Examining mine action's 'peaceability' potential through everyday narratives and practices in Somaliland

The way in which societies conceptualise peace, and therefore peacebuilding, is dependent on various factors, including the society itself, its history, cultural and social foundations, the legacies of violence and peacebuilding initiatives. Drawing on interviews with various constituents in Somaliland, this article will demonstrate how bottom-up narratives and understandings of peace and peacebuilding have been shaped by the legacy of war and shared history of the reconciliation process, which was led by the elders. Similarly, this conceptualisation of peace defines what activities are considered as peacebuilding. However, the extent of this conceptualisation does not extend to mine action; an activity that was initiated by the elders during the post-war reconciliation process, and whose outcomes, such as facilitating mobility, safety and security, were outlined as peace indicators by those interviewed. Thus, while mine action has intrinsic peacebuilding potential, it is not conceptualised as peacebuilding by either international or local peacebuilders. This paper therefore seeks to critically examine this limitation. It employs Goodhand & Hulme’s (2000) concept of a peace audit, an approach to critically look at the way in which an intervention is undertaken to assess how this has raised or lowered the probability of peace. Beyond the history, using the peaceability approach, the article analyses the extent to which there are endowments of ‘peace capital’ accrued or undermined by the sector’s everyday activities. It concludes that the ‘everyday’ actions of the mine action actors contribute to the way in which local communities comprehended mine action interventions through the daily activities of the actors on the ground, their contrasting lifestyles, values and behaviour

A Minefield of Possibilities: The viability of Liberal Peace in Somaliland, with particular reference to Mine Action.

The dominant liberal peacebuilding critiques tends to focus on ‘states’ and the failure of interventions in rebuilding them. Consequently, a standardised critique has emerged largely because the critics apply a broad brush across a diverse range of contexts, programmes, issues and activities as illustrated by the lack of scrutiny on mine action and emerging contexts such as Somaliland. The liberal peacebuilding critics critique the standardised ‘one size fits all approach’ employed by interveners, yet they take the same approach. I therefore argue for the need to broaden the critique to include other elements and contexts of peacebuilding. I demonstrate that as an intervention mine action has intrinsic peacebuilding potential. However, the way mine action is implemented both globally and in Somaliland reflects the same dominant characteristics of the liberal peacebuilding critique i.e.; it is externally led; uses technical and standardised formulaic approaches; disregards local context thus failing to secure local ownership. Attributes that the critics argue have led to the failure and/or limited success of peacebuilding interventions. I therefore contend with the critics and demonstrate how these attributes have contributed to the challenges of implementing mine action activities thereby limiting mine actions ‘peace-ability’ potential in Somaliland. However, beyond the implementation modalities there are other factors that further contribute to limiting this potential; these include the Sector Actors; the Somaliland context i.e. the historical and political context, and the perception of Somaliland people. Thus in conclusion I argue for a nuanced critique that acknowledges the challenging realities of implementing programmes in challenging post conflict environments

FACTORS AFFECTING ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY IN KENYA: A CASE STUDY OF PARKINN HOTEL

The purpose of the study was to determine the factors affecting organizational performance in the hospitality industry in Kenya. The specific objectives were to examine the effect of employee skills in organizational performance in the hospitality industry in Kenya, to determine the effect of innovation on organizational performance in the hospitality industry in Kenya, to investigate the effect of managerial efficiency on organizational performance in the hospitality industry in Kenya, to find out the effect of geographic location on organizational performance in the hospitality industry in Kenya .The significance of the study is to the management of Parkinn hotel, other hotels and future researchers. The theoretical review for this study involved The Universal Perspective theory and Resource-Based View/theory (RBV).The study adopted descriptive research design. The target population of the study was 150 of the employee at the Park inn hotel. The sampling technique to be used was stratified random sampling. Secondary and primary data was collected using a self administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was piloted in order to check for validity and reliability. Questionnaires was administered through drop and pick method. The data collected was analyzed using various statistical tools and instruments such as ANOVA, correlation and multiple regression analysis.Majority of the respondents were in agreement employee skills influences organizational performance in the hospitality industry while only a few disagreed. From the findings majority of respondents that innovation has an influence on organizational performance in the hospitality industry. The analysis shows most of respondents were in agreement that managerial efficiency has a great effect on the organizational performance in the hospitality industry in Kenya. From the findings majority of the respondents agreed that geographic location has an influence on organizational performance in the hospitality industry in Kenya while a few of the respondents disagreed. Based on the research findings the management of the organizations is recommended to hire well trained and experienced employees so as to reduce the cost of retraining while promoting quality of services offered. Therefore the research recommends to the management is recommend being innovative on the following areas on the way food and in-house is presented to be customized to suit different customer preferences. It is therefore imperative for management of park inn hotel to accept and strictly observe the golden rule for leadership. Therefore the management of the hotel should ensure the location is connected to the agglomeration effects, public service, infrastructure, and road, accessibility to tourist sites, including agglomeration effects, public service, infrastructure, and road and subway accessibility to tourist sites

FACTORS AFFECTING IMPLEMENTATION OF CAREER MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR IN KENYA: A CASE STUDY OF KENYA TOURISM FUND

