Disasters can strike often and with unexpected fury, resulting in devastating consequences for local populations that are insufficiently prepared and largely dependent upon foreign aid in the wake of such catastrophes. International law can play a significant role in the recovery after inevitable natural disasters; however, without clear legal frameworks, aid may be stopped, delayed, or even hijacked placing the intended suffering recipients in critical condition. This edited volume brings together experts, emerging scholars, and practitioners in the field of international disaster law from North America, Japan, New Zealand, and Australia to analyze the evolution of international disaster law as a field that encompasses new ideas about human rights, sovereignty, and technology. Chapters focus on specific natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina, Cyclone Nargis, and Typhoon Hainan in addition to volcanic and earthquake activity, wildfires, and desertification. This book begins a dialogue on the profound implications of the evolution of international law as a tool for disaster response."

We are told we are living in the middle of a climate crisis of unprecedented proportions. As doomsday scenarios mount, hope collapses. Even as more and more people around the planet experience climate disaster as immediate and urgent, our imagination and programs for transformation lag. The disasters are already here, and the crises, longstanding, are ongoing. In Hope Against Hope, the Out of the Woods collective investigates the critical relation between climate change and capitalism and calls for the expansion of our conceptual toolbox to organize within and against ecological crisis characterized by deepening inequality, rising far-right movements, and-relatedly-more frequent and devastating disasters. While much of environmentalist and leftist discourse in this political moment remain oriented toward horizons that repeat and renew racist, anti-migrant, nationalist, and capitalist assumptions, Out of the Woods charts a revolutionary course adequate to our times. At the center of the renewed political orientation Hope Against Hope expounds is an abolitionist approach to border imperialism, reactionary ecology, and state violence that underpins many green solutions and modes of understanding nature. It reminds us of the frequent moments and movements of solidarity emerging in the ruins all around us. Their stunning conclusion to the disarray of politics in our seemingly end times is the urgency of creating what Out of the Woods calls "disaster communism"-the collective power to transform our future political horizons from the ruins and establish a climate future based in common life.

Neither government programs nor massive charitable efforts responded adequately to the human crisis that was Hurricane Katrina. In this study, the authors use extensive interviews with Katrina evacuees and reports from service providers to identify what helped or hindered the reestablishment of the lives of hurricane survivors who relocated to Austin, Texas. Drawing on social capital and social network theory, the authors assess the complementary, and often conflicting, roles of FEMA, other governmental agencies and a range of non-governmental organizations in addressing survivors' short- and longer-term needs. While these organizations came together to assist with immediate emergency needs, even collectively they could not deal with survivors' long-term needs for employment, affordable housing and personal records necessary to rebuild lives. Community Lost provides empirical evidence that civil society organizations cannot substitute for an efficient and benevolent state, which is necessary for society to function.

In more than one hundred developing countries, international organizations continuously offer practical assistance for economic advancement and social change--assistance that in some cases forms a substantial part of national programs. This book examines international aid in three countries-Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia--in order to ascertain how assisting organizations exert influence on member governments. Professor Gordenker draws on interviews, information usually inaccessible to observers, and his own direct field observation of programs established by the United Nations' system of organizations in the three countries during the late 1960s, immediately after their independence from British administration. This period witnessed sharp changes in national development policies and the political turmoil produced by the Rhodesian revolt. The author analyzes in detail the creation, bureaucratic consideration, and execution of important projects. His conclusions cast doubt on the existence of a reliable process by which international organizations may influence national governments, and he explains why such doubt is well-founded. Originally published in 1976. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

History and Hope: The International Humanitarian Affairs Reader provides a better understanding - both within and outside academia - of the multifaceted demands posed by humanitarian assistance programs. The Reader is a compilation of the most important chapters in the twelve-volume International Humanitarian Affairs book series published by Fordham University Press. Each selected chapter has been updated with relevant and important current information. In addition, the series editor, Kevin M. Cahill, M.D., has written an introductory essay explaining the academic evolution of the discipline of humanitarian assistance. It focuses on the Fordham Experience: Its Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs (IIHA) has developed practical programs for training field workers, especially those dealing with complex emergencies following conflicts and human-made or natural disasters.

This inspiring book looks at the theory and practice of China's foreign aid in Africa, especially in the area of healthcare in Uganda. It provides insights into how recipient countries and regions are selected, and describes in detail how the men and women working in the frontlines deliver aid. Information from past research, participant observations, interviews and other fieldwork are brought together to form a comprehensive picture of how Chinese development aid for health to Uganda has evolved over three decades, how it is carried out now, and the significance of such milestones as the building of the China-Uganda Friendship Hospital. The author also compares and contrasts China's foreign aid with that from other countries.

