Post Conflict Development

O século XX foi testemunha de barbáries e guerras cujo poder de destruição, amparado no contínuo progresso científico e tecnológico a serviço da destruição e da morte, possibilitou níveis inéditos de violência contra indivíduos, grupos étnicos, e mesmo populações inteiras. Como contraponto, num movimento de reação que analistas de extração hegeliana denominariam como "dialético", produziu-se também a idéia de um sistema internacional de proteção dos direitos humanos, a qual foi, a partir da adoção da Declaração Americana dos Direitos e Deveres do Homem (OEA, 1948) e da Declaração Universal dos Direitos Humanos (ONU, 1948) gradativamente se materializando sob a forma de diversos instrumentos jurídicos com pretensão de alcance universal. Uma dificuldade inicial que se apresentou para a implementação internacional dos direitos humanos foi, eventualmente, conseqüência da própria multiplicidade de instrumentos jurídicos, os quais vieram a formar um corpus legal de grande complexidade, pois que constituído: i) de regras e normas de diversas origens (Nações Unidas, agências especializadas, organizações regionais); ii) de diferentes âmbitos de aplicação (global e regional); iii) de distinções substantivas concernentes a seus destinatários ou beneficiários; iv) de conteúdo, força e efeitos jurídicos desiguais ou variáveis (alguns sob a forma de Declarações; outros, de Convenções); e, sobretudo, v) com órgãos encarregados de sua execução apresentando diferentes formas de atuação e distintas técnicas de controle e supervisão (e.g., informação, instrução, conciliação). 1 PÁGINA 91

Increasing Polio outbreaks in Pakistan have put the global Polio eradication at risk. The Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA) has been the hub of Poliovirus making Pakistan the major contributor of Polio cases. Despite receiving huge foreign funding and carrying out several campaigns for countering Polio over the past several years points to the hard fact that there have been some serious lapses in state’s efforts in addressing this grave issue. The purpose of this research was to examine the households’ level of understanding towards the debilitating disease of Polio and perceptions of Muslim religious scholars regarding the Polio vaccine. The study was carried out in the three tribal agencies of FATA and multi-stage sampling techniques were adopted in targeting the study respondents. Apart from religious militancy and armed-conflict, it was noticed that conspiracy theories against Polio vaccine and mistrust on Polio vaccinators have been the exacerbating factors respon...

This study evaluates the systemic impact of agricultural projects on the socioeconomic empowerment of women in rural Rwanda, covering the transformative period from 2020 to 2026. Utilizing a mixed-methods research design and the Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (pro-WEAI), the research analysed data from 450 female farmers across the Northern, Eastern, and Southern provinces. The findings reveal a significant narrowing of the gender productivity gap, with female-led maize and bean yields increasing by 61.9% and 63.6% respectively, following the provision of certified inputs and climate-smart training. Statistical analysis via the Chi-Square (𝜒 2) test (𝑝 < 0.0001) confirmed a strong positive correlation between project participation and increased financial agency, primarily driven by the transition to direct digital payments via Mobile Money. These earnings were found to have a powerful "Multiplier Effect," with women reinvesting 90% of their income into household nutrition, health insurance, and education. However, the study also identifies a persistent "Empowerment Ceiling" regarding Time Poverty. While economic agency has surged, the domestic workload for rural women has remained static, resulting in an increased "Double Burden." The research concludes that while Rwanda's agricultural policies have successfully delivered asset ownership and income control, the next phase of development must prioritize labor-saving mechanization and gender-transformative social norms to ensure sustainable equality.

