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11. The March 2013 Elections in Kenya and the Responsibility to Protect

Publication Date:
02-2013
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
Abstract:
On 4 March Kenyans will vote in highly anticipated elections. These elections will be Kenya's first since widespread violence following the December 2007 presidential election shocked the country and world. The 2007/8 violence lasted two months, during which time 1,133 Kenyans were killed, over 600,000 driven from their homes and more than 110,000 private properties were destroyed. The stakes during the upcoming elections are high and, while not inevitable, there is a serious risk of a recurrence of widespread violence.
Topic:
Political Violence, Civil Society, Democratization, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and Governance
Political Geography:
Kenya and Africa

12. Getting Back on Track: Implementing the UN Regional Strategy on the Lord's Resistance Army

Publication Date:
12-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
Abstract:
On June 29th 2012, the United Nations Security Coun¬cil welcomed the Secretary General's 'Regional Strat¬egy to address the threat and impact of the activities of the Lord's Resistance Army' ('UN Regional Strategy' or 'Strategy').1 The Strategy was well received by lo¬cal and international civil society organizations as an ambitious framework with the elements of a compre¬hensive response. Then, as now, the message was clear – if fully implemented, the Strategy could resolve this devastating 26-year conflict and pave the way for the long-term recovery of the affected region and its people.
Topic:
Human Rights, Human Welfare, Religion, Armed Struggle, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
Africa and United Nations

13. REGIONAL POLICY FORUM ON THE RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT

Publication Date:
06-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
Abstract:
The „Regional Policy Forum on the Responsibility to Protect‟ (R2P) was held from 11-12 June 2012 in Abuja, Federal Republic of Nigeria. It was jointly organized by the ECOWAS Commission and the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P). The main objective of the Forum was to raise awareness on the concept of R2P within the region and to critically examine existing ECOWAS policies and institutions for protecting populations against mass atrocities. The Forum also aimed at identifying frameworks, institutions, and practices within ECOWAS for prevention and effective response to mass atrocities. The Regional Forum brought together about 60 international, regional and national participants from the public and private sectors, UN, regional organisations, the diplomatic community as well as international and national civil society organisations.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Political Violence, Genocide, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and War
Political Geography:
Africa and United Nations

14. L'Est du Congo: pourquoi la stabilisation a échoué

Publication Date:
10-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Depuis la mutinerie de Bosco Ntaganda en avril 2012 et la formation du Mouvement du 23 mars (M23), les Kivus sont en proie à une nouvelle spirale de violence. Cette crise révèle que les problèmes d'aujourd'hui sont les problèmes d'hier car le cadre de résolution du conflit défini en 2008 n'a pas été mis en oeuvre. L'application de l'accord du 23 mars 2009 entre le gouvernement et le Conseil national pour la défense du peuple (CNDP) a été un jeu de dupes au cours duquel les autorités congolaises ont fait semblant d'intégrer politiquement le CNDP tandis que celui-ci a fait semblant d'intégrer l'armée congolaise. Faute de réforme de cette dernière, la pression militaire sur les groupes armés n'a eu qu'un impact éphémère et la reconstruction post-conflit n'a pas été accompagnée des réformes de gouvernance et du dialogue politique indispensables. Pour sortir de la gestion de crise et résoudre ce conflit qui dure depuis presque deux décennies dans les Kivus, les bailleurs doivent exercer des pressions sur Kigali et Kinshasa.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, Ethnic Conflict, Human Rights, Human Welfare, Humanitarian Aid, and Fragile/Failed State
Political Geography:
Africa

15. The Diversity of Truth Commissions and Commissions of Inquiry

Author:
Evelyne Schmid
Publication Date:
01-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
Over the past several decades, dozens of countries have established truth commissions and other bodies to investigate mass atrocities or systematic human rights abuse. Lessons learned from past truth-finding processes are invaluable to help address the legacies of human rights violations in countries transitioning to democratic regimes in the Middle East and North Africa and elsewhere. Truth commissions aim to uncover and acknowledge abuses from the past by recognizing the suffering of victims and making recommendations to prevent a recurrence of violence in the future. When convening authorities establish a truth commission, they need to select a process to choose the commission's membership, decide on the subject matter and a deadline for the work it will do as well as its legal powers, its duration and the extent to which its work is public. USIP has established a Truth Commissions Digital Collection (http://www.usip.org/publications/truth-commission-digital-collection) that provides summaries and vital statistics of 41 past commissions from 35 countries, along with copies of most of their legal charters and final reports. Each commission has a dedicated page along with information on subsequent developments, such as reforms, prosecutions and reparations to victims. The Truth Commissions Digital Collection is a resource for researchers and implementers seeking to learn and apply lessons from the past to make current “truth processes” more effective.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Genocide, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and Torture
Political Geography:
Africa and Middle East

