Humanitarian Crisis Research Articles

Independence or a federation? Perceived discrimination as an antecedent of Anglophone Cameroonians’ attitude towards the form of state

Since 2016, the Central African country of Cameroon has been experiencing the worst conflict and humanitarian crisis in its history over the systematic marginalization and discrimination of Anglophones and a change in the form of state. This study sets out to explore Anglophone’s perception of discrimination, their attitudes towards the form of state (federation and independence), and the extent to which the perception of discrimination predicts attitudes towards the form of state. In a sample of 314 Anglophones, results showed that attitudes towards the form of state were mixed as there was no significant difference between support for independence and support for a federation. In addition, results indicated that the perception of discrimination among Anglophones was significantly high. Lastly, while controlling for the effect of age, level of education, and economic status, the results showed that the perception of discrimination was significantly related to support for independence but not support for a federation. Implications and avenues for further research are discussed as well.

Transcending information delivery: how Malaysian online news portals report on COVID-19 crisis response

Malaysia has experienced its most significant socio-economic setback since the outbreak of COVID-19. Amid this unprecedented health and humanitarian crisis, various stakeholders, including the government, businesses, and community members, generously provided livelihood assistance in various forms to help affected Malaysians, alleviating issues such as hunger, food insecurity, and cash flow constraints. However, the impact of these efforts would not have been as profound without the media’s coverage. During the pandemic lockdown, over 80% of Malaysians turned to smartphones and online news to stay abreast of COVID-19 updates. Online news outlets evidently played a pivotal role in safeguarding livelihoods. Drawing upon crisis-response reporting and framing theory, this study examined COVID-19 response reporting in leading Malaysian online news portals. The researchers content analyzed a total of 860 news articles from 2020 through 2021. The findings indicate that these portals not only provided timely information on livelihood relief efforts but also vigorously advocated for more mature pandemic-response policies. Additionally, practical analyses were featured to inspire better-informed decision making during challenging times. However, several limitations were linked to the lack of more balanced and “softer” news coverage. The findings are poised to enrich the literature on little-explored crisis-response reporting.

International Journal of Role-playing 14 -- Full Issue -- IJRP

IJRP 14: Full Issue
 Table of Contents
 Evan Torner, Sarah Lynne Bowman, and William J. White -- "Editorial: Transformative Play Seminar 2022: Role-playing, Heritage, and Culture"
 This special issue is the second of a two-part series collecting the short articles presented during the Transformative Play Initiative Seminar, held at Uppsala University Campus Gotland in Visby, Sweden on October 20-21, 2022.
 "Statement by Mohamad Rabah"
 The statement reveals why the keynoter from Palestine was unable to attend the seminar in Visby due to a delayed visa approval by the Swedish Embassy in Israel. The statement emphasizes the importance of play as a tool for hope for young children, but also its limitations in the face of oppression.
 Weronika Szatkowska, "The People: A Serious Role-playing Game Designed to Address a Humanitarian Crisis"
 This article presents a case study of a serious role-play game called The People. The game was created as a response to the migration crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border in cooperation with an engaged collective of researchers and groups of activists.
 Tadeu Rodrigues Iuama, "Towards the Post-Modern Art Week: Anthropophagic Reflexes in the Brazilian Larp Scenes"
 This article reflects on larp using the concept of anthropophagy. The metaphor, created by Oswald de Andrade in 1928 in Brazil, is characterized by the de-hierarchization of the hegemonic places of culture and by the critical digestion of the Other.
 Rian Rezende and Denise Portinari -- "Playing with Wonders: Objects, Role-Playing Games, and the Cultural Legacy of Bispo do Rosário for the City of Rio de Janeiro"
 This work focuses on an art object called “The Presentation Cloak.” The cloak forms a central element of micro role-playing games created to encourage people to experience stories linked to Brazilian cultural heritage.
 Yuqiao Liu --"Experiencing China’s Intangible Cultural Heritage in Role-playing Games: Comparative Studies between MMORPGs and Larps"
 Using case studies from MMORPGs and Jubensha, this article explores the great potential role-playing games have to promote the learning of intangible cultural expres sions and traditions of China and make them available to a wider public.
 Bálint Márk Turi and Mátyás Hartyándi -- "Playing With The Fictitious “I”: Early Forms of Educational Role-playing in Hungary, 1938-1978"
 This article analyzes various sources to determine what forms of transformative play were present at the Bánk vacation program in Hungary (1938-1978). The authors discuss the program as a unique heritage of educational role-playing.
 Evan Torner -- "Jeppe and Maria Bergmann Ham-ming’s Literary-Musical Larp Adaptations"
 This article addresses analog RPG authorship through an analysis of three music-based blackbox larps by Jeppe and Maria Bergmann Hamming. The larps bear a unique signature, using aesthetic idealism and high culture to explore themes of decadance and downfall.
 Josephine Baird -- "Larp as a Potential Space for Non-Formal Queer Cultural Heritage"
 This article argues that larp design seeking to reflect and represent queer cultural production in social and performance spaces may allow for non-formal education on LGBTQIA+ lives and heritage, as well as personal (gender) expression, exploration, and embodiment.
 Hilda Levin -- "Bridging Historical and Present-Day Queer Community Through Embodied Role-playing"
 This article argues that in the affirmative space of larp, playing queer personality traits that might be suppressed can offer opportunities for personal growth and community building. Such impacts are especially possible with metareflection and integration.
 Henry Korkeila and J. Tuomas Harviainen -- "Gaming Capital in Contemporary Role-playing Game Platforms"
 This study approaches the formation of gaming capital within both Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) and Dungeons & Dragons (1974), emphasizing information flow and social space perspectives.

