July 21, 2011
International Monetary Fund

Abstract:

This paper identifies the factors linked to cross-country differentials in growth performance in the aftermath of social conflict for 30 sub-Saharan African countries using panel data techniques. Our results show that changes in the terms of trade are the most important correlate of economic performance in post-conflict environments. This variable is typically associated with an increase in the marginal probability of positive economic performance by about 30 percent. Institutional quality emerges as the second most important factor. Foreign aid is shown to have very limited ability to explain differentials in growth performance, and other policy variables such as trade openness are not found to have a statistically significant effect. The results suggest that exogenous factors ("luck") are an important factor in post-conflict recovery. They also highlight the importance in post-conflict settings of policies to mitigate the macroeconomic impact of terms of trade volatility (including countercyclical macroeconomic policies and innovative financing instruments) and of policies to promote export diversification....

February 9, 2011
The International Journal of Transitional Justice

Abstract:

Most studies of truth commissions assert their positive role in improving human rights. A firstwave of researchmade these claims based on qualitative analysis of a single truth commission or a small number of cases. Thirty years of experience with truth commissions and dozens of examples allow cross-national statistical studies to assess these findings. Two recent studies undertake that project. Their findings, which are summarized in this article, challenge the prevailing view that truth commissions foster human rights, showing instead that commissions, when used alone, tend to have a negative impact on human rights. Truth commissions have a positive impact, however, when used in combination with trials and amnesties. This article extends the question of whether truth commissions improve human rights to how, when and why they succeed or fail in doing so. It presents a ‘justice balance’ explanation, whereby commissions, incapable of promoting stability and accountability on their own, contribute to human rights improvements when they complement and enhance amnesties and prosecutions. The article draws on experiences in Brazil, Chile, Nepal, South Korea and South Africa to illustrate the central argument....

November 4, 2010
Households in Conflict Network // Institute of Development Studies // University of Sussex

Abstract:

Given the high levels of crime and violence in South Africa, there may be a temptation for citizens to arm themselves for protection. Using quantitative survey data from the Cape Area Panel Study and qualitative interviews with residents of high-violence neighborhoods, this paper examines the question of who carries weapons outside the home in Cape Town and what the effects of weapon carrying may be. Multiple regression analysis is used to test the significance of possible socioeconomic drivers of weapon carrying and the results are discussed in the South African social context. Weapon carrying is found to be associated with both assault perpetration and victimization, suggesting that it is part of a violent lifestyle in which weapon carriers are likely to use their weapons both offensively and defensively. Possible weaponrelated policies for violence reduction are also discussed....

April 26, 2010
African Centre for for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes // African Journal on Conflict Resolution // International Center for Transitional Justice

Abstract:

South Africa’s gendered past was never substantially addressed by the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) despite attempts by women’s groups to ensure its inclusion.. The TRC’s treatment of gender was in part constrained by its ‘gender-blind’ mandate, which ignored the different experiences and interests of men and women. Its shortfalls were further reinforced by the combination of limited time and resources, the lack of a systematic proactive gender strategy, and the lack of sustained involvement and interventions by the feminist community. While interventions by women’s groups and activists led the Commission to take up gender in ad hoc ways, such as through the Special Hearings on Women, the engagement of the TRC with gender remained at best tangential and as such the opportunity to capture a more complete picture of the apartheid era was lost South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) provides an interesting case study for analysts of transitional justice as it proved a missed opportunity for revealing the gendered nature of South Africa’s past. By evaluating the Commission, it is possible to see how its ad hoc approach to gender meant that the different experiences of men and women were fundamentally overlooked during the South African process....

