advocating a return to the peace process and the observance of human rights.

The negative local political construction of the humanitarian enterprise was shown to have hampered the delivery and effectiveness of assistance. It has also endangered the lives of aid workers.

The report concludes that humanitarian engagement in Sri Lanka is likely to become increasingly difficult and dangerous unless international actors become more aware about how they are being politically manipulated and can better communicate their mission to a wider local audience so as to counter the dominant negative view of their motives that has been constructed and repeatedly reinforced in furthering local interests.

IPCC approve 4th Assessment Synthesis Report

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change launched the fourth and final part of their Working Group reports.

This report synthesises the previous three:

• The Physical Science Basis (February 2007)
• Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability (April 2007)
  
• Mitigation of Climate Change (May 2007)

The Summary for Policymakers is available for download from the IPCC website.

Bangladeshi Blogs

In the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Sidr, Bangladeshis at home and abroad are blogging about their experiences and the news coming out of the stricken areas.

From the PassItOn eForum: Mukesh Kapila on HV/AIDS

WAD 2007: The fight against HIV: there are no short-cuts
By Dr Mukesh Kapila
Special Representative of the Secretary General for HIV
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
*********************************************************

In the neighbourhood of Mabopane, a suburb of the South African capital Pretoria, she is known as ‘Auntie Elizabeth’. This 37-year-old woman single-handedly looks after the five children left behind by her sister - who died of AIDS in 2003. One of the children is living with HIV.

Elizabeth is alone in having to care for the five children who would otherwise have been left to fend for themselves. The family is crammed into a garage, for lack of anywhere better to live. However the most painful difficulty is that family lives in isolation, scorned by the neighbours who stop the youngsters from playing with their own children.
They feel it’s ‘too risky’.

Auntie Elizabeth’s situation is by no means unusual - and that’s just the problem. There are thousands of children living without an adult, deprived of all family contact when the extended family is wiped out by AIDS. The older children are often forced to interrupt their studies in order to look after the younger ones. Girls are particularly vulnerable. They are easy prey for those who try to buy their virginity in order to cure themselves of AIDS - or so they mistakenly think. This is what certain charlatans posing as healers have tragically promised them - for a fee.

This is the reality of HIV. Southern Africa, where more than 12 million people are living with HIV - of whom 860,000 are children under the age of 14 - has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic. The number of children orphaned by AIDS in this region alone is expected to double by 2010.

While southern Africa is the hardest hit region, the rest of the African continent is also seriously affected. Very often there are associated serious breaches of basic human rights. This includes violence against women: not only the rape of women and girls in situations of armed conflict but also sexual and gender based violence that is highly prevalent in most domestic and community settings.

But Africa does not have a monopoly on suffering when it comes to HIV. The vulnerability of women and girls can be just as striking in other regions, a reflection of socio-cultural factors as well as the pervasive inequality of the sexes. This is so, even in well-off parts of the world such as in Latin America and the Caribbean where, over past decades, women have become much better educated and economically active, but gender
inequalities persist, and the HIV epidemic has an increasingly feminine face.

The same is true for Asia and Europe - particularly eastern Europe. Ignorance remains one of the driving forces behind infection. Many young people in the former Soviet republics do not perceive HIV as an issue that concerns them. Meanwhile, each day women are giving birth to children who are HIV-positive.

In recent years, progress has been made in making a wider range of anti-retroviral treatments available to those living with HIV. This trend is encouraging but reliable access to treatment is still something of a lottery. Civil society efforts must be combined with those of organizations of people living with HIV to demand that governments provide greater - and more consistent - availability. However, treatment is not the quick fix to the epidemic. Primary prevention needs to be re-energised and the key to this is the greater inclusion of currently stigmatised and marginalised sections of the community.

We must scale-up action on all fronts. Hence, one year ago, we launched the Red Cross Red Crescent Global Alliance on HIV, which aims to double our HIV programming by the end of 2010. Some 50 of our 185 member National Societies have already actively joined up to ‘do more and to do better’ in HIV prevention, treatment. care, and support, and in addressing stigma and discrimination. They are doing this by expanding outreach through our network of members and volunteers in communities, who are thus taking on
practical responsibility and leadership.

