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	Hunger and Conflict Go Hand in Hand by Suzanne Hoeksema Inter Press Service / UN Economic & Social Council   Oct 31, 2009   Countries emerging from conflict need more international assistance to rebuild their food production, since hunger and scarcity may prompt a return to fighting, United Nations and development officials warned this week.   Speaking at an event titled "Food and economic crises in post-conflict countries" Thursday, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon noted that "too often, it takes many months before the essential government functions resume or basic services are available. The result can be resumed conflict."   Ban said that the soaring food prices in 2008 and 2009 drove countries affected by armed conflict to the brink of collapse, sparking food riots in 30 countries and triggering the breakdown of at least one government, in Haiti.   Security cannot be provided by military means only, argued Sarah Cliffe, director of the World Development Report 2011 on conflict, security and development, issued by the World Bank. "Access to basic needs is just as crucial for peace to be rebuilt," she said.   The event was organised in an attempt to close the gap between the work of the U.N. Peacebuilding Commission and the World Food Programme (WFP) and develop a more coherent U.N. strategy in post-conflict countries.   Just returned from visits to Yemen, the Philippines, Indonesia and Uganda, the U.N."s top humanitarian official, John Holmes, also appealed for international support to help countries damaged by conflict and natural disasters to recover and rebuild.   The 50,000 displaced people of northern Yemen, an area that has been "neglected" by the international community and the media, urgently need humanitarian aid and "there is no doubt that the situation is getting worse", Holmes told reporters.   A U.N. request to the warring parties, which resumed fighting in August after five years of peace, to cease their attacks to allow humanitarian assistance to reach uprooted civilians was rejected.   Just 36 percent of the 24-million-dollar flash appeal for Yemen launched several months ago has been funded so far, Holmes said.   Holmes also expressed concern about the situation in northern Uganda, where the Lord"s Resistance Army (LRA) has been accused of widespread human rights violations against civilians.   "The good news is that 85 percent of the two million internally displaced people have been able to go home," he said.   Now that the LRA seems to have left northern Uganda, surviving by means of plunder and pillage in southern Sudan, eastern Congo and the Central African Republic, emergency relief efforts are being scaled down.   Identifying a risky "aid gap", Holmes called for continuing support to the region, especially the province of Karamoja, to make sure that people can continue to return to their homes, regain access to basic services, and help restart food production.   There are hopeful examples. Josette Sheeran, head of the WFP, praised the government of post-conflict Liberia for its efforts to reduce the impact of spiraling food prices on its people by swiftly scaling up school feeding programmes.   "Food is the foundation of stability," and investments should therefore not only be directed at food aid, but also to land, credit, fertilisers, tools and local markets, to reduce people"s dependency and create a "vital safety net", she said. Paul Farmer, the deputy special envoy for Haiti, said that providing food security in conflict-ridden countries requires three key elements: a village-level approach since national governments cannot yet be relied upon; response to acute malnutrition among vulnerable groups; and assisting the work of local farmers.   However, these measures will remain insufficient as long as the international community does not show real commitment to change macroeconomic mechanisms that keep poor countries in a position of susceptibility in times of financial and food crises, Farmer contended.   Whereas western countries are hit by the financial crisis mainly through their financial institutions, poor and conflict-ridden countries do not have the buffer of banks, but they are hit by rising food prices, declining exports, pressure on the aid budgets of donor countries, and a sharp decrease in remittances sent home by migrants.   Especially in those countries where the entire household income is spent on food, the dependence on reliable food prices is one of life and death.   Cliffe said that more focus is needed on prevention and crisis resistance, while "the aid budget should not steal from investments".   While supporting the effort to combine peacebuilding and food security, the Tanzanian ambassador to the U.N., Augustine P. Mahiga, argued that in countries emerging from conflict, the food and agricultural sector takes the longest to recover.   As a recipient of hundreds of thousands of refugees from neighbouring countries the past decades, Tanzania has gained longstanding experience in the field of humanitarian assistance.   While political and military peacebuilding remains of high importance, food security in peace seeking countries has not yet received the priority it deserves, Mahiga said.   * The United Nations Economic and Social Council and the Peacebuilding Commission, in partnership with the World Food Programme organized the joint special event, "Food and economic crises in post-conflict countries", on the 29th October at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The link below offers video webcasts from this event. Visit the related web page
	ICRC urges lawmakers to ensure greater respect for rules of war by International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)   19-10-2009   Geneva – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) are calling on parliamentarians and legislators around the world to do more to ensure that international humanitarian law (IHL) is both implemented and respected.   The joint call comes on the first day of the 121st IPU Assembly, which begins in Geneva on Monday. During the Assembly, the ICRC will participate in a panel discussion to mark the 60th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions this year. The 1949 Conventions form the cornerstone of IHL, which places limits on how war is waged.   "As lawmakers, we have a responsibility to the victims of armed conflict to draft and implement legislation that ensures the rules of war are applied at a national level," said IPU President, Theo-Ben Gurirab of Namibia.   "While legal measures are key, parliamentarians must also breathe life into these rules by using their political influence to spread knowledge of IHL and convince government leaders of the absolute need to ensure that civilians are protected during armed conflicts and that the perpetrators of war crimes are held to account for their actions."   During the Assembly, the Vice-President of the ICRC, Christine Beerli, will unveil a new handbook for parliamentarians on "The Missing", highlighting what lawmakers can do to prevent people from disappearing in armed conflicts, help clarify the fate of missing persons and better support their families. The handbook was jointly produced by the IPU and the ICRC.   "These issues go hand-in-hand. International humanitarian law requires that authorities do all they can to inform families about relatives who have disappeared, yet across the globe, countless people remain without news of their missing relatives, sometimes for decades. This is just one of many IHL rules that States and non-State actors must take more seriously," said Beerli.   Earlier this year, the ICRC carried out a survey, which showed that the vast majority of people in war-affected countries believed that wars should have limits, yet far fewer respondents perceived that the Geneva Conventions were effective in limiting the suffering of civilians.   "For us, this sends a very strong signal that IHL must be better implemented and it"s up to lawmakers and politicians to lobby for the ratification of relevant treaties and legislation. Parliamentarians should also do all they can when a conflict erupts to facilitate humanitarian operations, protect civilians and relief workers, and expedite the arrival of assistance," added Beerli.   14 October 2009   The Advancement of Women.   For several years now, and to a significant and increasing degree, the international community has increasingly been working to recognize the needs of women and to improve their lives. The most recent example of this is the initiative launched by the General Assembly to consolidate different entities within the UN system, aimed at promoting the rights and well-being of women worldwide.   For its part, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) recognized some ten years ago that its operational activities needed to take better account of and respond to the specific needs and vulnerabilities of women and girls in armed conflict. Accordingly, at the 27th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent in 1999, the ICRC adopted a Plan of Action to better address the protection and assistance needs of women and girls affected by armed conflict. It further pledged to emphasize throughout its activities the special respect accorded to women and girls by international humanitarian law. Significantly, this includes actively pressing all parties to an armed conflict to respect the categorical prohibition of all forms of sexual violence.   Today, the ICRC has developed a multidimensional approach to identifying and addressing the needs of women and girls affected by armed conflict and other situations of violence. First and foremost, this recognizes the wide-ranging impact that conflict has on their lives. War, in addition to exposing them to the risk of bodily injury, may also compromise their access to health care, force them to flee their homes, separate them from their family members, or affect their ability to access clean drinking water or food. It may also deprive families of their main breadwinner, leaving women responsible for supporting their families on their own. At the same time, cultural and social restrictions may limit their mobility and render them less visible, making them less likely to receive humanitarian assistance.   Given these realities, the ICRC adopts a multidisciplinary response to addressing specific vulnerabilities as well as supporting women in the essential and varied roles they assume in their communities. The resilience and capacities of women, enabling them to participate in their own solutions including self-protection mechanisms or livelihood programmes, have to be recognized. Illustrative examples of ICRC"s approach are as follows:   In certain contexts, alarming numbers of women and girls have been subjected to sexual violence, particularly rape. ICRC support programmes examine the various levels of causality and the impact of sexual violence and as such, cover medical, psychological, social and economic needs. The most innovative of these programmes involves the creation of ICRC-supported counselling centres. These serve as places where victims of sexual violence or other traumatic situations can meet with a local psychosocial assistant trained by the ICRC. This provides them with an opportunity to talk about their trauma, identify their needs, and discuss possible courses of action. If necessary, the counsellors can refer women to medical or legal services and may also mediate between the victim and her family to reduce the risk of stigma or rejection.   Decades of fighting can leave large numbers of men missing, detained or killed. Many women become separated from their husbands and are left without financial or emotional support. Furthermore, cultural traditions may preclude women from engaging in economic activities, making it difficult for them to put food on the table. The ICRC responds to the needs of these female-headed families by providing them with food, hygiene articles and essential household items. In cooperation with local NGOs, we also support income-generating projects so women can regain their economic independence. Finally, we often work with government bodies to make it easier for the many women who qualify to access social welfare programs.   Numerous conflicts have forced families to flee their homes, leaving them in even greater poverty than before. Without easy access to land, many women and girls have no choice but to resort to casual labour or prostitution in order to survive. The ICRC assists civilians through a broad range of activities including water projects, vaccination campaigns, and support for income-generating activities such as market gardening. These market gardens are managed entirely by women, who form an economic interest group, tend the gardens, and share the costs and revenues. The ICRC also supports the training of traditional midwives who often represent the sole source of reproductive health care for women and their newborns. Finally, we facilitate women’s participation in community meetings to ensure that they have the opportunity to express their views and stay informed.   We would like to take this opportunity to reaffirm the importance of incorporating the needs, perspectives, and capacities of women and girls in all operational decision-making. While the ICRC continually strives to improve the protection afforded to women and girls during armed conflict, it also recognizes the need to create separate programmes to respond to other specific requirements– whether these are social, psychosocial, medical, or economic -related. Moreover, we will continue to support women as they lead their families and communities in coping with the devastation caused by conflict and rebuilding their lives in the aftermath of violence.   In closing, we would like to further emphasize the urgency to put a stop to sexual violence committed in connection with armed conflict. We stand ready to work with all State parties to the Geneva Conventions that are committed to suppressing this war crime and punishing its perpetrators.   * Statement by the ICRC to United Nations, General Assembly. Visit the related web page
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