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3811. International Peace Mediation and Gender: Bridging the Divide

Author:
Julia Palmiano Federer and Rachel Gasser
Publication Date:
11-2016
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
BRICS Policy Center
Abstract:
In this policy brief, Julia Palmiano Federer and Rachel Gasser explore the nexus between international peace mediation and gender. The publication focuses on the state of play of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda almost two decades since the passing of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 in October 2000. The WPS Agenda has become a powerful and salient normative instrument in the mediation field and most comprehensively represents the nexus between gender and mediation. Since 2000, it has produced large scale efforts to address existing inequalities between women and men as agents for change in peacemaking activities. While these efforts are embraced by mediators per se, addressing these inequalities in practice has achieved mixed results and can be subject of debate between those doing mediation and those supporting mediation from a distance. This policy brief does not advocate for either a normative or pragmatic approach to integrating mediation and gender, but instead aims to illuminate key conceptual debates and practical realities in the ground in different peace processes around the world. It also illustrates the specific opportunities and challenges faced by national governments in implementing the WPS Agenda at the national policy level through National Action Plans. The policy brief concludes with suggested research agendas and questions for debate and discussion.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, Gender Issues, Peace Studies, United Nations, Peacekeeping, and Transitional Justice
Political Geography:
Latin America

3812. Transforming Sub Saharan Africa Agriculture

Author:
Jamal Saghir and Hans Hoogeveen
Publication Date:
12-2016
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Institute for the Study of International Development, McGill University
Abstract:
Across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) agriculture is a dominant sector in the economies of most countries accounting for between 30 to 40 percent of gross domestic product, and the sector is a leading source of jobs for over two-thirds of Africa’s population. And yet, though it has the potential to be an agricultural power, a combination of low productivity and an inadequate policy framework make SSA the world’s most food-insecure region. Over the last 40 years it has also been steadily losing its share of the global agricultural market. With less than 10% of SSA’s population, Thailand exports more food products than all SSA countries combined, and Brazil’s food exports are now 150% higher than those of SSA, although levels were similar in the 1980s. The “Green Revolution” that transformed tropical agriculture in Asia and Latin America largely bypassed Africa, with total factor productivity growth in agriculture lagging behind that of other regions in the world (Evenson and Gollin 2003) 1 . Two main factors are responsible. First, little land on the continent is irrigated. Only two percent of Africa’s renewable water resources are used, compared to a global average of five percent. Of the 183 million hectares of cultivated land in SSA, 95 percent is rain-fed and less than 5 percent benefits from some sort of agricultural water management practice—by far the lowest irrigation development rate of any region in the world. Moreover, of the 7.1 million hectares equipped with irrigation equipment, only 5.3 million are currently operational. Second, modern inputs and technological processes are grossly underutilized. Africa has, by far, the lowest rate of improved seed and fertilizer use of any region— a rate that has remained virtually constant for the last 40 years—and the lowest level of mechanization in the world. In consequence, African farmers have the lowest farm productivity; their grain yields only one-half of those achieved by Asian or Latin American farmers.
Topic:
Agriculture, Development, Poverty, and Economy
Political Geography:
Africa

3813. Moving Towards More Socially-Connected Educational Systems: From Theory to Practice

Author:
Maxime Honigmann
Publication Date:
10-2016
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Institute for the Study of International Development, McGill University
Abstract:
Education has long been viewed as a key component in the empowerment of individuals, communities, and nations alike. Study after study has highlighted how improvements in educational systems can lead to lasting development benefits, including decreased poverty, improved gender parities, and all-around better economic opportunities. Schooling can act as a societal equalizer, giving disadvantaged individuals the chance to improve their socioeconomic standing and end up better off than their predecessors. Education promotes self-determination on individual and collective levels, and as such is deeply intertwined with an individual’s empowerment, self-respect, and respect for their community (Khisty 2006, 438). Depending on how they are oriented, educational systems may support or subdue the identities of individuals and groups, with the identities of disadvantaged or minority groups particularly at risk of suppression. If incorrectly or insufficiently addressed by educational policies, the physical and socioeconomic differences of disadvantaged or minority groups can percolate through the educational process in a way that can add to pre-exiting disparities. When the performance standards of educational systems do not properly take these differences into account and concentrate resources on higher achieving groups early on, they create otherwise-avoidable learning gaps, which in the long-run contribute to isolating conditions such as higher instances of poverty (Kenny et al. 2002; Peters and Oliver 2009; Botezat 2016). For example, an analysis of household surveys from thirteen countries found that the well-noted link between disability and poverty in adulthood was negated when educational attainment was controlled for (Filmer 2008, 150).
Topic:
Education, Poverty, and Economic Development
Political Geography:
Global Focus