April 26, 2010
African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes // African Journal on Conflict Resolution // International Center for Transitional Justice

Abstract:

This article reflects on the influence and legacy for gender justice of the ways in which gender-based human rights violations are raised in truth commissions in Africa, with specific reference to the impact of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). It provides a brief background to how the issues were placed on the agenda of the TRC, and tackles the practical outcomes of these interventions. I interrogate the gender approach and analysis that became a model for the form and practice of transitional situations elsewhere and its implications for gender justice. A gender analysis of recent transitional justice initiatives is critically important as it shows how the context, history and nature of gender and other intersecting relations of power in society influence and shape the justice and reconciliation outcomes. It is not so much a matter of attributing the failure to achieve gender justice to truth-seeking processes as such, but rather one of understanding the politics of how these processes unfolded. In the South African case, the way in which the issues of gender were addressed during its transition became a limiting factor in how the gendered nature of the past came to be understood and how gender crimes were dealt with. That gender crimes did not find their way into the amnesty process was because neither victims nor perpetrators identified their experiences as such. This does not mean that we should not apply our minds to how gender justice might be better served in TRC processes. In this regard, I refer to some of the improvements made in the TRC processes influenced by the shortcomings of the South African model....

April 4, 2008
Council on Foreign Relations

Abstract:

After years of economic crisis and repressive leadership under President Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe looks poised for change. The opposition party contends Mugabe lost March 28 presidential elections, and delays in announcing poll results have fueled intense speculation about what is next for the beleaguered country. Andrew Meldrum, a Nieman fellow at Harvard University and former Zimbabwe correspondent for the Guardian, says the inner circle of Mugabe’s party, ZANU-PF, is looking at its options.

January 14, 2008
PBS

Abstract:

This week's Rough Cut is a disturbing story. It deals with a sensitive and personal subject -- rape and sexual assault. We had long conversations with the producer, Elena Ghanotakis, about how to best present this difficult material. Our aim is to show the horrific outcomes of violence without exploiting the survivors. Having done women's health advocacy work for several years, Ghanotakis brought a crucial level of sensitivity to the story. Her close relationships with the patients and staff at the Thuthuzela Rape Crisis Center also reassured us. As Ghanotakis made clear, all the rape survivors and their guardians in this story were willing to have their painful stories filmed in hopes of educating others and exposing the troubled world they live in....

October 19, 2006


Abstract:

A selected bibliography with special focus on Germany and South Africa.

August 26, 2004
South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA)

Abstract:

A bi-monthly electronic publication, providing succinct analysis of foreign policy developments of both a regional and global nature, and their impact on South African foreign policy making.

October 17, 2008
International Center for Transitional Justice

Abstract:

Case studies of four truth commissions organized in Africa and the Americas that are notably positive examples of how circumstances in each society helped shape the commissions' work. The cases reviewed include South Africa, Peru, Guatemala, and Greensboro, USA.

May 28, 2007
Freedom House

Abstract:

Freedom House welcomes the vote by the United Nations General Assembly to elect Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina for the two open seats for Eastern European States in yesterday's election to the UN Human Rights Council. Belarus, the third candidate for the East Europe vacancies, was defeated in a tight race following a vigorous campaign by numerous human rights organizations and countries opposed to the candidacy of a country with one of the world's most abysmal human rights records.

October 5, 2006
Institute for Security Studies

Abstract:

Crime levels in South Africa remain one of the key challenges facing the country. The annual release of the crime statistics by the South African Police Service (SAPS) provides detailed information on the levels of reported crime. Although these statistics are not the only indicators of actual crime levels in the country, they are extremely useful when trying to monitor and understand South Africa's crime rate.

September 8, 2006
Special Program on the Implementation of Targeted Sanctions

Abstract:

Factsheet on sanctions regimes which have been terminated. The list includes Angola, Cambodia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Haiti, South Africa, Southern Rhodesia, Sudan and Libya.

July 13, 2006
Project on International Courts and Tribunals // African International Courts and Tribunals

Abstract:

The Tribunal of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is the newest operationalized subregional court in Africa. Provided for under Article 16 of the 1992 Declaration and Treaty Establishing the Southern African Development Community, the Community's members approved the Protocol required to set up the Tribunal in 2000. Despite the ratification requirements in the Protocol itself, the Protocol entered into force with the signature of the Agreement Amending the Treaty of SADC in August 2001. The Agreement Amending the Treaty marked a renewed energy in the integration of the Community, making the Protocol on the Tribunal an integral part of the Treaty and thus automatically applicable to all Member States. The renewed energy of the Community however, was not reflected in a swift establishment of the Tribunal. The first judges of the Tribunal were not sworn in until November 2005....

