Ruth Gidley
Ruth Gidley has been on the AlertNet team since late 1999. Before that, she lived in Guatemala, working first with a small local NGO and then as a journalist for a Central American news service. Ruth, who has a Masters in Latin American Studies, has edited a book on human rights in Guatemala, and written chapters for books on truth monuments and on Native American traditions.
How can aid agencies tackle corruption?
The humanitarian sector is a multi-billion dollar business, and just because it aims to help people doesn't mean it's safe from corruption, as aid agencies have found after the 2004 tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, and in West African refugee camps where staff have been caught using their power to trade sex with children. Many organisations are already doing their best to tackle corruption - with phone hotlines or anonymous boxes for whistleblowers to report bribes and kickbacks and colleagues who siphon off food deliveries. ...
Immediate Ethiopia crisis may be averted, but high food prices loom
Government and U.N. action has averted an immediate hunger emergency in Ethiopia, but high food prices are still making it hard for parents to feed their children, a major medical charity said. The cost of teff grain - used to make the thin, round spongy bread that accompanies most Ethiopian meals - has more than doubled in the past year, and lentils have quadrupled in price, said International Medical Corps (IMC). ...
Where's the global food crisis taking us?
In five years' time, we could be living in a world where millions are dying in famines with no food aid to hand, regular storms and droughts wipe out acres of crops, and skyrocketing food prices have created global political panic, food experts say. But there might be a way out. Or a combination of ways. ...
Disasters rising, but don't just blame climate change
Natural catastrophes are on the rise, a new report by disaster experts confirms, with the number of recorded floods, storms and other weather emergencies increasing by 7.4 percent a year on average. But 2007 bucked the general trend, seeing a slight fall in disasters and the lowest death toll in a decade. ...
Will corruption hurt Myanmar relief effort?
Will corruption hurt Myanmar relief effort? BANGKOK (AlertNet) - The international community has poured $85 million dollars into Myanmar, but rights groups claim the junta is already misusing and manipulating aid, preventing it from reaching cyclone survivors who need it most urgently. ...
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