24 research outputs found
Blind Spots: Domestic Entrepreneurship and Private-sector Development in South-Sudan
Policy discourse on private sector development in fragile states has started attributing great importance to domestic entrepreneurship. This chapter follows Dutch initiatives to support entrepreneurs in South Sudan between 2009 and 2015. Despite the rhetoric, support for entrepreneurs did not materialise. Donor representatives refer to a lack of small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurial skills as prime reasons. Our research reveals that in practice, the apolitical interventionist rationale characterising donor support in South Sudan conflicts with the politicised nature of the private sector. In fact, interventions side-line domestic entrepreneurship, reinforcing an image of a âmissing middleâ and diverting attention to international firms as âcapacity buildersâ
Unintended consequences or ambivalent policy objectives? Conflict minerals and mining reform in the DR Congo
Since the early 2000s, the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the international
community have initiated a reform process in the artisanal mining sector to break the linkages
between mineral extraction and violent conflict. Research on the reforms reaches different
conclusions about their impact on conflict, governance and livelihoods, and usually focuses on one
aspect of the reforms, accepting the objectives of the policy at face value. This discourse analysis of
the objectives of reform policies aims to understand how they represent the problem, the solutions
they envision and their proposed plans. The study applied the method of interpretive policy analysis
to four policy documents originating from 2010 to 2012: the UN Group of Experts report, the Doddâ
Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for
Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas, and the ICGLR
Regional Certification Mechanism Manual. The study finds that the policies hinge on two seemingly
commensurate objectives, varying between conflict-free sourcing and promoting peace. We find
that, in reality, these objectives may not align. We also find that much reform practice is geared
towards conflict-free sourcing, and is far less appropriate for promoting peace. This includes the
tendency to implement the policies in conflict-free zones, their narrow scope, the reliance on the
government and their indifference to the impact of the reforms for poor miners. The findings suggest
that exercising due diligence has become a goal in itself. This raises the question of whether giving
buyers a clear conscience and developing a traceable and conflict-free product has received more
prominence than has contributing to improving the situation of the Congolese population
Outside the net: Intersectionality and inequality in the fisheries of Trincomalee, Sri Lanka
Inequality and conflict in Sri Lanka have frequently been analyzed along ethnic lines. However, many scholars have stressed the importance of other dimensions of identity, such as gender, caste and class, in studying social tension. This study uses intersectionality theory to examine how a combination of the social categories of gender, race, ethnicity and location creates structural inequality. This article draws upon in-depth research on Muslim, Tamil, Sinhalese and indigenous/Veder women who catch and market fish in the conflict-affected eastern district of Trincomalee, Sri Lanka. The focus was on intra-group differences among these women and the different sources of power they use to subvert existing power structures. Although multiple inequalities affected the respondentsâ daily lives and participation in activities, they were not passive victims; they used their own agency to negotiate for their livelihoods. Nevertheless, the women who comprise the focus of this study appeared to be completely invisible to government fisheries management bodies. The lac
The (im)possibilities of disaster risk reduction in the context of high-intensity conflict: the case of Afghanistan
ABSTRACT
Conflict aggravates disaster risk and impact through increased vulnerability and weakened response capacities. Disaster risk reduction (DRR) and disaster governance are needed â but often deemed unfeasible â in conflict-affected areas. In Afghanistan, despite the high-intensity conflict (HIC), there is a growing body of practice on DRR. To provide insight on DRR in HIC contexts, this study used document analysis, stakeholder interviews, and participant observation to analyse the promotion, implementation, and challenges of DRR in Afghanistan. The findings show that DRR was promoted after international recognition of Afghanistanâs high disaster risk, which coincided with expanding opportunities for development. Early Afghan DRR projects were hazard-oriented and focused on mitigation infrastructure, but some have shifted towards an integrated approach. DRR is challenging in HIC contexts because of complex logistical and funding needs required to overcome access and security issues. The Afghan experience shows that DRR is possible in HIC countries, provided that different levels of conflict are acknowledged, sufficient time and funding are available, and disaster governance arrangements are in place. Expectations regarding the possibilities for DRR in HIC areas should be tempered by the realities of limitations in terms of geographical coverage, real impact, and capacities to reduce vulnerability in an integrated way.
KEYWORDS: Disaster risk reduction (DRR), high-intensity conflict settings, disaster governance, Afghanistan, resilience humanitarianis
When the mountain broke: disaster governance in Sierra Leone
__Purpose:__ When a major landslide and floods devastated Freetown, Sierra Leone had just overcome the Ebola crisis, which had left its mark on socio-political relations between different disaster response actors. With international disaster response frameworks increasingly shifting to local ownership, the national government was expected to assume a coordinating role. However, in âpost-conflictâ settings such as Sierra Leone, intra-state and stateâsociety relations are continuously being renegotiated. This study aimed to uncover the complexities of state-led disaster response in hybrid governance setting at national and community levels in the response to the 2017 landslide and floods.
