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811. Contingent Democrats in Action: Organized Labor and Regime Change in the Republic of Niger

Author:
Sebastian Elischer
Publication Date:
08-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
The effects of organized labor on regime change in developing countries are not clear‐cut. Optimists argue that union agitation is conducive to both democratic transition and consolidation processes. Pessimists hold that unions will support any regime that is conducive to their demands. Accordingly, unions may support regime transitions; however, once their economic interests are under threat, they will jeopardize the subsequent consolidation process. Systematic studies on the effects of organized labor on regime change in sub‐ Saharan Africa are sparse and largely confined to the (pre)transition phase. This article examines the role of organized labor in Niger between 1990 and 2010. Given the high number of regime breakdowns during the period, a longitudinal study of Nigerien labor enables a critical examination of motives and actions of organized labor toward different regime types. In contrast to other recent findings on African unionism, the article confirms the pessimistic view.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, Development, Regime Change, and Labor Issues
Political Geography:
Africa

812. Policy and practice requirements for bringing to scale sexual violence services in low resource settings.

Author:
N Kilonzo, E Dartnall, and M Obbayi
Publication Date:
04-2013
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Sexual Violence Research Initiative
Abstract:
As many as seven in ten women in the world report experiencing physical and/or sexual violence at some point in their lifetime [1]. The impact of sexual violence on health, productivity, economy and a country's ability to achieve its development goals is well documented [2]. States have a responsibility to enact and enforce laws that protect their citizens from sexual violence. Where protection fails, there is a responsibility to provide survivors with the requisite services to address the physiological, psychological consequences and ensure they receive positive justice outcomes. However, few countries have the policy, legal environments and service infrastructure to respond or influence uptake of health, social and justice related services by survivors of sexual violence [3]. For example, 127 countries still do not have effective laws on marital rape even though it is a crime under international law [4]. Cultural beliefs and societal responses can be major barriers to victims seeking help post assault. A range of sectors are required to deliver services to survivors of sexual violence including health, criminal justice and social services [5, 6]. In many countries around the world, post rape care is often fragmented, of limited scope, coverage and quality, focusing mainly on immediate clinical care with poor medico-legal linkages [3], with limited attention given to mental health needs of survivors and service providers [7, 8]. Follow up and long-term management of sexual and reproductive health including HIV outcomes of survivors is severely lacking.
Topic:
Crime, Development, Gender Issues, Health, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and Health Care Policy

813. Ceasefires sans peace process in Myanmar: The Shan State Army, 1989–2011

Author:
Tin Maung Maung Than and Samara Yawnghwe
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS)
Abstract:
Resolving the enduring internal conflict between the central state and the ethnic nationalities in Myanmar is at the heart of the continued development of the country as a whole. However, a solution may require flexibility when it comes to defining the territorial integrity of the country and its national identity. The 1962 coup, which implemented a policy of unification through a centralised authority backed by military force, has had long-lasting consequences in the form of fragmentation and disunity that have tended to be framed as 'rebellion' or 'insurgency' by the central government. The problem of how to turn ceasefires into a successful and genuine peace process is one that Myanmar urgently faces today.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Democratization, Development, Ethnic Conflict, and Human Rights
Political Geography:
Southeast Asia and Myanmar

814. Toward a multilateral framework for investment

Author:
Nicolle Graugnard
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
Business needs a stable and predictable investment environment, especially in times of economic uncertainty, to continue to generate employment and create wealth. Although foreign direct investment (FDI) flows rose for two years after plummeting in the wake of the global financial crisis, they fell again by 18% to US$ 1.4 trillion in 2012. According to UNCTAD, the major factors contributing to this sharp decline were economic fragility and policy uncertainty in several economies. Moreover, investment regulations classified as “restrictive” rose to 25% in 2012, compared to just 6% in 2000; “liberalizing” regulations were 75% of the total in 2012, compared to 94% in 2000. The result of these regulations is, therefore, not surprising: businesses are holding back on new investments, with multinational enterprises reporting record cash-holdings of between US$ 4 to 5 trillion.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Industrial Policy, International Trade and Finance, and Natural Resources

815. Are trade-law inspired investment rules desirable?

Author:
Marino Baldi
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
Traditional bilateral investment treaties (BITs) focus on investment protection, i.e., regulate post-establishment aspects of foreign investment. In recent times, investment agreements have increasingly been supplemented with liberalization rules and also clauses on, e.g., key personnel, labor rights and sustainable development. Such integrated investment accords have notably become part of preferential trade agreements (PTAs). This trend started with NAFTA, continued with the negotiations on a Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI), and has in the course of the past ten years increasingly characterized PTAs throughout the world. The rapid proliferation of PTAs has, in the investment field, unfortunately led to lower quality provisions. Many of these treaties contain such wide-ranging exceptions and vaguely formulated safeguard clauses that their regulatory value as regards the protection of foreign investments in their post-establishment phase is called into question.
Topic:
Development, Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Foreign Direct Investment

