Showing papers in "Stability: International Journal of Security and Development in 2014"

Violent Conflicts and Civil Strife in West Africa: Causes, Challenges and Prospects

Abstract: The advent of intra-state conflicts or ‘new wars’ in West Africa has brought many of its economies to the brink of collapse, creating humanitarian casualties and concerns. For decades, countries such as Liberia, Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire and Guinea- Bissau were crippled by conflicts and civil strife in which violence and incessant killings were prevalent. While violent conflicts are declining in the sub-region, recent insurgencies in the Sahel region affecting the West African countries of Mali, Niger and Mauritania and low intensity conflicts surging within notably stable countries such as Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal sends alarming signals of the possible re-surfacing of internal and regional violent conflicts. These conflicts are often hinged on several factors including poverty, human rights violations, bad governance and corruption, ethnic marginalization and small arms proliferation. Although many actors including the ECOWAS, civil society and international community have been making efforts, conflicts continue to persist in the sub-region and their resolution is often protracted. This paper posits that the poor understanding of the fundamental causes of West Africa’s violent conflicts and civil strife would likely cause the sub-region to continue experiencing and suffering the brunt of these violent wars.

From Design to Implementation: Addressing the Causes of Violent Conflict in Nigeria

Abstract: This article considers the ways in which knowledge and research influenced the design of a programme to reduce violent conflict in Nigeria. The diversity of sources and forms of conflict in Nigeria, and the way that local grievances interact with national struggles over politics and resources, combined with a need to show measurable results within five years, made the task of programme design extremely challenging. The article discusses how the project design team responded to this challenge. It describes the four main lessons that emerged from dialogue-based research studies that helped the design team formulate a theory of change for the programme, and subsequently its methodological approach and activities. The studies shaped the central theme of the project, which was the need to transform conflict management institutions into genuinely inclusive forums for dialogue, thereby regaining the trust of those currently excluded from dialogue but yet most affected by violence – particularly unemployed youth and women and girls. The article does not portray research and knowledge simplistically, as the sole solution to project design issues. Rather, it shows that if research findings can take designers directly to the core of the problems as perceived by those most affected by them, then they can play a critical role in designing appropriate interventions and, as implementation proceeds, to demonstrating progress towards project goals.

Security Sector Reform, Local Ownership and Community Engagement

Abstract: Local ownership is widely considered to be one of the core principles of successful Security Sector Reform (SSR) programmes. Nonetheless, there remains a gap between policy and practice. This article examines reasons for this gap, including concerns regarding limited capacity and lack of expertise, time and cost constraints, the allure of quantifiable results and quick wins, and the need to ensure that other principles inherent to SSR are not disregarded. In analysing what is meant by local ownership, this article will also argue that, in practice, the concept is narrowly interpreted both in terms of how SSR programmes are controlled and the extent to which those at the level of the community are actively engaged. This is despite policy guidance underscoring the importance of SSR programmes being inclusive and local ownership being meaningful. It will be argued that without ensuring meaningful and inclusive local ownership of SSR programmes, state security and justice sector institutions will not be accountable or responsive to the needs of the people and will, therefore, lack public trust and confidence. The relationship between the state and its people will be weak and people will feel divorced from the decisions that affect their security and their futures. All this will leave the state prone to further outbreaks of conflict. This article will suggest that the requisite public confidence and trust in state security and justice sector institutions, and ultimately, the state itself, could be promoted by SSR programmes incorporating community safety structures.

Understanding the nature and threats of drug trafficking to national and regional security in West Africa

Abstract: Several West African states are threatened by increasingly powerful transnational organised criminal networks. Yet, scholarly work on the nature, characteristics and strength of these groups and how their activities threaten states remains sparse, leading to misunderstandings and inadequate appreciation of the precise nature of the threats they pose to West Africa. This paper seeks to fill these lacunae in our knowledge. It focuses on the nexus between drugs, crime and terrorism. It argues that, the financial spin-offs from criminal activities contribute to the development of opportunistic relationships between criminals and extremist groups that threatens West Africa’s fragile states. The analyses are based on evidence from several West African states, but employ the ongoing crisis in the Sahel, particularly Mali, as an empirical case, to demonstrate how ‘profitable collusion’ among different actors permits hollow states to become edifices that allows corruption, criminality and impunity to flourish.

