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SOCIAL SCIENCES

Market-based and Rights-based Approaches to the Informal Economy : A comparative analysis of the policy implications

Upphovsperson: Vainio, Antti
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Urban Dynamics | Uppsala, Sweden
År: 2012
Ämnesord: Informal sector, Hidden economy, Government policy, Development research, Research methods, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
This Policy Dialogue compares two very different conceptions of the informal economy that are prominent internationally: a market-based approach and a rights-based approach. It reflects upon the policy implications of adopting one perspective or the other, and argues that the terms ‘entrepreneur’ and ‘worker’ are often ideologically charged rather than a reflection of the structural positions of the ‘informals’. The paper is critical of a market-based perspective and of the related notion of informal entrepreneurs, as these may lead to policy recommendations that undermine the already fragile livelihoods of many people. The ideas presented in this paper are part of a work in progress and are intended to promote further debate about sustainable policy-making aimed at enhancing the economic and social standing of vulnerable people in the informal economy.

'Legal Empowerment of the Poor' versus 'Right to the City' : Implications for access to housing in urban Africa

Upphovsperson: Vogiazides, Louisa
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Urban Dynamics | Uppsala, Sweden
År: 2012
Ämnesord: Towns, Urban areas, Urbanization, Urban housing, poverty, Low income groups, Property rights, Empowerment Legislation, Research methods, comparative analysis, Africa, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
The challenge of urban deprivation and exclusion in the urban South has given rise to varied and shifting policies and ideas. Two sets of ideas have gained great currency in recent years in international policy and academic circles. The Legal Empowerment of the Poor approach, rooted in neoliberal thinking, focuses on the legal rights of the urban poor as the means to secure access to basic services and needs. The Right to the City perspective, on the other hand, stresses issues of citizenship and the appropriation and uses of urban space. This Policy Dialogue analyses the different ideological and normative foundations of the two perspectives and discusses how they lead to different policy formulations. It then takes a closer look at how the two perspectives find expression in contemporary discussions on and approaches to access to housing in urban Africa. To this end, it compares what each approach identifies as the source of the problem and recommends as the policy solution.

Researching Africa : From individual efforts to structured programmes. The role of the Nordic Africa Institute

Upphovsperson: Ståhl, Michael
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala, Sweden
År: 2012
Ämnesord: Research centres, Research programmes, Research networks, Development research, SOCIAL SCIENCES
The Nordic Africa Institute started on a modest scale back in 1962by awarding three travel grants to young Nordic scholars with an interest in Africa. Fifty years later, the institute has become an internationally renowned centre of research, documentation, publishing and net-working. By coordinating coherent programmes spanning multiple researchers and several sub-topics NAI has helped to strengthen capacity among young academics in Nordic countries by providing travel grants for field research and an academic platform for communicating and discussing research findings. NAI has thus been a key catalyst in social science research on Africa. In this publication, Michael Ståhl contextualises, reviews and reflects on five innovative research programmes undertaken at NAI from the late 1980s into the 1990s. Through these thematic, collaborative programmes, NAI complemented its already established support for individual academic projects. In order to place the five programmes in larger context, brief accounts of the earlier research support provided by NAI are given as is an overview of the subsequent research profile and administration of NAI up to 2012.Michael Ståhl has had a lifelong academic and professional career in development issues. His research experience has been in rural development in Africa. He has held senior positions at universities and in the Swedish development cooperation community. From 2002 to 2010, he was the director of the International Foundation for Science.

FOCAC Twelve Years Later : Achievements, Challenges and the Way Forward

Upphovspersoner: Li, Anshan | Liu, Haifang | Pan, Huaqiong | Zeng, Aiping | He, Wenping
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Globalization, Trade and Regional Integration | Uppsala, Sweden
År: 2012
Ämnesord: Africa, China, International cooperation, South south relations, Foreign policy, Institutional framework, Evaluation, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
Twelve years have passed since the establishment of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), an event that marked an important milestone in China-Africa relations. The forum is a platform to promote mutually beneficial South-South cooperation between China and Africa, based on mutual respect and non-interference in the internal affairs of African countries. In its ten year existence, FOCAC has achieved in deepening China-Africa relationsin the economic field. Trade, investment, infrastructure and capacity building have been comprehensively promoted. But as FOCAC prepares to enter the second decade, a number of steps must be taken by Chinese and African partners to improve the current institutional arrangement by expanding space for private sector and civil society participation in decision-making and by increasing the frequency of follow-up processes to ensure effective implementation of agreed upon targets.

Beyond ”Gender and Stir” : Reflections on gender and SSR in the aftermath of African conflicts

Medarbetare: Eriksson Baaz, Maria | Utas, Mats
Utgivare: Uppsala, Sweden
År: 2012
Ämnesord: Africa, conflicts, Police, Armed forces, Defence policy, gender roles, Peacekeeping, Women’s participation, Security sector reform, Post-conflict reconstruction, case studies, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
As a policy field largely characterised by handbooks and manuals, gender and Security Sector Reform (SSR) has been insufficiently studied and analysed. Analytical discussion of what gendering SSRmeans is quite rare, as is the study of the already gendered nature of the security institutions that are the subject of intervention. This policy dialogue unpacks aspects of the discourses and practices regarding gender and SSR. It highlights limitations and problems both in the conceptualisation of gender and its incorporation into practical SSR work. The publication also demonstrates how researchers and policymakers often have divergent views of what gendering SSR means. Finally, it calls for closer and more constructive dialogue between researchers and practitioners, a dialogue which acknowledges the conditions and constraints in these two spheres of work.

Water Scarcity and Food Security along the Nile : Politics, population increase and climate change

Upphovsperson: Oestigaard, Terje
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Agrarian Change, Property and Resources | Uppsala, Sweden
År: 2012
Ämnesord: River basins, Shared water resources, Water shortage, Food security, Population growth, Climate change, Geopolitics, International agreements, Regional developmen, Nile river, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
In 2050, the population in all the Nile Basin countries is expected to be ten times higher than it was in 1950. This will put ever increasing pressure on water as a resource for development. The Nile Basin catchment area is shared by 11 countries covering about one-tenth of the African continent. Globally, around 70 per cent of fresh water consumption is used in agriculture. This puts the spotlight on future scenarios regarding food production: will there be enough water for food security in the Nile Basin countries? In this Current African Issues publication, water scarcity and food security are analysed from a range of perspectives. What are the future predictions regarding population increase and climate change, and how will these affect development in Nile Basin countries? What are the current water theories addressing the above issues, and what are the main challenges the Nile Basin countries will face in a context that is also strongly shaped by its history?

Supporting African peace operations

Medarbetare: Gelot, Linnéa | Gelot, Ludwig | de Coning, Cedric
Utgivare: Uppsala
År: 2012
Ämnesord: Africa, Civil war, conflicts, Peace corps, Peacebuilding, Peacekeeping, International cooperation, International security, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
The Nordic Africa Institute, the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation and the Norwegian Institute for International Affairs hosted a seminar in Uppsala, Sweden, on 15 and 16 December 2011, that brought together AU, EU and UN officials closely involved in peace operations in Africa. The seminar’s purpose was to allow participants to compare their experiences of the different support models that have been used to date in Sudan and Somalia. International support for African peace operations provides opportunities but also poses challenges. This report examines four of these challenges in some detail: the AU Commission’s limited capacity to plan and manage peace operations; insufficient political engagement by African member states with AU peace operations; the short-termism and self-interest of some of the AU’s partners; and the need for UN Security Council permanent members to value and ensure a shared AU-UN strategic vision. The report also includes policy recommendations for resolving these challenges.

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