Learning Journey News

May 02
IDS Bulletin Archive edition on "Inclusive Peace and Security"

​The IDS Bulletin on "Inclusive Peace and Security" is reprinting articles dating back to an eloquent article by Willy Brandt from 1985, which are as relevant now as when they were first published.

Like all IDS Bulletins the entire issue is open access. The link is:
http://bulletin.ids.ac.uk/idsbo/issue/view/230 
 
One article that might be of interest to you is:
From Disarmament and Development to Inclusive Peace and Security: Four Decades of IDS Research

Abstract: This introductory article surveys four decades of work on peace, security, and development, centring on articles published in previous issues of the IDS Bulletin. These articles focused initially on disarmament and its actual and potential contributions to development. After the end of the Cold War, development research engaged more and more directly with conflict prevention and peace-building, turning the spotlight upon security. IDS work has been distinctive in three respects. First, in interrogating the multiple meanings of security, delinking it from state and international security. Second, by tracing the complex links between global, national, local, and personal security. Third, in its insistence that security be inclusive, drawing upon the experience and agency of the people and groups who are ‘developed’ and ‘secured’.
Mar 22
What did you think of Patricia Justino's state of the art study?

​The F2F in Kiev is coming closer with our Learning Journey being one of the thematic issues to discuss. We come back to the very first step of the journey and wanted to know from some people, what they thought about Patricia Justino's study and how it leads the way forward in the next steps of the Learning Journey.

If you don't have time to read the study, please watch the video and tell us what you think too!

Sep 26
Do you want to learn more about governance and peacebuilding?

Local governments are often the first to collapse when factions fight for territorial control. In post-conflict settings, the state is often unable to effectively reach parts of its territory for years. Given these challenges, it is no surprise that decentralization and local governance provisions are increasingly prominent in peace agreements and national post-conflict peacebuilding agendas.

This online course explores how decentralization contributes to peacebuilding and identifies the elements of local governance that are most relevant in a post-conflict/peacebuilding context. Concrete case studies are used to illustrate successful decentralization reforms and peacebuilding efforts at the local level.

http://www.unssc.org/courses/decentralized-governance-and-peacebuilding-november/

Jul 09
Governance interventions in fragile and conflict-affected countries

​Patricia Justino gives us a preview of her paper on:

Governance interventions in fragile and conflict-affected countries

 

download presentation HERE!

Jul 04
A blog feed worth following...

​Duncan Green, author of ‘From Poverty to Power’ is a regular blogger. Here a post on:

What is really going on within ‘shrinking civil society space’ and how should international actors respond?


Jul 04
Two new SLRC synthesis reports

I hope this finds you well. Please find below the links to two Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium (SLRC) synthesis reports covering all SLRC countries. The SLRC South Sudan team also contributed to these reports.

Service delivery, public perceptions and state legitimacy

Service delivery and state capacity


I previously shared with you SLRC South Sudan reports which you can find HERE.

Martina Santschi

Jun 19
A short blog post on how RoL and peacebuilding are connected

A very short read with different examples on how the Rule of Law and Peacebuilding are connected:

https://medium.com/we-the-peoples/seven-reasons-why-rule-of-law-matters-for-peace-860d5d4fc313

 

May 30
Statebuilding and legitimacy: experiences of South Sudan

In 2005, the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement / Army concluded a peace agreement, formally ending the 22-year-old civil war. Following a referendum, South Sudan seceded; donors put billions toward the new state and Sudan’s recovery, supporting – amongst other things – the development of new state institutions for both countries. However, in December 2013, war broke out again in South Sudan.

Prevalent approaches to state building – such as those employed in Sudan and South Sudan from 2005 to 2013 – focus mainly on infrastructure and bureaucracy, based on the underlying assumption that service delivery fosters state legitimacy. Recent research, however, questions this assumption, arguing that it ignores the role that political structures, ideas and history play in legitimation or de-legitimation of the state.

This report uses South Sudan as an example to interrogate people’s perceptions of the state, asking what – if not service delivery – fosters state legitimacy

This research was conducted under the Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium (SLRC), a six-year, eight-country research study, led by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) in London. SLRC investigates livelihoods, access to basic services, and social protection in fragile and conflict-affected situations. The research is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DfID), Irish Aid, and the European Community (EC).  The Feinstein International Center leads SLRC research in South Sudan and Uganda in addition to its participation in the Sierra Leone research.

[download PDF]

May 29
Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium

The reserach consortium is looking into questions that are of key concern for our Learning Journey

Legitimacy: Establishing, building or strengthening state legitimacy is a major element of state-building, yet policymakers and researchers have tended to ignore the tricky question of legitimacy. Using a local-level, people-centred perspective, SLRC explores how individuals’ experiences, perceptions and expectations of the state and local governance shape legitimacy.

Capacity: If the first theme focuses on the ‘demand’ side of state-building, then the second is concerned with its ‘supply’ side. Social protection and basic services are important in their own right, and identifying which mechanisms and partnerships are most effective in terms of securing their delivery in different contexts is a key priority for research and policy.

Economic activity: Research under this theme asks: what do livelihood trajectories in conflict-affected situations tell us about how governments and aid agencies can more effectively support the ways in which poor and vulnerable people make a living? SLRC addresses this using a longitudinal perspective – a key gap in the current evidence base – which helps build a picture of how people attempt to secure their livelihoods in particular contexts and over time.

Please find more information and publications: http://www.securelivelihoods.org/content/2251/What-we-do

May 24
Event: Peace building, decentralisation and local governance

​On 8 June 2017 swisspeace is reflecting on its mandate for UNICEF and recent project designs and reviews for SDC
 around the topic of Peacebuilding through Decentralization and Local Governance.

This is a first event in a series in relation to our learning journey.

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No, this isn't actually my picture. I just haven't gotten around to updating this section. It's good to know that someone is reading every last word though. Thanks!