Civil Society & Inclusive Peace (Peace Direct, 2019)
Inclusive peace, or the idea that all stakeholders in a society should have a role in defining and shaping peace, is receiving widespread global recognition. Still, despite the progress made through the increased recognition of inclusive peace at the theoretical and policy level, it has proven difficult to achieve in reality. Peace Direct teamed up with the Inclusive Peace & Transition Initiative and the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict to explore the dynamics of inclusivity and peacebuilding in further detail in this report. The report includes in-depth case studies from around the world, that help us to understand the strategies employed by grassroots peacebuilders to counter the challenges to effective inclusion in peacebuilding. From Nigeria to DR Congo, explore the case studies below to see what has worked (or not) in particular situations, and the successes, challenges and stalemates encountered on the pursuit to inclusive peace. Click here for full report ...
Blood, Sweat and Tears: Community Redress Strategies and their Effectiveness in Mitigating the Impacts of Extractives and Related Infrastructure Projects in South Africa: 2008-2018 (Natural Justice, 2019)
“Blood, Sweat and Tears” was developed based on research conducted on communities’ responses to mining and the extractive industries in South Africa. The report tracks strategies used by communities (and their civil society partners and others) to challenge components of these developments and operations and mitigate the impacts that the communities experience – impacts that range from water contamination, erosion and dust, to displacements and disrupted livelihoods. The research finds that although litigation was the preferred strategy in the past, communities are increasingly mobilising around other strategies, including social audits, petitions, compliance monitoring, community trainings, public campaigns etc. Click here for full report ...
The Effect of Civic Leadership Training on Citizen Engagement and Government Responsiveness: Experimental Evidence from the Philippines (Making All Voices Count research report, 2018)
What are the effects of providing civic leadership training to community leaders from marginalised groups? Can it lead to increased participation by new leaders in local government processes, and increased government responsiveness to the needs of the poorest and most marginalised? Does it have the unintended consequence of these new leaders being co-opted by local politicians? This research investigated the impact of civic leadership training on citizen participation and government responsiveness in the Philippines. It examined an experimental pilot intervention that targeted ‘parent leaders’ – individuals already identified as community leaders in a large-scale government conditional cash transfer programme that aims to benefit the ‘poorest of the poor’. Click here for full report ...
Innovation in the Horn, East and Central Africa (HECA): Perspectives from on-the-ground experiences (Oxfam Case Study, 2017)
Innovation involves applying information, imagination and initiative to get greater or different value from resources, and includes all processes by which new ideas are generated and converted into useful processes or products. These case studies showcase some of the innovative ideas that are being implemented by Oxfam in six countries: Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi. Each project was selected for its potential to bring greater impact in the future. They include turning ‘excrement into income’ in urban slums in Kenya; giving citizens a voice through empowering them to use their mobile phones to report and share information on justice issues in Rwanda; and using a logistical ‘hub’ in Uganda to enhance service delivery and cost-effectiveness across a region. Click here for full case study ...
Anti-refugee Mobilization in Social Media: The Case of Soldiers of Odin (Social Media + Society article, 2018)
Article abstract: In the wake of the international refugee crisis, racist attitudes are becoming more publicly evident across the European Union. Propelled by the attacks in Köln on New Year’s Eve 2015 and harsher public sentiments on immigration, vigilante gangs have emerged in various European cities. These gangs mobilize through social media networks and claim to protect citizens from alleged violent and sexual attacks by refugees. This article analyzes how racist actors use social media to mobilize and organize street politics targeting refugees/immigrants. The aim is to explore the relation between social media and anti-refugee mobilization in a time of perceived insecurity and forced migration. The study uses the vigilante network Soldiers of Odin as a specific case, looking at (1) how they communicate through social media, (2) how they are represented in the large “alternative” space of right-wing online sites, and (3) how they are represented in traditional mainstream news. Using a critical adaption of Cammaerts’ theory of “mediation opportunity structure,” the article explicates the (inverted) rationale of racist online networks. Using quantitative and qualitative content analysis, both social media content and traditional news media are examined. The results show that although racist actors succeed in utilizing many of the ...
Breaking the Conflict Cycle, Building Peaceful Communities: participatory photography and storytelling with African diasporas in Sydney (Journal of Communication Inquiry, 2018)
This article discusses the experience of a participatory photography project that brought together young people from the Congolese, Rwandan, Burundian, and Ugandan communities living in Sydney (Australia), whose lives are still impacted by the legacy of the conflicts that have been ravaging the African Great Region. This initiative aimed to provide a space to encourage communication between different groups and enable the promotion of peace between communities starting from the youth is analyzed here, and reflections are offered on the use of this method with diaspora groups. Click here to read or download the article ...
