Items related to "Human Security Gateway: Angola". Fri, 16 May 2008 0:30:19 +0000 Fri, 16 May 2008 0:30:19 +0000 robert_hartfiel@sfu.ca (Robert Hartfiel) Wed, 14 May 2008 12:51:54 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24354 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24354 Ce rapport contient des résumés sur les régions suivants: Afrique australe, Afrique de l’Est, Afrique de l’Ouest et Afrique centrale, et Afrique centrale, et aussi sur les thèmes suivantes: le double défi de la tuberculose et du VIH, circonsion masculine et préventions du VIH, epidémies latentes parmi les hommes ayant des rapports sexuels avec des hommes, la consommation de drogues injectables: un facteur croissant dans plusiers épidémies de VIH de L'Afrique Subsaharienne, et signes de changements vers des comportements à moindre risque. SOURCE: Nations Unies // Programme Commun Des Nations Unies Sur le VIH/SIDA Nations Unies // Programme Commun Des Nations Unies Sur le VIH/SIDA Wed, 14 May 2008 10:25:02 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24332 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24332 Ce document porte sur le conflit des Grands Lacs en Afrique, qui a donné naissance au génocide rwandais en 1994 avant d'aboutir à l'affrontement de sept pays sur le même sol de la république démocratique du congo. Ces nombreux affrontements de plus de quarante ans qui ont opposé les hutu et les tutsi ont coûté beaucoup à l'Afrique, particulièrement sur le plan économique. Il a fallu attendre les années 2004 pour qu'un espoir de paix se fasse jour ; une paix à laquelle la communauté internationale veut apporter un timide soutien. Le portail propose également une rubrique "Repères", ainsi qu'une carte géographique du continent africain. Table des matières : Introduction I- Un conflit ancien 1.Hutu et Tutsi : 40 ans d'affrontements 2.Le génocide rwandais de 1994 3.Le premier conflit du Zaïre 1996-1997 II- La régionalisation du conflit 1998-2003 1.Sept pays en guerre sur le sol de la Rép. dém. du Congo (RDC) 2.Un conflit meurtrier 3.Le pillage des ressources naturelles III- La RDC entre paix et guerre depuis 2003 1.La transition démocratique 2.Persistance des violences SOURCE: La Documentation française, Paris, France La Documentation française, Paris, France Fri, 09 May 2008 11:12:36 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24271 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24271 This case study uses the analytical lens of human security to conduct a retrospective analysis of the conflict and humanitarian crisis of the last ten years (1991-2001) in Angola. This study develops a set of indicators to measure rising instability that might be effective for predicting conflict or crises in other settings. The close analysis of the situation in Angola also illustrates how an ex ante human security assessment might have improved the international community’s interpretation and possible response to the shifting conditions on the ground over the last decade of civil war. SOURCE: United States Agency for International Development // Complex Emergency Response Transition Initiative United States Agency for International Development // Complex Emergency Response Transition Initiative Thu, 01 May 2008 10:04:06 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24032 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24032 Armed conflicts are defined as political conflicts in which armed combat involves the armed forces of at least one state or one or more armed factions seeking to gain control of all or part of the state, and in which at least 1,000 people have been killed by the fighting during the course of the conflict. Globally, the number of armed conflicts has been decreasing since 1995, when it peaked at 44 recorded civil wars. By 2003, seven of these conflicts had ended, and in 2003 there were 37 active conflicts in the world. More than 80 percent of these conflicts were in Asia and Africa. The latter continent harbored 42 percent of all conflicts in 2003, involving 28 states and their neighboring countries. Many governmental and nongovernmental organizations, as well as research scholars, evaluate the human impact of civil conflict for operational and policy purposes. These evaluations typically measure not only direct casualties due to violence but often indirect casualties among persons affected by the breakdown of the health and social-service infrastructure and its consequences. SOURCE: John Hopkins University John Hopkins University Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:35:33 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23912 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23912 This module features teaching notes and supplemental resources for Toward an Angola Strategy: Prioritizing U.S.-Angola Relations, a report of an Independent Commission sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations Center for Preventive Action. This report argues that it is in the interest of the United States to help develop a sustainable and lasting peace in Angola. SOURCE: Council on Foreign Relations Council on Foreign Relations Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:36:30 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23656 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23656 Du 31 octobre au 2 novembre 2005, le Secrétariat de la Banque Mondiale/MDRP a organisé un atelier de consultation visant à renforcer le genre dans les programmes nationaux du MDRP. Environ 80 participants provenant de sept délégations nationales (Angola, Burundi, République Centrafricaine, République Démocratique du Congo, République du Congo, Rwanda et Ouganda), l’UNICEF, le PNUD, l’ONUB, la MONUC, l’UNIFEM, la société civile et le Secrétariat du MDRP y ont participé ainsi que des experts internationaux en matière du genre et du DDR, de même que les femmes ex-combattantes de la région. SOURCE: Programme multi-pays de démobilisation et de réintégration Programme multi-pays de démobilisation et de réintégration Mon, 07 Apr 2008 10:29:14 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23449 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23449 Over the last two decades, the rapid growth of private security