CRED Crunch: Natural disasters in Europe 1989-2008

The Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) has published an overview of natural disasters in Europe over the last 20 years (1989 - 2008) in its latest newsletter (July 09).

Federation West Africa food security video on YouTube

This food security work is funded by the DFID IS.

Reuters: WB warns for negative effects of economic crisis on health and education

In line with forecasts brought up in previous blog entries, the World Bank warns for potentially 'disastrous' effects on health and education projects in the developing world, Reuters reports. Especially the social aspect of the global economic crisis has been ignored in most African countries, Marwan Muasher, the World Bank's senior vice president for external affairs, said to Reuters.

Developing countries, initially shielded from the direct impact, are now being hurt by "second and third waves" of the financial crisis, which is coming on the heels of a damaging upward spiral of food and fuel costs, he said.
In particular, this was being felt in a drop of remittances, reduced investment in health, education and infrastructure projects and the inability to find credit, Muasher said.
"Health and education are the first areas to be dropped by governments in poor countries when budget deficits are high. This will have disastrous consequences in the long term."

All this could be prevented, according to Muasher, if 0.7% of all stimulus plans would go to the support of the school and health projects currently at risk.

IRIN: IPCC and meteorologists to help with humanitarian climate change DRR

Last week, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) announced it would start working on a "how to" manual (expected in 2011) for policy-makers and disaster officials on managing the risks of extreme weather events and bolstering resilience, to promote adaptation to global warming, IRIN reported.

The IPCC's special report would help agencies like IFRC, which are trying to draw up plans to help communities prepare for extreme weather events, especially in areas where climate change forecasts are uncertain.

At last disaster risk reduction and climate change adaption are being studied together (see in this regard a report by Mitchell and van Aalst), and it is being acknowledged that DRR plays an important role as a 'first line of defence', a first step towards longer-term adaption.

IRIN also reported on the successful co-operation between the IFRC and meteorological services in predicting natural disasters occurring. This allows specialised teams to get in place before the disaster happens, gaining valuable time in making disaster responses more effective.

Reuters/Guardian: Record budget shortfall for UN aid agencies

Thanks to Michael Bear for highlighting a Reuters news release and a Guardian analysis on the Humanitarian Relief blog.

Reuters reports that both the global economic downturn and the drastic increase in needs in Pakistan have contributed to a record funding gap of $4.8 billion.

Yet some 43 million people need assistance this year, up from 28 million in 2008.
While there have been no large natural disasters so far in 2009, the global downturn has amplified needs in impoverished countries, and especially in those in protracted crisis such as Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan.

This situation is not likely to improve, as the 2009 contributions of the major donor countries had already been set before the economic crisis had hit them.
However, the main problem is one of political will rather than lack of money. As Conor Foley in his Guardian analysis points out,

It would cost around 1% of the money thrown at western banks in the last six months to bridge the current humanitarian deficit. Yet politicians will continue to play a game of cynical brinkmanship over where the money should come from, confident that it will be the UN itself that gets blamed for the resulting deaths and human misery.

For more figures on how the economic crisis has affected other humanitarian organisations, see another blog entry by Michael Bear.

ALNAP: Key messages from its 8th RHA

The 8th edition of ALNAP's Review of Humanitarian Action series has come out in July 09. As of yet only available electronically, but soon also in printed edition (Aug 09).

The 8th Review contains three in-depth studies.
The first study is on humanitarian performance and provides a wide-ranging overview of the performance agenda - at the heart of ALNAP's work - drawing on experiences from the private, public and development sectors.
The second study focuses on improving humanitarian impact assessment, and provides a comprehensive framework to help bridge theory and practice in operational settings.
The third study is a systematic review of innovations in international humanitarian response, which presents ways to think about and strengthen innovations across the sector.

