• ARMED CONFLICT: Human Security Brief 2006 • CHILDREN: The Consequences of Child Soldiering • PEACE OPERATIONS: Military Preparedness, the Responsibility to Protect and Peace Operations • CRIMINAL VIOLENCE: Afghanistan: Drug Industry and Counter-Narcotics Policy • CONFLICT MORTALITY: Darfur Crisis: Death Estimates Demonstrate Severity of Crisis • LANDMINES: Armed Non-State Actors and Landmines: A Global Report of NSA Mine Action • HEALTH: Kashmir: Violence and Health: A Quantitative Assessment on Violence • POST-CONFLICT: War and Local Collective Action in Sierra Leone • SMALL ARMS: The Economics of Small Arms Demand • DISPLACEMENT: Palestinian Refugees in Syria: A Living Conditions Survey • POST-CONFLICT: Combating Serious Crimes in Postconflict Societies • GENDER: Gender and Security ARMED CONFLICT Human Security Brief 2006 Human Security Centre Notwithstanding the escalating violence in Iraq and the widening war in Darfur, the Human Security Brief 2006, a new report from the Human Security Centre at the University of British Columbia, reveals that, from the beginning of 2002 to the end of 2005, the number of wars being fought around the world dropped significantly. By far the greatest decline was in sub–Saharan Africa. The post–Cold War decline in armed conflicts reported in last year’s Human Security Report 2005 has continued, says the new study. The 2005 Report argued that the decline could be attributed in large part to an upsurge in international activism, spearheaded by the UN, that sought to stop ongoing wars, help negotiate peace settlements, support post–conflict reconstruction, and prevent old wars from starting again. The findings presented in the Brief suggest that these efforts are continuing to have an impact. “Governments and international agencies are increasingly demanding that security policies be ‘evidence–based’”, notes Human Security Centre Director, Andrew Mack. “The Brief and projects like it, help provide the data and analysis needed to bring this aspiration closer to reality." Continue Reading More on Armed Conflict CHILDREN The Consequences of Child Soldiering Households in Conflict Network Civil wars have afflicted two-thirds of African nations, drawing up to a third of male youth into armed groups. Little is known, however, about the long term effects of military participation due to a lack of data and potential sample selection: recruits are usually self-selected and screened, and may also selectively survive. This paper presents new evidence on the causal impact of military participation using an original dataset collected by the author in northern Uganda. The large-scale, indiscriminate and forcible abduction of youth by Ugandan rebels provide arguably exogenous variation in exposure to conflict. Results suggest that the most prevalent effect of abduction is on human capital acquisition: abductees lose nearly a year of schooling on average. Combined with a greater incidence of injuries, this schooling loss leads to nearly a third lower earnings. Meanwhile, exposure to conflict seems to increase political participation: abductees are more likely to vote and twice as likely to be community leaders. Finally, the psychological impacts of war appear to be moderate and concentrated in a minority. These results run counter to the prevailing view that war primarily causes ‘psychosocial’ distress. Post-conflict policy implications are discussed. Continue reading More on Children and Armed Conflict PEACE OPERATIONS The Impossible Mandate? Military Preparedness, the Responsibility to Protect and Modern Peace Operations Henry L. Stimson Center Is the world prepared to use military force to protect civilians from mass violence? In 2001, the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty argued that when nations failed to protect their citizens from large-scale violence and genocide, the international community should take on that "responsibility to protect." As policymakers embrace the idea of such a responsibility, more attention is needed on how military missions should protect civilians and what multinational organizations and national armed services are doing to prepare for such operations. This study looks at these tough questions, examines various concepts of civilian protection and identifies the challenges. It considers likely international actors and the tools used to prepare forces—mandates, rules of engagement, doctrine, and training—to support their missions. Key issues confronting peacekeepers mandated to protect civilians are examined in the case of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This book identifies clear gaps that must be addressed if aspirations to protect civilians are to transcend rhetoric and translate into effective action in the field. Continue reading More on Humanitarian Intervention and Peace Operations and Post-Conflict Reconstruction CRIMINAL VIOLENCE Afghanistan: Drug Industry and Counter-Narcotics Policy World Bank // United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Efforts to combat opium production in Afghanistan have been marred by corruption and have failed to prevent the consolidation of the drugs trade in the hands of fewer powerful players with strong political connections, according to this UNODC/World Bank report. Efforts to combat opium have achieved only limited success and have lacked sustainability. Strong enforcement efforts against farmers are often ineffective in remote