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61. Fact Sheet: Attacks on Civilians Spike in Mali as Security Deteriorates Across the Sahel

Author:
Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
Publication Date:
09-2023
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
Abstract:
Violence targeting civilians has increased by 38% in Mali so far this year. The main perpetrators of these attacks are JNIM (over 180 events, 33%), Malian state forces and/or the Wagner Group (nearly 160 events, 29%), and IS Sahel (nearly 90 events, 15%). Battles and attacks have spread to new locations in northern Mali amid joint military and Wagner Group operations and the resumption of hostilities with Algiers Accord signatory armed groups. JNIM has also launched a new offensive, carrying out a series of large-scale attacks on military positions and imposing blockades on towns and major transit routes. Overall, in the wake of successive military coups promising to improve security across the region, political violence levels in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have together increased by 5% relative to the same period last year, and by 46% compared to 2021.
Topic:
Security, Violence, Coup, Civilians, and Armed Conflict
Political Geography:
Africa and Mali

62. Fighting Gangs Under the State of Exception in Honduras

Author:
Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
Publication Date:
12-2023
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
Abstract:
A year after the implementation of the state of exception on 6 December 2022, this report explores the evolution of violence likely related to gang activity between January and November 2023. ACLED data show that the security measures implemented thus far have yielded mixed results. Armed clashes and violence targeting civilians have continued unabated throughout 2023 due to persisting competition among gangs, especially in the country’s overcrowded prisons where violence has surged. Gangs continue to extort transportation workers in order to generate revenues, albeit the rate of these events has slowed down in 2023 compared to 2022. The geography of the violence points to gang violence moderately increasing and spreading beyond the crime hotspots of Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula. This finding substantiates claims that criminal groups have expanded to other strategic areas for drug trafficking and production, a phenomenon potentially exacerbated by state of exception measures and increased pressure on gangs in the most populous urban areas due to frequent law enforcement operations.
Topic:
Security, Law Enforcement, Violence, and Gangs
Political Geography:
Latin America and Honduras

63. Guide for the Protection of Human Rights and Environmental Defenders in the Amazon – Colombia

Author:
Camila Nadalini de Godoy, Katherine Aguirre, and Renata Giannini
Publication Date:
08-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Igarapé Institute
Abstract:
In the Amazon Basin, women stand out as the main defenders of the forests, their biome, and their people. This makes them targets of various types of violence. The Guide to Protecting Human Rights and Environmental Defenders in the Amazon aims to help these women identify risks, and learn some strategies to protect themselves. and seek help. (The Brazilian guide is available only in Portuguese.)
Topic:
Environment, Women, Violence, Activism, Protection, Amazon Rainforest, and Biome
Political Geography:
Brazil, South America, and Amazon Basin

64. The Role of the Judiciary in the Resolution of Intra-Party Conflicts in Lesotho

Author:
Mamello Rakolobe and Hoolo 'Nyane
Publication Date:
12-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Institution:
The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:
Political parties play an integral role in modern democracies and are legitimate platforms of contestation for state power. Despite the vital role that political parties play in democratisation, they are often prone to internal disputes. Their internal processes, such as conferences, elections, decision-making and deployments, are often subject to contestation. Conflicts are inherent in political contestation in general and in political parties, in particular. Hence, political parties have several mechanisms for dispute resolution, one of which is the referral of disputes to the courts of law. The role of the courts in internal political party disputes is a double-edged sword. While a court provides an independent platform for resolving disputes, it lacks reconciliatory attributes. After court intervention, many political parties often break up into smaller parties or experience major defections. This phenomenon is more pronounced in Lesotho than elsewhere. Ever since the return to electoral democracy in 1993, the role of the courts in internal party disputes has increased phenomenally. However, instead of achieving cohesion and internal stability, political parties have experienced splits, exacerbated conflicts or significant defections after the referral of their internal disputes to the courts. This raises the question of whether the courts are the appropriate mechanism for resolving internal political conflicts. This article investigates this question.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Elections, Democracy, Violence, Judiciary, and Civil Unrest
Political Geography:
Africa and Lesotho

