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Out of the Frying Pan into the Fire Part Two – Building Resilience to Climate Change and Violent Conflict

November 1, 2017

Here in part two, we begin our examination of community resilience. It builds on the findings in part one by taking a closer look at the context of climate change and violence in three countries where Christian Aid works: Angola, Honduras and Mali. Each case study sets out the particular context in terms of conflict, violence and climate change, explores the links between climate vulnerability and violent conflict, and discusses approaches to supporting climate and conflict resilience in that country, based on the experiences of Christian Aid staff. In Angola, the protection of land rights is essential in building resilience and climate change adaptation among communities. In Mali, tackling security challenges and programming with an awareness of the presence of unusual actors are key to moving forward in a region vulnerableto both extreme weather and conflict. In Honduras, building environmental resilience using conflict sensitivity principles offers great promise in addressing the challenges. Both climate change and violence are extremely context specific,and therefore, this paper does not attempt an across-the-board analysis according to a set of quantitative indicators. However, it does attempt to identify parallels and differences between the three case studies, in order to make some recommendations for policy development and wider application. Most importantly, part two takes the view that building resilience in communities is just one important part in the menu of options – it does not stand alone in responding to the challenges of climate change and conflict. When taken alongside community-level tools for understanding the root causes of violence, such as participatory vulnerability and capacity assessments (PVCAs), and when complemented by national and global advocacy on the responsibilities and obligations of duty-bearers and market actors, it becomes the building block in Christian Aid's overall approach to climate justice.

WASH in Schools Distance Learning Course: Learnings from the Field 2012

December 1, 2012

The Center for Global Safe Water at Emory University and UNICEF collaborated to create a capacity-building programme: the WASH in Schools Distance-Learning Course. Case studies by the graduates from 13 countries and one regional office are included in this report.

Evaluation of the Joint Oxfam Advocacy Initiative for Angola

January 14, 2011

The Joint Oxfam Advocacy Initiative for Angola (JOAI) operated from mid-2003 to mid-2006. Oxfam Great Britain, Intermon and Oxfam Novib advocated for economic justice, inequality reduction and active citizenship. This final evaluation is intended to assess JOAI's impact, awing lessons from the experience, and putting forward factors to be considered when designing a new strategy.

Angola's Wealth: Stories of war and neglect

October 29, 2010

After more than three decades of war, the humanitarian situation in Angola is catastrophic. Yet with Angola's resources in oil and diamonds, it could be one of the richest countries in the developing world. The Angolan government has the responsibility to increase its commitment to humanitarian relief and social spending. In addition, the international community must press both sides to make significant moves towards peace.

Africa's Forgotten Crises: people in peril: Angola, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sierra Leone, Congo

October 29, 2010

This paper reviews the current emergencies, and the opportunities for peace, in five countries. Four of them fall within the fifteen poorest countries in the world. These countries are so desperately poor that war - and in Ethiopia, drought too - means they can no longer cope without much more international help.

Angola 'failed' Yet 'successful'

April 1, 2009

The analysis seeks to respond to key questions about Angola posed in the project's guiding purposes and methodology. These appear in three clusters: 1. What are the historical taproots of conflict in Angola, and of its weak uneven state and political institutions? 2. What formal and informal forces and incentives are at work in Angola's territorial political economy that affect state and political resilience or weakness? 3. What aspects of the integration of Angola's political economy into international systems may help explain the persistence of weak state and political institutions?

The Legislative Environment for Civil Society In Africa A Synthesis Report

January 1, 2009

This paper is therefore a discussion of the legislative environment under which civil society, in particular organized formations, operate in Africa. It is based on twelve African countries (Angola, DRC, Ethiopia, Liberia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe). In all these countries we studied civil/state relations, existing NGO laws and NGO policies, including other laws that have an impact on NGOs, national constitutions, processes and the general political economy of the third sector. The merging findings point to some interesting conclusions. More studies are underway in Botswana, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, and Swaziland. The findings from these will be integrated into the current paper. This paper is therefore work in progress -- nevertheless the countries studied already are significant to begin a discourse on state/civil society relations, public spaces, and the general legislative environment for citizens and their formations. One of the emerging findings is that the political context determined the emergence of these legal instruments.

Civil Society in Angola: Incursions, Space and Responsibility

January 1, 2007

This study analyses civil society organisations that focus on politics of oil revenues in Angola in the oil sector, and in the planning and implementation of budget in the prospects of combating poverty