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Abstract: This paper identifies the factors linked to cross-country differentials in growth performance in the aftermath of social conflict for 30 sub-Saharan African countries using panel data techniques. Our results show that changes in the terms of trade are the most important correlate of economic performance in post-conflict environments. This variable is typically associated with an increase in the marginal probability of positive economic performance by about 30 percent. Institutional quality emerges as the second most important factor. Foreign aid is shown to have very limited ability to explain differentials in growth performance, and other policy variables such as trade openness are not found to have a statistically significant effect. The results suggest that exogenous factors ("luck") are an important factor in post-conflict recovery. They also highlight the importance in post-conflict settings of policies to mitigate the macroeconomic impact of terms of trade volatility (including countercyclical macroeconomic policies and innovative financing instruments) and of policies to promote export diversification.
Abstract: Nine actual or potential conflict situations around the world deteriorated and one improved in November 2010, according to the latest issue of the International Crisis Group’s monthly bulletin CrisisWatch released today.
Tensions surged on the Korean peninsula as two South Korean civilians and two marines were killed when North Korea fired dozens of artillery shells at Yeonpyeong Island, where South Korea was conducting military drills. Haiti ’s late month presidential elections ended in confusion, as several opposition candidates called for the vote to be annulled amid reports of fraud, and thousands of people took to the streets in protest. International observers from the OAS called the vote valid despite “serious irregularities”, but tensions remain high. Ivory Coast saw deadly pre-election clashes on the streets of the capital Abidjan between rival supporters of the two presidential candidates, incumbent Laurent Gbagbo and former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara. The tightly contested 28 November run-off and delays in announcing the preliminary results has led to heightened tensions between the two camps and fears of further violence.
In Guinea, preliminary results declaring opposition leader Alpha Condé winner of the 7 November second round presidential election sparked three days of violence resulting in at least four deaths and dozens injured. CrisisWatch also noted deteriorated situations in Burundi, Central African Republic, Madagascar, Egypt and Western Sahara.
In Niger, the situation improved as results from the 31 October referendum showed 90 per cent of voters in favour of the new constitution, paving the way for January 2011 elections and a return to civilian rule.
Once again this month CrisisWatch describes violence against civilians in North and South Kivu provinces in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Abstract: Madagascar is on edge as this report goes to press. On the previous day, 17 November 2010, a group of military officers announced a coup, stating they had set up a “military council for the welfare of the people”. The authorities claim they have the situation under control and that the plotters aimed only to disturb the constitutional referendum taking place that same day. The regime also expresses confidence that the “yes” vote on its proposed new constitution will win handily, though there are already assertions of irregularities. Behind the scenes, some insiders express greater concern about the situation. What can be said with certainty is only that these developments demonstrate the fragility of the long-running Malagasy crisis and the urgent need, as described below, to adopt a new approach to end it.
Abstract: Le climat politique est tendu à Madagascar alors que ce rapport est mis sous presse. La veille, le 17 novembre 2010, un groupe d’officiers a annoncé un coup d’Etat et a déclaré avoir mis en place un « Comité militaire pour le salut public ». Les autorités affirment avoir la situation sous contrôle et estiment que cette annonce n’était destinée qu’à perturber le référendum constitutionnel qui avait lieu le même jour. Le régime est confiant dans la victoire du « oui » sur sa proposition de constitution, alors que certaines irrégularités ont déjà été signalées. En coulisses, certaines sources expriment davantage d’inquiétude concernant la situation. Tout ce qui peut être affirmé avec certitude, c’est que ces derniers développements démontrent la fragilité de la longue crise malgache et la nécessité, comme décrit ci-dessous, d’adopter une nouvelle approche pour en sortir.
Abstract: At least 71 journalists were killed across the globe in 2009, the Committee to Protect Journalists announced Tuesday, the largest annual toll in the 30 years the group has been keeping track.
Twenty-nine of those deaths came in a single, politically motivated massacre of reporters and others in the Philippines last November, the worst known episode for journalists, the committee said.
But there were other worrisome trends. The two nations with the highest number of journalists incarcerated — China had 24 journalists imprisoned at the end of 2009 and Iran had 23 — were particularly harsh in taking aim at bloggers and others using the Internet. The number jailed in Iran has since jumped to 47, the committee said. Of the 71 confirmed deaths, 51 were murders, the committee said. The report noted that 24 additional deaths of journalists remained under investigation to determine if they were related to the journalists’ work. Previously, the highest number of journalists killed in a single year was 67, in 2007, when violence in Iraq was raging.
Abstract: The Humanitarian Action Report is UNICEF's only publication dealing specifically with the needs of children and women in emergencies. It spotlights crises that require exceptional support, and additional funding, to save lives and protect children from harm in an increasingly challenging humanitarian environment.