A specific example is the Filles Libres - project of the Cameroon Red Cross Society. This targets one of the most vulnerable and stigmatized groups: women who sell sex. Red Cross volunteers make contact with these women - who often take up prostitution as survival livelihood - to encourage them to get themselves tested voluntarily and to protect themselves. They also work with the clients of the sex workers to do the same. This campaign is possible only because our volunteers include a number of women who come
from the same background as the sex workers, speak the same language, understand the problems they face, and get to trust each other. This is essential to break the vicious cycle of infection: unprotected paid sex, infection of the spouse when the ‘client’ returns home, and the transmission of the virus from mother to child.

This example illustrates the daily challenges of HIV work: tackling prejudice and stigma, re-enforcing prevention messages, helping people living and dying with HIV, and not forgetting the factors that underlie personal and societal vulnerability. The point is that there is no substitute for communities having to take charge of their own destinies and shaping their future for the better. This is a long-term task requiring permanent commitment. There are no short-cuts.


By Dr Mukesh Kapila
Special Representative of the Secretary General for HIV
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Summary findings of KZN Integrated HIV/AIDS Project 2006-10, South African Red Cross

· All community interviews acknowledged HIV&AIDs as a problem in their communities; however 26 percent of them reported to be doing nothing on the fight against HIV. None of the communities interviewed in Umzimkulu had mechanisms in place to fight HIV&AIDS as they said that they do not have people trained in the communities to speak about AIDS.

· Stigma and discrimination was a concern in 57 percent of the villages surveyed. Main factors causing stigma and discrimination were lack of education on HIV and its transmission and fear about status disclosure as there not enough support mechanism in place. A total number of 77 stigma and discrimination reports were issued in the 12 months prior to the survey, out of which 44 (57 percent) were followed up and solved with appropriate action.

· Almost all the villages surveyed (86 percent) saw gender-based violence (GBV) as a big problem in their communities. Fuelled by an increased number of orphans and vulnerable children in the communities with no adequate adult protection, drugs and unemployment, 64 percent of the communities had mechanisms in place to tackle GBV. A total number of 19 gender-based violence cases were reported in the 12 months prior to the survey, out of which, 5 ( 26 percent) of them were followed up and solved with appropriate action.

· Four hundred and thirty-four (434) youth in-school were surveyed. Males were found to be more sexual active than females, however males tended to have partners of the same age contrary to females that tended to have partners on average 3.5 years older than them.

· Big variations on condom use amongst in-school youth with non-regular partners were found among districts. While 53 percent of the respondents had had sex with more than one non-regular partner in the last 12 months, only 40 percent used condom at last non-regular sex. Pietermaritzburg district, with most of the population surveyed being urban or semi-urban, had over half of the respondents engaged in multi non-regular partner sexual relationships and less than 20 percent used condom.

· Three percent of all the in-school youth interviewed mentioned that Red Cross was supporting their schools with life skills training and HIV&AIDS education campaigns. Comparing the three groups interviewed by the Behaviour Change Survey, in-school youth are the ones receiving less HIV prevention information despite being in school.

· Data indicated that in-school youth engages in sexual practice at a very young age (15.5 years of age), and despite being exposed to HIV prevention very often, comprehensive knowledge about HIV and correct beliefs about AIDS remains very low (23 percent).

· Despite most of the in-school youth having access to confidential Voluntary Counselling and Testing, only 15 percent went for an HIV test. Of those who went for a test (85 percent), 68 percent went back for their results.

· Two hundred and seventy-five (275) out-of-school youth was interviewed. Of the 275, 76 percent received HIV&AIDS prevention information in the 12 months prior to the survey. However, and despite all the information received, knowledge on prevention methods and correct beliefs about AIDS and stigma and discrimination were very low (under 30 percent) for both indicators. Alarming data was found in Zululand where only 10 percent of the males and 7 percent of the females responded correctly to prevention methods and AIDS beliefs questions.

· Forty-two (42) percent of the youth out-of-school have had sex with more than one non-regular partner within the 12 months prior to the survey. Of those, almost half (45 percent) used condom at last non-regular sex.