A Case Study of Counter Violent Extremism (CVE) Programming: Lessons from OTI’s Kenya Transition Initiative

Abstract: Between 2011 and 2014 the USAID Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI)’s Kenya Transition Initiative implemented what was essentially a pilot program of the new Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) concept. Aiming to counter the drivers of ‘violent extremism’ (VE), this operated through a system of small grants funding activities such as livelihood training, cultural events, community debates on sensitive topics, counselling for post-traumatic stress disorder, and so on. This paper delivers lessons from the program, generated via an independent evaluation, offering insights of relevance to the broader CVE community of practitioners. A first overarching conclusion is that programming decisions would have benefitted from a more comprehensive understanding of VE in the local context. For instance, subsets of the population more narrowly ‘at-risk’ of being attracted to VE should have been identified and targeted (e.g. potentially teenagers, ex-convicts, members of specific clans, and so on), and a greater focus should have been placed upon comprehending the relevance of material incentives, fear, status-seeking, adventure-seeking, and other such individual-level drivers. A second conclusion is that the KTI team would have profited from additional top-level guidance from their donors, for instance, providing direction on the extent to which efforts should have been targeted at those supportive of violence versus those directly involved in its creation, the risks associated with donor branding, and contexts in which the pejorative term ‘extremism’ should have been pragmatically replaced by neutral terminology. As a priority donors and the wider community should also provide suitable definitions of the CVE concept, rather than leaving practitioners to construe (undoubtedly inconsistently) it’s meaning from the available definitions of VE.

Pact for Life and the Reduction of Homicides in the State of Pernambuco

Abstract: The Pact for Life, the Public Security Policy implemented in Pernambuco in 2007, is identified as a successful policy that produced a large reduction in homicides in Pernambuco. This article seeks to discuss and interpret the main dimensions of this policy and also point to the progress and challenges, especially in how it is perceived by civil society organizations.

The Dilemmas of Pacification: News of War and Peace in the ‘Marvelous City’

Abstract: This article is a reflection on police work carried out in Rio de Janeiro favelas, from the viewpoint of someone who works in the field as a police manager in an effort to present the risks, opportunities, mistakes and achievements of the Pacifying Police Units (UPPs), within the process of ‘pacification’ currently underway in Rio de Janeiro. The empirical data, based on observations recorded by the author during his time as coordinator of the UPPs, serves as a counterpoint to academic research produced on the subject.

“A refugee is someone who refused to be oppressed”: Self-Survival Strategies of Congolese Young People in Uganda

Abstract: Drawing on Ruth Lister’s conceptual approach to agency, this paper shows how Congolese young people in refugee contexts in Uganda ‘get by’, ‘get (back) at’, ‘get out’, and/or ‘get organized’. These purposeful responses to violence and structural constraints contrast with dominant discourses about refugee young people as inherently vulnerable and in need of protection from outside agencies. The article thus concludes with some suggestions of how researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners can better recognize and support young people’s own survival strategies in contexts of violence and displacement.

Links Between Terrorism, Organized Crime and Crime: The Case of the Sahel Region

Abstract: Many observers hold that terrorist groups and transnational criminal networks share many of the same characteristics, methods and tactics. There are many examples cited to demonstrate these observations are not coincidental, but indicative of a trend: a trend that is a growing threat to the security interests of many nations. We propose that the intersection of criminal networks and terrorist organizations can be broadly grouped into three categories – coexistence (they coincidentally occupy and operate in the same geographic space at the same time), cooperation (they decide that their mutual interests are both served, or at not least severely threatened, by temporarily working together) and convergence (each begins to engage in behavior(s) that is/are more commonly associated with the other). The activities of these types of organizations in the Sahel region of Africa provide examples of all three categories of interactions. This perceived threat has prompted action and policy choices by a number of actors in the sub-region. But this assessment might not be accurate and may, in fact, be an attempt to force an extra-regional, inappropriate paradigm upon a specific situation and set of circumstances where they do not apply.

An Uncertain Future for Afghanistan’s Security Sector

Abstract: Western powers may have espoused accountability, civil society, and good governance, but their Afghan operations have largely emphasized training and equipping for security. Military capacities are higher now but those forces are not necessarily balanced, well-managed, or sustainable. A paramilitarized police has alienated communities. Ministries of Defense and Interior are imperiled by lacks in planning, civilian oversight, and budget sufficiency. To stabilize gains of the last decade, donors need to renew their commitments to major (but more discerning) assistance.

Fragile and Conflict-Affected States: Exploring the Relationship Between Governance, Instability and Violence

Abstract: ‘Fragile and conflict-affected states’ (FCAS) constitute an increasingly important category of aid policy and action. But the category comprises a large and heterogeneous set of countries, problematizing coherent policy response which is often awkwardly split between boilerplate strategy and case-by-case approach. In both respects, efficiency of aid allocations is questionable. There is a need to disaggregate the category into smaller groups of countries, understood according to a more nuanced interpretation of the nature of their fragility. Disaggregation, however, is challenging insofar as it is hard to find a stable reference point internal to the category by which states’ relative performance – and causes of performance – can be determined. An alternative approach is to seek a reference point external to the entire FCAS category – for example a multilateral initiative – which allows us to explore systematic differences between those who sign up and those who do not. This research took the UN’s Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) initiative as such a mechanism. Splitting FCAS into two groups – those who had joined SUN within its initial two-year phase and those who had not – we reviewed a range of social, economic, political, institutional and conflict/instability indicators to identify areas of significant difference. An unexpected finding was that while SUN-joiners performed statistically better on governance, there was no difference between joiners and non-joiners on the level of instability and violence they suffered, suggesting that some countries, even at high levels of conflict disruption, can achieve areas of relatively good governance.

Surviving Violence: Transgressing Categories and Boundaries in Armed Conflicts

Abstract: Since the early 1990s, activities intended for the protection of civilians have been steadily incorporated into humanitarian, peacekeeping, and development operations across the globe. Yet, what was initially perceived as a progressive step in the advancement of human security (Goldberg and Hubert 2001) is now coming under increasing scrutiny (Fox 2002; Thakur 2002). The civilian protection agenda involves a series of inter-related activities designed to prevent, mitigate, respond to, and recover from physical harm caused by armed conflict. Despite the steady elaboration and execution of this agenda, however, critics point to key challenges including the lack of compliance by states and non-state armed actors (Ferris 2011), problems with coordination and efficiency among aid organizations (Barnett 2009), under-resourced peacekeeping operations with limited training and equipment (Williams 2013), and the lack of capacity and will on the part of the ‘international community’ (Barr 2010).

The Implementation of Police Reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Analysing UN and EU Efforts

Abstract: This article analyses the role of the main international actors involved in the implementation of police reform in post-conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina, notably that of the UN and the EU. Despite considerable efforts and resources deployed over 17 years, the implementation of police reform remains an ‘unfinished business’ that demonstrates the slow pace of implementing rule of law reforms in Bosnia’s post-conflict setting, yet, in the long-term, remains vital for Bosnia’s stability and post-conflict reconstruction process. Starting with a presentation of the status of the police before and after the conflict, UN reforms (1995–2002) are first discussed in order to set the stage for an analysis of the role of the EU in the implementation of police reform. Here, particular emphasis is placed on the institution-building actions of the EU police mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina deployed on the ground for almost a decade (2003-June 2012). The article concludes with an overall assessment of UN and EU efforts in post-conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina, including the remaining challenges encountered by the EU on the ground, as the current leader to police reform implementation efforts. More generally, the article highlights that for police reform to succeed in the long-term, from 2012-onwards, the EU should pay particular attention to the political level, where most of the stumbling blocks for the implementation of police reform lie.

Effectiveness and Evaluation of Crime Prevention Programs in Minas Gerais

Abstract: This essay analyzes previous studies evaluating the effectiveness of the crime prevention policies adopted by the Government of Minas Gerais (Brazil). In this work, greater emphasis is placed on studies evaluating outcomes than on studies dealing with the process of setting up and implementing programs and projects. In order to allow a more systematic discussion, the Maryland Scale, which categorizes research and evaluations according to the methodological strengths and weaknesses in five levels, is employed. Subsequently, the authors draw a parallel between Brazil and other settings. Finally, this essay lays out the implications of this discussion regarding the prevention programs.

Intentional Homicides in São Paulo City: A New Perspective

Abstract: The state of Sao Paulo faced a sharp decline, more than 70 per cent, in homicides rates in the first decade of 2000. This paper outlines some of the actions cited as having contributed to this reduction. The second part of the paper analyses homicides occurring in the city of Sao Paulo in 2012 and the first semester of 2013 with a focus on the involvement of police officers as perpetrators. The analysis reveals that one in every five killings in the city was committed by a police officer in 2012. It also discusses problems regarding the classification of homicides that can cause a bias in the statistics.

