Publications
The report analyses views among business communities, particularly small- and medium size enterprises (SMEs), on the issue of the regulating trans-Ingur/i economic relations, Georgian-Abkhaz conflict transformation and the invigoration of the political process. The report is a continuation of an Abkhaz-Georgian action research process which began in 2009 and evolved more generally from International Alert’s Economy and Conflict work in the South Caucasus. This work seeks to deepen understanding on the economic dimensions of peacebuilding, as well as to engage economic actors in peacebuilding in the South Caucasus. The aim of the report is two-fold: firstly, to provide empirical evidence and analysis of views within the private sector on regulating trans-Ingur/i economic relations and hence stimulating discussion on the issue; secondly, to put forward recommendations on how regulation could be conducted in order to benefit the broader conflict transformation agenda.
This second edition of the South Caucasus ‘Literary Almanac’ presents a new selection of prose, poetry and essays from the five literatures of the South Caucasus published in one volume in Russian language. This second volume also presents new, previously unpublished writers, and new pieces of work commissioned especially for this edition. Also featured are contemporary photographs from across the region. Along the theme of urban life, this edition offers a new insight into the authors’ cities , sharing emotions across the region and further showing how literature can be used as a tool in building understanding between different peoples.
Второе издание Литературного Альманаха Южного Кавказа представляет собой новое собрание абхазской, армянской, азербайджанской, грузинской и осетинской прозы, поэзии и сочинений, опубликованных в одном сборнике на русском языке. Во втором сборнике также представлены произведения новых, ранее не публиковавшихся авторов, также как и произведения, заказанные специально для этого издания. Также представлены работы современных фотографов со всего региона. Наряду с темой городской жизни, это издание предлагает новый взгляд на города авторов, делясь эмоциями со всего региона и демонстрируя, как литература может быть использована для построения взаимопонимания между различными людьми.
This paper uses Alert’s peacebuilding framework to explore questions about peace and peacebuilding in South Sudan and Sudan.
Important underlying factors of conflict remain unaddressed within both countries, and the paper makes three broad recommendations to those in South Sudan and Sudan who are concerned to build a more comprehensive and more stable peace, and to those in the international community wishing to support their efforts.
- Use a positive peace framework to define goals and measure progress.
- Promote a visioning and sustained dialogue process about peace.
- Identify and emphasise how the economy can best support long-term peace.
This report focuses on how theories of change can improve the effectiveness of peacebuilding interventions. A review of 19 peacebuilding projects in three conflict-affected countries found that the process of articulating and reviewing theories of change adds rigour and transparency, clarifies project logic, highlights assumptions that need to be tested, and helps identify appropriate participants and partners. However, the approach has limitations, including the difficulty of gathering theory-validating evidence.
This report is based on a research project in collaboration with the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and the School of International Development at the University of East Anglia. The research analyses the links between environmental stress, climate change, human security, conflict and adaptation at different scales and localities along the Niger River. The third longest river in Africa, the Niger River and its tributaries are a key source of water for the estimated 100 million people living in the basin, especially for the drier regions within the western Sahel zone. Drawing on the study’s findings, this report offers key policy guidelines for resilience building, adaptation and reducing conflict.
This summary report is based on a research project in collaboration with the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and the School of International Development at the University of East Anglia. The research analyses the links between environmental stress, climate change, human security, conflict and adaptation at different scales and localities along the Niger River. Drawing on the study’s findings, this report offers key policy guidelines for resilience building, adaptation and reducing conflict. The full report can be found at: http://www.international-alert.org/resources/publications/climate-change-water-and-conflict-niger-river-basin
This note explains the importance of using a conflict-sensitive approach to responding to climate change in South Asia. It offers guidelines and emerging principles on how climate change and development policy makers and practitioners can promote peace-positive adaptation actions which can yield the double dividend of building resilience to climate change and conflict. Issues of water, land, energy and food security are highly affected by climate change. At the same time, inappropriate governance of these issues lies at the root of conflicts across the region. The note proposes that engagement in these areas needs to be approached in a comprehensive way which maximises the productive capacity of local communities, while also minimising the risk of instability and conflict.
The European Partnership for the Peaceful Settlement of the Conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh (EPNK) is a European civil society initiative which seeks to work with local partners in the South Caucasus on a wide range of programmes and projects to positively impact the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement process. The members of the partnership are: Conciliation Resources, Crisis Management Initiative, International Alert, Kvinna till Kvinna and the London Information Network on Conflicts and State Building. The case studies in this brochure give a flavour of the range of activities underway as part of the EPNK initiative.
