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Agriculture for Peace: Promoting Agricultural Development in Support of Peace

Civil wars continue to threaten peace in some of the poorest parts of the world. While the disastrous consequences of civil wars on agriculture, food security and hunger are relatively well studied and documented, the reverse line of causality has been much less explored and understood. This report explores the existing literature and knowledge on the structural causes of civil wars and attempts to elaborate on how they relate to agricultural development. It concludes by making recommendations relevant for agriculture in countries prone to civil conflict.(M. Taeb, United Nations University/ Institute of Advanced Studies, 2004

http://www.ias.unu.edu/binaries/UNUIAS_AgforPeaceReport.pdf

(Added: Fri Sep 29 2006   Hits: 87)

AFGHANISTAN: Civilians paying the price in Taliban conflict

Afghani civilians are being forced to leave their homes in the areas where Taliban insurgents are fighting. They have also experienced threats and demands from the Taliban to either support them monetarily or with their blood (IRIN 16 July 2007).

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73252

(Added: Fri Jul 27 2007   Hits: 45)

Assessment of the World Food Security Situation 2005

Committee on World Food Security, Thirty-first Session Rome, 23-26 May 2005. Armed conflicts are now the leading cause of world hunger with the effects of HIV/AIDS and climate change not far behind, according to an FAO report presented today at a meeting of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS). The report warned that the goal of reducing the number of the world's hungry by half by the year 2015, set by the World Food Summit in 1996 and reinforced by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000, are almost certain to be missed by a wide margin if current trends persist. However, the goal of cutting the proportion of hungry and poor, the so-called MDG1, may be achieved in most regions with the exception of sub-Saharan Africa.

http://www.fao.org/docrep/meeting/009/J4968e/j4968e00.htm#P104_13134

(Added: Tue May 24 2005   Modified: Wed Jul 12 2006   Hits: 447)

Breakthrough in conflict diamonds battle

Venezuela on Thursday promised to combat diamond smuggling and comply with the rules of the Kimberley Process, the UN-backed initiative to curb the illegal trade in conflict diamonds (Financial Times, 14 June 2007).

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/d1aacef8-1a7d-11dc-8bf0-000b5df10621,dwp_uuid=8fa2c9cc-2f77-11da-8b51-00000e2511c8.html

(Added: Mon Jun 18 2007   Hits: 164)

Conflict-Sensitive Project Finance: Better Lending Practice in Conflict-Prone States

This briefing paper highlights the risks associated with financing projects in conflict-prone areas, and proposes better lending practice in conflict-prone states -defined as 'conflict sensitive' project finance. (Jessica Banfield & Salil Tripathi, International Alert, 2006)

http://www.international-alert.org/publications/271.php

(Added: Thu Oct 05 2006   Hits: 77)

External Debt in Post-Conflict Countries

In the development literature, there exists no systematic study of external borrowing in post-conflict countries. This paper addresss this gap by analyzing statistical and case study evidence from three African countries. The authors find that many war-affected countries face rising debt arrears and deteriorating relations with creditors. Rebuilding trust between lenders and borrowers is hence a crucial but often slow process. Furthermore, donors to war-affected African countries have been slow to grant exceptional debt relief based odious debt or on financial requirements. Debt relief for post-conflict reconstruction should embrace a more forward-looking and more generous conditionality. (Patricia Alvarez-Plata and Tilman Brück, DIW Berlin, July 2006)

http://www.diw.de/deutsch/produkte/publikationen/diskussionspapiere/docs/papers/dp613.pdf

(Added: Mon Oct 16 2006   Hits: 102)

On the Links between Violent Conflict and Household Poverty: How Much Do We Really Know?

In what ways does violent conflict impact on poor people's lives? How far does poverty act as a trigger for violent conflict? This MICROCON Working Paper makes use of new micro-level research findings on the relationship between poverty and conflict to propose a framework to understand how violent conflict can lead to or exacerbate household poverty (Patricia Justino, September 2007).

http://www.microconflict.eu/publications/RWP1_PJ.pdf

(Added: Tue Mar 04 2008   Hits: 37)

The Gaza Strip: A humanitarian implosion

The humanitarian situation in Gaza is worse now than it's been at any time since the beginning of the Israeli occupation in 1967, according to this report by a coalition of leading humanitarian and human rights organisations (Amnesty International et al, 6 March 2008).

http://www.amnesty.org.uk/uploads/documents/doc_18301.pdf

(Added: Fri Mar 07 2008   Hits: 24)

The impact of armed violence on poverty and development

This study aims to aid understanding on how and when poverty and vulnerability are exacerbated by armed violence. It synthesises the findings of 13 country case studies: Algeria, Chechnya, El Salvador, Nairobi, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, Northeast India, Northern Kenya, Brazil, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Southern Sudan, Sri Lanka. In addition it has a practical policy-oriented purpose and concludes with programming and policy recommendations to donor government agencies. (Mandy Turner, Jeremy Ginifer and Lionel Cliffe, University of Bradford, March 2005)

http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/cics/publications/AVPI/poverty/AVPI_Synthesis_Report.pdf

(Added: Thu Oct 19 2006   Hits: 101)

To Cultivate Peace: Agriculture in a World of Conflict

In the post-Cold war era, armed conflicts are overwhelmingly located in poverty-stricken countries. Many of these conflicts claim alarming numbers of civilian casualties and spill over to into neighboring territories, involvong the international community in costly relief operations, often under hostile conditions. Agriculture is the dominant sector in most poor countries and is crucial for generating income. Strengthening agriculture is likely to pay large dividends in prosperity and peace.

http://www.prio.no/page/Publication_details/Staff_alpha_ALL/9429/38004.html

(Added: Sat May 08 1999   Modified: Wed Feb 14 2007   Hits: 371)

World Bank, IMF and armed conflicts: Helping peace or creating the conditions for war?

2nd February 2004, Bretton Woods Project. Recent involvement in countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq has put the World Bank and the IMF work post-conflict in the spotlight. While some believe multilateral finance is essential, others believe the Bank and the Fund are acting primarily as pawns of US diplomatic and economic interests. Which interests are being served by World Bank and IMF operations is just one of many questions raised by observers. Others include: * Are WB and IMF interventions, creating or recreating the conditions for war? What are the implications of various policy choices, as well as the pace and sequencing of reform in transition from conflict? * Are Bank and IMF frameworks and instruments conflict-sensitive? Should they integrate explicitely geostrategic factors in their analysis when allocating assistance and designing their interventions? * What are the limits to the Bank's role? Is the Bank the best-placed actor to facilitate and administer donor assistance in reconstruction? The jury is still out on these questions, which could have serious implications for the Bank's and the Fund's mandates and work methods.

http://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/article.shtml?cmd[126]=x-126-35157

(Added: Thu Mar 11 2004   Modified: Wed Jul 12 2006   Hits: 273)

Youth in crisis: Coming of age in the 21st century

Across the globe, a generation of youth is rapidly reaching adulthood bearing the tragic consequences of their nations' worst problems. In this 'Youth in Crisis' In-Depth, IRIN traces the impact of the events shaping their lives, from the illegal forced marriage of teenage girls in Afghanistan and Ethiopia, to the tripling of school fees and the deteriorating education system in Zimbabwe (IRIN, February 2007).

http://www.irinnews.org/pdf/in-depth/Youth-in-crisis-IRIN-In-Depth.pdf

(Added: Tue Aug 07 2007   Hits: 98)