A Word from Ross Mountain

A word from Ross Mountain: The gender challenge

For years there has been a general consensus that humanitarian assistance must develop greater sensitivity to gender issues, both in the emergency response and in long term-recovery efforts. However, our Humanitarian Response Index (HRI) research over the past five years Read more...

September 2011: Humanitarian aid for Palestinians shouldn’t be necessary

Op-ed published September 22, 2011 in The Guardian. The huge amount of money spent on aid wouldn't be needed if the international community pressed Israel to lift the blockade and respect international law, and pushed for a political solution Read more...

August 2011: Action needed to avoid the already vulnerable to become more so

A year after Pakistan suffered one of the worst natural disasters that we can recall, followed by one of the largest appeals at over $2 billion in the history of the United Nations, the country faces a new monsoon spell. The rains, which could Read more...

July-August 2011: The Republic of South Sudan turns a new page – but humanitarian needs persist

Op-ed published  July 8, 2011 in The Guardian This is not the time to give up on vulnerable populations in Darfur and South Kordofan As The Republic of South Sudan prepares for its formal independence on 9 July, there is a danger that the attention of the [...] Read more...

June 2011: UK government response to the Humanitarian Emergency Response Review

Yesterday, the UK Secretary of State, Andrew Mitchell, responded to Parliament on the government’s reaction to the Humanitarian Emergency Response Review (HERR), an independent analysis of the emergency response dimension of the United Kingdom’s humanitarian aid Read more...

March 2011: Launch of the United Kingdom’s independent Humanitarian Emergency Response Review (HERR)

Launch of the United Kingdom’s independent Humanitarian Emergency Response Review (HERR). By Ross Mountain Nearly a year ago the then new British government asked Lord Paddy Ashdown to lead an independent review of the United Kingdom’s humanitarian emergency [...] Read more...

February 2011: Prevention is better than cure

We all know the advantages of being prepared. The differences in casualties and damage caused by the Haiti and Chile earthquakes last year spoke volumes. Read more...

Haiti one year on

A word from Ross Mountain As we look back a year later on the tragic events in Haiti, what have we learned? Typically after a major disaster like this, there are a plethora of evaluations. DARA itself visited Haiti in 2010 and will do so again in 2011. The challenge [...] Read more...

January 2011: Haiti one year on

Haiti one year on By Ross Mountain As we look back a year later on the tragic events in Haiti, what have we learned? Typically after a major disaster like this, there are a plethora of evaluations. DARA itself visited Haiti in 2010 and will do so again in [...] Read more...

December 2010: Adopting a principled approach- The most effective way of having an efficient humanitarian response.

In the course of this last year an estimated 350 million people were affected by major disasters, conflicts and crises. There are currently 10 million refugees, 27 million internally displaced and scores of millions more have their lives disrupted. Read more...