In March-April 2011, International Alert commissioned a series of portraits of people throughout the conflict-torn region of Nagorno-Karabakh from international award-winning photographer Jonathan Banks. The aim of the project was to capture faces of different people that vividly represent the human side of the conflict, where each individual remains above all a human being with his or her right to be what they are, wherever they live, with dignity and in peace. This brochure collects not only these photos, but also quotes from a group of international experts who travelled with Alert to the conflict region to share their wisdom, experience and passion for peacebuilding with local civil society representatives, government officials, media and our counterparts in the region.
This first edition of the South Caucasus ‘Literary Almanac’ is a collection of prose and poetry of the five literatures of the South Caucasus – Abkhaz, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Georgian and Ossetian – published in one volume in Russian language. The purpose of the Almanac is to stimulate a virtual dialogue between peoples of the South Caucasus through literature and culture, harnessing the unused potential of cultural figures and intellectuals in promoting tolerance and peace. Respected authors from across the region write about the traditions, culture and life of their community and universal values.
Первое издание Литературного альманаха Южного Кавказа представляет собой сборник абхазской, армянской, азербайджанской, грузинской и осетинской прозы и поэзии, опубликованных в одном сборнике на русском языке. Цель альманаха является стимулирование виртуального диалога между народами Южного Кавказа посредством литературы и культуры, освоение неиспользованного потенциала деятелей культуры и интеллигенции в деле поощрения терпимости и мира. Уважаемые авторы со всего региона пишут о традициях, культуре и жизни своих сообществ и общечеловеческих ценностях.
This report analyses the EU’s institutional capacity to carry out conflict early warning, early action, and conflict prevention in two of the most conflict-ridden and war-affected countries in the world: Sudan and South Sudan. It analyses the institutional aspects of EU conflict early warning approaches and assesses the extent to which they are applied in-country and in Brussels to inform policies, strategies and programming processes. It provides a number of recommendations on how the EU can overcome challenges and constraints so that it can better link early warning to effective & timely response to prevent conflict and build peace, under the new Lisbon Treaty architecture. The report concludes by noting that the EU needs to identify its peacebuilding niche in a heavily crowded field of actors. If it decides its niche is related to early warning, conflict prevention and peacebuilding, it needs to prove this through sustained political willingness to engage on the crucial conflict issues discussed above and invest heavily in building up its systems, networks, capacity and tools to be able to play a viable role in both Sudan and South Sudan. The key here would be to develop a coherent approach that is fully grounded in an understanding of the realities of the different conflicts, and developing and mobilising the type of complex political engagement and partnerships that are needed to deliver concrete results in terms of improved stability and security for the Sudanese and South Sudanese people.
Although Lebanon is known in the Middle East for its relative political openness and for the degree of freedom Lebanese women enjoy, it paradoxically has one of the lowest rates of women’s political engagement in the region. This report examines the extent to which women are currently involved in politics in Lebanon, as well as the opportunities for increasing their involvement, by drawing on Alert’s work with the youth wings of Lebanese political parties and a conference Alert held on the topic of promoting gender equality in political parties. The first part of this report presents diverse perspectives from Lebanese and international experts within their conference speeches, and the second part includes an analysis of interviews with Lebanese youth, in which they reflect on their hopes, concerns and ideas for improving gender equality in Lebanese politics in the future.
International Alert’s new Impact Report uses the metaphor of a marathon to explain our work in 2010. Focusing on four regions that we work in, we show in this report how investing time and effort in understanding the local context, dealing with complex challenges as they arise, remaining flexible to adapt to changing circumstances, and staying focused, ensuring that what we achieve is lasting and meaningful, are four principles that guide the work we do. The regions we focus on in this report to illustrate these principles are: Rwanda, Lebanon, The Philippines and Georgia/Abkhazia.
Why is development progress difficult in fragile and conflict-affected countries? International Alert conducted a series of studies in Burundi, Liberia and Nepal to explore this question in terms of how international institutions channel aid to support peace and development progress. The studies focused on two multilaterals: the World Bank and the United Nations. From the country studies, some common institutional challenges and opportunities emerged: governance and political legitimacy; responsiveness to fast-changing contexts; managing organisational mandates; harnessing comparative advantage between institutions; and translating policy commitments into practice. This summary of research findings and analysis includes a series of emerging recommendations. Rather than providing answers, this paper uses evidence to stimulate new conversation, thinking and practice.
