Afghanistan: Humanitarianism in Uncertain Times

December 2012

The Afghan crisis, now well into its fourth decade, has many layers. The military and political dimensions of the crisis grab the headlines. But the structural violence and poor governance that underpin it—grinding poverty, rampant abuse of power, criminalized economy, parlous condition of women and girls, poor access to health and other services—receives much less attention.

This report focuses on the lives and vulnerabilities of those affected by the crisis and on the attempts by local and international agencies to mitigate these vulnerabilities within the fraught and volatile Afghan context. It presents an analysis of the humanitarian situation on the ground and of the challenges and constraints faced by the humanitarian community in a fast-moving environment. Its conclusions point to urgent changes required to improve the response to a severe and deepening humanitarian crisis and to protect humanitarian agencies, to the extent possible, from overt politicization and manipulation.

In the context of the so-called “transition”— that is, the significant reduction of foreign troops and probable decrease in aid and international engagement in Afghanistan—it is important to take stock of the humanitarian situation and to review how humanitarian agencies are preparing for a future that is bound to be of great uncertainty and that might well result in an escalation of conflict, lawlessness, displacement, and humanitarian need.

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Tradition in Transition: Customary Authority in Karamoja, Uganda

November 2012

Customary authority in the Karamoja region of Uganda has undergone profound shifts in parallel to the changing livelihoods and security conditions in the region over the past several decades. This study, funded by Irish Aid Kampala, examines the evolution of customary authority among four population groups, the Jie, Dodoth, Matheniko and Tepeth. Overall the study finds that customary mechanisms have been slow to adapt to the changes in the region and have seen decreased influence over the day-to-day legal, economic, diplomatic and ritual affairs of local communities. Interrelated factors contributing to this decrease in influence include the loss of livestock in the region and the shift away from pastoral livelihoods; modern influences of education, migration and commoditization; the delay in succession of authority from one generation-set to the next; the rise in criminal behavior by young men; the erosion of external peacemaking by male elders; and the expanded reach of state institutions of governance.

Customary authority mechanisms do, however, continue to play an important role in the region and are often the preferred avenues for redress for specific complaints and violations. In particular, customary systems are seen as more transparent and more appropriate in their focus on compensation and the reconciliation of communal relations when compared to the official state law and order systems. This study examines the perceptions of male elders, male youth and women regarding the status of customary institutions within their community. The study also investigates the interaction between official and customary systems and offers recommendations for national and international actors working in the Karamoja region.

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Executive Summary of Tradition in Transition: Customary Authority in Karamoja, Uganda

November 2012

Customary authority in the Karamoja region of Uganda has undergone profound shifts in parallel to the changing livelihoods and security conditions in the region over the past several decades. This study, funded by Irish Aid Kampala, examines the evolution of customary authority among four population groups, the Jie, Dodoth, Matheniko and Tepeth. Overall the study finds that customary mechanisms have been slow to adapt to the changes in the region and have seen decreased influence over the day-to-day legal, economic, diplomatic and ritual affairs of local communities. Interrelated factors contributing to this decrease in influence include the loss of livestock in the region and the shift away from pastoral livelihoods; modern influences of education, migration and commoditization; the delay in succession of authority from one generation-set to the next; the rise in criminal behavior by young men; the erosion of external peacemaking by male elders; and the expanded reach of state institutions of governance.

Customary authority mechanisms do, however, continue to play an important role in the region and are often the preferred avenues for redress for specific complaints and violations. In particular, customary systems are seen as more transparent and more appropriate in their focus on compensation and the reconciliation of communal relations when compared to the official state law and order systems. This study examines the perceptions of male elders, male youth and women regarding the status of customary institutions within their community. The study also investigates the interaction between official and customary systems and offers recommendations for national and international actors working in the Karamoja region.

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What if the FARC demobilizes?

November 2012

In September 2012, the Colombian government officially announced ongoing peace talks with the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). This gesture was the first of its kind since the failed negotiation process with the same guerrilla group during the government of Andrés Pastrana (1998–2002) (see Villarraga 2009). The FARC remains the largest and strongest non-state armed group operating in the country, and can be traced back to as early as 1964. Observers of the current negotiations are largely optimistic about the prospects for peace and the end of the decades-long conflict.

A jointly created document entitled the ‘General Agreement for the Ending of Conflict and the Construction of a Stable and Durable Peace’ (FARC and Gobierno de Colombia 2012) lays out the six points to be discussed during the negotiations. Point three on this list – ‘end of the conflict’ – envisages the ‘abandonment of weapons’ and the ‘economic, social and political reincorporation of the FARC into civilian life’. While other elements of the peace negotiations may be equally fundamental, in this piece, we focus on this specific point and highlight some of the critical issues that might emerge if the peace process between the Colombian government and this guerrilla group is successful. The ideas presented here are based on several historical applications of former combatant disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) as a peacebuilding activity. We particularly attempt to extract implications from the demobilization of the paramilitary United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) between 2003 and 2006 (Nussio 2011a), the ongoing desertion and reintegration of individual guerrilla members (Anaya 2007), and the accumulated knowledge about the structure and history of the FARC (Pizarro Leongómez 2011).[1] Although the peace process is likely to face many obstacles – and a complete failure is possible – we nevertheless remain positive about a negotiated settlement. As such, we reflect here on the critical issues that might need to be considered to support a sustainable and peaceful outcome.

