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21. DEMOCRACY AND THE RIGHTS OF NON-MAJORITY COMMUNITIES AT THE LOCAL LEVEL IN KOSOVO

Author:
Besim Myrtezani and Ferdi Kamberi
Publication Date:
12-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Liberty and International Affairs
Institution:
Institute for Research and European Studies (IRES)
Abstract:
Democratic governance has to do with the majority's will, respecting the rights of communities and all citizens' well-being. In Kosovo, the rights of communities are regulated by the constitution and legislation, which guarantee the special rights of minority communities. One of the fundamental policies of governmental institutions was about decentralizing local self-government, designed to facilitate the creation of new municipalities of communities and their integration into the local institutions. Our purpose was to search and analyze the level of representation of communities in the local institutions, legal mechanisms that guarantee their rights, challenges in putting the rights of communities into practice, and the political steps that must be taken to achieve so. The methodology is based on quantitative research with 500 (five hundred) respondents in three municipalities: Pristina, Gracanica, and Dragash, where 59% of respondents are male and 41% are female. The results show that about 55% of the communities are somewhat satisfied with the constitutional guarantees, and 38% are represented in the institutional life of Kosovo. Implementing legal mechanisms has allowed the communities to have higher representation at institutional levels and be part of Kosovo society’s integrative processes.
Topic:
Democracy, Legislation, Institutions, Autonomy, and Community
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe and Kosovo

22. Learning where it matters: Piloting action learning with frontline humanitarian staff

Author:
Jennifer Doherty
Publication Date:
04-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
ALNAP: Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance
Abstract:
The knowledge of frontline staff – those directly involved in programme implementation and monitoring – is fundamental to good humanitarian action. These individuals make decisions and solve problems every day in their work with crisis-affected populations. The interactions they have with communities produce important information on how to implement projects most effectively to meet local needs. Despite the central importance of this knowledge to effective programming, frontline learning has consistently lacked support. ALNAP created an action learning resource pack and supported training on action learning with 26 frontline staff from local, national and international humanitarian NGOs between December 2020 and October 2021. This study explores the learning and reflections from that pilot on using action learning with frontline staff in humanitarian contexts.
Topic:
Humanitarian Aid, Community, Project Management, and Implementation
Political Geography:
Global Focus

23. The Gaza Resilience Programme: ICRC’s urban approach in practice

Author:
Samir Hafiz
Publication Date:
06-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
ALNAP: Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance
Abstract:
Decades of Israeli–Palestinian hostilities, an occupation and internal political divisions have fuelled a complex protracted crisis in the occupied Palestinian Territories (oPT). With challenges in access to essential services (health care, education, energy and water supply, sanitation), employment opportunities, free movement and trade, almost half of the 5.2 million people living in oPT are in need of humanitarian assistance ( OCHA , 2020; European Commission, 2021). While half of the world’s population now lives in urban environments (UN DESA, 2019), in Palestine this figure rises to 76% (World Bank, 2021). This firmly grounds the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people in an urban context. The case study explores the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Gaza Resilience Programme (GRP), an initiative that aims to build the resilience of systems and communities in Gaza. It highlights how the project has applied context appropriate approaches to the Gaza context and identifies the enabling factors and challenges in these approaches. Section 8 presents key takeaways from the case study.
Topic:
Humanitarian Aid, Urban, Resilience, and Community
Political Geography:
Middle East, Palestine, and Gaza

24. Psychosocial Effects of the Pandemic. Stress and Sense of Safety Experienced by Poles During the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020–2021