companies (PSCs) has been discussed and analysed from various angles. Scholars, the media, as well as governmental and nongovernmental organizations embarked on a discourse about the advantages and disadvantages of the private security industry. Studies on PSCs tackled issues such as PSCs’ legal status, questions of accountability, or options for regulations.2 Yet, so far little attention has been paid to how PSCs affect local populations in the countries in which they operate. PSCs are hired by a diverse clientele such as governments, private companies, humanitarian organizations or individuals. In addition to providing security to their clientele, the activities and presence of PSCs may have unintended consequences not only for those that employ them but also for local populations. A better understanding of how private security firms influence the lives of third parties and how local populations view PSCs seems relevant for an informed discussion on the regulation of the commercial security industry. This exploratory study aims to contribute some new insights and perspectives into this field by discussing these aspects for two country cases, Afghanistan and Angola. SOURCE: Swiss Peace Foundation Swiss Peace Foundation Thu, 03 Apr 2008 13:57:48 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23401 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23401 The effects of armed conflicts on mortality fall into one of two categories: direct and indirect. By direct mortality we mean those violent deaths caused by military operations among both soldiers and civilians, often called battle deaths. The loss of life caused by armed conflicts does not stop there. In fact, much more death and misery is inflicted on civil populations by indirect means. Those collateral effects of conflict are commonly known as “indirect” or “excess” mortality. They account for those non-violent deaths among civil populations that would not have occurred without the conflict. Over the last decades, indirect deaths have greatly outnumbered direct battle-deaths in most conflicts. The main causes of those indirect deaths include economic collapse, food shortages and malnutrition, the disruption of health systems, mass population movements to overcrowded settlements, and the stretching of public safety systems due to long conflicts. SOURCE: Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters Thu, 20 Mar 2008 11:53:24 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23054 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23054 From October 31 to November 2, 2005, the World Bank/MDRP Secretariat and UNIFEM held a consultation workshop aimed at strengthening gender in the MDRP national programs. Approximately 80 participants from the seven national delegations (Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda), UNICEF, UNDP, ONUB, MONUC, UNIFEM, civil society, and the MDRP Secretariat participated, as well as international experts on gender and DDR, and women ex-combatants from the region. SOURCE: Multi-Country Demobilization and Reintegration Program Multi-Country Demobilization and Reintegration Program Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:47:05 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22386 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22386 The Angolan civil war began even before independence in 1975, and raged, albeit with periods of calm, until 2002. The formal Angolan diamond industry came to a virtual standstill, paralysed at first by the departure of technical personnel during the Portuguese exodus, and later as UNITA guerrillas drove off foreign companies and took control of Angolan’s rich diamond provinces, mining the diamonds illegally, using the revenue to continue the civil war. The implementation of international controls on these conflict diamonds helped starve the rebel forces of funds, leading eventually to the defeat of Jonas Savimbi and the end of the civil war. Only with the end of that long conflict have the government and its foreign partners had the security to resume the long-delayed development of Angola’s diamond potential. SOURCE: Partnership Africa Canada Partnership Africa Canada Fri, 01 Feb 2008 14:30:18 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22164 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22164 This study explores the development and dynamics of non-state actors in Angola and Mozambique and so contributes to the ongoing debate at the German Development Institute on the issue of non-state (armed) groups and governance impact on development conditions. The study discusses the effect of various dimensions on the historical process of the two countries from the perspective of the rebel movements: the Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) in Angola’s case and the National Resistance of Mozambique (RENAMO) in Mozambique’s. The analysis focuses on two dimensions: geography and endowments. SOURCE: Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik Thu, 13 Dec 2007 16:16:16 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=21366 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=21366 This report provides an update of activities carried out under the Multi-Country Demobilization and Reintegration Program (MDRP) covering October 2006. SOURCE: Multi-Country Demobilization and Reintegration Program Multi-Country Demobilization and Reintegration Program Thu, 13 Dec 2007 12:52:49 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=21357 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=21357 Since April 2002, most of the four million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Angola have resettled, integrated or gone home following the signing of a ceasefire agreement between the governing MPLA and UNITA, which marked the end of 27 years of civil war. In November 2005 the government estimated that there were still some 62,000 IDPs in Angola. Since then, population movements and the level of integration of the displaced have not been monitored. In Cabinda, a strip of Angolan territory bordered by the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the initial circumstances that led to displacements still prevail, and although the Angolan army claims that the