Items related to "Human Security Gateway: Benin". Sat, 17 May 2008 0:30:19 +0000 Sat, 17 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 11:35:42 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24338 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24338 Le Rapport sur la gouvernance en Afrique est le fruit de larges travaux de recherche sur les pratiques de gouvernance entrepris dans 27 pays africains par la Commission économique pour l’Afrique (CEA), par l’intermédiaire d’instituts nationaux de recherche, qui ont recueilli, ensemble par échantillonnage, les opinions de plus de 50 000 ménages et de 2 000 experts. Les conclusions, soumises à la CEA entre 2002 et 2004, ont fait l’objet d’un processus rigoureux d’examens auxquels ont participé des experts nationaux et internationaux travaillant sur la gouvernance et les questions politiques et économiques. Ce rapport est la première grande étude de ce type initiée par les pays africains, qui vise à analyser de façon empirique les opinions des citoyens quant à l’état de la gouvernance dans leurs pays, tout en mettant en évidence les principaux déficits de capacité dans les pratiques et institutions de gouvernance et en recommandant des pratiques optimales et des solutions pour y faire face. On s’est attaché à assurer l’appropriation locale de l’ensemble empirique de résultats afin de renforcer l’efficacité et la légitimité de la prise de décisions et de l’effort de sensibilisation aux niveaux national et infrarégional. Les données ainsi générées peuvent être utilisées pour mesurer la performance des gouvernements et de toutes les principales parties prenantes dans leur réponse aux préoccupations exprimées par les citoyens et pour suivre la mesure dans laquelle le contrat qu’ils ont passé entre eux est respecté. Nous avons pris soin de ne pas être trop directif. Le Rapport sur la gouvernance en Afrique contient des recommandations qui découlent essentiellement des réalités propres aux pays, car, pour être durable, la gouvernance doit être replacée dans son contexte et internalisée. SOURCE: Nations Unies // Commission économique pour l'Afrique Nations Unies // Commission économique pour l'Afrique Wed, 14 May 2008 11:02:26 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24335 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24335 Le présent rapport fait la synthèse de la première grande étude continentale visant à mesurer et contrôler les « Progrès accomplis sur la voie de la bonne gouvernance en Afrique », entreprise par la Commission économique pour l’Afrique. Dans le cadre de cette étude, des enquêtes et des recherches ont été menées sur 28 pays. Les résultats complets et l’analyse de l’étude seront publiés en 2005 dans le premier «Rapport sur la gouvernance en Afrique ». La CEA a entrepris ce travail pour évaluer l’idée que les citoyens se font de l’état de la gouvernance en Afrique, pour rassembler des informations sur les meilleures pratiques et pour identifier les principaux besoins de la région en matière de développement des capacités. Le projet a identifié quatre tendances positives sur la voie de la création d’États compétents en Afrique: transitions démocratiques, ouverture politique, liberté d’expression et obligation comptable, et gestion économique. SOURCE: Nations Unies // Commission économique pour l'Afrique Nations Unies // Commission économique pour l'Afrique Wed, 07 May 2008 15:02:48 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24223 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24223 Chaque fois que la situation des approvisionnements menace de se détériorer dans un pays ou une région donnée, des alertes spéciales attirent l'attention des gouvernements et organismes d'aide sur l’évolution de la situation et les éventuelles mesures d'urgence à prendre. Les Rapports spéciaux sont généralement le résultat de missions d'évaluation sur le terrain et présentent un état des lieux détaillé de la situation agricole et alimentaire. Ils sont publiés par le Système Mondial d'Information et d'Alerte Rapide de la FAO. Une Mission conjointe CILSS/FAO/FEWSNet/SIMA/PAM d'évaluation des marchés s'est rendu sur des marchés céréaliers clés du Bénin, du Niger et du Nigéria du 13 février au 9 mars, afin d'estimer les stocks actuels et le niveau des prix ainsi que le flux des échanges au sein des pays et entre eux, et d'analyser les implications pour la sécurité alimentaire des pays les plus vulnérables. SOURCE: Organisation des Nations Unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture // Système Mondial d'Information et d'Alerte Rapide Organisation des Nations Unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture // Système Mondial d'Information et d'Alerte Rapide Fri, 18 Apr 2008 15:22:45 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23742 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23742 L’adaptation aux changements climatiques passe par la participation des paysans et l’information. Dans cette optique, un projet de rechercheaction au Bénin vise à réduire la vulnérabilité des agriculteurs et à améliorer la sécurité alimentaire. SOURCE: Centre de recherches pour le développement international Centre de recherches pour le développement international Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:48:03 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20365 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20365 Regional leaders created the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on May 28, 1975 in Lagos, Nigeria. ECOWAS is comprised of 15 countries, which include: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d'Ivoire , The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria , Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. The leaders established ECOWAS to promote regional integration and economic growth in West Africa, as well as to create a monetary union in the region. However, ECOWAS has encountered problems in the process of regional integration including: political instability and lack of good governance that has plagued many member countries, the insufficient diversification of national economies, the absence of reliable infrastructure, and the multiplicity of organizations for regional integration with the same objectives. SOURCE: Energy Information Administration Energy Information Administration Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:47:44 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19850 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19850 The political crisis that followed the disputed presidential elections in Togo on 24 April 2005 and which, since