ALNAP: Humanitarian Performance Project

As part of its Humanitarian Performance Project (HPP), ALNAP is currently piloting a mechanism which aims to provide a regular assessment of system-wide humanitarian performance. The project will compile some fundamental measures of the composition and performance of the international humanitarian system, providing a baseline for assessing future progress. They want to get as diverse a range of actors as possible to participate, especially field-based practitioners, and invite you to complete a short survey which should take no more than 20 minutes. Click here to begin. A French version is also available and can be accessed here.

HPN: People-centred disaster risk assessment in Ethiopia

Network Paper 66, Solving the risk equation: People-centred disaster risk assessment in Ethiopia, explains why the information and analysis system recently established within the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture represents a substantial new opportunity for people-centred disaster risk assessment. The vulnerability component of the analytical process was previously missing or patchy at best; with the establishment of the national livelihoods information system, this gap has been largely filled.

Reuters: Abyei ruling settles Sudan land dispute

Last Wednesday, July 22, the Arbitration Court in the Hague settled with its ruling a long standing land dispute of the central, oil rich Sudanese region of Abyei. North Sudan gets a vast area where most of the oil fields ly, whereas the bulk of the region, including huge areas of fertile land and one significant oil field, has been given to Abyei - whose inhabitants are to decide in a Januari 2011 referendem whether or not they will join South Sudan, Reuters reported.

All parties have formally reaffirmed their adherence to the Hague ruling, yet some voices express their concern and remain sceptical on the peaceful outcome of events.

"The crucial thing will be whether both sides accept this ruling," Alex Vines, Africa specialist at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London, told Reuters. "Tensions have risen in the last few days and the next few months will be absolutely crucial."

For more reports, comments and analysis, see (among others): Refugees International, Enough, African Press International and Sudan Watch.
For more background on Abyei, see the briefing on the IRIN website[...]. Refugees International:

This is a fragile moment for peace and political progress between north and south Sudan. Recent media reports of southern Sudanese troop movements in the Abyei region underscore the tension and risk for more violence.

Enough:

Recent efforts to reinvigorate CPA implementation will be wasted if the international community does not work assiduously to reach a durable political settlement on Abyei and other outstanding issues. [...] Continued stalemate in Abyei is a recipe for a return to full-scale civil war, the humanitarian consequences of which are awful to contemplate.

Sudan Watch offers a whole lot of reactions from Sudanese officials on the ruling.

African Press International:

Abyei will continue to be a flashpoint, and sustained attention, including negotiations between the parties on long-term wealth-sharing arrangements related to Abyei’s oil reserves, are the only way to mitigate the risk that Abyei will unravel the North-South peace.

For more background on Abyei, see the briefing on the IRIN website.

Tufts: Livelihood Impacts of Disarmament in Uganda

The latest report published by Tufts' Feinstein International Center, Changing Roles, Shifting Risks: Livelihood Impacts of Disarmament in Karamoja, Uganda by Elizabeth Stites and Darlington Akabwai, is the result of the first phase of a partnership with Save the Children in Uganda. It examines the experiences and perceptions of communities of the present disarmament campaign carried out by the Uganda People's Defence Force and the Government of Uganda.

We find that although individual experiences with disarmament have been largely negative, there is overwhelming support among local communities for an end goal of complete and uniform disarmament as a means of bringing peace and economic development. At the same time, the current policies of disarmament have brought major changes to livelihood roles and responsibilities by gender and generation, and associated shifts in exposure to risk. We examine the effects of disarmament on security, livestock management, peace processes, and food security and coping systems. Recommendations are made to international and national actors for programming, policy-making and advocacy in the areas of livelihoods and engagement with disarmament processes.

Disasters: New Theme Issue on Reconstruction

ODI has published a new Disasters theme issue, Emerging Perspectives on the Politicisation of Reconstructing Conflict-Affected Countries. This issue tries to bridge the gap between academic reconstruction theories and the local practices:

Studies of reconstruction have, despite being a critical issue for many years, long suffered from an acute disassociation between theory and practice on the one hand and academic and policy circles on the other. Recent events in Iraq and Afghanistan have exacerbated these problems, necessitating a thorough and, perhaps most pertinently, critical evaluation of both the state of the debate and the state of the art. This theme issue aims to contribute to such a process of reflection by drawing on evidence from reconstruction efforts undertaken in a wide range of local contexts.

