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301. Investing in inclusive governance yields dividends in Africa

Author:
Pranish Desai, Monique Bennett, Nnaemeka Ohamadike, and Chrissy Dube
Publication Date:
06-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Good Governance Africa (GGA)
Abstract:
Over the long term, there is a clear association between accountable and inclusive governance on the one hand and broad-based economic development on the other.1 We find empirical support for this assessment at the global, African, and regional levels within Africa across both shorter and more extended periods of time. The explanation is that a long-term governance environment which embraces accountability is also more politically stable, enabling consistent policymaking, which can sustain economic dynamism and meet citizens’ needs. Concerningly, there are African countries, including Angola, which have recently sought to repress rather than encourage participation. This has been one contributing factor to the recent stagnation and reversals which Angola has experienced in critical measures of human development pertaining to education, health and economic outcomes. This intelligence report identifies the critical implications that this finding has for companies with committed financial interests in African countries: • The importance of inclusive governance is that a more participatory, accountable and nondiscriminatory society will also see corresponding improvements in broad-based economic development, which benefits businesses and citizens in tandem. • The private sector has both an incentive and a responsibility to actively invest in mechanisms that encourage accountable governance in African countries where they operate. Investing in these mechanisms minimises the reputational risk companies open themselves up to by engaging in opportunistic behaviour which bolsters rather than blocks repressive behaviour by African governments. • Through supporting inclusive governance initiatives emanating from African civil society and local communities, companies can demonstrate that they have a long-term commitment to fostering economic development in the world’s fastest-growing continent.
Topic:
Governance, Investment, Economic Development, Private Sector, and Inclusion
Political Geography:
Africa

302. The state of the renewable energy independent power producer procurement programme: Where to from here?

Author:
Busisipho Siyobi
Publication Date:
12-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Good Governance Africa (GGA)
Abstract:
Minister of Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, recently briefed South Africa on the progress of the Energy Action Plan and the challenges associated with its implementation. Minister Ramokgopa further remarked on the positive socio-economic impact that the Renewable Energy Independent Power Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) has had on the industry and economy. Over R300 billion has been attracted for infrastructure investment and over 120 independent power producers have been selected as preferred bidders. These success factors indicate great potential for an optimal energy mix, led by renewable energy sources, to be attained. They also highlight opportunities for more private-sector investment. For this potential to be fully maximised, programme design, programme management and market dynamics will be critical to factor in. This report assesses the abovementioned overarching categories and illustrates mechanisms that will be integral to facilitating increased private sector investment into grid-connected renewable energy generation. This will yield efficient management of REIPPPP and further enable improved economic growth and sustainable development.
Topic:
Development, Governance, Renewable Energy, Sustainability, and Energy
Political Geography:
Africa and South Africa

303. Community Health Workers as Rights Defenders: Exploring the Collective Identity of the Mitanins of Chhattisgarh, India

Author:
Shriyuta Abhishek and Samir Garg
Publication Date:
12-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Accountability Research Center (ARC), American University
Abstract:
This Working Paper discusses the Mitanin program, a state-run community health worker program in Chhattisgarh state, India. It is based on a year-long reflection and action research exercise by the implementing organization, the State Health Resource Centre (SHRC). It argues that the collective identity of these community health workers (Mitanins) is central to their work defending the social and economic rights of their community. Collective identity often plays an important role in social movements for people’s economic and political rights. However, government-funded workers rarely get involved in such movements. The authors wanted to understand whether collective identity plays a role in driving the multi-issue activism of community health workers. A composite definition of this collective identity emerged from the research. Throughout the interviews and discussions, the Mitanins described their collective identity as a sense of solidarity that all Mitanins share with the community they serve and belong to, and a feeling of sisterhood with other women and each other. It is the shared experience of being a group of empowered women with a common mission who must use their knowledge and compassion to support the people they serve. The value system underpinning their mission dictates that people should not be denied their rights. The Mitanins’ collective identity is layered; they are not merely frontline health workers, but women who care deeply about their community. They are problem-solvers, activists, and community leaders. Their collective action and collective identity as women leaders in solidarity with the community is mutually reinforcing, and has enabled them to undertake multi-issue activism and transform themselves into frontline rights defenders. The authors conducted a state-wide survey along with focus group discussions and in-depth interviews. The survey (n=558) aimed to establish what proportion of Mitanins are involved in multi-issue activism. It found that in the preceding three years, 84 percent had taken rights-based action in at least one of three domains: food security and nutrition (68 percent); healthcare (56 percent); and gender-based violence (21 percent). They refer to these actions as ‘rights-based’ because they involve negotiation and confrontation with local elites and government officials, as well as writing formal complaints to government officials. Other than rights-based actions, Mitanins also provide information to community members about their rights and entitlements to health programs, food security, and nutrition under government programs—information that is often not readily accessible to poor people in India. This paper analyzes the patterns of autonomous collective action through discussion, interviews, and the rights-based songs and slogans written by Mitanins. The authors argue that the Mitanins’ collective identity was formed due to two main factors: the program’s movement-building approach; and the degree of autonomy enjoyed by Mitanins. The movement-building approach nurtured the activist tendencies of Mitanins, and the voluntary nature of their work allowed them to retain their autonomy vis-à-vis the health system bureaucracy
Topic:
Health, Human Rights, Women, and Communal Identity
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