Governance, Innovation, and Information and Communications Technology for Civil-Military Interactions

Abstract: Civilian and military participants in relief and stability operations rely upon Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to collect, analyze, store, display, and share information that is critical for these civil-military interactions. This article investigates ICT innovation in these operations over time. As researchers in the sociology of technology school might predict, ICT innovation for relief and stability operations emerges in a distributed fashion, within clusters of specialty expertise that migrate across interconnected technology systems and across humanitarian and military activities. Major events such as natural disasters have punctuated the development of ICT for civil-military interactions, often driving community learning and coherence. Among the many stakeholders in the United States, the federal government in particular has played an important role in shaping the ICT ecosystem through policies and engagements. Government policies and changes in the field of action in the 1990s created imperatives for the US military in particular to collaborate with civilian agencies on ICT innovation. Civil-military information sharing gaps persist today due, in part, to institutional factors.

Peaceful Economies: Assessing the Role of the Private Sector in Conflict Prevention in Pakistan

Abstract: Pakistan today seems to be embroiled in a number of conflicts that have both domestic as well as international dimensions. Conflicts of course vary, ranging from household disputes to increasing crime resulting from disparities. However, at an aggregated level, conflicts have a societal connotation that reflects deep-rooted divisions within a society. On a macro-level, these conflicts suppress a country’s potential and inhibit future prosperity. Hence, investor confidence has declined in Pakistan as have market opportunities. The poor law and order situation in Karachi over the last few years, for example, has significantly affected the income of daily wage earners, while investors have taken a back seat. Moreover, entrepreneurial activity becomes even more difficult to pursue for those with less capital or access to financing. With the rise in conflicts across the country coupled with a bleak economic situation, communities and businesses have suffered alike. Economic disparities often breed sustained conflicts. In this context, what is needed in Pakistan is an economic environment that engenders strategic peace. The two are complementing factors, and neglecting either can seriously undermine the effectiveness of measures taken for the other. This research study, conducted by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in 2013, undertook an analysis of the private sector’s role in achieving sustainable peace in Pakistan. It is important to note that as far as sustainable peace is concerned, the private sector is just one of many actors. In that, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives by businesses can certainly play an important role. Their main contribution, however, can be to influence public policy in favor of strategic peace across the country. While approaches such as dispute resolution (formal and informal) and CSR are important in terms of conflict mitigation, long-term peace is contingent upon a just and equitable system of economic governance.

Remembrance of Things Past: Somali Roads to Police Development

Abstract: Police reform is thought to require a police force to break with its past. This is notably so in the aftermath of conflict or regime change. In practice, however, most police forces are selectively reconstituted, and their development is influenced as much by legacy issues as by international standards filtered through local norms. This article uses the experience of Somalia’s three regional police forces to reconsider the relationship between past and present projects to build police authority and capacity, and what this says about institutional memory in the absence of documentation. In Somalia, as in other clan or tribal-based societies, police development is influenced by a blend of security levels, political imperatives, pragmatism, international resources and memories of past practices, with group experience playing a more significant role than institutional memory. The only identifiable general principle is the need for political settlements and tactical flexibility – that is, for stability.

Visualizing Armed Groups: The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s M23 in Focus

Abstract: New information technologies can help unpack the relationships and tendencies that per- sist in complex networks. We present an interactive, web-based visualization that captures interlocking networks related to the Mouvement du 23 Mars (M23) rebel group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to demonstrate the utility of visually summariz- ing relationships in a multi-dimensional dataset. We draw exclusively from the findings the UN Group of Governmental Experts report S/2012/843 documenting the procurement of weapons and ammunition by the M23 network. The visualization was built using a hierar- chical edge bundling algorithm (Holten 2006) implemented in Data-Driven Documents (d3) (Bostock 2011), an open-source JavaScript-based library for interactive web visualizations. We contend that such visualizations can provide improved understanding of complex social networks both within and beyond the confines of war.

Contestation and Reconstruction: Natural Capital and Post-Conflict Development in Borderland Regions

Abstract: Though often remote and underdeveloped, borderlands are contested territories. The incorporation of borderlands into the post-conflict state highlights many important land-related paradigms, including the conversion of natural resources for economic, political, and civic purposes. This article explores the relationship between the natural resources of borderlands and their post-conflict development, management, and sustainability. Based on case study data and secondary material drawn from Croatia and Cyprus, the paper seeks to establish how the interplay of cross-border, national, and sub-national interests in post-conflict settings may contribute to the creation of new opportunities for economic development and the reconstruction of borderlands. It considers how the exploitation of natural resources may advance the agendas for the political development and incorporation of previous sites of contestation; and equally how their incorporation may constrain policies of sustainability, potentially giving rise to new conflicts. The paper sheds light on issues such as: the conversion of borderland natural capital to political capital as post-conflict states assert sovereignty claims and consolidate territorial identity; the ways in which the non-monetary value of natural capital is reconceived as commercial use value in post-conflict reconstruction; and the involvement of non-state actors and civil society in promoting environmental agendas, often as a counterbalance to state power.