The People: A Serious Role-playing Game Designed to Address a Humanitarian Crisis

In this article, I present a case study of the serious role-play game The People, which was created as a response to the migration crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border in cooperation with an engaged collective of researchers and groups of activists. The game combines elements of role-playing, a board game, and cards to present the complexity of the situation in the Emergency State Zone on the Polish-Belarusian border, especially on the practical, social, and institutional levels. The purpose of the tool is to raise the participants’ awareness of the current situation and to enhance an active search for solutions to the crisis.
 The game enables participants to adopt a perspective of a border zone resident or a refugee, and ultimately modify the rules governing the world to make it fairer. Providing the participants with agency to reconstruct the game environment during the debriefing made it possible to generate numerous possible solutions at the level of direct interventions; e.g., providing shelters in forests, training residents in first aid; legal, e.g., access by doctors and media, allowing humanitarian organizations; and executive, e.g., more effective enforcement of European law. Also, the exposure to goals inconsistent with personal views under significant immersion evokes various strategies to deal with the clash, including passive agreement, rationalization, gentle disagreement, and extreme disagreement. Such a game can inspire a positive change in the level of participants’ understanding, interesting solutions, activist attitudes, and empathy towards asylum seekers. However, the game can also expose the dangerous, existing mechanisms that pose a challenge to society, and what should be monitored and possibly mitigated in the future.

Contraception and abortion in times of crisis: results from an online survey of Venezuelan women.

In the last decade, Venezuela has experienced a complex humanitarian crisis that has limited access to healthcare. We set out to describe Venezuelan women's experiences accessing sexual and reproductive health services, including abortion, which is heavily restricted by law. We fielded an online survey in July of 2020 among Venezuelan women recruited through social media advertisements. We conducted descriptive statistical analyses using Excel and STATA SE Version 16.0. We received 851 completed survey responses. Almost all respondents experienced significant hardship in the last year, including inflation (99%), worries about personal safety (86%), power outages (76%), and lack of access to clean water (74%) and medications (74%). Two thirds of respondents used contraception in the last two years, and almost half (44%) of respondents had difficulty accessing contraception during that same time period. About one fifth of respondents reported having had an abortion; of these, 63% used abortion pills, and 72% reported difficulties in the process. Half of those who had an abortion did it on their own, while the other half sought help - either from family members or friends (34%), from providers in the private health sector (14%), or from the Internet (12%). Venezuelan women who responded to our survey describe a harsh context with limited access to sexual and reproductive health services. However, they report relatively high rates of contraceptive use, and abortion seems to be common despite the restrictive legal setting.

INSECURITY IN THE LAKE CHAD REGION AND NIGERIA’S RISING DEFENCE BUDGETS

With the advancement in technology, globalization, ideological explosions and the widespread of light weapons across the globe, the world is fast becoming insecure. In the contemporary world, insecurity knows no bound. Today, terrorism, mass – shooting, kidnapping and banditry have become threats to peace and security and are the highest contributors to humanitarian crises globally as well as the Lake Chad Region. This paper provides analytical and graphic scenarios of increase in defence budget, forgoing critical sectors of human capital development and infrastructure to finance wars and instabilities which only succeeds in making a cyclical adventure of insecurities. The study makes comparative analysis of the phenomenon from 2011 to 2020 when the budget was N121 billion; but with heightened insecurity, the budget was raised to N899 billion. The analyses showed that increase in the defence budget is at the expense of other critical sectors of development including education, agriculture, health and infrastructural development. Equally, the huge budgetary provisions for defence are evidently mismanaged and easily fall into the mighty loop of corruption. Corruption helps elongate the period of war; thereby putting the lives of the citizenry in danger. These lead to less informed society; high unemployment rate; unhealthy citizenry and many other factors that eventually booster insecurity. . The increase in the defence budget meant to ensure the efficacy of all the policies of government in ensuring a stable and peaceful nation does the opposite by opening plethora of security challenges. The study employed a progressive theory of public expenditure and relies on both primary and secondary sources of data. This study can be used as a benchmark by policy makers to formulate a policy that can create a peaceful atmosphere and the development of a comprehensive and workable strategy in defence budgeting and expenditure.

“Everything has changed:” Functionally diverse older adults’ experiences with Hurricane María in Puerto Rico

A humanitarian crisis emerged when Hurricane María hit Puerto Rico in 2017, demonstrating the urgency in addressing the needs of older adults and people with access and functional needs. The study uses in-depth interviews with functionally diverse older adults in rural and urban regions of Puerto Rico (n = 14), aged 67 to 88 (M = 76.7), of which 11 were women, to explore their lived experiences preparing for the hurricane, during the storm, and in its aftermath. We utilized Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to consider how they made sense of their experiences. Based on the interview data, the first major theme describes the sense of shock or dismay as participants recount facing another world, and they explain how they prepared for something unforeseeable or unimaginable. The second major theme evinces resilience through the disastrous aftermath by encompassing how they coped and survived through faith, gratitude, and a shared or collective experience. In their narratives, participants demonstrated resilience as a consequence of their disability and age rather than in spite of their disability and age. Our discussion of the findings incorporates participants' post-hurricane circumstances and health conditions, as well as their perspective on the impact of the hurricane for the archipelago. This paper offers insights into how functionally diverse older adults in Puerto Rico make sense of their experience surrounding Hurricane María. We contextualize the study and findings within the particular political, social, economic, and cultural position of Puerto Rico relative to the United States and discuss relevance to current and future crises.

Res. 2664 (U.N.S.C.) and Res. 52/13 (U.N.H.R.C.)

Under Article 41 of the UN Charter, the Security Council has established 31 sanctions regimes since 1966. Sanctions measures encompass a broad range of enforcement actions not involving the use of armed force. The measures have ranged from comprehensive economic and trade sanctions to more targeted measures such as arms embargoes, travel bans, and financial or commodity restrictions. In recent years, there have been increasing numbers of complaints from humanitarian organizations that sanctions cause or exacerbate humanitarian crises. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has estimated that at least 222 million people were experiencing acute food insecurity at the end of 2022, the largest global food crisis in modern history. At the same time, the countries that need the most assistance are often subject to international sanctions regimes. As of March 2023, UN sanctions applied in nine of the top ten operations of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Russian Peacekeeping Operation in Nagorno-Karabakh (2020–2023)

The article presents the results of a study of the peacekeeping mission conducted by the Russian peacekeeping forces in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020–2023 and assesses its effectiveness. According to the trilateral agreement signed on November 10, 2020 by the Presidents of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Russian peacekeepers were introduced into Nagorno-Karabakh. After the signed trilateral agreement, two more agreements followed, which fixed effective activities and strengthened the need for the presence of peacekeepers in the region. In December 2022, Azerbaijani so-called “eco-activists” blocked the only road (the Lachin Corridor) connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, blocking the free movement of people and goods, hindering the activities of peacekeepers and creating a humanitarian crisis for the population of Nagorno- Karabakh.