security situation is stable many displaced people are afraid to return home. As of December 2005 there were still close to 20,000 IDPs in Cabinda. There is no recent information available on their situation and numbers, but there are reports that the civilian population at large has been exposed to serious human rights violations, mainly by government forces. In the rest of the country, the return and reintegration process has not always been organised in line with the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement. The government has adopted standards for the return and resettlement of IDPs, but they do not provide for integration in the area of displacement, and the voluntary nature of the return and reintegration process has been frequently questioned. Only 15 per cent of people who returned moved through an organised process, while 70 per cent returned spontaneously, without any aid from local authorities or humanitarian organisations, to areas where conditions fall well below the standards outlined in the government’s policy. Upon return, many people found their homes and local public infrastructure destroyed and their belongings stolen. An estimated 400,000 IDPs opted to try to integrate in their area of refuge, and many people who had returned home reportedly went back again to urban areas. Today, former IDPs – whether returned or not - generally have no specific needs beyond those of the non-displaced population, although the processes by which their displacement ended often failed to follow national and international standards. Although former IDPs face no particular discrimination in accessing justice and public and social services, many obstacles to their full recovery remain. Many children from displaced families remain outside the education system. Most former IDPs are among the poorest people living in slums in the suburbs of urban areas; they are generally without relevant skills or employment. In remote areas, the government must speed up the rehabilitation and reconstruction of public infrastructure and social services, especially in the province of Kuando Kubango which was formerly under the control of UNITA, and implement community development projects to provide adequate standards of housing and access to social services. SOURCE: Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre Wed, 12 Dec 2007 10:01:17 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=21336 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=21336 Money Matters: The Economic Dimension of Peace Mediation Programme for Strategic and International Security Studies, Graduate Institute of International Studies This paper provides an overview of four economic dimensions of peace mediation. Focusing on notions such as the "mediated state" and the "commitment gap", it emphasises the role of economic considerations in the implementation of peace processes. The Paper is part of an on-going project, supported by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, that seeks to explore how the management of economic aspects in peace processes can foster sustainable peace. SOURCE: Programme for Strategic and International Security Studies Programme for Strategic and International Security Studies Tue, 13 Nov 2007 12:29:31 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=21100 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=21100 The role and effects of private security companies (PSCs) have been discussed from various angles in the past. While much attention was paid to the legal status of PSCs or their potential impacts on the role of the state, little consideration was directed towards the influence of PSC activities on local populations. Only little information is available on how local populations perceive PSCs and what the impact of their activities may be on peoples’ every day lives. The goal of this exploratory study is to provide some tentative insights into the perceived positive and negative, direct and indirect impact of PSCs on the local population, in the two cases of Afghanistan and Angola. SOURCE: Swiss Peace Foundation Swiss Peace Foundation Wed, 31 Oct 2007 14:42:58 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20997 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20997 Angola is one of the world’s diamond powerhouses, blessed with both extensive alluvial deposits and hundreds of Kimberlite formations. This Annual Review of the Angolan Diamond Industry is the third produced by PAC and its partners. This report reviews Angola’s implementation of the Kimberley Process and takes a critical in-depth look at both the contribution of the diamond sector to government revenue, as well as the contribution of the diamond projects to development. SOURCE: Partnership Africa Canada Partnership Africa Canada Wed, 31 Oct 2007 14:07:30 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=6372 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=6372 In recent years the notion and phenomenon of xe2x80x98failing' states - states incapable to fulfil the basic tasks of providing security for their populace -, has been rapidly drawing attention. The incidence has been on the increase especially among countries of the South, and particularly, though not exclusively, in Africa. Among the explanations offered, fragility of state structures, lack of capacity and xe2x80x98bad' governance have been recurrent ingredients put forward, though each of these inevitably begs further queries: why are they fragile to begin with, why is there this lack of capacity, and so forth. The phenomenon continues to prompt searches for explanation as well as contemplation of international policy responses. SOURCE: Fundación para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Diálogo Exterior Fundación para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Diálogo Exterior Wed, 31 Oct 2007 14:00:46 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=2276 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=2276 From Ecuador to Equatorial Guinea, smaller oil exporters are becoming targets not only for investors but also for geo-strategists. Angola is no exception.Yet like so many other places driven by petrodollars, Angola shows many symptoms of the rentier