The theme issue contains the following articles:
Emerging patterns in the reconstruction of conflict-affected countries
'Rule of Law' initiatives and the liberal peace: the impact of politicised reform in post-conflict states
Insurgency, militias and DDR as part of security sector reconstruction in Iraq: how not to do it
The gift of disaster: the commodification of good intentions in post-tsunami Sri Lanka
Who owns the peace? Aid, reconstruction, and peacebuilding in Afghanistan
A very political reconstruction: governance and reconstruction in Lebanon after the 2006 war

This and other editions of Disasters are available from the BRC library, or online by emailing library@redcross.org.uk.[...].

The first contribution, Emerging patterns in the reconstruction of conflict-affected countries, contextualises the five main contributions to this issue. The overall argument that Tim Jacoby and Eric James make is that the comination of three patterns, 'marketisation', 'politicisation', and 'securitisation', has narrowed the space in which humanitarian and reconstructive interventions into conflict-affected countries are organised and undertaken.

In the second article, 'Rule of Law' initiatives and the liberal peace: the impact of politicised reform in post-conflict states, Jenny H. Peterson talks about how the instrumental use of RoL programming provides further evidence of weaknesses and contradictions within the politicised liberal peacebuilding project (since it increases security in the short term, but threatens the sustainability of peacebuilding reforms in the long run, as seen in Kosovo), necessitating reconsideration of its role in post-conflict transformations.

In Insurgency, militias and DDR as part of security sector reconstruction in Iraq: how not to do it, Alpaslam Ozerdem discusses the dangers and pitfalls of DDR in a highly complex and insecure environment such as Iraq.

Benedikt Korf et al. analyse in The gift of disaster: the commodification of good intentions in post-tsunami Sri Lanka, the perpetuation of the political economy that has driven social conflict and discontent in the post-independence years in Sri Lanka.

The fourth article, Who owns the peace? Aid, reconstruction, and peacebuilding in Afghanistan, by Jonathan Goodhand and Mark Sedra, examines how aid policies and programmes have become part of a complex bargaining game involving international actors, domestic elites, and societal groups. It argues that international donors' failure to appreciate or engage sensitively and strategically with these bargaining processes, when combined with contradictory intervention objectives, has contributed to the steady unravelling of a fragile war-to-peace transition in Afghanistan.

In the last contribution, A very political reconstruction: governance and reconstruction in Lebanon after the 2006 war, Christine Sylva Hamieh and Roger Mac Ginty examine how in general many Western states and Western-backed international institutions favoured governance programming (software) while many Arab and Gulf State donors preferred physical reconstruction projects (hardware), often with an emphasis on large-scale, high-visibility infrastructure projects. They argue that the latter were able to connect more effectively with the political culture of Lebanon.

IDRL: Lessons learnt from H1N1 and humanitarian evolutions in Sri Lanka

Three noteworthy topics signalled by the Federation's International Disaster Response Law programme:

• On July 5th, experts and representatives of 43 countries concluded the “Top Level Meeting on Influenza A (H1N1): Preparing for the Future”.
• In Sri Lanka, the Times reported, the government is starting to apply the tax law (0.9 per cent) on humanitarian aid it created in 2006, affecting 89 international and local humanitarian organisations, and potentially amounting to several millions of pounds.
• Furthermore, Reuters reported that the Sri Lankan government has asked for a reduction or scaling down in humanitarian operations, now that it declared total victory over the LTTE.

Some more information on these topics can be found in the extended blog entry.

On July 5th, experts and representatives of 43 countries concluded the “Top Level Meeting on Influenza A (H1N1): Preparing for the Future”. Some of the findings of this evaluatory meeting:

since international public health emergencies are unpredictable but recurrent and can severely affect human health and economic well-being worldwide, it is essential to reinforce public health capacity in order to permit timely actions to reduce the spread of disease.

