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20271. The Philippines: Back to the Table, Warily, in Mindanao

Publication Date:
03-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Peace talks between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are back on track, with one round of talks in Kuala Lumpur in February 2011 and another scheduled for late April. The obstacles to achieving a final peace are huge, but the administration of President Benigno S. “Noynoy” Aquino III has at least brought some fresh air to the process. A new government peace panel seems determined to find a way out of a negotiator's nightmare: multiple parties engaged in parallel and sometimes contradictory talks; powerful potential spoilers; and ethnic divisions, feuding clans and divergent political interests among the Bangsamoro – the Muslims of Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago – that make unity within the MILF's own constituency elusive.
Topic:
Islam, Peace Studies, Treaties and Agreements, and Insurgency
Political Geography:
Israel, Philippines, and Kuala Lumpur

20272. Gaza: The Next Israeli-Palestinian War?

Publication Date:
03-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Will the next Middle East conflagration involve Israelis and Palestinians? After the serious escalation of the past week in which eight Gazans, including children, were killed in a single day, and the 23 March 2011 bombing in Jerusalem, that took the life of one and wounded dozens, there is real reason to worry. The sharp deterioration on this front is not directly related, nor is it in any way similar to the events that have engulfed the Middle East and North Africa. But the overall context of instability and uncertainty undoubtedly has made a volatile situation even more so. Israelis' anxiety is rising and with it the fear that outside parties might seek to provoke hostilities to divert attention from domestic problems and shift the focus back to Israel. Hamas has been emboldened by regional events and is therefore less likely to back down from a challenge. The combination, as recent days have shown, has proven combustible.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution and War
Political Geography:
Middle East, Israel, Arabia, Jerusalem, Gaza, Arab Countries, and North Africa

20273. Japan's Economy after the Quake

Author:
Kilbinder Dosanjh
Publication Date:
03-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Abstract:
The human cost Many companies (Sony, Toyota) have shut factories in affected area As much as 10% of national power production temporarily down Rolling blackouts will continue until end-April.
Topic:
Economics, Humanitarian Aid, and Natural Disasters
Political Geography:
Japan, Israel, and Asia

20274. Human Security: Undermining Human Rights?

Author:
Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
Abstract:
This paper warns that the human security discourse and agenda could inadvertently undermine the international human rights regime. It argues that in so far as human security identifies new threats to well-being, new victims of those threats, new duties of states, and/or new mechanisms of dealing with threats at the inter-state level, it adds to the established human rights regime. In so far as it simply rephrases human rights principles without identifying new threats, victims, duty-bearers, or mechanisms, at best it complements human rights and at worst it could undermine them. The narrow view of human security, as defined below, is a valuable addition to the international normative regime requiring state and international action against severe threats to human beings. By contrast, the broader view of human security at best repeats, and possibly undermines, the already extant human rights regime, especially by converting state obligations to respect individuals' inalienable human rights into policy decisions regarding which aspects of human security to protect under which circumstances. The two may be competing discourses, despite arguments by some scholars (Tadjbakhsh and Chenoy 2007, 12) that they are not.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Security, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and Sovereignty

20275. Transition from Democracy Loss of Quality, Hybridisation and Breakdown of Democracy

Author:
Gero Erdmann
Publication Date:
03-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
The paper points out that there is hardly any research for the reverse transition, the transition from democracy to non-democratic regimes for more than 30 years. For heuristical purposes, it provides basic data of the decline of democracy, which refers to loss of democratic quality, changes from liberal democracy to hybrid and to authoritarian regimes, during the third wave of democratisation (1974-2008). The stocktaking shows that most of the cases of decline refer to the change in and from young democracies established during the third wave, especially after 1989. Loss of democratic quality and hybridization are the most frequent cases of decline, while the breakdown of democracy has been very rare. Young democracies and poorer countries are more prone to decline than the older and richer cases – aside from a few remarkable exceptions. Finally, the overview argues that the research on the decline of democracy can benefit from the richness of the approaches of transitology, but should also avoid its methodological traps and failures, concluding with a number of suggestions for the future research agenda.
Topic:
Democratization, Poverty, International Affairs, and Governance