Resilience, Vulnerability, and Social Isolation: Barriers to Poverty Reduction in War

Abstract The majority of the world’s ultra-poor live in conflict-affected environments. Poverty reduction efforts are increasingly attempting to target the most vulnerable inhabitants of these settings. Few studies have so far examined their impacts. Against the backdrop of one of the largest humanitarian crises in recent years, survey data from the Central African Republic demonstrates that a year after the conclusion of a large social safety net program, the poorest female participants did not benefit proportionately to other women and men. We draw on 257 in-depth qualitative interviews in extremely difficult-to-access conflict-affected sites across the country to explore the puzzle of why the most vulnerable inhabitants of conflict-affected settings may fail to benefit equally from poverty reduction programs. We demonstrate that conditions of social isolation—rather than poverty itself—create two specific barriers to long-term benefits. First, social isolation means that the poorest women recipients lack the social support networks that permit others to respond to conflict-related shocks without draining all their new income on emergency spending. Second, small social networks create a shortage of labor and higher start-up costs for new revenue-generating activities, thereby preventing spending on investment opportunities. These factors highlight the social barriers to poverty reduction, which are often intensified by shocks born from war, that material aid alone fails to redress.

Empty Threats and Aid Weaponization: Understanding the International Response to Yemen’s Humanitarian Crisis

ABSTRACT Since 2015, international aid organizations have delivered over $23 billion in assistance to alleviate Yemen’s humanitarian crisis. Complicating this effort, however, is the fact that aid organizations must coordinate aid delivery with the Houthis, the de facto authority ruling 70 percent of Yemen’s population. Rather than allowing aid organizations to operate without interference, the Houthis have restricted their operations and weaponized aid for political purposes. This comes despite aid organizations’ threats to withhold assistance from the Houthis. Why do the Houthis continue to weaponize aid despite pressure and condemnation from the very organizations upon which they depend for assistance? I argue that the structure of humanitarian relief efforts makes it difficult for aid organizations to credibly threaten to cut off assistance to the Houthis, and that these empty threats do little to deter Houthi bad behavior. In developing this argument, this article contributes both to our understanding of the politics of Yemen’s civil war, as well as to theoretical conversations about the relationship between rebel groups and international actors.

The Endless Vulnerability of Migrant Children In-Transit across the Darién Gap.

Many people from poverty-stricken countries are migrating across South and Central America to reach the México-United States border, a movement exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Migrant people who begin their northbound journey in South America must transit across a significant geographic bottleneck, the Darién Gap, a mountainous rainforest region between Colombia and Panama. Most migrant people crossing this region originate from Cuba, Haiti, and Venezuela. Other people reach the shores of South American countries from west and central Africa or central and southeastern Asia and continue to the Darién Gap. Poverty and violence drive families with children to flee their homes and endure incalculable risks in their path. Children traveling with their families or as unaccompanied minors across the Darién Gap are exposed to life-threatening situations and human rights violations, including abuse, exploitation, malnourishment, and limited access to medical care. In addition to experiencing untreated medical illnesses, children experience mental health disorders during migration and after they reach their destination as a result of victimization and adverse traumatic experiences. Therefore, providing migrants, especially children, with rapid medical screenings and mental health support when they arrive at their destination is critical to reduce health inequities. Furthermore, making these interventions available during their transit and ensuring their safety may prevent further human rights abuses in children and families. Latin American governments must address the ongoing humanitarian crisis endured by migrants throughout their migratory path by offering access to essential healthcare services and safeguarding the rights and security of children and vulnerable groups.