Community Policing in Mexico The Framework of Resistance and Conditions of Possibility

Abstract: The complex environment of insecurity, violence and crime that characterizes Mexico today renders traditional crime fighting, based exclusively on police reaction and an inquisitorial criminal system, ineffective. This was the only answer to all types of crimes for decades. For this reason, from 2011 INSYDE has been participating and exploring, in partnership with various government forces and determined voices, new ways of implementing community policing actions in Mexico and promoting reconciliation and police-community proximity. They have been encouraged by the firm conviction of the importance of our legitimate human right to safety and our desire for a more democratic, modern and citizen-focused police. This paper explores some of the findings and challenges that the community policing model presents in Mexico in order to find a place in preventive police forces.

Medellín’s Biblioteca España: Progress in Unlikely Places

Abstract: †The Biblioteca Espana, designed by Giancarlo Mazzanti, is a library park built to serve two traditionally marginalized comunas (neighborhoods) of Medellin. As such, it is a prime example of a public policy intervention that focuses on social inclusion, the provision of services, and quality of life. In this paper, we ask whether improvements in state capacity and infrastructure at the local level can have a broad impact in poor and violent communities. The survey results reveal that citizens of comunas Popular and Santa Cruz perceive their situation to be improving at a faster rate than those of the city in general. The broader lesson for other countries and cities facing similar challenges is that leadership and reforms do have the potential to improve the quality of life, even in the most troubled areas.

Surrendering to the Big Picture: Historical and Legal Perspectives on Accountability in the Democratic Republic of Congo Following the Defeat of the March 23 Movement

Abstract: It remains to be seen whether the past few months will mark a genuine turning point in the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as the rebel faction March 23 Movement (M23) announced the end of its 20-month insurgency against the government on 5 November 2013. News of the rebel group’s surrender following its political and military defeat signals an important moment of hope and renewed prospects of peace and stability in a region prone to protracted armed conflict. However, long-term stability in the country and in the region will require a multi-faceted process consisting of comprehensive accountability for human rights violations that have been committed by all parties to the conflict. In this article, I will first lay out the historical context of the fighting and the root causes of conflict present long before M23’s entrance onto the scene as a splintered rebel faction so as to understand M23’s place within the country’s history of protracted violence. Next, I will explain the violations of international humanitarian and human rights law committed by all possible parties, including rebel and government groups, as well as individual criminal responsibility and corporate liability. Lastly, I will chart the pathways of criminal and social accountability at various levels of international and domestic justice systems to see how the DRC may continue to build long-term local stability in the eastern parts of the country by addressing the question of accountability for international crimes. This brief analysis aims to provide a broader understanding of a complex conflict beyond the defeat and disarmament of M23, albeit a key group in a region of contentious cross-border conflict.

Losses of Humanity in Times of War: The Actions of Alternative Subjects of Justice

Abstract: This article discusses loss of humanity due to violence in Ciudad Juarez (2008– 2014) and the actions of alternative subjects of justice – the organized civil society – seeking to address it. This paper resonates with theoretical currents of feminism and humanism, both of which have created a critical apparatus for thinking about social inequality in the context of life, death, and injustice. The discussion draws on the theoretical concepts of discourse societies, necropolitics, private government and actions. With this theoretical structure, the paper seeks to understand the political actions of eight civil society organizations aiming to recover the right to the body, to space and to be a political subject for a community shattered by violence. The paper argues that, through these actions, they helped to prevent crime, enhance public safety and stabilise a society suffering from continued violence due in large part to the war on drugs.

