EAST AFRICA: Pick of the month - April 2015

	humanitarian news and analysis

Table of contents 1. Why are humanitarians so WEIRD? 2. Hear it from the people: What's wrong in the Central African Republic? 3. Somali refugees feel remittance pain after Kenya attack 4. Is Kenya's security policy the real enemy within? 5. How fragile is Burundi's peace? 6. Destroy the smuggling market, not the boats 7. Does community-driven aid need a makeover? 8. Legal routes no easy fix to EU migration crisis 9. Who are the Imbonerakure and is Burundi unravelling?* 10. Aid agencies pour into Nepal - and then what? 11. Kenya backpedals on closure of Somali refugee camp 12. Ugandan rebel leader's arrest a shot in the arm for justice 13. Top picks: The lessons of Haiti for Nepal, Sudan's conflict and UN whistleblowers 14. Ex-rebels in CAR live in fear and rotting barracks Why are humanitarians so WEIRD? BELGRADE, 15 April 2015 (IRIN) - In his latest column, recovering aid worker Paul Currion argues that humanitarian organisations are fundamentally WEIRD - Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic. Unless that changes, he says, they will always struggle to understand the communities in which they work. Read report online Hear it from the people: What's wrong in the Central African Republic? BAORO, 8 April 2015 (IRIN) - The ordinary people of the Central African Republic are finally having their say after years of conflict. Grassroots 'consultations' have been acting as a prelude to a reconciliation forum aimed at forging lasting peace Read report online Somali refugees feel remittance pain after Kenya attack DADAAB REFUGEE COMPLEX, KENYA, 10 April 2015 (IRIN) - Hundreds of thousands of Somali refugees are among those hardest hit by Kenya's closure of money remittance firms in the wake of the 2 April shooting of at least 147 university students in Garissa by Al-Shabab militants Read report online Is Kenya's security policy the real enemy within? NAIROBI, 21 April 2015 (IRIN) - The Kenyan government has threatened to eject 350,000 Somali refugees and even to build a wall along its entire border with Somalia, but perhaps the real enemies within are poor governance and stalled police reforms Read report online How fragile is Burundi's peace? BUGESERA, RWANDA, 22 April 2015 (IRIN) - With 12,000 Burundians now taking refuge abroad, concern is growing that the fragile peace of the last decade could shatter if President Pierre Nkurunziza continues to pursue his controversial bid for a third term in June elections. Refugees allege a campaign of intimidation from ruling party thugs and the US State Department is already talking about a "climate of fear" Read report online Destroy the smuggling market, not the boats LONDON, 24 April 2015 (IRIN) - Anthropologist and author of "Illegality, Inc." Ruben Andersson of the London School of Economics explains why an EU plan to destroy migrant smugglers' boats is doomed to fail. Read report online Does community-driven aid need a makeover? NAIROBI, 27 April 2015 (IRIN) - Community-Driven Development (CDD) instinctively makes sense - give people the power to determine and control their own development projects and you get better results, right? Wrong. This briefing explores why, at least in some post-conflict countries, CDD doesn't deliver as promised. Read report online Legal routes no easy fix to EU migration crisis OXFORD, 28 April 2015 (IRIN) - In a new column, Jeff Crisp, former policy chief at UNHCR and now an advisor with Refugees International, questions whether opening up more legal routes into Europe is really the silver bullet to the migration crisis in the Mediterranean many make it out to be. Read report online Who are the Imbonerakure and is Burundi unravelling?* BUJUMBURA, 28 April 2015 (IRIN) - There are widespread reports that the youth wing of Burundi's ruling party, known as the Imbonerakure, are waging a campaign of intimidation and violence to help President Pierre Nkurunziza win a third term in June elections. Here's a look at the origins of the group and the fast-evolving situation in a country still on edge after a brutal 12-year civil war: Read report online Aid agencies pour into Nepal - and then what? OXFORD, 29 April 2015 (IRIN) - In the immediate aftermath of a disaster of the scale of Nepal's 7.8-magnitude earthquake, the scramble by aid agencies to respond can easily descend into chaos. Read report online Kenya backpedals on closure of Somali refugee camp NAIROBI, 29 April 2015 (IRIN) - Kenya appears to have softened its stance on the imminent closure of a camp hosting more than a third of a million Somali refugees, weeks after the deputy president announced it would happen within three months, in a reaction to the massacre at Garissa University. Read report online Ugandan rebel leader's arrest a shot in the arm for justice KAMPALA, 30 April 2015 (IRIN) - The arrest in Tanzania of the leader of one of the longest-standing insurgencies in Africa's Great Lakes region marks a step forward for justice and accountability but is unlikely to bring an end to the transnational network he leads. Read report online Top picks: The lessons of Haiti for Nepal, Sudan's conflict and UN whistleblowers BEIRUT, 1 May 2015 (IRIN) - Welcome to IRIN's weekly assortment of noteworthy humanitarian journalism and research, compiled by the editorial team. This week's selection includes how not to repeat the mistakes of the Haiti earthquake and the plight of UN whistleblowers. Read report online Ex-rebels in CAR live in fear and rotting barracks BANGUI, 1 May 2015 (IRIN) - Ex-Séléka rebels in the Central African Republic are living in a terrible state in overgrown and disused army barracks in the capital Bangui. Too scared to venture out, even when they are sick, the former fighters await an uncertain fate as a special court prepares investigate widespread abuses. Read report online

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