Humanitarian Organizations in Tajikistan and the Coordination of Aid to Displaced Afghans in No Man's Land

This article examines the coordination of humanitarian aid todisplaced Afghans on the border between Afghanistan and Tajikistanfrom 2000 to 2002, in order to draw lessons that may be usefulin connection with the return of the remaining displaced Afghansand other groups of refugees and IDPs. It examines the rolesof the various organizations involved in the humanitarian operation,focusing on UNHCR and its position as lead agency. The caseof the displaced Afghans on the border between Afghanistan andTajikistan highlights some problematic consequences of locatingcoordinating functions in sectoral lead agencies, and some advantagesof neutral coordination bodies such as OCHA. It also demonstratesthe importance of a balance between information gathering, processingand sharing, as well as the interconnections between coordinationby command and coordination by consensus.     

Marginalization in Urban Spaces of the Global South: Urban Refugees in Cairo

The paper explores the marginalization of Sudanese refugeesin Cairo, arguing that although socially, economically, culturallyand politically marginalized, refugees participate and contributeto the transformation of urban spaces in Cairo, as they do elsewherein the developing world. The paper finds that in terms of legalsecurity and livelihood coping strategies, there is little differencebetween those refugees with legal status and those residingillegally in Egypt. Despite social exclusion and lack of accessto rights and services, some Sudanese refugees balance risksand costs of marginalization to advance their livelihoods. Ingeneral, in the context of lack of full integration possibilitiesin Egypt and inadequate assistance provided by the United NationsHigh Commissioner for Refugees Office and international andlocal organizations and faith-based institutions, refugees comeup with creative ways of managing their livelihoods, contributingboth economically and culturally to the host society. In thiscontext, refugees are seen as social agents, rather than aneconomic burden for the host country.     

Impacts of displacement on urban livelihoods: a railway project in Metro Manila

This article seeks to understand the ways in which urban livelihoods are affected by development-induced displacement, with a particular focus on residents remaining in the locality. Through an empirical case study of a railway upgrading project in Metro Manila, the article investigates livelihood impacts of large-scale demolition and displacement, which varied depending on whether the physical capital of remaining residents declined due to land clearance and the extent to which they relied on the local livelihood network established with displaced settlers. In comparison, households remained intact when they had little engagement with the local informal economy.     

Whose House is this Anyway? IDP and Refugee Return in Post-Saddam Iraq

Although many people displaced by Saddam's regime over the yearslooked forward to returning as soon as the 2003 war ended, anumber of problems emerged which continued to bedevil the returnprocess as late as one year after the war. These problems includedan unclear political future for the country, competing politicaland sectarian forces that often view IDPs and refugees as strategictools or weapons, a hesitant and initially undecided Coalitionpolicy on the return issue, unclear mandates for the variousactors that could assist with returns, lack of funding, andmost importantly of all, an extremely poor security situationwhich has impeded or even blocked all progress on the returnissue. Nonetheless, because Iraq's Ba'athist dictatorship wasthe overwhelming cause of displacement in the country to beginwith, the future does hold some hope for Iraqi displaced persons.This paper examines the causes of return problems in Iraq andhow various authorities in post-Ba'athist Iraq are addressingthe return issue. Particularly around the contested city ofKirkuk, problems relating to the return issue risk ignitingethnic conflict and possibly even civil war in Iraq as a whole.The article examines the return issue for the period from March2003 to June 2004, focusing especially on northern Iraq andKirkuk. The research presented here is based on fieldwork conductedin Iraq by the author between September 2003 and May 2004. Theauthor went to Iraq independently, with the assistance of aCanadian Department of National Defence post-doctoral researchgrant. Interviews were conducted with US and Coalition ProvisionalAuthority officials, Iraqi Interim Government officials, KurdistanRegional Government officials, NGO workers, and IDPs themselvesduring visits to camps around Kirkuk and Baghdad.     

Learning from experience in urban programming: the case of the SHAHAR project in Bangladesh

The article offers a reflective analysis of various problems encountered and lessons learned in implementing a programme to improve the livelihood security of the urban poor in secondary cities of Bangladesh. The study is based on the author's involvement as an external action-research partner, and a review of relevant secondary literature. A number of key lessons emerge for the success of project operations. These are the need for (1) a clear understanding of the links between project activities and project objectives by all staff; (2) capacity building for all staff tailored to their needs; (3) clear targeting criteria and programme coverage; (4) a full complement of operational guidelines, work plans, and monitoring and evaluation design before implementation; (5) ensuring ‘partnership of organisations’ not ‘partnership of activities’; (6) ensuring the real involvement of beneficiaries in all aspects of the project; (7) staff empowerment and a flexible approach to operations; (8) routine reflections on project progress; and finally (9) being ready to take bold steps and make necessary strategic changes, even if doing so requires significant deviations from pre-set activities and hypothetical schedules as featured in the project proposals.     

