Youth Breaking Cycles of Marginalisation, Resource Competition and Violence in Yemen
Issues:Competition over resources, Global militarisation, Marginalisation
Last month in Yemen, 40 young men and women, all under the age of 30, came together to form the country's first cross-tribal youth council to address violence and marginalisation. Disputes over land claims and competition for resources and government services often lead to violence and cycles of revenge killings that can extend over a decade, hindering the work of government and international development agencies, and isolating citizens from the state.
Image source: NDI.
Read more »Posted on 31/08/10
Climate Change and Natural Resources Conflicts in Africa
Issues:Climate change, Competition over resources
The Human Security Report Project has published a new book exploring the links between climate change and conflicts over natural resources across Africa.
From the book's synopsis:
The climate change phenomenon is a global concern, which typically threatens the sustainability of the livelihoods of the majority of the population living in the developing countries. Africa, particularly the sub-Saharan region, is likely to be negatively impacted by climate variability and change. Extreme natural occurrences such as floods and droughts are becoming increasingly frequent and severe. Climate variability and change have further exacerbated the scarcity of natural resources on the African continent, leading to conflicts with regard to access to, and ownership and use of these resources. The scarcity of natural resources is known to trigger competition for the meagre resources available among both individuals and communities, and even institutions, thus affecting human security on the continent.
Image source: Albert Gonzalez Farran
Read more »Posted on 25/08/10
Climate Change and Conflict: Moving Beyond the Impasse
Issue:Climate change
A Policy Briefing from the University of Sussex's Institute of Development Studies claims that the debate on the relationship between climate change and conflict has reached an impasse. The paper argues that it is time for a more measured view of vulnerability to climate change and a better understanding of the causes of conflict.
Image source: damopabe
Read more »Posted on 25/08/10
Ban Ki-moon: Natural Resources Should Be Part of Peacebuilding
Issue:Competition over resources
The New Security Beat comments on a recent report by the UN Secretary-General:
Natural resource management is a critical component of the peacebuilding process according to a new report from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The report, presented to the UN Security Council and General Assembly this month, is a follow-up to last year’s presentation by the Secretary-General’s office on peacebuilding in the immediate aftermath of conflict.
Source: The New Security Beat
Image Source: United Nations Photo
Read more »Posted on 11/08/10
India's Maoists: South Asia’s "Other" Insurgency
Issues:Competition over resources, Marginalisation
Although India's Maoists are largely politically motivated (see similar movements in Nepal and the Philippines), the country's Adivasi tribals, driven by grievances with the Indian government over decades-long resource mismanagement and systematic marginalization, are beginning to align with, and support, the Maoist insurgency, contributing to what has been described as India's “single biggest internal security challenge” - as an article from The New Security Beat reports.
Source: The New Security Beat
Image Source: Wen-Yan King
Read more »Posted on 11/08/10
Climate change and conflict: Working paper - A framework for analysis and action
Issue:Climate change
This Working Paper by SAFERWORLD presents a framework for analysis that may go some way towards accommodating the complexity and variability of modelling the linkages between climate change and conflict. It does not cover all dimensions of the relationship between climate change and conflict, but focuses upon how it plays out a local level and what this means for policy and programming.
A direct link to the summary can be found on SAFERWORLD's website here.
A direct link to the full report can be found on SAFERWORLD's website here.
Image source Caza_No_7.
Read more »Posted on 11/08/10