Why America’s Nation Building Office Failed and What Congress Had to Do With It

Abstract: Since the end of the Cold War, America has led six nation-building missions. We have done none particularly well. Throughout the 1990’s, but particularly after the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the U.S. government tried to improve the way it ran ‘stabilization and reconstruction’ operations. That effort produced most notably the Office of the Coordinator for Stabilization and Reconstruction (S/CRS) within the State Department. S/CRS was charged with developing plans, coordinating their interagency implementation, and staffing a ‘Civilian Response Corps’ to deploy to countries on short notice. S/CRS largely failed in these efforts. It struggled to establish control over the interagency planning process. It failed to staff its Response Corps. And it was largely excluded from the civilian efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. This paper explains why S/CRS failed. Four reasons in particular stand out. The office never had strong backing from the Secretary of State. It was undercut by USAID in its congressional negotiations. It lacked a strong domestic constituency to advocate for it. And it suffered from a general bias against civilian-led foreign policy projects. Without a clear congressional mandate and enough funding, S/CRS could not control either USAID or the regional bureaus. Simply put, the office did not bring much to the table. Finally, the failure of S/CRS suggests that the Defense Department, not State, will run future stabilization and reconstruction efforts. Though the appetite for nation building in the U.S. is low, history suggests that we are not done with these projects.

Robber Barons Rising: The Potential for Resource Conflict in Ghazni, Afghanistan

Abstract: †Security and governance in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan are threatened by resource conflict dynamics: groups focus on exploiting lootable resources in the short term while weak institutions and conflict persist. Elements within the Afghan government and insurgent organizations alike expand their power and influence in this manner. Understanding how criminal organizations operate within the regional political economy is essential to reducing the leverage these networks, associated criminal syndicates, and corrupt government officials have on the community. We proffer three hypotheses for development and stability practitioners to monitor as transition approaches in 2014, as well as recommendations for mitigating the onset of resource conflict in Ghazni as the province experiences a downgrade in foreign security forces. Adopting effective, anti-insurgency policies will be fundamental to mitigating the malicious effects on the population and providing incentives for peace, rather than continuing conflict.

Freedom of Expression Under Threat in Afghanistan

Abstract: Although media outlets have proliferated in the private sector in Afghanistan, the Afghan press is hobbled by insufficient security, lack of access for their investigations, serious revenue and funding shortfalls, stalled legislation for freedom of the press, change-wary socio-cultural norms that tend to undercut the wide dissemination of news and skirt in the presentation of scientific/technological and foreign information. To do their jobs, the nation’s journalists need to overcome these and other barriers.

Afghanistan in 2024: Muddling Through?

Abstract: This paper highlights trends in Afghan security and development, including capacities of Taliban and Al Qaeda insurgencies, national forces’ casualty and desertion rates, and citizen rage spurred by abusive authorities, profiteering elites and ethnic leaders. In coming years, the unity central government may fall apart. As in Pakistan, U.S. targeted killings by drones and raids within Afghanistan may prove counter-productive, radicalizing civilians. While little is certain, a modest degree of successful stability and reconstruction may be achieved by 2024 – most large cities and many small towns may be controlled by the Kabul government, official corruption may decline, and conceivably the country may integrate into a regional economy shared with Iran, Russia, China, and India.

Decentralizing the State in Liberia: The Issues, Progress and Challenges

Abstract: Decentralization reforms have become a major part of governance reform in postwar countries. After emerging from fourteen years of civil conflict, Liberia has begun implementing a wide range of governance reform programs, among which decentralization has become a key issue. Although there is consensus among actors – politicians, government officials and civil society activists - on the need to decentralize governance and service delivery there remain disagreement on the scope, nature and timing of decentralization reforms. Overtime, several steps have been taken towards devolution of power, including the promulgation of relevant policies and the deconcentration of services to the counties. There remain, however, a myriad of issues ranging from structural to legal and procedural issues - constitutional reform, revenue collection and expenditure - actors in Liberia need to better consider while rolling out a decentralization program. This includes taking into account the existing capacity and resources constraints. This article discusses issues and progress towards decentralization in Liberia’s governance reform efforts, and sheds light on the challenges in implementing decentralization.

External Police Oversight in Mexico: Experiences, Challenges, and Lessons Learned

Abstract: After nearly 20 years of ‘reformist’ measures, the police in Mexico continues to be an ineffective, unreliable, and ‘far from citizen’ institution. The efforts made so far have faded amongst political interests and agendas; multidimensional frameworks out-dated at both conceptual and interagency levels; short-sighted competition for resources; evaluation and performance monitors that are handicapped by bureaucratic inaction; and weak transparency and accountability that perpetuate the opacity in which the police operate. In this context, the agenda of external police oversight is still at a rudimentary stage. However, there are several initiatives that have managed to push the issue to the frontier of new knowledge and promising practices. This paper outlines the experiences and challenges of—as well as the lessons learned by—the Institute for Security and Democracy (Insyde) A.C., one of the most recognised think tanks in Mexico.