More Labels, Fewer Refugees: Remaking the Refugee Label in an Era of Globalization

This paper revisits the concept of refugee labelling I elaboratednearly two decades ago. In radically different conditions, thecontemporary relevance and utility of the concept are re-examinedand re-established. Formulated at a time of regionally contained,mass refugee migration in the south during the late 1970s andearly 1980s, the paper argues that the concept still offersvital insights into the impacts of institutional and bureaucraticpower on the lives of refugees in a globalized era of transnationalsocial transformations, mixed migration flows, and the continuingpresence of large scale refugee migration. The core of the paperargues that the ‘convenient images’ of refugees,labelled within a co-opting humanitarian discourse in the past,have been displaced by a fractioning of the label which is drivenby the need to manage globalized processes and patterns of migrationand forced migration in particular. The paper re-evaluates theconcept using the three original axioms—forming, transformingand politicizing the label ‘refugee’. The core argumentis that in the contemporary era: a) the formation of the refugeelabel reflects causes and patterns of forced migration whichare much more complex than in the past, contrasting with anessentially homogeneous connotation in the past; b) respondingto this complexity, the refugee label is transformed by an institutional‘fractioning’ in order to manage the new migration;c) governments, rather than NGOs as in the past, are the pre-eminentagency in the contemporary processes of transforming the refugeelabel, a process driven by northern interests; d) the refugeelabel has become politicized by the reproduction of institutionalfractioning and by embedding the wider political discourse ofresistance to migrants and refugees.     

The Long, 'Last Step'? Reintegration of Repatriates in Eritrea

The reintegration of repatriates in Eritrea is a relevant andpressing issue. This study explores four dimensions of refugeereintegration based on primary data gathered from 80 householdsthat repatriated back to eastern Eritrea from Sudan. The aimis to assess their reception by the host population and thenature of resource competition prompted by their arrival. Theanalysis also focuses on changes in livelihood and materialwellbeing among repatriated households as well as their outlooktowards the future. This paper highlights many challenges tointegration that have resulted in keeping returnees in a suspendedstate of poverty and dependence. By way of conclusion, it discussesthe problematic nature of the ‘reintegration’ byunderscoring important contrasts in concepts and perceptionsof ‘home’ on the part of different players in theEritrean repatriation story.     

TerrorWars: Boston,Iraq

This article queries the difference between experiencing an urban terror attack and experiencing war in an urban war zone. The case considered is the Boston marathon bombings of April 2013 and the lockdown that followed, a first in the USA. Official responses to the bombings exceeded militarised urban policing strategies in ways that arguably turned Boston into an urban war zone. To consider that proposition, I juxtapose events in Boston with US war operations around Al Tafar Iraq in 2004, as described by Kevin Powers in The Yellow Birds. I also consider responses to the lockdown by people in the area of the bombings, people waiting for delayed transportation during the lockdown and experts on anti-terrorism.     

Preliminary results from voices of the Mada'in: a tribal history and study of one of Baghdad's six rural districts

From July to October 2008, Human Terrain Team Iraq 6 (HTT IZ6) undertook an oral tribal study and social history project in Mada'in Qada, Iraq. During that four-month period IZ6 formally interviewed over forty tribal leaders. At the same time team members participated in humanitarian assistance operations with internally displaced persons (IDPs), as well as regular citizens of the region. In both the formal, elite-level interviews and the participant observations, four major themes became apparent: (1) The tribal law, written or oral, is often generally perceived as codes, covenants, and/or constitutions. (2) The tribal legal system and the tribal courts are an adversarial and remedial/restorative justice mediation system. (3) The Government of Iraq (GOI) is perceived as being under foreign influence. Members of the GOI are commonly referred to as Iranian agents, Iranians, Zoroastrians and/or fire worshippers (Mithraites) by both Sunnis and Shi'a alike. And (4) the dispute between Sunni and Shi'a is predominantly about resources, not religion. The purpose of this article is to describe the task order for the project, describe the oral history project itself, discuss the research challenges that arose in a semi-permissive environment, present the preliminary findings and tie them into the reality of the ongoing Counterinsurgency Operations in Iraq.     

