• POST-CONFLICT: Health Service Delivery in Post-Conflict States • HEALTH AND SECURITY: Mortality and Violence in Democratic Republic of Congo • NATURAL RESOURCES: Ten Years On: Injustice and Violence Haunt the Oil Delta • INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS: The UN as a Security Political Actor • CONFLICT AND ORGANIZED CRIME: The Interaction of Narcotics and Conflict • INTERNATIONAL LAW: Transitional Justice in Morocco: A Progress Report • LANDMINES: Landmine Monitor Report 2005: Toward a Mine-Free World • GENDER AND SECURITY: Cycles of Violence: Gender Relations and Armed Conflict • GOVERNANCE: The Many Faces of Human Security: Seven Countries in S. Africa • HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION: The Successes and Shortcomings of the AU in Darfur • PEACE OPERATIONS: UN Peacekeeping and the World Bank • ARMED CONFLICT: UNSG Report on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict POST-CONFLICT RECONSTRUCTION AND HEALTH Health Service Delivery in Post-Conflict States High-Level Forum on the Health MDGs This background paper for the High Level Forum on Health MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) examines the challenge of investing in the development of health services in post-conflict countries. It outlines a number of problems, including poor information; knowledge gaps; uncertain financial, political and administrative future; and uncertain external support. However, potential opportunities include a wave of new energy and enthusiasm; expanded aid flows; establishment of a legitimate government; and the return of people, skills and resources. The authors outline principles to be adopted. International actors need to reorganise individual and collective ways of working in post-conflict environments in order to contribute successfully to restoration of health services and ensure sustained resources and capacity of health services. Understanding the health sector and the context within which health services are being delivered is also critical. Once the main difficulties affecting delivery are identified, it is generally easier to identify key priorities, based on what is actually possible. Finally, where there is low capacity and poor governance, it may be best to pursue modest ambitions. Such a minimalist approach may only result in limited benefits, but, in the long term, continuous progress may attract further resources and increased capacity. Continue Reading More on Peace and Operations and Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Health and Security HEALTH AND SECURITY Access to Healthcare: Mortality and Violence in Democratic Republic of Congo Médecins Sans Frontières In early 2005, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) repeated a series of surveys following the model used for surveys done in 2001. The new surveys were conducted in five health zones: Kilwa, Inongo, Basankusu, Lubutu and Bunyeka. Three of these zones had previously been surveyed in 2001. The new surveys focus on mortality, access to healthcare, vaccination and violence. Their objective is to depict to the international community the humanitarian and health situation in DRC today, and to contribute to the adjustment of MSF programmes. The retrospective mortality rates, as well as the results relating to access to healthcare, vaccination, violence, and the interaction between all of these parameters, have been estimated using the WHO’s two-stage cluster sampling method. Nine hundred households were interviewed in each of the zones. The mortality rates are indicative of a state of emergency in four of the five zones surveyed. In three of the five zones, the health situation is catastrophic. Continue reading More on Health and Security NATURAL RESOURCES Nigeria - Ten Years On: Injustice and Violence Haunt the Oil Delta Amnesty International Ten years after the executions of writer and human rights campaigner Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other members of the Ogoni ethnic community horrified the world, the exploitation of oil in the Niger Delta continues to result in deprivation, injustice and violence. Despite a return to civilian government in 1999 under President Olusegun Obasanjo, those responsible for human rights violations under military governments have not been brought to justice. The security forces continue to kill people and raze communities with impunity. The environmental harm to health and livelihoods that impelled the Ogoni campaign for economic and social rights remains the reality for many inhabitants of the Delta region. The Nigerian government has obligations under international law to respect, protect and fulfil human rights, but it has frequently failed to do so. Given the importance of oil in Nigeria’s economy, in Amnesty International's view the government has failed to protect communities in oil producing areas, while providing security to the oil industry. Domestic regulation of companies to ensure protection of human rights is clearly inadequate. Continue reading More on Natural Resources and Armed Conflict and Human Rights INTERNATIONAL AND REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS The United Nations as a Security Political Actor - with a Special Focus on Africa Danish Institute for International Studies The report analyses the role of the United Nations with regard to security, in several different senses of the word, i.e. national, societal, human and environmental security, first in theoretical and general terms and subsequently with regard to Africa. As far as national security (i.e. the security of states as such) is concerned, it distinguishes between constitutive, reconstructive and protective roles, i.e. the UN’s role in bringing African states into being in the first place, its role in helping reconstructing failed states and in protecting (by means collective security or peacekeeping missions) existing and functioning states, respectively. This is followed by an analysis of the UN’s role in safeguarding societal security, i.e. identity and cohesion of societal groups such as nations or ethnic groups, e.g. against genocide and racism. Next comes an analysis of human security roles, intended to protect the survival and well-being of individuals against such threats as poverty