Author:
Robert Piec, Barbara Szykuła-Piec, Izabella Helena Grabowska-Lepczak, and Weronika Jakubczak
Publication Date:
12-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Polish Political Science Yearbook
Institution:
Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
Abstract:
The pandemic that broke out in 2019 had a significant impact on the lives of all social groups around the world. The imposed restrictions and mandatory quarantine were crucial to limit the virus’s spread. The research comprises an analysis of the psychosocial impact exerted by the pandemic that attempted to determine the response to the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath. For this purpose, a study on social resilience in the pandemic era was worked out. The study consisted of several parts: stress and the sense of safety, education, trust and defined needs and the mass media in COVID-19. The research team decided to present the study’s results in a series of articles that will contribute to forming a complete picture of the community in the context of the analysed variables. The paper is the first in this series. It contains an analysis of variables intended to determine the level of the experienced sense of safety and its constituent, i.e., stress, and the identification of socio-demographic data strongly influencing the studied variables. The study comprised 559 individuals who were surveyed between May 2020 and November 2020 with the use of an online survey questionnaire. SPSS Statistics version 21.0 and PQStat were used to conduct statistical analyses and correlate and assess the correlation of responses. Also used were Chisquare, Fisher’s test and Pearson’s linear correlation coefficient. A logistic regression analysis was carried out for dichotomous variables. The results of the study indicate that the level of experienced stress is influenced by age, place of residence, gender and job security. The sense of safety is inversely correlated with stress, i.e., as stress increases, the sense of safety decreases, indicating a need to undertake appropriate measures to reduce stress. It may be interesting to compare the level of stress with, among other things, information retrieval from different sources. These results will be presented in the subsequent studies.
Topic:
Psychology, Resilience, Community, COVID-19, Stress, and Public Safety
Political Geography:
Europe and Poland

25. Where are the Global COVID-19 Resources for LGBTI Communities?

Publication Date:
01-2021
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Global Philanthropy Project (GPP)
Abstract:
As COVID-19 spread across the globe in 2020, and its health and broader political and socioeconomic implications became evident, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI)2 communities organized. To meet new challenges, LGBTI organizations across the world stepped up, aware that legal and social discrimination and marginalization would make their communities particularly vulnerable to impacts of the pandemic. LGBTI community response included: delivering essential food to communities of unemployed trans men in rural Guatemala; providing housing for LGBTI communities escaping unsafe living environments in Macedonia; ensuring that lesbian, bisexual, and queer female sex workers have access to essential medicines in Uganda; and other examples in communities around the world. As governments, donors, and service providers have largely failed to acknowledge the specific needs of LGBTI people in responding to COVID-19, LGBTI organizations have filled the void to provide basic protection and support for their communities. Many of these organizations have traditionally focused on advocacy and community organizing to advance and protect the human rights of LGBTI people. Now, in the era of COVID-19, they have become direct service providers, out of necessity—albeit with limited resources and capacity. In April 2020, the Global Philanthropy Project launched a short survey to understand the initial response of global LGBTI philanthropy to the pandemic, soliciting data from all GPP member organizations as well as non-GPP members within the top 20 funders of global LGBTI issues. A key outcome from that report was an identified role for GPP to monitor shifts in resources flowing to LGBTI movements and communities, as well as the broader impact of COVID-19 on international development and humanitarian assistance funding.
Topic:
Health, Discrimination, LGBT+, Advocacy, Community, and Marginalization
Political Geography:
Global Focus and Global South

26. Nhimbe practice in Zimbabwe Revisited: Not only a Method of Socio-Economic Assistance but also a Communal Mechanism for Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding

Author:
Pindai Sithole
Publication Date:
01-2021
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:
The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:
Nhimbe is an endogenous knowledge practice used in community-based development for community members to provide socio-economic assistance as required. The practice is couched in people’s socio-cultural and moral compass. Households in rural areas use it to assist one another on a wide range of development initiatives, especially agricultural activities to promote and sustain food security and community values. In Africa, practices similar to nhimbe are Harambee in Kenya, Chilimba in Zambia and Letsema in South Africa and Botswana. Since the 1800s or earlier, economic and social benefits have been the known key motivations for the practice of nhimbe. This paper is a re-visit of nhimbe from the perspective of its contribution to conflict prevention and peacebuilding in the communities where it is practised. No in-depth studies have been published concerning the conflict and peacebuilding potentials of nhimbe, but it is quite clear that it plays a fundamental role which emanates from its relatedness to social dimensions and community cohesiveness. The analysis here shows that the practice has inherent capacities for pre-conflict prevention, in-conflict mitigation, conflict management, conflict resolution, conflict transformation and post-conflict peacebuilding.
Topic:
Conflict, Peace, Community, and Socioeconomics
Political Geography:
Africa and Zambia