· Almost 30 percent of the youth out-of-school had an HIV test within the last year, and of those tested, 85 percent received their results.

· The behaviour change questionnaire also targeted 373 between the ages of 20 to 49. Over 70 percent had had sexual intercourse, and 54 percent of men and 41 of women had had sex with more than one partner in the 12 months prior to the survey. One-third (33 percent) of those having sex with more than one partner did use condom.

· Information about HIV prevention methods amongst the 20-49 years old group was high in all the communities surveyed. However, only 34 percent reported comprehensive knowledge on HIV prevention methods and correct belief about AIDS.

· Seventy-four percent of the people interviewed had access to Voluntary Counselling and Testing within 12 months, however only 43 percent of them went for an HIV test, and out those 89 percent went back to get their results.

· A total of 742 households were randomly selected and data from 4036 household members was collected. The average household size of those household interviewed was 6.9 people per dwelling. Fourteen percent of the households were headed by people over the age of 65, out of whom 66 were women. Only one child was found to be headed a household. On average households were caring for an average of 3.5 children. More than half of the households surveyed did not have a regular source of income.

· Amongst the 63 percent of the households with members on Anti-retroviral treatment (35 percent) and TB treatment (44 percent), adherence to treatment was found high, with 96 percent on the interviewees being adherent over 90 percent to the ARV treatment and 92 percent of the people on TB taking over 90 percent of the treatment.

· Adult/Client Status Index was completed for 501 people on ART/TB treatment, on HBC programmes or members that have seen seriously ill for the last 3 or more months. Overall CSI rating for adults was 0.711, which falls in the highest category, meaning that no major concerns about the interviewees were found.

· Twenty-one percent of the Adult Status Index interviewees were benefiting from Red Cross at the time the interview was conducted. However external assistance from institutions, government and/or organizations was found very erratic, with only 56 percent of all the interviewees receiving support. Access to health services, provided mainly by the Ministry of Health, was the most extended support, received by 33 percent of the people interviewed. Nursing care was the second most expanded service, with Red Cross catering for more than 69 percent of the people surveyed with counselling and weekly household visits.

· Child Status Index was completed for 679 children, out of whom 422 met the criteria of orphans and vulnerable children. CSI rating OVC/Non-OVC ratio was 1.0, which indicates that OVCs overall wellbeing and status does not differ from Non-OVCs. Out of those children identified as OVCs, 26 percent had lost one parent, 13 percent experienced the death of a household member and 13 percent had at least one parent sick in the 6 months prior to the survey.

· Access to education was granted to 73 percent of the children interviewed as they are enrolled and do attend to school regularly. Difference on attendance was found when comparing OVCs and non-OVCs, with non-OVCs attending more regularly to school (21 percent) than OVCs (16 percent). However this figure differs when data is analysed only for children between the ages of 6 to 17. Data from the CSI indicates that 77 percent of the 6 to 17 years old children do go to school regularly, however OVCs go more (79 percent) than Non-OVCs (73 percent). See Table 11.

· Only 11percent of the Child Status Index interviewees were benefiting from Red Cross at the time the interview was conducted. External assistance from institutions, government and/or organizations was found very erratic, with only 36 percent of the OVCs and 32 percent of the children not receiving any type of assistance in the last 12 months. Livelihood support, provided mainly by the Government consisting mainly on grants, was the most extended support, received by 54 percent of the OVCs. Access to education was the second most expanded service, with Red Cross providing for 42 percent of it.

· In general, people interviewed whether through Behaviour Change or Household Survey, continue to remain in denial about AIDS, even when a close friend or relative is dying from AIDS. AIDS continued to remain stigmatized and there is well-founded fear of rejection from family and friends when you are diagnosed with HIV.

UNOCHA: Updated humanitarian figures for Iraq

- Population: 27.5 million

- Population growth rate: 2.6 percent

- Life expectancy at birth: 69 years

- Adult literacy rate: 74 percent

- GDP – Official exchange rate: US$ 40.66 billion (2006 est.)

- GDP – Real growth rate: 1.9 percent (2006 est.)