304. HIV, Hepatitis & Drug Policy Reform

Author:
Global Commission On Drug Policy
Publication Date:
12-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Global Commission On Drug Policy
Abstract:
This report, “HIV, Hepatitis & Drug Policy Reform” follows the Global Commission’s thematic reports on “The War on Drugs and HIV/AIDS” (2012) and “The Negative Impact of the War on Drugs on Public Health: The Hidden Hepatitis C Epidemic” (2013). Despite a decade-old call for urgent action, current drug control efforts fail, with HIV and hepatitis prevalence persisting among drug users. In 2023, approximately 354 million people around the world are currently living with hepatitis B or C. People who use drugs, especially people who inject drugs, are at a higher risk for blood- borne HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C. Although there has been some success — for example, the scale-up of antiretroviral treatments that reduced HIV related deaths to their lowest in almost three decades — progress has been uneven and people who use drugs are still left behind. This must change. Prohibition and criminalization of drug use hinder HIV and hepatitis prevention, escalating risks and obstructing treatment. People who use drugs face disproportionate incarceration, abusive policing, and stigma. Inadequate resources are dedicated to proven harm reduction options while billions are spent on punitive law enforcement measures. Achievable UN targets for ending these epidemics by 2030 exist, but a crucial course correction demands political will to embrace a new approach to drugs. The time to act is now.
Topic:
HIV/AIDS, Reform, Drugs, Public Health, and Hepatitis
Political Geography:
Global Focus

305. Framework to Decolonize Child & Youth Philanthropy

Author:
DA Global
Publication Date:
06-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Elevate Children Funders Group
Abstract:
In 2022, ECFG commissioned Degan Ali and her team to lead us through a decolonizing grantmaking journey that included learning webinars, collective learning and reflection, the identification of promising practices, and the development of a framework that funders could use to elevate equitable grantmaking. After developing an understanding of our network’s needs and goals, our decolonizing philanthropy working group engaged in deep partnership design with DA Global to create The Decolonizing Child and Youth Philanthropy Framework. This framework recognizes that our members and partners are at different stages of their journey in tackling colonialism within their organizations and grantmaking. While there are universally relevant lessons gained from existing decolonization efforts in the philanthropic and charity sectors, this framework is designed to support the different types, sizes and needs of the funders who belong to this group. This is not a magic solution, but a tool in our decolonizing child and youth philanthropy toolbox. This tool is intentionally focused on supporting those who have embarked on a change process within their organizations, those who want to make additional adjustments, and those who are grappling with how to get started.
Topic:
Children, Youth, Decolonization, and Philanthropy
Political Geography:
Global Focus

306. Global Resources Report: A Francophone Perspective

Author:
Global Philanthropy Project (GPP)
Publication Date:
05-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Global Philanthropy Project (GPP)
Abstract:
We are pleased to present this special brief for the Global Resources Report: Government and Philanthropic Support for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex Communities, with a Francophone perspective. The Global Resources Report is a comprehensive report on the state of funding by foundations, corporations, NGO intermediaries, and government and multilateral agencies for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) issues. The Global Resources Report has published four biennial editions to date, analyzing data from the years 2013 to 2020. Such remarkable research work allows us to release this special report, which aims to document the funding specifically awarded to LGBTI communities in Francophone countries or territories, showing comprehensive data across eight years. This edition covers 1,002 grants awarded by 84 foundations, intermediary NGOs, corporations, and 10 donor governments, and multilateral agencies. The report details the distribution of LGBTI funding by geography, issue, population focus, and donor type.
Topic:
Civil Society, LGBT+, Philanthropy, Funding, and Resources
Political Geography:
Global Focus