The nationalist historiography of Afghanistan is predominantly based on narratives of male action in the fields of politics, war, and governance, where women are either absent or represented only in relation to men and masculine values. Adopting a critical approach, this article employs qualitative content analysis of the foundational texts of this school to address the question of how the nationalist historiography of Afghanistan has represented the identity and status of women. The aim of the research is to analyze this representation and critique the logic of its androcentric narrative. The necessity of this research lies not in reconstructing the historical narrative, but in exposing the symbolic and discursive mechanisms through which the nationalist historiography of Afghanistan divests women of historical agency and reduces them to a marginal element. The research findings indicate that the nationalist historiography of Afghanistan, beyond merely reflecting the patriarchal structure, actively reproduces the symbolic order of gender inequality. The specific achievement of this analysis is the identification and explication of the systematic pattern of omission, marginalization, or instrumental representation of women in three key areas: "politics," "war," and "society." In the political sphere, women predominantly appear in connection with political marriages and tribal alliances, lacking an independent identity. In war narratives, women are often depicted as "passive motivators," "victims," or symbolic "mediators." In the social arena, their identity is defined under male and tribal affiliations. By critiquing the androcentric model within Afghanistan's nationalist historiographical school, this article emphasizes the necessity of a polyphonic re-reading to restore women's historical agency and achieve a more balanced understanding of the past.
Introduction
Nationalist historiography in Afghanistan has actively reproduced a value system and social hierarchy based on gender. By centering concepts such as courage, honor, and defense of the homeland – attributes assigned to the male domain – this school has created an ideological framework within which roles are redefined based on gender. The main question is: through what mechanisms has Afghanistan's nationalist historiography represented women, and what have been the consequences of this representation for women's historical agency? A review of the literature shows that, despite significant research on historiographical schools in Afghanistan, a systematic and critical study focusing on the representation of "women" in the foundational texts of this school remains a research gap.
Research Methodology
This research is qualitative and analytical-critical in purpose, employing qualitative content analysis to examine the representation of women in the nationalist historiography of Afghanistan. The research does not aim to reconstruct historical events, but rather to analyze the narrative and discursive logic of historiographical texts and the methods by which the identity and status of women are formulated within them. The research population comprises prominent texts of Afghan nationalist historiography, purposefully selected based on their central role in shaping the dominant narrative. The main body of this research includes works by authors such as Abdul Hay Habibi, Mir Ghulam Mohammad Ghobar, Mohammad Hasan Kakar, Mir Mohammad Seddiq Farhang, Habibullah Rafi', Mohammad Asif Ahang, Mohammad Amin Sayqal, and Abdul Hakim Tabeebi. Data from these works have been categorized and analyzed under three themes: "women and politics," "women and war," and "women and society."
Discussion and Findings
1. Women and Politics
The representation of women in the political sphere is organized around three axes. The first axis is women and political factions, where women are represented as elements dependent on tribes and in relation to men. The frequency of political marriages and the tribal affiliations of princes' mothers are identified as key factors in the formation of political factions. The second axis concerns women in political marriages. Here, women are depicted as victims and as instruments for achieving political legitimacy and economic gain. The third axis concerns women in the political court, where their limited agency is entirely redefined as dependent on tribal prestige or male status.  In this context, harem narratives are recounted not as the lived experiences of women, but from a male perspective to represent the power of kings.
2. Women and War
In war narratives, women sometimes appear as motivators of war, not due to women's agency, but because of transgressions against honor [namus], which provoke masculine honor [ghayrat]. Also, in limited instances, women are represented in the role of mediators in war, but this mediation is narrated within traditional maternal roles. Narratives of women warriors are also reflected in the nationalist history of Afghanistan, confined to national resistance wars, where women are depicted as supporters of men or as inspirations. Meanwhile, the representation of women as victims of war is very limited, indicating that the depth of their suffering is ignored in this historiography.
3. Women and Society
In the nationalist historiography of Afghanistan, the representation of women's social position predominantly occurs under the rubric of subordination to men and the tribe, where women's identity is defined in connection with men and tribal affiliation, devoid of independent identity. In such a narrative, instances of women's independent presence are exceptional and faint. These instances date back to the early twentieth century and the reforms of King Amanullah Khan and brief periods of political openness following the Constitutionalist era. However, these representations are also presented as disconnected events influenced by top-down policies.
Conclusion
A critical analysis of the foundational texts of the nationalist historiography of Afghanistan demonstrates that this historiographical school, relying on an androcentric logic, has provided an incomplete and marginal representation of women. The quantitative and qualitative absence of women in the major works of this school indicates an epistemic-discursive structure that equates "real history" with male political and military developments. The analysis of the three themes showed that in this historiographical school, women are either omitted or represented instrumentally in relation to male actions. This pattern has transformed the nationalist historiography of Afghanistan into an "androcentric historiography." Therefore, the article emphasizes the necessity of a polyphonic re-reading of history and the restoration of women's historical agency.

Sudan's protracted conflict reflects not only political fragmentation but also deep structural inequalities embedded in its economic and developmental trajectory. While successive peace processes have prioritized political dialogue and power-sharing arrangements, they have largely failed to produce sustainable peace. This paper argues that such approaches overlook the material foundations of conflict, particularly unequal access to services, infrastructure, and economic opportunities. Drawing on a political economy analysis, the paper examines the interaction between Sudan's formal, informal, and shadow economies, highlighting how war-driven economic networks and systems of "extraction and recycling" create incentives for the continuation of violence. It further critiques the limitations of elite-driven political dialogue, which has often reinforced divisions and generated widespread public disillusionment. In response, the paper proposes a shift toward a "development dialogue" framework that centers equitable service delivery, spatial inclusion, and rural-urban balance as core components of peacebuilding. By emphasizing the role of infrastructure, local development, and inclusive economic planning, this approach seeks to address the root causes of conflict while broadening participation beyond political elites. The paper contributes to the literature by bridging political economy and peacebuilding debates and by advancing development as a critical pathway to sustainable peace in Sudan. Ultimately, it argues that without addressing structural inequalities and dismantling war economies, Sudan will remain trapped in cycles of recurring conflict, whereas a development-centered approach offers a viable pathway toward long-term stability and social justice.