816. New Meeting Note: Security and Development in the Sahel-Sahara

Author:
Mireille Affa'a-Mindzie
Publication Date:
10-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
After the severe twin crises that nearly brought Mali to its knees in January 2012, the country is gradually recovering from their debilitating consequences. In August 2013, Mali successfully elected its new president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, thus putting an end to an eighteen-month-long transitional government that was put in place following the March 2012 coup. Even though the violence has abated and renewed hope seems to be in the air, the structural causes of the Malian conflict are still stubbornly present and their consequences are still being felt by neighboring Sahel countries that suffer from similar underlying ills. The situation in Mali and other concerned states in the region generated a renewed interest in the Sahel-Sahara region and in efforts to stabilize this region. This prompted the International Peace Institute, the Executive Secretariat of the Strategy for Security and Development in the Sahel-Saharan Areas of Niger (SDS Sahel Niger), and the Centre for Strategies and Security for the Sahel Sahara (Centre 4S) to convene an international seminar on security and development in the Sahel-Sahara on February 15 and 16, 2013, in Niamey, Niger.
Topic:
Security, Civil Society, Development, Economics, Peace Studies, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Africa and Nigeria

817. Can Results-Based Payments Reduce Corruption?

Author:
Charles Kenny and William Savedoff
Publication Date:
10-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
A common objection to results-based programs is that they are somehow more vulnerable to corruption. This paper explains why results-based approaches to foreign aid may be less vulnerable to corruption than the traditional approaches which monitor and track the purchase and delivery of inputs and activities. The paper begins by classifying different corruption costs and specifically distinguishes the problem of diverted funds from the costs associated with failing to generate benefits. It then characterizes the key differences between traditional input-tracking programs and results-based approaches in terms of how they are supposed to work, the implicit risks that preoccupy designers, how they function in practice, and what this means both for the scale of corruption and the realization of benefits. It then considers the conditions under which one approach or another might be more appropriate. The paper concludes that input-tracking approaches are vulnerable to corruption because they have high failure costs and a weak track record for controlling diverted funds. By contrast, results-based approaches are less prone to failure costs and limit the capacity of dishonest agents to divert funds unless those agents first improve efficiency and outputs.
Topic:
Corruption, Development, Foreign Aid, and Governance

818. The New Transparency in Development Economics: Lessons from the Millennium Villages Controversy

Author:
Michael Clemens and Gabriel Demombynes
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
The Millennium Villages Project is a high profile, multi-country development project that has aimed to serve as a model for ending rural poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. The project became the subject of controversy when the methodological basis of early claims of success was questioned. The lively ensuing debate offers lessons on three recent mini-revolutions that have swept the field of development economics: the rising standards of evidence for measuring impact, the “open data” movement, and the growing role of the blogosphere in research debates.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Poverty, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Africa

819. Making Large-Scale Wind and Solar Power a Reality

Author:
Kevin Ummel
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
South Africa and many other countries hope to aggressively expand wind and solar power (WSP) in the coming decades. This presents significant challenges for power system planning. Success hinges largely on the question of how and where to deploy WSP technologies. Well-designed deployment strategies can take advantage of natural variability in resources across space and time to help minimize costs, maximize benefits, and ensure reliability.
Topic:
Climate Change, Development, Economics, Energy Policy, Environment, and Industrial Policy
Political Geography:
South Africa

820. The Rebirth of Education: Why Schooling in Developing Countries Is Flailing; How the Developed World Is Complicit; and What to Do Next

Author:
Lant Pritchett
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
More than a billion children worldwide—95 percent—are in school. That's due in part to steady progress toward the second Millennium Development Goal that every child “be able to complete a full course of primary school” by 2015. To put that in perspective, the average adult in the developing world today receives more schooling than the average adult in advanced countries did in 1960. Schooling, however, is not the same as education. Few of these billion students will receive an education that adequately equips them for their future. The poor quality of education worldwide constitutes a learning crisis; donors and development agencies have been complicit in its creation, but they can and should be part of the solution, not by prescribing changes, but by fostering environments where change is possible.
Topic:
Demographics, Development, Economics, Education, Foreign Aid, and Foreign Direct Investment