Series
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...
December 2010: Time to level on the risks of climate change
We can all be happy that some progress was made inside the conference rooms at the main UN climate meeting this month at Cancun. Read more...
November 2010: We need to provide more effective and targeted assistance to victims and stronger donor leadership
The importance and significance of donor governments is indispensable for ensuring both that affected populations receive the best assistance possible but also that the now considerable resources allocated to humanitarian aid are most effectively utilised. Read more...
November 2010: Learning lessons in Haiti
By Ross Mountain The hurricane season is fast approaching in Haiti and shelter remains the main priority after the devastating earthquake on 12th January 2010. Although the international community has made considerable progress after a generous but rough start [...] Read more...
October 2010: Advocating for the vulnerable
Advocating for the Vulnerable By Ross Mountain While Copenhagen did not live up to anyone’s expectations, one thing that did happen was that the insistence of one small threatened country through the voice of its president, including the use of an underwater [...] Read more...
September 2010: Is the increase of weather triggered disasters just bad luck?
Is the increase of weather triggered disasters just bad luck? By Ross Mountain At the time of Hurricane Katrina many people felt that this exceptional weather phenomena could be linked to climate change, but there was no clear evidence it was said. Since then [...] Read more...
July-August 2010: The importance of coordination
The importance of coordination By Ross Mountain Welcoming Valerie Amos, Incoming UN Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC) and Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian AffairsCoordination is sometimes seen as a series of meetings bringing people together to discuss [...] Read more...
June 2010: Feeding the inmates through the bars
Humanitarian assistance in Gaza and the West Bank: “Feeding the inmates through the bars” Op Ed by Ross Mountain in Arabic in An Nahar, a leading newspaper in Lebanon on Saturday 19th June 2010. The killing in "self-defense" of unarmed civilians during [...] Read more...
May 2010: Haiti- A shelter emergency
Haiti: a shelter emergency Op-ed published in El País, 31 March 2010, co-signed by Ross Mountain, Director General of DARA; Fernando Perpiñá, Secretary General of Club de Madrid; Emilio Casinello, Director General of Centro Internacional de Toledo para la [...] Read more...