Reporting under International Human Rights Treaties: Perspectives from Timor Leste's Experience of the Reformed Process

This article explores Timor Leste's experience of reportingunder the reformed international human rights treaties reportingsystem during the period 2004–2007. Whilst consciousnesshas grown of the difficulties faced by states by the duplicationof treaty reporting processes and the resource burden representedby reporting, the reforms instituted to date have been comparativelyminor. Timor's experience with the new Common Core Document(CCD)/treaty-specificdocument format affirms that reporting serves useful purposes,particularly in stimulating human rights education initiatives,government/NGO collaboration and awareness of human rights gapsin practice. The reformed process highlights cross-cutting humanrights matters. Yet, significant challenges remain, particularlyfor developing, post-conflict states, before reporting willattain its desired potential of support for improved human rightspromotion and protection at the national level. The CCD itselfraises complex conceptual difficulties needing resolution. Thereremains a paucity of appropriate methodological tools to supportthe reporting process and facilitate the integration of humanrights and development goals. Further work is thus needed toshape a sustainable process for reporting.     

International volunteering for development and sustainability: outdated paternalism or a radical response to globalisation?

This article discusses the history and evolution of international volunteer-sending agencies and volunteers as a response not only to symptoms but also to causes of global poverty and inequality. It considers how international volunteers might be defined, what makes their role different from other forms of overseas development assistance (particularly their contribution to capacity development), and the positives and negatives that may accompany those differences. It also reflects on international volunteers' suitability as contributors in the transition to a globally more ecologically sustainable state, presenting some insights from volunteers and other stakeholders.     

Money and the Message: The Role of Training and Coaching in Graduation Programming

Graduation programmes are innovative because they combine regular cash transfers with livelihood promotion and – most innovatively – a combination of training and tailored coaching. The latter is sometimes considered the ‘X-factor’ in the graduation model, but little evidence exists regarding its role in affecting change. This paper presents findings from a mixed methods evaluation of a graduation programme in Burundi. We find that (i) training and coaching are important complements to cash and material support in achieving positive change, (ii) positive effects extend to the wider community, and (iii) continuous, tailored, and positively engaging modes of messaging are imperative for achieving change.     

Trends in poverty and destitution in Wollo,Ethiopia 1

According to several studies, poverty in rural Ethiopia has fallen significantly since the early 1990s, thanks to improved governance and economic liberalisation policies. This paper presents several arguments that challenge this view. The first questions the methodological foundations of the data from which these positive trends are derived: we argue that the original sampling frame was too small and unrepresentative to provide a basis for extrapolating national poverty levels or trends. The second argument questions the conceptual underpinnings of these studies: poverty estimates based on levels of current consumption fail to allow for non-income dimensions of wellbeing, nor for confounding factors such as seasonality, annual rainfall and food aid receipts. The third strand considers alternative sources of data on changes in wellbeing in Ethiopia: recent qualitative studies report that the poor perceive themselves as poorer and more vulnerable than poverty headcount figures suggest.

Finally, we report findings from our own survey in chronically poor and historically famine-prone Wollo. First, a significant proportion of households in the study area are destitute – destitution being defined as inability to meet basic needs, lack of key productive assets, and dependence on transfers. Secondly, the numbers of destitute people, and of people vulnerable to becoming destitute, have increased over the past ten years. Thirdly, the crisis of livelihoods underlying this trend is affecting entire communities – the dominant pattern is an aggregate downward shift, rather than stratification – and the decline of wealthier households is exacerbating the vulnerability of the poorest. These findings cast serious doubts on generalisations about poverty trends in Ethiopia. At the very least, national-level data need to be disaggregated: improving national trends may conceal pockets of entrenched poverty and a deepening livelihoods crisis in parts of rural Ethiopia.