June 11, 2008
ReliefWeb // United Nations Country Team in South Africa

Abstract:

Violence against foreigners in South Africa and regional movements (as of 28 May 2008)

February 5, 2009
All Africa Global Media

Abstract:

The army is to be deployed in hot spots across South Africa to prevent an outbreak of political violence ahead of this year’s elections, says Minister of Defence Charles Nqqakula. This in the wake of a spate of attacks in Kwazulu-Natal (KZN) that has seen tensions between Mangosuthu Buthelezi’s Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the ruling African National Congress (ANC) resurface. On Sunday a stand-off between the IFP and ANC became so tense that the army was called in to support hundreds of police officers already on the scene. On 22 January 2009, an ANC-aligned Zulu chief was shot dead. The next day an ANC Youth League (ANCYL) chairperson was killed. Are these early warning signs of a potentially violent election? The litmus test for any new democracy is not the first or even the second election. The test comes when the ruling party loses an election for the first time. Will the ruling party accept the change or will they try to change the rules? While no one, aside from the Democratic Alliance, would suggest that the ANC is going to lose the upcoming election, this is the first seriously contested election since 1994. These are only the beginning of testing times for our democracy. In this context, the use of violent language by certain politicians is seen by many as a spark that could ignite a powder keg....

June 26, 2008
The Brookings Institution

Abstract:

An estimated 80,000 migrants have been displaced by the recent wave of anti-immigrant violence in South Africa. While some have returned to their home countries – including Burundi, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe - most have been settled temporarily in seven camps, and the South African government aims to reintegrate them in the host communities from which they were forced to flee in the next few months. An important lesson learned in other displacement situations around the world – whether arising from civil strife, conflict or natural disasters – is that attention needs to be paid to protecting the rights of the displaced. In South Africa migrant families have been separated during displacement. Agencies including Human Rights Watch, Medecins Sans Frontieres and Oxfam have reported overcrowding, poor shelter and deteriorating health conditions in camps. Many of the displaced either have no documentation or have fled without their documentation, which may impede access to education or medical assistance and possibly make them targets for forced returns if they cannot prove that they have legal status....

June 13, 2008
Council on Foreign Relations

Abstract:

As the date of Zimbabwe's runoff presidential election draws closer, speculation about the fluid political situation runs rampant. Some Western diplomats and rights groups say a coup has put the military in charge (Times of London). Ruling party insiders reportedly, meanwhile, say President Robert Mugabe still holds control but plans to step down next year (SA Times). Other regional media outlets suggest Mugabe's party, ZANU-PF, and the opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), might even be discussing a national unity government (Business Day). Yet there is widespread agreement on one point: The state-sponsored campaign of violence and intimidation documented by human rights groups precludes a fair runoff election on June 27. Zimbabwe's fate, experts say, will hinge on mediation by African negotiators, most likely led by the South African Development Community (SADC)....

February 28, 2008
Prison Fellowship International // Restorative Justice Online

Abstract:

In April 2007, the Phoenix Justice and Restoration programme (JARP) began offering restorative justice and other alternative dispute resolution (ADR) services in the Phoenix community of the South African province of KwaZulu Natal. The pilot project sought to lower court backlogs and to help those in the community develop ways of responding to crime and conflict without resorting to the court system. This article summarises the evaluation results from the first few months of Phoenix JARP from a report prepared by Professor Herman Conradie of the Department of Criminology of the University of South Africa, Hema Hargovan and Dr. VR Chetty from the Department of Criminology of the University of KwaZulu Natal. A link to the full report is included....

January 24, 2008
Institute for Security Studies

Abstract:

The Prohibition of Mercenary Activities and Regulation of Certain Activities in Country of Armed Conflict Act, 2006 (Act No. 27, 2006) was, after a considerable delay, assented to and signed by President Thabo Mbeki on 12 November 2007. The act replaces the Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act, 1998 (Act No. 15 of 1998) and also provides for two amendments to the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1997 (Act No. 105 of 1997). The Regulations to this Act are still to be promulgated. The intent of the Act is to prohibit mercenary activity, to regulate the provision of assistance or service of a military or military-related nature in a country of armed conflict, to regulate the enlistment of South African citizens or permanent residents in other armed forces, and to regulate the provision of humanitarian aid in a country of armed conflict. It provides for extra-territorial jurisdiction for the courts of the Republic with regards to certain offences and it provide for penalties for offences related to the Act....