This year's report – subtitled 'Partnering for children in emergencies' – says the world is seeing crises exacerbated by larger trends, such as climate change and the international financial downturn, that are beyond the capacity of any one agency to address.
The report appeals for nearly $1.2 billion in international donor funding for emergency-response efforts in 28 countries covering six regions – from Eastern Europe to Africa to Asia to Latin America. The funding will be used to support a greater emphasis on emergency preparedness, early warning, disaster risk reduction and rapid recovery.
Abstract: Since January 2009, Madagascar has been experiencing serious political unrest, characterized by sporadic demonstrations and violence in the capital city of Antananarivo and other main urban centres. As of 5 May, some 1,332 casualties, including 191 fatalities, have been recorded in hospitals by WHO. The situation has provoked a climate of fear and uncertainty, leading to a rise in unemployment in key sectors, as well as disruptions in social services. In addition, a number of aid projects throughout the country have been experiencing delays due to difficulties of access and implementation. Certain development projects have had to be put on hold as funding is no longer guaranteed. Aid flows to the public sector have been severely cut by the decision of almost all donors to suspend their disbursements following the change in government on 17 March 2009.
Political uncertainties are compounding the effects of the already difficult global financial situation in Madagascar. According to a World Bank report, preliminary estimates indicate that GDP growth rate is likely to be negative in 2009 – down from a pre-crisis projection of 7.5%. This negative impact is expected to emerge through a combination of two forces: (i) the slow-down of private activities in the industrial and service sectors, and (ii) fiscal adjustment of public spending.
Following a period of fluctuation, the prices of basic commodities have stabilized, although at a higher level for staples such as oil and sugar. Availability does not appear to be problematic at present. At the time of writing – at beginning of the harvest season - the price of rice has decreased from earlier peaks. Nevertheless, overall inflation increased by 1.9% in February 2009, and by 10.3% year-onyear. The most significant increases were observed in housing, water and electricity.
Abstract: This report is submitted in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 6/32 and covers the period May to December 2008. It first addresses three thematic issues: the status of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (Guiding Principles) 10 years after their submission to the Commission on Human Rights; the protection of persons displaced by natural disaster; and the inclusion of the issue of internal displacement and the people it affects in peace processes. The second part of this report addresses the country mission to Georgia of the Representative of the Secretary-General on the human rights of internally displaced persons, his working visits to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Honduras, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Sri Lanka and Timor-Leste, and other activities supporting constructive dialogue with Governments and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations involved in the response to internal displacement.
Abstract: IPI is pleased to introduce a new series of working papers on regional capacities to respond to security
challenges in Africa. The broad range of United Nations, African Union, and subregional peacekeeping,
peacemaking, and peacebuilding initiatives in Africa underscore a new sense of multilayered partnership in the
search for the peaceful resolution of conflicts in Africa. As the total number of conflicts on the continent has
been significantly reduced in the past decade, there is widespread recognition of the opportunities for a more
stable and peaceful future for Africa. But there is also a profound awareness of the fragility of recent peace
agreements, whether in Kenya, Liberia, or Côte d’Ivoire. Furthermore, continued violence in the Sudan, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zimbabwe; the long absence of a viable central government in Somalia;
and continued tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea—to name only a few cases—reflect the legacy of
unresolved historic disputes and ongoing power struggles...The southern African region is now
generally defined in political terms as
those countries that are members of the
Southern African Development
Community (SADC) (the geographic
definition is usually somewhat more
limited). Currently there are fifteen
member states of the SADC: Angola,
Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (DRC), Lesotho, Madagascar,
Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique,
Namibia, the Seychelles, South Africa,
Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and
Zimbabwe.
These countries are disparate in many
ways: they vary greatly in size, population,
and levels of economic growth, and
include some of the poorest countries in
the world, but also some of the richest in
Africa. Six of them are landlocked; two of
them are Indian Ocean islands. They
share a common history of colonization—variously
involving French, British, Belgian, and German
imperial powers—and this continues to impact
significantly on the nature of governance and
politics in the region. Many, but not all, of the
countries of the region experienced periods of
European settler colonialism, resulting in armed
liberation struggles for independence. Several of
them also endured apartheid or various forms of
racial segregation and oppression as a result of that
history of settler colonialism.
Conflict and war has marked the region considerably,
particularly conflicts over apartheid and
colonialism, which engulfed most of southern
Africa and led to millions of deaths. Angola and
Mozambique suffered further from post-independence
civil wars, fueled in part by South Africa and
Rhodesia. After a bloody civil war following the
collapse of Mobutu Sese-Seko’s authoritarian
regime in the DRC in the second half of the 1990s,
however, the region is, for the first time in forty
years, almost completely at peace, except for
residual conflicts in the east of the DRC.