This policy brief addresses the catastrophic consequences of the ongoing Israeli military assault in Gaza, an escalation rooted not in an isolated conflict between Hamas and Israel, but in the enduring reality of Israeli
occupation, systematic blockade, and the continued denial of Palestinian
national rights.

The effect of capital adequacy on the asset quality of deposit-taking microfinance banks in Kenya is the central focus of this research. The study's central premise was based on the agency, moral hazard, and institutional theories. The study's target population was 14 deposit-taking microfinance banks in Kenya, with each bank's panel data collected from their audited reports for the years 2019 to 2023. Longitudinal design was the most ideal given the balanced panel data of the banks. Panel data regression was used to determine the causality between the predictor and response variables. The study findings reveal that capital adequacy positively influenced the asset quality of the DTM banks studied (B = 2.587). The association was also significant (p = 0.002 < 0.05). This implied that as MFBs accumulated more capital, the level or amount of NPLs decreased, thus leading to an improvement in their asset quality.

This study focuses on democratisation and democracy assistance in the developing world. It provides an overview of the democratisation processes that have swept across the developing world since the 1980s and explores some of the main challenges facing many of these incipient democratic regimes. Moving from theory to practice, the paper also analyses some of the most important forms of democracy assistance that donors have undertaken to support democratisation processes over the past two decades. The report is divided into four main chapters. Chapter 1 defines the parameters of this study and situates democratisation processes and democratisation support in the wider context of governance changes and donor policy choices. Democratisation evolved from a trickle into a wave in the developing world with the end of the Cold War. Democratisation assistance has become a substantial element in the development agenda of many donors, especially the US and a number of European bilateral agencies. Post 9/11, new challenges have emerged. While donors have been increasingly engaged in state-building and democratisation efforts in 'fragile states', this report focuses on states in the developing world more generally and, hence, does not provide specific guidance on these more 'extreme' environments. Chapter 2 reviews the academic literature on the Third Wave of democratisation and explores the specific democratisation trajectories found in African countries, namely democratic consolidation, democratic processes 'stuck in transition' and 'political meltdown'. The chapter covers fundamental conceptual debates about democratic transitions and the challenges of democratic consolidation. It analyses the emergence of 'hybrid regimes' -political systems where a formal transition to democracy has taken place but where authoritarian practices and (informal) institutions continue to persist. Chapter 3 examines why and how donors have sought to support democratisation processes. It provides an overview of some of the main approaches that donors have taken to democracy promotion, the main actors and institutions involved, and the objectives that such assistance has sought to achieve. In particular, the chapter compares US and European approaches to democracy assistance and discusses five key avenues of democratisation assistance: support to i) elections, ii) political parties, iii) judicial reform, iv) civil society, and v) the media. It also identifies the various challenges related to each area. Key findings are summarised in Chapter 4. Over the past two decades, democratisation processes have emerged in many low-income countries -in contradiction to earlier modernisation theory which held that democratisation was only possible above a certain level of development. The consolidation of democratic regimes has proven more challenging in many of these countries, however. Democratisation assistance is still not sufficiently adapted to the challenging contexts of democratisation processes which are often either stuck, or at risk of meltdown. It is too standardised, still frequently focuses on elections rather than on wider structural and institutional changes, and seeks results too quickly. Moreover, harmonisation and alignment among a rather fragmented field of actors and more rigorous and comprehensive assessments of 'what works' are urgently needed to share experiences and lessons more systematically and improve current practice. This study is part of a wider research programme which the three consortium partners -the Overseas Development Institute, the Chr. Michelsen Institute, and the Economic and Social Research Foundation -are undertaking for the Advisory Board of Irish Aid. The overall programme 'Good Governance, New Aid Modalities and Poverty Reduction' addresses changes in governance and how these have been supported by donors; as well as the evolving nature of the aid relationship, with a focus on low-income countries in Africa but drawing on the experience of various regions.