65. Cost of Violence Study: Costa Rica

Author:
Andrés Fernández Arauz and Camelie Ilie
Publication Date:
12-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center on International Cooperation (CIC)
Abstract:
Costa Rica faces an unprecedented challenge in the form of escalating violence concentrated within specific regions of the country. This report delves into the country’s administrative divisions, shedding light on its eighty-two cantons, where critical security data is localized. Recent statistics up to September 2023 underline a concerning situation. While violence in Costa Rica remains lower than the regional average for Latin America, it is the country in the region where violence has grown the most since 1995.
Topic:
Security, Violence, and Peacebuilding
Political Geography:
Latin America, Central America, and Costa Rica

66. (Un)Making Masculinities: Tracing How Men’s Responses to Violence Impact the Home in the Occupied West Bank

Author:
Lottie Kissick-Jones
Publication Date:
03-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Harvard Journal of Middle Eastern Politics and Policy
Institution:
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Abstract:
The methods of indigenous ‘elimination’ implemented by settler colonial Israel are more complex than the physical eviction of Palestinians from their homes, though this indeed remains crucial. Through my primary research in the occupied West Bank, it has been evident that structural and direct violence against cities, communities, and families is systematically implemented and nurtured with the objective of breaking down social support systems and challenging normative gender roles to create unlivable conditions for Palestinians. The performance of Palestinian masculinity offers a crucial target for gendered modes of Israel’s colonial violence. I propose that the home is closely interlinked to identity formations, such as gender, which makes it a pertinent sphere for studying a settler colonial agenda that is constructed upon the eradication of both Palestinian identity and space. My research confronts three levels of interaction with the occupation: physical violence against the home, indirect forms of violence that permeate into the home through the bodies of men, and, finally, inter-communal violence. These categories of violence collectively challenge the ability of Palestinian men to uphold normative patriarchal roles constructed within cultural and religious frameworks, such as the ‘protector’ and ‘provider.’ In the case of male family members failing to protect their friends and family, particularly within the space of the home, there is a breakdown of important forms of social power, and an environment of shame is cultivated – a ‘social death.’ Therefore, my research has revealed that men are forced to choose between two dominant languages in these instances: 1) violence and 2) self-isolation. Both responses hold the ability to break down local mechanisms of support and solidarity. This article will target one level of violence – physical violence enacted against Palestinian homes ­– and how such violence nurtures the breakdown of Palestinian masculinity, particularly Palestinian men’s role as ‘protectors.’ Such a study offers an entrance to wider considerations of gender performances within this settler colonial context.
Topic:
Violence, Settler Colonialism, Masculinity, and Identity
Political Geography:
Middle East, Israel, Palestine, and West Bank

67. The Migration Risk Environment: Challenges to Human Security for Venezuelan Migrant and Refugee Women and Girls Pre- and Post-Migration to Colombia