3814. Fostering Sustainably Resilient Communities: What Works and What is Required?

Author:
Maxime Honigmann
Publication Date:
10-2016
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Institute for the Study of International Development, McGill University
Abstract:
Global-local power dynamics are often framed with the phrase: “all geopolitics is local.” This adage references the convergence of global forces at the local level, presenting small communities with complex ranges of globalization-produced challenges. As more and more of these forces intersect and interact, local politics has gradually become more complex, with previously reliable patterns of demographics, environment, and economics fundamentally disrupted. From the elimination of traditional sources of livelihood to the introduction of revolutionary information technologies, local leaders everywhere have had to “sink or swim” – by either depending passively on the status quo, or taking an active, adaptive approach to confronting present and future challenges. The latter approach, while certainly requiring more investment from all actors involved, holds the key to a community’s empowerment, legitimacy, and ultimately, survival. It must be noted that communities do not always act benevolently, and their boundaries are not always clear – as Robert argues, “community is fundamentally contested ground” and exclusionary practices can be readily observed (Chaskin 2008, 73). Nevertheless, as a localized form of social organization, community governance systems are best-placed to uphold and adapt the principles of resilience to sustainably maintain the wellbeing of their populations. Resilience measures will remain at a significant disadvantage if they do not take into account input from the local communities they are addressed to. Community members know their area’s needs, offer unique streams of innovation, possess legitimacy in the discursive process, and can build and leverage beneficial social support systems intrinsic to their community. The end benefits are clear: countless studies have found flexible, nuanced, and locally-adapted resilience strategies to be most effective (cite sources here).
Topic:
Development, Power Politics, Geopolitics, and Resilience
Political Geography:
Global Focus

3815. Mine the (Development) Gap? A Case Study

Author:
Lauren Konken and Geneva List
Publication Date:
01-2016
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Institute for the Study of International Development, McGill University
Abstract:
How can strategic partnerships shape the lives and economic opportunities of communities surrounding large-scale mining operations? The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Anglo American PLC, and TechnoServe have pioneered a pilot partnership to implement a regional development plan that leverages the resources and skills of each contributing partner. The project, Beyond Extraction: Economic Opportunities in Communities Hosting Mining Operations, develops a flexible multifaceted program based on three pillars – local procurement, workforce development, and local government capacity building. From this systemic approach, onthe-ground operations will be tailored to the needs of local municipalities surrounding select Anglo American mining operations in each participating country. Each initiative builds on nearly a decade of program conceptualization and implementation through a pre-existing partnership between Anglo American and TechnoServe, combining lessons learned and resources from four enterprise development programs that have been executed collaboratively since 2006. Overall this new strategic partnership serves to elevate and expand Anglo American’s core business practices with the goal of developing local mining communities in ways that ensure sustainability and productivity beyond the lifespan of their mining operations in the region. In this case study we discuss the development of this strategic partnership as well as the challenges it has faced prior to its approval by the IDB in the summer of 2016. Within the context of global mining operations and the subnational regions in which it plans to operate, we analyze how the program goes beyond corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a public private partnership for development (PPPD). As the IDB develops an agenda for work within the extractives sector, this pilot builds on major corporate-bank partnerships surrounding large scale mining operations with a regional focus. The project serves as a precedent and key learning exercise from a multinational perspective for all partners involved as to the challenges and opportunities of strategic partnerships in the extractive sector.
Topic:
Development, Natural Resources, Mining, and Banking
Political Geography:
South America, North America, and Global Focus

3816. Creating Value Through the Chain: SABMiller & the Tenderos

Author:
Shashank Aeri and Trevor N. May
Publication Date:
01-2016
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Institute for the Study of International Development, McGill University
Abstract:
Launched in 2013, the “4e Camino al Progreso” program is an Inter-American Development Bank/Multilateral Investment Fund-sponsored social investment project led by SABMiller and implemented by the executing agency FUNDES in six Latin American countries. Capitalizing on the opportunities inherent in the brewer’s value chain, the initiative provides business and leadership consulting to small retailers, known as tenderos, in impoverished neighbourhoods. The project aims to improve the profitability and sustainability of the stores, or tiendas, allowing their proprietors to achieve a better quality of life and contribute more time and resources to improving their communities. Empowering these retailers to become better business operators ultimately strengthens SABMiller and other companies’ distribution network, creating benefits for the local and regional economy. The case presents a promising model for similar corporate-social partnerships and contains innovative examples of how the private sector can contribute to substantive development initiatives. Given the partnership’s variegated players and contacts, the case highlights stakeholder relations strategies and challenges. The project’s design also demonstrates scalability and sustainability potential, although the ultimate success of these ambitions will depend on strategic decision-making and managing SABMiller’s evolution as it merges with Anheuser Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer. 1 While its ultimate results remain to be seen, this project raises three main lessons given its progress to date: first, sometimes even the most obvious solutions, such as using technology, do not come with an equally straightforward technique for adoption and implementation; second, reconceptualising the bottom of the pyramid as an engine of growth in the value chain, rather than simply a group of undervalued consumers; and third, understanding how productivity and efficiency contribute to sustainability, which may be undermined if this relationship is not recognized.
Topic:
Development, Business, Investment, and Private Sector
Political Geography:
Global Focus

