The Humanitarian Action Study Group of DSA Ireland had it's first meeting yesterday evening and held a panel event looking at the emergency crisis in South Sudan.
The panel consisted of Ireland based experts on South Sudan. Topics discussed in addition to the presentations, as part of the question and answer session with participants included:
- involvement of outside states in the conflict;
- practical challenges in accessing populations in need;
- cross border access and northern Sudanese government response;
- protection and the role of the UN (with particular reference to populations in UN protected camps);
- the role of the international arms trade in the conflict and NGO roles in advocating for an end to hostilities.
The slides from this presentation are now available here. The group are currently planning two further session looking at Ebola in West Africa (for May) and a second on the crisis in the Central African Republic (for June), both to be confirmed.
The Study Group is still open for members to join, so if you are interested, please contact the Group Convenor, Dr. Rob Kevlihan, rob.kevlihan@kimmagedsc.ie, stating your institution/ngo, area of interest/research and any suggestions for activities.