state: politicians, businessmen and shareholders enjoy colossal surpluses on their bank accounts, while ordinary citizens face colossal deficits in public services, livelihoods and legitimate governance. SOURCE: Fundación para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Diálogo Exterior Fundación para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Diálogo Exterior Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:48:24 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20738 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20738 Since February 2006, Luanda is going through its worst ever cholera epidemic, with an average of 500 new cases per day. The outbreak has also rapidly spread to the provinces and to date, 11 of the 18 provinces are reporting cases. The population of Luanda has doubled in the last 10 years, and most of this growth is concentrated in slums where the living conditions are appalling. Despite impressive revenues from oil and diamonds, there has been virtually no investment in basic services since the 1970s and only a privileged minority of the people living in Luanda have access to running water. The rest of the population get most of their water from a huge network of water trucks that collect water from two main points (Kifangondo at Bengo river in Cacuaco and Kikuxi at Kuanza river in Viana) and then distribute it all over town at a considerable profit. Water, the most basic of commodities, is a lucrative and at times complex business in Luanda, with prices that vary depending on demand. Without sufficient quantities of water, and given the lack of proper drainage and rubbish collection, disease is rampant in the vast slums. This disastrous water and sanitation situation makes it virtually impossible to contain the rapid spread of the outbreak. Médecins Sans Frontixc3xa8res is already working in ten cholera treatment structures, and may open more in the coming weeks. Out of the 17,500 patients reported in Luanda (the figure for all of Angola is 34,000), more than14,000 have been treated in MSF centres Despite significant efforts to ensure that patients have access to treatment, very little has been done to prevent hundreds more from becoming infected. SOURCE: Medecins Sans Frontiers Medecins Sans Frontiers Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:48:09 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20374 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20374 This report provides an update of activities carried out under the Multi-Country Demobilization and Reintegration Program (MDRP) covering the period from January to March 2006. As shown in Table 1, overall the MDRP has demobilized about 55 percent of its total estimated caseload. Up to the end of the first quarter of 2006, 36 percent of the demobilized had received reintegration assistance. In the first quarter of this year, the DRC demobilized more than double the number of ex-combatants it had demobilized in last quarter of 2005. SOURCE: Multi-Country Demobilization and Reintegration Program Multi-Country Demobilization and Reintegration Program Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:47:56 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20205 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20205 The Angolan army arbitrarily detained and tortured civilians with impunity in Cabinda, and continue to restrict their freedom of movement despite an apparent end to the decades-long separatist conflict in the oil-rich enclave, according to this Human Rights Watch briefing paper. SOURCE: Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:47:45 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19966 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19966 The Angolan National Liberation was the successful revolution against Angola's Portugese colonists, which took place from 1961 - 1974. However, civil war has been the norm in Angola since independence from Portugal in 1975. As decolonization progressed elsewhere in Africa, Portugal, under the Salazar and Caetano dictatorships, rejected independence and treated its African colonies as overseas provinces. Consequently, three independence movements emerged: the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) led by Agostinho Neto, with a base among Kimbundu and the mixed-race intelligentsia of Luanda, and links to communist parties in Portugal and the East Bloc; the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), led by Holden Roberto with an ethnic base in the Bakongo region of the north and links to the United States and the Mobutu regime in Kinshasa; and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), led by Jonas Malheiro Savimbi with an ethnic and regional base in the Ovimbundu heartland in the center of the country and links to the People's Republic of China and apartheid South Africa. SOURCE: Globalsecurity.org Globalsecurity.org Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:47:45 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19967 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19967 Since Angola has been wracked by civil strife for over 30 years, most Angolans have never lived in a peaceful, stable environment. The prolonged civil strife in Angola devastated the country in every conceivable way. The conflict began in the late colonial period and continued in the post-independence era, first as an internal struggle which then became internationalized and entangled in cold war ideologies and partisanship. . In the three decades of conflict, over 500,000 people died, 3.5 million were internally displaced, hundreds of thousands fled to neighboring Zaire and Zambia and 70,000 Angolans suffer disabilities caused by landmines. Civil society ceased to exist, human rights abuses became the norm, rural and village infrastructure was destroyed or neglected, millions of land mines were laid in all parts of the country and the economy largely collapsed. The majority of Angolans were and remain politically disenfranchised and economically marginalized. Virtually the entire non-coastal population of Angola is war-affected. Despite a wealth of natural resources, the gross domestic product declined from an average of $820 between 1996-88 to $410 in 1995. More than 70% of Angola's population is considered to be food insecure. Infant mortality is estimated at 350/1000. SOURCE: Globalsecurity.org Globalsecurity.org Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:47:44 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19864 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19864 On January 1, 2007, Angola became the 12th member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). As an OPEC member, Angola will have to pay $2 million per year in membership fees and might be restricted by OPEC quotas on oil production. Angola is the second largest oil producer in Sub-Saharan Africa behind Nigeria . Angola is set to experience oil production increases over the next five year period as new offshore projects come online. Angola exports crude oil primarily to China, the United States, Europe and Latin America. The majority of natural gas produced in Angola is either flared or used in oil recovery. To help reduce flaring, Chevron and Sonangol are planning to build a five-million-ton liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, which could be operational in 2010. SOURCE: Energy Information Administration Energy Information Administration Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:47:40 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19739 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19739 This study discerns several deficiencies in the budget process in Angola. The government's budget proposal is not publicly debated, no pre-budget paper is prepared, comparisons between budgeted expenditure and actual outcomes are not made, and audit reports are not prepared. Besides, budget execution is problematic because Angola has two parallel public finance systems, one conventional system under the Ministry of Finance; and a (mainly) Sonangol-operated unconventional system. The Angolan state institutions involved in the budget process are all rather weak, but reforms, learning and improvements have taken place, in particular in the Ministry of Finance, in the Finance Committee of the Parliament and in the supreme audit institution (Tribunal de Contas). However, other institutions are still weak or non-existent. The 1996 law on an anti-corruption commission has not been put into practice. The National Statistical Institute is a weak institution, and thus the basic national statistics, on which budget allocations should be based, are unreliable or non-existent. The provincial and local administrations have severe deficiencies in legitimacy as well as in professional capacity to analyse and shape public service delivery. During budget preparation in other countries, civil society organisations may debate budget reports and policies, for instance in a pre-budget conference and comment on tax proposals. CSOs can also be effective fighters against budget leakages, corruption, embezzlement and squander. However, civil society has historically been weak in Angola, and the political and societal space for civil society is limited. The Angolan authorities have not fully accepted the role of civil society's voice, watchdog and control functions, and the legal framework is restrictive. The report suggests how to increase insight and transparency of the budget processes in Angola, how civil society can be more involved in the processes for example through capacity building in "economic literacy", and how donors can take measures to ensure more transparency and public involvement in budgetary processes. SOURCE: Chr. Michelsen Institute Chr. Michelsen Institute Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:47:34 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19616 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19616 Report of the Diamonds and Human Security Project that links the wars in Angola and the Congo, along with other conflicts in Central Africa, to the massive illicit trade in conflict diamonds. SOURCE: Partnership Africa Canada Partnership Africa Canada Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:47:27 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19528 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19528 n the last decade questions about the effectiveness and morality of outside intervention in internal conflict - particularly when gross violations of human rights are taking place - have risen to the top of the international agenda. In Africa, where conflict has been widespread and frequently accompanied by massive harm to civilians, the dilemmas associated with intervention appear in a particularly pointed form. Since the early 1990s a wide variety of different approaches have been tried - ranging from the United Nations' inconclusive role in Somalia, through the ongoing, drawn-out peace industry in Central Africa, and more recently the British and French interventions in Sierra Leone and Cote d'Ivoire. What conclusions can we draw from this varied history about the value of external military action as a way of resolving conflict or mitigating its worst effects? SOURCE: Crimes of War Project Crimes of War Project Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:47:20 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19319 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19319 An exceptional mix of U.S. interests are at play in West Africa's Gulf of Guinea. The region starkly illustrates both the challenges and the promise of efforts to foster democracy, respect for human rights, poverty alleviation, counterterrorism, regional conflict prevention and peacekeeping, and to curb HIV/AIDS and other infections diseases, organized crime, corruption, and instability. Also at stake are rising U.S. interests in the region's energy sector, already prominent and set to expand even further in the coming decade. At# the same time, many countries in the region are vulnerable to instability and violence, stemming from vast internal disparities in wealth, poor governance, a lack of state capacity, and rising criminality. SOURCE: Center for Strategic and International Studies // CSIS Task Force on Gulf of Guinea Security Center for Strategic and International Studies // CSIS Task Force on Gulf of Guinea Security Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:47:03 