- Inflation rate (consumer products): 64.8 percent (2006 est.)

Full report available from Reliefweb.

WATER AND SANITATION

- Access to water is a priority need to almost 22 percent of IDPs in the 15 central and southern governorates in Iraq(2).

- Hygiene and sanitation is considered a priority need by almost 8 percent of IDPs in Iraq(3).

- Only one in three Iraqi children under the age of five has access to safe drinking water, according to UNICEF(4).

- The ongoing humanitarian crisis and increased displacement continue to place enormous pressure on the existing water and sanitation facilities in Iraq, leaving a large segment of the population with no access to water and, whenever access exists, populations are increasingly at risk of water-borne diseases(5).

HEALTH AND NUTRITION

- Access to healthcare is a priority need to almost 13 percent of surveyed IDPs(6).

- 11 percent of IDPs surveyed cannot access health care(7).

- 34 percent of IDPs surveyed can not access the medications they need(8).

- 48 percent of IDPs surveyed had participated in a vaccination programme(9).

- Immunization coverage of infants with DPT3, OPV3 and measles vaccinations dropped to 78 percent in 2006 from 84 percent in 2005. Insecurity makes mothers reluctant to go to health facilities for preventive essential health services like immunization(10).

Notes:

(1) CIA World Fact Book (2007 estimates)
(2) IOM Emergency Needs Assessment. Bi-weekly report 1 November 2007
(3) Cluster F: IDP Update. 19 September 2007
(4) Report of the Secretary General to the UN Security Council, 15 October 2007
(5) UNICEF: Update for Partners on the Situation of Children in Iraq. August/September 2007
(6) IOM Emergency Needs Assessment. Bi-weekly report 1 November 2007
(7) IOM: Iraq Displacement. 2007 Mid-Year Review.
(8) Cluster F: IDP Update. 19 September 2007
(9) Cluster F: IDP Update. 19 September 2007
(10) WHO: Iraq Annual Report 2006
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/SHES-78WNQ6/$File/Full_Report.pdf

UNISDR: Prevention Web: A new tool to increase knowledge on disaster risk reduction

The UN/ISDR secretariat is launching PreventionWeb.net, a new website for increasing knowledge sharing on disaster risk reduction (DRR) issues, for both the general public – including media and teachers – and DRR specialists, on 15 November.

For the first time, a website will provide a common tool for both specialists and non-specialists interested or working in the area of disaster risk reduction (DRR) to connect, exchange experiences and share information at all levels of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction: local to global, UN, international and non-governmental organizations to citizens and companies.

"Information and knowledge are key to reducing disasters, and this new tool will facilitate the sharing of information, expertise and experience. Prevention Web will be a reference for experts, practitioners and all people interested in building resilience to natural hazards,” said Salvano Briceño, Director of the UN/ISDR secretariat in Geneva.

Prevention Web is a product of many months of user research, information architecture, visual and technical design, and testing, to meet the needs of target audiences in this field. Prevention Web relies on contributions from the DRR community and includes: disaster risk reduction news, country reports, publications, good practices, fact sheets, networks and communities, and more. The beta release period will emphasize content development by calling for contributions from the community at large – UN, international, non-governmental, academic, and civil society partners. The website will be managed by a dedicated team of seven information managers between Geneva, Panama City, Nairobi, Cairo, Bangkok, Kobe and Bonn. DRR practitioners are invited to submit their contents online at: www.preventionweb.net/english/submit/

Craig Duncan, senior coordinator of the project, said “Prevention Web is expected to become an indispensable tool for practitioners working to build the resilience of nations and communities to disasters, much like Relief Web has served the humanitarian response community in the effective delivery of emergency assistance.”

For more about the project, visit the website or contact Craig Duncan. Prevention Web will organize a press briefing later this year to explain to media and the public at large how they can use the tool to facilitate their coverage and understanding of disasters.

Two Journal of Humanitarian Assistance Articles on Food Security

Now available on Reliefweb:

Local and Regional Procurement of Food Aid in Africa: Impact and Policy Issues

The research hypothesis for this study was that local and regional procurement of food aid can make a much larger contribution to the economies of developing countries, and poor people in particular, and that policies can be put in place to increase such benefits. The report includes some recommendations.

