Elizabeth Dickinson, Author at UN Dispatch

Why Somalia Needs Your Aid Money

The price of helping Somalia is high—the highest in the world, says the resident UN coordinator for Somalia, Mark Bowden. But it’s hard to imagine how it wouldn’t be: By almost every measure, this country is not just the neediest, but also the most complicated operating environment for aid anywhere on Earth

Nervously Watching the DRC Elections from Burundi

As the result of DRC’s election are announced, there is an acute understanding that what happens there may have a dramatic impact on whether this tiny country of just over 8 million continues down a path toward long-sought peace—or whether insecurity creeps back into daily life.

The curious case of Kenya in Somalia

It was probably only a matter of time. After years of consternation about the crisis unfolding on its northern border, yesterday Kenyan troops at last made their move and entered Somalia, chasing down the militants who allegedly kidnapped aid workers in a refugee camp earlier this week.

Bombshell Report Describes How Shell Fueled Armed Conflict in Nigeria

This is not news--but a report released this week by a consortium of NGOs and led by Platform, a British based non-profit--laid out the names, numbers, and details of the misconduct in a way that has transformed the conventional wisdom into unavoidable fact.