3817. Working Girls and Education: Policy Recommendations in the Framework of Children Rights

Author:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV) and Aydın Doğan Foundation (ADV)
Publication Date:
05-2016
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
Aydın Doğan Foundation (ADV) and Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV) launched, in December 2015, www.turkiyedecocuklar.org as an innovative policy tool. Open data from TÜİK, ILO, and Hacettepe TNSA on working girls in Turkey was assembled and reorganized as an interactive database to facilitate evidence-based effective policy making. Working girls and education is the most alarming issue on the database. As a follow-up, ADV and TESEV brought together experts, in Istanbul, on 28 April 2016, to discuss and recommend policies.
Topic:
Education, Labor Issues, Children, and Economy
Political Geography:
Turkey and Middle East

3818. Preliminary reflections on the 2016 Liberian National Conflict-Mapping Exercise

Author:
Nontobeko Zondi
Publication Date:
10-2016
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:
Since 2009, the Government of Liberia (GoL), working with its national and international partners, has continued to provide leadership in responding to a myriad of critical conflict factors. It has done this through various peacebuilding frameworks, such as the Strategic Roadmap for National Healing, Peacebuilding and Reconciliation in Liberia, the Liberia Peacebuilding Program (LPP) and the Agenda for Transformation (AFT). In addition, Liberia has concluded its post-Ebola recovery plans, supported by the United Nations (UN) and other partners, in the midst of the UN Mission in Liberia’s (UNMIL) transition in 2016, as well as within the context of the country’s 2017 national elections. It was against this backdrop that the Peacebuilding Office (PBO) within the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) and other partners had to rethink and reprioritise Liberia’s peacebuilding and reconciliation strategies, programmes and interventions, moving forward. As such, a comprehensive conflict-mapping and conflict analysis exercise was pivotal to allow for a systematic and empirical process in which Liberian conflict issues and potential conflict drivers could be identified. This Policy & Practice Brief (PPB) seeks to reflect on the 2016 National Conflict-Mapping Exercise (NCME) process, as well as the methodological approaches used to gather and analyse the data. It further highlights the importance of the NCME as a process and outlines the supportive role of international partners to the PBO, which guaranteed that the process is locally owned and steered by the PBO. Although it has a definitive end in the form of findings, the NCME itself should be seen as an important component for enhancing the coherence and coordination of peacebuilding interventions in Liberia.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, Peacekeeping, Peace, and Reconciliation
Political Geography:
Africa and Liberia

3819. A fractured way forward for a Global Peace and Security Agenda

Author:
Priyal Singh
Publication Date:
09-2016
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:
In 2015, the United Nations (UN) took stock of three key global peace and security review processes, all of which contain various observations and recommendations to better prepare, inform, and potentially reform, the organisation. This Policy and Practice Brief (PPB) seeks to unpack these reviews, identify common threads and elements and provide insight on some of the deeper, underlying challenges and concerns that the organisation will need to address during this considerable period of institutional introspection – amidst growing international disillusionment and dissonance over the current state of global peace and security. The PPB begins by illustrating what led to the reviews and how each had been conducted. This is followed by an examination of the content of each of the reports, with particular regard to the respective central arguments, observations and general recommendations. The PPB then underscores the common threads contained in each report and provides an analysis of whether these reviews adequately consider the UN’s institutional responses, structure, and capabilities in light of the most pressing emergent international peace and security trends and developments. The PPB concludes by qualifying and drawing attention to the two overarching policy directions that currently confront the organisation, either toward some form of greater structural expansion or something more geared toward a deeper institutional rationalisation.
Topic:
United Nations, Peacekeeping, Global Security, and Peace
Political Geography:
Global Focus

3820. The Role of Inclusive Multi-stakeholder Partnerships in Enhancing Conflict Transformation in the Great Lakes

Author:
Bernard Okok Obuoga
Publication Date:
09-2016
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:
Cyclical conflicts which continue to plague the Great Lakes region of Africa necessitate a reflection on the effectiveness of peacebuilding interventions. While many reasons account for this, without knowledge of triggers of relapse into conflict, and without enhancing grassroots-based approaches to managing the causes of conflict, peace will remain elusive under existing intervention frameworks. The Great Lakes Project (GLP), a collaborative initiative by the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD), the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), and the Nairobi Peace Initiative – Africa (NPI-Africa) – developed a three-year project in 2012, titled “Consolidating Peacebuilding in the Great Lakes of Africa”. The overall purpose of the project was to ensure that local communities were mobilised to engage with, and address, conflict factors through grassroots civil society organisations (CSOs). The project also sought to identify and address the capacity gaps of local CSOs working towards peace and ensure that systems were established to continuously address conflicts in the region. The International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) was identified as a critical partner in building peace in the region, considering its extensive network and access to state and non-state actors. This engagement therefore facilitated partnerships between existing CSO-platforms; strengthened their early warning systems and strengthened their conflict management capabilities towards building resilient infrastructures for sustainable peace. While undertaking its mandate, the GLP identified various challenges and policy gaps, which included the lack of strategic approaches to prevent conflict relapse. This paper illustrates and interrogates the dynamics of these shortcomings, and defines the role of inclusive, multi-stakeholder partnerships to address these.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping, Conflict, and Peace
Political Geography:
Africa