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=18877 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=18877 This 39-page report documents how most families have returned to locations that still lack minimal social services, such as health care and education, let alone employment. Elderly and disabled persons, widows and female-headed households experience the worst shortfalls in government assistance, particularly in rural areas. SOURCE: Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:46:59 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=18714 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=18714 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. SOURCE: Agency for Co-operation and Research in Development Agency for Co-operation and Research in Development Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:46:50 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=18531 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=18531 Adolescents and children are among the most vulnerable groups during humanitarian crises. Yet, when they are involved in programme design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, they can play a key role in community development and peace-building. This publication highlights innovative programmes and practices in nine case studies from conflict areas around the globe, highlighting adolescent participation in disarmament, demobilization and reintegration; and AIDS awareness, among other issues. SOURCE: United Nations Children's Fund United Nations Children's Fund Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:46:50 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=18563 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=18563 Angola is a constitutional republic in transition after its 27-year civil war ended in 2002. Legislation provides for decentralization; however, the Government remained highly centralized and dominated by the Presidency. The Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) has ruled the country since its independence from Portugal in 1975. President Jose Eduardo dos Santos of the MPLA, who assumed power in 1979, won 49 percent of the votes cast in a 1992 election that U.N. observers considered generally free and fair. The Government of National Reconciliation was formed in 1997 after the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and 10 smaller opposition parties joined the ruling MPLA. The National Assembly was weak; while opposition deputies held approximately 43 percent of National Assembly seats, few mechanisms exist to check the power of the MPLA majority or defeat legislation supported by the executive branch. The judiciary was subject to executive influence, functioned poorly at the provincial and municipal levels and did not always ensure due process. SOURCE: U.S. Department of State U.S. Department of State Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:46:38 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=18160 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=18160 The story of how the Angolan government was induced to begin creating checks and balances, from a starting point of massive corruption, is a case study in building institutions from scratch. A dysfunctional state has been driven by a combination of domestic and external pressure to take some initial steps toward accountability. SOURCE: Center on Democracy, Development, and The Rule of Law // Stanford Institute of International Studies // Stanford University Center on Democracy, Development, and The Rule of Law // Stanford Institute of International Studies // Stanford University Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:46:38 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=18265 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=18265 SOURCE: Institute for Security Studies Institute for Security Studies Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:46:31 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=18023 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=18023 Countries rich in natural resources are often cursed by corruption, conflict, poor economic growth, low levels of child welfare and other problems. The report explores the reasons underlying the paradoxical link between mineral wealth and child poverty in countries such as Azerbaijan, Colombia, Nigeria, Sudan and Venezuela. Drawing from the experience of these countries and the success stories of Botswana and Norway, it focuses on positive, practical and achievable approaches that key actors can use to lift the 'resource curse' and improve the impact of the extractive industry on children and the rest of their societies. SOURCE: Save the Children Save the Children Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:46:04 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=17102 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=17102 The following pages identify HIV/AIDS and food insecurity (particularly in the rural areas) as the two most severe and interrelated humanitarian issues currently facing Southern Africa. It is argued that the current situation must be contexualised as an xe2x80x98entangling crisis' of climatic factors, chronic poverty, the failure of economic and political governance, and the impact of HIV/AIDS on the ability of individuals to respond independently. The foregrounding of human security as a way of ensuring global stability (through preventative action) is gaining momentum particularly by major aid donor countries. But with only ten years left to meet the 2015 deadline for the millennium development goals there is an urgent need to reassess the most pressing issues facing African states and the communities that comprise them. SOURCE: Institute for Security Studies Institute for Security Studies Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:46:04 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=17127 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=17127 This paper was researched during a ten-day trip to various locations in the provinces of Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul in November 2003. The purpose of this visit was, above all, to examine local popular perceptions of