then, resulted in the appointment of Gnassimbé Fauré to the presidency, caused an exodus of over 32 000 refugees to Ghana and to Benin as well as the the displacement of thousands of people within Togo according to the findings of the first available evaluations. In Ghana, the flow of refugees received by the local communities and which at first seemed to be a just daily shuttle between Ghana and Togo, gathered momentum soon after the crisis. SOURCE: United Nations // United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees United Nations // United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:46:50 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=18564 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=18564 The Republic of Benin is a constitutional democracy headed by President Mathieu Kerekou, who was inaugurated in 2001 after elections that observers generally viewed as free but not entirely fair. The March 2003 parliamentary elections, which were generally free, fair, and transparent, resulted in a loss of seats by the opposition. One opposition party joined the government coalition; as a result, the opposition holds 18 of 83 seats. During the year, the executive branch interfered with the judiciary, which was inefficient and susceptible to corruption at all levels. The security forces consist of the armed forces, headed by the State Ministry of Defense, and the police force under the Ministry of Interior, Security, and Decentralization. The Ministry of Defense supervises the Gendarmerie, which exercises military police functions in rural areas, while the Ministry of Interior supervises other police forces. The armed forces under the Ministry of Defense continued to play an apolitical role in government affairs despite concerns about lack of morale within its ranks. Civilian authorities maintained effective control of the security forces. Members of the security forces committed some human rights abuses. 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=18252 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=18252 SOURCE: HIV InSite Database of Country and Regional Indicators // Center for HIV Information // University of California San Francisco HIV InSite Database of Country and Regional Indicators // Center for HIV Information // University of California San Francisco Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:46:31 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=18123 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=18123 SOURCE: Protection Project // School of Advanced International Studies // Johns Hopkins University Protection Project // School of Advanced International Studies // Johns Hopkins University Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:45:04 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=14865 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=14865 The Bush Administration has requested $95.2 million in FY2008 funds for the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI), a multilateral, five-year program with planned U.S. contributions of some $660 million from FY2005 through FY2009. Its primary purpose is to train and equip 75,000 military troops, a majority of them African, for peacekeeping operations by 2010. GPOI also provides support for the Center of Excellence for Stability Police Units (CoESPU), an Italian training center for gendarme (constabulary police) forces in Vicenza, Italy. In addition, GPOI is promoting the development of an international transportation and logistics support system for peacekeepers, and is encouraging an information exchange to improve international coordination of peace operations training and exercises in Africa. In June 2004, G8 leaders pledged to support the goals of the initiative. GPOI incorporates previous capabilities-building programs for Africa. From FY1997 to FY2005, the United States spent just over $121 million on GPOI's predecessor program that was funded through the State Department Peacekeeping (PKO) account: the Clinton Administration's African Crisis Response Initiative (ACRI) and its successor, the Bush Administrations's African Contingency Operations Training and Assistance (ACOTA) program. SOURCE: Congressional Research Service Congressional Research Service Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:45:04 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=14945 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=14945 Trafficking in Persons has become a major concern for all countries of Western Africa. The Meeting of ECOWAS Heads of States, in December 2001, adopted a Declaration and the ECOWAS Plan of Action against Trafficking in Persons (2002-2003). It directed the ECOWAS Executive Secretariat to prepare proposals for controlling trafficking in persons in the sub-region, with special consideration to the situation of trafficked children. The UNODC project FS/RAF/04/R60 on the "Assistance for the Implementation of the ECOWAS Plan of Action against Trafficking in Persons" will strengthen the capacity of the ECOWAS Secretariat and its Member States in implementing the ECOWAS Plan of Action, particularly as it relates to assessment of existing national legislation and the drafting of new legislation in response to the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children. This Manual presents the definitions of trafficking in human beings and smuggling of migrants as well as general guidelines on investigation and prosecution of cases related to trafficking in human beings, with a focus on cooperation between ECOWAS Member States. This Manual is to be used as reference material and in training activities under the project. SOURCE: United Nations // United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime United Nations // United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:43:11 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=10498 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=10498 Website of the Africa Union. SOURCE: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:42:56 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=9777 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=9777 Islam is the fastest growing religion on the African sub continent and has a significant presence in an array of states. While mystical and often syncretic variants of Sufi Islam are evident in much of East and West Africa, the austere, illiberal Wahabi sect, coming out of Saudi Arabia, has found a growing audience in these regions and in the Horn. The consequent battle for the heart of African Islam constitutes an important part of the