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Blog Posts by Briana Orr

Iraq Hearing: Living up to our Humanitarian Responsibilities both Ethical and Strategic
July 27, 2010 Briana Orr Iraq

On Thursday July 22nd, The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, known as The Helsinki Commission, hosted a hearing to examine the humanitarian situation for displaced and vulnerable Iraqis. The hearing was titled “No Way Home, No Way to Escape” an apt description of the plight of approximately two million Iraqis who have been forced to flee their homes in the last seven years of U.S. engagement in Iraq.

Internally Displaced: Not an Afterthought
July 02, 2010 Briana Orr Humanitarian Response, About RI
On Wednesday June 30th, the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement hosted a discussion on how the United States can improve its humanitarian response to crises that leave large numbers of people displaced in their own countries. There are currently 25 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) worldwide who have been uprooted by violence or political persecution.
RI's Web Roundup
June 03, 2010 Briana Orr About RI
From around the world and around the web this week:

After a shaky start, the Peace Jirga is underway in Kabul. Reuters provides live blogging.

Meanwhile, postcard images from 1950s Afghanistan take us back to a time when Kabul “had rock 'n' roll, not rockets.”
Refugees International Testifies in Support of the Refugee Protection Act of 2010
May 20, 2010 Briana Orr

Refugees International is often called on to bring the struggles of displaced people into the halls of power where laws and policies are created that influence the conditions under which they live. Yesterday, RI’s president, Dan Glickman testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on proposed changes to U.S. asylum law.

Sergio Documentary Highlights a Life Committed to UN Principles
April 20, 2010 Briana Orr
On August 19th, 2003, a bomb-laden cement truck exploded at the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad, killing seventeen people and injuring many more. Among those killed in the attack was the UN Special Representative to Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, a life-long humanitarian and diplomat who had spent his entire career within the UN system, grappling with its complexities, limits, and ethical challenges.