the diamond industry and of its impact on the region and on its people, and to examine to what extent the modalities of diamond production established in a time of war continue to influence the conduct of the industry today. SOURCE: Institute for Security Studies Institute for Security Studies Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:46:04 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=17185 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=17185 This is the third and last issue for 2004 of this report prepared by the FAO Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS) on the food supply situation and cereal import and food aid requirements for all countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The report is designed to provide the latest analysis and information on the food situation in these countries to governments, international organizations and other institutions engaged in humanitarian operations. SOURCE: World Food Programme // Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations // Global Information and Early Warning System on Food and Agriculture World Food Programme // Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations // Global Information and Early Warning System on Food and Agriculture Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:46:04 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=17240 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=17240 This essay purports to focus on Angola as a case study that transcends the diseased nature of bureaucratic humanitarianism- undesirable and ritualised behaviour in which rules obscure social goals and perpetuation instincts dehumanise Africans such that genocide could get rephrased as "civil war".4 It carries the analysis beyond constructivist understandings of xe2x80x98pathological' or dysfunctional behaviour and situates the humanitarian enterprise in the framework of neo-colonial impulses of the United States that were filtered through the faceless UN and international NGO bureaucracies operating on the ground during Angola's post-Cold War conflict (1992-2002). Bureaucracies are not only desensitised and robotic performers of xe2x80x98rational' tasks, but also exemplars of the unquestioning Man Friday culture of taking orders or guidelines from political bosses, which in Angola's case turned out to be the US government. SOURCE: The Journal of Humanitarian Assistance // Feinstein International Center The Journal of Humanitarian Assistance // Feinstein International Center Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:46:03 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=17025 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=17025 This report analyzes the ongoing demobilization and reintegration process in Angola. SOURCE: Bonn International Center for Conversion Bonn International Center for Conversion Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:46:02 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=16779 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=16779 The chapters in this report represent World Vision's distinct analysis on the human, social and economic costs that violent conflict has wreaked in sixteen different contexts that have not had the high media profile of Iraq. It is World Vision's attempt to highlight countries suffering from the 'perfect storm' of post-conflict recovery: low human development, high indebtedness, and another significant challenge, often disease or poor economic prospects. These conflicts have exacted concurrent and crippling consequences on the people living in them; factors which, left unaddressed, make them highly susceptible to future violent conflict. Industrialised countries, and in particular the G8, however, need not be resigned to inevitable civil wars. If pursued, the recommendations presented here offer a realistic chance not only of averting re-cycling of individual conflicts, but of addressing other global afflictions that are fuelled by the preponderance of wars. SOURCE: World Vision World Vision Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:46:02 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=16899 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=16899 Among the most important elements of President Bush's first National Security Strategy (NSS) is its focus on failed states. Despite this emphasis, the Strategy does not offer any vision, policies, or new resources to counter this type of threat. A new U.S. strategy should combine improved intelligence collection with more aggressive efforts at conflict resolution and post-conflict "nation-building" in global crisis zones. The United States should devise innovative ways to assist failed and failing states through targeted development and counter terrorism assistance as well as improved trade access to the U.S. market. SOURCE: Brookings Institution Brookings Institution Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:45:46 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=16337 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=16337 To oversee the implementation and interpretation of the COMESA agreement, the Treaty established a Court of Justice, modeled on the European Court of Justice. Like the European Court of Justice, the COMESA Court of Justice can be seized of a matter by one of several ways. First, a member State may bring another member State or the Council before the Court for breach of the Treaty or failure to fulfill an obligation thereunder. Providing the Common Market with independent monitoring and enforcement power, the Treaty permits the Secretary General (with the agreement of the Council) also to bring a member State before the Court for failure to fulfill its Treaty obligations. Like the European Court of Justice, the COMESA Courtxc3xads decisions have precedence over any decisions of national courts. SOURCE: Project on International Courts and Tribunals // African International Courts and Tribunals Project on International Courts and Tribunals // African International Courts and Tribunals Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:45:43 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=16253 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=16253 