Free World? is a major contribution to the transnational history of humanitarianism in the postwar world. Peter Gatrell shows how and why the UN, NGOs, governments and individuals embarked on a unique campaign, World Refugee Year (1959-1960), in response to global refugee crises, particularly in Europe, the Middle East and the Far East. Adopted by nearly one hundred countries, the campaign galvanised public opinion and raised money by enlisting celebrities, using the mass media, and recreating 'refugee camps' in the affluent West. Free World? assesses the causes and consequences of the refugee crises, locates the campaign in the broader geopolitical context of the Cold War and decolonisation and shows how it helped to inspire subsequent campaigns such as Amnesty International and Freedom from Hunger. Ultimately the book asks how those who are in a more privileged position might better reflect on their responsibilities towards refugees in the modern world.

In the aftermath of the invasion of Afghanistan, the U.S. Agency for International Development supported the Afghan Ministry of Public Health to deliver basic healthcare to 90 percent of the population, at a cost of $4.50 a head. The program played a vital role in improving the country's health; the number of children dying before the age of five dropped by 100,000 a year. But accounting standards at the Ministry of Public Health concerned the United States Special Investigator General for Afghanistan. There was no evidence of malfeasance, nor argument about the success of the program. For all that the results were fantastic, receipts were not in order. The investigator called for the health program to be suspended because of ""financial management deficiencies"" at the ministry. This case illustrates a growing problem: an important and justified focus on corruption as a barrier to development has led to policy change in aid agencies that is damaging the potential for aid to deliver results. Donors have treated corruption as an issue they can measure and improve, and from which they can insulate their projects at acceptable costs by controlling processes and monitoring receipts. Results Not Receipts highlights the weak link between donors' preferred measures of corruption and development outcomes related to our limited ability to measure the problem. It discusses the costs of the standard anti-corruption tools of fiduciary controls and centralized delivery, and it suggests a different approach to tackling the problem of corruption in development: focus on outcomes.

Once again nature's fury has taken a toll in pain, suffering, and lives lost. In recognition of the need for a rapid and appropriate response, CRC Press will donate $5 to the American Red Cross for every copy of Community Disaster Recovery and Resiliency: Exploring Global Opportunities and Challenges sold. In the past, societies would learn from disasters and move the location of their urban development to safer areas, allowing naturally occurring ecosystems to maintain themselves and for societies to exist symbiotically with the environment. These days, however, it seems that society no longer takes cues from the environment but rather relies on technical advancement to attempt to control and overcome the environment, sometimes with wholly unsuccessful and even catastrophic results. Emphasizing non-traditional approaches to disaster recovery and rebuilding communities, Community Disaster Recovery and Resiliency: Exploring Global Opportunities and Challenges brings together leading research from top academics and scholars on the different ways various societies have experienced disasters, learned from them, and revised their thinking about building community preparedness and resiliency pre- and post-disaster. Provides a clear, concise, and up-to-date understanding of best practices for rebuilding community institutions and community development after a disaster Focuses on integrated solutions for ecological restoration and community development in disaster recovery planning and implementation Compares and contrasts community rebuilding between different nations at different stages of development, economic power, and stability Includes case studies that illustrate best practices, integrating the concept of community and community rebuilding for local, national, and international stakeholders All chapters offer diverse community examples that form a framework for comparing best practices. They focus on integrated solutions for ecological restoration and community development and explain how communities can reduce their vulnerability to disasters and reduce recovery time following a disaster. The book indentifies the opportunities and challenges communities are most likely to face on the road to recovery and supplies the interdisciplinary, social scientific understanding required to effectively address those challenges.

Social work practice with refugees and immigrants requires specialized knowledge of these populations, and specialized adaptations and applications of mainstream services and interventions. Because they are often confronted with cultural, linguistic, political, and socioeconomic barriers, these groups are especially vulnerable to psychological problems. Among these problems are anxiety, depression, alienation, grief, even post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as biological concerns stemming from inadequate or underutilized medical services. Best Practices for Social Work with Refugees and Immigrants is the first book to offer a comprehensive guide to social work with foreign-born clients that evaluates many different strategies in light of their methodological strengths and weaknesses.

Part I sets forth the context for empirically based service approaches to such clients by describing the nature of these populations, relevant policies designed to assist them, and service delivery systems. Part II addresses specific problem areas common to refugees and immigrants and evaluates a variety of assessment and intervention techniques for each area. Maintaining a rigorous empirical and broadly pan-cultural approach throughout, Miriam Potocky-Tripodi seeks to identify the most practical, "best practices" to meet the various and pressing needs of uprooted peoples.

What does Japan's 2011 nuclear accident have in common with the 2005 flooding of New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina? This thought-provoking book presents a compelling account of recent and historical disasters, both natural and human-caused, drawing out common themes and providing a holistic understanding of hazards, disasters and mitigation, for anyone interested in this important and topical subject. Based on his on-the-ground experience with several major recent disasters, Timothy H. Dixon explores the science, politics and economics behind a variety of disasters and environmental issues, arguing that many of the worst effects are avoidable. He describes examples of planning and safety failures, provides forecasts of future disasters and proposes solutions for hazard mitigation. The book shows how billions of dollars and countless lives could be saved by adopting longer-term thinking for infrastructure planning and building, and argues that better communication is vital in reducing global risks and preventing future catastrophes.

