Getting Infrastructure Priorities Right in Post-Conflict Reconstruction

infrastructure, conflict, reconstruction, water

Public health, conflict and human rights: toward a collaborative research agenda

Although epidemiology is increasingly contributing to policy debates on issues of conflict and human rights, its potential is still underutilized. As a result, this article calls for greater collaboration between public health researchers, conflict analysts and human rights monitors, with special emphasis on retrospective, population-based surveys. The article surveys relevant recent public health research, explains why collaboration is useful, and outlines possible future research scenarios, including those pertaining to the indirect and long-term consequences of conflict; human rights and security in conflict prone areas; and the link between human rights, conflict, and International Humanitarian Law

The Seversity of the Colombian Conflict: Cross-Country Datasets versus New Micro Data

This article compares the treatment of Colombia in large cross-country conflict datasets with the information of a unique dataset on the Colombian conflict (CERAC). The big datasets display a strong tendency to record fewer killings than does CERAC. Moreover, when the big datasets provide annual time series on the conflict these figures look either erratic or flat compared to CERAC'S and often move in different directions. This article also examines the criteria of the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) for dataset inclusion and finds them considerably more restrictive than CERAC'S. The primary differences are that UCDP generally excludes attacks purely on civilians and any activity of illegal right-wing paramilitary groups. It is argued here that these omissions impoverish our perception of many civil wars. A calculated modified series based on UCDP methodologyand CERAC raw information closes 56% of the gap between the two approaches. The remainder appears to derive mainly from a number of small events in CERAC but not UCDP, reflecting the limits of English-language coverage of Colombia, upon which UCDP data is based. The gap with other big datasets is also closed. The dynamic of the lower-bound USDP curve clearly resemble the modified CERAC curve so UCDP does reasonably well on its own terms. A brief Nothern Ireland case study is consistent with our Colombia conclusions. The article concludes with a recommendation for conflict researchers to prioritize the construction of more micro datasets that will facilitate detailed studies of conflict intensity and its dynamics

International Emergency Medicine: Fellowship Training and Career Outcomes

Context: The recent interest and development of international emergency medicine has led to academic fellowships that aid in preparing emergency medicine physicians to work in the development of the specialty outside the United States. The seven current fellowship programs are variable in their curricula, and it is of interest to determine what aspects of the training are particularly valuable in affecting the careers of program graduates. Objective: The primary objective of this review and proposed project is to determine associations between completion of a fellowship in international emergency medicine and the resulting career outcomes among fellows. Background information collected includes a history of international emergency medicine, as well as the development of the specialty within the United States. Specific measures of exposures and outcomes include fellowship curriculum components and professional roles held by graduates of the programs. Data: A survey for graduates of the fellowship was developed in coordination with informatics expertise in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. An extensive literature review was performed to provide a background for the content of questions, academic implications, and project outcomes. Conclusions: Improved understanding of the aspects of training that effect outcomes in the field of international emergency medicine may enhance efforts to expand the specialty of emergency medicine and develop emergency medicine residency programs abroad.Master of Public Healt

Smallholder Market Participation And Welfare Effects: Evidence From The Kenya Dairy Sector

The combination of increasing demand for food and improving food system market integration suggests that great opportunities may exist for a supply-side response amongst rural smallholder farmers, especially in Sub Saharan Africa, with its large gaps between existing and potential crop yields. With limited evidence, it is unclear how smallholders participate or if they benefit from participation in these new market opportunities. In this paper, these questions are examined in the context of dairy production and sales in Kenya. Analysis of welfare household asset dynamics highlights a strong association between high milk sales levels and improved welfare, but the causal direction is not evident. Qualitative findings suggest that more capable farmers with higher capacity to manage risks and make costly investments are the ones that are able to achieve and maintain high production and sales levels