16. Reconsidering the Right to Own Property

Author:
Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann
Publication Date:
02-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
Abstract:
This article considers whether a there should be a separate international Covenant to elaborate on the human right to own property, which has languished since its inclusion in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
Topic:
Economics, Human Rights, Human Welfare, Privatization, and Food
Political Geography:
Africa

17. Explaining Poverty Evolution: The Case of Mozambique

Author:
Channing Arndt, M. Azhar Hussain, E. Samuel Jones, Virgulino Nhate, Finn Tarp1, and James Thurlow
Publication Date:
03-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
Measuring poverty remains a complex and contentious issue. This is particularly true in sub-Saharan Africa where poverty rates are higher, information bases typically weaker, and the underlying determinants of welfare relatively volatile. This paper employs recently collected data on household consumption in Mozambique to examine the evolution of consumption poverty with focus on the period 2002/03 to 2008/09. The paper contributes in four areas. First, the period in question was characterized by major movements in international commodity prices. Mozambique provides an illuminating case study of the implications of these world commodity price changes for living standards of poor people. Second, a novel 'backcasting' approach using a computable general equilibrium model of Mozambique, linked to a poverty module.
Topic:
Human Welfare and Poverty
Political Geography:
Africa

18. Are Drugs Made in Emerging Markets Good Quality? A Preliminary Assessment of Product Consistency by Use of Raman Spectra

Author:
Roger Bate
Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Abstract:
Increasing competition generally decreases product prices. But in the case of pharmaceuticals, this is only beneficial if competitor products are therapeutically equivalent (bioequivalent). One measure of quality control is a consistently made product, examined in detail in this paper. A comprehensive study of drug samples in African and Asian countries--assessed for variability by spectrometer--suggests that registered products perform notably better than unregistered products. As all of the sampled drugs are used to treat potentially lethal infections, this product variability (particularly of unregistered drugs) could prove detrimental to public health. Future analysis will assess how significant these spectral differences are in terms of drug quality and hence how important changes in policy should be to limit quality variability.
Topic:
Emerging Markets, Health, Human Welfare, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Africa, China, and Asia

19. Disrupting the Supply Chain for Mass Atrocities

Publication Date:
07-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Human Rights First
Abstract:
Mass atrocities are organized crimes. Those who commit genocide and crimes against humanity depend on third parties for the goods and services—money, matériel, political support, and a host of other resources—that sustain large-scale violence against civilians. Third parties have supplied military aircraft used by the Sudan Armed Forces against civilians, refined gold and other minerals coming out of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and ensured a steady flow of arms into Rwanda. Governments seeking to prevent atrocities cannot afford a narrow and uncoordinated focus on the perpetrators of such violence. Rather, an effective strategy must include identifying and pressuring third-party enablers— individuals, commercial entities, and countries—in order to interrupt the supply chains that fuel mass violence against civilians.
Topic:
Political Violence, Crime, Ethnic Conflict, Genocide, Human Rights, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda

20. New Research on Transitional Justice

Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
The Harriman Institute
Abstract:
Participants: Aryeh Neier (Founder, Human Rights Watch and President, Open Society Institute), Monika Nalepa (Political Science Department, Notre Dame University), Lara Nettelfield (Post-Doctoral Fellow, Harriman Institute, Columbia University), Tina Rosenberg (Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Haunted Land: Facing Europe\'s Ghosts after Communism), Ruti Teitel (Ernst C. Stiefel Professor of Comparative Law, and Associate Director, Center for International Law, New York Law School, and Visiting Professor, London School of Economics), and Leslie Vinjamuri (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London). This event is part of the "Human Rights in the Post-Communist World: Strategies and Outcomes " series (Harriman Core Project 2010-2011).
Topic:
Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Law, Post Colonialism, and Law
Political Geography:
Africa, New York, and Europe