IMF [to 30 January 2016]
http://www.imf.org/external/news/default.aspx

January 29, 2016
Press Release: Conference on Small Middle-Income Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa: Joint Statement by Deputy Managing Director Min Zhu and Governor Linah Mohohlo of the Bank of Botswana

… “We had a very productive set of discussions on the economic outlook and policy challenges facing small middle-income countries (SMICs) in sub-Saharan Africa. This group of countries has made significant progress in terms of maintaining macroeconomic stability and sustaining high growth over the past two decades. However, a number of challenges have recently emerged and, beyond the importance of maintaining their hard earned gains in terms of economic stability, there is scope to rethink their growth strategies and move forward with bold complementary reforms that could facilitate their transition to high-income status.

“For countries that depend heavily on commodity exports, the near-term environment has deteriorated as both global demand and prices have declined. And while some countries have previously built savings that can help them cushion the slowdown, other countries have seen their fiscal positions deteriorate rapidly at a time when external financing conditions have tightened. Notably, the slowdown of the South African economy could also adversely affect the countries in the region…

African Development Bank Group [to 30 January 2016]
http://www.afdb.org/en/news-and-events/press-releases/

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29/01/2016
Senior Management changes at the African Development Bank
As part of a refocusing of strategy, the African Development Bank has announced the departure of the following executives effective February 1, 2016: the Vice-President for Agriculture, Water, Human Development, Governance and Natural Resources, Aly Abou-Sabaa; the Secretary General and Vice-President, Cecilia Akintomide; the Vice-President for Infrastructure, Private Sector and Regional Integration, Solomon Asamoah; the General Counsel and Director of Legal Services, Kalidou Gadio; and the Director of Communications and External Relations, Joel Serunkuma Kibazo.

Burundian refugees to benefit from $1 million AfDB emergency assistance
29/01/2016 – The Government of Rwanda and the African Development Bank (AfDB) on Wednesday, January 27, 2016, signed a US $1-million (RWF 753-million) emergency assistance grant to Burundian refugees in Rwanda.

AfDB launches project to strengthen the aviation sector in Central and West Africa
28/01/2016 – On January 26, 2016, the African Development Bank and representatives of the Central and West African economic communities inaugurated a major project to improve the safety, security and efficiency of air transport in the sub-region.

AfDB lends Morocco $112.3 million to improve the Tangier-Casablanca-Marrakech railway route
27/01/2016 – On Wednesday, January 27, 2016, in Abidjan, the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) approved a loan of US $112.3 million to Morocco for the improvement of infrastructure on the Tangier-Casablanca-Marrakech railway route.

Asian Development Bank [to 30 January 2016]
http://www.adb.org/news

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25 Jan 2016 | News Release
ADB Private Sector Financing Tops $2.6 Billion in 2015, Up 37% Year-on-Year
ADB approved a record $2.6 billion of new financing and investments for the private sector in 2015, a 37% increase from a year earlier and 62% higher than in 2013.

25 Jan 2016 | News Release
Asia-Pacific PPP Project Preparation Facility Launches Operations
MANILA, PHILIPPINES – The Asia-Pacific Project Preparation Facility (AP3F), a multi-donor trust fund managed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to help developing Asia and the Pacific prepare, structure, and place bankable public-private partnership (PPP) projects in the market, launched its operations today.

CARE International [to 30 January 2016]
http://www.care-international.org/news/press-releases.aspx

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28 JANUARY 2016
El Niño: Urgent need for support as drought affects 14 million people in Southern Africa
MOZAMBIQUE
About 14 million people in Southern Africa are already facing hunger, and the situation is expected to deteriorate further as multiple countries in the region bear the impact of the El Niño weather system.

26 JANUARY 2016
CARE: Freezing temperatures and increased trafficking severely threaten safety of refugees along Balkan route
SERBIA
Biting winds and freezing temperatures of up to minus 10 degrees Celsius pose severe health risks for refugees in the Western Balkans. At the same time, increased activities by smugglers put those already exhausted from their journey at risk of being abused and injured.

25 JANUARY 2016
Snowstorms slam the Middle East, striking already vulnerable Syrians
SYRIA
Agencies warn that only a complete end to the six-month old siege and guarantees for sustained aid deliveries alongside humanitarian services will alleviate the crisis in these areas.

Clubhouse International  [to 30 January 2016]
http://www.clubhouse-intl.org/news.html

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Posted on January 13, 2016
Meet Our New Executive Fellows
Fountain House is thrilled to welcome our three new Executive Fellows – Bethany Vukusic, Francesco Baglioni, and Jenny Erdman! The three fellows come from clubhouses in Michigan, Italy, and Iowa, respectively. The Executive Fellowship prepares new clubhouse directors to succeed anywhere in the world, and equips them with the requisite organizational and programmatic knowledge and skill sets.

HelpAge International [to 30 January 2016]
http://www.helpage.org/newsroom/press-room/press-releases/
Posted: 26 January 2016
African leaders urged to adopt protocol on the rights of older people
African heads of state are being urged to adopt a protocol on older people’s rights by organisations representing older people across the continent, at the 26th Summit of the African Union meeting in Ethiopia this week.

IRC International Rescue Committee [to 30 January 2016]
http://www.rescue.org/press-release-index

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Posted by The IRC on January 29, 2016
Syria crisis: Give refugees a chance to rebuild their lives [IRC Policy Briefs]
The IRC has launched a series of policy briefs examining the challenges Syrian refugees in host countries like Jordan and Lebanon face in finding employment and and earning the income they need to rebuild their lives.

ICRC [to 30 January 2016]
https://www.icrc.org/en/whats-new

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30 January 2016
Afghanistan: Thousands received life-saving assistance in 2015
Article
Ongoing conflict and violence continues to devastate the lives of hundreds of thousands of Afghan people.
In 2015, we provided basic aid, such as clean water and medical care, to those most in need across Afghanistan. Our teams also visited detainees to monitor their living conditions and treatment, and worked tirelessly to help to reconnect families separated by the conflict.

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27 January 2016
Data Protection in Humanitarian Action
Article
The Brussels Privacy Hub at the Vrije Universiteit Brussels (VUB) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) intend to run a project exploring the relationship between data protection law and humanitarian action.

The provision of services to vulnerable persons by organizations working in humanitarian emergencies such as armed conflicts, other situations of violence, migration, natural disasters, and epidemics requires the collection and processing of a great deal of, often highly sensitive, personal data. To deal with humanitarian emergencies, it is in many cases necessary for personal data to flow between the concerned countries.

There is also increasing interest from both the humanitarian world, and the donors supporting it, in identifying innovative ways of providing better, and more efficient humanitarian assistance. This often involves exploring the possibilities offered by new technologies.

At the same time, as data protection and privacy laws develop at a faster pace, there is a lack of capacity and expertise to analyse how developing data protection and privacy rules actually apply to data collected for humanitarian purposes, particularly when adopting new technologies.

This requires the identification of clear guidance in respect of data processing in humanitarian action. This should be developed based on the key principles set out in international human rights law and international humanitarian law, the 1990 UN Guidelines for the Regulation of Computerized Personal Data Files, and other relevant instruments relating to privacy and data protection, as well as humanitarian action guidelines and principles.

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26 January 2016
ICRC in Yemen: Our work in 2015
Article

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25 January 2016
Enable Makeathon: Inspiring innovative solutions to help people with disabilities
Article
Of the world’s seven billion people, one billion are living with disabilities. Physical disabilities often limit a person’s mobility and dexterity. But beyond these challenges for the individual, physical disabilities impact family members, society and the overall healthcare system. Meeting the complex needs of persons with physical disabilities is a societal responsibility- one that we can all contribute to.

Initiated by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and its partners, the ‘Enable Makeathon’ is a global project aimed at creating new assistive devices for persons with disabilities living in rural settings- both in India and across the world…

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News release
23 January 2016
Ukraine crisis: Best practices in dead body recovery discussed in Lugansk
Kiev / Lugansk (ICRC) – Today the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) held a round-table discussion in the town of Lugansk on ways of identifying the dead and handling their bodies respectfully.