บทความนี้มุ่งวิเคราะห์ปัญหาและเสนอแนะแนวทางในการสร้างความเป็นอิสระของรัฐสภาภายใต้กลไกตามประมวลจริยธรรมของสมาชิกรัฐสภาในระบบกฎหมายไทย โดยเริ่มต้นจากการอธิบายรากฐานทางทฤษฎีของแนวคิดประมวลจริยธรรมซึ่งมีที่มาจากการผสมผสานระหว่างหลักการประชาธิปไตยกับหลักนิติรัฐ อันเป็นหัวใจของระบอบเสรีประชาธิปไตย ทั้งนี้ ระบบกฎหมายตะวันตกได้ออกแบบประมวลจริยธรรมบนฐานคิดว่ารัฐสภาต้องมีเอกสิทธิ์ ความคุ้มกัน และอำนาจในการกำกับกิจการภายในด้วยตนเอง เพื่อป้องกันการแทรกแซงจากองค์กรอื่น เช่น รัฐบาลหรือศาล ขณะเดียวกันยังสร้างมาตรฐานความโปร่งใสและความรับผิดชอบต่อสาธารณะให้กับสมาชิกรัฐสภา อย่างไรก็ดี เมื่อแนวคิดดังกล่าวถูกนำมาปรับใช้ในบริบทไทยผ่านกระบวนการรับเข้ากฎหมายกลับเกิดความไม่สอดคล้องระหว่างแนวคิดต้นแบบกับวัฒนธรรมทางกฎหมายที่มีรากจากระบบศักดินาและแนวคิดทางพุทธศาสนา ส่งผลให้กลไกจริยธรรมของไทยมีลักษณะผิดเพี้ยนจากต้นแบบ กล่าวคือ การกำหนดให้ศาลรัฐธรรมนูญ ศาลฎีกา และคณะกรรมการป้องกันและปราบปรามการทุจริตแห่งชาติเข้ามามีบทบาทตรวจสอบและวินิจฉัยการฝ่าฝืนจริยธรรมของสมาชิกรัฐสภา ซึ่งแตกต่างจากแนวคิดสากลที่ให้อำนาจดังกล่าวอยู่ภายในรัฐสภาเองโดยหลักความเป็นอิสระของรัฐสภา ปัญหานี้นำไปสู่การลดทอนความเป็นอิสระของรัฐสภาและทำให้การทำหน้าที่แทนประชาชนถูกครอบงำโดยองค์กรที่ไม่ได้มาจากการเลือกตั้ง เพื่อตอบโจทย์ปัญหาดังกล่าว บทความนี้นำเสนอข้อเสนอแนะเชิงโครงสร้าง ได้แก่ (1) การยืนยันหลักความเป็นอิสระของรัฐสภาในการกำกับดูแลและลงโทษสมาชิกรัฐสภาเองโดยอาศัยกลไกภายใน เช่น คณะกรรมการจริยธรรมของรัฐสภาที่เป็นอิสระจากฝ่ายบริหารและตุลาการ (2) การเสริมสร้างกลไกตรวจสอบจากภายในที่เปิดโอกาสให้เสียงข้างน้อยในรัฐสภามีบทบาท และ (3) การส่งเสริมความรับผิดทางการเมืองผ่านการเลือกตั้งแทนการพึ่งพิงกลไกตุลาการเพียงอย่างเดียว ทั้งนี้ ข้อเสนอเหล่านี้มีเป้าหมายเพื่อปรับปรุงความสมดุลระหว่างหลักนิติรัฐและหลักประชาธิปไตยให้สอดคล้องกับบริบทของไทย โดยยังคงรักษาเกียรติภูมิและความน่าเชื่อถือของรัฐสภาในฐานะสถาบันผู้แทนประชาชน

PURPOSE: This paper aims to offer guidance to government officials in Sudan following the end of the war, drawing on lessons learned from previous experiences in African countries that have successfully recovered from internal conflicts. By doing so, Sudan can avoid past mistakes and leverage successful strategies from others. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: This study employs a combination of data collection methods, integrating both primary and secondary sources. Specifically, it includes a desk review of relevant global, regional, and national literature reports and documents concerning conflict-affected countries, together with insights from the researcher's personal experience. FINDINGS: The study outlines ten key tips for decision-makers in postwar Sudan, all designed to promote sustainability and prevent a relapse into conflict. They include: (1) Sudanese Dialogue; (2) Effective Dialogue Representatives and Using Appropriate Language; (3) Constitutional Development; (4) Unifying Media Discourse; (5) Selection of Appropriate Leaders; (6) Neutralising the Military from Civil Work; (7) Social Justice and National Reconciliation; (8) Economic Considerations; (9) Education, Health and Food Security Reform, and (10) Local Governance. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: This study is one of the few available in the literature on postwar studies in Sudan. It offers ten golden tips that will contribute to the sustainability of the country.