__Design/methodology/approach:__ During the four months of fieldwork in Freetown in 2017, semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with various state, aid and societal actors were conducted.
__Findings:__ The findings show that a response to policy building on the idea of a uniform state response did not take into account intra-state power politics or the complexity of Sierra Leone's hybrid governance.
__Practical implications:__ This paper argues for a more nuanced debate in humanitarian governance and practice on the localisation of aid in post-conflict and fragile settings.
__Originality/value:__ The study's findings contribute to the literature on the disasterâconflict nexus, identifying paradoxes of localised disaster response in an environment with strong nationalâlocal tensions. The study highlights intra-local state dynamics that are usually overlooked but have a great impact on the legitimacy of different state authorities in disaster response
Beyond the hype? The response to sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2011 and 2014
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has witnessed a high prevalence of sexual violence since the wars of the mid-1990s. The huge response to it commenced around the turn of the century, but turned to âhypeâ towards 2010. The paper defines âhypesâ as phenomena characterised by a media frenzy, eagerness by non-governmental organisations, and pragmatic local responses. Interviews and analyses conducted in 2011 revealed misuse of services and misrepresentation at different levels. The paper goes on to review medical and legal assistance and to provide evidence of incremental improvements in the response since 2012. It has become better coordinated, with more engagement by the DRC government, more community-orie
Disaster Governance in Conflict-Affected Authoritarian Contexts: The Cases of Ethiopia, Myanmar, and Zimbabwe
Disaster governance in conflict areas is of growing academic concern, but most existing research comprises either single
case studies or studies of a variety of country contexts that group all types of conflict together. Based on three case studies, this article offers a middle-ground scenario-based approach, focusing on disaster governance in authoritarian contexts
experiencing low-intensity conflict. Low-intensity conflict is characterized by intense political tensions and violence that
is more readily expressed in ways other than direct physical harm. Inspired by Olsonâs (2000) maxim that disasters are
intrinsically political, this article explores the politics of disaster response by asking what is at stake and what happened,
unpacking these questions for state, civil society, and international humanitarian actors. Using data from a total of one year
of qualitative fieldwork, the article analyzes disaster governance in 2016 drought-ridden Ethiopia, marked by protests and
a State of Emergency; 2015 flooded Myanmar, characterized by explosive identity politics; and 2016â2019 drought-ridden
Zimbabwe, with its intense socioeconomic and political turbulence. The studyâs findings show how framing and power
processes in disaster governanceâcomprising state and non-state actorsâlargely lean toward the state, with the consequence that political interests, rather than needs assessments, steer who and what will be protected from disaster impact
Accountability mechanisms in community-driven reconstruction in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
A lack of accountability is often considered a root cause of conflict. Many post-conflict reconstruction efforts therefore aim to enhance accountability between authorities and the population through community-driven reconstruction (CDR) programmes. This article examines the details of the accountability mechanisms in the Tushiriki CDR programme in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Based on ethnographic research, we found little impact of formal programme accountability. Rather, accountability was shaped differently and had its own context-specific meaning. To make accountability more sustainable, stronger embeddedness in local institutions and more appropriate translations of abstract concepts into the local context are needed
Research on Politics of Disaster Risk Governance
This thematic issue aims at unravelling how the global consensus towards a shift to risk reduction and inclusive disaster governance evolves in everyday governance practices, where roles and responsibilities are evolving and negotiated, permeated by politics of power and legitimacy. It identifies three different dimensions of disaster governance. The first is the formal dimension: the way governance arrangements are designed or meant to work. The second is ârealâ governance: the way in which formal governance arrangements manifest and evolve in actual practice. The third is invisible governance: an amalgam of household and neighbourhood-level activities and networks for disaster response that happen outside of the gaze of the formalized governance arrangements. The 21 articles in this issue address the politics of governance based on thorough empirical work, while theoretically contributing to several themes relating to the politics of disaster governance. The outcomes of the thematic issue are: 1) The three governance dimensions are useful to reveal what the roles and room for manoeuvre is of different actors, including governments, international community, experts, non-state actors and affected communities; 2) Technical solutions for risk reduction and disaster response crucially rely on socio-technical, political, and administrative systems and processes and hence need to be adjusted to the specific context; and 3) The political nature of disaster governance calls for a deeper understanding to advance accountability to affected populations