Keyword Archives: human rights
They Were Just Thrown Away, and Now the World is Spoiled
In the aftermath of violence, proper treatment of the dead provides a vital consolation for survivors and their communities. This recognition of the bonds that tie the living to the dead has become a key feature of international human rights, … Read More
Posted in Publications, Reports
Keywords: human rights, violence
Accountability and Reconciliation in Northern Uganda
By Khristopher Carlson and Dyan Mazurana. 2010. Sharanjeet Parmar, Mindy Jane Roseman, Saudamini Siegrist, and Theo Sowa (eds.) Children and Transitional Justice: Truth-Telling, Accountability and Reconciliation. Harvard University Press.
Posted in Book Chapters, Publications
Keywords: human rights, justice, security
Foraging and Fighting
This joint publication by the Feinstein International Center and Save the Children in Uganda examines the perspectives and experiences of communities in the southern Karamoja region of Uganda regarding natural resources and conflict. The study set out to better understand local views on this topic in response to the assumption in policy circles that resource scarcity or competition drives the conflict in this pastoral and agro-pastoral area. We found that while sites of natural resource exploitation are often insecure, respondents in the study population did not attribute this to direct conflict over the resources themselves. Rather, violence is common in these locations because opposing groups are most likely to come into contact with each other at these sites. On the flip side, respondents stressed that peace allows for better sharing of resources and better management of resource scarcity in times of stress or hardship.
Posted in Publications, Reports
Keywords: conflict, human rights, Karamoja, livelihoods, pastoralism, Promoting Evidence-based Livelihood Programming in Karamoja
Towards a “Great Transformation”?
This report presents the findings of a two-year field research project on local perceptions of social transformation in rural Nepal. The findings, and our interpretations of them, are presented in a manner that can contribute not only to scholarly debate but also to current discussions on development policy choices and on the role of aid agencies. Our study shows that alongside the political transition, there is clear evidence of a qualitative “step-change” in the way Nepali society is organized that is beyond the continual or “normal” processes of incremental change that are always at work. Field evidence clearly suggests that many existing social norms and patterns are being challenged and are being reconstructed.
Posted in Publications, Reports
Keywords: Crisis and Social Transformation in Nepal, development, human rights, social transformation
Aid and Violence
The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) launched its “People’s War” in 1996. The Maoists’ rise to power was impressive by any standard. After a successful showing at the polls for the Constituent Assembly in April 2008, they became the strongest organized political force in the country. At the same time, foreign aid has been a fixture of Nepal’s development efforts since the 1950s: the donor community has been the key partner in Nepal’s development successes and failures. How did these two realities—the insurgency and foreign aid—interact?
Posted in Publications, Reports
Keywords: conflict, Crisis and Social Transformation in Nepal, development, human rights, humanitarian action
Assessing Uganda’s cross-border pursuit of the Lord’s Resistance Army
This report informs the background to the current crisis in Uganda and discussions about whether local and international policy-makers should rely primarily on military force to protect civilians from the ongoing threat posed by the LRA.
Posted in Publications, Reports
Keywords: arms, conflict, human rights, justice, terrorism
Forced Marriage within the LRA, Uganda
“Forced Marriage within the Lord’s Resistance Army, Uganda” demonstrates that forced marriage includes acts codified as crimes in international customary and human rights law. These crimes include rape, sexual slavery, enforced pregnancy, forced labor, enslavement, and torture. However, the crime of forced marriage is unique from the above mentioned crimes, as it contains the element of forced conjugality.
Posted in Publications, Reports
Keywords: children, conflict, human rights, justice, war, women
The State of Female Youth in Northern Uganda
Youth have been both the primary victims and the primary actors in the twenty-two year war between the Government of Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance Army. It was not clear, however, exactly who is suffering, how much, and in what ways. For instance, researchers knew little about the experience of youth: what is the magnitude, incidence, and nature of the violence, trauma, and suffering of youth in northern Uganda? An understanding of the effects of war on women and girls was particularly lacking, whether they were abducted or affected by the violence in other ways.
Posted in Publications, Reports
Keywords: children, conflict, human rights, humanitarian action, justice, SWAY, women
A Way Forward for Assisting Women and Girls in Northern Uganda
Little is known about the short and long term effects of war on youth. Yet without an understanding of who is at risk of violence (and from whom), the factors that affect violence and acceptance, a sense of the long-term impacts of war violence, and a strong grasp of the factors that protect youth, how can we design more effective prevention, protection, rehabilitation and reintegration programs?
Posted in Publications, Reports
Keywords: children, conflict, human rights, war, women
War Slavery: The Role of Children and Youth in Fighting Forces in Sustaining Armed Conflicts and War Economies in Africa
By Dyan Mazurana and Khristopher Carlson. 2008. Dubravka Zarkov (ed.). Gender, Violent Conflict, and Development. Zubaan Press: New Delhi.
Posted in Book Chapters, Publications
Keywords: child soldiers, children, conflict, human rights, war