Global development finance is increasingly characterized by volatility, donor reprioritization, and fiscal recalibration, reshaping the predictability of official development assistance (ODA) flows. In fragile and postwar contexts such as Liberia, where civil society organizations rely heavily on external grants, aid volatility constitutes a structural rather than episodic challenge. This study examines social enterprise as a sustainability strategy for local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating under conditions of systemic funding uncertainty. Using a qualitative conceptual synthesis methodology, the research integrates Aid Dependency Theory, Institutional Resilience Theory, and Hybrid Organization Theory to construct a unified analytical framework linking global aid volatility to institutional adaptation mechanisms. The findings indicate that NGO fragility in postwar Liberia is architectural, rooted in restricted project-based financing, short planning horizons, and limited revenue diversification. Social enterprise, when strategically integrated and governed effectively, may function as a resilience-enhancing mechanism by diversifying revenue streams, strengthening absorptive capacity, and extending institutional planning horizons. However, enterprise integration introduces governance complexity and does not eliminate reliance on external funding. Rather than promoting abrupt financial independence, the study conceptualizes sustainability as incremental institutional strengthening through diversification, asset-building, and governance reform. The analysis contributes theoretically by extending aid dependency logic to the organizational level and operationalizing resilience theory within fragile civil society environments. Practically, it highlights the shared responsibility of donors and NGOs in co-producing resilience through flexible funding frameworks and catalytic investment approaches.

The concept of food security and food as a fundamental human right is unequivocally acknowledged by international agreements and binding on the nation states. Weaponisation of food is an unethical and disturbing tactic which contravenes international humanitarian law and poses a grave threat to human dignity and lives. This paper examines weaponisation of food during the post-May 2023 ethnic conflict in Manipur, situating the state within broader global debates on food as a tool of coercion in intrastate and borderland conflicts. Drawing on political economy, human security, and structural violence frameworks, the study analyses how access to food and essential goods became strategically manipulated through highway blockades, market segmentation, and village-level mobility restrictions. Through secondary data the paper demonstrates that these mechanisms transformed everyday survival into a contested terrain, producing chronic and unevenly distributed food insecurity. Internally displaced persons, women, children, and the elderly were the vulnerable populations in such situations. The findings reveal that food insecurity in Manipur emerged less from overt starvation policy than from the control of infrastructure, securitisation of mobility, and the institutionalisation of slow, cumulative harm. This case challenges conventional distinctions between war and peace in food security scholarship, emphasizing the importance of human security approaches in low-intensity but protracted conflicts. Concerns under international humanitarian law and advocates for structural interventions, including de-politicised humanitarian corridors, protected market access, and civilian-centered infrastructure governance, to prevent the entrenchment of food insecurity as a tool of conflict are raised.

تهدف هذه الدراسة إلى استكشاف دور المحددات الاجتماعية - بما في ذلك التفاعلات والعلاقات الاجتماعية، والتنشئة الاجتماعية، إضافة إلى محددات أخرى كالهجرة والاغتراب - في تشكّل ذهنية الإنسان اليمني، مع محاولة الإسهام في بناء إطار تفسيري يساعد على فهم الذهنية اليمنية وتحليل آليات تشكّلها. ولتحقيق ذلك، اعتمدت الدراسة منهجًا سوسيو-أنثروبولوجيًا لتحليل تأثير المحددات الاجتماعية في نشأة الذهنية اليمنية وتكوينها، كما استعانت بالمنهج التاريخي من خلال تتبّع مسارات تشكّل هذه الذهنية في سياق التاريخ اليمن، وتُظهر نتائج الدراسة أن منظومة المحددات الاجتماعية أسهمت في تعزيز روح التعاون والعمل الجماعي لدى الفرد اليمني، وأن أثرها ما يزال ممتدًا حتى الوقت المعاصر بما يدعم استمرار بنيتها ووظيفتها في تشكيل الذهنية. كما تبيّن أن التعاونيات الزراعية والبيئة المحيطة بالجماعة اليمنية تركتا أثرًا بارزًا في تشكيل سلوك الفرد والمجتمع، بما يبرر توصيف هذه الذهنية بـ«الذهنية العملية» أو «الذهنية التعاونية». وتخلص الدراسة إلى أن هذا النمط الذهني كان ذا أثر حاسم في صياغة بنية العلاقات والتفاعلات الاجتماعية، وأنه أفرز - بوصفه سلوكًا اجتماعيًا - ذهنية يمنية نشطة تتسم بروح العمل، انعكست على السمات الشخصية والاجتماعية في المجتمع اليمني.

The role of the victim in the criminal trial process has evolved considerably in recent decades. On a European level, an important driver has been the EU Directive 2012/29/EU, according to which European countries are legally bound to afford certain rights to crime victims. In the Netherlands, the EU Directive has instigated several extensions of existing victims’ rights, and in the Code of Criminal Procedure a separate section has been devoted to the victim. The current study specifically addresses one of the victims’ rights, that is, the right to be legally represented. The Dutch government has financially invested in access to and specialization of victim lawyers in order to promote the realization of victims’ rights, specifically for victims of serious crimes and sex offences. The goal of the current study was to investigate the added value of victim lawyers and the extent to which they contribute to the fulfilment of victims’ rights in the criminal law process. A literature stu...

