Recommended Sites and Resources

by Michael Kleinman

Published October 05, 2008 @ 09:35PM PST

Below is a list of useful sites and resources, including suggestions about where to find up-to-date humanitarian news and reports, in-depth analysis, advice and information-sharing networks, interesting blogs, maps and other information.

This is meant to be a dynamic list – if you have any suggestions, please send them along.

1. Humanitarian news and reports

Reliefweb – If you need information on the humanitarian response to a given conflict or natural disaster, www.reliefweb.int is the best resource around. It includes a vast and constantly updated archive of UN and NGO reports and press releases, organized both geographically (i.e. Afghanistan, Sudan) and topically (i.e. sexual and gender-based violence, climate change, etc.).

IRIN – In terms of breaking news, www.irinnews.org (available in Arabic and French) is an excellent site for articles focused on humanitarian issues.

Alertnet – Another useful site is www.alertnet.org, which not only provides news but also such useful tools as a photo database, a list of what agencies work where, crisis briefings on specific complex emergencies and natural disasters, and a map database, as well as media tips and a world press tracker.

2. In-depth analysis

International Crisis Group – The International Crisis Group provides comprehensive analysis on conflicts around the world, broken down by country and region, as well as reports on thematic issues such as Climate Change and Conflict, Gender and Conflict, HIV/AIDS, Peace and Justice, and the Responsibility to Protect.

Humanitarian Policy Group – The Humanitarian Policy Group at the Overseas Development Institute is the best source for in-depth analysis specifically on humanitarian issues. Their reports on protection, insecurity and its impact on humanitarian operations, and military-humanitarian relations are particularly useful.

3. Advice and information sharing

Aid Workers Network – The Aid Workers Network includes very useful advice pages on everything from relevant international laws and codes of conduct to a wide range of development and humanitarian issues, as well as career advice. The Network also offers a periodic newsletter and a discussion forum.

Humanitarian Practice Network – The Humanitarian Practice Network fosters information sharing and on-line debate on pressing topics.

4. Blogs

Darfur – Alex de Waal’s blog is an incredible source of news and analysis. The Blog for Darfur at Save Darfur also offers useful information on the crisis, updated every few days. Eric Reeves’ blog is good for background material and more detailed analysis. In terms of news coverage, the Sudan Tribune provides comprehensive, frequently updated links to stories in the Sudanese and international press, focused not only on Darfur but also South Sudan and other Sudan-related issues.

Afghanistan – Barnett Rubin’s blog is a terrific source for news and analysis related to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Two interesting aid worker blogs from Afghanistan are Harry Rud and Johanna Dellantonio.

World:Bridge – The Refugees International blog World:Bridge is a must-read for its in-depth coverage of various crises, including Afghanistan, Sudan, Burma, Georgia, Somalia and Iraq.

Global Voices – Global Voices provides a “guide to the global blogosphere”, including links to bloggers writing from all over the world, searchable by country. The site also includes special coverage of breaking events, such as the war in Georgia, the Sichuan earthquake, the Myanmar cyclone, and the global food crisis, among others.

United Nations – UN Dispatch is an excellent blog looking at the UN, including sections on conflicts, disaster relief, human rights, peacekeeping and UN reform. The blog roundup is also a useful resource. UN Wire also provides daily email news briefings related to the UN.

Other blogs – The Aid Workers Network and Alertnet include a large number of aid worker blogs. Other interesting blogs include Blood and Milk on international development, The Road to the Horizon, Ed Rackley’s posts from Africa, the Vigilante Journalist on Darfur, Chad and Kenya, Conor Foley’s thoughts on humanitarian issues and foreign policy, Daniel Kaufmann on governance issues, NGO Security (self-explanatory), All Our Might offers a progressive take on US national security issues, and Chasing the Flame, which is dedicated to the memory of Sergio de Mello.

5. Maps

Reliefweb, Alertnet, MapAction and World Is Witness are all excellent sources of maps, including searchable databases.

6. Critiques of development and humanitarianism

Five seminal books critiquing development – JustMeans offers a list of five seminal books critiquing development and humanitarianism, including The Subtle Problems of Charity (1899), To Hell with Good Intentions (1968), Imposing Aid: Emergency Assistance to Refugee (1986), A Bed for the Night: Humanitarianism in Crisis (2003), and White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Effort to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good (2006).

New Humanitarianism – John Tirman’s article on issues around “new humanitarianism” is excellent. For an interesting debate on the issue, checkout Nicolas de Torrente and Paul O’Brien’s exchange in the spring 2004 issue of the Harvard Human Rights Journal.

7. Humanitarian Interventions

History of humanitarian intervention -- Gary Bass has also provided a useful short history of humanitarian interventions from the nineteenth century to the present day.

Criticisms of the humanitarian intervention – More broadly, Alex de Waal has criticized the very notion of humanitarian intervention, writing that “There is no such thing as humanitarian military intervention distinct from war or counterinsurgency.” C.A.J. Cody has also taken an in-depth look at the ethical issues surrounding the issue.

Burma and Cyclone Nargis – The refusal of the Burmese Government to allow humanitarian agencies to provide assistance in the immediate aftermath of Cyclone Nargis (2008) provoked discussion about the benefits of “humanitarian interventions” – armed intervention in order to pursue humanitarian objectives. In the weeks following the cyclone, both Robert Kaplan and Timothy Garton Ash pointed out some of the problems with such an intervention in Burma.

8. International Humanitarian Law (IHL)

International Committee of the Red Cross – According to the International Committee of the Red Cross: “International humanitarian law is a set of rules which seek, for humanitarian reasons, to limit the effects of armed conflict. It protects persons who are not or are no longer participating in the hostilities and restricts the means and methods of warfare.” The ICRC provides a useful factsheet on IHL, as well as the basic rules of the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols.

Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research – The Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research at Harvard provides detailed briefings on the application of IHL to Darfur, Iraq, the West Bank and Gaza, and Somalia, as well as a comprehensive e-library on IHL.

Other sources – International Law Observer and Opinio Juris are two interesting blogs that look at issues around international law more broadly.

9. Glossary of humanitarian terms

Glossaries – Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog offers a list of useful glossaries. ReliefWeb also provides a more comprehensive list of more specialized glossaries.

Acronyms – The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OHCA) has a wonderfully useful and somewhat absurd glossary of acronyms and abbreviations which runs to 112 pages.

10. Travel Medicine

Because I’m a hypochondriac – http://www.travmed.com/maps/map.epl