Reversing Food Insecurity: Linking Global Commitments to Local Recovery Needs

At national and international levels, there is no lack of commitment from global citizens of high moral and financial standing, world leaders, and national authorities to tackle the problems of food insecurity and chronic marginalisation of poor households. Yet, despite all of this publicity, concern, and financial assistance, hunger continues to affect 850 million people, most of them in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper attempts to identify the disconnect between commitments and achievements - and includes an interesting survey of our problem-solving abilities as a sector and a race.

Away days and emergencies - yes folks, Brangelina is televising our lives. Sort of.

Reuters are reporting that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are making their first joint producing effort with an HBO series about aid workers.

The as-yet untitled drama will explore the behind-the scenes politics of an international aid organization, and chronicle the lives of humanitarian workers assigned to dangerous zones and the needy people they assist.

Jolie and Pitt will serve as executive producers, along with Scott Burns, who will write the pilot. Burns co-wrote "The Bourne Ultimatum" and was a producer of "An Inconvenient Truth."

Reuters Alertnet: SOUTHERN AFRICA: HIV-induced famine's impact on agriculture

Hunger and HIV/AIDS are reinforcing each other in Southern Africa, "leading to a potentially tragic new level of famine", says a book published by a regional agricultural think-tank. The World Bank's annual report, released last week, also raises concerns over the pandemic's impact, pointing out that most people affected by HIV and AIDS depend on agriculture.

Food consumption has been found to drop by 40 percent in homes afflicted by HIV/AIDS, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO); globally, Southern Africa is the region most affected by the pandemic. The situation has been exacerbated by severe drought in Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and southern Mozambique this year, with significant production deficits and high staple food prices limiting market access for households that have already run out of food they have managed to grow themselves.

AIDS has killed around 7 million agricultural workers since 1985 in the 25 hardest-hit countries, mostly in east and southern Africa, where AIDS-related illnesses could kill 16 million more before 2020, and up to 26 percent of their agricultural labour force within two decades, said the FAO.. And here is the rest of it.

Read more on Alertnet.

UN SG Report on Implementation of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction

The number of disasters and the scale of their impacts continue to grow, driven largely by the increasing vulnerability to natural hazards, but also by the effects of climate change, threatening the lives and livelihoods of ever more millions of people and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. There is growing urgency to increase efforts to implement the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters. The world is not on track to achieve the aim of a substantive reduction in disaster losses by 2015.

Decisive and systematic action is therefore needed. That means a high-level commitment to reduce risks, supported by sound policies, strong institutional capacities and adequate budgets, at both national and local government levels. One notable step in accelerating the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action was the convening of the first session of the multi-stakeholder Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction from 5 to 7 June 2007 as the main global forum to facilitate concerted efforts in disaster risk reduction at all levels.

The present report provides an overview of progress on the implementation of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction and the Hyogo Framework for Action at the national, regional and international levels, in response to General Assembly resolution 61/198. It also considers trends in disasters and disaster risks, and the development of coordination, guidance and resourcing through the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction system.

The report is available for download from Reliefweb.

Disarmament diplomacy: The Road From Oslo: Emerging International Efforts on Cluster Munitions

On February 23, 2007, 46 countries made an historic declaration at a conference in the snow-covered hills above Oslo in Norway. The Oslo Declaration contained commitments to complete an international treaty by the end of 2008 to "prohibit the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians" and to "establish a framework for cooperation and assistance that ensures adequate provision of care and rehabilitation to survivors and their communities, clearance of contaminated areas, risk education and destruction of stockpiles of prohibited cluster munitions."

Only one year earlier, such collective resolve on cluster bombs was very hard to envisage...

What changed? What does the Oslo Declaration mean, and what comes next? Does the Oslo Conference mark the beginning of another "Ottawa process" - as some are proclaiming and others fear - which a decade ago achieved a treaty banning anti-personnel mines? First, however, what humanitarian problems do cluster munitions cause, and what are the big political issues in dealing with them?

Read more at the Acronym.org website.