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Begin New Search Publishing Institution Norwegian Institute of International Affairs Author Benjamin de Carvalho

1. Somewhere to Turn? MINURCAT and the Protection of Civilians in Eastern Chad and Darfur

Author:
Benjamin de Carvalho, Jon Harald Sande Lie, and Randi Solhjell
Publication Date:
04-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
The United Nations Mission in Eastern Chad and the Central African Republic (MINURCAT) was established to protect civilians and contribute to rule of law and regional peace in the conflict-prone region bordering Darfur. The mission was dismantled towards the end of 2010. This report, based on fieldwork undertaken in Chad in 2009, addresses the situation of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) against refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) in eastern Chad and difficulties MINURCAT encountered in its response to such violence.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Civil War, Human Rights, and Refugee Issues
Political Geography:
Africa and United Nations

2. Local and National Ownership in Post-Conflict Liberia Foreign and Domestic Inside Out?

Author:
Niels Nagelhus Schia and Benjamin de Carvalho
Publication Date:
04-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
The paper takes as its starting point the difficulties encountered in implementing policies aimed at fostering local and national ownership in peacekeeping activities. Especially important in this respect are training programmes aimed at sensitizing people working in peacekeeping operations to the inherent difficulties of local ownership in post-conflict environments. The account offered here is an ethnography of local ownership in a specific context. Through such accounts, we argue, training programmes can go beyond emphasizing the difficulties relating to local ownership, and instead emphasize how these can be solved in different contexts, on a case-bycase basis. By offering an ethnographical account of practices of local ownership in Liberian ministries, problematizing the role played by international embedded experts, we argue that where you stand may actually depend on where you sit. In a difficult post-conflict environment, local ownership in the initial phases may not be possible without borrowing capacity from the outside. In the end, the important question may be not who does the work, but whose perspectives underlie the policies that are adopted and implemented.
Topic:
Climate Change and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
Liberia

3. Peacebuilding in Liberia and the Case for a Perspective from Below

Author:
Niels Nagelhus Schia and Benjamin de Carvalho
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
Rule of law reforms in Liberia over the past five years serve as a clear example of how the international community has failed on this point, as the country's own practices have been generally neglected in the process. Characteristically, there is little updated information on the customary law and traditional practices of Liberia. In investigating how the international community addresses SGBV in Liberia, we found within the liberal peacekeeping/building paradigm few analytical tools that could be used to gain a solid understanding of the host country 'from below'. This area of society remains a professional blind-spot and represents a gap in the efforts of the international peacekeeping/-building community to build a sustainable peace in the country.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Law, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
Liberia

4. Protecting Civilians and Protecting Ideas: Institutional Challenges to the Protection of Civilians

Author:
Benjamin de Carvalho and Jon Harald Sande Lie
Publication Date:
07-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
Although the Protection of Civilians (PoC) today is largely embedded in the UN system as a whole, there are a number of issues still critical to address at the institutional level for the PoC to inform a shared culture of protection effectively. These include addressing the extent to which preparations for civilian protection are an integral component of mission planning, and whether protection activities are part of the mission's mandate per se or a mere part of its many tasks. Also of key concern is the extent to which operational capacity is achieved and designed to enhance protection.
Topic:
Security, Civil Society, Human Rights, and United Nations

5. "Nobody Gets Justice Here!" Addressing Sexual and Gender-based Violence and the Rule of Law in Liberia

Author:
Niels Nagelhus Schia and Benjamin de Carvalho
Publication Date:
06-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
The international response to SGBV in Liberia – in spite of having been touted as one of the great success stories in implementing UNSC resolution 1325 by the UN and the Liberian government – has so far at best been misguided.
Topic:
Crime, Gender Issues, and Law
Political Geography:
Africa, United Nations, and Liberia

6. Civil-Military Cooperation in Multinational and Interagency Operations

Author:
Kristin M. Haugevik and Benjamin de Carvalho
Publication Date:
05-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
This paper discusses obstacles to civil-military cooperation in the context of multinational and interagency operations, with a special focus on assessment functions and processes. As such, the paper seeks to contribute to the ongoing process of developing a framework for assessment of operations within the context of MNE5. The rationale behind this study is to strengthen the basis for and the effectiveness of Effects-Based Assessment (EBA) of performances, effects, and end-states in multinational and interagency operations. The first section starts by identifying a set of key overall challenges to such cooperation, namely civilian and military actors' often lack of knowledge of one another's organizational identities, security concerns, and working procedures. The paper then discusses one of these categories, namely working procedures, in more detail, identifying in the second section the challenge of divergent operational terminologies, and in the third section the challenge of overcoming the information sharing gap when in the presence of similar assessment practices. The main suggestion of this paper is that knowledge about civilian and military operational terminologies and assessment practices is an imperative for successful civilmilitary cooperation in multinational and interagency operations. Such knowledge, we argue, is best obtained if both military and civilian actors respectively open their communication channels with the purpose of sharing information and operational experiences. Furthermore, based on the discussion, the paper raises a number of points which the authors believe would be valuable topics for further developing civil-military cooperation within the context of multinational and interagency operations.
Topic:
Security, Civil Society, Development, and Government