This report is a follow-up to Lundas: The Stones of Death (2005). It looks at the tragic impact that diamond extraction has on the lives of local populations, the institutional incentives to permanently violate human rights, the privatisation of violence, and the unchecked plundering of these resources. SOURCE: Fatal Transactions Fatal Transactions Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:45:16 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=15509 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=15509 Although civil wars have become the dominant form of conflict in the 1990s, international actors can still help prevent, reduce, or resolve them. The author concludes that there are a range of options available to international actors seeking to mediate these conflicts, but the attempt to do good, if poorly planned and lacking in strategy, can also be harmful. In surveying the recent literature on international actors and internal conflicts, the author also argues that intervening states must better clarify their fundamental national foreign policy and security interests, as well as the ethics of choice among tools, approaches, and cases of intervention. SOURCE: Rockefeller Brothers Foundation Rockefeller Brothers Foundation Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:45:05 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=15050 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=15050 This fact sheet provides an overview of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Angola, published in October 2005. SOURCE: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:45:05 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=15060 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=15060 The aim of this chapter is threefold. First, I argue that the study of civil wars must incorporate a solid theoretical understanding of warfare; second, I introduce a distinction between three different types of civil war based on how they are fought and trace the origins of each type; third, I explore the effects of these types of warfare on the patterns of violence in civil wars. The purpose of the chapter is primarily conceptual and xe2x80x98theory-generating' rather than xe2x80x98theory-testing'. Accordingly, the chapter is divided in three sections. Section 1 discusses the necessity of incorporating a theory of warfare into the social-scientific research on civil strife. It then identifies three types of warfare that characterise civil wars. Two are well known: conventional and irregular warfare; the third one tends to be mischaracterised: I call it xe2x80x98symmetric non-conventional' warfare. I trace the origins of each type to three distinct processes: failed military coups or secessions in federal states tend to produce civil wars fought via conventional warfare; peripheral or rural insurgencies tend to give rise to civil wars fought via irregular war; and state collapse leads to civil wars fought in a xe2x80x98symmetric' but xe2x80x98non-conventional' way. I argue that this distinction may move us beyond imprecise but popular typologies, of the xe2x80x98old war' versus xe2x80x98new war' type. Section 2 relies on a brief discussion of seven cases to illuminate the empirical links between warfare and violence; the cases were chosen to maximise the variety of warfare type and the ethnic/non-ethnic dimension: Algeria 1954-62, Angola 1961-75, Lebanon 1975-90, Liberia 1987-2003, Nigeria-Biafra 1967-70, Oman 1965-75, and Spain 1936-39, Last, in Section 3 I explore the theoretical links between warfare and violence. I identify three theoretical accounts of violence. The sociological thesis connects violence to deep prewar divisions and conflicts; th#e Hobbesian thesis imputes causal force to the collapse of order and anarchy; and the military thesis points to vulnerability as the causal mechanism behind mass civilian victimisation. I conclude with methodological observations about the links between these arguments and the type of warfare practised in civil wars. SOURCE: Yale University Yale University Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:44:51 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=14557 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=14557 The Oil for Development initiative aims at assisting developing countries with petroleum resources (or potential) in their efforts to manage these resources in a way that generates economic growth and promotes the welfare of the population in general, and in a way that is environmentally sustainable. SOURCE: Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:44:44 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=14332 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=14332 In 2003 and during the first quarter of 2004, UNAIDS and WHO worked closely with national governments and research institutions to recalculate current estimates on people living with HIV/AIDS. These calculations are based on the previously published estimates for 1999 and 2001 and recent trends in HIV/AIDS surveillance in various populations. A methodology developed in collaboration with an international group of experts was used to calculate the new estimates on prevalence and incidence of HIV and AIDS deaths, as well as the number of children infected through mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Different approaches were used to estimate HIV prevalence in countries with low-level, concentrated or generalised epidemics. The current estimates do not claim to be an exact count of infections. Rather, they use a methodology that has thus far #proved accurate in producing estimates that give a good indication of the magnitude of the epidemic in individual countries. However, these estimates are constantly being revised as countries improve their surveillance systems and collect more information. SOURCE: World Health Organization World Health Organization Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:44:29 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=13911 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=13911 Aliases: National Union for the Total Independence of Angola SOURCE: National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism