AU wants peace, security and bigger global role in 2012

SECURITY: Mixed report on mine action progress

BANGKOK, 2 December 2011 (IRIN) - Landmine clearance and donor support for mine action reached an all-time high in 2010, but more countries – four – deployed antipersonnel mines than in any year since 2004, according to NGOs. full report

AID POLICY: The politics of humanitarian principle

BERLIN, 28 October 2011 (IRIN) - For decades aid agencies have been tackling troubling ethical dilemmas about where to draw the line when negotiating with armed forces when trying to deliver aid to vulnerable communities. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) discusses some of the ethical dilemmas it has faced over the past 40 years in Humanitarian Negotiations Revealed: The MSF Experience, promoted at its annual Berlin Humanitarian Congress. full report

FOOD: Rumpus over GM food aid

JOHANNESBURG, 18 October 2011 (IRIN) - Genetically modified (GM) food aid bound for Africa has long been a bone of contention among governments, scientists, activists, consumers and aid workers. full report

DISASTERS: New risk index helps identify vulnerability

JOHANNESBURG, 5 September 2011 (IRIN) - A new disaster risk index launched by the UN University Institute for Environment and Human Security in Bonn could help donors and aid organizations better understand why some countries are more at risk of calamity than others, and shape their responses when disaster strikes. full report

HORN OF AFRICA: Thinking outside the traditional funding box

NAIROBI, 1 September 2011 (IRIN) - The race to feed more than 12 million people facing severe food shortages in the Horn of Africa has seen humanitarian agencies make several funding appeals. Donor governments have contributed US$1.46 billion out of the required $2.48 billion. full report

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: "Silent crisis" as more Eritreans flee

ADDIS ABABA, 5 August 2011 (IRIN) - More and more Eritrean refugees, mostly educated young men, continue to arrive in Ethiopia, with the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, expressing concern over the rising numbers. full report

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Thousands need aid after volcano eruption

ADDIS ABABA/NAIROBI, 6 July 2011 (IRIN) - Thousands of Ethiopians in Afar State are facing critical food, water and health gaps almost a month after a volcano erupted in neighbouring Eritrea's Nabro region, officials say. full report

ERITREA-SUDAN: Refugees battling for a better life

KHARTOUM/KASSALA, 1 July 2011 (IRIN) - The first official Eritrean refugees arrived in Sudan in 1968; today, an estimated 1,600 cross the border every month to seek refuge in Shagarab, a large camp in the east of Sudan. full report

GLOBAL: Stillbirths could be halved

DAKAR, 27 April 2011 (IRIN) - Preventing stillbirths can cost just US$2.32 per mother if governments, the private sector and international institutions adopt a package of 10 health interventions, rather than allowing stillbirths to be an almost invisible problem. full report