• DEVELOPMENT: Afghanistan National Human Development Report: Security With a Human Face • CONFLICT PREVENTION: Investing in Prevention: An International Strategy to Manage Risks of Instability and Improve Crisis Response • HEALTH: The Ultimate Barrier: Impact of the Wall on the Palestinian Health Care System • DISPLACEMENT: Lives on Hold: The Human Cost of Statelessness • GOVERNANCE: Stable Democracy and Good Governance in Divided Societies: Do Powersharing Institutions Work? • POST-CONFLICT RECONSTRUCTION: Haiti's Transition: Hanging in the Balance • NATURAL RESOURCES: Rivers and Blood: Guns, Oil and Power in Nigeria’s Rivers State • CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND PEACEMAKING: The Mindanao Peace Talks: Another Opportunity to Resolve the Moro Conflict in the Philippines • GENDER AND CRIMINAL VIOLENCE: Barracks and Brothels: Peacekeepers and Human Trafficking in the Balkans • CHILDREN: Learning in a War Zone: Education in Northern Uganda DEVELOPMENT AND SECURITY Afghanistan National Human Development Report: Security With a Human Face United Nations Development Programme Afghanistan could fall back into chaos if complaints from Afghans about poverty are not addressed. That is one of the key findings in a report released yesterday by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Afghan government. In fact, the Afghan "National Human Development Report" was written by a team of researchers independent of the UN and the Afghan government. It is the first such assessment of Afghanistan's economy and society after more than two decades of war. Continue Reading More on Afghanistan and Development and Security CONFLICT PREVENTION Investing in Prevention: An International Strategy to Manage Risks of Instability and Improve Crisis Response Government of the United Kingdom The international community needs to invest in reducing future risk of conflict and political instability, or continue to pay the high human and financial costs of reacting to repeated crisis, says a new report from the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit. The report is published as a report for consideration by the Government of the UK. It was commissioned by the Government to address the challenges posed by fragile and unstable countries in an interdependent world. The report proposes a comprehensive international strategy to address this challenge and outlines priority policy initiatives which could make a significant impact over the next five years. Continue reading More on Conflict Prevention HEALTH AND SECURITY The Ultimate Barrier: Impact of the Wall on the Palestinian Health Care System Médecins du Monde Since June 2002, the construction of the Wall has steadily added another layer of obstacles isolating, fragmenting and thus deteriorating the Palestinian health care system. In order to address some of the health impacts of the Wall, Médecins du Monde (MDM)-France started the Wall response program in May 2004. The organization has supported emergency medical transport services in Aizaria (East Jerusalem), Women and Children mobile health clinics in 11 villages in the West Bank, and monitors the health impact of the Wall, in close collaboration with local partners. This report "gives voice" to patients and medical staff who face daily difficulties due to the Wall. Continue reading More on Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip and Health and Security REFUGEES AND INTERNALLY DISPLACED PEOPLE Lives on Hold: The Human Cost of Statelessness Refugees International This 50-page report highlights the difficulties faced by an estimated 11 million individuals worldwide who have no citizenship or effective nationality. These stateless people are international orphans who have fallen through the cracks of the United Nations. They regularly cannot participate in the political process of any country and are guaranteed no legal protections. Because of their status, millions of stateless people have difficulty in obtaining jobs and owning property, receive inadequate access to healthcare and education, and suffer sexual and physical violence. The report documents the human costs of the problem in more than 70 countries with particular emphasis on groups in Bangladesh, Estonia and the United Arab Emirates, and provides recommendations to the international community on what must be done by the UN, individual states and donor governments like the United States. Continue reading More on Refugees and Internally Displaced People GOVERNANCE AND SECURITY Stable Democracy and Good Governance in Divided Societies: Do Powersharing Institutions Work? John F. Kennedy School of Government // Harvard University Consociational theory suggests that power-sharing institutions have many important consequences, not least that they are most likely to facilitate accommodation and cooperation among leadership elites, making them most suitable for states struggling to achieve stable democracy and good governance in divided societies. This study compares a broad cross-section of countries worldwide, including many multiethnic states, to investigate the impact of formal power-sharing institutions (PR electoral systems and federalism) on several indicators of democratic stability and good governance. The research demonstrates three main findings: (i) worldwide, power-sharing constitutions combining PR and federalism remain relatively rare (only 13 out of 191 states); (ii) federalism was found to be unrelated to any of the indicators of good governance under comparison; and (iii) PR electoral systems, however, were positively related to some indicators of good governance, both worldwide and in multiethnic states. This provides strictly limited support for the larger claims made by consociational theory. Nevertheless, the implications for policymakers suggest that investing in basic human development is a consistently more reliable route to achieve stable democracy and good governance than constitutional design alone. Continue reading More on Governance and Security POST-CONFLICT RECONSTRUCTION Haiti's Transition: Hanging in the Balance Crisis Group Almost one year after the abrupt departure of former President Aristide, Haiti remains in turmoil, at risk of losing what may be its last chance to escape