Nevertheless, there remain profound threats to
human and state security, many of them fueled by
poverty, marginalization, and the weakness of
states.
Abstract: Au sommaire du numéro 176
Dossier : Violence contre les enfants : tolérance zéro !
Gaza : les enfants de Gaza confrontés à la guerre au quotidien
Madagascar : urgence pour les enfants sans-abri
Somalie : le quotidien terrifiant des enfants de Somalie
Abstract: Classé parmi les pays les plus pauvres d’Afrique subsaharienne, Madagascar pâtit de faiblesses structurelles—notamment en matière de gestion des finances publiques—qui freinent sa croissance et son développement socio-économique. Le pays souffre aussi de l’existence d’un système financier fragile, et demeure exposé aux chocs externes et aux aléas climatiques. Malgré ces difficultés, les autorités sont déterminées à renforcer la viabilité de l’économie grâce au lancement du MAP (Madagascar Action Plan), un plan ambitieux couvrant la période 2007-12, destiné à approfondir les réformes structurelles engagées, à
diversifier les leviers de la croissance, et à atteindre les OMD(Objectifs dumillénaire pour le développement).
Abstract: Ce rapport contient des résumés sur les régions suivants: Afrique australe, Afrique de l’Est, Afrique de l’Ouest et Afrique centrale, et Afrique centrale, et aussi sur les thèmes suivantes: le double défi de la tuberculose et du VIH, circonsion masculine et préventions du VIH, epidémies latentes parmi les hommes ayant des rapports sexuels avec des hommes, la consommation de drogues injectables: un facteur croissant dans plusiers épidémies de VIH de L'Afrique Subsaharienne, et signes de changements vers des comportements à moindre risque.
Abstract: Freedom House welcomes the vote by the United Nations General Assembly to elect Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina for the two open seats for Eastern European States in yesterday's election to the UN Human Rights Council. Belarus, the third candidate for the East Europe vacancies, was defeated in a tight race following a vigorous campaign by numerous human rights organizations and countries opposed to the candidacy of a country with one of the world's most abysmal human rights records.
Abstract: The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has been in existence since 1980, when it was formed as a loose alliance of nine majority-ruled States in Southern Africa known as the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC), with the main aim of coordinating development projects in order to lessen economic dependence on the then apartheid South Africa. The founding Member States are: Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. SADCC was formed in Lusaka, Zambia on April 1, 1980, following the adoption of the Lusaka Declaration - Southern Africa: Towards Economic Liberation. The transformation of the organization from a Coordinating Conference into a Development Community (SADC) took place on August 17, 1992 in Windhoek, Namibia when the Declaration and Treaty was signed at the Summit of Heads of State and Government thereby giving the organization a legal character. The Member States are Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. SADC headquarters are in Gaborone, Botswana. The objective of SADC: Achieve development and economic growth, alleviate poverty, enhance the standard and quality of life of the people of Southern Africa and support the socially disadvantaged through regional integration; Evolve common political values, systems and institutions; Promote and defend peace and security; Promote self-sustaining development on the basis of collective self-reliance, and the interdependence of Member States; Achieve complementarity between national and regional strategies and programmes; Promote and maximise productive employment and utilisation of resources of the Region; Achieve sustainable utilisation of natural resources and effective protection of the environment; Strengthen and consolidate the long-standing historical, social and cultural affinities and links among the people of the Region.
Abstract: The Oil for Development initiative aims at assisting developing
countries with petroleum resources (or potential) in their efforts to manage these resources in a way that generates economic growth and promotes the welfare of the population in general, and in a way that is environmentally sustainable.
Abstract: The Tribunal of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is the newest operationalized subregional court in Africa. Provided for under Article 16 of the 1992 Declaration and Treaty Establishing the Southern African Development Community, the Community's members approved the Protocol required to set up the Tribunal in 2000. Despite the ratification requirements in the Protocol itself, the Protocol entered into force with the signature of the Agreement Amending the Treaty of SADC in August 2001. The Agreement Amending the Treaty marked a renewed energy in the integration of the Community, making the Protocol on the Tribunal an integral part of the Treaty and thus automatically applicable to all Member States. The renewed energy of the Community however, was not reflected in a swift establishment of the Tribunal. The first judges of the Tribunal were not sworn in until November 2005.
Abstract: To oversee the implementation and interpretation of the COMESA agreement, the Treaty established a Court of Justice, modeled on the European Court of Justice. Like the European Court of Justice, the COMESA Court of Justice can be seized of a matter by one of several ways. First, a member State may bring another member State or the Council before the Court for breach of the Treaty or failure to fulfill an obligation thereunder. Providing the Common Market with independent monitoring and enforcement power, the Treaty permits the Secretary General (with the agreement of the Council) also to bring a member State before the Court for failure to fulfill its Treaty obligations. Like the European Court of Justice, the COMESA Courtxc3xads decisions have precedence over any decisions of national courts.