with all its malign consequences. Two special cases of human security threats are mentioned, both affecting the most vulnerable members of society--child soldiers and rape victims. With regard to “environmental security” a distinction is made between threats to the environment such as poaching and threats to human beings related to the environment such as HIV/AIDS and conflicts over natural resources. These analyses are supplemented with brief accounts of the UN’s collaboration with regional and subregional organisations and of envisaged reforms of the UN. Continue reading More on International and Regional Organizations ARMED CONFLICT AND ORGANIZED CRIME The Interaction of Narcotics and Conflict Journal of Peace Research The link between armed conflict and the production and trafficking of illicit drugs has been frequently noted in the popular literature. Recent academic research on the matter has taken place mainly within the framework of studies of the role of natural resources in civil wars. These have tended to lump drugs together with other ‘lootable’ resources such as diamonds. The results have been mixed, with the main contribution so far being to show that drugs are not linked to the onset of conflict but appear to be linked to the duration of conflict. Yet, the specific dynamics and, in particular, the causal mechanisms of the linkage between narcotics and conflict remain poorly understood. Nevertheless, recent literature on terrorism and its link with organized crime provides important insights that are applicable to the relationship between narcotics and conflict. This review essay combines the economics and conflict literature with the crime–terror nexus, which provides useful insights as to the causal mechanism linking narcotics and conflict. Empirical cases indicate that where a pre-existing drug production exists, the conditions of armed conflict boost narcotics production and enable insurgents to become involved in the drug trade to finance their struggle, thereby increasing their capabilities and the challenge they pose to states. In some cases, involvement in the drug trade also seems to affect the motivational structures of insurgent groups, creating an economic function of war and vested interests in the continuation of armed conflict. Continue reading More on Armed Conflict and Criminal Violence INTERNATIONAL LAW, JUSTICE AND ACCOUNTABILITY Transitional Justice in Morocco: A Progress Report International Center for Transitional Justice Morocco has long held a reputation as a moderate “bridge” state able to link disparate regions and balance international political tensions. Former King Hassan II embodied this quality in his ruling style. Yet behind his positive image as an international ambassador lay a brutal reality. Within Morocco, the King often ruled with an iron fist. Those who were considered a threat to the regime were subject to a wide range of human rights violations. Thousands were subjected to arbitrary arrest, torture, and enforced disappearance, leaving behind a bitter legacy. Starting in the early 1990s, however, a gradual process of dealing with the past began to take root, culminating most recently in the work of the Moroccan Equity and Reconciliation Commission (Instance Équité et Réconciliation (IER)), established by the successor to the throne, King Mohammed VI. Since January 2004, the IER has been working on addressing the terrible legacy of this era by investigating some of the worst abuses in Morocco and arranging reparations for victims and their families. The Commission represents a groundbreaking approach for the entire region and is exceptional in many respects. It has the blessing of a King examining the crimes of his own father; its membership comprises many victims of arbitrary detention and torture; it is the only truth commission to ever have possessed the power to grant compensation directly to victims; and it is the first truth commission in the Arab world. For these and other reasons, the IER has the potential for significant regional and international influence, both in the short and long term. Continue reading More on International Law, Justice and Accountability LANDMINES Landmine Monitor Report 2005: Toward a Mine-Free World International Campaign to Ban Landmines Global use of antipersonnel mines and the number of reported mine casualties have fallen, according to the 1,053-page Landmine Monitor Report 2005-the seventh annual report by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL). International funding for mine action increased to $399 million in 2004, and 135 square kilometers of mine-affected land were cleared. But immense challenges remain. Over 200,000 square kilometers of the world are likely contaminated by mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO), and an estimated 15,000-20,000 people are maimed or killed by mines and UXO each year. The number of landmine survivors needing assistance continues to increase. The report contains information on 112 countries and areas with respect to landmine ban policy, use, production, transfer, stockpiling, mine action funding, mine clearance, mine risk education, landmine casualties, and survivor assistance. While Landmine Monitor reports issued between 1999 and 2004 reported on every country in the world, Landmine Monitor Report 2005 focuses on mine-affected countries, States Parties with continued treaty implementation obligations, and non-States Parties. Information on mine action donor countries is included in a funding overview. Appendices with information from key players in mine action, such as UN agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross, are also included. Continue reading More on Small Arms, Landmines and Light Weapons GENDER AND SECURITY Cycles of Violence: Gender Relations and Armed Conflict Agency for Co-operation and Research in Development This book describes ACORD's research 'Gender-sensitive Design and planning in Conflict-Affected Situations', carried out during 2000 and 2001 in five communities living in the shadow of violent conflict in Juba (Sudan), Gulu (Uganda), Luanda (Angola), Timbukta (Mali) and the Lower Shabelle region (Somalia). It also includes analysis of data collected earlier in Eritrea and Rwanda. Two main questions are examined