Tufts – Feinstein International Center

This study synthesized findings from six different country case studies, noting influences on data collection and analysis processes during emergencies.

This study examined the integration experiences of protected persons in Vienna, Austria who arrived as unaccompanied and accompanied asylum-seeking older minors.

This briefing paper examines alcohol brewing and consumption in Karamoja, Uganda from the health and economic perspectives.

The widespread scale and long-lasting nature of “persistent GAM” means that it must be a policy and programming priority. This brief sheds light on the issue and provides strategies for policy and practice.

The widespread scale and long-lasting nature of “persistent GAM” means that it must be a policy and programming priority. This paper sheds light on the issue and provides strategies for policy and practice.

This synthesis paper reviews Feinstein’s research and focuses on the increasing socioeconomic differentiation in selected pastoralist areas, and the implications in terms of pathways to resilience.

This briefing paper reviews a full synthesis of Feinstein’s research on pastoralism and focuses on the increasing socioeconomic differentiation in selected pastoralist areas, and the implications in terms of pathways to resilience.

This is a briefing paper of the full report. Resilience is defined as the ability of people to mitigate, weather, and “bounce back” from shocks or adversity. This definition is…

This fifth year report examines key areas of change in Karamoja over the past five years to inform development programming decisions.

This report uses South Sudan as an example to interrogate people’s perceptions of the state, asking what – if not service delivery – fosters state legitimacy.

Programming for unaccompanied and separated children cases is often prioritized in the context of humanitarian interventions. But what is the impact of protection interventions on UASC in humanitarian crises in low and middle income countries?

Does the humanitarian system have the capacity and vision to respond effectively to the crises of today, tomorrow, and deep into the future? This report analyses the failings of the…

This paper explains that aid actors in South Sudan have largely failed because they applied technical solutions to political problems.

This paper describes the findings from research carried out in several areas of South Sudan in the context of armed conflict and raiding. The findings show that despite state-building efforts, service delivery remained inadequate in remote areas and that the interface between service delivery and people’s perceptions of the state is complex.

This report reviews the state of animal-based livelihoods in the Karamoja region of northeastern Uganda and examines how animal ownership affects a household’s ability to weather shocks.

What can international aid policymakers and practitioners learn from the history of international engagement with South Sudan prior to and during the current conflict? This paper traces international engagement shifts…

The Sahel rarely makes headlines. Until the early 2000s, it was on the margins of geopolitical interest and of humanitarian action and debate. Today, the Sahel is on center stage…

The scale of the Syrian conflict and resulting humanitarian need constitute one of the largest crises of our time.  This case study analyzes contemporary humanitarian action in Syria, cross-border operations,…

This policy brief presents the implications of Sweden’s feminist foreign policy for the people they strive to assist, Sweden’s own humanitarian policy and operations, and more broadly the whole humanitarian…

The bulk of humanitarian action occurs in armed conflict settings and this will likely persist into the foreseeable future. Therefore, protection – keeping people safe from armed violence, abuse, discrimination,…

This study provides a nuanced understanding of the transformation of violence for women, men, girls and boys in northern Karamoja at the household, community, district and the regional levels. Drivers…

In 2011–12, Somalia experienced the worst famine of the twenty-first century. Since then, research on the famine has focused almost exclusively on the external response, the reasons for the delay…

Cuba’s contribution to and involvement in humanitarian activities provide an instructive and challenging lens through which to investigate alternative courses to Western dominated humanitarian action. Cuba’s participation in a range…

This working paper analyzes the relationships between international humanitarian aid agencies and the government structures they engage with in South Sudan.