Also, the experts and representatives

urged the WHO Director General to continue applying the procedure to determine an "internationally important public health emergency" and formulate the corresponding temporary recommendations.

In Sri Lanka, the Times reported, the government is starting to apply the tax law (0.9 per cent) on humanitarian aid it created in 2006, affecting 89 international and local humanitarian organisations, and potentially amounting to several millions of pounds.

The Government says that the tax is designed to crack down on NGOs that abused Sri Lankan law and squandered their funds on their own staff after the tsunami. Aid workers, however, say the new rules do not grant tax exemption for all the work they are doing — and want to do — to help 300,000 Tamil refugees in army-run camps. Some say the tax contravenes the international disaster response guidelines drawn up by the Red Cross in 2007 with the participation of 140 countries, including Sri Lanka.

However, some of the organisations, including Oxfam and Save the Children, have managed to negotiate their due tax with the government down to 0.1 per cent.
Furthermore, Reuters reported that the Sri Lankan government has asked for a reduction or scaling down in humanitarian operations, now that it declared total victory over the LTTE.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it was shutting down some of its offices in the country following the government's directive. "The ICRC is in the process of reviewing its setup and operational priorities in Sri Lanka," said the ICRC's head of operations for South Asia, Jacques de Maio. "As a first step, it will close its offices and withdraw its expatriate staff from the Eastern Province while winding down its operations in the area," he said. "The ICRC will continue its dialogue with the Sri Lankan government on issues of humanitarian concern."

HPN: The Role of the Affected State in humanitarian action

Humanitarian Exchange Magazine 43 features articles on the role of the affected state in humanitarian action. Case studies explore the extent to which economic growth, political stability and experience impact on the willingness and capacity of states to manage disaster response. The surprisingly positive role the military has played in supporting effective state-led disaster response is also highlighted and perceptions – often promoted by the media – that only international relief agencies can save lives and alleviate suffering are challenged. The role of the state in humanitarian action is, however, not always positive, as illustrated in articles focused on Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.

Feature stories:
Aid and access in Sri Lanka
The silver lining of the tsunami?: disaster management in Indonesia
When the affected state causes the crisis: the case of Zimbabwe
Humanitarian governance in Ethiopia
Land and displacement in Timor-Leste
Lessons from the Sichuan earthquake

Practice and policy notes
Britain and Afghanistan: policy and expectations
Are humanitarians fuelling conflicts? Evidence from eastern Chad and Darfur
Lessons from campaigning on Darfur
Supporting the capacity of beneficiaries, local staff and partners to face violence alone
Stuck in the ‘recovery gap’: the role of humanitarian aid in the Central African Republic
Out of site, out of mind? Reflections on responding to displacement in DRC
Making cash work: a case study from Kenya

HPN/Reuters: Afghanistan

In issue 43 of the Humanitarian Exchange Magazine, Jon Bennett writes about the the Britain Afghanistan policy and future expectations for the latter country. Recently, this policy has moved towards a strategy of stabilisation, linking DfID, MoD and the Foreign Office in a mutual strategy of engagement, stabilisation and development, aimed at bridging the counterinsurgency and the "Afghanisation" of the country's future.

More recent information on Afghanistan on the Civil-Military Relations blog:
Terrorism kills more Afghan civilians than any other military action - next to Afghan civilians, also international aid workers have been the target of increased terrorist attacks in the country. This raises many concerns in the light of the upcoming presidential elections on 20 August.
Cost of insecurity in Afghanistan impedes humanitarian work - humanitarian organisations diverge in their approach in dealing with the increased insecurity in the country, with the ICRC firmly avoiding armed escorts and demonstrating its impartial credentials and emblem.