The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD Centre) is an independent Swiss Foundation dedicated to helping improve the global response to armed conflict. It attempts to achieve this by mediating between warring parties and providing support to the broader mediation community 114

Cet essai analyse la représentation des femmes dans les films sur la guerre du Viêt Nam réalisés par des cinéastes américains et vietnamiens, des années 1950 au début des années 2000. Les premiers films nord-viêtnamiens sur le conflit en Asie du Sud-Est apparaissent dès les années 1950, lors de ce qu'ils appellent la guerre contre la France. Leurs représentations cinématographiques continuèrent pendant la guerre contre les États-Unis, et bien au-delà. Contrairement à ce que l’on croit trop souvent, les premiers films américains datent bien des années 1960, et non du milieu des années 1970.
Cet article fut publié dans l’ouvrage Femmes, identités plurielles, sous la direction de Joëlle Deniot, Annie Dussuet, Catherine Dutheil et Dominique Loiseau (L’Harmattan, Paris, 2001). Il parut ensuite en anglais en décembre 2002 sous le titre The Daughters of Uncle Sam & the Daughters of Uncle Ho dans Viet Nam War Generation Journal, Vol. 2, No. 2.
This essay in French was published in 2001. It analyses the way women were depicted in Vietnam War films made by American filmmakers as well as by Vietnamese directors from the 1950’s to the early 2000’s. The conflict in Southeast Asia was first tackled in the 1950’s by the North Vietnamese in what they call the French war; they carried on in the American war and well after 1975. Contrarily to what is commonly believed, the first American Vietnam War films date from the 1960’s, and not from the mid-1970’s.
This paper was first published in French as Les Filles de l’Oncle Sam et les Filles de l’Oncle Hô in Femmes, Identités Plurielles, edited by Joëlle Deniot, Annie Dussuet, Catherine Dutheil et Dominique Loiseau (L’Harmattan, Paris, 2001).

Within the normative and theoretical framework of human rights, no form of atrocity, oppression, or systematic violation of fundamental human rights can be justified by overlooking or downplaying another form of atrocity or oppression. Any attempt to establish a hierarchy among different types of fundamental rights violations is not only ethically and anthropologically indefensible but also fundamentally incompatible with the universal and nonselective nature of human rights.

Conflict scholars are increasingly voicing concerns about the risks and challenges of conducting research in violent environments. Yet, this collective effort remains largely driven by the underlying belief that conducting fieldwork in conflict settings is both necessary for knowledge production and social change, and appropriate with regards to mainstream ethical guidelines and practices. In this article, we reflect on our experiences and positionalities conducting field research on armed groups in Afghanistan to question these assumptions. We challenge common understandings of 'the field' itself as a bounded, demarcated space in which the consequences of a researcher's actions can be anticipated, mitigated or prevented. We expose the fallacy of ever controlling 'the field' and argue that the likelihood of achieving any unquestionable good through immersive research is therefore quite low. We advocate for a more humble approach to our research endeavours and, overall, more restraint. The bar for ethical field-intensive research might be much higher than we all assume. We must accept that, at times, the risks are not worth it.

روزي، آيت ‏اللّه موسوي اردبيلي از عمل جراحي چشم خود از تهران به قم برگشت؛ و من به ديدنش رفتم. او مسائلي بيان كرد كه واقعاً سرم سوت كشيد. همان‌گونه كه سر ايشان سوت كشيد و بغض گلويشان را گرفت.
آيت ‏اللّه اردبيلي فرمود: روزی براي عمل چشم به بيمارستانی در تهران رجوع كردم و بنا شد دكتر هاشمي (منظور، قاضی زاده هاشمی است.) كه چشم آيت‏ اللّه منتظري را عمل كرد چشمان مرا نيز عمل كند، آزمايش‏هاي لازم انجام شد؛ و پس از آن، دكتر گفت: شما مرخص هستيد برويد و فردا صبح ساعت هشت اين‌جا باشيد تا شما را عمل كنم.
به دكتر گفتم: چرا آيت‏ اللّه منتظري شب همين‌جا ماند و به من می‌گویید بروم؟ مگر عمل من با عمل او تفاوتي دارد؟

L'instabilité socio-économique, les catastrophes naturelles et les conflits armés posent des défis majeurs aux sociétés vulnérables, notamment dans des régions comme l'Extrême-Nord du Cameroun, où la pauvreté, les infrastructures limitées et les tensions communautaires exacerbent la vulnérabilité des populations. Dans ce contexte, les systèmes d'alerte précoce (SAP) jouent un rôle crucial pour la prévention, la gestion des crises et la protection des populations. Ces systèmes permettent non seulement d'anticiper les menaces (qu'elles soient climatiques, sanitaires ou sécuritaires), mais aussi de coordonner les efforts des autorités et des communautés pour y faire face de manière efficace. Cependant, pour que ces systèmes soient véritablement opérationnels, il est essentiel de les adapter aux réalités locales et de renforcer la capacité de réponse des acteurs concernés. Ce travail s'intéresse à l'analyse des systèmes d'alerte précoce dans le cadre de la gestion des risques dans l'Extrême-Nord du Cameroun, en mettant en lumière leurs forces, leurs faiblesses, ainsi que les enjeux liés à leur efficacité. Il s'agira également d'explorer les actions mises en place pour sensibiliser les communautés, renforcer la résilience locale et améliorer la communication et la coordination entre les différents acteurs. Enfin, ce travail proposera des pistes de réflexion et des recommandations pour améliorer ces systèmes, en tenant compte des spécificités du terrain et des contextes socioéconomiques fragiles.

Children form the first priority on the national agenda, as they are the foundations of the nation and, at the same time, the most vulnerable section of society. There can be no doubt that the use of children in the commercial sex market reflects the distorted notions of sexuality of the adult population of a country. Trafficking of women and children for flesh has emerged as one of the most profitable illegal trades, next to illegal trade in arms and narcotics. On the scale of organized crimes, human trafficking ranks third, behind drugs and arms smuggling. In India, a large number of girls and young women are being trafficked from Napal and Bangladesh and thrown into the brothels of metropolitan cities. Jogini, Devadasi, Basari, Venkatswami, etc. are some of the age-old practices of prostitution in India. Though these practices are banned, they are still followed in some form in different parts of the country. Sexual exploitation and trafficking in children are alarming global problems. Most of the prostitutes belonged to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, and almost 55 percent of the prostitutes started their illicit trade as child prostitutes. This study highlighted the magnitude of social problems and the importance of informal education, vocational guidance, and training for children and their family members.

World Bank Studies are published to communicate the results of the Bank's work to the development community with the least possible delay. The manuscript of this paper therefore has not been prepared in accordance with the procedures appropriate to formally edited texts. This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Nothing herein shall constitute or be considered to be a limitation upon or waiver of the privileges and immunities of The World Bank, all of which are specifically reserved.

This article examines the Rwandan political trajectory under President Paul Kagame through the lens of instrumental power in international relations, with particular attention to Rwanda's sustained involvement in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Drawing on realist and structural theories of international politics, the study argues that political regimes and leaders often function as strategic instruments within broader global power configurations rather than as autonomous actors. It situates Rwanda's post-1994 ascendancy within the post-Cold War geopolitical realignment, highlighting the role of Western-especially United States-strategic interests in facilitating Kigali's regional influence during the collapse of the Mobutu regime and the subsequent reordering of Congolese politics. The article further contends that shifts toward a more multipolar international system have diminished Rwanda's strategic centrality, rendering its continued regional assertiveness increasingly precarious. By analysing historical precedents of political obsolescence among externally supported African leaders, the study demonstrates how authority grounded in external patronage becomes unstable once its functional utility declines. The persistence of Rwandan influence in the Kivu region is thus interpreted as both a rational response to perceived obsolescence and a source of heightened regional risk. Ultimately, the article argues that sustainable stability in the Great Lakes region requires a transition from militarised influence to institutional governance, accountability, and cooperative regional leadership. It concludes that legitimacy in the contemporary international order is less dependent on strategic alignment with global powers than on ethical governance, economic cooperation, and durable political institutions.

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The protracted conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) represents one of the most enduring political, security, and moral crises on the African continent. This article offers a critical analysis of the conflict through an integrated framework that examines continental leadership, moral responsibility, and patterns of regional and international complicity. By introducing the analytical concept of the foul's choice, the study highlights a persistent tendency among African leaders and international actors to privilege political expediency, the preservation of strategic alliances, and diplomatic appeasement over historical truth, justice, and accountability. The article argues that the crisis in eastern DRC cannot be understood as a strictly internal failure, but must instead be situated within a broader regional and international context shaped by the involvement of the Rwandan state, cross-border resource extraction, and the construction of selective narratives that normalise impunity. It further examines how information deficits, weak institutional support for African leadership, and moral myopia rooted in the legacy of the 1994 Rwandan genocide have contributed to the persistence of violence. Drawing on theoretical perspectives in ethical leadership and servant leadership, the article demonstrates that sustainable development and regional stability are inseparable from governance grounded in accountability, moral clarity, and political courage. It concludes that peace in the Great Lakes region depends less on the proliferation of formal agreements than on the willingness of leaders to confront denial, explicitly identify responsibility, and align political action with universal ethical principles.