African religious landscape, with implications for both internal African politics and relations with the United States. SOURCE: United States Institute of Peace United States Institute of Peace Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:42:04 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=7460 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=7460 West Africa is a region with a history of senseless wars that have often targeted civilians rather than combatants. In October 1998, Heads of State and Governments of the 16 member states of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)1 formally signed the Moratorium on the importation, exportation, and manufacture of small arms and light weapons (SALW). ECOWAS Member States adopted a code of conduct as well as a plan of action for the implementation of the Moratorium. The creation of national commissions for the fight against illicit trade and possession of small arm, verification strategies, and introduction of enduser certificates constitute major highlights of the document. This article provides a review of events in West Africa that have challenged the effectiveness and relevance of the Moratorium in addressing the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in the region. SOURCE: Institute for Security Studies Institute for Security Studies Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:42:04 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=7470 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=7470 Situated in between Ghana and Benin, with a coastline of no more than 56km, Togo is one of Africa's smallest countries. However, what has habitually been a little talked about West African nation holds a long history of political unrest and has recently entered into a phase of instability in the beginning of 2005. Civil society members and organizations are now regrouped in the WANEP network, (West African Network for Peacebuilding) in a joint effort to set a national agenda toward reconciliation, peace and security and lead the way in facing Togo's unprecedented public health, development and education challenges. SOURCE: Sciences Po // Center For Peace And Human Security Sciences Po // Center For Peace And Human Security Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:41:49 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=6330 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=6330 The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS/CEDEAO) is well known for its military intervention in Liberia and Sierra Leone. ECOWAS was created in 1975 to replace the Customs Union of West African States originally created in 1959 to redistribute customs duties collected by the coastal states of West Africa. The Treaty on the Economic Community of West African States was revised at the Cotonou Summit of July 1993 to replace the inexistent Tribunal originally envisioned with a Community Court of Justice. 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 03:41:49 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=6331 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=6331 The Common Court of Justice and Arbitration (CCJA) is the court of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA), one of the most successful regional legal harmonization efforts on the Continent. Unlike the other continental regional integration groups, OHADA does not seek to conform national law to an overarching treaty and successive regulations and directives, which allow national legislature some leeway. Instead, OHADA uses the integration method of issuing binding uniform acts that automatically supercede all prior and future inconsistent national laws. With the goal of creating a secure, simple and modern legal framework for the conduct of business in Africa, OHADA has issued eight uniform acts on general commercial law, commercial companies and economic interest groups, securities, arbitration, simplified recovery procedures and measures of execution, collective insolvency and accounting. 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 03:41:49 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=6334 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=6334 The West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) was established when the CFA was devalued in order to ensure coherent monetary and economic policy among the states of the CFA zone. The Court of Justice is intended to assist in the enforcement of that coherence. The Court of Justice, alongside the Court of Auditors, functions as the juridical arm of WAEMU, with automatic jurisdiction over all Member States of the Union. Avoiding the perennial delays seen in the entry into force of the Protocol Establishing the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, the Treaty provided that the Protocol on the Court would be an integral part of the Treaty with no need for ratifications. Addressing further the Continental problem of implementation, the Treaty required that the Court come into being within six months of the Treaty entering into force. With financial help from France and the European Union, these Treaty provisions were fulfilled and the first judges of the Court were sworn in on January 27, 1985. Not meeting the three month deadline in the Treaty, the judges fully operationalized the Court by promulgating #the Rules of Procedure in July 1986. In 1997, the addition of Guinea Bissau to WAEMU resulted in the expansion of the bench to nine judges. The Additional Act that initiating this expansion also included the specification that judges on the Court are chosen from among those persons guaranteeing independence and juridical competence, emphasizing that the Court is to be wholly separate from the political sphere of the Union. 