A new pressrelease by Reuters tells about Karzai's plans in his election manifesto to regulate foreign troops in Afghanistan:

Afghan President Hamid Karzai , setting out his election manifesto, has vowed to make foreign troops sign a framework governing how they operate in a bid to limit civilian casualties. Karzai, widely criticised this week for withdrawing from a televised debate with two of his main rivals in the Aug. 20 presidential election, has unveiled a manifesto covering foreign troops, talks with insurgents and reconstruction. Civilian casualties caused by U.S. and NATO operations, particularly air strikes, have become a source of increasing outrage among ordinary Afghans and their leaders this year, even as insurgent violence hit its worst levels in the eight-year-old war.

More about this in the extended blog entry.
In issue 43 of the Humanitarian Exchange Magazine, Jon Bennett writes about the the Britain Afghanistan policy and future expectations for the latter country.

Recently, this policy has moved towards a strategy of stabilisation, linking DfID, MoD and the Foreign Office in a mutual strategy of engagement, stabilisation and development, aimed at bridging the counterinsurgency and the "Afghanisation" of the country's future.

It has been difficult for aid agencies and DFID to focus on reconstruction and development when access to populations is largely determined by which areas are ‘secured’ by British and Afghan military forces. Development here requires longer timeframes and a more sophisticated form of interaction with target beneficiaries. It is also difficult to find technical experts willing to stay on the ground for any length of time in a highly volatile and dangerous environment.

Also, there are two separate foreign military forces present on the ground - the Coalition Forces and the NATO/ISAF operation forces. However distinct, the public does not make a distinction between the two and their actions affect each other, potentially affecting the acceptance of their actions (and, concomitantly, of the aid agencies affiliated to them or operating under their protection). In reaction, several international aid agencies have expressed their desire to decouple aid delivery from military goals and refused to be any longer part of the Provincial Reconstruction Teams.

Further complicating these matters is a general lack of coherency between the major donors, lack of legitimacy of the central government and the fact that in the country as a whole, the lack of good national or provincial data and security constraints on access to beneficiaries impede an accurate assessment of project progress.

Here are some excerpts from the latest news items posted on the Civil-Military Relations blog.

13 July 2009: Terrorism kills more Afghan civilians than any other military action.

Recent violence has also targeted those trying to help the fledgling democracy rebuild. Last month three national staff members of a local non-governmental organization (NGO) were killed when the vehicle they were travelling in was destroyed by a roadside bomb in Jawzjan province. In addition, the office of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Kunduz was attacked in early June with a rocket-propelled grenade having been fired at the compound.
The ongoing violence is of particular concern as the country gears up for presidential elections slated for 20 August. The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of UNAMA, Kai Eide, has highlighted the critical importance of the upcoming polls, noting that it is about more than choosing the country’s future leaders.

14 July 2009: Cost of insecurity in Afghanistan impedes humanitarian work.

While large swathes of the country, mostly in the south and east, are no-go zones for most agencies, the increasing use of armoured vehicles, barricaded compounds and restrictions on movement have also had an impact on operations in relatively safe areas, such as Kabul, where many organizations recommend armoured vehicles for their staff. [...]
However, some organizations like the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) prefer not to use them. “Armoured vehicles are both expensive and inconsistent with the nature of our work,” Patrick Hamilton, deputy head of the ICRC delegation, told IRIN, adding that the organisation was more inclined to seek security guarantees for its staff and activities through negotiations with warring parties and host communities. However, the ICRC’s modus operandi is extremely difficult, if not impossible, for other aid agencies to replicate, specialists say. [...]
The ICRC says it will continue avoiding armed escorts and demonstrating its impartial credentials and emblem. “We seek security through local acceptance and support,” said Hamilton. Others, including Donini, advise aid agencies to negotiate a “humanitarian consensus” with all warring parties and neighbouring countries as the UN did in the 1980 and 1990s. “Immediate steps should be taken to build a relationship of trust with all parties to the conflict,” said Donini.

UK: MoD Strategic Defence Review outlined

On July 07, the Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth announced that a process for undertaking a Strategic Defence Review in the next parliament has been set out.

The purpose is to examine, among others, the lessons learned from recent operations; the changing character of conflict; the requirements on and aspirations of the British Armed Forces.