The purpose of the study was to determine the factors affecting the implementation of career management programs in the public sector with reference to Kenya tourism board. The specific objectives were to assess the effect of organizational culture; to determine the effect of training opportunities; to find out the effect of leadership and to find out the effect of motivation on the implementation of career management programs in public sector. The researcher used descriptive research design. The design is preferred because it is concerned with answering questions such as who, what, which, how, when and how much. The research used target population of 103senior management, middle management and support staffs. From the target population of 103 individuals 40% yield a sample size of 52 respondents. Data was collected from both primary and secondary sources whereby questionnaires and literature review were done respectively so as to get detailed information. Based on the findings majority of the respondents indicated that organization culture affects the implementation of career management programs The findings show that most of respondent indicated that training affects the implementation of career management programs. Employee motivation affects the implementation of career management programs. Therefore the research recommends that the organization top management should adopt a culture that promotes career management. The organization should regularly conduct on job training programs so as to impact of the knowledge on how career management should be managed the management of tourist fund should adopt a leadership style that is influence and very flexible to adapt to various changes in the implementation of the career management programs. The organization should promote employee motivation initiatives such, gifts promotions, good working condition, free flow of information this would make it easier for the employees to be able to be committed to career management programs

Women leading local humanitarian response during the Covid-19 pandemic

This study explores the hypothesis that not only are women’s rights organisations (WROs) working in crisis settings already active in providing humanitarian assistance, but also continued failure to support them in this capacity risks further marginalising and harming their constituencies, entrenching inequalities and undermining efforts towards gender justice. They have demonstrated their deep knowledge and understanding of crisis contexts and the communities they serve, as well as their capability and adaptability. However, they are an underserved and little-recognised set of humanitarian actors. This research examines WROs’ experiences of the pandemic and related containment measures in South Sudan and Kenya, but it will hold relevance for international agencies engaged in gender-responsive and local humanitarian action, with recommendations for doing this work more ethically, supportively and appropriately. It will also hold true for a range of other local or place-based civil society organisations (CSOs) serving marginalised communities

Mine clearance, peacebuilding and development: interactions between sustainable development goals and infrastructure in Angola

In this article, we analyse the interaction between anti-vehicle mine (AVM) clearance and longer-term peacebuilding and development in relation to agricultural, conservation, trade, and infrastructural development priorities in the provinces of Cuando Cubango and Huambo in Angola. AVM clearance has not always been prioritised in the humanitarian mine clearance phase but is critical in later developmental stages due to the increased need for and use of infrastructure. To investigate the interaction between clearance, peacebuilding and development outcomes, we deploy the Mine Clearance and Peacebuilding Synergies (MPS) framework. Our critical analysis of qualitative primary data demonstrates how clearance engages Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and infrastructure priorities towards improvements in agricultural production, trade and access to markets, social and physical infrastructure and social cohesion. But its impacts are challenged by endogenous factors such as wider infrastructural investment and exogenous factors including environmental and climate change concerns

Towards more inclusive, effective and impartial humanitarian action

Failing to include people who are marginalised and discriminated against is not a failure of inclusion but a failure of humanitarian action. Humanitarian actors’ commitment to impartiality requires a focus on prioritising the most urgent cases and non-discrimination. Evidence shows that humanitarian responses often fail to effectively assist and protect those most urgent cases. They can also further exacerbate existing marginalisation and discrimination. Based on a three-year study on inclusion and exclusion in humanitarian action, this policy brief outlines the changes and steps necessary to move towards more inclusive, impartial and effective humanitarian responses. It calls for recentring humanitarian action on effectiveness, relevance and impartiality by adopting a strategic vision for tracking exclusion and supporting more inclusive humanitarian action

Inclusion and exclusion in the north-east Nigeria crisis

The humanitarian response in north-east Nigeria is an important opportunity to examine barriers to more inclusive humanitarian action in large-scale, complex and protracted displacement crises. Acknowledging the immense operational challenges facing humanitarian actors, this study found that the response is not systematically inclusive, which has led to the exclusion of entire communities, therefore undermining its relevance, effectiveness and impartiality

EFFECT OF INNOVATION STRATEGIES ON FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF THE BANKING INDUSTRY IN KENYA

Globalization and increasing market competitiveness have driven financial institutions toward innovativeness in their operation to gain sustainable competitive advantage and improve their financial performance. Financial institutions are not only competing on the basis of services but also on the basis of physical products as it is hard to distinguish between products of competing brands in a given product category. The increased competition in the banking industry in Kenya has led to the players in the industry to find alternative ways of surviving and performing well such as adopting innovative strategies. This study sought to establish effect of innovation strategies on financial performance of firms in the banking industry in Kenya. The study specifically focused on product innovation and organizational innovation and its effect on financial performance in the banking industry in Kenya. This study adopted a descriptive survey as the research design for the purposes of data collection. The population targeted 153 managers in ICT department, retail banking department and corporate banking departments from the 51 financial institutions headquarter in Nairobi. The study made use of both secondary and primary data that was obtained from the study respondents using a structured questionnaire. The study used both descriptive statistics such frequency distributions, percentages, frequency tables and pie charts to summarize and relate variables obtained from the administered questionnaire as well as inferential statistics of correlation and regression for analysis. Findings revealed that product innovation and organizational innovation strategies positively and significantly affect the financial performance of firms in the banking industry in Kenya. The study recommends the banking industry in Kenya to introduce new products and services, improvement of existing products and services since it improves their financial performance. There is also need for the banking industry in Kenya to offer a wide range of products than their competitors. The study recommends the banking industry in Kenya to adopt E-customer information data base as well as call centres and floor management. There is also a need for the firms in the banking industry to adopt computerized loan document generation, automated voice response, and automated cheque reconciliation systems as it increases the financial performance. The study further recommends the firms to centralize their loan application system and Electronic trading of shares so as to increase their competitive advantage. JEL: G21, L23, M21  Article visualizations