The Role of Local Agency in Peacebuilding: The Case of the Bawku Inter-Ethnic Peace Committee

This article explores the failure of top-level interventions in the resolution of local conflicts and the role of local agency in peacebuilding. The article relied primarily on qualitative techniques and instruments to collect data to examine why top-level interventions by successive governments have failed to resolve the Bawku chieftaincy conflict. The article finds that top-level interventions have failed to resolve the conflict because they are introduced with little to no participation by local communities. These interventions are, therefore, unable to garner grassroot support and commitment. In contrast, the BIEPC led peace process has been more successful in the management of the conflict because it is a bottom-up approach with representatives from the various ethnic groups working together in an attempt to find common solutions to their differences. The adoption of indigenous conflict resolution mechanisms provides inclusion and participation by the wider community, and also serves to restore communal harmony and relationship among the people, their ancestors and the gods of the community. In spite of recent setbacks in the peace process, the BIEPC offers the most promising route to the resolution of the structural causes of the conflict

北部ガーナの平和構築における国家と社会の協力

GRIPS Global Governance Program (G-cube)政策研究大学院大学 / National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies論文審査委員: 高木 佑輔（主査）, 恒川 惠市, 武内 進一（東京外国語大学現代アフリカ地域研究センター長） , 飯尾 潤, 峯 陽一（同志社大学 教授

The Effects of Artisanal and Small-scale Mining on the Development of Rural Communities : The case of Nangodi in the Upper East Region of Ghana

Following major retrenchments in the large-scale mining sector, as a direct result of the mining sector reforms that the government of Ghana undertook under its structural adjustment programme, and years of economic hardships, the Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) sector witnessed significant growth in the 1980s and 90s. The main objective of government and communities engaged in mining activities is to use the sector to generate employment and revenue to improve the living standards of the people in the mining areas specifically, and that of Ghanaians as a whole. Contrary to popular perception and the expectations of mining communities, these mining activities have often failed to bring about the much needed economic and social development. The main objective of this study is to find out whether the mining communities have been able to benefit from ASM activities. This is to be achieved by examining the effects of the mining activities on such economic and social parameters as income levels, employment, agriculture (and other sectors of the rural economy), education, health, housing, migration and the local environment. The study used Nangodi, a small mining community in the Upper East Region of Ghana, as a case study. It hypothesized that the community has been negatively affected by the ASM activities. The study will test this proposition by analyzing data collected from the area and other secondary data

The effects of chieftaincy conflicts on local development : the case of the Bawku East municipality

Since the end of the Second World War, conflicts between states that dominated the international scene for decades are gradually being replaced by intra-state conflicts. These new wars have occurred in the developing countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. These intra-state wars take several forms; some of the common forms have included civil wars, revolutions, ethnic violence and conflicts, and gang violence. This has meant that most studies on conflicts do not deal with these new conflicts. This has made it imperative for new studies into this rather new phenomenon. This study will be interested in looking at the effects of ethnic and communal violence in the form of chieftaincy conflicts on the socio-economic development of the affected local areas. The study will use the Bawku Chieftaincy Conflict as a case study. I have adopted the insights of the economic theories of war and predation to theorize that the factions in the Bawku Chieftaincy conflict are rational economic players who are interested in the economic, social and political rewards that accrue to the victorious faction. The research also hypothesises that the chieftaincy conflict has negatively affected the socio-economic development of the Bawku East Municipality. The research will test this proposition by analysing the data from the research area

Generalized Carrier-Based PWM Method for a 12-Switch Converter

This paper proposes a generalized carrier-based pulse-width modulation (CBPWM) method for a 12-switch converter feeding three independent loads. The converter topology is part of the (3N + 3)-switch converter family where N is the number of outputs (N = 3 for this special case). Its more famous sibling is the 9-switch converter which is gaining considerable interest from researchers because of its reduced-switch count architecture. The structure and limitations of the converter are elaborated; its modulation method applicable to both equal and different frequency (and/or amplitude) operations is formulated. The generalized neutral voltages for the converter is derived for the first time and used as the offset voltages required by this type of topology to decouple its three outputs. The proposed algorithm is validated by both theoretical simulations and experimental results

New Switched-Dual-Source Multilevel Inverter for Symmetrical and Asymmetrical Operation

The increasing integration of large solar PV and wind farms into the power grid has fueled, over the past two decades, growing demands for high-power, high-voltage, utility-scale inverters. Multilevel inverters have emerged as the industry’s choice for megawatt-range inverters because of their reduced voltage stress, capability for generating an almost-sinusoidal voltage, built-in redundancy and other benefits. This paper presents a novel switched-source multilevel inverter (SS MLI) architecture. This new inverter shows superior capabilities when compared to existing topologies. It has reduced voltage stress on the semiconductor, uses fewer switches (i.e., reduced size/weight/cost) and exhibits increased efficiency. The proposed SS MLI is comprised of two voltage sources ( V 1 , V 2 ) and six switches. It is capable of generating five-level output voltage in symmetric mode (i.e., V 1 = V 2 ) and seven-level output voltage in asymmetric mode (i.e., V 1 ≠ V 2 ). We present simulations results (using MATLAB®/Simulink®) for five- and seven-level output voltages, and they strongly support the validity of the proposed inverter. These positive results are further supported experimentally using a laboratory prototype