International Alert recently launched a new book called Out of the shadows: Violent conflict and the real economy of Mindanao.
The book presents the results of research into the linkages between violent conflict and the informal or ‘shadow’ economy in Mindanao, the conflict-affected region in the southern Philippines.
International Alert is included in this year's list of top 100 NGOs in the world by The Global Journal, for the second year running.
Last year, staff from our economy and peacebuilding and international institutions teams attended the conference ‘Business after conflict: Investing in the new Africa’ in Nairobi, Kenya.
Our second Conflict Ideas Forum was on the topic of large-scale violent conflict that neither fits formal and familiar definitions of "armed conflict", nor does it fit into the mandates of international institutions.
On Tuesday 4th December the southern Philippines was hit by Typhoon Bopha (known locally as Pablo), with the island of Mindanao worst affected.
International Alert has been supporting more inclusive and conflict-sensitive economic governance in the Compostela Valley province of Mindanao, which bore the brunt of the devastation.
On 25th November staff in our Uganda office took part in the 10km run of the MTN Kampala International Marathon, one of the country’s largest annual sports events.
Last month saw delegates from around the world assemble in Doha for the 18th Conference of the Parties (COP18) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in an effort to inch towards a global deal on climate change. Yet discussions on how much financing should be provided and by whom didn’t reach satisfying conclusions, despite a week’s worth of negotiations.
On 10th December we held our first Conflict Ideas Forum at the Royal Commonwealth Society in London.
The recent escalation of violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), following a six-month stand-off between the M23 rebel group and the DRC government, continues to be of grave concern.
‘We should go and see David Cameron about this!’, was the conclusion of the Lancashire youth group taking part in our project, “Promoting Positive Voices in Diaspora Communities”.
In November, International Alert organised a visit of four doctors from the British Sri Lankan diaspora community to Sri Lanka, to learn about the country’s healthcare challenges.
In October, our partner organisation Voices for Reconciliation brought together people from Sri Lanka’s diaspora communities to talk about how their personal identities influence their opinions and understanding of Sri Lanka’s history, and how such identities are shaping the country’s post-war future.