20276. Achieving a Shared Goal: Free universal health care in Ghana

Publication Date:
03-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Coverage of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) has been hugely exaggerated, and could be as low as 18% Every Ghanaian citizen pays for the NHIS through VAT, but as many as 82% remain excluded Twice as many rich people are signed up to the NHIS as poor people. 64% of the rich are registered compared with just 29% of the poorest Those excluded from the NHIS still pay user fees in the cash and carry system. Twenty five years after fees for health were introduced by the World Bank, they are still excluding millions of citizens from the health care they need An estimated 36% of health spending is wasted due to inefficiencies and poor investment. Moving away from a health insurance administration alone could save US$83 million each year. Enough to pay for 23,000 more nurses Through savings, good quality aid but primarily improved progressive taxation of Ghana's own resources, especially oil, the government could afford to increase spending on health by 200%, to US$54 per capita, by 2015 This would mean the government could deliver on its own promise to make health care free for all – not just the lucky few at the expense of the many.
Topic:
Health, Human Welfare, and Health Care Policy
Political Geography:
Africa and Ghana

20277. The Effects of Socialization on Gender Discrimination and Violence: A Case Study from Lebanon

Author:
Dr. Christine Sylva Hamieh and Dr. Jinan Usta
Publication Date:
03-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Violence Against Women (VAW) is a major public-health and social problem which jeopardises women's development and abuses many of their basic human rights. Recent interventions to combat the problem have focused on including men – not as holders or perpetuators of privileges, but rather as potential and actual contributors to gender equality. These initiatives to include men in programmes to end VAW have achieved some success so far. Several studies in the Arab world have highlighted the importance of addressing VAW. However, of all gender-related issues it still receives the least recognition and acknowledgement from Arab states and policy makers. Instead, the struggle continues to be led by women's organisations fighting to remove all forms of discrimination against women.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Human Rights, and Sociology
Political Geography:
Middle East, Arabia, and Lebanon

20278. Girls' Education in Afghanistan

Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Female education has faced significant obstacles in Afghanistan, yet there have been enormous gains since 2001. Under the Taliban, the majority of girls‟ schools were closed and gross enrollment fell from 32% to just 6.4%.In the early years after the fall of the Taliban, education was a top priority for the Afghan government and donors. Much of this donor focus was on getting children back into school, with a particular emphasis on primary level. The Back to School campaign, launched in 2002, significantly ex-panded enrollment, which has increased nearly seven-fold, from approxi-mately 900,000 in 2000 to 6.7 million in 2009.For girls, the increase has been even more dramatic: official enrollment figures have increased from an estimated 5,000 under the Taliban to 2.4 million girls currently enrolled.
Topic:
Education, Gender Issues, and Poverty
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and Taliban

20279. What does civil society at country level expect from the new UN women's agency?

Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
The foundation of UN Women provides a historic opportunity to transform the lives of women and girls. To deliver results, UN Women must target the most urgent issues for women and absorb the lessons of the past. As it becomes operational, UN Women should build these priorities and new approach into its structures and systems. This report focuses on the views of 100 selected civil society organisations (CSOs) working on women's issues on the ground. It aims to outline the key priorities for UN Women and to propose how the agency should proceed to deliver tangible progress at country level.
Topic:
Civil Society, Gender Issues, Human Rights, and United Nations

20280. Whose Aid Is It Anyway? Politicizing aid in conflicts and crises

Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Effective aid helps save lives, protect rights and build livelihoods. Yet in conflicts and politically unstable settings from Afghanistan to Yemen, lifesaving humanitarian assistance and longer-term efforts to reduce poverty are being damaged where aid is used primarily to pursue donors' own narrow political and security objectives. This is not only undermining humanitarian principles and donors' development commitments; it impacts on the lives of some of the most vulnerable people affected by conflicts and natural disasters.
Topic:
Security, Humanitarian Aid, Poverty, Natural Disasters, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and Yemen