Dead letter or living document? Ten years of the Code of Conduct for disaster relief

This paper examines the present value of the Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Disaster Relief, in view of discussions on neutrality and the Western bias of the humanitarian aid system, and assesses how it can retain its relevance in future. The Code of Conduct was launched just after the Rwanda genocide of April 1994. A decade later, the crises in Afghanistan and Iraq have sparked renewed interest in humanitarian principles and in whether the code can serve as an instrument to define humanitarianism and guide humanitarian decision-making and coordination. More than 300 organisations have now subscribed to it. This paper is based on the findings of a survey of code signatories and the outcomes of a conference on the value and future of the code, held in The Hague, Netherlands, in September 2004 to mark its tenth anniversary.     

Conflict-related mortality: an analysis of 37 datasets

Mortality rates are among the main indicators of the human impact of armed conflict and many surveys have assessed this impact both for targeting and evaluating humanitarian aid programmes. Almost no epidemiological analysis such as calculating relative risk was performed nor were reference values clearly described. Here the aim is to review published mortality rates for a better understanding of age-specific mortality in armed conflict. Published mortality rates from conflict situations were collected and pre-conflict reference rates composed. We calculated the relative risk of dying in conflict compared to pre-conflict for children under 5 and people older than five years old. Although limited by reporting inadequacies, the results confirm the high vulnerability of children < 5 but identify a higher relative risk of dying among the > or = 5 year olds. Although not entirely new, this observation is not fully understood. Further systematic epidemiological research is needed to estimate and understand the impact of armed conflict on mortality.     

The future of humanitarian action: mapping the implications of Iraq and other recent crises

In late 2003 the Feinstein International Famine Center, in partnership with institutions in London, Geneva and Washington, organised a series of consultations on the future of humanitarian action post-Iraq. This article is based on those discussions. A number of recurring concerns are elaborated, ranging from the perception of humanitarianism as a Northern-driven and Northern-controlled enterprise, through the politicisation of security and the devaluation of the protective power of emblems, to the very nature of how the crisis in Iraq is perceived. The article explores the implications of such issues for humanitarian workers and their institutions. It concludes by framing an agenda for action by the humanitarian sector.     

Legitimizing Fluvial Ecosystems as Users of Water: An Overview

We suggest that fluvial ecosystems are legitimate users of water and that there are basic ecological principles guiding the maintenance of long-term ecological vitality. This article articulates some fundamental relationships between physical and ecological processes, presents basic principles for maintaining the vitality of fluvial ecosystems, identifies several major scientific challenges and opportunities for effective implementation of the basic ecological principles, and acts as an introduction to three specific articles to follow on biodiversity, biogeochemistry, and riparian communities. All the objectives, by necessity, link climate, land, and fresh water. The basic principles proposed are: (1) the natural flow regime shapes the evolution of aquatic biota and ecological processes, (2) every river has a characteristic flow regime and an associated biotic community, and (3) aquatic ecosystems are topographically unique in occupying the lowest position in the landscape, thereby integrating catchment-scale processes. Scientific challenges for the immediate future relate to quantifying cumulative effects, linking multidisciplinary knowledge and models, and formulating effective monitoring and assessment procedures. Additionally, forecasting the ecological consequences of changing water regimes is a fundamental challenge for science, especially as environmental issues related to fresh waters escalate in the next two to three decades.     

对开发三峡库区旅游文化资源的思考

运用旅游文化学理论 ,并结合三峡旅游的实际 ,对三峡库区旅游文化资源进行了深入分析和研究 ,提出了开发的原则和措施。     

Rebuilding and strengthening health systems and providing basic health services in fragile states

The international community has compelling humanitarian, political, security and economic reasons to engage in rebuilding and strengthening health systems in fragile states. Improvements in health services and systems help to strengthen civil society and to restore legitimacy to governments. Effective engagement with fragile states to inform the design of health programmes and selection of interventions depends on donor coordination and an understanding of health system challenges. Planning requires consideration of allocation (services to be delivered), production (organisation of services), distribution (beneficiaries of services) and financing. The criteria for selecting interventions are: their impact on major health problems; effectiveness; the possibility of scale-up; equity; and sustainability. There are various options for financing and models of engagement, but support should always combine short-term relief with longer-term development. Stakeholders should aim not only to save lives and protect health but also to bolster nations' ability to deliver good-quality services in the long run.     

我国环境法确立风险预防原则的思考

环境风险预防原则是应对环境风险日益凸显的重要原则。通过对环境风险预防原则的分析,发现环境风险预防原则在我国确立中还存在着对其研究程度不够、混同于"预防为主,防治结合"原则以及仍惯于事后执法的传统思维等问题。面对挑战,应多措并举推进环境风险预防原则建设,例如确立环境风险预防原则作为环境法基本原则,转变举证责任主体的机制、建立信息公开等与风险预防原则相关的法律制度,拟采过错责任为风险预防的归责原则,从而预防和遏制环境风险的产生与扩散。     

A Systems Based Framework to Examine The Multi-contextural Application of the Sustainability Concept

A conceptual framework is generated through systems principles to explain sustainability’s wide diversity of interpretation and contextual application. Sustainability is reduced to a literal interpretation as the ability to sustain, and then expressed in simple systems as the ability of one system to sustain another system over time. This reinforces the importance of time in the sustainability debate, and suggests the concept can be legitimately applied to timeframes that have absolute limits. The framework is expanded to complex systems as the changing ability of one or many systems to sustain the changing requirements of one or many systems, over time. This accommodates multiple relations and system dynamics, and hints at the extraordinary complexity encompassed by the sustainability concept. Practical implications relate to the evolving meaning of sustainability, the need for continual change to remain sustainable, and that the sustainability concept can be validly applied to virtually any context or situation that exhibits a dimension of continuity. Derived criteria useful for clarifying contextual applications of sustainability include stating the how, what, why, who and for how long of sustainability, along with indicating the most appropriate hierarchical tier at which the concept is being applied.     

论可持续发展思想对法学基础理论的影响

可持续发展思想是社会发展的必然产物 ,它必将对上层建筑产生重大影响。本文从这个意义上论述了可持续发展思想对法学基础理论的影响 ,剖析了可持续发展中环境与资源之间的相互关系 ,以期推动法理学的改革和发展 ,进而更好地保障我国可持续发展战略的顺利实施。     

环境安全的新挑战:经济全球化下环境污染转移

发达国家环境污染转移主要通过两种途径实现：一是产业投资转移，二是贸易转移。从国际环境污染转移的形式来看可能完全符合市场经济原则，但却明显具有不道德性和非持续性。本文基于环境安全面临现实挑战，简要分析了环境污染国际转移产生的途径与根源，并对我国在出口推动型的增长中如何不降低对外贸易的依赖程度而保持资源与环境的优化，提出了相应的可持续发展准则与对策。