in this book: what is the impact of war on gender relations? And can gender relations contribute to conflict? The analysis in this book explores the term 'gender relations' and unveils it into: gender 'roles', 'identities', 'ideologies', and 'institutions/power structures,' examining how each of these changes are as a result of war. It finds that, while gender is a factor in perpetuating violence, it is a factor in rebuilding social relations and peace. This book also addresses the challenges in methodologies and tools for research in turbulence. The aim is to develop flexible and sensitive research methods that go beyond information collection into engaging in joint reflection with communities about issues confronting them. Agencies should no longer continue to work only 'in' conflict rendering practical services, but also 'on' it with communities to analyze and address the factors which perpetuate it. Continue reading More on Gender and Security GOVERNANCE AND SECURITY The Many Faces of Human Security: Case Studies of Seven Countries in Southern Africa Institute for Security Studies The concept for this book emanated from discussions in Pretoria, South Africa, between civil society actors and researchers from seven Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries. The meeting was convened by the Southern African Human Security Programme’s SADC Civil Society Project, which was initiated by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS). The project’s primary aim was to support the development of a collaborative security community in SADC, built on common democratic values and institutions, an observance of human rights, strengthening the rule of law, and policies that are informed by a concern for individual as opposed to state security. To further this objective, the project established and supported a network of civil society actors and researchers committed to peace and security issues in the seven SADC countries. This book is the first concrete result of that process. Continue reading More on Criminal Violence and Governance and Security HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION Protecting Two Million Internally Displaced: The Successes and Shortcomings of the African Union in Darfur Brookings Institution Although armed conflict in Darfur continues to leave millions of people homeless, vulnerable to violence, and susceptible to potentially life-threatening diseases, this report suggests that contrary to popular belief, African Union (AU) peacekeeping troops have made a difference in the region. According to the report, their presence has deterred the rape of women, reduced the recruitment of children into armed forces, protected humanitarian corridors and aid convoys, reduced the looting of animals belonging to Arab nomads, and helped displaced persons who returned to their homes. However, the report also finds many shortcomings and offers detailed recommendations to deal with the deteriorating situation in Darfur, including an increase in AU troop strength to at least 20,000. Continue reading More on Humanitarian Intervention and Refugees and Internally Displaced People PEACE OPERATIONS UN Peacekeeping and the World Bank: Perceptions of Senior Managers in the Field Peacekeeping Best Practices Unit This report examines the UN-World Bank relationship in ten countries where UN peace operations are deployed, drawing on interviews with 43 senior UN peacekeeping and World Bank officials in these countries. The study concludes that UN and Bank officials in the field do communicate with some frequency on key issues such as aid mobilization, governance and security but additional steps could help to move beyond communication to strategic cooperation. Differing competencies, mandate and organizational culture lead to differing approaches. Many contentious issues typically arise precisely when coordination is most critical, in the early “crunch” period of planning, deployment, and assessment. Efforts from the outset to align approaches with each other and, more importantly, with realities on the ground could help to avoid some of the missed opportunities identified by UN and World Bank officials. Continue reading More on Peace Operations and Post-Conflict Reconstruction ARMED CONFLICT Report of the Secretary-General on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict (S/2005/740) United Nations Security Council With new challenges to the well-being of civilian populations arising from a new warfare, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called for closer UN cooperation with regional organizations on the needs of "a culture of protection" and for the inclusion of civilian protections in the design of peacekeeping missions. In the five years since the Security Council adopted a resolution to take appropriate steps when civilian populations were deliberately targeted, "there have been new challenges to the safety and well-being of civilian populations, and the tools that we have at our disposal to address these concerns need to be developed accordingly," he says in this report to the Council. In today's low-intensity conflicts, fought by combatants who are less well-trained than those forming conventional armies, "the impact of armed conflict on civilians goes far beyond the notion of collateral damage," he says. "Targeted attacks, forced displacement, sexual violence, forced conscription, indiscriminate killings, mutilation, hunger, disease and loss of livelihoods collectively paint an extremely grim picture of the human costs of armed conflict." The Security Council has addressed challenges as they have arisen, most recently the issue of ensuring humanitarian access to people in need in western Sudan's Darfur, but the current framework has gaps, he says. Continue reading More on Armed Conflict and International and Regional Organizations 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. For more information on human security visit the Human Security Gateway, an online research and information database that contains a broad range of human security-related resources. To subscribe to Human Security Research , send an email to hsc.list@ubc.ca with 'subscribe HS Research' in the subject field or click here. 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