Asfaw Kumssa

Conflict and human security in the North Rift and North Eastern Kenya

Purpose - Within the theoretical context of human security, this United Nations (UN) three-year research project examines the causes and effects of conflicts in the arid and semi-arid lands of Northern Kenya. The purpose of this paper is to address the human security concerns arising out of conflict, displacement, migration and poverty. The people who live in the area are mainly nomadic pastoralists. Design/methodology/approach - A review of previous empirical research and ongoing field studies are used to examine four problem areas: cattle rustling, proliferation of small arms, competition over scarce resources and conflict between refugees and local communities. Findings - Seeking access to water and green pastures, the nomads generally follow their cattle across the region, and their movement is not confined to Kenya alone. They cross and re-cross international boundaries to and from Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia and Uganda resulting in conflicts over water and pasture. Resource competition in a fragile economy has had grave consequences for the economic security of families and internally displaced people. Originality/value - The North Rift and North Eastern regions of Kenya are the most underdeveloped area of the country and suffer from a high level of human insecurity, with more than three-quarters of the population living below the poverty line. This UN project seeks an empirical understanding of the causes of conflict and ways to build the capacity of a vulnerable population to gain both freedom from fear and freedom from want.

Climate change and human security in Africa

Climate change poses a major threat to human security and poverty in Africa. In Africa, where livelihoods are mainly based on climate-dependent resources and environment, the effect of climate change will be disproportionate and severe. Moreover, Africas capacity to adapt to and cope with the adverse effects of climate variability is generally weak. This article discusses how climate change affects human security in Africa. It also assesses the policy options available to policymakers in terms of mitigation and adaptation to climate change to reduce vulnerability and human insecurity in Africa.

The role of institutions in the development process of African countries

This paper examines the role of institutions in the development process of African countries. It has been shown that, whereas institutions have played a greater role in the economic development of several East Asian countries, in Africa they are weaker and ineffective because of poor enforcement of the rule of law, corruption, mismanagement, absence of strong civil society and political interference. It is argued that well‐functioning institutions can promote growth and reduce poverty in Africa by providing a conducive environment for implementation and sustainable development programmes. Therefore, African countries should endeavor to establish effective, responsive and democratic institutions that will promote accountable and transparent governance and sustainable socioeconomic development.

The social consequences of reform in transitional economies

Transition from a centrally planned to a free market economy has its social costs. These range from loss or diminution of a social welfare net to widespread unemployment. This is true of Asian countries adopting a gradualist approach to the free market, African countries forced by the IMF into structural adjustment, and Eastern European countries opting for abrupt transition. The paper explores the relative merits of two contrasting policies, paying particular attention to the gradualism of China and Vietnam on the one hand, and on the other the shock therapy of Eastern Europe, the newly independent States, and Mongolia.

Conflict and Human Security in Africa

Human Security and Conflict in Northern Kenya A.Kumssa & J.Williams Research Methodology I.K. Mwangi & J.M.Njoka Local Communities, Social Systems, and Human Security P.O.Alila Human Security and Conflict Resolution: Idea and Action J.F.Jones Conflict Management Strategies in Northern Kenya I.K.Mwangi Politics and Ethnicity: The Search for a Solution J.M.Njoka Culture and Conflict in Northern Kenya E.Njeru Conflict in Northern Kenya from a Regional Perspective A.Kumssa Capacity Building and Livelihood Creation for Sustainable Development I.K.Mwangi A View from the Bridge J.Jones & J.Williams

Human Security Issues of Somali Refugees and the Host Community in Northeastern Kenya

Conflict, combined with frequent droughts, has worsened the economic and social conditions of Somalis and forced them to migrate to neighboring countries, mainly Kenya. Most of the refugees are housed in Dadaab refugee camp in Garissa county. The camp is home to almost half a million refugees, which is considerably more than the planned capacity of the camp. This is a research study of Somali refugees’ and the host communitys human security issues and how to build the capacities of both the refugees and the community in new skills for alternative livelihood creation and conflict prevention. The purpose is to empower both the refugees and the host community in a fragile social environment.