This study focuses on democratisation and democracy assistance in the developing world. It provides an overview of the democratisation processes that have swept across the developing world since the 1980s and explores some of the main challenges facing many of these incipient democratic regimes. Moving from theory to practice, the paper also analyses some of the most important forms of democracy assistance that donors have undertaken to support democratisation processes over the past two decades. The report is divided into four main chapters. Chapter 1 defines the parameters of this study and situates democratisation processes and democratisation support in the wider context of governance changes and donor policy choices. Democratisation evolved from a trickle into a wave in the developing world with the end of the Cold War. Democratisation assistance has become a substantial element in the development agenda of many donors, especially the US and a number of European bilateral agencies. Post 9/11, new challenges have emerged. While donors have been increasingly engaged in state-building and democratisation efforts in 'fragile states', this report focuses on states in the developing world more generally and, hence, does not provide specific guidance on these more 'extreme' environments. Chapter 2 reviews the academic literature on the Third Wave of democratisation and explores the specific democratisation trajectories found in African countries, namely democratic consolidation, democratic processes 'stuck in transition' and 'political meltdown'. The chapter covers fundamental conceptual debates about democratic transitions and the challenges of democratic consolidation. It analyses the emergence of 'hybrid regimes' -political systems where a formal transition to democracy has taken place but where authoritarian practices and (informal) institutions continue to persist. Chapter 3 examines why and how donors have sought to support democratisation processes. It provides an overview of some of the main approaches that donors have taken to democracy promotion, the main actors and institutions involved, and the objectives that such assistance has sought to achieve. In particular, the chapter compares US and European approaches to democracy assistance and discusses five key avenues of democratisation assistance: support to i) elections, ii) political parties, iii) judicial reform, iv) civil society, and v) the media. It also identifies the various challenges related to each area. Key findings are summarised in Chapter 4. Over the past two decades, democratisation processes have emerged in many low-income countries -in contradiction to earlier modernisation theory which held that democratisation was only possible above a certain level of development. The consolidation of democratic regimes has proven more challenging in many of these countries, however. Democratisation assistance is still not sufficiently adapted to the challenging contexts of democratisation processes which are often either stuck, or at risk of meltdown. It is too standardised, still frequently focuses on elections rather than on wider structural and institutional changes, and seeks results too quickly. Moreover, harmonisation and alignment among a rather fragmented field of actors and more rigorous and comprehensive assessments of 'what works' are urgently needed to share experiences and lessons more systematically and improve current practice. This study is part of a wider research programme which the three consortium partners -the Overseas Development Institute, the Chr. Michelsen Institute, and the Economic and Social Research Foundation -are undertaking for the Advisory Board of Irish Aid. The overall programme 'Good Governance, New Aid Modalities and Poverty Reduction' addresses changes in governance and how these have been supported by donors; as well as the evolving nature of the aid relationship, with a focus on low-income countries in Africa but drawing on the experience of various regions.

Bu araştırmada, 2025 yılında Kolombiya'daki resmi altın madenciliğinin iyileştirilmesi amacıyla genel bir görünüm eşliğinde elde edilen veriler sunulmaktadır.
Ülkedeki madencilik sektörünün sürdürülebilir ve rekabetçi hale getirilmesi ve kamu, özel, iş birliği ve sivil toplum aktörleri arasında aşılması gereken engellerin iyileştirilmesi için önem taşıyan bir anlayış çerçevesi oluşturulması hedeflenmiştir.

Labour migration, other than being a key driver of economic growth and development, is also associated with inconsistent human rights practices. This paper furthers the understanding of links between migration and human trafficking in Andhra Pradesh, India. It applies IOM's Determinants of Vulnerability Framework to assess and analyse the various ways in which vulnerabilities of the migrant unorganised and casual labourers are constructed as they are forced to migrate for livelihood security. The study employed a mixed-methods approach which included a survey of 5888 individuals, seven case studies, five focus group discussions and 121 key informant interviews. The paper confirms that migration, by itself, does not lead to trafficking. A number of intersecting, interrelated factors at individual, household, community, and structural levels add to risks or provide protection against trafficking to a migrant before, during or after the process of migration. Relatedly, the paper argues that the process of migration is a continuum between vulnerability, unsafe migration, and trafficking.

The Rwandan civil war that killed thousands and displaced millions of people was fought between the Hutus, who are the majority and the Tutsis, the minority ethnic nationality. Although, several reasons accounted for the war, however, the immediate factor was the assassination of the Rwandan President by group of unknown people while he was returning from a trip. It was alleged that the Tutsis and their supporters were responsible. Consequent upon the assassination, Rwanda descended into chaos and the Hutus engaged in systematic ethnic cleansing that culminated into genocide. Serious concerns were raised across the world on the need for resolution. Several actors indicated interest; among the international actors that intervened is: The United Nations. To a large extend, the intervention of this actor contributed to the end of the genocide in Rwanda. The thesis intends to evaluate the UN's approach to the resolution of the genocide in Rwanda and establish the efficacy or otherwise of the criminal investigation through the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. The analysis of this thesis would be done by qualitative method using secondary data obtained from already existing works related to the this research topic such as articles, documentaries, books, newspapers, journals and other possible electronic documents.