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NEPAL: Bhutanese refugees “shocked” at WFP food ration cuts
KATHMANDU Thursday, October 29, 2009 (IRIN) - Bhutanese refugees in Nepal have expressed dismay at a recent decision by the World Food Programme (WFP) to cut food rations sharply.

ASIA: Human rights body’s shaky beginnings
HUA HIN Monday, October 26, 2009 (IRIN) - After only a few days Southeast Asia's inter-governmental human rights body is already being criticized over its terms of reference as well as its ability to have any impact on human rights in Myanmar.

NEPAL: Floods, landslides hit food stocks
KATHMANDU Thursday, October 22, 2009 (IRIN) - Food insecurity has increased for thousands of families in Nepal’s far- and mid-west regions as a result of flooding and landslides earlier this month.

In Brief: When health facilities become casualties
DAKAR Wednesday, October 14, 2009 (IRIN) - Designed to be safe havens in times of disaster, health facilities are vulnerable to upheaval when catastrophe strikes, according to the UN, which is focusing on hospital safety for International Day for Disaster Reduction.

NEPAL: Political instability undermining development
KATHMANDU Friday, October 09, 2009 (IRIN) - Continued political instability in Nepal is hampering development initiatives and could worsen humanitarian challenges in the already impoverished Himalayan nation, humanitarian workers and analysts warn.

How To: Rescue people trapped in a collapsed building
NAIROBI Thursday, October 08, 2009 (IRIN) - When an earthquake strikes a town, or a building is levelled by an explosion, news footage invariably shows search and rescue teams trawling through the rubble looking for survivors. But what does it take to rescue people trapped under tons of concrete?

In Brief: Voices of landmine survivors
DAKAR Thursday, October 08, 2009 (IRIN) - A landmine survivor in Senegal’s Casamance region on 6 October used the recent report, ‘Voices from the Ground’, based on a survey of mine victims worldwide, to remind aid agencies, Senegal’s anti-mine agency and the media of victims’ needs and governments’ responsibilities.

In Brief: Migration myths dispelled in UNDP report
BANGKOK Monday, October 05, 2009 (IRIN) - Most migrants do not move from developing to developed countries, and when they do, rather than hurting host economies, they benefit them, according to a new report by the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

In Brief: Twenty cities most vulnerable to storm surges, sea level rises
DAKAR Thursday, October 01, 2009 (IRIN) - According to (yet another) new climate change report, this time from development think-tank CGD, these are the 20 cities where the most people will be at the greatest risk from sea level rise and storm surges in the developing world.

NEPAL: Kathmandu faces worsening water crisis
KATHMANDU Thursday, September 24, 2009 (IRIN) - Fetching drinking water is a daily ordeal for schoolgirl Sumitra Maharjan, who queues from dawn for hours to access a local public tap.

In Brief: Climate-related disasters force 20 million out of homes in 2008
JOHANNESBURG Wednesday, September 23, 2009 (IRIN) - Climate related natural disasters like droughts, hurricanes and floods forced 20 million people - slightly less than the population of Australia - out of their homes in 2008 alone said a new study, making a strong case for regularly monitoring displacement in the context of climate change.

NEPAL: Gearing up for Copenhagen
KATHMANDU Friday, September 04, 2009 (IRIN) - Nepal is one of the most vulnerable countries in terms of climate change, and is gearing up to make its presence felt at the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen in December, the government says.

NEPAL: Malnutrition rife in country’s breadbasket
KATHMANDU Friday, August 28, 2009 (IRIN) - Nepal’s food-insecure hill and mountain villages are not the only areas where malnutrition is rife: People living in the fertile southern plains of the Terai region, the country’s industrial and agricultural heartland, are also malnourished, according to local nutritionists.

Analysis: Humanitarian action under siege
DAKAR Tuesday, August 18, 2009 (IRIN) - On the first-ever World Humanitarian Day, as the UN spotlights fallen aid workers and growing humanitarian needs, experts say a trend toward integrating aid goals into broader social and security agendas has contributed to an erosion of “humanitarian space”. IRIN looks at why, and at how donors, UN agencies and NGOs might ensure that it does not shrink for good.

NEPAL: Government "must focus on food"
KATHMANDU Tuesday, August 04, 2009 (IRIN) - Nepal’s government must pay greater attention to food security - recognizing people’s human right to food as a top priority - say specialists.

HOW TO: Do a food airdrop
NAIROBI Thursday, July 30, 2009 (IRIN) - The humanitarian cavalry is the food airdrop: when you need to shift serious tonnage in a hurry to somewhere inaccessible, nothing quite does it like a large cargo plane and skilled pilot and crew.

NEPAL: Agencies urge rehabilitation for former child soldiers
KATHMANDU Sunday, July 26, 2009 (IRIN) - A proper rehabilitation programme for thousands of former child soldiers - now young men - is needed in Nepal, say specialists.

NEPAL: Government failing to curtail rural diarrhoea deaths - health workers
KATHMANDU Friday, July 17, 2009 (IRIN) - Neglect of the rural health system and poor preparedness result in thousands of avoidable diarrhoea-related deaths annually in Nepal, health analysts warn.

AFRICA: Military munitions storage increasingly unstable
JOHANNESBURG Tuesday, July 14, 2009 (IRIN) - The growing number of accidental explosions in military arms and ammunition storage facilities across Africa has highlighted the need for minimum standards in stockpile management in the continent, says a South Africa-based think-tank.

AFRICA: South Africa recommits to peacekeeping
JOHANNESBURG Friday, July 10, 2009 (IRIN) - South Africa has renewed its commitment to United Nations and African Union peacekeeping missions, announcing the continued deployment of troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Sudan, Uganda and Nepal.

NEPAL: Heartache for wives of Bhutanese refugees
DAMAK Thursday, July 02, 2009 (IRIN) - More than a thousand Nepalese women married to Bhutanese refugees fear they may be left out of the third country resettlement programme and end up separated from their families.

NEPAL: Repatriation or resettlement for Bhutanese refugees?
BELDANGI Monday, June 22, 2009 (IRIN) - Over the past year thousands of Bhutanese refugees in Nepal have resettled in third countries - mainly the USA - but many others, especially the elderly, hope only for repatriation to Bhutan.

NEPAL: Tough times for displaced women in Kathmandu
KATHMANDU Tuesday, May 26, 2009 (IRIN) - Thousands of men and women, displaced by 10 years of civil war, are destitute in Kathmandu, but it is the women who are particularly vulnerable.

NEPAL: Political impasse delays humanitarian assistance
KATHMANDU Friday, May 15, 2009 (IRIN) - The ongoing political impasse in Nepal has affected the flow of humanitarian assistance and development work, local and international aid workers say.

ASIA: Governments move to boost anti-viral stockpiles
BANGKOK/MANILA Friday, May 08, 2009 (IRIN) - Southeast Asian countries have agreed to boost anti-viral stockpiles and consolidate regional efforts to prevent a spread of the H1N1 swine flu.