New from IRIN: The real collateral damage from the earthquake? March 19, 2011

Dear reader - The news is overwhelming, the TV mesmerizing, the tweets flocking. Our job at IRIN is to provide unique, original content about humanitarian issues - usually in parts of the world  that are under-reported, misunderstood or ignored. Generating compassion is not our goal. Creating awareness and understanding, and indirectly, action, is. So as Tahrir Square, Fukushima and Benghazi become household words, we bring our humanitarian lens to developments in the Middle East and Asia. But other issues and places, we feel, deserve your attention and action: Côte d’Ivoire is already on the brink of full-scale conflict and grim human rights abuses are reported. Will it be swept off the screens of the international community, the media and the general public? Will the civilians of this troubled West African country be collateral victims of an earthquake on the other side of the world? The world’s slums were not traditionally regarded as a “humanitarian” issue, even though conditions are often worse than in a refugee camp. Our 2007 film Slum Survivors won prizes and was re-broadcast by numerous TV channels, including Al Jazeera. Today, in new videos, we catch up with some of the Kenyans featured in the film, which inspired a new “reality TV"  concept: UK NGO Comic Relief sent four British celebrities to fend for themselves for a week in Nairobi’s Kibera settlement with only US$2 in their pockets, sharing the lives of some of the “survivors” of the IRIN film. The resulting documentary has been part of the build-up to its fund-raising “Red Nose Day” on 18 March. View the original film and updates. We help you follow Somalia with almost daily reports. About 1.4 million Somalis are homeless and displaced by war and drought – some for years. About 400,000 Japanese are reportedly displaced by the earthquake and tsunami. A few more announcements: our other recent film releases are on Neglected Diseases in Egypt and Ethiopia. In addition, we have cleaned up our page for signing up and changing personalized email alerts – it’s much easier now. So please tell your friends and colleagues they can get their IRIN humanitarian news and analysis to their inbox simply. The website for our HIV/AIDS channel, PlusNews, has also been given a major overhaul. Finally, we are delighted to welcome financial support for our work  in 2011 from the governments of the United Arab Emirates and Canada. These are earmarked funds for IRIN, in addition to resources available through donor contributions to our parent agency, OCHA. Donor friends: keep them coming, please. Please get in touch with me any time for feedback, suggestions or comments. We are actively seeking opportunities to partner with media organizations to broaden the free distribution of IRIN material. If you have ideas or contacts in the area of syndication, I’d be particularly glad to hear from you. Best regards Ben Parker Director IRIN - humanitarian news and analysis http://www.irinnews.org Mobile: +254 733 860082 (Kenya) twitter: http://www.twitter.com/swampcottage IRIN is a partner of the Guardian Development Network, an initiative supported by the Gates Foundation