In recent years, the psychological effects of violence and warfare on civilian populations have increasingly become the focus of humanitarian relief operations. After both natural and man-made disasters, efforts to provide de-briefing, counselling and therapy for survivors are widely seen as an essential part of the emergency response. Much of the analysis of trauma has revolved around the concept of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It is now generally assumed that PTSD captures the fundamental psychological disturbance after any particular type of trauma or extreme event. However, there is now growing concern that models developed in Western psychiatry in response to trauma should not be used uncritically in societies that do not share the same cultural preoccupations. So rapid has been the response that there has been little time to reflect on the relevance of psyche-social trauma projects for local populations.

This book examines emerging concerns about the export of trauma experts and counsellors to war-tom areas of the world. The contributors are all professionals who are involved in helping adults and children rebuild their lives after witnessing the destruction of their families and communities. Based on their own experience of working internationally, this book presents both an analysis of current, misconceived, attempts to give help but also an agenda for future, more appropriate ways of responding to those affected by wars and conflicts.

For months in early 1980, scientists, journalists and ordinary people listened anxiously to rumblings in the long quiescent volcano Mount St. Helens. Still, when a massive explosion took the top off the mountain, no one was prepared. Fifty-seven people died and the lives of many others were changed forever. Steve Olson interweaves history, science and vivid personal stories to portray the disaster as a multi-faceted turning point. Powerful economic, political and historical forces influenced who died when the volcano erupted. The eruption of Mount St. Helens transformed volcanic science, the study of environmental resilience and our perceptions of how to survive on an increasingly dangerous planet.

Charles Perrow is famous worldwide for his ideas about normal accidents, the notion that multiple and unexpected failures--catastrophes waiting to happen--are built into our society's complex systems. In "The Next Catastrophe," he offers crucial insights into how to make us safer, proposing a bold new way of thinking about disaster preparedness.

Perrow argues that rather than laying exclusive emphasis on protecting targets, we should reduce their size to minimize damage and diminish their attractiveness to terrorists. He focuses on three causes of disaster--natural, organizational, and deliberate--and shows that our best hope lies in the deconcentration of high-risk populations, corporate power, and critical infrastructures such as electric energy, computer systems, and the chemical and food industries. Perrow reveals how the threat of catastrophe is on the rise, whether from terrorism, natural disasters, or industrial accidents. Along the way, he gives us the first comprehensive history of FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security and examines why these agencies are so ill equipped to protect us.

"The Next Catastrophe" is a penetrating reassessment of the very real dangers we face today and what we must do to confront them. Written in a highly accessible style by a renowned systems-behavior expert, this book is essential reading for the twenty-first century. The events of September 11 and Hurricane Katrina--and the devastating human toll they wrought--were only the beginning. When the next big disaster comes, will we be ready? In a new preface to the paperback edition, Perrow examines the recent (and ongoing) catastrophes of the financial crisis, the BP oil spill, and global warming.

FEMA Community Preparedness Award When disasters happen, people turn to local churches as centers for response and assistance. When floods or tornadoes devastate an area, or when shootings and violence shock a community, knowing what to do can be the difference between calm and chaos, courage and fear, life and death. But few churches plan in advance for what they should do-until the storm hits. Don't get caught unprepared. If a natural disaster or human tragedy strikes your community, your church can minister to the hurting. Jamie Aten and David Boan, codirectors of the Humanitarian Disaster Institute, provide a practical guide for disaster preparedness. Disaster ministry is a critically important work of the church, preparing for the unthinkable, providing relief to survivors, caring for the vulnerable and helping communities recover. Filled with resources for emergency planning and crisis management, this book provides best practices for local congregations. By taking action in advance, your church can help prevent harm and save lives during a disaster. The time to plan is now. Be prepared.

James Maskalyk set out for the contested border town of Abyei, Sudan, in 2007. The newest Medicins Sans Frontieres' doctor in the field, he arrived with only his training, full of desire to understand this most desperate part of the world. He returned home six months later profoundly affected by the experience. Six Months in Sudan is an illuminating and affecting account of saving lives in one of the most harrowing and dangerous places on Earth.

On June 1, 2011, a super cell thunderstorm developed over Western Massachusetts, producing an EF3 tornado that cut a 39-mile track of destruction across the state. Despite ample warnings, this event took everyone by surprise. These are the stories of survivors and emergency responders who saw firsthand what happened when this life changing tornado touched down.

This book provides a historical account of the NGO CARE as one of the largest humanitarian NGOs worldwide from 1945 to 1980. Readers interested in international relations and humanitarian hunger prevention are provided with fascinating insights into the economic and business related aspects of Western non-governmental politics, fundraising and philanthropic giving in this field. Not only does the book contributes to ongoing research about the rise of NGOs in the international realm, it also offers very rich empirical material on the political implications of private and governmental international aid in a world marked by the order of the Cold War, decolonialization processes and the struggle of so called "Third World Countries" to catch up with modern Western consumer societies. This book is relevant to both United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 1, No poverty and 2, Zero hunger -- .