January 22, 2008
Public Service Accountability Monitor

Abstract:

The Public Service Accountability Monitor is an independent research and monitoring institute dedicated to strengthening democracy in South Africa. Accountability is an obligation by politicians and government officials to explain their performance and justify their decisions. It is not a personal favour. The PSAM hopes by providing information on the management of public resources, the delivery of public services and handling of misconduct and corruption we will assist parliament and South African citizens to hold government officials accountable for their performance....

February 6, 2007


Abstract:

The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was set up by the Government of National Unity to help deal with what happened under apartheid. The conflict during this period resulted in violence and human rights abuses from all sides. No section of society escaped these abuses.

January 30, 2007


Abstract:

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has been in existence since 1980, when it was formed as a loose alliance of nine majority-ruled States in Southern Africa known as the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC), with the main aim of coordinating development projects in order to lessen economic dependence on the then apartheid South Africa. The founding Member States are: Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. SADCC was formed in Lusaka, Zambia on April 1, 1980, following the adoption of the Lusaka Declaration - Southern Africa: Towards Economic Liberation. The transformation of the organization from a Coordinating Conference into a Development Community (SADC) took place on August 17, 1992 in Windhoek, Namibia when the Declaration and Treaty was signed at the Summit of Heads of State and Government thereby giving the organization a legal character. The Member States are Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. SADC headquarters are in Gaborone, Botswana. The objective of SADC: Achieve development and economic growth, alleviate poverty, enhance the standard and quality of life of the people of Southern Africa and support the socially disadvantaged through regional integration; Evolve common political values, systems and institutions; Promote and defend peace and security; Promote self-sustaining development on the basis of collective self-reliance, and the interdependence of Member States; Achieve complementarity between national and regional strategies and programmes; Promote and maximise productive employment and utilisation of resources of the Region; Achieve sustainable utilisation of natural resources and effective protection of the environment; Strengthen and consolidate the long-standing historical, social and cultural affinities and links among the people of the Region....

January 30, 2007


Abstract:

The Solidarity Peace Trust is a non-governmental organisation, registered in South Africa. The Trustees of the Solidarity Peace Trust are church leaders of Southern Africa, who are all committed to human rights, freedom and democracy in their region. The purpose of the Solidarity Peace Trust is to assist individuals, organisations, churches and affiliated organisations in southern Africa, to build solidarity in the pursuit of justice, peace and social equality and equity in Zimbabwe. It shall be the special concern of the Trust to assist victims of human rights abuses in their efforts to correct and end their situation of oppression....

October 22, 2004


Abstract:

Website of the Africa Union.

February 6, 2007
University of the Witwatersrand

Abstract:

The Preservation and Access to Records and Stories relating to the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) is a joint Historical Papers (The Library, University of the Witwatersrand) and the South African History Archives Project. Material produced and collected around the TRC process constitutes a rich resource for social memory, both in South Africa and internationally. Within this conceptual frame, promoting public access is an objective of the highest priority for this project....

December 6, 2006
Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation

Abstract:

The Oil for Development initiative aims at assisting developing countries with petroleum resources (or potential) in their efforts to manage these resources in a way that generates economic growth and promotes the welfare of the population in general, and in a way that is environmentally sustainable.

January 6, 2006
University of Toronto

Abstract:

The Project produced two types of publications: thematic reports and case studies. Together, these papers make up an integrated package of materials. Thematic reports provide readers with an overarching understanding of general issues relating to environment, population, and security. Case studies examine in considerable detail these linkages in specific countries of interest to policymakers. These two types of reports complement each other: the thematic reports provide theoretical insights that can be explored in the case studies; the case studies provide illustrations of crucial theoretical points raised in the thematic reports. Each thematic report and case study was reviewed by several leading authorities before dissemination....