areas with limited resources, assets, and markets. The impact of eradication of opium poppy fields, and of reductions in cultivation resulting from the threat of eradication, tends to be felt most by poor farmers and rural wage labourers, who lack political support, are unable to pay bribes and cannot otherwise protect themselves. The report says that, far from leading to sustained declines in total national cultivation, success in reducing cultivation in one province often leads to increases elsewhere, or cultivation in the province itself rebounds in the following year. Corruption in the eradication process has also had negative side-effects. Wealthier opium producers pay bribes to avoid having their crops eradicated, greatly reducing the effectiveness of counter-narcotics measures and gravely undermining the credibility of the government and its local representatives. Continue reading More on Criminal Violence CONFLICT MORTALITY Darfur Crisis: Death Estimates Demonstrate Severity of Crisis, but Their Accuracy and Credibility Could be Enhanced Government Accountability Office In 2003, violent conflict in Darfur, Sudan, broke out between rebel groups and government troops and government-supported Arab militias. While few would dispute that many thousands of Darfur civilians have died, less consensus exists about the total number of deaths attributable to the crisis. Estimates by the Department of State (State) and other parties report death tolls up to about 400,000 for varying populations and periods of time between February 2003 and August 2005. Based on the views of experts convened by GAO and the National Academy of Sciences, interviews with estimate authors, and a review of relevant literature, this report (1) evaluates six Darfur death estimates, (2) identifies general challenges to estimating deaths in such crises, and (3) discusses measures to improve death estimates. Continue reading More on Health and Security LANDMINES Armed Non-State Actors and Landmines: A Global Report of NSA Mine Action Geneva Call // Program for the Study of International Organizations At the global level, current and former armed non-state actors (NSAs) are contributing to humanitarian mine action, understood as activities which aim to reduce the social, economic and environmental impact of landmines and unexploded ordnance. This report aims to add to the knowledge concerning the involvement of NSAs in mine action. NSAs have been active in mine action efforts both formally (through mine action programs) and informally (through spontaneous or ad hoc efforts) in the areas of each of the mine action pillars. The research indicates that the primary benefits of NSA mine action are the same as those arising from other forms of mine action; i.e. principally humanitarian and developmental benefits. Importantly however, the complementary effects of NSA mine action (employment and stability; peace-building; security and disarmament; and openness to discussing other humanitarian norms) were considered to be different from other forms of mine action, and sometimes even more important than the primary benefits. The main conclusion of the research is that engaging NSAs in mine action has significant benefits, since their involvement supports efforts to reduce the humanitarian impact of anti-personnel mines and unexploded ordnance. Continue reading More on Small Arms, Light Weapons and Landmines HEALTH Kashmir: Violence and Health -- A Quantitative Assessment on Violence, the Psychosocial and General Health Status of the Indian Kashmiri Population Medecins Sans Frontieres The ongoing conflict-related events cause substantial suffering in the Kashmiri population. Once Kashmir was referred to as 'Paradise on Earth' - the report's findings show that for many Kashmiris, it has become rather a nightmare of constant fear that affects all areas of life. The impact on the physical and mental health and socio-economic functioning is alarming. Our data shows a level of despair and lack of future perspectives that potentially endangers the longterm well being of many people (or worse, as many respondents had thoughts about committing suicide). Schooling and economic activities have suffered. Despite the political détente, violations of human rights and infringement of civilian rights by all fighting parties continue. Continue reading More on Health and Security POST-CONFLICT War and Local Collective Action in Sierra Leone University of California Berkeley Civil war has been a prominent feature of recent history in Sub-Saharan Africa: more than two-thirds of countries in the region experienced an episode of civil war during the past 25 years. Some scholars have claimed these wars have played a role in the region’s disappointing recent economic performance. For example, a recent World Bank report claims: “[t]he legacy effects of civil war are usually so adverse that they cannot reasonably be viewed as social progress... [Civil war] has been development in reverse." Yet the rapid postwar recovery experiences of some African countries after brutal civil wars – notably, Mozambique and Uganda – suggest that war need not have persistent negative economic consequences: in the decade following the end of their wars, Mozambique and Uganda experienced annual per capita income growth of 3.9% and 4.6%, respectively, well above the African average. This paper analyzes a novel nationally representative dataset from postwar