Abstract: The Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC), which evolved into the Southern African Development Community (SADC) , has been in existence since 1980. The original nine member-countries were Angola , Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. South Africa joined SADC in 1994 followed by Mauritius (1995), and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC, 1997). In 2005, SADC granted Madagascar membership. In addition to belonging to SADC, Angola, DRC, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe are members of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). In order to facilitate development in the region, member-states in SADC formulated various objectives which the community works to achieve. Among those objectives are the promotion of regional economic integration, creation of intra-governmental policies, and sustainable utilization of natural resources. In addition to the broader objectives of SADC, the region's Trade Protocol calls for member-states to further liberalize intra-regional trade, while eliminating trade barriers in order to establish a Free Trade Area (FTA) by 2008. The creation of the FTA is part of a strategic plan announced by the SADC executive secretary in 2004, which also includes the establishment of an SADC customs union by 2010, a common market pact by 2012, and establishment of an SADC central bank and preparation for a single SADC currency by 2016.
Abstract: Risk analysis of Madagascar covering governance, security, development and human rights. Provides a brief history of the country, and facts and figures.
Abstract: The country is a multiparty democracy in which the President and a bicameral legislature share power. President Marc Ravalomanana, who was elected in 2001, and his party, Tiako-I-Madagasikara (TIM), dominated political life. Until May 2002, when President Ravalomanana was declared President, incumbent President Didier Ratsiraka and his party, Alliance for the Rebirth of Madagascar (AREMA), disputed the results of the 2001 election, which resulted in widespread violence and numerous deaths. The December 2002 legislative elections, which international observers judged as generally free and fair, resulted in an overwhelming victory for TIM and its alliance partners, the pro-Ravalomanana National Alliance. In the November 2003 municipal elections, TIM won a majority of both rural and urban mayoral seats. The judiciary was inefficient and remained susceptible to corruption and executive influence.
The Minister for Public Security heads the national police and is responsible for law and order in urban areas. The Gendarmerie Nationale, part of the Ministry of National Defense, is responsible for security in all# other areas of the island. Regular army units occasionally provided logistical support for law enforcement operations. The civilian authorities maintained effective control of the security forces. Some members of the security forces committed human rights abuses.
Abstract: Ratsiraka was elected to a seven-year term as president in a national referendum on December 21, 1975, confirming the mandate for consensus and inaugurating Madagascar's Second Republic. The guiding principle of Ratsiraka's administration was the need for a socialist "revolution from above." Specifically, he sought to radically change Malagasy society in accordance with programs and principles incorporated into the Charter of the Malagasy Socialist Revolution, popularly referred to as the "Red Book" (Boky Mena).
Abstract: On March 29, 1947, Malagasy nationalists revolted against the French. Although the uprising eventually spread over one-third of the island, the French were able to restore order after reinforcements arrived from France. Casualties among the Malagasy were estimated in the 60,000 to 80,000 range (later reports estimated 11,000 casualties, of whom 180 were non-Malagasy). The group of leaders responsible for the uprising, which came to be referred to as the Revolt of 1947, never has been identified conclusively. Although the MDRM leadership consistently maintained its innocence, the French outlawed the party. French military courts tried the military leaders of the revolt and executed twenty of them. Other trials produced, by one report, some 5,000 to 6,000 convictions, and penalties ranged from brief imprisonment to death.
Africa Report no. 3 - December 2004 World Food Programme // Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations // Global Information and Early Warning System on Food and Agriculture
Abstract: This is the third and last issue for 2004 of this report prepared by the FAO Global Information and Early Warning
System (GIEWS) on the food supply situation and cereal import and food aid requirements for all countries in
sub-Saharan Africa. The report is designed to provide the latest analysis and information on the food situation in
these countries to governments, international organizations and other institutions engaged in humanitarian
operations.
Assessment for Merina in Madagascar Minorities at Risk Project // Center for International Development and Conflict Management // University of Maryland
Abstract: Although the population of Madagascar comprises some eighteen ethnic groups who are united by a common Malagasy language, the two larger groups have a history of conflictual relations. The Merina, who reside in the highland plateaus, are the light-skinned descendants of those of Asian-Pacific origin. Group members have migrated across the island's regions in search of economic opportunities. The peoples of the coast are darker-skinned and are of African origins. The Merina have two of the factors that increase the chances of future protest: Madagascar's recent transition to democracy and restrictions which limit the group's ability to obtain high level political positions. While the cotier ethnic group has consolidated its political and economic position in the post-independence period, its willingness to share some of the gains will likely influence the future of relations between the two communities.