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 03:41:48 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=6241 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=6241 After a feasibility study conducted throughout the sub-region, representatives of seven West African countries in 1998 officially launched WANEP in Accra Ghana. They created WANEP as a mechanism to harness peacebuilding initiatives and to strengthen collective interventions that were already bearing good fruits in Liberia, the Northern Region of Ghana, and Sierra Leone. SOURCE: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:41:48 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=6283 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=6283 The recirculation of weapons is undermining efforts by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the international community to curb the illicit trafficking of small arms in the ECOWAS region. Worryingly, the leakage of state-owned weapons through theft, seizure, and corruption is a primary source of small arms and light weapons for many armed groups. This report documents more than 30 armed groups that have operated in ECOWAS member states since 1998, the year the Moratorium on Importation, Exportation and Manufacture of Light Weapons in West Africa was adopted. This represents the tip of the iceberg. More than 100 groups exist in Nigeria's River State alone, but detailed information is difficult to obtain. SOURCE: Small Arms Survey // Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva Small Arms Survey // Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:41:35 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=5175 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=5175 In September 2003, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) initiated a project aimed at improving the level of information available on trafficking in human beings within, to and from Benin, Nigeria and Togo, and to recommend measures to strengthen action to counter the problem. The study included extensive research activities in each of the three countries. A number of factors contribute to the phenomenon of trafficking in human beings, in particular children, in West Africa. Predominant among these are poverty, large family size, lack of educational opportunities and lack of employment. Other factors facilitating trafficking in persons in Benin, Nigeria and Togo include ignorance on the part of families and children of the risks involved in trafficking, the high demand for cheap and submissive child labour in the informal economic sector, the desire of youth for emancipation through migration, institutional lapses such as inadequate political commitment, non-existent national legislation against trafficking in human beings, and the absence of a judicial framework allowing for the perpetrators and accomplices of trafficking to be held responsible and punished for their acts. Other contributory factors in trafficking in persons in the region include porous borders, corrupt government officials, involvement of international organized crime groups or networks, limited capacity of or commitment by immigration and law enforcement officers to control trafficking at the borders and lack of political will or desire to enforce existing legislation or mandates. SOURCE: United Nations // United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime United Nations // United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:41:29 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=4493 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=4493 This report provides information for future programming by identifying effective approaches for working with men in the uniformed services in reproductive and sexual health from a gender perspective. SOURCE: United Nations Population Fund // Technical Support Division: Culture, Gender and Human Rights Branch // United Nations United Nations Population Fund // Technical Support Division: Culture, Gender and Human Rights Branch // United Nations Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:40:59 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=1565 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=1565 The media can play a critical role in exacerbating war or consolidating peace. In the former, the media can incite violence by propagandising and distributing misinformation or biased information. Or by covering up the truth media can also be complicit in hidden violence or atrocities that take place. In the latter, the media can be a powerful tool in peacebuilding and democratic development, by shining light on abuses; providing and sharing information; holding the powerful to account; and serving as an outlet for different opinions and perspectives. SOURCE: European Centre for Conflict Prevention European Centre for Conflict Prevention Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:40:52 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=910 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=910 The Food Security and Agricultural Projects Analysis Unit (ESAF) of FAO has undertaken a number of pilot studies to develop a methodology for understanding why certain groups of people are vulnerable to becoming food insecure. The studies use the sustainable livelihoods approach adopted for food security analysis and are primarily based on qualitative information collection. The objective of these studies is to inform policy and programming decisions for reducing vulnerability to food insecurity. Drawing from these experiences and those of other FAO units involved in similar work, this paper identifies key lessons learnt and makes recommendations for strengthening future work on food security and vulnerability analysis. SOURCE: United Nations // Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations // FAO Economic and Social Department United Nations // Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations // FAO Economic and Social Department Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:40:52 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=927 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=927 This paper examines food security in the context of conflict in West Africa. The analysis developed in the paper recognises the importance of defining conflict type and the trends in conflict so that conflict and post-conflict policies may be implemented. The relationship between food security and conflict is analysed. Whilst conflict exacerbates food security, food insecurity can itself fuel conflict. Strategies designed to assist in post-war rehabilitation need to address key dimensions of food security: availability, access and stability. It is argued in this paper, that consideration of these three dimensions are necessary joint conditions in moving towards a reduction in the numbers of hungry. The cases of Sierra Leone and Liberia are examined to consider the nature of conflict and how food security is being addresses and the necessary policy implications after prolonged violent conflict. Ghana is examined as an analytical contrast to show that the absence of conflict is not a sufficient condition for growth and reduced hunger. SOURCE: United Nations // Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations // FAO Economic and Social Department // United Nations // Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations // FAO Economic and Social Department //