Select a policy

Theme browser

The Instrument for Stability’s effort in conflict prevention, crisis management and peace building covers a wide range of themes around the world. Choosing a theme opens its content container and offers the theme’s articles and photo reportages from across all books.

Early warning

The causes and dynamics of poverty-related conflict [145 KB]: By Suzanne Verstegen

Taking EU intelligence into the 21st century [118 KB]: By William Shapcott

Early warning for early action [179 KB]: By Guy Banim

RealTime crises - new realtimeinformation tensions [124 KB]: By Nik Gowing

Interpreting time and space and foreseeing crises [133 KB]: By Michalis Koutouzis

Developing the role of OSINT within and outside of intelligence services [129 KB]: By Pierre Conesa

The role of open source intelligence [97 KB]: By Axel Dyevre

Scenarios for crisis management [142 KB]: By Lennart Nordfors

Risks and forecasts in world affairs [154 KB]: By Sir Colin McColl

Supporting the EC responsethrough geo-spatial technologies [429 KB]: By Delilah Al-Khudhairy

Global intelligence for an asymmetric threat [136 KB]: By Alfred Rolington

Introduction [90 KB]: By Andrea Ricci

From early warning to early action - Developing the EU'sresponse to crisis and longer-term threats: By Benita Ferrero Waldner

Foreseeing conflict [87 KB]: By Johan Galtung

A strategic peacbuilding partnership - from early warning by civil society to early response by the European Union [87 KB]: By Jos de la Haye

Report on the outcome of the multi-donor initiative [305 KB]: By Stefanie Dannenmann and Douglas Pattie

Early warning and early impact analysis [66 KB]: By Amy Horton

Developing an early warning system for crises [209 KB]: By Helene Lavoix and IFRI

On the indicators of potential conflict [82 KB]: By Syed Mansoo Murshed

Improving early warning and response systems [351 KB]: By Albrecht Schnabel

Early warning and the responsibility to prevent conflicts [85 KB]: By Nick Grono

Conflict early warning systems and support of the comprehensive peace agreement in Sudan [273 KB]: By Jakkie Cilliers

Crisis response

Foreword and Introduction [162 KB]: By Dr Benita Ferrero-Waldner and Martti Ahtisaari / Andrea Ricci and Eero Kytömaa

The role of crisis response in the EUs external relations [134 KB]: By Dr Benita Ferrero-Waldner

Latest steps in strengthening EU crisis response capabilities [93 KB]: By Interview with Eneko Landaburu

Building structures for EU defence missions [89 KB]: By Claude-France Arnould

The emerging EU civilian crisis response capacity [153 KB]: By Catriona Gourlay

Developing the EUs crisis management capabilities [120 KB]: By Pedro Serrano

Enhancing the civil protection capacity of the EU [142 KB]: By Pia Bucella

ECHO-delivering humanitarian assistance in complex crises [141 KB]: By Simon Horner

Lessons on the ESDP and civil-military cooperation - Bosnia and herzegovina - 2005 [124 KB]: By Major General David Leakey CBE

EU Monitoring mission in Aceh [115 KB]: By Bruno Hanses

EU-UN cooperation in civilian crisis management - a promising work in progress [126 KB]: By Peter Viggo Jakobsen

Seizing the opportunity - Improving the response [125 KB]: By Martti Ahtisaari

Increasing policy coherence in crisis reponse [126 KB]: By Damien Helly

ANSO on the risk and challenges in Afghanistan [117 KB]: By Christian Willach and Christopher Finucane

Annex1-Extracts from the report entitled - For a European civil protection force - Europe Aid [124 KB]: By Michel Barnier

From early warning to early action - Developing the EU'sresponse to crisis and longer-term threats: By Benita Ferrero Waldner

Interview - A European Perspective of crisis response [72 KB]: By Eneko Landaburu

Civilian peacekeeping [103 KB]: By Christine Schweitzer

Unintended consequences of peacekeeping [125 KB]: By Cedric de Coning, Chiyuki Aoi and Ramesh Thakur

Interview - Tuned into Sierra Leone [71 KB]: By Ambrose James

Media coverage on the tsunami in Asia vs the earthquake in Pakistan [63 KB]: By Media Tenor

Mediation as an instrument for conflict prevention and crise response [61 KB]: By Antje Herrberg

Interview - mediation based on confidence and friendship [56 KB]: By Mario Giro

From managing the emergency to consolidating the stability [74 KB]: By Detlef W. Karioth

Interview - People are tired of war - supporting the peace process in Northern Uganda [87 KB]: By Oloo Otieno

Improving early warning and response systems [351 KB]: By Albrecht Schnabel

Lessons from the struggle against Al Qaeda [71 KB]: By Paul Wilkinson

Introduction - The Instrument for Stability [61 KB]: By

Chad - Boosting security in refugee camps [2 MB]: By Chris Coakley

Natural resources & conflict

The Kimberley process and blood diamonds: By Kim Eling

Photos by Kadir Van Lohuizen [5 MB]: By Kadir Van Lohuizen

Carrying gravel out of the mine at Bakwa Bowa, the Congo

[205 KB]

Miners getting baptised, in Mbuji Mayi, the Congo

[174 KB]

Funeral of a miner. Many miners die, because they drown or sand walls collapse. Mbuij Mayi, the Congo

[188 KB]

Cangula (36 years), Angola. “I have been working here in the Bula mines for two years. I come from Cafunfo, but I live here in a tent next to the mine.”

[234 KB]

Ishmael Nyaka (34 years). “I was born in Koidu. When the war started, I fled to Bo. I came back in 2003. I am a miner, the work here is not okay; there are no social programmes. I don’t get any money, just food. If a diamond is found we share the price.”

[226 KB]

Diamond found at the Sewa river, Sierra Leone

[106 KB]

Washing the gravel at Bakwa. Bowa, the Congo

[194 KB]

Resource competition in the 21st century [105 KB]: By Michael T. Klare

Illegal logging and the illegal trade in timber and wood products [78 KB]: By Faith Doherty

Interview - Fighting exploitation of natural resources and international trade systems [65 KB]: By Patrick Alley

WATEX - A new approach to preventing water based conflicts [327 KB]: By Alain Gachet

Short-sighted visionaries - asking for disaster [65 KB]: By Pascal Peduzzi

The EU working in partnership

The role of crisis response in the EUs external relations [134 KB]: By Dr Benita Ferrero-Waldner

Europe's security today - a challenge for all: By Alyson JK Bailes

EU-UN cooperation in civilian crisis management - a promising work in progress [126 KB]: By Peter Viggo Jakobsen

EU-OSCE cooperation [124 KB]: By Monika Wohlfeld and Jaroslaw Pietrusiewicz

NGO facilitation in peace processes [121 KB]: By Pauliina Arola

The role of advocacy in crisis management - the case of crisis group [90 KB]: By Alain Deletroz

The Kimberley process and blood diamonds: By Kim Eling

Seizing the opportunity - Improving the response [125 KB]: By Martti Ahtisaari

EU relations with Africa the caribbean and the Pacific [96 KB]: By Ranieri Sabatucci

Foreword by the EC Commissioner for External Relations [40 KB]: By Benita Ferrero-Waldner

Introduction [90 KB]: By Andrea Ricci

Interview - A European Perspective of crisis response [72 KB]: By Eneko Landaburu

Interview - Bridging the gap [75 KB]: By Christian Berger

A strategic peacbuilding partnership - from early warning by civil society to early response by the European Union [87 KB]: By Jos de la Haye

Report on the outcome of the multi-donor initiative [305 KB]: By Stefanie Dannenmann and Douglas Pattie

Interview - Preserving Status quo is dangerous [74 KB]: By Peter Semneby

Transforming the EUs approach to outreach and technical assistance [81 KB]: By Sibylle Bauer and John Mattiussi

Introduction - The Instrument for Stability [61 KB]: By

Afghanistan - Reform of the Justice Sector [2 MB]: By Gareth Harding

Chad - Boosting security in refugee camps [2 MB]: By Chris Coakley

Democratic Republic of the Congo - Support of the security system reform [4 MB]: By Patricia McCracken

Guinea Bissau - Security sector reform and combating drugs [2 MB]: By Daniela Schröder

Lebanon - Support to the return and reintegration of Palestinian refugees rom Nahr el Bared camp [2 MB]: By Juliane Von Reppert-Bismarck

Occupied Palestinian Territory - Support of Palestinian-Israeli negotiations towards a peace agreement [3 MB]: By Maria-Laura Franciosi

Somalia - Support to the African Union AMISOM Planning Unit [3 MB]: By Amy Shifflette

Syria - Support to Syrian basic education in areas affected by a large influx of Iraqi refugees [2 MB]: By Patricia McCracken

Peace building Partnership [174 KB]: By

Security sector reform & DDR

Building local capacity - EU police mission [93 KB]: By Kevin Carty

Swords into ploughshares [128 KB]: By Gwinyayi Albert Dzinesa

Afghanistan - Reform of the Justice Sector [2 MB]: By Gareth Harding

Democratic Republic of the Congo - Support of the security system reform [4 MB]: By Patricia McCracken

Guinea Bissau - Security sector reform and combating drugs [2 MB]: By Daniela Schröder

Gender

Crossing the lines [91 KB]: By Shelley Anderson

Photo reportage - post-war trauma and pain in Bosnia-Herzegovina [2 MB]: By Isabelle Eshraghi

Adela Mujić, 20 years. "I remember everything, but please don"t ask, I don"t like to talk about it. I"ve never cried".

[94 KB]

Azemina Ademović, age 41. "In my village there lived 57 men, only 7 survived. Back in 1993 my husband was hurt by an exploding shell. Being wounded saved his life, otherwise… he would not have been among us now".

[119 KB]

Kadira Mešanović, age 42. "The worst moments, you can never wipe them from your mind. It is always the same memories that haunt you, always the same".

[146 KB]

Tima Hajdarivić, 43 years. "I can"t get rid of those three months (of rape). They took me everywhere they went, from the one house to the other. I had to go to the Kochevo hospital and had all my sexual organs removed. My life as a woman is over".

[172 KB]

Rajiba Beganović, age 44. "When I entered the house. I recognised my mother in law because of her dress, her head had been separated from her body. I fainted".

[149 KB]

Rusmira Beganović, 49 years. "I went to Tuzla. I recognised the brown shoes of my husband, the ones you would get when you went to war. They were nicknamed "the shoes of death"… When I saw his shoes, I knew he would never come back again".

[153 KB]

Rejha Jusić, age 51. "Two years ago my son was found in a mass grave near Zvornik. Only I know how to bear this burden".

[164 KB]

Hamida Hukić, age 53. "I"ve seen quite some bodies in front of a house, they had cut-throat the people. They had cut the head off with an axe. It was at dawn. I can still see the axes".

[170 KB]

Hajrija Beganović, age 53. "I held my son close to me, they took him, they pushed him. They only wanted to ask some questions, they said. Ever since I am mad, I cannot lose this image, I cannot forget it… I do not dare to live one day without medication".

[122 KB]

Rujika Aljič, age 67. "In front of the bus in Potocari, a Tchetnik pointed a gun at my husband and arrested him. In a film made by the Serbs, which was broadcast on TV, I recognised him. I had to cry".

[153 KB]

Timka Karišik, age 83. "They never found one single body. Maybe they"ve been burnt".

[156 KB]

Hadžira Orić, age 28. "My husband is a survivor, a survivor of the massacre. His life has lost all sense. My husband drinks. I can"t stand it any longer".

[82 KB]

Photo reportage - Women at war [2 MB]: By Philip Blenkinsop

I returned to the hospital after a week in the Delta area and entered an empty hospital room. Sunita had died that morning. In her village, by the side of the road that would eventually lead her to her final resting place, relatives grieve by her corpse.

[188 KB]

The road out of Nepalgunj to Bardiya is scarred by Maoist ambush sites. This particular blast claimed the lives of two women.

[242 KB]

Policewomen stand with batons ready, during anti-monarchy demonstrations.

[206 KB]

Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) women recruits outside of their Kathmandu barracks. This represents the second batch of female recruits into the RNA.

[220 KB]

RNA recruit, Karki Puspa, age 20. "My husband, Karki Jeevan (age 20), was killed by Maoists, ten months after we were married. I joined the army to fulfil my husband"s dream of saving the nation. We are not scared to be ambushed. We will fight."

[238 KB]

RNA recruit, Shrestha Ram Kumari, age 20. "My husband, Shresthaa Rambahadur (age 26), was ambushed by Maoists while on patrol in Shinduli Bhadrakali 15 months ago."

[182 KB]

Comrade Rojana, age 19. "I have seen women being beaten by security forces at a religious fair. Nirmala (another female Maoist combatant) and I were in the cultural team and decided to join the armed movement together."

[187 KB]

Comrade Nirmala, age 19, Chetri from the Mid-west hills "I joined the cultural wing of the movement when I was 16 years old. My uncle was in a cultural team and was sheltering in a village when he was killed by RNA troops two years ago.

[183 KB]

Comrade Bargiya, age 20, of Taru ethnicity. "I have participated in one raid, numerous encounters and five ambushes. I am not sure how many people were killed by my bullets but I am sure they died. Those I have killed deserved to be killed".

[223 KB]

RNA recruit, Tharu Mina Kumari, age 20. "My husband, Tharu Patiram (age 23) was killed in an ambush while patrolling in the Chitwan area. I will marry again after the war if I can find a good man."

[226 KB]

Comrade Rekha, age 19. "I joined the Communist Party of Nepal three years ago. My brother has been with the RNA for the last six years. I don"t want to meet him because if I am in a position to kill him on the battlefield, I will kill him."

[234 KB]

Arms and the girl [54 KB]: By Shelley Anderson

PDNA / PCNA

Photo reportage - After paradise [4 MB]: By Rip Hopkins

Firestone rubber tree plantation. In terms of natural resources, Liberia is one of West Africa"s richest countries. Before the war, Firestone was Liberia"s main source of income along with diamonds, copper, iron ore and timber.

[189 KB]

One of the 350,000 Liberian refugees living in the Ivory Coast.

[160 KB]

Ministry of Health. Children play in front of the half-completed "new" Ministry of Health, where 470 displaced families have taken refuge.

[155 KB]

African Plaza Hotel. Some 320 displaced families live in the shell of what used to be one of the most expensive hotels in Liberia.

[156 KB]

Palm oil production is one of the main sources of income for the local population.

[183 KB]

Mamba Checkpoint in the capital, Saturday evening. A boy is mistreated by ECOMOG soldiers.

[158 KB]

A displaced person demonstrates his wish to fly from Liberia.

[130 KB]

Repatriation to the countryside of some of the 700,000 displaced living in Monrovia. Of 2.5 million Liberians, an estimated 150,000-200,000 have been killed and nearly 1.5 million displaced or living as refugees in neighbouring countries.

[160 KB]

Save the Children funds a rehabilitation centre for child fighters. Franklin was a member of the NPFL (National Patriotic Front of Liberia). Today, aged 7, he suffers from psychological trauma brought on by the horror of the fighting.

[116 KB]

Save the Children funds a rehabilitation centre for child fighters. Boxing practice is intended to help the boys vent their anger and frustration.

[156 KB]

Save the Children funds a rehabilitation centre for child fighters. Participation in group games is encouraged during the SCF rehabilitation programme. Ex-fighters learn to become children again.

[146 KB]

Save the Children funds a rehabilitation centre for child fighters. Play time: a sack race. Participation in group games is encouraged during the rehabilitation programme.

[153 KB]

Save the Children funds a rehabilitation centre for child fighters. Every child has an allotment where they can grow vegetables. The produce is then sold to the centre, giving the children a small income.

[165 KB]

From managing the emergency to consolidating the stability [74 KB]: By Detlef W. Karioth

Early warning and early impact analysis [66 KB]: By Amy Horton

Environmental needs in post-crisis assessments and recovery [78 KB]: By David Jensen

Lebanon - Support to the return and reintegration of Palestinian refugees rom Nahr el Bared camp [2 MB]: By Juliane Von Reppert-Bismarck

Conflict prevention

Europe's security today - a challenge for all: By Alyson JK Bailes

The global conflict barometer [147 KB]: By Nicolas Schwank

The EUs toolkit to addrress conflict prevention: By Javier Niño Perez

The causes and dynamics of poverty-related conflict [145 KB]: By Suzanne Verstegen

Comunità di Sant'Egidio: By François Delooz

Risks and forecasts in world affairs [154 KB]: By Sir Colin McColl

Supporting the EC responsethrough geo-spatial technologies [429 KB]: By Delilah Al-Khudhairy

The Global conflict Barometer [251 KB]: By Nicolas Schwank and Lotta Mayer

Challenges for the EU in conflict prevention and peace building [84 KB]: By Martti Ahtisaari

Interview - Assistance in conflict must promote solution [72 KB]: By Marc Otte

Interview - Bridging the gap [75 KB]: By Christian Berger

Streamlining of media as a CFSP instrument [78 KB]: By Bent Norby Bonde

Interview - Tuned into Sierra Leone [71 KB]: By Ambrose James

Mediation as an instrument for conflict prevention and crise response [61 KB]: By Antje Herrberg

On the indicators of potential conflict [82 KB]: By Syed Mansoo Murshed

Formalising the informal while neglecting trade transparency [106 KB]: By Nikos Passas

Early warning and the responsibility to prevent conflicts [85 KB]: By Nick Grono

Peacebuilding & peacekeeping

NGO facilitation in peace processes [121 KB]: By Pauliina Arola

The European peacebuilding liaison office - EPLO [94 KB]: By Nicolas Beger

Comunità di Sant'Egidio: By François Delooz

Building civilian capacity for conflict management and sustainable peace [130 KB]: By Shepard Forman

Promises and challenges of the African Peace Facility [152 KB]: By Martina Weitsch

Challenges for the EU in conflict prevention and peace building [84 KB]: By Martti Ahtisaari

Interview - Assistance in conflict must promote solution [72 KB]: By Marc Otte

A strategic peacbuilding partnership - from early warning by civil society to early response by the European Union [87 KB]: By Jos de la Haye

Civilian peacekeeping [103 KB]: By Christine Schweitzer

Creating comprehensive action in peacbuilding - SHIFT [61 KB]: By Kalle Liesinen

Unintended consequences of peacekeeping [125 KB]: By Cedric de Coning, Chiyuki Aoi and Ramesh Thakur

Streamlining of media as a CFSP instrument [78 KB]: By Bent Norby Bonde

Interview - People are tired of war - supporting the peace process in Northern Uganda [87 KB]: By Oloo Otieno

Interview - No development without security - nonviolent peaceforce in Mindanao [65 KB]: By Atif Hameed

Conflict early warning systems and support of the comprehensive peace agreement in Sudan [273 KB]: By Jakkie Cilliers

Occupied Palestinian Territory - Support of Palestinian-Israeli negotiations towards a peace agreement [3 MB]: By Maria-Laura Franciosi

Peace building Partnership [174 KB]: By

Climate change & natural disasters

Photos by Philip Blenkinsop [4 MB]: By Philip Blenkinsop

A man tries to console a grieving relative on the road in front of where their house used to stand. Near the coast, Banda Aceh. (3 January 2005)

[116 KB]

Banda Aceh. Along the road to the coast at the mouth of the Aceh River. (3 January 2005)

[126 KB]

[120 KB]

[115 KB]

[169 KB]

Father and sons pass the site of mass graves on their way into Banda Aceh. (3 January 2005)

[191 KB]

A woman breaks down grieving at the site of her house, where now only rubble remains. Banda Aceh. (3 January 2005)

[208 KB]

A Thai man with a photograph of a young girl, looking for relatives among the dead collected at the Takuapa Temple. Near Khao Lak. South Thailand, 28 December 2004.

[185 KB]

Enhancing the civil protection capacity of the EU [142 KB]: By Pia Bucella

Photos by Pieter ten Hoopen [3 MB]: By Pieter ten Hoopen

[163 KB]

29 November 2005, Balakot, Pakistan. Men are sitting in line, waiting to collect 25,000 rupees as a compensation for their destroyed houses.

[162 KB]

1 December 2005, Balakot, Pakistan. More than two months after the earthquake, people still search for the bodies of their family members.

[158 KB]

[157 KB]

5 December 2005, Balakot, Pakistan. Chazat is 17 months old. She broke her arm and suffered dehydration in the valley on her way down from the mountains to the clinic.

[106 KB]

4 December 2005, Balakot, Pakistan. Young boy traumatised after the earthquake, which totally destroyed the city of Balakot on 8 October 2005

[159 KB]

December 2005, Balakot, Pakistan. Food distribution after the earthquake

[83 KB]

December 2005, Balakot, Pakistan. Afghani labour workers cleaning the centre of Balakot

[113 KB]

1 December 2005, Balakot, Pakistan. Young girls are collecting clothes to face the winter that has just started in Balakot.

[159 KB]

1 December 2005, Balakot, Pakistan. The old city hotel

[182 KB]

6 December 2005, Balakot, Pakistan. Kaghan valley

[159 KB]

Report on the outcome of the multi-donor initiative [305 KB]: By Stefanie Dannenmann and Douglas Pattie

Media coverage on the tsunami in Asia vs the earthquake in Pakistan [63 KB]: By Media Tenor

Is climate change increasing the frequency of hazardous events [61 KB]: By Pascal Peduzzi

Early warning and early impact analysis [66 KB]: By Amy Horton

Environmental needs in post-crisis assessments and recovery [78 KB]: By David Jensen

Improving early warning and response systems [351 KB]: By Albrecht Schnabel

Crisis management

Foreword and Introduction [162 KB]: By Dr Benita Ferrero-Waldner and Martti Ahtisaari / Andrea Ricci and Eero Kytömaa

The global conflict barometer [147 KB]: By Nicolas Schwank

A comprehensive approach to crisis management - ESDP [149 KB]: By Brigadier General Heinrich Brauss

Developing the EUs crisis management capabilities [120 KB]: By Pedro Serrano

The EUs toolkit to addrress conflict prevention: By Javier Niño Perez

Operation Artemis in the Democratic Republic of Congo [122 KB]: By Kees Homan

The EU in the Middle East - the experience of the Gaza disengagement [104 KB]: By Christian Berger

EU-UN cooperation in civilian crisis management - a promising work in progress [126 KB]: By Peter Viggo Jakobsen

The role of advocacy in crisis management - the case of crisis group [90 KB]: By Alain Deletroz

Seizing the opportunity - Improving the response [125 KB]: By Martti Ahtisaari

Building civilian capacity for conflict management and sustainable peace [130 KB]: By Shepard Forman

Finnish development of capabilities in crisis management [98 KB]: By Antti Haikio

Interpreting time and space and foreseeing crises [133 KB]: By Michalis Koutouzis

Developing the role of OSINT within and outside of intelligence services [129 KB]: By Pierre Conesa

Scenarios for crisis management [142 KB]: By Lennart Nordfors

Mainstreaming security management [206 KB]: By Paul Davies

The role of ICT in crisis management [132 KB]: By Paul Currion and Julia Steinberger

The Global conflict Barometer [251 KB]: By Nicolas Schwank and Lotta Mayer

Interview - Bridging the gap [75 KB]: By Christian Berger

Interview - mediation based on confidence and friendship [56 KB]: By Mario Giro

From managing the emergency to consolidating the stability [74 KB]: By Detlef W. Karioth

For a consistent policy in the struggle against proliferation networks [85 KB]: By Guillaume Schlumberger and Bruno Gruselle

Annex [112 KB]: By

Introduction - The Instrument for Stability [61 KB]: By

Somalia - Support to the African Union AMISOM Planning Unit [3 MB]: By Amy Shifflette

Human security

Europe's security today - a challenge for all: By Alyson JK Bailes

Photos by Denis Dailleux [4 MB]: By Denis Dailleux

[210 KB]

[316 KB]

[270 KB]

Central Alexandria. Salesman in front of his shop

[341 KB]

On Gizeret El Dahab island (the golden island)

[242 KB]

Young apprentice at Helwan (suburb of Cairo)

[185 KB]

[191 KB]

[213 KB]

[287 KB]

Aden. Fishermen resting in the fish market.

[313 KB]

[326 KB]

[338 KB]

[344 KB]

[342 KB]

[254 KB]

[197 KB]

[203 KB]

[249 KB]

Morocco - People from Azmmour (small town south of Rabat). In a café in Azmmour

[197 KB]

Morocco - People from Azmmour (a small town south of Rabat). In a café in Azmmour

[222 KB]

Morocco - People from Azmmour (a small town south of Rabat). A farmer from Azmmour

[190 KB]

Morocco - People from Azmmour (a small town south of Rabat). A cemetery attendant

[275 KB]

Morocco - People from Azmmour (a small town south of Rabat). Young Moroccan in the streets of Azmmour

[190 KB]

Morocco - People from Azmmour (a small town south of Rabat). A man from Azmmour.

[279 KB]

Morocco – People from Azmmour (a small town south of Rabat). Woman from a village close to Azmmour

[288 KB]

Enhancing the civil protection capacity of the EU [142 KB]: By Pia Bucella

ECHO-delivering humanitarian assistance in complex crises [141 KB]: By Simon Horner

The causes and dynamics of poverty-related conflict [145 KB]: By Suzanne Verstegen

Photos by David Sauveur [5 MB]: By David Sauveur

Chess players, Sarajevo, August 2003. Similar games of chess are played in various public places throughout Bosnia. People from all walks of life take part in these impromptu gatherings.

[351 KB]

Vukovar, September 2003. The water tower remains in the same state as in 1991; a symbol of a town under siege. Every morning a Croat soldier would climb to the top of the tower, which bore the bullets from Serb fire, to replace the flag.

[329 KB]

Srebrenica, September 2003. The ravages of war are still very much in view in this enclave, where Serbs killed between 8 000 and 12 000 men in 1995.

[334 KB]

Sarajevo, August 2003. At the market. During the war, Sarajevo became home to many people from the countryside who had been evicted from their homes and villages.

[358 KB]

Vukovar, September 2003. Building work in the centre of town, which was completely destroyed during the violent spate of bombing in 1991, is taking a long time. The region was only returned to Croatia in 1998 so rebuilding started very recently.

[323 KB]

Empty shells that were once homes line the roads in the region of Tuzla. Looters have taken everything they could find, even building materials. September 2003.

[267 KB]

On the bridge at Mostar, which was being rebuilt. August 2003.

[279 KB]

Mostar at the end of the day, on the footbridge that was built next to the construction site of the old bridge. August 2003.

[303 KB]

In Tuzla, at the centre for missing people, a forensic team tries to identify the victims retrieved from mass graves. In this image, clothes have been unfolded so that they can be measured and analysed.

[321 KB]

Lebanon, Tyre, 27 july 2006. In the city centre, on the ruins of a building just bombed by the Israeli air force. People are looking for survivors while trying to put out the fire. Liban.

[21 KB]

The southern suburbs, heavily bombed by the Israelis, the day after the ceasefire. The ruins of the Roueiss quarter, crushed together with its inhabitants by a violent Israeli bombardment the previous day.

[243 KB]

The southern suburbs, heavily bombed by the Israelis, the day after the ceasefire. The exact number of victims is not known but the buildings were occupied at the time of the bombing.

[266 KB]

The southern suburbs, heavily bombed by the Israelis, the day after the ceasefire.

[271 KB]

The southern suburbs, flattened by Israeli bombing, the day after the ceasefire.

[222 KB]

Beirut, 15 August 2006. The southern suburbs, heavily bombed by the Israelis, the day after the ceasefire. The ruins of the Roueiss quarter, crushed together with its inhabitants by a violent Israeli bombardment the previous day.

[232 KB]

Lebanon, Beirut, 2 August 2006. On the seafront, one of the biggest beaches in Beirut, polluted by the oil slick triggered by the bombing of the Jiyé plant.

[285 KB]

Building local capacity - EU police mission [93 KB]: By Kevin Carty

Operation Artemis in the Democratic Republic of Congo [122 KB]: By Kees Homan

EU Monitoring mission in Aceh [115 KB]: By Bruno Hanses

Photos by Steve Iuncker [2 MB]: By Steve Iuncker

Rafah, Retreat of the Gaza strip - August 2005. During the Hamas demonstration, the young boys wear military clothes.

[247 KB]

Shirat Hayam colony - Retreat from the Gaza strip. August 2005 - Israeli soldiers comforting each other.

[280 KB]

Shirat Hayam colony - Retreat from the Gaza strip. August 2005- Demonstration against the retreat.

[340 KB]

Shirat Hayam colony - December 2005 - Moment of prayer

[250 KB]

Shirat Hayam colony - Retreat from the Gaza strip. August 2005 - At the wall built to separate the Israeli and the Palestinian territories

[336 KB]

Jerusalem - Retreat from the Gaza strip, August 2005 - A young boy in front of the wall which separates the Israeli and the Palestinian territories

[310 KB]

Shirat Hayam colony - Retreat from the Gaza strip. August 2005 - Young Israeli boy

[229 KB]

Neveh Dekalim colony - Retreat from the Gaza strip. August 2005 - Two Israeli men observing a demonstration against the retreat

[348 KB]

Jerusalem - Retreat from the Gaza strip, August 2005 - A man with his child go through the official passage of the wall which separates the Isreali and the Palestinian territories.

[367 KB]

Shirat Hayam colony - Retreat from the Gaza strip. August 2005 - During a demonstration against the retreat

[297 KB]

Shirat Hayam colony - Retreat from the Gaza strip. August 2005 - An Israeli soldier comforts a little girl

[308 KB]

Shirat-Hayam colony, Gaza strip. Withdrawal from the colonies, August 2005. While photographers watch on, a doctor from Tsahal talks to children and a woman to convince them to leave their homes themselves, before they are forced to do so by the army.

[347 KB]

Photos by Brigitte Grignet [3 MB]: By Brigitte Grignet

[331 KB]

Commune of Jocotán (Region of Chiquimula). A scene from one of the many villages where flooding during the monsoon season damages houses. In this picture “Action Against Hunger “ has funded a programme to rebuild a wall protecting a school.

[392 KB]

Finca, Buenos Aires, Costa (Region of San Marcos). The government of Guatemala offers families that have worked on coffee plantations (Fincas) the possibility to take out a loan to buy the Finca. But the process is long and the men have to leave.

[382 KB]

Finca Buenos Aires, Costa (Region of San Marcos)

[426 KB]

Jocotán (Region of Chiquimula). Guatemala has a terrible problem in managing the accumulation of rubbish. In Jocotán, you see the charred remains of the rubbish that is covering whole roads. People who live there suffer from constant pollution.

[347 KB]

[292 KB]

Oregano, Commune of Jocotán (Region of Chiquimula)

[315 KB]

[447 KB]

Photos by Pieter ten Hoopen [3 MB]: By Pieter ten Hoopen

[163 KB]

[162 KB]

[158 KB]

[157 KB]

[106 KB]

[159 KB]

[83 KB]

[113 KB]

[159 KB]

[182 KB]

[159 KB]

Photos by Stanley Greene [3 MB]: By Stanley Greene

[282 KB]

Destroyed monument of Saddam (Baath Party - Iraq Secret Services quarter)

[383 KB]

Al a da mia. Spiritual leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq has replaced statue of Saddam Hussein. March/April 2004

[239 KB]

Mehdi Army, marching through the streets of Baghdad

[265 KB]

Moqtada Sadr, anti-coalition demo. Baghdad, 31 March

[181 KB]

Baghdad, Sunni gunmen protecting Sunni mosque against coalition forces.

[253 KB]

[292 KB]

Baghdad, cock fight, illegal under Saddam. Islamic Court wants to ban it again.

[253 KB]

[238 KB]

Mohammed, members of his family were killed in Fallujah. When his surviving uncle came to see him, he was arrested by the Marines at the hospital. One leg has already been amputated and the other leg will also be removed.

[244 KB]

[157 KB]

GEOS-managing international risk [118 KB]: By Laurent Jacquet

Why aid agencies must strengthen security cooperation [119 KB]: By Kiruja Micheni

Mercy corps on the necessity of coordination and cooperation [93 KB]: By George Devendorf

ANSO on the risk and challenges in Afghanistan [117 KB]: By Christian Willach and Christopher Finucane

Thales on challenges to European security [168 KB]: By Edgar Buckley

Photo Reportage Gaza booms - Summer Rain [2 MB]: By Steve Iuncker

[309 KB]

In the city of Gaza, money is missing. The rubbish is not being picked up anymore. There is no petrol left for the garbage trucks.

[549 KB]

At night, at Al Bureij refugee camp - one of the longest resisting camps of the Gaza strip, after a F16 bombing.

[246 KB]

A woman wearing a Hamas cap during a demonstration at the Jabalya camp in favour of the Hezbollah firing against Israel.

[256 KB]

[339 KB]

Following to the destruction of Nessirat bridge by a F16 bombing, the travellers must walk on both sides of the bridge, until the "traxs" rebuild a road to skirt round the bridge.

[426 KB]

In Beit-Hanoun refugee camp, Al-Aqsa soldiers watch over the main road, which has been mined.

[225 KB]

Leader of the Al-Aqsa fighters in Al-Bureij camp, just before a F16 bombing of our position.

[258 KB]

Soldier at the funeral of one of his comrades in arms.

[271 KB]

A group of men under a tent in Khan-Ynounes camp.

[351 KB]

A soldier at the funeral of one of his comrades in arms.

[238 KB]

In Beit-Hanoun camp, funeral of Ahmed Shaheen, 23, shaheed of the Al-Aqsa brigade (Fatah military wing). The body is carried to the cemetery on a military truck. The boy was killed in a minibus after a F16 attack.

[250 KB]

In the camp of Beit-Hanoun, a child mourns for Ahmed Shaheen, 23, shaheed of the Al Aqusa brigade (military arm of the Fatah), who died in a minibus after a F16 rocket attack.

[215 KB]

In Beit-Hanoun camp, a woman is crying at the funerals of her brother Ahmed Shaheen, 23, a shaheed of the Al-Aqsa brigade (Fatah army wing), killed in a mini bus after a F16 attack.

[194 KB]

Interview - Human security is the key factor [73 KB]: By Angelika Beer

Interview - Light the darkness [61 KB]: By Marguerite Barankitse

Photo reportage - After paradise [4 MB]: By Rip Hopkins

[189 KB]

[160 KB]

[155 KB]

[156 KB]

[183 KB]

[158 KB]

[130 KB]

[160 KB]

[116 KB]

[156 KB]

[146 KB]

[153 KB]

[165 KB]

Photo reportage - post-war trauma and pain in Bosnia-Herzegovina [2 MB]: By Isabelle Eshraghi

[94 KB]

[119 KB]

[146 KB]

[172 KB]

[149 KB]

[153 KB]

[164 KB]

[170 KB]

[122 KB]

[153 KB]

[156 KB]

[82 KB]

Interview - Earning each step [57 KB]: By Miroslav Lajcak

Photo reportage - Hmong secret war continues, Laos [3 MB]: By Philip Blenkinsop

Hidden among the trees, Hmong huts in the morning mist.

[207 KB]

Hong Pao Yang, age 71. Fought with the CIA during the secret war from 1967-1975.

[146 KB]

We continue to approach… and this sea of humanity crumbles like a wave, crying, wailing and wailing at us (hands clasped together). We are the first white faces any of them have seen since they were abandoned by the Americans 27 years ago.

[190 KB]

The sea of faces that greets us is void of any expression of hope. In the centre of the image, Bang Yang, age 14, cries. Her husband, age 15, Koua Pao Lee, was killed a few days before their child was born. Yet she holds no monopoly on grief.

[214 KB]

[201 KB]

Tdu Bi Xion, age 18, received shrapnel wounds in the chest from a B-41 rocket attack in December 2000 and had his left hand crippled by an AK-47 round in a separate incident.

[199 KB]

Sai Tong Wang, age 30, with his son, Tdu Tong, age 6. Tdu Tong was wounded in the face by a shot fired from an AK-47 on 1 November 1999.

[154 KB]

Yaeng Hua is 9 years old and severely traumatized. His parents were both killed during a mortar attack and as well as the shrapnel injuries he sustained, his jaw was broken by an AK-47 round.

[200 KB]

Pbai Lo, age 28, shot in the neck by an AK-47 round on 19 November 2001. Only four days earlier her husband, Teng Kong Wa, lost his leg to a landmine.

[157 KB]

[206 KB]

Teng Kong Wha, age 40, with his son, Wha Hua, age 7. Lost his right leg to a landmine on 23 November 2001, four days after his wife, Pbai Lo, was shot in the neck and leg by AK-47 rounds.

[225 KB]

Three generations of resistance, left to right: Song Der, age 80 (fought with the French), his son, Sai Tua, age 40, who fought with the CIA, and two of his sons, Shua Yung, age 26, and Sai, age 10, who now face the Laos Communist troops.

[234 KB]

A Hmong freedom fighter with his son at their hidden camp.

[198 KB]

On the afternoon prior to our departure, Commander Moua Toua Ther with assembled villagers delivers a message and pleas to the USA and the international community.

[175 KB]

[195 KB]

On the afternoon prior to our departure, the whole village gathers to send their collective voice to the governments of the world for their prayers to be heard and for salvation. They know that we are their only chance for survival.

[163 KB]

Key issues concerning the Hmong people in Laos - Thailand [64 KB]: By Carl Bjorkman

Interview - No development without security - nonviolent peaceforce in Mindanao [65 KB]: By Atif Hameed

Photo reportage - Ramadi, Iraq - Alvaro Ybarra Zavala [2 MB]: By Alvaro Ybarra Zavala

Landscape of central Ramadi. Ramadi is still a battlefield for the coalition forces.

[148 KB]

A former member of the militia, now member of the local police of Ramadi.

[103 KB]

Iraqi police recruits line up to be screened at Camp Defender, an Iraqi Army base linked to the Americans" Camp Ramadi. These recruits will become part of a new quick reaction police team called the Emergency Response Unit.

[154 KB]

Ahmet, a former Suni militia man, now works for the special unit of the Iraqi police in the Karrada neighbourhood in Baghdad.

[145 KB]

Policemen from the special unit of the Karrada neighbourhood inside their base before going out on patrol.

[139 KB]

[137 KB]

Lieutenant Larson and Iraqi chief of the Iraqi special police of Karranda neighbourhood preparing a mission.

[142 KB]

Checkpoint on the road to Ramadi from Baghadad. (Iraqi policemen are ex-members of a local Suni militia in Ramadi).

[120 KB]

Police unit searching a house in their own Karrada neighbourhood in Baghdad with Bravo Company, second platoon of the first cavalry division, from Fort Hood, Texas, USA.

[121 KB]

[139 KB]

[106 KB]

During a house search by Iraqi police and American forces in the Karrada neighbourhood of Baghdad, a policeman grabs a little girl while her father is searched.

[134 KB]

Iraqi police and US army working together in a police station in Ramadi.

[145 KB]

Checkpoint on the road into Ramadi from Baghadad. (Iraqi policemen are ex-members of a local Suni militia in Ramadi).

[141 KB]

Major Megan Mc Lung, 43, from Coupeville, is taking a picture of the son of one of the most important tribal families in Ramadi, the new ally of the US army in Ramadi. One hour after this picture was taken, Major Megan Mc Lung died in an ambush.

[143 KB]

Photo reportage - portaraits of Cairo, Egypt [2 MB]: By Denis Dailleux

The roofs of the buildings in the centre of Cairo are occupied by a destitute population. It is the result of a massive population growth and a rural exodus which suffocate the city of 17 million inhabitants.

[268 KB]

District of Boulaq. In the Egyptian capital, the only place to live for thousands of inhabitants is the top of the buildings. A whole world invisible from the streets, lives in tiny makeshift villages, in the open.

[193 KB]

In the Egyptian capital, the only place to live for thousands of inhabitants is the top of the buildings. A whole world invisible from the streets, lives in tiny makeshift villages, in the open.

[349 KB]

The rooftop inhabitants sleep out in the open to fight off the infernal heat of the summer nights, just like this family in the district of Boulaq — one of the working class districts of Cairo.

[301 KB]

Fatma, whose parents came from Nubia, rents a four-room flat in a building of Garden City. Without telling the owners, she built walls isolating her from the hundreds of other residents.

[302 KB]

This old woman doesn"t leave her refuge on the top of a building in Tallat Harb Street anymore. When the street is used for the president Moubarak cortège"s, policemen lock up the rooftop inhabitants in their homes.

[275 KB]

People live on the rooftops, pray there, and before the avian flu, they used to breed chickens and pigeons there. The roof (here, in Talaat Harb) has become a tiny village with its unspoken rules, tragedies and joys.

[309 KB]

[381 KB]

[233 KB]

In the city of the dead, the huge cemetery of Cairo, people live in mausoleums or tumbledown houses built between the graves and on the roofs.

[226 KB]

In Garden City, a tiny village that grew under the dish antennas. On each side of the straight alleys, families occupy one or several rooms in the huts formerly used to do the laundry.

[307 KB]

[286 KB]

In the city of the dead, the huge cemetery of Cairo, people live in mausoleums or tumbledown houses built between the graves and on the roofs, where children play with kites.

[192 KB]

The inhabitants of the roofs rarely meet the ones of the buildings. They must take the service stairs, as in this building in Garden City. It gives witness to two worlds who live together without mixing.

[344 KB]

[237 KB]

[230 KB]

[255 KB]

[361 KB]

[379 KB]

Amr Ibrahim dressed as a fellah (Egyptian farmer) (30 km north of Cairo).

[280 KB]

Amir"s mother in her castle in Sin de Bis, 30 km north of Cairo

[117 KB]

[250 KB]

[223 KB]

Improving early warning and response systems [351 KB]: By Albrecht Schnabel

Making sense of the turmoil in the muslim world [60 KB]: By Anoushivaran Ehteshami

Photo reportage - Afghanistan - the time of the Hazaras [2 MB]: By David Sauveur

On the road between Band-Al-Amir and Bamyan, a wreck of a Russian tank.

[290 KB]

This area is renown as one of the most beautiful in Afghanistan: the suspension lakes of Band-Al-Amir, formed by natural dams. The legend says that the formation is due to miracles carried out by the Imam Ali, considered as a saint by the Shiite people.

[353 KB]

[303 KB]

[292 KB]

The king"s palace destroyed during the civil war.

[349 KB]

Near the Omar Museum, a man does his first prayer in front of a plane wreck.

[331 KB]

Day Kundi Province, at a general store near the cemetery. Background: a mausoleum built around the grave of a saint.

[342 KB]

Volleyball game outside a general store.

[309 KB]

[345 KB]

In a hamlet on the road between Nili and Yakawlang, at the first winter snowfall. A family clears off the snow of their house cob roof.

[303 KB]

Northern Hazaradjat. Afghan people call it the "City of Murmurs". Formerly a place for pilgrimage and Buddhist retreat. Bamyan sheltered the giant Buddha which was sculpted in the cliffs and has been destroyed by the Taliban.

[362 KB]

[300 KB]

In the 16th district, near the animal market, on the road to Kandahar. Many Hazara people are gathered in this recently built district. The constructions are anarchically built without infrastructure, electricity, or water.

[281 KB]

[224 KB]

Interview - Aiding Afghanistan [62 KB]: By Bettina Muscheidt

Photo reportage - The children of sorrow [2 MB]: By Alvaro Ybarra Zavala

A group of Internally Displaced People fleeing the genocide in Darfur.

[265 KB]

A girl running away from the genocide in Darfur. She survived a storm in the middle of the desert.

[143 KB]

[237 KB]

Thousands of villages have been destroyed by the Janjaweed across the border with Chad.

[215 KB]

A boy running away from the genocide in Darfur. He survived a storm in the middle of the desert.

[212 KB]

All the refugee camps set up in Chad are full of war orphans.

[225 KB]

A group of Internally Displaced People are fleeing the genocide in Darfur.

[249 KB]

A refugee convoy will take all these people to the Bahai refugee camp.

[168 KB]

Child soldier members of the SLA, one of the rebel groups against the government in Khartoum.

[232 KB]

Members of the SLA, one of the rebel groups against the government in Khartoum.

[277 KB]

[222 KB]

[274 KB]

[224 KB]

Afghanistan - Photos: By: Paolo Woods

An Afghan family waits to be forcibly repatriated by Iranian authorities. In 2000 Iran hosted more than one million Afghan refugees that had escaped civil war, the Taliban repression and a very severe drought.

[196 KB]

In a screening center of the Iranian authorities. Afghans that claim they cannot be repatriated due to ethnical and religious persecution by the Taliban, are interrogated here. Very few are granted the possibility to stay in Iran.

[170 KB]

An Afghan widow has just received a letter by the Iranian authorities that requires her to return to Afghanistan. Her husband has been killed by the Taliban for being a member of the Hazara ethnic minority.

[264 KB]

Mullah Mohammad, a Taliban commander, runs the Mazlak refugee camp. His work mainly consists of quickly turning the international aid into profit for the Taliban.

[203 KB]

An Afghan refugee girl in a NGO-run school near the refugee camp where she lives. In the Taliban Afghanistan schooling for girls was forbidden and in Pakistan refugees do not have access to education.

[342 KB]

A new wave of Afghan refugees has fled to Pakistan since the US-led attacks on the Taliban. Refugee camps are overcrowded. Here a family has found a safe haven in a relative’s house.

[298 KB]

Afghan refugees work in carpet factories. The carpet industry makes large use of child labour.

[486 KB]

Afghan refugees fleeing the US-led attacks on the Taliban find shelter inside a mosque.

[400 KB]

At a brick factory in the outskirts of Peshawar, an Afghan refugee listens to the radio news about the US-led attacks on the Taliban.

[282 KB]

At the frontline between Jamiat and Jumbesh militias. Adan Khan, 28 years old (centre) is a Jamiat soldier, responsible for this outpost. A recent Jumbesh offensive has forced them to make a 4 kilometre retreat.

[214 KB]

Dog fights in one of Kabul’s suburbs. As the Kabul neighbourhoods are strongly ethnically, religiously and economically divided these fights somehow reenact the long civil war that has ripped the country into pieces in the 1990s.

[191 KB]

A crowd gathers to celebrate No Ruz, the Afghan new year. It is the first time in years that the members of the Shia community can freely celebrate this festivity of Persian origin that was repressed during the Taliban regime.

[229 KB]

This passage in the Hindu Kush was built in 1964 by the Soviets in the name of the “friendship between nations”. Fifteen years later it allowed them to invade the country more rapidly.

[142 KB]

Since the Taliban have been defeated the UN has decided that all Afghan children have to attend school. But in most villages there are no schools left. Here in Arab Arzai 400 kids learn sitting on the grass.

[232 KB]

The UN have sent Shamsuddine and his family back to his village from the refuge camp in Mazlak. They were given one sack of wheat to eat and one to sow. It is not the sowing season so they ate both sacks. Now they eat wild grass.

[214 KB]

The men of Amanullah Khan standing on a tank they have recently conquered from the troops of Isamel Khan in Herat. The war of factions opposing Amanullah Khan and Isamel Khan is one of the many that still prevents Afghanistan from returning to peace.

[189 KB]

On ‘TV hill’, one of the hills overlooking Kabul, a boy swings from the dangling electric wires of a pylon destroyed by the war.

[164 KB]

Chad - Boosting security in refugee camps [2 MB]: By Chris Coakley

Chad - Photos: By: Alvaro Ybarra Zavala

The refugee camps set up in Chad are all full of war orphans.

[130 KB]

The 600 km territory ranging from the common border is a vast area to cover in case of emergency. Many of the refugees who manage to cross the border remain isolated in the desert until the the UNHCR staff locate them and take them to the camps.

[174 KB]

The long wait receiving food is part of the daily life in the Chadian refugee camps. Without the humanitarian help it would be nearly impossible for the refugees to survive.

[140 KB]

[159 KB]

All over the border with Chad thousands of villages have been destroyed by the armed gunmen – Janjaweed.

[122 KB]

On the border between Chad and Sudan international NGOs help taking the refugees to a safe place.

[148 KB]

A lady at the first aid post near the Bahai refugee camp.

[113 KB]

[140 KB]

The Sudanese in the Darfur region fled the civil war that threatened their homes.

[155 KB]

A Sudanese refugee at the border between Sudan and Chad.

[111 KB]

Inside one of the hospitals at the refugee camps.

[145 KB]

An internally displaced woman in the middle of the desert, near the border with Chad.

[161 KB]

The Chadian refugee camps are filled with war widows and ophans.

[135 KB]

A refugee convoy taking people to the Bahai refugee camp.

[168 KB]

Democratic Republic of the Congo - Photos: By: Marcus Bleasdale

Soldiers control crowds along Kinshasa"s streets whenever the heavily armed presidential convoy passes, sometimes three times daily. Streets are closed down and movement is restricted.

[157 KB]

Women from a makeshift camp for displaced refugees in Goma. They are often raped by government soldiers in these woods. There have been 30,000 reported rapes in the DRC per year in the past four years. The actual number is thought to be four times that.

[142 KB]

A makeshift camp for displaced refugees in Goma. They fled the fighting between government forces and General Nkunda in Karuba and Mushake, Kivu Province.

[139 KB]

Government soldiers relax after winning their first battle in months against General Nkunda in Karuba, Kivu Province.

[173 KB]

[167 KB]

General Ngodjolo"s men in Zumbe outside Bunia.

[132 KB]

[128 KB]

President Joseph Kabila faces a statue of independence hero Patrice Lumumba, who was assassinated barely six months after the "official" end of colonial rule.

[72 KB]

Under the watchful eye of the military, a crowd "greets" President Joseph Kabila. People are organised and transported to public events in support of their leader.

[146 KB]

Refugees who fled fighting in Gbadolite 1999–2000, pitch camp on a sandbar between Congo and the Central African Republic.

[166 KB]

Gety, Ituri District A religious service takes place in the early morning at the Gety camp for internally displaced persons.

[139 KB]

[146 KB]

[181 KB]

Gety, Ituri District, July 2006. A UN vehicle unit and the UN-APC, drive down a road near Gety. Congo DRC held its first democratic election in 46 years on 30 July 2006.

[156 KB]

Friends and family attend the funeral of Mapenzi Boloma, a 10 month-old girl, who died of diarrhoea and vomiting in the village of Gety, Ituri District, 17 July 2006.

[163 KB]

A child soldier rides back to his base in Ituri Province, Eastern Congo.

[172 KB]

Guinea Bissau - Photos: By: Rebecca Blackwell & Justin Sutcliffe

Sekou Tidiane Bangoura, arrested for theft, peers through the bars of a cell housing 14 men at the judicial police headquarters in Bissau, Guinea Bissau.

[186 KB]

A sports-utility vehicle, one of many in the capital, drives past decaying colonial buildings and a market stall in central Bissau. According to police there are several Hummers in the capital — a car worth more than 100 times the average annual salary.

[269 KB]

Guinea Bissau"s Prime Minister, Martinho Dafa Cabi, says that the international community should do more to help fight drug trafficking here. Cocaine use, he points out, is a mainly Western problem.

[170 KB]

People gather around a speedboat of the type believed to be used by drug traffickers. Guinea Bissau, with its many water ways, is fast becoming a major route for drugs smuggling.

[225 KB]

The police resources are limited. They only have one computer and their radios are in desperate need of repairs. Officers have to fill reports on old typewriters and there is never enough money to fuel all their vehicles.

[171 KB]

Navy Seal Mohamed Camara Tawal stands on a street corner in central Bissau. Guinea Bissau currently has an over-dimensioned defence force. Downsizing the military is part of the country’s urgent security sector reform needs.

[194 KB]

An undercover officer working on drug-related cases for the judicial police. The police say they are trying to do what they can to stop the influx of drugs but claims the government has left them with few resources.

[141 KB]

The most disturbing impediment to fighting serious crime is that Guinea Bissau has no prisons since the country’s only one was destroyed in the civil war. Consequently sentences are rarely longer than a few months even for the most serious crimes.

[152 KB]

‘Qisa’ (crack) addicts in a flophouse on the outskirts of Bissau. Qisa is the hidden cost of the rising drug traffic through Bissau. Local sellers are paid in cocaine and then have to sell it themselves to make a profit.

[157 KB]

As an emergency measure the former finance ministry building has been converted to a makeshift detention centre. The dark basement houses the most dangerous convicts but nobody serves a sentence longer than four months due to overcrowding.

[237 KB]

In the prisons there is virtually no daylight. Prisoners have no opportunity for exercise. Mosquitoes feast in the perpetual twilight and few men have nets to sleep under. Only the shortness of sentences has prevented an epidemic of tuberculosis.

[199 KB]

The fight against drug trafficking is being led by the Judiciary Police. They have just some 70 employees, who must also deal with all the country"s domestic crime as well.

[161 KB]

Lebanon - Photos: By: Ramzi Haidar

Nahr el Bared, 22 May 2007. Palestinian family, in the back of a car fleeing the refugee camp in northern Lebanon. After three days of fighting between Islamists and the Lebanese army, a truce sparked a mass exodus from the Palestinian refugee camp.

[164 KB]

Nahr el Bared, 22 May 2007. Palestinian refugees crossing to safety from the southern entrance of the besieged camp. The refugees fled the battered camp by foot, in cars or pickup trucks when the guns fell silent after three days of ferocious fighting.

[241 KB]

Nahr el Bared, 23 May 2007. Palestinian refugees are crossing to safety from the southern entrance of their besieged camp. The refugees fled the camp by foot, in cars or pickup trucks when the guns fell silent after three days of ferocious fighting.

[262 KB]

Nahr el Bared, 26 May 2007. Palestinian refugees fleeing the besieged camp. The Lebanese government offered the civilians trapped inside a chance to leave the camp. Sniper fire had stopped all but a few dozens from fleeing.

[268 KB]

Nahr el Bared, 26 May 2007. An elderly Palestinian woman is supported as she crosses a Lebanese army checkpoint while fleeing the besieged camp.

[252 KB]

Nahr el Bared, 26 May 2007. A Palestinian man drives his bullet-struck car out of the besieged camp.

[236 KB]

Nahr el Bared, 23 June 2007. Smoke from artillery and tank shelling rises from the Palestinian Nahr el Bared refugee camp. Lebanese troops bombarded the Islamist militants ending a sustained siege lasting nearly five weeks.

[175 KB]

Beddawi refugee camp, 20 July 2007. Palestinian refugees from the Nahr el Bared camp rest at a nearby camp. They have been stripped of virtually all their belongings; their houses, their livelihood, their precious jewellery and even their identity papers.

[376 KB]

Nahr el Bared, 12 August 2007. Black smoke rises amid severely damaged buildings. Lebanese soldiers are being hampered in their fight against holed-up Islamist militants by the stench of putrefying corpses making the air unbreathable.

[193 KB]

Nahr el Bared, 20 September 2007. A Lebanese soldier walks towards the destroyed Nahr el Bared refugee camp after the bombings.

[278 KB]

Nahr el Bared, 28 September 2007. Lebanese soldiers patrol in an armoured vehicle around the devastated Palestinian refugee camp after the bombings have ceased.

[474 KB]

Nahr el Bared, 10 October 2007. Lebanese soldiers search a Palestinian refugee before he enters camp. Dozens of Palestinian families returned in buses and mini-vans hired by the UN Relief and Works Agency with just a few personal items.

[453 KB]

Nahr el Bared, 10 October 2007. Palestinian refugee children show their identity cards as they wait for Lebanese soldiers to search their belongings before they enter the bombed-out Nahr el Bared refugee camp.

[180 KB]

Nahr el Bared, 11 October 2007. A Palestinian refugee carries his new born child past Lebanee soldiers returning home to the bombed-out refugee camp.

[370 KB]

Nahr el Bared, 11 October 2007. A Palestinian refugee family check out what is left of their home. Dozens of Palestinian families returned to Nahr el Bared from the Beddawi refugee camp where they had sought refuge.

[233 KB]

Occupied Palestinian Territory - Photos: By: Alexandra Boulat

The Second Intifada. A dove lands near Israeli soldiers as the temporary lifting of a curfew comes to an end in the West Bank town of Ramallah. Reacting to a wave of deadly suicide attacks, Israel launched its biggest military offensive in over 20 years.

[260 KB]

A Palestinian bound for Jerusalem crosses the Kalandia checkpoint near Ramallah in the West Bank, April 20, 2002. The checkpoint, one of the largest Israeli military checkpoints in the West Bank.

[201 KB]

Palestinian members of a Hamas militia pray at the Zeitun mosque after withdrawing from the streets of Gaza City, Friday, May 26, 2006.

[209 KB]

Happy Hamas supporters parade to celebrate the Hamas victory at Palestinian Legislative elections in Gaza, January 2006.

[189 KB]

Hamas supporters in a rally for the Palestinian Legislative election in Gaza, Jan. 2006.

[287 KB]

Beit Hanun after the Israeli Autumn Clouds military operation which left 65 people dead in a week time, North of Gaza, November 14. 2006.

[245 KB]

The West Bank and the Separation Wall. Sheep walk along a road next to the separation wall between Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory in Bethlehem, on March 19, 2007.

[180 KB]

Women sit to talk inside their destroyed house, in the rubble of Jenin refugee camp.

[236 KB]

Fearing more clashes, young Fatah gunmen of the El Jorf family take position on the roof of their home in Gaza, May 26, 2006.

[174 KB]

A Palestinian man from Gaza crosses the Erez checkpoint from Israel to Gaza, May 24, 2006.

[168 KB]

The Second Intifada. Palestinians prepare to bury 30 countrymen killed by the Israeli Army in the Jenin refugee camp. April 19, 2002. Israel launched controversial, large-scale military operations across the occupied Palestinian territory.

[256 KB]

The Second Intifada. Burial of 30 dead Palestinians killed by the Israeli army in Jenin refugee camp.

[249 KB]

Hamas Security Chief. Youssef Zahar. Hamas militia members pray in a mosque in Gaza City, May 26, 2006.

[241 KB]

Children looking for a class room in Beit Hanun after the Israeli Autumn Clouds military operation which left 65 people dead in a week time, North of Gaza, November 14. 2006.

[228 KB]

The Second Intifada. Jenin refugee camp after Israeli raid.

[295 KB]

A man herds sheep next to the separation wall between Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory in Bethlehem, Palestine on March 19, 2007.

[212 KB]

Somalia - Photos: By: Frédéric Courbet

[258 KB]

A man drives through the streets of Eyl, Puntland in a vehicle named ‘Technical’. It is an all-terrain vehicle with a heavy weapon — a type of an anti-aerial canon (the photo is without the canon).

[186 KB]

A car body is stranded on the rocks next to the Haafun Village on the coast of Somalia. The tsunami aftermath on this part of the coast has displaced and damaged this car, as well as many houses.

[316 KB]

A tank abandoned next to the airport of Bossasso, Somaliland [breakaway territory of Somalia].

[222 KB]

A young Somali woman in the Eyl village.

[233 KB]

A car body stranded in the Haafun village on the Somali coast. The tsunami aftermath on this part of the coast has displaced and damaged this car as well as many houses.

[223 KB]

A young man walking in the Haafun village on the Somali coast. Hit by the tsunami, the Haafun community struggles to survive along the coast line, fishing sharks and lobsters to be sold to the rest of the world in an "uncontrolled way".

[177 KB]

A young Somali woman draws water in the village of Haafun. The aftermath of the tsunami on this part of the coast left the wells polluted by the sea water.

[152 KB]

Two young women in the streets of Bossasso, one of them using her mobile phone.

[197 KB]

A young Somali woman standing in front of her house in the city of Garowe.

[208 KB]

An AK 47 assault rifle is lying on the seat of an all-terrain vehicle named ‘Technical’. In Somalia one can buy a rifle like this without a licence at a price of US$ 300.

[211 KB]

A man from the local militia patrolling, under the orders of the police of Puntland, the village of Haafun, on the Somali coast.

[161 KB]

A young Somali woman comes out of her provisionally built shelter. Her house, on the Somali coast in the Haafun area, was destroyed by the tsunami.

[237 KB]

Two armed men from the local militia are looking towards the horizon in the light of the sunset, in Haafun, on the coast of Somalia.

[252 KB]

[239 KB]

An armed Somali man from the local militia is, under the orders of the police of Puntland, patrolling the Haafun village, on the Somali coast.

[180 KB]

An armed man from the local militia is walking in front of a boat bringing fishermen off the Haafun coast in Somalia.

[192 KB]

A Somali woman standing in front of the hospital entrance in Eyl, Somalia.

[172 KB]

Syria - Photos: By: Paolo Verzone

School for Iraqi refugees children in Babila, a small dusty neighbourhood, 10km south of Damascus.

[182 KB]

Iraqi family waiting at the bus station in Sayeda Zeinab neighbourhood on the outskirts of Damascus that is home to many Iraqi refugees.

[185 KB]

Sayeda Zeinab neighbourhood on the outskirts of Damascus that is home to many Iraqi refugees.

[168 KB]

In front the Sayeda Zeinab mosque, The Shrine of Sayidda Zeinab is a Iranian-style mosque and shrine in southern Damascus. It attracts Shia Muslim pilgrims from Iran and around the world.

[162 KB]

Street scene in the Sayeda Zeinab neighbourhood on the outskirts of Damascus that is home to many Iraqi refugees.

[180 KB]

Iraqi waiting at the bus station in Sayeda Zeinab neighbourhood on the outskirts of Damascus that is home to many Iraqi refugees.

[149 KB]

[139 KB]

[217 KB]

Delivery of supply (by UNICEF & European Commission) in a Iraqi female school in Babila, a small dusty neighbourhood, 10km south of Damascus.

[153 KB]

School for Iraqi refugees children in Daria a neighbourhood in the outskirts of Damascus.

[102 KB]

Duma registration centre for Iraqi refugees, a UNICEF staff member with Iraqi children.

[157 KB]

School for Iraqi children in the Jaramana district near Damascus

[130 KB]

Director of a school for Iraqi refugees in the Jaramana neighbourhood

[187 KB]

SYRIA Support to Syrian basic education in areas affected by a large influx of Iraqi refugees Sayeda Zeinab neighbourhood on the outskirts of Damascus that is home to many Iraqi refugees.

[162 KB]

[173 KB]

Portrait of Syria president Bashar Al Assad in a Taxi.

[191 KB]

Peace building Partnership - Photos: By:

From Early Warning to Early Action Conference, November 2007. Official launch of the Peace-building Partnership.

[102 KB]

[100 KB]

European External Action Service

Theme browser

Early warning

Crisis response

Natural resources & conflict

The EU working in partnership

Security sector reform & DDR

Gender

PDNA / PCNA

Conflict prevention

Peacebuilding & peacekeeping

Climate change & natural disasters

Crisis management

Human security

Project Examples

European External Action Service

Theme browser

Early warning

Crisis response

Natural resources & conflict

The EU working in partnership

Security sector reform & DDR

Gender

PDNA / PCNA

Conflict prevention

Peacebuilding & peacekeeping

Climate change & natural disasters

Crisis management

Human security

Project Examples

Related links