Natural resources and conflict in Sudan : addressing environmental issues in a post-conflict situation : the case of Afghanistan

Thesis (MPhil (Sustainable Development Planning and Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007.Both Afghanistan and Sudan have experienced extended periods of war and violent conflict. Sudan has been engulfed in a nearly continuous and bitter civil war since independence in 1956. Afghanistan has been in a state of conflict since the Soviet invasion in 1979. Both nations are also among the poorest and least developed in the world. The article on Sudan addresses the interlinkages that exist between conflict and natural resources and how access to and unequal distribution of natural resources have triggered and fuelled violent conflict. In the case of Afghanistan, the article looks at the reasons for US military intervention in 2001 and analyses the reconstruction and development programmes devised by the international community in order to rebuild the country. Based on these, the article looks at the potential for creating a sustainable society in Afghanistan and putting in place an effective system of environmental governance. Although it is recognised that both countries have managed to address some of the causes of conflict, the articles also state that in both cases, the agreements that were signed between the warring parties are far from being comprehensive. This is illustrated by the fact that in Afghanistan, conflict with the Taliban has increased dramatically in recent months, and in Sudan, by the still ongoing conflict in Darfur. It is argued that in both countries the potential for promoting long-term sustainable development is limited not unrelated, in large measure, to the nature of the development agendas being imposed by external decision-makers. Financial institutions and other international development actors have played an instrumental role in devising these agendas. They are promoting development strategies mostly based on neo-liberal policies and reliant on market forces, despite the fact that these policies have, in the past, often failed to trigger economic growth and alleviate poverty. Finally, while issues relating to the management of natural resources, particularly those of global and strategic importance, receive a fair amount of attention in the development plans, environmental protection as such, is often lacking political and financial commitment

Existence and Symmetries for Elliptic Equations with Multipolar Potentials and Polyharmonic Operators

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)This article concerns the existence and qualitative properties of solutions for semilinear elliptic equations with critical multipolar potentials and polyharmonic operators. The results are also new for the Laplacian case. They cover a large class of anisotropic potentials, and show that solutions are stable with respect to potential angular components. The analysis is performed H-k,(alpha) over bar -spaces which are a sum of weighted. L-infinity-spaces and seem to be a minimal framework for the potential profile of interest. For this purpose, a theory with basic properties for H-k,(alpha) over bar is developed, including optimal (and positive) decompositions, Holder-type inequality, and quasi-monotonicity of the norm. We investigate a concept of symmetry for solutions which extends radial symmetry and carries out an idea of invariance around singularities. Our approach can be employed in a number of other situations like exterior domains and other types of PDEs.62619551982Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES

Knowledge Construction and Sharing in Quorum

The purpose of this paper is to report on a continuing research effort aimed at the design and development of large-scale international computer network connecting schools in at least ten countries throughout Latin America. Toward this end, the University of West Florida and IBM Latin America have initiated a joint partnership called "Quorum: Collaboration without Boundaries." The project is large and multifaceted. In addition to providing physical connectivity, it includes teacher training and development of the curriculum material and building advanced software tools necessary to support student collaboration across classrooms and countries. This paper is focused on Project Quorum's support for collaboration at the knowledge level across classrooms and continents. Introduction As part of Project Quorum, we are developing a system (provisionally called Pangea) to empower students to collaborate in the construction and sharing of models of their beliefs about specific domains..

Plant genetic resources conservation and use in China: Proceedings of a National Workshop on Conservation and Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources, 25-27 October 1999, Beijing, China

English and Chinese in one publicatio