Author:
Catalina Correa-Salazar, Kathleen Page, and Ana Martínez-Donate
Publication Date:
06-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal on Migration and Human Security
Institution:
Center for Migration Studies of New York
Abstract:
The Venezuelan crisis has unleashed multiple forms of sociopolitical violence against its population and created a context of unmet needs, insecurity, and human rights violations. Outward migration caused by this situation has been linked to health emergencies in neighboring countries. Venezuelan migrant and refugee women and girls (VMRWG) are among the most affected. We conducted a cross-sectional qualitative and Participatory Action Research (PAR) project to characterize the risk environments for VMRWG across migration phases, analyzing pre-departure, transit, border crossing, and resettlement risk factors for health and security through semi-structured interviews (n = 30) and human cartographies (n = 16). We found cross border risk and protective factors that inform cross-border health initiatives, migration policies, and human rights efforts for both the migrant and host communities. Findings and Recommendations • Migratory trajectories of VMRWG from Venezuela to Colombia represent a risk environment for women and girls, connecting cross-border contexts through armed actors’ control, culturally reinforced gender roles and limited social and economic resources. • Long-term sustainable migratory policies that are culturally sensitive and include a gender-approach to health should operationalize how gender roles are intimately connected to HIV risk and mental health disparities through reinforced structural factors. Such policies must address these structural factors. • The public health system needs to incorporate and align with programmatic efforts implemented by international platforms (United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), AID4AIDS, and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) also known as Doctors Without Borders) targeting screening for infectious diseases (including HIV and mental health disparities) in border crossings and borderlands. Sustainable policies to bridge gaps between services and populations and to decrease growing HIV cases depends on these strategies. • Policies and programs of local governments (city and municipality level) addressing mental health disparities need to be expanded through peer leaders and civil society networks of care to guarantee wellbeing and quality of life after resettlement. • International efforts and collaborations should capitalize on the re-opening of the border to establish inter-sectoral collaborations with Venezuelan NGOs and civil society organizations on both sides of the border to address gender-based violence, follow-up of cases, and access to services in sending and receiving communities. • In order to broach gaps and tackle access barriers in resettlement communities in Colombia, services must be provided in peripheric territories and neighborhoods where some vulnerable migrants resettle. These services must rely on health sector-community collaborations. • Public health sector efforts should be integrated and coordinated with family and child services on a local and national level Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar (ICBF), gender working groups, shelters, and citywide supported initiatives like the House of Women) to provide and promote access to social resources (education, jobs, and housing) for migrant women. • Health promotion strategies are necessary to decrease infectious diseases and violence-related trauma among migrants across borders. These strategies can include outreach through peer leaders, civil society organization campaigns, and HIV mobile testing and counselling. These services should be delivered in a culturally sensitive manner, capitalizing on in-place cross-border networks of support. In Colombia, sustainable efforts in policy and programs have been made to provide Venezuelans with access to health care and social services with the help of inter-sectoral working groups, national laws, and border commissions. However, there is an urgent need to expand the humanitarian response and the health sector coverage to gender-based violence impacting infectious disease risk and mental health trauma in host communities. Connecting pre- and post-migration contexts in South-to-South migration is paramount. Tackling these issues can improve the protection of human rights and resettlement conditions in host communities.
Topic:
Migration, Women, Refugees, Violence, Humanitarian Crisis, Human Security, and Girls
Political Geography:
Colombia, South America, and Venezuela

68. Mitigating Risks of Violence in Nigeria’s 2023 Elections

Author:
International Crisis Group
Publication Date:
02-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
The largest, most youthful electorate in Nigerian history will head to the polls soon to decide high-stakes presidential, parliamentary and state-level races. Numerous violent incidents have already marred the campaign. Authorities can take several steps to lessen the dangers before, during and after the vote.
Topic:
Elections, Domestic Politics, and Violence
Political Geography:
Africa and Nigeria

69. Crisis Mounts for Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh

Author:
International Crisis Group
Publication Date:
12-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Nearly a million Rohingya remain stuck in Bangladesh, with little hope of going home soon, as violence rises in the camps and international agencies trim their assistance. Donors should scale the aid back up, while Dhaka should modify its approach to allow for long-term planning.
Topic:
Humanitarian Aid, Refugees, Violence, Rohingya, and Donors
Political Geography:
Bangladesh, South Asia, and Myanmar

70. Climate Change and Violent Conflict in West Africa: Assessing the Evidence

Author:
Kheira Tarif
Publication Date:
02-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)
Abstract:
West Africa is widely cited as a hotspot of climate change and insecurity. This SIPRI Insights uses a systematic literature review of academic research to build a better understanding of the relationship between climate change and violent conflict in the region. Its findings are structured around four established ‘pathways’ of climate insecurity: (a) worsening livelihood conditions; (b) increasing migration and changing pastoral mobility patterns; (c) tactical considerations by armed groups; and (d) elite exploitation of local grievances. The literature review highlights a number of important variables in the relationship between climate change and violent conflict in West Africa: maladaptation to livelihood insecurity; migration away from climate-exposed areas; escalating farmer–herder conflicts; and sometimes weak, sometimes divisive, sometimes exploitative governance. Despite these findings, the literature review reveals current research and policy discussions on climate change and violent conflict in West Africa are informed by a very limited amount of academic research.
Topic:
Security, Climate Change, Development, Conflict, Violence, Risk, and Peace
Political Geography:
Africa and West Africa