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Creating Safer Space: Strengthening Civilian Protection Amidst Violent Conflict
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
Enabling the creation of safe spaces for communities amidst violence and preventing displacement by enhancing unarmed civilian protection practices. Benefits prevention orgs, local communities in Colombia, Myanmar, South Sudan & Philippines. SDGs:11,16,17
Creating Safer Space: Strengthening Civilian Protection Amidst Violent Conflict
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
Enabling the creation of safe spaces for communities amidst violence and preventing displacement by enhancing unarmed civilian protection practices. Benefits prevention orgs, local communities in Colombia, Myanmar, South Sudan & Philippines. SDGs:11,16,17
Creating Safer Space: Strengthening Civilian Protection Amidst Violent Conflict
DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY
Enabling the creation of safe spaces for communities amidst violence and preventing displacement by enhancing unarmed civilian protection practices. Benefits prevention orgs, local communities in Colombia, Myanmar, South Sudan & Philippines. SDGs:11,16,17
Humanitarian Protection in the Liptako-Gourma region
DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENERGY & INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY
The proposed 2-year project (2020-2022) by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) and local research partners, namely the Centre for Democratic Governance (CGD) in Burkina Faso, Point Sud in Mali and the Laboratoire d'Etudes et de Recherche sur les Dynamiques Sociales et le Développement Local (LASDEL) in Niger, focuses on the Liptako-Gourma region, encompassing Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. Since 2015, this border region has become the epicenter of the Sahel crisis and both state and non-state armed groups have committed serious violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). Despite several national and international initiatives, the number of conflict-related victims has increased from 199 in 2012 to 1 464 in 2018, with a significant increase of IDPs, food insecurity, school closures, and gender-based violence. Several factors are at play, such as the absence of the state, the competition over natural resources, violent extremism, or the proliferation of self-protection militias and climate change. The project will focus on impact of restraint (theme 3) and impact of local protection mechanisms (theme 4), with diversity/gender as a crosscutting theme. The project will be structured around the following research questions: What are the protection threats, risks and vulnerabilities across the different groups of the population of Liptako-Gourma? What local protection mechanism do they use? On which social norms and rules are they based? What is the relation between local protection mechanisms and restraint from violence? Are there risks for people to protect themselves? How do humanitarian protection responses interact with local protection mechanisms (positive, neutral or negative)? How do the different groups of the population assess the impact of humanitarian responses on their own protection and safety? How can humanitarian protection optimally complement and support local protection mechanisms, without having any possible unintended negative consequences? The project aims to address the knowledge gaps and identify perceptions, priorities and needs of local populations in order (i) to document the situations at the grass-root level, (ii) to improve the effectiveness of DRC cycles of humanitarian protection programmes, and (iii) to support all relevant stakeholders through evidence-based analysis in better understanding the priorities of affected communities. To do so, the project will use a mixed research approach of quantitative surveys and qualitative studies led by networks of trained facilitators and researchers in each country to (a) better understand security and humanitarian issues at the micro-local level and; (b) measure the relevance and impact of humanitarian protection interventions in the region. Dedicated publications, regional events (validation/national sharing workshops, regional conference, practitioner meeting) and outputs (press conferences, video films) will allow a large dissemination of the findings and contribute to maximise the overall impact of the project. To ensure a long-term impact and sustainability of the project, the proposal also develops a capacity-building component for facilitators and researchers in the three countries in order to develop a local ownership of the methodology and working relations between partners in the three countries.
Peacekeepers As Soldiers And Humanitarians: The Impact Of Contradictory Roles And Responsibilities On The Protection Mandate of Peacekeepers
DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENERGY & INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY
The project conducts research on the currently two largest African peace operation, the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) and the AU peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM). Both missions have complex mandates and combine military (combat), political (stabilisation/statebuilding) and humanitarian goals. The protection of civilians became a cornerstone of both missions. Military peacekeepers are often required to straddle combat and pacific responsibilities, combining military, diplomatic and humanitarian roles. They fight violent actors who are often not easily distinguishable from civilians, patrol roads and convoy humanitarian deliveries, while they are simultaneously requested to develop relations with communities affected by violence, to mediate conflicts and often also to provide humanitarian goods. The project explores how UN and AU peacekeepers in the DRC and in Somalia fulfil their protection mandate from the perspective of protection providers and protection recipients: military peacekeepers (provider), civilians (recipients) and humanitarian worker (recipients and ideally partners of peacekeepers). It will provide an in-depth and differentiated account on how military peacekeepers navigate their increasingly complex roles, swap between combat and pacific responsibilities and how their protection efforts are experienced at the recipients' end. This knowledge is crucial in improving protection efforts. The findings of the research will be shared in round tables with all three actor groups. The round tables aim at receiving feed-back on the research. More importantly, they also aim at providing a platform for communication and at stimulating dialogue between military peacekeepers, civil humanitarian actors and civilians. Round tables will be organised by local civil society organisations who partner in the research project, and it is expected that they will uphold communication links even after the research ended. The findings, i.e. the experiences of the providers and recipients of protection, will feed into a peacekeeping training module. The module will be developed in cooperation with the International Peace Support Training Centre (IPSTC) in Nairobi. The training will be piloted during a workshop with AU and UN trainers and representatives of military headquarters and military trainers of troop contributing countries. The evaluation of the participants will help to fine-tune the training and to finalize a training handbook that will be made publically available and shared with peacekeeping training centres and military headquarters of troop contributing countries.
Participatory research to support the development of culturally sensitive mental health and wellbeing services for the Kankuamo people of Colombia
DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENERGY & INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY
Deliver signficant reseach funding for internationally competitative and innovative collaborative projects between researchers from Colombia and United Kingdom that will allow the pursuit of shared research interests.
RELIEF 2: Refugees, Education, Learning, Information Technology, and Entrepreneurship for the Future
DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENERGY & INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY
Since 2017, the RELIEF Centre has worked with citizens, NGOs, and other stakeholders to deliver a programme of research and action towards social inclusion, sustainability and better quality of life for communities in Lebanon. During this time, however, Lebanon experienced a number of radical changes and tragedies: destabilisation of government following the 2019 political protests; the horrendous blast in the port of Beirut on August 4, 2020; an economic collapse and currency devaluation; widespread failure of public services and infrastructure; and a series of Covid-related lockdowns that have exerted further pressure on the economy. In this context of compounded crises, RELIEF's work proceeds from the view that future recovery in Lebanon must follow principles of inclusive growth and prosperity, whereby the starting point and primary focus is not aggregate GDP-growth but the things that people need for better quality of life -secure livelihoods, clean and affordable services, good education, and safe, healthy and inclusive environments. In the Lebanese context of economic and political turmoil, however, 'bottom-up' initiatives are essential for developing solutions. RELIEF's work thus focuses on the sustained development of capabilities that can help citizens and communities acquire skills and organise into communities of practice that address emergent challenges. Over the next 5 years, the second phase of the RELIEF Centre (RELIEF II) will focus on strengthening existing capabilities for citizen-led research, action, and transformation. COVID-19
Exploring the impacts of hybridisation on the local conflict trajectories of Madagascar
DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENERGY & INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY
Madagascar has experienced regular episodes of conflict with various stages since the colonial period (e.g.: political tension situations (one or two deaths) and low intensity conflicts (between 100 to 1000 deaths)). So far, the Malagasy have not been able to explain why the conflict trajectories vary to such a great extent at the national level. This country has been in contact with external actors, their cultures and ideologies, or their modes of governance. These interactions between the local and the international created various situations involving, for example, collaboration, acceptance, rejection, clashes and even high levels of violence. Despite the recent advances in the study of processes of hybridisation involving the formation of "international/ liberal and local/ non-liberal institutions, practices and values, very little is understood regarding the way in which these processes affect local conflict trajectories. This project will respond to the following questions: 1)What are the dynamics behind hybridisation, namely the formation of international (liberal/ illiberal) and local/ non-liberal institutions, practices and values in Madagascar? 