The production and marketing of sustainable forest products: chewing gum in Mexico

Natural chewing gum (chicle) represents just 3.5 per cent of the total chewing-gum market, which is dominated by synthetic chewing gum made from hydrocarbons. However, recent interest in sustainable livelihood strategies has opened up opportunities for enlarging chicle commercialisation for what is still a small, niche market. The production of chicle can serve to strengthen forest conservation and provide regular employment to those dependent on forest products, as part of a range of sustainable forest activities. However, the production and marketing of natural chewing gum have faced several serious problems: producers in Mexico have been organised in ways that enabled them to be exploited by both intermediaries and state institutions, and the processes of certification for organics and fair trade are unwieldy and expensive. This article suggests a number of ways of addressing these problems.     

Buufis amongst Somalis in Dadaab: the Transnational and Historical Logics behind Resettlement Dreams

The Somali word buufis is commonly used in the Kenyan refugeecamps of Dadaab, referring to a person's dream of resettlement.It is an ambiguous phenomenon, bringing hope and remittancesinto the camps but also removing investments from the regionand, when the dream cannot be reached, sometimes having adversepsychological effects. Buufis is triggered by the fact that,due to transnational flows of remittances and information, refugeesin remote camps like Dadaab can compare their lives in the campsto those of others elsewhere. This illustrates how the opportunities,constraints, hopes and dreams that refugees experience locallyare often determined by transnational factors. Whereas the resettlementdreams analysed in this article are thus likely to occur inother contexts as well, it is argued that they are more intenseand elaborate amongst refugee communities with a strong cultureof migration, like the Somalis.     

Decentralising urban health activities in developing countries

While there is considerable documented experience of decentralising health services in rural areas of developing countries, the decentralisation of health services in the urban context is rarely analysed. Urban development literature usually fails to address health issues, while the literature on the decentralisation of health services tends to ignore the urban sector. This article addresses the relationship between a Ministry of Health and a City Council, and identifies key issues to consider in the decentralisation of urban health activities: roles and responsibilities; legislation; coordination and communication; and resource constraints. The case-study from Maseru, Lesotho, highlights aspects of planning which need to be considered by national and local governments which are trying to strengthen urban health activities by decentralisation.     

Livelihood recovery after disaster

A lack of monitoring and evaluation on the outcomes of livelihood recovery programming has typified many post-disaster recovery initiatives. This article uses a case study of the 2006 Yogyakarta, Indonesia earthquake to analyse longer-term impacts of livelihood programming after disaster. The article includes an overview of the programming implemented in five case study villages and the perspectives of impacted populations on the livelihood interventions. Results indicate the importance of longer-term programming, early interventions, local leadership, and an integrative strategy focusing on replacing assets, providing capital and credit to jumpstart entrepreneurial activities, capacity and skills building, and developing markets and networks.     

Adult learning and literacy learning for livelihoods: some international perspectives

Reflecting contemporary interest in developing new adult literacy learning programmes based on ‘literacy for livelihoods’, this article examines some case studies from New Zealand, Bangladesh, and Egypt, illustrating literacy being used in livelihoods, and relates these to the kind of literacy being taught in many adult literacy programmes today. It argues that people often change their livelihoods, and that each livelihood has literacy practices embedded within it. The authors suggest that the use of these literacy practices embedded within the livelihood activities might be a better starting point for adult literacy learning than a school-based textbook.     

Development-driven forced displacement and compensation-based resettlement: experiences from the Jamuna multi-purpose bridge project

In 1998 the Jamuna Multi-Purpose Bridge (JMB), the largest infrastructure development project in Bangladesh was completed. Huge numbers of households were affected by the project and many were displaced. Only a handful of displaced people were resettled by the project. The JMB was the first development project in Bangladesh that included resettlement activities as an integral part of the project and introduced a resettlement action plan. In principle, the Revised Resettlement Action Plan endorsed the primary principle of Operational Directives 4:30 of the World Bank. The resettlement project's core objective was to improve the living standards of project-affected persons above their previous level, or at least reinstate their pre-project standard. To meet the goals, various grants and supports were given as compensation. The project has earned international admiration as an example for other projects to follow. This study investigates the extent to which Jamuna Multi-Purpose Bridge's compensation-based resettlement succeeded in reconstructing displaced households, and identifies discrepancies between policy and practice. It concludes with major findings and comparative analysis on the compensation principle, and provides opinions based on information gathered from the field.     