The briefing paper explores the relationship between service delivery, peacebuilding, and state legitimacy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Uganda. It finds that the…

Since December 2013 – only two and a half years after becoming an independent country – South Sudan has been mired in a deep political, military, and humanitarian crisis. This…

After two reasonably good years of recovery, 2014 appears to be shaping up as a difficult year for Somalia. Donors and agencies are ringing alarm bells about deteriorating conditions. There…

This report describes the process and findings of an evaluation of community-based animal health workers (CAHWs) in Kenya, Ethiopia, and South Sudan. Overall, the researchers find that CAHWs continue to…

Many countries’ governments are slow to assume leadership of their disaster management system. Reasons for slow assumption of national leadership include a lack of government prioritization of disaster management, minimal…

The Afghan crisis, now well into its fourth decade, has many layers. The military and political dimensions of the crisis grab the headlines. But the structural violence and poor governance…

Research in Uruzgan suggests that insecurity is largely the result of the failure of governance, which has exacerbated traditional tribal rivalries. While respondents within the international military did report some…

This paper explores the relationships between climate change, humanitarian crises and humanitarian response through a review of published and grey literature. We examine the historical evidence for associations between climate…

This paper by Paul Fishstein and Andrew Wilder presents findings from research conducted by FIC in five provinces of Afghanistan between July 2008 and January 2010 on the relationship between…

Access to productive rangeland has long been a critical issue affecting pastoralists in Ethiopia. In November 2011, the Feinstein International Center at Tufts University facilitated a review of a specific…

Afghanistan has been a testing ground for a key aspect of counterinsurgency doctrine, namely that humanitarian and development projects can help to bring or maintain security in strategically important environments,…

Although pastoralists in Ethiopia are often characterized as unresponsive to market opportunities, the bulk of Ethiopia’s growing formal and informal livestock and meat exports are supplied from pastoralist areas of…

How can improved primary education contribute to peace and security in the troubled Somali Region of Ethiopia? The BRIDGES project is implemented by Save the Children UK, Mercy Corps and…

Over the past five years, Pakistan has witnessed three major crises affecting up to 18 million people. The nature and scale of these crises were different. Two were disasters caused…

Afghanistan has been a testing ground for a key aspect of counterinsurgency doctrine, namely that humanitarian and development projects can help to bring or maintain security in strategically important environments,…

Afghanistan has been a testing ground for a key aspect of counterinsurgency doctrine, namely that humanitarian and development projects can help to bring or maintain security in strategically important environments,…

The people of Somalia have experienced two decades of humanitarian crisis. In 1992, in the wake of the collapse of the Somali state, Somalia set a benchmark for humanitarian crises…

Gode zone in the Somali National Regional State of Ethiopia is a remote area in the east of the country, characterized by marked under‐development and frequent humanitarian crises. In addition,…

The project Revitalizing Agricultural/Pastoral Incomes and New Markets (RAIN) is a three‐year project implemented by Mercy Corps and Save the Children UK (SCUK) in parts of Somali and Oromiya Regions…

Researchers at the Feinstein International Center (FIC) at Tufts University have embarked on a major two-year research project on Humanitarian Action and Politics. This project builds upon and expands on…

Researchers at the Feinstein International Center (FIC) at Tufts University have embarked on a major two-year research project on Humanitarian Action and Politics. This project builds upon and expands on…

This case study on Kenya, researched and written by Mark Bradbury and Michael Kleinman, is the first in a series of publications presenting the findings of a two-year FIC comparative…

This Practitioners’ Guide to the Future serves as the culmination of the Humanitarian Horizons project, commissioned by the members of the Inter-Agency Working Group and implemented jointly by the Feinstein…

This report examines the impact of a privatized, community-based veterinary service in the far northeast of Kenya, and focuses on the outcomes of clinical services provided by community-based animal health workers (CAHWs).

Drawing upon extensive field research in the region and informed by additional field study dating back to the mid-1990s, the study calls renewed attention to the politicization and instrumentalization of…

The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) launched its “People’s War” in 1996. The Maoists’ rise to power was impressive by any standard. After a successful showing at the polls for…

A significant proportion of humanitarian assistance is now delivered by NGOs which have in effect become federated trans-national organizations, alliances of members from different countries, all seeking to provide assistance…

Based on extensive field interviews in Afghanistan, this briefing paper is an update of a 2006 study on perceptions of humanitarian action in Afghanistan, which was part of the Humanitarian…

The last few years have witnessed a renewed interest in the export of live animals and meat from Kenya and Ethiopia. In both cases, the private sector has taken the…

Using existing international databases that track disaster occurrence and humanitarian costs, this research attempts to improve understanding of how climate change may affect international humanitarian spending. Employing four distinct methodological…

