Internal displacement and the Kampala Convention: an opportunity for development actors

According to the African Union (AU), Africa is "a continent disproportionately affected by internal displacement". The African region, with almost 10 million people internally displaced in 22 countries by armed conflict and other forms of violence, hosts more than one third of the 26.4 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) worldwide at the end of 2011. Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Somalia rank globally among the states with the five biggest displacement situations. Even in African countries with smaller figures, very large percentages of people may be in displacement in regions primarily affected by violence. Such violence has multiple causes, including the long-lasting consequences of colonial heritage, outside intervention, crises of identity in multi-ethnic countries and conflicts over resources. Today, political exclusion and inequality between ethnic, regional or religious groups are particularly important drivers of violence.

The Function of Norms and Values in the Construction of Social Identity in Groups who experienced intergroup Conflicts

I present my explorative research about conflict and social identity. The Social Identity Approach of Henri Tajfel and John Turner is used as theoretical frame in the study. The main question is how the construction of social identity of group members is influenced by an inter-group conflict. The research project consists of two parts: 1. An empirical study conducted with qualitative research methods to investigate a today’s congregation of the Swiss reformed Church who experienced a conflict about twenty years ago. This conflict ended by the separation of a sub-group from the congregations. This group forms an independent community today. Members of both congregations where interviewed about the meaning which membership has for them and about their interpretation of the conflict. 2. An analysis of the Gospel of Matthew with questions who where developed out of the empirical study and the Social Identity Approach to better understand the separation conflict between the Matthean community and the synagogue.

HIV/AIDS policy for employers in religious communities

Surveys of national religious denominational offices and of churches in Texas were conducted to evaluate the prevalence of HIV/AIDS policies for members and employees, and to get feedback on a proposed HIV/AIDS policy. Most religious organizations in Texas do not have a HIV/AIDS policy for their employees. Analysis of the data from 77 church questionnaire surveys revealed only 17 (22.1%) policies in existence. From the current data, policies for employees were most prevalent among Catholic churches with 8 (47.1%) and Baptist churches with 7 (41.2%). Nine of the churches (52.9%) who had HIV/AIDS policies for their employees were categorized as having 2501-5000 members. In 1994 and 1995 the largest number of policies developed by churches totaled 8 (47.1%). The findings of this exploratory study in Texas were consistent with the survey of 7 national denominational offices which demonstrated that only the Lutheran church had a policy (14.3%). The literature is consistent with the finding that some churches have decided no separate HIV/AIDS policy is needed for employees. More than half of the employers reporting a HIV/AIDS related experience still feel they do not need a specific policy (CDC, 1992). The range of number of employees in churches varied widely from a high of 54.5% of churches with 15-50 employees to a low of 7.8% of churches with more than 100 employees. Seventy-one of the churches (92.2%) reported that they had no employees infected with HIV/AIDS, while 1 church (1.3%) reported having more than 1 employee infected with HIV/AIDS. This indicates that churches are reacting to incidence of the HIV/AIDS infection rather than preparing ahead. The results of this study clearly indicate the need to develop a comprehensive HIV/AIDS policy for employees in religious communities. Church employees must carefully consider all the issues in the workplace when adopting and implementing a HIV/AIDS policy. A comprehensive policy was developed and guidelines are suggested. ^

The Contested Floodplain. Institutional Change of the Commons in the Kafue Flats, Zambia

The Contested Floodplain tells the story of institutional changes in the management of common pool resources (pasture, wildlife, and fisheries) among Ila and Balundwe agro-pastoralists and Batwa fishermen in the Kafue Flats, in southern Zambia. It explains how and why a once rich floodplain area, managed under local common property regimes, becomes a poor man’s place and a degraded resource area. Based on social anthropological field research, the book explains how well working institutions in the past, regulating communal access to resources, have turned into state property and open access or privatization. The study focuses on the historic developments taking place since pre-colonial and colonial times up to today. Haller shows how the commons had been well regulated by local institutions in the past, often embedded in religious belief systems. He then explains the transformation from common property to state property since colonial times. When the state is unable to provide well-functioning institutions due to a lack in financial income, it contributes to de facto open access and degradation of the commons. The Zambian copper-based economy has faced crisis since 1975, and many Zambians have to look for economic alternatives and find ways to profit from the lack of state control (a paradox of the present-absent state). And while the state is absent, external actors use the ideology of citizenship to justify free use of resources during conflicts with local people. Also within Zambian communities, floodplain resources are highly contested, which is illustrated through conflicts over a proposed irrigation scheme in the area.