For some reflections on this announcement, see Charlie Edwards on the Global Dashboard.

Tufts: Development/Conflict Nexus in Nepal

The Feinstein International Center released a new report in June on the connection between aid and violence in Nepal and how they interacted in the last decade. The study was made by Francesca Bonino and Antonio Donini and is part of a wider ongoing research program in Nepal that tackles social transformation, gender and migration issues in a post-conflict environment.

The report explores this question through a retrospective analysis of the development/conflict nexus in Nepal. It looks at the underlying causes of the Maoist success story, in relation to the conditions of structural underdevelopment and violence, and at donors’ policies and activities in Nepal and at their interplay with the conflict environment. The report focuses on the last decade (1996-2008), the period of the Maoist insurgency and of the subsequent largely successful peace process. It looks at the way in which aid actors in Nepal framed their understanding of the Maoist insurgency and how they adapted their responses. It shows that, because the aid community was Kathmandu-centric, it did not fully grasp the nature of caste, class and ethnic discrimination in rural Nepal nor that “development” was not benefiting the most disadvantaged groups. Development failure can thus be construed as a contributing factor to the insurgency.

DfID's new White Paper

On Monday, July 06, the UK government presented its new White Paper on International Development. The paper, Building our common future, focuses on the following areas:

• poverty reduction
• promoting economic recovery and greener growth
• sustainable development
• building peaceful states and societies
• keeping up with previous commitments
• reforming the international humanitarian system
• improving methods of delivery

For some first reactions by Alison Evans, see ODI's blog. One of concerns raised is that the new white paper lacks strategic selectivity. This may lead to DfID loosing its asset of effectiveness, as it overstretches its capacities (in particular in the current financial environment) in attempting to reach out to all possible humanitarian challenges.

Comments on the high focus on conflict-affected and fragile states have been made by Alex Evans on the Global Dashboard.

Save The Children: Cash transfers crucial in tackling child mortality

A new report by Save the Children, UK, (Lasting Benefits: The role of cash transfers in tackling child mortality), released in June, highlights the benefits that cash transfers may have in reducing child mortality and lifting poor families out of poverty.

As the report indicates,

While more emphasis and resources for the development and strengthening of good-quality health systems are vital, a policy approach that concerns itself only with ‘supply-side issues’ will not succeed in dramatically reducing child mortality. A range of economic barriers prevent families from being able to protect their children from early deaths. [...]
The evidence presented here suggests that well-designed cash transfer programmes can help tackle many of the determinants of child mortality, most immediately by increasing access to healthcare and reducing malnutrition. Across a number of countries, particularly in Latin America and Africa, cash transfers have helped poor people to access food and healthcare, and to enhance the status of women (itself one of the most significant determinants of child survival). Contrary to common assumptions, cash transfers also have important positive economic benefits, helping to create livelihood opportunities, increase labour productivity and earnings, stimulate local markets, and cushion families from the worst effects of crises.

These regular cash transfers, the Lancet editorial writes, may prove crucial in realising the 4th MDG (reducing under five child mortality by two thirds).

This report touches upon an area of BRC activities supporting the SARCS to improve access to social welfare grants in South Africa.

UNAIDS: Global economic crisis expected to disrupt HIV prevention and treatment programmes

A new report from UNAIDS and the World Bank, released on July, 6th, indicates that in 22 countries in Africa, Europe and Central Asia, the Caribbean, and Asia and Pacific, HIV prevention and treatment programmes may face disruption this year.

Reports from agency staff in 71 countries indicate that eight countries are already facing shortages of antiretroviral drugs or other disruptions. Together, these countries are home to more than 60% of people worldwide receiving AIDS treatment.

However, there is a lot of uncertainty regarding the extent to which these programmes will be affected, as the effects of the crisis are still to impact most of the governments’ budgets that support AIDS treatment. In particular North Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and most of Asia appear to be less vulnerable to the economic crisis’ impact.

