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20601. Reconstructing Haiti

Author:
Aimee Ansari
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
All actors should ensure that the people of Haiti have a central role in the process of reconstruction and that reconstruction is equitable. Those delivering assistance on the ground should immediately work to coordinate within the UN established system and with the Haitian government The UN and the US government are trying to ensure that there is adequate fuel to support the relief effort. Fuel supply will remain a concern for humanitarian agencies in the near term. In consultation with NGOs, the UN should establish a system to determine who receives fuel, for what purposes and in what priority. The Haitian government, UN and international military actors must work together to improve the security situation, pre-empting a potential deterioration of the situation, with increased patrols, transparency in operations and clear conjoined rules of engagement and chain of command. Protection, particularly for women and children, should be mainstreamed into the design of all programmes, including any camps for affected people or expansion of patrols, in consultation with affected people and local civil society. The government, UN, donors and other actors must ensure that efforts to restore and improve public services, infrastructure and economic activity prioritise poorer communities. In a socially divided society such as Haiti, there is a real danger that the better off and politically influential will secure their needs first. It is not too early to lay a new foundation for Haiti's reconstruction and development with complete debt forgiveness, aid in the form of grants not loans and a “pro-poor” approach that prioritises livelihoods and sustainable development led by Haitians from the start.
Topic:
Corruption, Development, and Disaster Relief
Political Geography:
United States and United Nations

20602. Bridging the Digital Gender Divide in Africa

Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
African Heads of States and Governments gather in Addis Ababa for the 14th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union at a time when the continent faces a huge digital divide. African women are disproportionately affected by this divide.
Topic:
Gender Issues and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
Africa

20603. Rescuing Education for All: How reform of the Fast Track Initiative should lead to a Global Fund for Education

Author:
Katie Malouf Bous
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
The first decade of our new millennium was poised to go down in history as a hopeful turning point for the world's children. Remarkable progress was being forged across the developing world, spurred by a new global commitment to the Education For All (EFA) goals. These goals were answered by substantial increases in aid during the first half of the decade, extensive debt relief, and a growing political commitment to education in developing countries. The EFA Fast Track Initiative was also establ ished in 2002 as a global partnership to support national efforts to reach universal primary education.
Topic:
Development, Education, Globalization, and Financial Crisis

20604. Trade and growth – again

Author:
Per Botolf Maurseth
Publication Date:
02-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
A stylised fact from the large and growing literature on relationships between trade and growth is that liberal trade policies may stimulate growth. However, there is no academic consensus that liberal trade policies are either necessary or sufficient ingredients in growth promoting policies. In this paper, the relationships between trade policy and growth are investigated. The paper adds some new findings. My measure of trade policy is not only applied average tariff rates which have been used by others, but such tariff rates for agriculture and manufacturing separately. The results indicate opposite results of the two: Protection of manufacturing correlates negatively with growth, while tariffs on agriculture imports seem to have a weaker though positive correlation. These results are robust in the sense that they remain significant with the same sign independently of different specifications and inclusions of various control variables.
Topic:
Agriculture, Economics, Industrial Policy, and International Trade and Finance

20605. The Protection of Aid Workers Principled Protection and Humanitarian Security in Darfur

Author:
Karoline R. Eckroth
Publication Date:
02-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
The changing nature of armed conflict has resulted in increased need to safeguard civilians, including humanitarian personnel, which is reflected in the emerging protection of civilians agenda. This report considers to what extent the issues raised in the recently updated OCHA Aide Memoire reflect the security needs of aid workers on the ground, by examining the case of Darfur
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, Political Violence, Genocide, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and Humanitarian Aid
Political Geography:
United Nations

20606. Dilemmas of Regional Peacemaking: The Dynamics of the AU's Response to Darfur

Author:
A. Sarjoh Bah
Publication Date:
03-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on International Cooperation
Abstract:
The African Union's (AU) peacemaking efforts in Darfur exposed the limits of implementing its ambitious peace and security agenda, and the absence of an effective international system to support regional peacemaking efforts. This paper contends that the AU's efforts brought to the fore three critical issues: first, the gap between the AU's mandate to intervene in situations involving war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide as provided for in its founding charter, the Constitutive Act, and its capacity to do so; second, the absence of an international system to support regional peacemaking, especially when it involves deploying complex multidimensional peace operations; finally, it brought into sharper focus the inherent tensions and contradictions surrounding existing norms and emerging concepts such as sovereignty, the responsibility to protect (R2P) and internationalized justice through the International Criminal Court (ICC). The paper focuses on the AU's two pronged strategy in Darfur: Political and Military/peacekeeping.
Topic:
Security, Genocide, Human Rights, Humanitarian Aid, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Africa

20607. A Field Based Review of the Peacebuilding Commission in Burundi

Author:
Shepard Forman, Rahul Chandran, and Gigja Sorensen
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on International Cooperation
Abstract:
Burundi was placed on the Peacebuilding Commission's (PBC) agenda in June 2006, as the peacekeeping mission (ONUB) was drawing down and the Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Burundi (BINUB) was starting up.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Africa and Burundi

20608. The Obama Administration and Multilateralism: Europe Relegated

Author:
Richard Gowan
Publication Date:
02-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center on International Cooperation
Abstract:
Barack Obama's critics argue that he is a naïve believer in global governance. This is mistaken. When it comes to multilateral diplomacy, the President has proved to be a pragmatist and – suitably for a man with a reputation as a 'calculating' poker player, according to a 2008 article in The New Yorker – ready to gamble. In the last year, he has taken a bet that the US can lead a radical reorientation of international cooperation. This is based on three assumptions.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and International Organization
Political Geography:
United States, China, and Europe

20609. The State of the Humanitarian System

Author:
Abby Stoddard, Adele Harmer, Paul Harvey, and Glyn Taylor
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on International Cooperation
Abstract:
This report, commissioned under ALNAP's Humanitarian Performance Project, aims to provide a system-level mapping and assessment of international humanitarian assistance. To this end, the report 1) defines key criteria for assessing system performance and progress, 2) assesses the system's performance over the past two years against these criteria, 3) presents new, previously unavailable descriptive statistics and 4) highlights some new initiatives in policy and practice. The research team synthesised the findings of roughly 500 global survey responses, 100 recent evaluations, 89 interviews, staffing and budget information of over 200 aid organisations and a financial analysis of global humanitarian aid flows. The resulting report represents a pilot effort to broadly assess the 'state of the system' with the intent, if it is found useful, to repeat the exercise once every two years.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Disaster Relief, Human Welfare, and Humanitarian Aid

20610. Confronting the Long Crisis of Globalization

Author:
Alex Evans, Bruce Jones, and David Steven
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on International Cooperation
Abstract:
Globalization has entered a turbulent period. Over the past twenty years, the most significant threats to international security, stability, and prosperity have evolved rapidly. Global systems are now tightly interconnected, with risk proliferating freely across borders.
Topic:
Debt, Globalization, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Russia, China, and India