Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Countries emerging from violence are subject to interventions designed to address macroeconomic problems and foster peacebuilding reforms. Broadly, there is a need to know how countries manage to implement and finance peace-reforms at the same time that they are carrying out macroeconomic reforms. Specifically, the key question is whether the type of economic reforms might pose some challenges to the already difficult task of implementing peacebuilding reforms. The purpose of this paper is to offer a framework of analysis of how to integrate economic reforms into problems of peacebuilding implementation. This paper focuses on the comparative analysis of two major peacebuilding initiatives namely Land and Police reforms in connection with the process of Privatizing state institutions in El Salvador and implementing the Fiscal Reform in Guatemala.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: In most post-conflict states, threats to the security of individuals remain high and women are especially vulnerable. Although efforts have been made to understand post-conflict (in)security as it relates to gender, the experiences of women have not been fully studied. This study attempts to fill this gap by asking the questions: what constitutes security for women in Liberia and what are the threats to their security. Interviews conducted reveal that rape and sexual violence committed during armed robberies are the most pressing threats to women’s security. The findings also underscore economic insecurity as a principal concern of Liberian women and a strong determinant of how they are affected by Gender-Based Violence (GBV). The findings also reveal that gender is the identity that most strongly determines how women experience (in)security. This paper argues that there is the need to further probe the relationship between women’s identities and their experience of post-conflict (in)security. There is also the need to examine the relationship between armed robbery and rape, to determine if the threats that they pose to women should be tackled within an economic or a women’s-rights lens. Finally, this study recommends a strengthening and gendering of public safety infrastructures, and the economic empowerment of women in post-conflict Liberia.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Return migration constitutes an important part of the peace-building and reconciliation efforts. This project looks at the role that the several non-governmental organizations and international organizations (among which we can include the EU, some bodies of the Council of Europe and several financial institutions) play in the facilitation of the internally displaced (IDP) Kurds? return migration and reconstruction in the previous conflict-zone. It will address the problems the possible returnee population may face, obstacles in the reconstruction of the post-conflict environments in the new phase of the ?Kurdish Question? in Turkey, and the official and civic efforts to promote a ?peaceful? (post)-conflict environment in the regions, which produced Kurdish internal displacement. The analysis will focus on how these different players frame the conflict issues, in what areas they concentrate their efforts of peace-building and reconciliation and to what extent these efforts can be put in dialogue.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper is divided into two sections, with an examination of several conflict, post-conflict, and emergency case studies of nations heavily impacted by the HIV and AIDS epidemic and an examination of several development partner perspectives for an effective national HIV/AIDS response. HIV/AIDS organizations that will be highlighted will include the involvement of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), faith based organizations (FBOs), the role of the United Nations, national AIDS commissions, higher education institutions, teacher training institutions, and funding agencies. The authors have worked with HIV/AIDS education efforts in multiple countries and share first-hand accounts from their experiences in these settings. This paper will draw from empirical research with data from leading studies and AIDS agencies.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: After over 150 years of indigenous tribal oppression, an elitist group of repatriated former slaves from the United States were ousted from power in 1980. The installment of a head of state from an indigenous tribe of the hinterland set Liberia on a track that would catalyze numerous divides between the peoples of the tiny African Republic. Jealousy of power, distrust of whole groups of tribal affiliates and voluminous propaganda blitzes geared to both recruit and abase were some of the many cleavages that precipitated from the years that followed Samuel Doe’s coup and the overthrow of the first Republic. Over a quarter century later, Liberia is emerging from 14 years of horrific civil war. While the nation attempts to heal, an examination of the social fabric is in order. A new nationwide data set of former fighters from Liberia is used to examine the impacts of tribal conflict on reintegration outcomes and analyzes findings within the context of the efforts made by national Disarmament, Demobilization, Rehabilitation and Reintegration (DDRR) program. The paper utilizes a GIS to explore the geospatial connections between tribal conflict and reintegration as well as to offer a visual insight into the reconciliation process that is taking place today in Liberia.