This study is the twelfth and final country case study of the “Humanitarian Agenda 2015: Principles, Power and perceptions” (HA2015) research project. As with the other case studies it attempts…

This report summarizes the findings of a major research project on the constraints, challenges, and compromises affecting humanitarian action in conflict and crisis settings. The building blocks are 12 case…

The devastating earthquake that struck northern Pakistan and the disputed territory of Kashmir in October 2005 killed approximately 75,000 people, injured 70,000 more, and left an estimated 3.5 million people…

Based on extensive field interviews in Iraq and neighboring Jordan, this briefing paper is an update of an earlier study on perceptions of humanitarian action in Iraq, which was part…

Karamoja is the poorest and least developed region of Uganda. The population experiences chronic food insecurity, little access to basic services, the weakening of traditional livelihood systems, ongoing insecurity, human…

This report from an understudied area details the effects of and responses to violence in Ikotos County in Eastern Equatoria in Southern Sudan. The author, from Southern Sudan himself, draws…

This new report on the Karamoja Cluster of Uganda, Sudan, Kenya, and Ethiopia is the result of several years of field work by a respected Teso elder from the region…

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), formerly Zaire, is the second largest country in Africa and rich in gold, diamonds and minerals in the East of the country. It…

This study contributes to the Humanitarian Agenda 2015 (HA2015) country paper series by examining the issues of universality, terrorism, coherence and security in relation to the humanitarian enterprise in Sri…

This study provides a composite view of reflections by U.S. veterans from the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq on their experiences in the Global War on Terror. It draws on…

Competing livelihoods in the absence of good local governance has led to localized and ultimately devastating conflict over natural resources in Darfur. The lack of comprehensive livelihoods analysis in international…

This briefing paper is about the financing of humanitarian action. In the paper, and in the forthcoming workshop, we want to ask some basic questions: Is the pot of humanitarian…

Iraq places the frailties and fault-lines of the humanitarian enterprise in stark relief. Perhaps more than any other highly politicized context, Iraq has fueled a defensiveness and sense of existential…

Highlighting major changes in the context in Iraq and rapid deterioration of the humanitarian situation, this brief report summarizes an Iraq country study to be issued in final form as…

This study of the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) is part of Phase II of HA2015 which includes a larger set of case studies. As with the other case studies, the…

This report summarizes the findings of the first phase of a major research project on the challenges and compromises that are likely to affect humanitarian action in the next decade….

Three of the four topics addressed by the Humanitarian Agenda 2015 research seem pertinent in the case of Burundi – coherence, security and, to a lesser extent, terrorism. Many comparisons…

The experience of Colombia sheds light on all four themes of the HA 2015 research. First, with respect to universality, Colombia sees itself as part and parcel of the western…

Sudan has been torn by conflict and political strife throughout its history. As a result of the various conflicts, the political and economic situation in different parts of Sudan is…

The HA2015 study examines the effects of four broad challenges on the humanitarian enterprise: universality, terrorism, coherence and security. Each of these has resonance in the context of northern Uganda….

The four themes of the HA 2015 research come together in Afghanistan with clear-cut relevance. The externality of the aid enterprise and the baggage that comes with it—values, lifestyle, attitude,…

The tsunami and earthquakes that hit the Indian Ocean 26th December 2004 caused a disaster so extreme and so unusual that it pushed all our models of response to the…

The data presented and analyzed by the study in three cases-Afghanistan, Kosovo, and Sierra Leone-offers intriguing and provocative look at the wide-ranging security needs of local communities and the uneven…

In recent years and for a variety of reasons, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has been buffeted by an array of forces. In one…

This study provides international NGOs with a rudimentary framework for strategic planning in the light of the likely challenges of ambiguity and change awaiting them during the next decade. It…

This report documents and analyzes recent countrywide trends in the relationship between human security and livelihoods throughout rural Afghanistan from 2002-2003. All countrywide information is generated by analyses of 2003…

A report on an international mapping exercise to understand the implications of the Iraq war and other crises on humanitarian action.

Donor behavior represents a patchwork of policies and activities by individual governments, which taken together, do not provide a coherent or effective system for financing the international humanitarian enterprise. The…

an assessment of the impacts of the Pastoral Community Harmonization Initiative (PCHI) in its fourth year