Refugees, Institutional Invisibility, and Self-Help Strategies: Evaluating Kurdish Experience in Rome

The article investigates the way in which asylum reception hasbeen organized in Italy in response to Kurdish refugees. Theanalysis suggests that Italy, as compared to northern Europeancountries, has failed to develop a public system of reception,which has been counterbalanced by the parallel development ofa private one. The abandonment of the vast majority of asylumseekers to their own survival strategies should read as an institutionalfailure to develop adequate reception policies and serious protectionplans. The ‘Kurdish crisis’ has exposed the importanceof state intervention in providing reception, which could nolonger be left to local NGOs, self-help strategies and migrants'networks. In particular, the article looks at the way in whichItaly, during the 1990s, has organized refugee reception; the(non) reception system in the municipality of Rome; and finallysome private survival strategies that Kurdish asylum seekershave resorted to once no public help was made available to them.     

Globalization,risk-taking and violence: too much too soon in the late Roman Republic and pre-Renaissance Italian cities

Past research has found that globalization and political violence have been linked in both modern and less modern times. Normally, groups that have been disadvantaged or displaced by globalization are seen as responsible for these outbreaks of violence. In the case of the Late Republic of Rome and medieval Italy before the Renaissance, violence was actually prompted by major increases in wealth among those who benefited when control of the political system became much more valuable. The increased value raised the stakes of political control and underlay the resulting higher levels of violence.     

Platforms for institutional change: assessing the potential of livelihood enhancement groups as community entry points in Zambia

To address the livelihood problems faced by the poor and vulnerable in Northern Province of Zambia, a novel collective action approach called livelihoods enhancement groups (LEGs) was used as a platform for facilitating research on development initiatives to generate change. Using focus group discussions and key informant interviews, this article assesses the potential of using the LEGs approach in generating change. The livelihood changes observed arose with the LEG as a platform through which different knowledge nodes interacted. Livelihood areas that LEGs affected included crop production, livestock production, nutrition, and access to credit.     

Why did Thailand's middle class turn against a democratically elected government? The information-gap hypothesis

In 2006, Bangkok's middle-class residents overwhelmingly supported the military coup that displaced the elected government of Thaksin Shinawatra. Survey research shows that opponents of Thaksin had a stronger commitment to liberal democracy and possibly to royalist values while rural voters supported Thaksin because he fulfilled their social demands. Opposition to Thaksin was not motivated by economic interests, but rather, there is some evidence that urban middle- and upper-class voters disliked Thaksin because they heard negative reporting about him, which were less available in the countryside. These findings are compatible with a new theory of democratic consolidation, in which the upper classes have the means that would enable and encourage them to pay sufficient attention to politics to discover that what they viewed as ‘good government’ was violated by the ruling party, which could have led to demands for more democracy historically. More recently, however, in Thailand and perhaps other instances in Southeast Asia and Latin America, those with the money and leisure to follow politics closely have heard reports about the ‘bad government’ of populist, democratically elected leaders, and thus have turned against them.     

Urban women's informal savings and credit systems in Zambia

This article is based on findings from semi-structured interviews and discussions among "chilimba" groups in Zambia. Chilimba groups are primarily women's groups that engage in credit and savings programs. Group membership ranges from 4 to 20 members. The women agree on a fixed, regular cash contribution that is given in turn to each member in a specified order. Market groups tend to be larger and contributions of about a dollar are made daily. Smaller groups tend to make larger, but less frequent contributions. Default is rare, as the commitment is taken very seriously. New members are added at the end of the rotation. Loans can be used for domestic or business use. Chilimba groups are evidence that very poor people desire savings. Chilimba brings together people with similar financial needs and resources. Chilimba does not require formal, written procedures or formal institutional frameworks. Chilimba is not a remedy for reducing overall poverty. It is appropriate only for people with some regular source of income. It does not serve as a safety net in emergencies. Long-term loans are not possible. A limitation is its openness and lack of structure that permit potential abuse. It is a livelihood strategy for women, but benefits could be gained from including men. It is urged that groups consider whether the position of the poor is being enhanced or undermined. Different models need to be tested. Members themselves must decide on the type and phasing of activities.