Challenges of Sustainable Urban Development: The Case of Umoja 1 Residential Community in Nairobi City, Kenya

Ineffective planning and implementation problems of urban residential plan in Umoja 1 have undermined the development of sustainable and livable urban community in line with the principles of affordable housing for eco-cities. Consequently, ex post measures designed to guide urban planning and implementation in the community have failed. Multi-story apartments are built in the community although these are not provided for in Umoja 1 residential comprehensive development plan. The project has failed to achieve its objective of building sustainable residential community due to several problems. For one, the planned capacity of roads and streets, water supply and sewerage disposal facilities can no longer cope with the new developments and/or those that result from unauthorized alterations of the original semi-detached units. Poor maintenance has degraded the roads and streets while social spaces are allocated and developed into private property. Chronic water shortage and periodic sewerage spills are common malaise in the community. Overstretched water supply and poor sewerage disposal systems have also exacerbated the problem. All these problems have severely altered the physical, ecological and social character of the community. Lack of consultation and participation of affected interest groups in implementation is one of the factors that have undermined sustainable urban development in the community. This chapter examines Umoja 1 residential plan and the challenges of plan implementation process. It focuses on factors that undermine sustainable development from eco-city perspective.

Transition towards Sustainable Urbanization in Asia and Africa

Africa and Asia are two of the world’s least urbanized regions. But they are fast urbanizing; eighty per cent of the world’s projected urban growth to 2050 is expected to take place in Africa and Asia. Even though cities in Africa and Asia are increasingly recognized as engines of growth, they are sites of extremely high population densities, congestion, informal housing and concomitant expansion of slums and squatter settlements, infrastructure shortages and environmental degradation. As rapid urbanization continues, how Africa and Asia manage the urban transition will not just affect urban economic efficiency but will also define their greenhouse gas footprint. This chapter compares the urbanization of both regions and discusses the challenges and opportunities for transition towards sustainable urbanization (The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations.).

Introduction: Conflict and Human Security in Northern Kenya

The collapse of the Soviet System and the end of the Cold War have produced a new global political order and a different system of international relations. In the current global order, not only do old challenges persist but new ones have also emerged. These challenges include international terrorism, ethnic cleansing, climate change, human trafficking, transnational crime, HIV/AIDS, inequality between the developed and developing nations, and social and economic inequalities within nation-states.

Book Review: Marginalization and Social Welfare in China

valid today, but that needs to be argued rather than simply assumed. Indeed, the accumulating evidence on the gendered division of labour suggests it is still largely valid. The implications for women and men and their respective welfare of a gendered division of labour, which is so resistant to labour market and family changes, is one of the key themes running through the book. Thus, with the exception of the emerging evidence on male spouse carers, women once more emerge as the main workers in the home, undertaking both care work and emotional work, and as the main sustainers of communities. In the final chapter, Keith Pringle usefully teases out the main tensions concerning pressing for men’s greater involvement in child care. Oddly though, he does not include among the benefits for women of such an involvement, the implications of shifting the current gendered division of care labour and of time for their access to the public sphere of paid work and politics. This is despite his citing Hearn on the materiality of men’s practices and his own adoption of a mainly structural approach. The final section in which Pringle’s chapter is found should be of particular value to practitioners. Jeanette Edwards’s chapter on a study of welfare service providers observes that, on the one hand, they argue that men should ‘take a more active part in the care of their children’, including an involvement with welfare services. On the other hand, ‘when men do interact with service providers, they are often presented with messages that reinforce and reiterate the idea that the care of children is best and more appropriately carried out by women’. She makes the case for more attention to be paid to gendered relationships in the provision of health and social services and underlines the tension that this creates: ‘between providing services which are sensitive to the specific needs of women, and services which aim to shift a dominant and inhibiting attitude that childcare is, and ought to be, the exclusive domain of women’. Similarly, Bella Dicks, David Waddington and Chas Critcher, on the basis of a study of redundant miners, point to how welfare service providers reinforce a traditional division of labour which assumes that women will be the mainstays of their families, while ignoring their role as paid workers and failing to develop potential strategies for supporting men as carers. These are messages that need to be heard by practitioners. Ruth Lister Professor of Social Policy, Loughborough University, UK