http://www.gsdrc.org Academic and policy-relevant publications on governance and international development. en-uk Copyright © 2012 Governance and Social Development Resource Centre Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:00:13 GMT Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:00:13 GMT http://www.gsdrc.org/rss/open george@gsdrc.org george@gsdrc.org http://www.gsdrc.org/images/logos/logo_gsdrc.gif http://www.gsdrc.org 205 90 GSDRC logo Patricia Weiss Fagen National and international programmes to return refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their homes after conflict frequently leave far too many without viable futures. Using Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq and Burundi as case studies, this paper argues that the effects of protracted conflict and displacement means that, for many, returning home is not a viable solution. Greater flexibility in determining the best solutions and more investment in alternative and longer-term forms of reintegration are needed. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4216&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4216&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Violent conflict Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT OECD What works and what does not in armed violence reduction and prevention? To begin to address this question, this report draws on a large-scale mapping of AVRP activities around the world, focusing on programming trends in the varied contexts of Brazil, Burundi, Colombia, Liberia, South Africa and Timor-Leste. The most promising AVRP activities are based on inter-sectoral partnerships and operate simultaneously at local and national levels. Development agencies need to adopt integrated approaches to AVRP, and link the AVRP agenda to the promotion of peacebuilding and statebuilding. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4215&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4215&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Violent conflict Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT Kwesi Aning and Andrews Atta-Asamoah What are the links between demographic factors, economic and environmental pressures, and conflict in West Africa? This paper examines West African conflicts, focusing on the 1990s, and argues that demographic, economic and environmental factors need to be given greater consideration in attempts to promote peace. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4208&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4208&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Violent conflict Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT World Bank How have different countries recovered from episodes of violence? What practical tools exist for confidence-building? This chapter provides basic principles and a toolkit of options emerging from country lessons, showing how these can be adapted to different contexts. Key principles for sustained violence prevention and recovery are: inclusion (although coalitions need not be 'all inclusive'); early results to help build citizen confidence; establishing the basic institutional functions that provide citizen security, justice, and jobs; and embracing pragmatic, best-fit options to address immediate challenges. Within these general principles, each country should tailor their own strategy based on: the types of violent threats faced; institutional challenges; combinations of international and external stresses; stakeholders who need to be involved to make a difference; and transition opportunities. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4199&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4199&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Violent conflict Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT Martina Fischer What problems and dilemmas are faced in the development of civil society in war-torn societies? What types of activities do NGOs undertake and what are their strengths and limitations? This chapter focuses on the potential contribution that civil society actors can make to peacebuilding, drawing on lessons from Bosnia-Herzegovina. It argues that support for civil society should be further developed as a key element of development and peace politics, particularly in post-war contexts. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4198&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4198&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Violent conflict Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT UNESCO To what extent are the goals of Education for All being achieved in countries affected by armed conflict? This report shows that there is not only a lack of provision of education but also a failure to protect education systems and their students, and to devote sufficient funds to education in reconstruction and peacebuilding programmes. It argues that educational challenges in conflict-affected states are largely unreported, and that education in such contexts merits a far more central place on the international development agenda. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4185&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4185&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Violent conflict Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT International IDEA This paper examines the challenges and nuances of external support to constitution building, which can, it argues, be both constructive and problematic. It calls for a restrained approach to such support, based on 'invitation points' rather than 'entry points'. The quality of the process used is crucial to successful constitutional design, and the choice of process needs to be left to national actors. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4183&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4183&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Violent conflict Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT Huma Haider This article suggests that transitional justice could contribute more positively to the process of reconciliation, one of its core aims, by: 1) supporting and working alongside coexistence initiatives; and 2) incorporating coexistence frameworks within its own processes and mechanisms. Coexistence initiatives – such as dialogue facilitation, intergroup projects aimed at achieving shared goals, and media campaigns designed to reframe the 'other' – are essential to restoring trust, transforming perceptions and rebuilding relationships in divided societies. Unless people's lived realities are transformed, members of identify groups are likely to continue to focus on 'data' that confirm their existing beliefs. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4178&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4178&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Violent conflict Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT Roger Mac Ginty This article highlights contradictions in the liberal peace that have become apparent in post-Taliban state-building in Afghanistan. It focuses on how warlords have been incorporated into a government unable to achieve a monopoly of violence without their support, noting that some of Afghanistan's warlords have benefited from both state weakness and state-building. It suggests the need to rethink the relationship between warlords, states and state-building, and to recognise warlords as sophisticated, transnational and modern political actors. The case of Afghanistan illustrates the difficulty of extending the liberal peace in the context of an ongoing insurgency. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4177&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4177&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Violent conflict Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT Jake Sherman How can criminal justice be strengthened in countries at risk of violent conflict? This paper examines criminal justice sector reform, relating it to research on the causes of violence. It argues that rather than focusing exclusively on state institutions – or blindly rushing to support informal systems – reform must be based on an understanding of actual demand for justice services. Donors need to improve their understanding of local contexts, address funding gaps, and improve measurement of results and outcomes. Interventions should: 1) encompass a broader range of local justice requirements; 2) seek to incorporate existing links between state and informal sectors into legislation and procedures; and 3) counter organised- and cross-border crime through multi-sectoral interventions with long-term vision. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4175&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4175&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Violent conflict Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT Roger Duthie How does transitional justice fit within broader responses to the problem of displacement? Conflict-induced displacement is an important factor in contexts in which transitional justice operates, yet displacement has received little attention in the literature and practice of transitional justice. This article argues that transitional justice can and should address displacement, but in doing so needs to take account of and establish links with other relevant actors. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4174&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4174&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Violent conflict Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT Alexander Ramsbotham and I. William Zartman This article reviews peacebuilding strategies in Asia, Europe, the Caucasus, Africa, Central America and the Middle East. It shows that country-based analysis can produce flawed conflict responses. Instead, policy based on conflict systems can shape more flexible and comprehensive responses. It can identify actors and dynamics that exist outside state borders, such as narcotic networks that support insurgent groups, and incorporate these into peacebuilding interventions. Thus, cross-border peacebuliding needs to 'think outside the state' – both beyond it, through regional engagement, and below it, through sub-state cross-border community or trade networks. To work effectively, supra- and sub-state initiatives need to be strategically linked. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4168&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4168&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Violent conflict Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT Grace Maina How effectively have the needs of women and girls been addressed during rehabilitation, reintegration and post-conflict reconstruction in Uganda? This study looks the reintegration experience of women and girls after the long war between the Ugandan government and the Lord's Resistance Army. The study analyses the situation in the context of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, which calls on all actors to address the special needs of women and girls during rehabilitation, reintegration and post-conflict reconstruction. The study concludes that, since the female populations in northern Uganda still struggle with deprivation, want and exclusion, it is difficult speak of meaningful and durable peace. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4167&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4167&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Violent conflict Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT David Roberts This article advances the idea of a 'popular peace' to address the lack of legitimacy that undermines orthodox peacebuilding projects. This concept would refocus liberal institution-building on local, democratically determined priorities, in addition to internationally favoured preferences (such as metropolitan courts and bureaucratic government). A popular peace approach could help to create social institutions around which a contract could evolve as a foundation for durable peacebuilding. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4166&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4166&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Violent conflict Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT World Bank Some 1.5 billion people live in countries affected by repeated cycles of political and criminal violence. This report argues that breaking these cycles involves a) strengthening legitimate national institutions and governance to meet citizens' key needs; and b) alleviating international stresses that increase the risks of conflict (such as food price volatility and infiltration by trafficking networks). It is important to: refocus assistance on confidence building, citizen security, justice and jobs; reform the procedures of international agencies to accommodate swift, flexible, and longer-term action; respond at the regional level (such as by developing markets that integrate insecure areas and pooling resources for building capacity); and to renew cooperative efforts between lower, middle, and higher income countries. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4160&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4160&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Violent conflict Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT Salomé Bronkhorst What lessons can be learned from work by NGOs to address climate and environmental conflicts in the southern Sahel? This study suggests that NGOs and international organisations can play an important role in providing funding and technical support to address climate and environmental related conflicts. They can help to reduce environmental threats, to address structural factors (deprivations and exclusions) that increase people's vulnerability to such threats, and they can help to build conflict resolution capacity. Current participatory methods can enhance traditional conflict resolution mechanisms. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4156&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4156&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Violent conflict Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT World Bank There are a number of pathways back from the brink of violent conflict, but there are two common elements in successful cases. The first is building 'inclusive-enough' coalitions, and identifying the signals and commitment mechanisms that can galvanise support for change. Pacts to end violence need not be all-inclusive, and can promote peace if they are minimally inclusive at the beginning. The second element is delivering results on the ground to build confidence in citizen security, justice and economic prospects. For both elements, successful transitions have made astute use of capacity from the private sector, traditional institutions and non-governmental organisations. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4145&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4145&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Violent conflict Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT Ivan Sigal Can digital media help to build peace in weak and conflict-ridden states or will they foment violence? This paper discusses participatory digital media in the context of 21st century conflicts. It argues that successful intervention cannot be based on the operating frameworks of traditional media support. Evidence from case studies in Afghanistan, Kenya, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Burma demonstrates that digital media strategies require dynamism, flexibility and close attention to grassroots reality if they are to build political participation, openness and trust. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4127&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4127&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Violent conflict Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT Simon Haselock This paper analyses media reform programmes as part of wider peace-building interventions in the Balkans, the Middle East, and Africa. It concludes that the most effective interventions were those where local populations participated and took ownership of the projects, ensuring that the media initiatives were culturally relevant and demand-driven. The impact of projects can be sustained after international assistance is over only if they are wholly owned by the people, professions, and communities that they were designed to help. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4122&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4122&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Violent conflict Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT Chris Barnett et al. How can value for money best be measured in governance and conflict programming? This study reviews options for a VFM approach in relation to governance programmes, including those in conflict-affected and failed states, for the UK's Department for International Development. VFM involves examining economy, efficiency and effectiveness, identifying the links between them and drawing conclusions based on evidence about how well they perform together. It is an optimal balance that is important, as opposed to a maximum productivity ratio. The cheapest option does not always represent the best value for money. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4115&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=4115&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gsdrc&utm_source=newsfeed Violent conflict Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT