A selection of Elsa Buchanan’s reporting, photo essays and communications work, drawn from field assignments and collaborations across the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Covering conflict, human rights and humanitarian issues, the work combines on-the-ground reporting with specialist analysis.

Human Impact

Stories exploring how conflict shapes daily life, from displacement and education to livelihoods, environment, and long-term recovery.

Conflict & Security

Reporting on frontlines, weapons, and military dynamics, examining how conflict is fought and sustained in complex environments.

Accountability & Rights

Investigations and reporting examining violations, legal accountability, and the human rights dimensions of conflict and crisis.

Health & Humanitarian

Reporting on healthcare, humanitarian response, and the long-term impact of conflict on communities, from emergency care to recovery and resilience.

Accountability & Rights elsa buchanan Accountability & Rights elsa buchanan

CAR: UN 'covered up' rape of African boys by French peacekeepers, alleges aid worker

Amid allegations of sexual abuse against children by foreign peacekeepers in the Central African Republic, this investigation explores claims of institutional failures, cover-ups and the obstacles facing victims seeking justice. The report examines broader concerns over accountability within international peacekeeping and humanitarian systems, and the consequences for civilian trust in organisations tasked with protecting vulnerable communities.

Read More
Health & Humanitarian elsa buchanan Health & Humanitarian elsa buchanan

Yemen: Disaster looming as humanitarian aid is stranded due to fuel shortages

Published during the early months of Yemen's war, this report examined how fuel shortages were crippling humanitarian operations and threatening access to food, healthcare and essential services for millions of civilians. Through interviews with aid agencies and humanitarian actors, the story documented the cascading effects of supply disruptions on one of the world's fastest-growing humanitarian emergencies, warning of a crisis that would continue to deepen in the years that followed.

Read More
Conflict & Security elsa buchanan Conflict & Security elsa buchanan

Tunisia: Weapon smuggling a 'worrying development' for country that is facing rise of hard line islamist groups

Reporting on Tunisia as regional instability spread across North Africa, this story examined growing concerns over weapons trafficking, porous borders and the security implications of neighbouring Libya's collapse. Through interviews with analysts, security experts and local sources, the report explored fears that increasing arms smuggling could undermine Tunisia's fragile democratic transition and expose the country to the same forces of instability that had engulfed Libya.

Read More
Conflict & Security elsa buchanan Conflict & Security elsa buchanan

Yemen: US officials maintain intelligence relationship with Houthis in al-Qaeda battle

Published at the outset of Yemen's civil war, this report examined the complex and often overlooked relationship between the United States and the Houthi movement during the fight against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Through interviews with regional analysts and officials, the article explored how counterterrorism priorities sometimes produced unexpected alliances, offering early insight into a conflict that would later reshape regional security dynamics and see the Houthis designated as a terrorist organisation by the United States.

Read More