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122. After Ukraine: Keeping the Arctic Stable
- Publication Date:
- 09-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- The greatest challenge to the stability of the Arctic actually comes from outside the region itself, but there are still strong reasons to be optimistic about security in the Arctic region.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, Climate Change, and Natural Resources
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Ukraine, and Arctic
123. Social Accountability and Public Service Delivery in Rural Africa
- Author:
- Esbern Friis-Hansen
- Publication Date:
- 01-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- Social accountability as a tool for development planning is gaining foothold in international donor circles. It is concerned with the responsibility and responsiveness of state authorities, as well as the ability of citizens to make claims and hold those who exercise power to account for their actions.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Foreign Aid, and Foreign Direct Investment
- Political Geography:
- Africa
124. Pursuing gender equality in land administration
- Author:
- Helle Munk Ravnborg and Rachel Spichiger
- Publication Date:
- 02-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- Ensuring gender equality with respect to land rights is hailed as a key element of the recent land reforms, but actual results in this respect are limited. Achieving gender equality requires a comprehensive focus on land, family and other laws, including customary, pertaining to land and on their implementation on the ground.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Gender Issues, Governance, and Reform
125. Danish Foreign Policy Yearbook 2014
- Author:
- Nanna Hvidt and Hans Mouritzen (eds.)
- Publication Date:
- 08-2014
- Content Type:
- Book
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- Danish Foreign Policy and the activities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2013 were marked by the continuing economic and political diffusion of power on the global stage – a development that generates dynamism and new opportunities in the globalised world, but also challenges the position of Europe. The Permanent Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs describes the political and economic developments in the world – which have led to a far-reaching reorganisation of Danish diplomatic representations abroad – and analyses the most important Danish foreign policy priorities of 2013. The article emphasizes trends in the EU, in international security, and regarding the Arctic and the transatlantic dimensions, as well as developments in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, and finally global development trends.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, Economics, and Foreign Aid
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Europe, Middle East, and Asia
126. Gender equality and land administration: the case of Zambia
- Author:
- Rachel Spichiger and Edna Kabala
- Publication Date:
- 04-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- Land, and in particular agricultural land, is central to livelhoods in rural Zambia. Zambia is characterised by a dual legal system of customary and statutory law and by dual land tenure, with state land and customary land. A first wave of socialist-oriented reforms took place after independence in 1964, which abolished previously existing freehold land in favour of leasehold. Subsequent changes in government policies under the influence of structural adjustment programmes and a new government in 1991 paved the way for a market-driven land reform. The 1995 Lands Act introduced the privatization of land in Zambia and provided for the conversion of customary into state land, with the hope of attracting investors. However, the Act has been unevenly implemented, at least in rural areas, in part due to problems plaguing the land administration institutions and their work, in part due to opposition to the main tenets of the Act from chiefs, the population and civil society. Civil society, with donor support, calls for more attention towards women's precarious situations with regard to access to and ownership of land under customary tenure, but it still expresses a desire for customary tenure to remain. However, civil society also recognizes that customary practices are often also discriminatory towards women who depend on male relatives for access to land.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Economics, Gender Issues, and Human Rights
- Political Geography:
- Africa
127. Gender Equality Concerns in Ghana's Land Reform: Current challenges and the role of donors
- Author:
- Rachel Spichiger and Paul Stacey
- Publication Date:
- 03-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- Ghana has been implementing a land administration reform since 1999. The Land Administration Project (LAP), an ambitious programme supported by donors, aims to strenghten land administration institutions and increase land holders' security of tenure on both state and customary land. This working paper reviews the literature on this land reform process, with a focus on issues related to gender. At first absent from the 1999 Land Policy, gender concerns were later incorporated into the project and a gender strategy was developed in 2009, with the goal to mainstream gender in land-related agencies and activities. Although donors have contributed to the gender strategy, the inclusion of gender equality has not been at the forefront of their priorities.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Gender Issues, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- Africa
128. Against the odds – capacity development of fragile state institutions
- Author:
- Birgitte Lind Petersen
- Publication Date:
- 11-2013
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- The need to support central state institutions in fragile situations by prioritising capacity development has recently been elevated to a shared global concern as a result of the New Deal developed through the forum of the International Dialogue for Peacebuilding and Statebuilding. Peacebuilding and statebuilding are perceived as the most important aims of aid, and capacity development is central to achieving these. The emphasis on a country-led process indicates the need to develop capacities to lead such processes. Also, the commitment to joint development of a plan, support to political dialogue and leadership, transparency, risk sharing, strengthening of country systems along with the strengthening of capacities, all depend on or encompass strong elements of capacity development. This policy brief elaborates some major issues to be considered by donors supporting capacity development of central state institutions in fragile situations.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, Democratization, Development, and Fragile/Failed State
129. The lure of extractive natural resource development
- Author:
- Ole Therkildsen, Lars Buur, Anne Mette Kjær, and Michael W. Hansen
- Publication Date:
- 12-2013
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- This brief explores the opportunities offered by the new boom in natural resource extraction, and focuses on how foreign direct investment (FDI) by extractive multinational corporations (MNCs) can be harnessed for industrial development purposes. The brief argues that industrial policies are needed in order to unleash the development potentials provided by FDI in extractives.
- Topic:
- Development, Industrial Policy, Natural Resources, and Foreign Aid
130. The West must allow a power shift in international organizations
- Author:
- Jakob Vestergaard and Robert Hunter Wade
- Publication Date:
- 12-2013
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- More than three years after the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s governing body agreed to reform the organization's governance so as to better reflect the increasing economic weight of dynamic emerging market economies in the world economy, only microscopic changes have been made. Emerging market and developing countries (EMDCs) have become increasingly frustrated with Western states for clinging to their inherited power, in the IMF and other important international economic governance organizations. The emerging cooperation among the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) – as seen in the advanced-stage negotiations to establish a Development Bank and a Contingent Reserve Arrangement – sends a “wake up and smell the coffee” call to the West, and the latter will carry a heavy responsibility for eroding global multilateral governance if it continues to drag its heels on the needed adjustments.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Emerging Markets, International Monetary Fund, Governance, and Reform
- Political Geography:
- Russia, China, India, South Africa, and Brazil