IRCT [to 30 January 2016]
http://www.irct.org/

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News
IRCT launches manual on setting up and running a rehabilitation centre in a Libyan context
29 January 2016
The IRCT and its partners are proud to launch a new manual, ‘Establishing and Operating Rehabilitation Centres for Victims of Torture and Organised Violence’, which provides guidelines on organisational and therapeutic procedures applicable to Libya, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and beyond.
Written in Arabic, the manual is made up of 10 chapters which include guidance on capacity development, developing protocols for treating torture victims, emergency management and functional referral systems and monitoring and evaluation. The manual was written by an international multi-disciplinary team of experienced practitioners and academics and scientifically reviewed by a panel of experts in the field of torture rehabilitation from the region…

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News
IRCT: Turkey must immediately ensure full protection of human rights defenders
28 January 2016
The IRCT expresses its grave concern about the recent arrest of 20 university academics. Among the arrested is Dr Ümit Biçer, who is on the board of IRCT’s Turkish member centre, the Human Rights Foundation Turkey (HRFT), and is a leading international expert in forensic documentation of torture and ill-treatment.
The arrest is alleged to be a direct response to a joint statement issued by 1,128 academics from Turkey and abroad, calling for an end to the curfews imposed on certain districts in Turkey, which have led to severe human rights violations, including extrajudicial executions…

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News
Scientific Symposium: Additional call for abstracts
27 January 2016

MSF/Médecins Sans Frontières [to 30 January 2016]
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news-stories/press/press-releases

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Press Releases
MSF Alert: Five Epidemics to Watch
January 25, 2016
Five diseases with the potential to become epidemics in 2016 are being highlighted by the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), as the World Health Organization’s executive board meets in Geneva this week.

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Press Releases
Yemen: Health Facilities Under Attack, Severely Limiting Access to Care
January 25, 2016
The conflict in Yemen is being waged with total disregard for the rules of war, the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) declared today, following the latest attack on one of its health facilities.

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Field News
CAR: No Hope of Returning Home
January 27, 2016
A nervous calm prevails as the Central African Republic (CAR) awaits the final round of presidential elections, due to take place in early February. Renewed outbreaks of intercommunal violence have kept the population on edge in recent months, with many fearing that tensions could flare anew at any moment. The worsening security situation has also crushed hopes of returning home for some 450,000 people who were displaced internally by violence, along with a similar number of refugees who fled to neighboring countries.

Partners In Health [to 30 January 2016]
http://www.pih.org/blog

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Jan 29, 2016
Cervical Cancer Program Expands in Haiti
Cervical cancer is the most common cancer in women in Haiti, and the second leading cause of cancer deaths among the same group, according to the ICO Information Centre on HPV and Cancer, a data clearinghouse.
This is true in a day and age when cervical cancer can largely be prevented and treated through timely vaccinations and regular gynecological exams. There is no reason that can’t be true in Haiti.
In November, Zanmi Lasante, as Partners In Health is known in Haiti, launched a two-year program that will dramatically increase its capacity to vaccinate young girls and screen and treat women for cervical cancer. Over the next 24 months, staff will vaccinate 20,000 girls in St. Marc, Mirebalais, and Belladère against human papillomavirus (HPV), a disease that causes virtually all cervical cancer. They will also screen 20,000 more women for cervical cancer in St. Marc and the surrounding area, while boosting efforts to screen and treat women in Mirebalais and Belladère.
Additional staff will be hired and equipment and materials will be purchased to meet increased demand for these gynecological services, most of which will be provided at St. Nicholas Hospital in St. Marc. Pap smears, biopsies, and colposcopy—a procedure used to closely examine the cervix—will also be available for women whose initial tests indicate they may have cancer…

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Jan 28, 2016
Need to Know: Zika Virus
The Zika virus has been reported in 23 countries and territories so far, including Haiti and Mexico, where Partners In Health has thousands of staff and serves thousands more patients on a daily basis. Dr. Joia Mukherjee, PIH’s chief medical officer and an infectious disease expert, answers key questions about the virus.

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Jan 27, 2016
Study Finds Poverty Spread Ebola
A study quantifies how poor areas of Monrovia increased transmission of Ebola in 2014.

SOS-Kinderdorf International [to 30 January 2016]
http://www.sos-childrensvillages.org/about-sos/press/press-releases

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29.01.2016
SOS Youth Ambassador takes to global stage
– As the 2016 ECOSOC Youth Forum gets under way at United Nations headquarters in New York next week, SOS Children’s Villages is helping young people to be heard.

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27.01.2016
Health check: Winter conditions take toll on refugee children
– Dr Abdul Salam Sabbouh is a Syrian-born physician who studied medicine in then-Yugoslavia. Today, working with the Macedonian Red Cross in a field clinic provided by SOS Children’s Villages, he is on the front line in helping refugees.

Tostan [to 30 January 2016]
http://www.tostan.org/latest-news

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January 27, 2016
Challenging Gender Roles through Engaged Fatherhood
Many studies have shown that the involvement of men in early childhood development (ECD) is extremely beneficial to a child’s social, emotional and cognitive growth. Fathers who are involved and playful with their infants have children with higher IQs, improved linguistic abilities, greater capacity for empathy, decreased gender stereotypes, and are all-round better prepared to succeed in school.

In Senegal, strict ideas around gender roles and gendered divisions of labor have meant that for a long time, raising children has been exclusively considered women’s work. Men, on the other hand, are thought of primarily as providers for the family and ready disciplinarians. As “head of the household,” it’s not uncommon for a man to make decisions without consulting the rest of the family, maintain distance from his young children and have little involvement in their education.

However, Tostan’s Reinforcement of Parental Practices (RPP) program is calling into question these very practices with remarkable results…

Women for Women International [to 30 January 2016]
http://www.womenforwomen.org/press-releases

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January 22, 2016 | The Diane Rehm Show
Afghanistan’s Romeo and Juliet and How They Escaped an Honor Killing
WfWI’s Noorjahan Akbar joins Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations Gayle Tzemach Lemmon and New York Times reporter and author Rod Nordland to discuss his new book The Lovers: Afghanistan’s Romeo and Juliet. Drawing from her personal experience, Akbar shares how women in Afghanistan are working to counter patriarchal norms and claim their own agency and power to make the choices that affect their lives.

Disasters Emergency Committee [to 30 January 2016]
http://www.dec.org.uk/media-centre
[Action Aid, Age International, British Red Cross, CAFOD, Care International, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide, Islamic Relief, Oxfam, Plan UK, Save the Children, Tearfund and World Vision]

27/12/2015
Flooding in north of England
Flooding in the north of England, Wales and some other areas of Britain has caused extensive disruption and driven hundreds of people from their homes.

23/10/2015
Nepal fuel crisis hampers relief response as winter approaches
:: Six months on DEC appeal totals £85 million
:: DEC funds help member agencies reach 900,000 people with aid
More than 400,000 people in the high mountains of Nepal are facing a winter of sub-zero temperatures without adequate shelter and supplies, nearly six months after the devastating earthquake struck the country on 25 April 2015, the DEC said today.

The Elders [to 30 January 2016]
http://theelders.org/news-media

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News 29 January 2016
The Elders urge African Union to maintain efforts for peace and justice in Burundi
The Elders have written to the Chairperson of the African Union, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, in support of her efforts to bring peace and justice to Burundi, and urged her to press for a credible international security presence in the country.

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News 27 January 2016
Still fit for purpose? Elders’ UN proposals take centre stage at Sciences Po
Martti Ahtisaari and Lakhdar Brahimi discussed The Elders’ proposals for strengthening the UN at the Sciences Po event which included contributions from several possible candidates for the next Secretary-General and touched on issues from terrorism to the refugee crisis, development challenges and the weakness of international institutions.

Global Fund [to 30 January 2016]
http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/news/

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News
Dutch Postcode Lottery Supports TB Programs for Syrian Refugees
28 January 2016
AMSTERDAM – The Dutch Postcode Lottery announced a contribution of €2.5 million to the Global Fund to support the fight against tuberculosis among Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will match the contribution from the Dutch Postcode Lottery.

“Partnerships like this allow us to better focus on leaving no one behind, regardless of their status, circumstance, or ethnic and religious background,” said Mark Dybul, Executive Director of the Global Fund. “TB is a serious challenge, and collective efforts to reduce it are ultimately connected with achieving quality access to health care by all.”

Marieke van Schaik, Managing Director of the Dutch Postcode Lottery, said: “We are honored to grant this award to the Global Fund to support the work that the organization is doing in emergency situations.”
The Global Fund partnership, through the Emergency Fund special initiative, provides access to funds in emergency situations connected with HIV, TB or malaria. The Emergency Fund currently supports the provision and continuity of essential TB prevention, diagnosis and treatment services in Lebanon and Jordan, and will be expanded to Iraq.

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News
Global Fund Hails New Malaria Investment
25 January 2016
GENEVA – The Global Fund welcomes a significant new investment against malaria by the United Kingdom and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Announced today in Liverpool by George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the funding of £3 billion over the next five years will support research and other efforts to eliminate malaria.

The new fund will accelerate gains made against the mosquito-borne disease. Global efforts have already achieved a 60 percent decline in deaths since 2000, when malaria killed one million people, mostly young children. Yet today’s announcement underscored the need to expand efforts to eliminate this preventable disease.