The change of state practice In regards to preemptive self-defense in the presence of nuclear threat: the possibility of preemptive attack by China against North Korea, US invasion of Iraq (2003), Israel bombing Osirak in Iraq (1981) and Israel bombing Al Kibar (2007)

The problem that the project discusses is: state practice in the presence of a nuclear threat challenges self-defense requirement under Article 51 of UN Charter “ the occurrence of an armed attack . In fact, states claim that the imminence of the nuclear threat and necessity of an armed attack regulate their practice in handling it. This is based on Caroline Case principles 1837. The project hypothesis is in the presence of a nuclear threat state practice changes into preemption consistent with Caroline principles. The hypothesis is elaborated in four case studies based on Theory-Guided methodology. The possibility of conducting a preemptive self-defense attack by China against North Korea, United States invasion of Iraq 2003, Israel Bombing Osirak 1981and Israel bombing Al Kibar 2007 are the case studies. The hypothesis states that the four case studies create a new norm of preemption based on Caroline case. The findings do not support the hypothesis. The project interprets that China abides by Article 51 of United Nations, NPT and IAEA regulation in the case of North Korea. Israel and United States practice diverge from International Law and Customary International law requirements of self-defense in the presence of a nuclear weapons threat. In other words, their practices are based on Begin and Bush Doctrines. There is no new norm of preemption consistent with Caroline case in the presence of a nuclear threat

President Obama vs. President W. Bush: can a president's leadership style be an effective and efficient influence for US diplomacy and foreign policy?

This dissertation intends, as it main purpose, to study and characterise leadership style of both George W. Bush and Barack H. Obama during the period of their first mandate regarding diplomatic and foreign affairs issues in Islamic countries. It will analyse if Muslim countries’ leaders changed the way they saw and interacted with the West, particularly the United States of America, in response to a different type of leadership. This work will also try to answer the question of whether the relationship between USA and Islamic countries can be reinvented by the diplomatic behaviour of a president and how media conveys these images and ideas in order to influence the homeland public as well as the public abroad. The present essay will examine different Islamic countries such as Iraq, with which USA is at war, and Iran, both of them antagonists of what America stands for, and Turkey an associated country of USA. The main research question guiding this analysis is: How do leadership styles and presidential charisma influence US Foreign Policy design and efficiency towards the Muslim world? This problematic will be viewed by several angles, for there a numerous theories that can help perceive this issue. As a result, both Presidents’ leadership style and charisma will be analysed. Afterwards, this dissertation will frame its most important notions giving them a conceptual delimitation, supplied by renowned authors of social sciences such as International Relations, Communications, Psychology, Sociology and Political Studies. The case study, with direct and indirect sources, will focus on relevant Islamic countries to US, some because are sworn enemies (Iraq and Iran) and others (Turkey) because are loyal to what the North America stands for. George W. Bush is a Republican who served two times as President of the USA, during which, America was offended with the most assertive and horrifying terrorist attack ever seen in US soil, in a day that forever more will live in infamy: 11th of September. On the other hand, Barack Obama is an African-American Democrat with Muslim roots of his own, who campaigned against war abroad but ended up involving his country, through NATO’S intervention, in another one (Libya). The dissertation will end with the conclusions to whatever results may be found in the pursuit of this question: Are leadership styles and charismatic behaviours an influence in efficiency and efficacy of the Foreign Affairs Policy towards Islamic Countries? In order to respond as accurately as possible all sources will be considered in this study, the statements made by the two Presidents during their first mandate, their officia

Non-specialist health worker interventions for mental health care in low- and middle- income countries.

This is the protocol for a review and there is no abstract. The objectives are as follows: OVERALL OBJECTIVE: In order to assess the impact of delivery by non-specialist health workers (NSHWs) and other professionals with health roles (OPHRs) on the effectiveness of mental healthcare interventions in low- and middle- income countries (LMICs), we will specifically analyse the effectiveness of NSHWs and OPHRS in delivering acute mental health interventions; as well as the effectiveness of NSHWs and OPHRs in delivering long term follow-up and rehabilitation for people with mental disorders; and the effect of the detection of mental disorders by NSHWs and OPHRs on patient and health delivery outcomes. For each of these objectives we will examine the current evidence for the impact of delivery by NSHWs and OPHRs on the resource use and costs associated with mental healthcare provision in LMICs

Contributos para o planeamento de emergência : aplicação ao caso do plano especial de emergência para o risco sísmico da Área Metropolitana de Lisboa e concelhos limítrofes

A presente dissertação surge da necessidade de executar o plano especial de emergência para o risco sísmico na Área Metropolitana de Lisboa e concelhos limítrofes (PEERS AML CL)o qual deve decidir meios e recursos de socorro, com base na formulação de cenários sísmiscos críveis. Foi analisado também o simulador sísmico, resultado do estudo de base do PEERS AML CL para apoiar a reflexão da necessidade ou não de um planeamento de emergência para cada risco específico. Como importante resultado prático foi obtida uma curva de correlação de danos que se aproxima da correlação encontrada para as estatísticas de danos causados por sismos à escala mundial. Foi analisada a legislação em vigor e em fase de projecto para definir o conceito de planeamento de emergÊncia que se pretende para Portugal. Analisaram-se os modelos de protecção civil europeia na perspectiva das tendências evolutivas em face das novas ameaças e defende-se um modelo de planeamento cuja abordagem ao risco é integrada e não específica

Interrogating the provision of secondary school education in Hopley and Caledonia communities: a lens into internal displacement in Zimbabwe.

Doctor of Philosophy in Conflict, Transformation and Peace Studies. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2016.Internal displacement is a tenacious social ill that has gripped the global community affecting the lives of millions of people. Despite the fact that this form of forced migration has become common lexicon at an international level, there is a dearth of studies on the impact of internal displacement on the accessibility of secondary school education. Therefore, the central focus of this study was to probe how internal displacement has impacted on the provision of secondary school education on Hopley and Caledonia communities. The study cited Hopley and Caledonia in Zimbabwe as communities that host internally displaced persons (IDPs) whose homes were demolished through Operation Murambatsvina in 2005. The study focused on the premise that forced migration invariably leads to deprivations in the lives of the victims. The study explored how the IDPs’ loss of shelter inevitably led to the failure to access secondary school education for the majority of the children. This was entrenched in the non-adherence to international statutes by institutions mandated to facilitate them so as to alleviate the challenges of internal displacement. In order to ground the study in a way that would give the scope of understanding of IDPs’ perceptions of the phenomenon and its effects on education, the study mainly used the Capability Approach as a theoretical framework. The Capability Approach enhanced the understanding that the lack of provision of education to displaced children denied them the opportunity to be what they can potentially be. In addition, the Entitlement Approach and Critical Theory were also used to interpret the role of education in the pursuit of social justice and inalienable human rights among the internally displaced people in the two communities. As internal displacement in Zimbabwe is politically sensitive, this led to the use of the qualitative research paradigm to seek the IDPs and other key actors’ subjective interpretations of this phenomenon. Furthermore, purposive sampling was used to select respondents whose children were of secondary school going age in these communities. The non-random and subjective nature of sampling was driven by the fact that the study specifically intended to select IDPs whose children’s access to education had been affected by internal displacement. Thematic and content analysis were used to analyse the empirical data and secondary evidence respectively. The study established that internal displacement in Zimbabwe resulted in the people being dispossessed of both their shelter and potential futures through the lack of education. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the lack of education increased the IDPs’ invisibility compounded by the government and global community’s failure to institute international policies and norms on internal displacement. Thus, the study makes a meaningful contribution to the body of knowledge on the discourse on ‘missing migrants’ in the form of IDPs in Zimbabwe. The implication of these findings is the need to deconstruct and recategorise IDPs in Zimbabwe so that they can benefit from the various internal displacement policies and international instruments