This publication contains a collection of articles produced by Abkhaz and Georgian experts on the subject of the political and economic dividends – or losses – that could be brought about by regulating economic relations across the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict divide. It is an outcome of an action research process that began in 2009 and evolved more generally from International Alert’s Economy and Conflict work in the South Caucasus on engaging economic actors in peacebuilding. The aim of this publication is to stimulate discussion on the potential political and economic impact of transparent and predictable cross-Ingur/i economic relations. While it does not at this point put forward any concrete models or proposals for regulating cross-Ingur/i economic relations, it attempts to lay the groundwork for further specialised research and policy recommendations.
Это издание представляет собой сборник статей, подготовленных абхазскими и грузинскими экспертами на тему возможных политических и экономических дивидендов - и потерь – в ситуации регулирования транс-ингурских экономических отношений. Сборник является результатом исследовательского процесса который начался в 2009 году и основывается на работе Алерт в рамках проекта «Экономика и конфликт» на Южном Кавказе. Цель данной работы – стимулировать дискуссию о возможном политическом и экономическом отражении прозрачных и предсказуемых транс-ингурских экономических отношений. Без продвижения на данном этапе определенных моделей или предложений по регулированию транс-ингурских экономических отношений, эта работа создает базу для дальнейшего специализированного исследования, направленного на практический результат, и продвижение результатов таких исследований на уровне принятия решений.
This publication contains a collection of articles produced by Abkhaz and Georgian experts on the subject of the political and economic dividends – or losses – that could be brought about by regulating economic relations across the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict divide. It is an outcome of an action research process that began in 2009 and evolved more generally from International Alert’s Economy and Conflict work in the South Caucasus on engaging economic actors in peacebuilding. The aim of this publication is to stimulate discussion on the potential political and economic impact of transparent and predictable cross-Ingur/i economic relations. While it does not at this point put forward any concrete models or proposals for regulating cross-Ingur/i economic relations, it attempts to lay the groundwork for further specialised research and policy recommendations.
This series of three country “Insights” identifies peacebuilding priorities in Burundi, Liberia and Nepal, and discusses the response of the international institutions operating there. The focus institutions are primarily the World Bank and the UN. The insights provide a brief snapshot and analysis of each country’s particular peacebuilding needs, as well as the dynamics that either facilitate or hinder institutional ability to address these needs. Findings inform a synthesis report entitled ‘Peacebuilding, the World Bank and the United Nations: Debates and Practice in Burundi, Liberia and Nepal’, the summary of which is available here. This work is part of Alert’s International Institutions Programme which seeks through research and engagement to strengthen the peacebuilding impacts of international institutions in fragile and conflict-affected countries.
This series of three country “Insights” identifies peacebuilding priorities in Burundi, Liberia and Nepal, and discusses the response of the international institutions operating there. The focus institutions are primarily the World Bank and the UN. The insights provide a brief snapshot and analysis of each country’s particular peacebuilding needs, as well as the dynamics that either facilitate or hinder institutional ability to address these needs. Findings inform a synthesis report entitled ‘Peacebuilding, the World Bank and the United Nations: Debates and Practice in Burundi, Liberia and Nepal’, the summary of which is available here. This work is part of Alert’s International Institutions Programme which seeks through research and engagement to strengthen the peacebuilding impacts of international institutions in fragile and conflict-affected countries.
This series of three country “Insights” identifies peacebuilding priorities in Burundi, Liberia and Nepal, and discusses the response of the international institutions operating there. The focus institutions are primarily the World Bank and the UN. The insights provide a brief snapshot and analysis of each country’s particular peacebuilding needs, as well as the dynamics that either facilitate or hinder institutional ability to address these needs. Findings inform a synthesis report entitled ‘Peacebuilding, the World Bank and the United Nations: Debates and Practice in Burundi, Liberia and Nepal’, the summary of which is available here. This work is part of Alert’s International Institutions Programme which seeks through research and engagement to strengthen the peacebuilding impacts of international institutions in fragile and conflict-affected countries.
The current phase of oil exploration in Uganda offers a unique opportunity to alleviate poverty and create broad-based development and improved standards of living across the country. A strong and functioning legislative framework for managing the different aspects of the oil resource is essential to ensuring positive outcomes, as are strong and effective government institutions; an environment that requires transparent disclosure of payments and receipts from oil revenues; existence of independent and effective law-enforcement agencies to deal with transgressions; and committed policy implementers. The role of parliamentarians in scrutinising the sector is in turn equally critical.
Oil and Gas Laws in Uganda; A Legislator’s Guide, sets out the main provisions of the proposed framework, and how these differ from existing provisions. The Guide will serve as a helpful tool for legislators, as they take up their task of developing Uganda’s regulatory framework for its nascent oil industry.
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