307. A Compendium on the State of Peace, Reconciliation and Healing in Southern Africa

Author:
Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR)
Publication Date:
04-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR)
Abstract:
This report details the shared challenges and opportunities Lesotho, Namibia, Mozambique, Mauritius, Seychelles and Zimbabwe face with respect to how they have approached, and continue to approach, transitional justice processes.
Topic:
Transitional Justice, Violence, Reconciliation, and Peacebuilding
Political Geography:
Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Lesotho

308. The Marikana Massacre: Repair and Corporate Accountability 10 Years On

Author:
Malose Langa, Hugo van der Merwe, Modiege Merafe, and Jordi Vives-Gabriel
Publication Date:
07-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR)
Abstract:
This report focuses on the process of corporate redress in response to the Marikana Massacre, which occurred on 16 August 2012. The study sought to examine the various forms of reparations that have been provided to victims by the mining company and to understand this process in the context of other processes of justice and repair to address the consequences of conflict and violence. As such, this report forms part of a broader international study on the role of corporate actors in transitional justice processes.1 The report provides a brief description of the events in Marikana against the backdrop of the history of mining in apartheid South Africa and the subsequent transition to democracy. It frames the causes of the massacre as embedded in the unresolved transition and South Africa’s failure to confront the legacy of exploitation and repression in the mining sector. It also seeks to unpack the various initiatives undertaken in response to the massacre, focusing particularly on the measures to address the needs of injured and arrested mineworkers as well as the families of those who were killed.
Topic:
Torture, Criminal Justice, State Violence, Police, Reconciliation, and Corporate Accountability
Political Geography:
Africa and South Africa

309. The transnational element of a ‘domestic’ problem: policy solutions to countering right-wing violent extremism in Australia

Author:
Diane Liang
Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI)
Abstract:
The rise of right-wing violent extremist (RWE) ideas bursts to the forefront of public attention in flashes of violence. Shootings and vehicular attacks perpetrated by individuals motivated by hateful views stun the public. They have also sharpened government attention to and galvanised action on addressing such violence. These incidents of violence and these disturbing trends call for renewed vigilance in confronting RWE, which ASIO has since classified as ‘ideologically motivated violent extremism’ (IMVE), in Australia’s security agencies’ policy and law enforcement responses. As governments respond to IMVE, it is important to nuance how they conceptualise the challenges posed by RWE and, therefore, scope their solutions. This report looks at four case studies, qualitative interviews, and expert literature to highlight important transnational dimensions of RWE, as well as expand the way governments understand the RWE threat and craft policy responses to it. The result shows a clear need for governments to take a broader lens when understanding and responding to RWE. While governments may conventionally see terrorism in 'domestic' versus 'international' terms, RWE attackers and their sources and legacies of inspiration are not bound by national borders. Efforts to address RWE, then, should take into account these transnational dimensions while examining the challenge at hand and developing and implementing solutions. The report’s recommendations point to early steps Australia can take to improve international collaboration and coordination on countering RWE. Our approaches and solutions must recognise this threat to democracy and include efforts to bolster resilience in democratic institutions and processes. Public trust and confidence in these institutions and processes is a critical element of this resilience to mis/disinformation broadly, and the violent extremism it enables. This report shows that it’s not only important for governments to take RWE seriously, it matters how governments do so.
Topic:
Law Enforcement, Counter-terrorism, Far Right, Police, and Countering Violent Extremism
Political Geography:
Australia

310. China's messaging on the Ukraine conflict

Author:
Samantha Hoffman and Matthew Knight
Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI)
Abstract:
In the early days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, social media posts by Chinese diplomats on US platforms almost exclusively blamed the US, NATO and the West for the conflict. Chinese diplomats amplified Russian disinformation about US biological weapon labs in Ukraine, linking this narrative with conspiracy theories about the origins of COVID-19. Chinese state media mirrored these narratives, as well as replicating the Kremlin’s language describing the invasion as a ‘special military operation’. ASPI found that China’s diplomatic messaging was distributed in multiple languages, with its framing tailored to different regions. In the early stage of the conflict, tweets about Ukraine by Chinese diplomats performed better than unrelated content, particularly when the content attacked or blamed the West. ASPI’s research suggests that, in terms of its international facing propaganda, the Russia–Ukraine conflict initially offered the party-state’s international-facing propaganda system an opportunity to reassert enduring preoccupations that the Chinese Communist Party perceives as fundamental to its political security.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Cybersecurity, and Conflict
Political Geography:
Russia, China, Europe, Ukraine, and Asia