According to the report,

much is at risk: increased mortality and morbidity, unplanned interruptions or
curtailed access to treatment, with increased risk of HIV transmission, higher
future financial costs, increased burden on health systems and reversal of
economic and social development gains.

The report recommends the following actions:

Use existing funding better―especially in countries facing cuts in their national AIDS response budgets, governments and aid agencies should provide technical support to reallocate resources from low- to high-impact prevention and treatment programmes. All countries should seek ways to make programmes more efficient and more cost-effective.

Address urgent funding gaps―countries with a high reliance on external funding for HIV should strengthen collaboration between national authorities and major international funders to identify and address impending cash-flow interruptions and arrange bridge financing as necessary to avoid cash-flow interruptions.

Monitor risks of programme interruption―a simple warning system could be established to anticipate and minimize treatment interruptions. A key component of such a system would be to carry out regular surveys to identify “vulnerable” countries and provide tailor-made financial and policy assistance.

Plan for an uncertain environment―the uncertainty that many respondents note calls for contingency planning: contingency plans could consider changes that could be made to ensure continued access to treatment and realistic expansion plans, and to maintain the most effective, highest priority prevention activities under alternative potential funding scenarios. The report recommends that resource mobilization strategies include sources of finance that can be sustained over the long term.

ALNAP: 8th Review of Humanitarian Action: Performance, Impact and Innovation

The 8th ALNAP Review of Humanitarian Action(RHA)is now available
in electronic form on the ALNAP website.

This edition presents three complementary studies on performance, impact and
innovation.

The first chapter on performance mechanisms is based on the ongoing work of the Humanitarian Performance Project and draws on experiences from the private, public and development sectors in order to locate current data collection initiatives within the current humanitarian performance agenda, as well as providing recommendations on how to improve performance mechanisms in the future.

The second chapter on impact assessments presents 4 case studies from ALNAP member agencies and provides a comprehensive framework to help plan for and implement impact assessments. The framework has already been presented at a number of different fora and used within a number of ALNAP member agencies with very positive reactions.

The third chapter on innovations is the first in-depth study of its type undertaken in the humanitarian system, and provides a way of thinking and promoting positive innovations across the sector. This study will be the substantive theme of the 25th ALNAP Meeting in London on November 17th/18th this year.

Finally the ALNAP website has now been substantially revamped!

Independent: DFID rebranding as 'UKAID'

Britain's development ministry is to change the name of its key aid distribution arm in a major rebranding exercise.

Operations by the Department for International Development (DfID) in the developing world will be known as "UKAid" in an attempt to make clear that the contributions are coming from Britain.

The move is due to be unveiled in a DfID White Paper on Monday which will also lay out a swathe of measures including how the Government intends to support countries affected by climate change.

The White Paper is expected to state that years of development aid could be wiped out if the issue of climate change is not addressed urgently. Studies would take place to ascertain how money could be allocated to tackle the problem without endangering other funds for alleviating poverty.

Read more on the Independent website.

Reuters: El Nino seems all but certain

An El Nino weather pattern this year appears almost certain, Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said on Wednesday in a revised forecast, raising the prospect of drought in Australia and a even weaker monsoon in India.

The odds for El Nino, an abnormal warming of the eastern Pacific Ocean that creates havoc in weather patterns across the Asia-Pacific region, had risen significantly since two weeks ago, when the bureau said there was a more than 50 percent chance.

That's probably bad news for farmers in Australia who have sown near record acreage, and in India, which is already bracing for below-average monsoon rains, the lifeblood of the country's agriculture.

It would also have implications for commodity markets, potentially lifting wheat prices that have slumped over the past month on expectations of a bumper global harvest, and adding further fuel to soaring sugar prices that are already bracing for a second disappointing crop year from top consumer India.

Read more on the Reuters website.

Aid Watch: We want your feedback, as long as you speak English

Although the Yemeni community groups could not get critical documents in Arabic, they would presumably be glad to know that the statements about how the organisation will consult them ARE available in Arabic.

Read more on the Aid Watch website.