a crushing cycle of violence and poverty that has periodically upset the stability of the Caribbean and sent refugees streaming to the U.S. and elsewhere. The transitional government is fighting to maintain its credibility, and the elections planned for late 2005 are unlikely to produce the legitimate government the country needs without major improvement in three key areas: security, reconciliation and economic revival. The UN Mission has begun to take a more assertive approach, but both it and the transitional government must do more to address citizen insecurity. Haiti also needs a pluralistic national dialogue that establishes some common objectives for the next government, regardless who wins the end-of-year elections. Continue reading More on Haiti and Peace Operations and Post-Conflict Reconstruction NATURAL RESOURCES AND ARMED CONFLICT Rivers and Blood: Guns, Oil and Power in Nigeria’s Rivers State Human Rights Watch In the oil-rich Niger Delta, the struggle among local leaders for oil revenue and government funds has fueled violent clashes between rival armed groups, Human Rights Watch said in this report. An escalation in violence last year killed dozens of innocent people and disrupted oil production, pushing global crude futures over a record $50 a barrel. The 22-page report, “Rivers and Blood: Guns, Oil and Power in Nigeria’s Rivers State,” based on a December fact-finding mission to the region, documents fighting between armed groups in the southeastern oil-producing state that escalated in late 2003 and continued throughout 2004. The clashes resulted in the indiscriminate killing of local people, displaced tens of thousands of villagers from their homes, and forced the oil industry to evacuate staff and scale back its production. Continue reading More on Nigeria and Natural Resources and Armed Conflict CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND PEACEMAKING The Mindanao Peace Talks: Another Opportunity to Resolve the Moro Conflict in the Philippines United States Institute of Peace The stalemate between the Philippine government and the insurgent forces of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the ongoing global War on Terror, and the government's desire for peace in the southern Philippines in order to bolster the country's economy have created an environment conducive to a resolution of the Muslim secessionist rebellion in the south. A leadership change in the MILF has also provided an opportunity to reinvigorate and seek new approaches to the peace process. The biggest obstacle in the peace process is no longer whether the parties can reach an agreement, but whether that agreement can really bring sustainable peace and development in the south. The long history of the conflict and the failed approaches to resolve it have created deep divisions among Muslims and among the general Filipino populace, which regards any peace agreements with skepticism or, at the most, guarded optimism. To reach common ground, it is imperative that the parties explore all options for a political arrangement that can accommodate their conflicting interests. They must get out of the "independence-autonomy track" that has constricted past peace processes and explore different models and political structures that have worked well in settling secessionist conflicts elsewhere. Continue reading More on the Philippines and Conflict Resolution and Peacemaking GENDER AND CRIMINAL VIOLENCE Barracks and Brothels: Peacekeepers and Human Trafficking in the Balkans Center for Strategic and International Studies The majority of uniformed service members and civilian contractors working in peacekeeping operations do so honorably. Yet peacekeeping operations in the Balkans have had the unintended consequence of providing the demand for trafficked females from Eastern Europe and Eurasia for forced prostitution. Human trafficking involves the recruitment, harboring, and movement of people through the use of force, fraud, coercion, or deception for the express purpose of enslavement. Sex trafficking is therefore not “just about prostitution.” Rather, it is about people being sold as chattel, stripped of their passports, and forced to pay off bogus debts to their traffickers. In the Balkans, literally thousands of women and girls have been trafficked in the last several years. At least 10 percent of them are minors. In addition to the implications for human rights and the rule of law, human trafficking in post-conflict regions has security implications for peacekeepers that to date have been overlooked or downplayed by defense officials and militaries. Most importantly, the criminal networks that traffic in humans also traffic in guns and drugs, and human trafficking provides these networks with revenue. Peacekeepers who serve with honor are being tainted by the minority who commit human rights violations and support criminal networks. Continue reading More on Gender and Security and Criminal Violence CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICT Learning in a War Zone: Education in Northern Uganda Women's Commission for Refguee Women and Children In September 2004, staff from the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children went on a mission to northern Uganda. One focus of the mission was to look at the education situation in the north given that the region has been and is currently in a situation of violent conflict. With 1.6 million people displaced, learning systems and structures have been altered significantly, even with the Ugandan government’s pledge of Universal Primary Education (UPE). This report is a snapshot of education in two districts, Gulu and Kitgum, based on interviews with representatives from NGOs, youth groups, teachers and heads of schools, local government officials, multinational actors and the children themselves. Continue reading More on Uganda and Children and Armed Conflict Compiled by Robert Hartfiel Human Security Research is produced by the Human Security Centre at the Liu Institute for Global Issues at UBC. The Human Security Centre produces the annual Human Security Report and is funded by the governments of Canada, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. 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