India’s Rohingya Dilemma: Crisis and Resolution

While the Rohingya issue has become a grave socio-economic and security concern with cross-regional implications, India has not been able to make its stance clear yet. India is facing a very unique situation where most of the political parties, particularly the opposition parties are not unanimous with the ruling party on the Rohingya issue. Rohingyas becoming a serious threat to India’s society, economy and environment. In a short period, the issue of a humanitarian crisis has become a grave security threat for India. Though the issue is so sensitive from the point of security view, there is no unanimity among political parties, civil society groups, think tanks, and decision-making circles. Even after the Supreme Court of India rejected the plea of Rohingyas and their supporters to lobby against repatriation the government is unable to send back Rohingyas to their place of origin in Myanmar. The recent Intel reports are warning about Rohingyas cross border links with several subversive groups across the region. Terrorist groups have now started exploiting their plights. The paper tries to discuss and evaluate critically New Delhi’s approaches towards Rohingyas. The paper will also understand how, being a mature democracy, champion of human rights, and love for diversity, India addresses the situation delicately in a time-bound manner before it goes out of hand. Keywords Rohingya, Security, Threat, Myanmar, Rakhine, Terrorism, Refugees

Initial Standardized Knowledge Management Framework, Formed from Learning During a Humanitarian Crisis

The paper presents some aspects of knowledge management theory. This underpins a research methodology designed to expose knowledge transfer in voluntary not-for-profit groups. The paper aims are to make recommendations which, supported by a knowledge management strategy and good practices, provide the basis for the development of a future model of knowledge management in crisis situations. A hypothesis has been established: During emergencies that arise suddenly, a variety of information and knowledge is dispersed, widely disseminated, and belongs to many different organizations. A coherent information system is needed for the dissemination and sharing of knowledge for effective assistance to people affected by the crisis. The main challenge in managing knowledge in such humanitarian emergencies, is the fact that a wide variety of information and knowledge is dispersed, disseminated, and originally belongs to many different organizations. These information resources may not be organized and used effectively during a crisis situation. Over time, preliminary and non-standardized rules are developed. The authors of this paper took part in a humanitarian action - both independently and in cooperation with non-governmental organizations. This allowed for the collection of extensive research material. During the research, the methodology of participatory observation and surveys was used. The aim of the study was to develop knowledge management standards, for use in the event of other humanitarian crises. The final research technique used is given, from participant selection to outcome analysis. It was found that processes of organizational learning and active knowledge management occurred in many forms. Knowledge was transferred in and out of the organizations. Expertise from earlier experiences was applied, and transferred, becoming explicit. Managerial skills and methods were applied in new organizational contexts. Many similarities and some differences were found, despite clear differences in the type of organisations and country of origin. The research allowed the authors to research extensively into people’s motivations, priorities, and forms of information transfer. Knowledge acquisition, transfer and sharing were clearly identifiable, as was organizational learning and subsequent usage of it. Future implementation of standardized, coherent knowledge management rules, used in crisis situations will facilitate the sharing of knowledge and its reuse. The framework can also be applied to other situations of emergency decision making, such as crisis management and emergency medical assistance.

Somalia's evolving political market place: from famine and humanitarian crisis to permanent precarity

ABSTRACTSomalia has a long history of famine and humanitarian crisis. This article focuses on the years 2008–2020, during which governance and aid practices changed substantially and which include three crisis periods. The article examines whether and how governance analysed as a political marketplace can help explain Somalia's repeated humanitarian crises and the manipulation of response. We argue that between 2008 and 2011 the political marketplace was a violent competitive oligopoly which contributed to famine, but that from 2012 a more collusive, informal political compact resulted in a status quo which avoided violent conflict or famine in 2017 and which functioned to keep external resources coming in. At the same time, this political arrangement benefits from the maintenance of a large group of displaced people in permanent precarity as a source of aid and labour.

