Social Science Research Council

The media profile of Darfur shot up enormously once the label ‘the world’s worst humanitarian crisis’ was applied, although technically the phrase used was the “world’s greatest humanitarian and human rights catastrophe.” This is commonly standardised to ‘world’s worst…’
In a press conference in Nairobi on 19 March 2004, with the 10-year anniversary of Rwanda approaching, [...]

When the 13 aid agencies were expelled from Darfur, about seven months ago, voices were raised about the possible humanitarian implications of this on the people of Darfur.
The Guardian on 5 March 2009 mentioned that “About 4.7 million people rely on food, medical or water aid in Darfur, including 2.7 million people displaced by [...]

Pacification
“NO PEACE WITHOUT JUSTICE”
The second main argument used in support of the International Criminal Court is that there can be “no peace without justice.” This argument is summed up perfectly in this 6 March 2009 editorial in Le Monde:
“Justice and the pursuit of peace go hand in hand. There is no contradiction between them, [...]

Introduction
Officially, the thirteen NGOs expelled from Sudan after an international arrest warrant was issued against Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir were being punished for their “violations to the laws of the humanitarian work” in cooperating with the “so-called International Criminal Court.”(1) By all appearance, this explanation reflects only some of the regime’s motivations. Yet, the [...]

Last week in the House of Commons, London, I introduced a debate which I believe has the potential of affecting many lives. It is a debate which I believe we should insist people engage with in the hope that the decision makers will realise at last that it is no good waiting for [...]

Another excellent and invaluable report from the Feinstein Center at Tufts University. The somewhat dry title, Targeting in Complex Emergencies: Darfur Case Study does not do justice to the richness of the material and analysis—and its implications for resolution of the Darfur crisis. Embedded within the report is an account of how the mechanisms and [...]

A couple of days ago I received a mass email from the Save Darfur Coalition, encouraging me to “turn words into action.” It asked me to write to President Obama urging him to roll out his blueprint for peace in Darfur, “NOW!” As any reader of this blog will know, I believe strongly that this [...]

A new briefing paper by Helen Young, Karen Jacobsen and Abdalmonim Osman
Livelihoods, Migration and Conflict is the most recent briefing paper in the Tufts University series on livelihoods in Darfur. It is as good as its predecessors and is essential reading for those wishing to understand the dimensions of the crisis of livelihoods and survival. [...]

US Senator John Kerry reports that due to Khartoum’s decision to “engage in a new dialogue with us, some of that capacity for humanitarian assistance will be restored.” The mass-expulsion of aid agencies from Darfur six weeks ago showed in a single stroke just how vital and vulnerable “that capacity” can be. It [...]

Most of Darfur’s internally-displaced camps are urban settlements in all but name. In geographical terms the most striking impact of the last seven years has been to change Darfur from being overwhelmingly scattered rural villages and hamlets to huge extended cities. In the wake of the abrupt expulsion of the international NGOs which provided a [...]