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The United States has contributed greatly to the post-war reconstruction of the Western Balkans and remains a key player. While the region is not as high on the US foreign policy agenda as in the 1990s, the USA has consistently shown commitment to its Euro-Atlantic integration. US engagement is seen as crucial in this historically volatile region, weakened by unresolved past and emerging challenges.

Domestic experience of natural disasters has made Japan a global leader in disaster risk reduction. Japan is now the fifth largest donor of humanitarian aid, and Japan Disaster Relief teams are highly appreciated. On the eve of the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS), Tokyo underlines the importance of strengthening coordination between humanitarian and development assistance.

Over the last 10 years, Turkey has become a leading emerging donor. Most of Turkey's official development assistance goes to humanitarian aid, above all in support of Syrian refugees.

The first-ever World Humanitarian Summit (WHS), on 23 and 24 May 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey, will bring together a panoply of representatives of world governments, business, and civil society, in order to find a way to improve humanitarian responses to increasingly challenging conditions. The May plenary is due to hear from the Commission and Council on the EU approach to the WHS.

Policy Coherence for Development (PCD) has become an EU legal obligation, after years of slow progress. PCD aims to incorporate development concerns in non-aid policies in order to minimise contradictions, and if possible, create synergies between policies. However, despite a reiterated political commitment and reinforcement of the institutional framework to follow up on PCD, scepticism prevails outside the Commission on the feasibility of achieving PCD. Difficult-to-reconcile objectives, and the ...

Statelessness is a significant human rights challenge: it is often a product of human rights problems, such as gender or racial discrimination, while it also has a serious and lasting impact on the enjoyment of other human rights. This study explores how the European Union can play a greater role in the fight against statelessness around the world as part of its external action on human rights issues. It demonstrates the nexus between statelessness and the EU’s current human rights priorities and ...

The economic integration of the south and east Mediterranean partner countries with Europe has made very little progress, just as relations between them are not showing signs of development. The immediate periphery of the Union has not yet become a dynamic area of trade with Europe, and Community aid, which is focused on the commercial aspects, has not managed to stimulate sufficient economic growth in its neighbours to absorb new entrants on to the labour market. This lack of regional economic dynamism ...

In recent months sectarian violence in Iraq has escalated worryingly. More than 6 400 people have been killed across the country this year, half of them in the last three months. The Shia-dominated central government has failed to address the grievances of the Sunni minority and has responded to public protests with a heavy hand, leading militant Sunni groups such as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant to gain ground. The situation is compounded by the dangerous spill-over from the civil war ...

The EU Delegations are playing a more important role in political analysis and policy shaping, thanks to their leadership in drafting the new Human Rights Country Strategies, are better able to carry out human rights diplomacy, thanks to their improved standing through the Lisbon Treaty changes, are strengthening the Delegations’ structures to deal with human rights in third countries, and are improving their outreach and contacts on the ground. However, there is space for improvements by making ...

Lack of water is expected to affect one-third of the population worldwide by 2025. Today, 1.2 billion people live in areas of scarcity, while 1.6 billion face water shortages due to economic problems. The issue is particularly worrying in least developed countries (LDCs), where water is scarce or there is little or no infrastructure to extract, distribute or conserve water.