Sierra Leone with the goal of better understanding the short-run economic and political impacts of civil war. Continue reading More on Peace Operations and Post-Conflict Reconstruction SMALL ARMS The Economics of Small Arms Demand: Polarization and Rent-Seeking in Haiti and Latin America Bonn International Centre for Conversion In order to design effective disarmament policies, one first needs a theory of small arms demand. Insights from the theory of polarization and rent-seeking may provide at least some terms in the demand equation. Disarmament programs that do not address the underlying sources of polarization and rent-seeking will provide only temporary reprieve at best. Broader development initiatives that ignore these sources do so at the peril of exacerbating small arms demand and leading to a deterioration of the overall security situation. This paper is divided into two parts. Part I provides a theoretical framework on the economics of small arms demand, with an elaboration of the concepts of polarization and rent-seeking and of their relevance to the small arms problem. Part II applies this framework in a case study of Haiti, followed by comparisons of Haiti to two, sometimes three, relevant reference countries, and then provides some econometric results with data from a cross-section of countries in Latin America. Continue reading More on Small Arms, Light Weapons and Landmines DISPLACEMENT Palestinian Refugees in Syria: Human Capital, Economic Resources and Living Conditions Fafo Institute for Applied International Studies Making use of a multiplicity of objective (and a few subjective) statistical indicators, this report provides the first-ever comprehensive picture of the living conditions of the Palestinian refugee community in Syria. Areas of focus are health, education, housing, employment and income. Key demographic features are also presented, and certain aspects of the refugees' social networks are described. The report builds on data extracted from interviews with almost 5,000 families at 65 different locations, including 13 refugee camps. Fieldwork was implemented by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics and Natural Resources (PCBS), Damascus, in collaboration with Fafo. The Norwegian Government funded the study. Continue reading More on Refugees and Internally Displaced People POST-CONFLICT Combating Serious Crimes in Postconflict Societies: A Handbook for Policymakers and Practitioners United States Institute of Peace This handbook is intended to be a reference tool for policymakers and practitioners designing strategies for tackling serious crimes in postconflict environments. It could be of use to both domestic and foreign actors who are assessing a postconflict society and determining what political, legal and economic reforms and strategies are needed to confront the challenge of organized crime, terrorism, corruption or other potentially destabilizing serious crimes. The aim of the handbook is to provide a practical tool to brief individuals on, and to synopsize, the key issues in appraising and approaching this significant challenge. It is not intended as a comprehensive treatise on measures to combat serious crimes or as an operational and tactical manual for law enforcement personnel investigating serious crimes. Nor is it a prescriptive “one-size-fits-all” strategy. Instead, the handbook contains an overview of possible strategies and tools that may be employed in a society seeking to combat serious crimes. Examples derive from experiences in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Haiti, Cambodia, Kosovo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Iraq, and other countries. This allows for a comparative evaluation for the purpose of determining what may work for the specific situation at hand. Continue reading More on Peace Operations and Post-Conflict Reconstruction GENDER Gender and Armed Conflict Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency This report tries to challenge the stereotypes of male and female behaviour in times of war. It takes the issues of men and women, victims and perpetrators, beyond the common views. To analyse the context of violent conflict from a gender perspective is a very important aspect in the work of development actors. To understand the overall gender context, social norms and expected roles of men and women, boys and girls is an important part of working effectively for long term peaceful development. Any situation of violent conflict is bound to affect the gender relationships in society. Already in efforts to prevent violent conflict it is vital to see the possible shifts in gender equality and relations and what it means for interventions. Later, in the reintegration of former combatants there are different needs for female and male ex-combatants, mostly due to expectations and social norms. The complex gender situations in war times can also be used as a catalyst for long-term changes of gender perceptions in societies. This report, “Gender and Armed Conflict”, is one small piece of the puzzle to fi nd ways to mainstream gender in efforts to promote peace and security through development co-operation. Continue reading More on Gender and Security 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. To unsubscribe, please reply to this message with 'unsubscribe HS Research' in the subject heading. |
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