27. Transparency for Whom? Grounding Land Investment Transparency in the Needs of Local Actors

Author:
Sam Szoke-Burke
Publication Date:
03-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
Transparency is often seen as a means of improving governance and accountability of investment, but its potential to do so is hindered by vague definitions and failures to focus on the needs of key local actors. In a new report focusing on agribusiness, forestry, and renewable energy projects (“land investments”), CCSI grounds transparency in the needs of project-affected communities and other local actors. Transparency efforts that seek to inform and empower communities can also help governments, companies, and other actors to more effectively manage operational risk linked to social conflict.
Topic:
Agriculture, Governance, Transparency, Sustainability, and Community
Political Geography:
Global Focus

28. Recognizing Communities: Local Level Responses to the Pathfinders Grand Challenges

Author:
Tara Moayed
Publication Date:
02-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on International Cooperation (CIC)
Abstract:
Communities are not homogenous. Within a single community, there are often divisions along class, ethnic, and gender lines. Further, not all communities are the same. Dynamics from one community to the next can widely differ, including power relations, land allocations, gender dynamics, mobility, and the level of government influence. James Scott, in Seeing Like A State, showed how much of the vocabulary of state administration carries with it the mechanisms to disempower local authority and invest it in state agents who can then wield state authority. Rebalancing this relationship requires finding ways to overcome the monopolies over information, decision-making, and convening power that state agents have, particularly in systems that emerged from an extractive colonial context. Ignoring these dynamics when designing a CDD project will most likely result in elite capture, and possibly lead to local conflict, increased inequality, and erode trust between citizens and the state. This research paper argues the importance of the role of the community within the Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies discussion over inequality. The paper’s case studies are based largely on government-led community-driven development (CDD) programs that aim to ensure recognition of the complicated dynamics within the community itself. Unless the heterogeneity of communities is considered and fostered through an inclusive design and facilitation process, no program or project can hope to impact inclusion, empowerment, and the citizen-state relationship. A deep understanding of community dynamics and good facilitation are prerequisites for any CDD model to have a positive social impact.
Topic:
Citizenship, State, Community, Society, and Inclusion
Political Geography:
Global Focus

29. Community Gardens: Singapore’s “Fourth Food Basket”?

Author:
Jose M. L. Montesclaros and Paul Teng
Publication Date:
11-2021
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Abstract:
Can community gardens be a potential “basket” in Singapore’s food security strategy? As a “Fourth Food Basket” community gardens can complement imports, commercial domestic production, and overseas production, especially through the use of digital technologies.
Topic:
Environment, Science and Technology, Community, and Digital Revolution
Political Geography:
Asia and Singapore

30. Role of Religious Leaders in Mobilizing Communities to Counter Violent Extremism: A Case Study of Dir Valley of Pakistan

Author:
Shakeel Ahmed
Publication Date:
12-2021
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Review of Human Rights
Institution:
Society of Social Science Academics (SSSA)
Abstract:
Swat and Dir valleys in Pakistan have seen the brunt of post 9/11 violent extremism in the recent past. Because this extremism was generated and exploited by a few religiously motivated violent organizations, a popular perception emerged that all religious leaders of the society were involved in terrorism. Therefore, this research focuses on the role played by those religious leaders who involved themselves in mobilizing local communities against violent extremism. Employing a mixed-method research approach and sequential analysis strategy our data shows that most of the common local religious leaders played positive role inbuilding community resilience to countering violent extremism during the early phase of the War on Terrorism in these two valleys.
Topic:
Religion, Terrorism, Violent Extremism, Leadership, Community, and Countering Violent Extremism
Political Geography:
Pakistan, South Asia, Swat Valley, and Dir Valley