Human Rights & Humanitarian Aid
Defending rights, delivering hope
The Working Group Human Rights & Humanitarian Aid examines global human rights protection and humanitarian response. It analyses freedom of expression, refugee crises, and the effectiveness of international human rights frameworks. Additionally, it evaluates aid coordination in conflict zones and disaster-stricken areas. Monthly briefings provide academic insights on improving policies, strengthening accountability, and aligning humanitarian efforts with international law.
The Next Stage: Migration & Futuro Nazionale
The emergence of Futuro Nazionale represents not only another far right party in Italy, but also a new era of European migration politics, wherein securitization of migration has become so normalized that political contestation now centers on who takes the hardest line against immigration.
Human Rights & Aid in Post-Conflict MENA
In an interview with EPIS, Dr. Moosa Elayah examines why stopping a war isn’t the same as achieving peace.
It’s a (Wo)Men’s World
Gender equality requires more than formal rights. The article argues that workplace culture, leadership norms, and hidden barriers must be actively challenged to achieve lasting progress.
The Paradox of Tunisia’s Arab Spring
The Jasmine Revolution showed that lasting democracy depends not only on constitutional reform but also on strong institutions, accountability, and socioeconomic progress.
Community‑Run Aid Networks in Yemen
How have community‑run aid networks adapted to Yemen’s blockade? They have responded to severe limits on movement, resources, and access by decentralizing decisions, building local supply chains, strengthening community trust, and adopting flexible management.
When Humanitarian Aid Becomes a Crime
Thematic Working Group Briefs – 2026 When Humanitarian Aid Becomes a Crime Across Europe, people who provide life-saving humanitarian assistance are increasingly at risk of being treated as criminals (PICUM, 2026). Gaps in the EU Facilitation Directive (2002), left by the vague definition of huma…
Eyes from above
Is it possible or necessary to use satellites to prevent human trafficking and forced labour? Yes it is necessary, as this allows us to identify and combat the structures that enable such practices more quickly. There is still a great amount of work to be done before this idea can be put into pra…
At the Border of Rights
North American migration policies increasingly prioritise deterrence and border security over humanitarian protection. Restrictive asylum systems, detention, and border externalisation expose women and children to violence, trafficking, trauma, and insecurity. These harms are structural consequen…
Constitutional Identity in EU Membership
Main question: How can the EU ensure candidate states align with its core values when accession mainly measures legislative compliance rather than constitutional culture? Argument: The EU should introduce a Constitutional Identity Convergence Assessment (CICA) to evaluate candidates’ highest cour…
Breaking Down Structures of Dependency
How should the humanitarian sector adapt to the funding cuts of USAID — differentiate funding, cooperate with locals more, and more flexibility — dependency relationships are dangerous and new (flexible) mechanisms must be put in place
Follow Lithuania: Not only words, but also deeds
To what extent can Lithuania’s values-based foreign policy serve as a model for the EU? Lithuania demonstrates that a consistent values-based foreign policy is feasible in practice, but its long-term effectiveness depends on sustained support from allies and the ability to act autonomously in a c…
At Europe’s Door: Italy’s Migration Crisis
How does Italy’s bilateral agreement with Albania fit within the broader EU migration framework? The protocol is innovative because it maintains full Italian jurisdiction on Albanian soil, avoiding burden-shifting while managing migration pressure. Despite its legal creativity, the agreement face…
Rhetoric Over Rules: EU Migration Crisis
To what extent does anti-migrant rhetoric in Hungary and Poland undermine EU migration solidarity under the 2024 Pact? Both governments use securitisation rhetoric to normalise non-compliance, deepen the East-West divide, and obstruct the Pact’s 2026 implementation. Without stronger enforcement o…
Erasing the Future:
This brief investigates the systematic deportation of Ukrainian children as a deliberate instrument of Russian state policy. It argues that the integration of children into Russian society is a calculated effort to dismantle Ukrainian national identity, constituting a crime against humanity. The …
Funding Freeze
Executive Order: “Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid”; who could oppose the need to eliminate abuses of the system? Domestically, the freeze on spending carries tangible risks for essential social programmes, threatening services that many communities rely on. Internationally, …
Maternal Mortality as Foreign Policy Failure
Why is maternal health not treated as a strategic foreign policy priority? This report argues that Sudan’s maternity crisis exposes systemic failures in humanitarian and foreign policy frameworks that marginalise women’s reproductive care. Maternal deaths in conflict are predictable and preventab…
Humanitarian Aid under Pressure
The 11th Humanitarian Symposium Munich was devoted to the topic “Humanitarian aid in the light of the current geopolitical situation”. Accordingly, the agenda was filled with a series of experts from the field, which allowed us to draw conclusions about the recent geopolitical impacts on humanita…
The Failure of R2P’s Third Pillar
What barriers are there to the adoption and enforcement of the Responsibility to Protect Doctrine? Through the case studies of Myanmar, Ukraine, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, this article examines how strategic and economic interests serve as a barrier to R2P’s implementation. Applica…
Use of Aid After the 2023 Turkey–Syria Quake
– Was international aid provided after the Turkish–Syrian earthquake used appropriately? – Despite substantial funding, centralised administration in Turkey and authoritarian control in Syria led to political interference, weak oversight, and selective allocation, limiting effective distribution…
Accountability and Corruption in Humanitarian Aid
Main question: How can humanitarian aid stay efficient while preventing corruption? Argument: Strong, system-wide accountability, coordination, and community feedback reduce corruption risks in crisis response. Conclusion: Accountability and rapid action are compatible; investing in adaptive over…