July 20, 2011
The Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation

Abstract:

There are several innovations to the research projects captured in this report. Firstly, it consists of studies of both xenophobic violence and community protests, drawing the links both empirically as one of collective action spawns or mutates into another, and theoretically through the concept of insurgent citizenship (Holston, 2008). Secondly, the research was conceived of, and conducted, through a collaboration between an NGO, The Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) and an academic research institute, the Society Work and Development Institute (SWOP) at University of the Witwatersrand. This brought together scholars and practitioners, psychologists and sociologists, in a challenging and productive partnership to try to understand collective violence and its underlying social dynamics. Thirdly, it combines an attempt to probe and understand the repertoires and meanings of collective violence with a wide-ranging analysis of local associational life, local politics and class formation.

The origins of this research lay in the appalling violence of the wave of xenophobic attacks which swept across the country in May 2008, and the response of both organisations to this. CSVR was rapidly drawn into coordinating the relief work of NGOs across Gauteng, while in SWOP there was a sense that this violence connected to current research on strike violence and social precariousness. For both of our organisations, it seemed increasingly important to look at this outbreak of violence with a fresh eye for ways in which it challenged our understanding of the depths of anger, fragmentation, exclusion and violence in our society and, more specifically, the intervention practices which still drew much of their inspiration from the negotiated transition to democracy in South Africa. Ready assumptions about violence as pathological or criminal, about ‘lost generations’, about ‘community organisations’ and ‘civil society’, conflict mediation and educational workshops, needed to be tested with empirical research and new theoretical perspectives...

June 7, 2011
Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces

Abstract:

The Examples from the Ground are concrete illustrations of ways in which a gender perspective has been integrated in different security sector institutions around the world. They range from measures to counter human trafficking in Kosovo, to women’s organisations’ involvement with security institutions in Nepal, to female parliamentarians’ contribution to post-conflict reconstruction in Rwanda. These examples can help policymakers, trainers and educators better understand and demonstrate the linkages between gender and SSR.

The examples are organised around the following nine themes, for which a short introduction is provided:

• Police Reform and Gender
• Defence Reform and Gender
• Justice Reform and Gender
• Penal Reform and Gender
• Border Management and Gender
• Parliamentary Oversight of the Security Sector and Gender
• National Security Policy-Making and Gender
• Civil Society Oversight of the Security Sector and Gender
• SSR Assessment, Monitoring and Evaluation and Gender

Individual examples can also be downloaded individually, in English or in French, at:
http://gssrtraining.ch/index.php?option=com_content&view;=article&id;=4&Itemid;=131⟨=en...

March 3, 2011
Centre for Conflict Resolution // University of Cape Town

Abstract:

The meeting assessed Southern Africa’s peacebuilding challenges by focusing largely on the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the sub-region’s principal Regional Economic Community (REC), which constitutes 15 member states (Madagascar, included in this number, was suspended in March 2009). Adopting the approach that peace and security are essential prerequisites for development for Southern Africa’s 250 million inhabitants, and that building peace requires a holistic approach, the seminar critically assessed the broad institutional, security, and governance challenges that have confronted SADC in the two decades since it took its present form in 1992. Human security and traditional state security are now increasingly viewed as complementary and mutually dependent.

Particular attention was paid to four priority areas that the SADC secretariat itself has identified: governance; military security; food security; and HIV/AIDS. Other topics discussed included: regional integration; the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and prospects for a free trade area in Southern Africa; the role of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA); the impact of climate change; xenophobia and issues of migration; and the regional role of external actors, such as the United States (US), China, the United Nations (UN), and the European Union (EU)....

January 21, 2011
The Africa Center for Strategic Studies

Abstract:

A chronology of terrorist attacks in South Africa from December 1995 to December 2010. This timeline is meant to accompany Africa Security Brief No. 9: "Playing Ostrich: Lessons Learned from South Africa's Response to Terrorism".

January 21, 2011
The Africa Center for Strategic Studies

Abstract:

◆ South Africa has come to occupy a central node in global terror networks in recent years.
◆ Despite growing evidence of the risks posed, South Africa has been slow to adopt and implement a more robust counterterrorism policy.
◆ Creating the political will to address this threat will require independent oversight of national intelligence efforts and an objective assessment of the terrorism risk in order to make counterterrorism a national priority.