‘Stand Up, Speak Out’ Youth Activism Training Resources (Girls Not Brides, 2018)
Co-created with young activists and member organisations from around the world, these one-of-a-kind training resources will help strengthen and amplify the role that young people can, and do, play as powerful activists in ending child marriage. STAND UP, SPEAK OUT! The new training resources offer a carefully planned series of workshops, all designed to empower young people; both by building knowledge around child marriage and by strengthening the skills they need to become powerful change makers. All sessions are planned to help empower young people with knowledge around child marriage, and how they can become powerful advocates and change makers. Throughout the training, there are dynamic, fun methods and strategies included for empowering young people to champion change in their communities. The training package is made up of two resources. A Trainer Manual: offering step-by-step guidance on how to run a series of training workshops with young people interested in developing their child marriage activism skills. Made up of 5 modules, covering specific topics, the training will lead participants on a journey of discovery. A Participant Guide: which is a textbook on how to advocate for change, designed to accompany the training. Download the resources at: https://www.girlsnotbrides.org/youth-activism-training-programme/ ...
Engaging men and boys in sanitation and hygiene programmes (IDS Frontiers of CLTS: Innovations and Insights 11, 2018)
This issue of Frontiers of CLTS shares and builds on the learning from a desk study that explores examples of men’s and boys’ behaviours and gender roles in sanitation and hygiene (S&H). Of particular interest is the extent to which the engagement of men and boys in S&H processes is leading to sustainable and transformative change in households and communities and reducing gendered inequality. The review focuses on men and boys: how to engage them (or not), how to mobilise them as allies in the transformation of S&H outcomes and the problems they contribute to and experience. Click here for full publication ...
22nd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2018) – list of C4D related sessions and abstracts
The 22nd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2018 http://www.aids2018.org/) took place in July 2018 in Amsterdam. The theme of AIDS 2018 was “Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges”, drawing attention to the need of rights-based approaches to more effectively reach key populations, including in Eastern Europe and Central Asia and the North-African/Middle Eastern regions where epidemics are growing. Some of the C4D related conference sessions and abstracts submitted are listed below. Our actions count: Community mobilization model for social change and transforming ‘inaction in response to Stigma and Discrimination' into ‘action' HIV and TB-related stigma and discrimination are important impediments to controlling the dual HIV and TB epidemics. A South African Stigma Index Survey was completed in 18 districts in South Africa. This study included over 10 700 participants who are HIV positive and who are older than 15 years, the largest of its kind in the world. Measuring stigma associated with TB was included in this type of survey for the first time. The purpose of the Stigma Index was to measure stigma and discrimination experienced by PLHIV and TB and to inform the development and implementation of national policies and programmes to protect the rights of PLHIV and TB. From online ...
Civil society under threat: How can HIV advocates resist the impact? Conservative populism and social exclusion of civil society (Video presentation from the 22nd International AIDS Conference – AIDS 2018)
Repression of civil society is rising. In 2012-2015, more than 120 laws restricting civil rights were introduced or proposed in 60 countries. Governments are implementing legal, administrative and other measures restricting operations of non-governmental organizations, particularly those rooted in marginalized communities disproportionately affected by HIV. Repression tools include burdensome registration requirements, restrictions on basic freedoms (including peaceful assembly and online expression), physical attacks and imprisonment. Panellists explore the impacts of civil society restrictions and human rights violations on the HIV response and they will discuss how HIV advocates can defend essential civil liberties. Click here for video presentation (via YouTube) ...
Solutions brief: entertainment-education to address child marriage (Girls Not Brides, 2017)
Mass media has long been recognised as a way to prompt large-scale behaviour change. But can it change the norms and beliefs which perpetuate child marriage? This brief takes a look at what entertainment-education is and its potential for addressing a complex social issue such as child marriage. It also contains a list of useful resources on the issue. Click here for full brief ...
Under what Conditions is Information Empowering? (Feedback Lab Report, 2018)
This report draws on 44 real-life examples and 168 research papers from 10 fields to develop 7 general principles that seem to underlie information initiatives that successfully empower people. Principles 1, 2, and 3 speak to how information empowers through reinterpretation, and Principles 4 to 7 speak to how we can support that reinterpretation—and get people to act. The goal of this report is to illustrate that information does not empower on its own. Rather, the act of reinterpreting information is empowering, and that act is driven by social and emotional factors. From the literature summarized in this report, we extrapolate principles by which the reinterpretation of information leads to empowerment. Click here for full report ...