2)How do these dynamics affect the local conflict trajectories such as escalation, de-escalation, and protraction of conflict stages in the country? This project argues that the variations of the processes of hybridisation at the local level in two Malagasy localities have led to various conflict outcomes shaping the local conflict trajectories. To identify the character of hybridisation, and its impact on conflict at different times and in different local contexts, the project examines the effects of the interaction of the international and the local on conflict trajectories in both the centre (Antananarivo) and the periphery ( Antsiranana, Toamasina, and Mahajanga), and over three periods of time, each with different international influences: post-1945 French colonial rule (1945 - 1960), the post-colonial period (1960 - 1991), and the post-cold war period (since 1991). The PI will engage in two different types of work: one is conceptual (exploring hybridity and hybridisation) which will require archival research both in Madagascar and in France. And the other is empirical (assessing its impact on conflict trajectories) entailing the generation of new primary and bottom-up data on these processes through the organisation of "narrative workshops" during which local stakeholders, including representatives from the communities, will be invited to tell their own narratives about peace and conflict. The texts that will be gathered in this project will be examined through discourse analysis (a research method for studying written or spoken language in relation to its social context) and the impact of hybridisation on conflict trajectories will be assessed through process tracing, a tool to examine political and social phenomena and evaluate causal claims. On the one hand, this project has important implications for theories of hybridisation by proposing a theoretical and conceptual understanding of the international going beyond the liberal order. On the other hand, the local narratives that it will generate through a methodology called Delphi technique, allowing the collection of narratives through participatory focus groups, will help to understand the conflict dynamics in this country. The research will provide bottom-up-based evidence that will help actors involved in peace processes to shape solutions as they address conflicts, and in the same vein, help them develop better policy processes at different levels. Its originality also lies in the fact that it recognizes the capacity of the local communities to act as agents of change not as mere recipients while giving voice to these local narratives. This is one way of empowering local actors so that they can appropriate local peace processes. This will benefit Malagasy society and have an impact in the wider world COVID-19
Learning and Evidence for New Strategies in the Sahel (LENS)
UK - Foreign, Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO)
The Learning and Evidence for New Strategies in the Sahel programme (LENS) will provide £4 million over 5 years (2021-22 to 2025-26) to generate, and facilitate timely use of, context-relevant research, analysis and evidence products that inform UK engagements and influence those of others. It will provide a mechanism to commission, strategically disseminate, and support the effective use of research and evidence products with target stakeholders at critical decision-making points.
Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL)
UK - Foreign, Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO)
The programme works with government and civil society at federal and state levels to reduce inefficiency and corruption in the use of Nigerian resources and therefore improve delivery of services, including for women, girls and persons with disability. It does this in partnership with other DFID programmes supporting service delivery by helping Nigerian stakeholders improve accountability for use of resources including improving processes for raising revenue, allocating resources, planning and programme implementation.
Global Security Rapid Analysis
UK - Foreign, Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO)
To produce research analysis and best practice guidance that will help to inform global policy on how development programming and policy can have the greatest impact on stability and security overseas.
Investing in Human Capital through Partnerships Beyond Aid in the Social Sectors Programme
UK - Foreign, Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO)
To improve governance and accountability in education, health and social protection sectors and contribute to policy and research which will inform interventions to improve equity and reduce poverty.
Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF)
UK - Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF)
UK Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility (UKNIAF)
UK - Foreign, Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO)
Improve management of Nigeria’s infrastructure, making it more sustainable and climate resilient, including work on power sector reform, Public Private Partnerships and road maintenance.
Strengthening Peace and Resilience in Nigeria (SPRiNG)
UK - Foreign, Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO)
SPRiNG is to support a more stable and peaceful Nigeria in which citizens benefit from reduced violence, and increased resilience to the pressures of climate change (Impact). It will do this by supporting, and shifting incentives of, Nigerian stakeholders so they are more willing and able to respond to conflict, security, justice and natural resource management challenges in target areas (Outcome). SPRiNG is 15-20% International Climate Finance (ICF) eligible.
Reducing Insecurity and Violent Extremism in the Northern Territories (Re-INVENT)
UK - Foreign, Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO)
To improve safety and security institutions at national level and in 6 counties that provide more effective, accountable and responsive services to a public that is actively engaged in improving safety and security in Kenya.
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