Mental health impact of the 2023 Tropical Cyclone Freddy and Southern region mudslides on Malawian women: the neglected humanitarian crisis

Mental health impact of the 2023 Tropical Cyclone Freddy and Southern region mudslides on Malawian women: the neglected humanitarian crisis

The Evolution of Alternative Care in Sri Lanka over the Last Decade and Way Forward

Reflecting on the last decade, a promising trend is emerging in the promotion of family-based alternatives for children in Sri Lanka. Despite some plateauing due to certain humanitarian, environmental, financial and political issues, there is a move to reduce the number of children in residential care. The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka has a history of institutionalised care dating back to the nineteenth century and formalised care starting in the mid-twentieth century. Back then, the country faced many challenges including economic crises, a brutal war and a devastating tsunami that left thousands of children in desperate need for out-of-home placements; the only secure alternative being formal residential care. Since then, various legislative enactments were revised and passed for the care and protection of children. One of the most significant policies in relation to promoting family-based care is the National Alternative Care Policy for Children. This policy has sparked a fire across the Island drawing attention to the plight of some 10,632 children in institutionalised care and providing clear family-based alternatives. Despite a three-year delay, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant humanitarian crisis, action plans are now under way to implement the policy in all nine provinces. Additionally, new legislation on Foster Care is in the pipeline. During the last few decades, several research studies conducted in Sri Lanka have brought a variety of issues to light on the conditions of children in residential care and the devastating effects to their overall physical and mental health including a significant impact on development. Although residential care has improved in meeting a child’s basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter and education, it still does not provide the individual attention a child needs to thrive. The country is no doubt moving towards family-based care, giving priority to family strengthening and strong gatekeeping mechanisms to prevent children from being unnecessarily separated from their families. The reduction in the number of institutions as well as in the number of child enrolment over the past 10 years attests to this. However, there is a long road ahead as Sri Lanka struggles to emerge out of a financial crisis with high inflation, making it difficult for people to buy essential goods and services. This crisis has affected many families, driving them to the breaking point and placing children more at the risk of separation. Moving forward, a collaborative force is needed to find solutions to these issues facing families, and there is hope as favourable prospects begin to appear in the horizon.

Cross-Border Mediation under Current Threats: Ukraine-Poland (Some Aspects of Interaction)

Using the documentary research technique, this paper outlines certain aspects of Ukraine-Poland cross-border mediation interaction in the context of contemporary threats. In addition, it points out the main contemporary threats, which affect the cross-border interaction of Ukraine and Poland. It characterizes such threats as nuclear danger, environmental problems, humanitarian crisis, economic threats and food shortages. It points out that there are internal threats to Poland in connection with the war in Ukraine, the spread of infectious diseases, including COVID-19, due to the large number of refugees, the threat to food security, the threat to Poland's economic stability and poverty. It is shown that Poland interacts with Ukraine on all urgent issues: helps citizens seeking temporary protection, sends humanitarian aid, strengthens and stimulates market relations. It is concluded that all this led to increased cross-border interaction between the countries. The relevance of alternative types of conflict resolution, such as mediation, is highlighted. The scope of cross-border mediation is presented, the current state of mediation is analyzed and conclusions are drawn on the need for further development of this institution.

From Epidemic to Pandemic: Covid-19, Insecurity and Development in the Sahel

Security is a sine qua non for development. The Sahel is a troubled region and is described as the hotbed of insecurity in Africa. This state of insecurity was compounded by the outbreak of Covid-19. This article examines the regional impact of the pandemic on insecurity and development. It uses a meta-analysis and reviews secondary data to underscore the security and development imbroglio in the Sahel within the context of Covid-19. It was found that Covid-19 exacerbated the insecurity threat in the region due to pre-existing weak governance, poor capacity, grievances and climate change, which had already resulted in fragility, food insecurity, displacement, loss of livelihood, poverty, unemployment, hunger and a humanitarian crisis. The study concludes that armed groups took advantage of the health crisis to prolong conflicts which, coupled with the pre-existing economic conditions, became anathema to development. The article recommends that governments in the region should increase their health budget and enhance their capacity to respond to health emergencies such as the Covid-19 outbreak. The article further recommends that governments in the Sahelian states should prioritise good governance, improved security and regional cooperation to combat poverty.

Editorial

Editorial