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Resilience and Livelihoods Change in Tigray, Ethiopia

November 2012

Resilience is the ability of an individual, a household, a community or an institution to withstand a shock or setback of some type and recover, or “bounce back,” after a setback. As such, it implies the ability to cope with adversity by adapting, learning and innovating. Resilience has become an important operational concept in chronically vulnerable or food insecure areas of the world. Humanitarian assistance or safety net programs may be able to prevent mortality or reduce malnutrition in the face of shocks or crises, but households, their communities and their institutions may still not fully recover from the effects of the shock. In a recent policy review, the UK Department for International Development (DFID 2011) defines resilience as “the ability of countries, communities and households to manage change, by maintaining or transforming living standards in the face of shocks or stresses—such as earthquakes, drought or violent conflict—without compromising their long-term prospects.”

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Response Analysis: What Drives Program Choice?

November 2012

A 2004 assessment of emergency food security interventions in the Horn of Africa found that programs consisted of a narrow range of pre-existing packages that were not based on available evidence or analysis, but rather on questionable assumptions, which resulted in little impact on improved food security (Levine & Chastre 2004). Since then, major efforts have gone into strengthening food security analysis, including the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) tool (Food and Agriculture Organization 2006), the SENAC-ENCAP project, and various situational analysis and needs assessment tools as well as the development of various food security tracking indicators. At the same time, a much wider range of response options are available. Cash and market-based interventions have grown along with new modalities of in-kind food assistance. Furthermore, livelihoods support has greatly expanded and major improvements in nutrition programming have occurred with the development of new food products. But the question still remains: Have the improvements in analysis and expansion of program options led to improved food security programs?

This research considers “response analysis”: the analytical process by which the objectives and modality of program response options in an emergency are determined. The research question was whether improved analysis drives program response choices in humanitarian food security interventions? Answering this question requires two separate steps: (1) understand the link of food security and nutrition analysis to response choice and program design; (2) consider the impact of these programs in addressing food insecurity. This research protocol addressed the first step: the link of response analysis to response choice and program design. The objective was to better understand the details that agencies and donors use to make actual program choices in response to food security crises; understand approaches and methods (formal or informal) used in practice; and learn how to build a stronger evidence base of the way analytical practices can inform program choices.

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Livelihoods, Basic Services and Social Protection in Northern Uganda and Karamoja

October 2012

This paper synthesizes current evidence on how people are recovering their livelihoods and accessing basic services and social protection interventions in the conflict-affected regions of Uganda’s Greater North.

Please visit the Research Programme Consortium page for more information and to download this publication.

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Livelihoods, Basic Services and Social Protection in South Sudan

October 2012

This paper summarises the existing literature on livelihoods, basic services and social protection in South Sudan; presents a brief analysis of this literature, and lays out potential research questions for the Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium (SLRC).

Please visit the Research Programme Consortium page for more information and to download this publication.

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Remittances to Transit Countries

October 2012

One important gap in the literature on refugees’ and international migrants’ remittances concerns flows between developing countries. ‘South-South’ flows, particularly those to and from transit countries in the vicinity of conflict zones have not been researched. Transit countries are those that become way stations or stopping points in the journey from origin to intended destination countries. In the east of the African continent, Egypt and Kenya are countries of first asylum for Sudanese and Somalis, but also transit settings for refugees and other migrants seeking to migrate to Europe, North America or the Gulf. The migration flows originating from a particular conflict-affected country are mixed. They usually include groups and individuals fleeing, or having been displaced by, the conflict and who seek asylum or resettlement in third countries. They also encompass others in pursuit of work or family reunification also in third countries. These migrants can be ‘stuck’ in transit countries, often for years, while they try to gather the funds needed to proceed with their journeys; they may also be blocked by visa requirements or policy shifts.

In an attempt to fill this gap, the Center for Migration and Refugee Studies (CMRS) teamed up with the Feinstein International Center, (FIC) Tufts University to conduct a three year research project on Sudanese refugees and migrants in Cairo and their transnational linkages with other Sudanese both in the Diaspora and in Sudan. Egypt being a country of first asylum for the Sudanese, as mentioned above, Cairo was selected to undertake a case study on their transnational linkages. The project, funded by the International Development Research Center (IDRC) represents the second phase of an earlier study conducted by FIC on transnational linkages between the Darfuris in Maine, USA and their families in Darfur, Sudan.

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The Golden Fleece

October 2012

This book takes a long view, starting with the origins of organized humanitarianism in the mid-19th century and zeroes in on the twenty-plus years since the end of the Cold War. It examines whether instrumentalization has achieved its desired objectives, whether political manipulation is greater today than before, and whether the recent dramatic growth of relief work has opened up humanitarian action to greater manipulation.

Humanitarianism has blossomed from a relatively marginal activity in the shadow of interstate wars to a central feature of international relations; it is now part of global governance, if not of government. It has also become a much-used fig leaf to camouflage global and local failures of governance that often result in further misery for those at the mercy of conflict and crisis.

The Golden Fleece asks whether saving lives is, by its very nature, prone to instrumentalization or whether humanitarianism can be transformed and made more immune to manipulation. Building on decades of experience at the frontlines of the world’s most devastating crises, the authors chronicle the successes and failures of a humanitarian enterprise that, despite its limitations, remains central to the survival of millions of vulnerable and dispossessed people around the world. They argue that the practical and moral resistance against intolerable suffering is an urgent, necessary and critical imperative. It is at the core of what it means to be human.

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