Issue 16: May 2002

New book proposes antidote
for humanitarian emergencies

A new book to be launched in New York this month emphasizes long-term development policies as an antidote to humanitarian disasters in the developing world. The Prevention of Humanitarian Emergencies, edited by E. Wayne Nafziger and Raimo Väyrynen, provides an analysis and an inventory of instruments for donors, international agencies, and developing countries to prevent humanitarian emergencies.

It will be launched April 24 at an event co-organised by UNU World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU/WIDER) and the International Peace Academy.

The book's contributors recommend a number of policies including democratic and institutional reforms to enhance the capabilities of the state and civil society, acceleration of economic growth through macroeconomic stabilization and adjustment, reducing inequalities, redesigning and expansion of aid, and opening of Northern markets to developing countries. 

In contrast to other studies, this book is based on political economy, statistical and case-study analyses of the root causes of war and state violence. The contributors, in recommending policy, indicate how preventive action by poor countries and the international community can resolve the underlying causes of the humanitarian crisis.

E. Wayne Nafziger is University Distinguished Professor of Economics at Kansas State University and Raimo Väyrynen is Professor of Government and International Studies and Senior Fellow, Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame, Indiana.

The launch of The Prevention of Humanitarian Emergencies will be held in the seminar room of Stroock and Stroock and Lavan, 767 Third Avenue, New York on April 24 at 1 pm. RSVP

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