The fund will receive £500 million a year from Britain’s overseas aid budget for the next five years, as well as US$200 million a year from the Gates Foundation to support research and development and accelerate malaria elimination efforts…

Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action (ALNAP) [to 30 January 2016]
http://www.alnap.org/

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[Undated]
We are doing national NGOs research in Colombia, Lebanon and Nepal
One of the most striking findings of the State of the Humanitarian System (SOHS) 2015 report is that 4 out of 5 of the 4,480 humanitarian organisations are national NGOs working in country. These organisations have not only increased in numbers, but also in influence. There has been a growing recognition that national NGOs and civil society organisations should lead future humanitarian responses for them to be more relevant, timely and effective.

Although lots of research has addressed the need for an increased role for national NGOs in humanitarian response, the research, advocacy and evaluative pieces are commissioned and elaborated on from the perspective of international actors, primarily international NGOs.

In 2015 ALNAP embarked on new research into national and local NGOs to find out more about the work they do in disaster and emergency response, from their perspective. What are their priorities and commitments? What motivates and guides their decisions and activities? The project will seek to fill the current gap in understanding around what humanitarian action looks like in national NGOs’ own terms.

Through interviews with a wide range of organisations across the humanitarian sector – from DRR and WASH, to livelihoods and organisations of self-mobilised affected-people – in three countries with diverse needs and experiences (Colombia, Lebanon and Nepal), this project will produce an in-depth qualitative study of the national and local NGO landscape.

To ensure this research will be truly reflecting the perceptions of the NNGOs, ALNAP will be pioneering the use of Grounded Theory in the humanitarian field. This approach is more exploratory and hypothesis generating, rather than other approaches that test, validate or refute pre-established assumptions or hypotheses.

Global Humanitarian Assistance (GHA) [to 30 January 2016]
http://www.globalhumanitarianassistance.org/

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Report Synopsis
Syria – Conflict and food insecurity in rural Damascus
Date: 2016/01/27
On 26 January 2016 we responded to a funding alert for escalating food insecurity and increased risk of malnutrition for people trapped in under siege conditions in the towns of Moadamiyet al-Sham and Daraya in rural Damascus, Syria. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) 4.5 million people in Syria are considered hard to reach, of which at least 400,000 are totally besieged.

The inhabitants of Moadamiyet al-Sham and Daraya are trapped under siege conditions, and since December 2015 access to the towns has been completely closed. Food insecurity is escalating particularly for the most vulnerable people and the risk of malnutrition is rising particularly amongst children.

In 2016, for the fifth year in a row, the requirements set out in the UN-coordinated appeal in response the emergency within Syria have risen, now totalling US$3.2 billion.

According to the UN OCHA’s Financial Tracking Service (FTS), seven donors have reported commitments/ contributions totalling US$21.5 million to Syria since the start of 2016. This funding picture is likely to change significantly in the coming weeks following the Syria pledging conference that will be held on 5 February in London, UK.

:: Read our full analysis of the current funding situation.

ODI [to 30 January 2016]
http://www.odi.org/media

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Research Reports
Accelerating access to electricity in Africa with off-grid solar
Research reports and studies | January 2016 | Andrew Scott, Johanna Diecker, Kat Harrison, Charlie Miller, James Ryan Hogarth and Susie Wheeldon
An assessment of the impact of solar household systems and the market and policy environment for the growth of the solar off-grid market in sub-Saharan Africa.

Unlocking resilience through autonomous innovation
Working and discussion papers | January 2016 | Aditya Bahadur and Julian Doczi
This paper looks at autonomous, local, approaches to innovation which can be implemented to reduce people’s vulnerability to natural, social and political shocks.

The European Union’s Global Strategy: sustainable development and EU external action
Working and discussion papers | January 2016 | Mikaela Gavas, Christine Hackenesch, Svea Koch, James Mackie and Simon Maxwell
This briefing note addresses the challenges and opportunities related to the drafting of the European Union (EU) Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy.

Neutrality and solidarity in Nordic humanitarian action
Working and discussion papers | January 2016 | Carl Marklund
Although small, the Nordic countries have historically had a large and distinctive impact on humanitarian action.

China’s balancing act
Research reports and studies | January 2016 | Phyllis Papadavid
This report examines the impact of the internationalisation of the renminbi (RMB) on the global economy.