The politics of women's representation in Sudan: Debating women's rights in islam from the elites to the grassroots

The international discourse on gender and peacebuilding presupposes a common agenda among all women across religion, ethnicity and class in any given post-conflict situation. The literature seems to express the belief that as long as women are included in political decision-making institutions, their representation will ensure that the situation for all women, from the elite to the grassroots, will improve. Women’s political participation is regarded as not only desirable but vital to the advancement of gender equality. This report explores the validity of this position in the context of women’s representation in Sudan, a multi-religious country with a long history of civil war. The approach of this project is two-fold and multidisciplinary, examining attitudes towards gender equality among Muslim women both at the elite and at the grassroot levels. The findings from Sudan suggest that Muslim female activists are continuously and bravely putting women’s issues on the agenda, despite authoritarian constraints such as a weak parliament, lack of judicial independence and media censorship. It is however important to note that Sudanese Muslim women’s perception of gender equality is not unitary. Whereas liberal Muslim activists advocate for gender equality in all areas of law, conservative Muslim activists do not deem gender equality neither necessary nor desirable. They all frame their arguments within Islam, offering different interpretations of the Islamic law

"A woman should not be the boss when a man is present": Gender and poverty in Southern Mozambique

This is the third and final report in the series “Gender Policies and Feminisation of Poverty in Mozambique”, revealing a curious incongruity between often broad and sweeping statements about gender inequality and the great variation and complexity in the lives of real men and women. The province of Gaza, which is the focus of this report, has seen profound socio-economic change, including an extensive male labour migration, a commodification and ‘feminisation’ of agriculture; and a very high HIV/AIDS infection rate. Important implications of these developments have been a very large proportion of female headed households; a high level of female participation in agriculture and the informal economy; and near gender equality in education enrolment. In fact, the main gender disparities in Gaza primarily seem to be related class, with poor women without economic independence being susceptible to continued control under the patrilineal system and patriarchal ideolo

How banks assist capital flight from Africa: A literature review

Systematic studies of the banking sector’s involvement in facilitating capital flight from developing countries are limited. This report was commissioned by Norad’s Anti-Corruption Project (ANKOR) for the purpose of summarising key lessons from the existing literature and to identifying knowledge gaps. The study focuses on capital flight from Africa. It is a desk study, based on a review of library and online literature databases and reports and documentation from national and international organisations. The review demonstrates that banks should not be disregarded as passive players when analysing capital flight. Banks play an active role in facilitating capital flight from Africa. However, to improve the regulation of the banking and finance sectors, there is a need for more detailed knowledge on how banks actually operate as facilitators and the mechanisms applied

The role of the churches in poverty reduction in Angola

This study was carried out as a collaborative effort between the Center of Studies and Scientific Research (CEIC) of the Catholic University of Angola (UCAN), the Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI) and Independent Policy Analysis. Its purpose is to critically review the role the churches in Angola play in relation to addressing poverty in the country. Central questions addressed are the kinds of interventions the churches undertake and to what extent the churches contribute to poverty reduction in Angola? Churches have a long history in Angola, which is intertwined with the history of colonialism, the struggle for independence and the many years of civil war. This has forced churches to relate and adapt to radical changes in the political, social and economic environment. The churches are the civil society actors in Angola with the most developed organizational structures and strongest international networks. Yet, the strength of this network is weakened by the lack of skilled human resources. Making education available is perhaps the most significant contribution the churches make to development in Angola. Most of the churches also run health posts and hospitals in remote areas of the country

Learning to build a sustainable peace: Ownership and everyday peacebuilding

Lack of local ownership is seen as a central explanation for why peacebuilding efforts often fail to yield sustainable peace dividends. But how is local ownership understood and acted upon by those who are engaged in peacebuilding efforts at the country level? Based on research in four countries – Afghanistan, Haiti, Liberia and Sudan – this study finds that the way ownership is operationalized by external actors at the country level is quite different from how it is defined in policy documents. The most prevalent operationalization is ownership as a conditional right with external actors seeing ownership as theirs to give to local actors when certain conditions (such as capacity or responsibility) are met. The result is often that reform efforts are unsustainable. This report suggests some concrete steps that can be taken to render ownership an operational principle

Indigenous women's access to justice in Latin America

This paper gives an overview of the challenges which indigenous women in Latin America face in accessing both formal state justice and indigenous legal systems, including a focus on normative frameworks, legal awareness, access to appropriate justice forums and the achievement of satisfactory remedies. In addition, it highlights promising examples of how different actors within civil society and governments are taking steps to improve indigenous women’s access to justice in different contexts. Recognizing that each of these are likely to be very context specific, it draws out the key lessons and challenges from these approaches, making recommendations on how this work can best be supported

'Opitanha' revisited. Assessing the implications of PARPA II in rural northern Mozambique 2006-2009

This report is part of a larger exercise of monitoring and evaluating Mozambique’s poverty reduction strategy, focussing on three districts in Mozambique and using a combination of quantitative and qualitative data. It analyses the constitution and dynamics of poverty and well-being in the rural district of Murrupula in the Nampula Province, by revisiting four local communities and a total of 120 households three years after our first visit in 2006. While a number of improvements have taken place in local governance, physical infrastructure and agricultural marketing options, this has so far primarily benefitted the better-off with few if any implications for the very poorest

Caste, local networks and lucrative jobs: Evidence from rural Nepal

We study how local connections to persons in influential positions affect access to lucrative international migrant jobs and attractive government employment. In rural Nepal, it would not be surprising if social status, captured by a household’s caste but also by wealth or education, strongly influenced or perhaps even exclusively determined the access to attractive labour market opportunities. This is not the case. Although much of the variation in migration can be attributed to wealth, education and social identity, household networks have a separate impact on external employment. Well-connected households are more likely to get government jobs and appear to have favorable access to the manpower agencies and the informal loans required to finance migration to the Persian Gulf or Malaysia

Haydom Lutheran Hospital - Final project review

Haydom Lutheran Hospital (HLH) is a first level referral hospital located in Mbulu district, Manyara region in Tanzania. HLH was established by the Norwegian Lutheran Mission in 1955 and is owned by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania (ELCT). HLH has over many years received substantial financial support from the Norwegian government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and NORAD. The support is presently channelled through the Royal Norwegian Embassy (RNE) in Dar es Salaam. In 2008, the RNE funded 70% of the hospital’s budget. Most of the RNE funds are administered through a Block Grant. This report is the final project review of the Block Grant for the period 2006-2009. Emphasis is placed on developments since the mid-term review, which was conducted in late 2007

Beyond the surge: Policy options for Afghanistan

The surge in the US presence in Afghanistan, announced by President Barack Obama soon after taking office, is unfolding rapidly. What does this ‘surge’ signify? Is it a commitment to achieve what Obama calls ‘the achievable objective’ in US strategy towards Afghanistan, namely to eliminate Al Qaeda’s base in the region and ensure that the organization will not be a source of terrorist threats to the West and its allies? Or is it the beginning of an exit strategy from a controversial war, aiming to gain a position of military strength from which to negotiate a favorable compromise? In a longer time perspective, is it a step to secure a strategic US presence in the region, or a prelude to strategic retrenchment? What are the implications for Afghans who are deeply concerned about the escalating violence in their country, disillusioned by the pace of reconstruction, and apprehensive about the future? CMI and PRIO recently invited a small group of experts to a workshop and a public seminar in Oslo to assess current developments in light of these larger issues. The discussion centered on three main themes: the role of the US and the UN, the role and perceptions of Afghans, and the dynamics of a negotiated settlement. This is a report from the seminar