Number of results to display per page
Search Results
7822. Unpacking solid waste management policies in Lebanon: Public policies based on power-sharing politics rather than evidence-based decision-making
- Author:
- Cynthia Kreidy
- Publication Date:
- 08-2022
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
- Abstract:
- iles of garbage have again been accumulating on the streets of major Lebanese cities.1 2 A scenario that is all too familiar and takes us back to 2014 when Sukleen – the company contracted to manage solid waste in Beirut and Mount Lebanon – halted its operations and streets were filled with piles of garbage for months. 3 Once again Lebanon is on the verge of another waste crisis, but this time from a more vulnerable and dire state. Solid waste has been ravaging the streets of Beirut and Mount Lebanon for numerous reasons. These include the contractor not getting paid, the high cost of transportation which reduces the frequency of collection,4 the closure of landfills which are at capacity, or even the obstruction of works at the landfills due to trespassers waiting to collect metals and other valuable materials to sell them amid Lebanon’s heaviest economic and financial crises.5 The absence of sustainable and integrated solid waste management (SWM) in Lebanon has denied citizens their right to health.6 Open dumping and burning, which have been occurring due to the inaction of regulatory authorities, have negative health impacts on nearby residents. Some individuals have reported respiratory illnesses and skin problems, while others complain about bad mental health.7 Additionally, open burning could be linked to cancer and heart disease. These practices have disproportionately affected poor communities, given that burning sites are often in their vicinity and that they cannot afford health care.8 Moreover, the cost of environmental degradation due to the lack of a comprehensive SWM plan was equivalent to $66.5 million in 20129 ) and $200 million in 201810 . The cost of environmental degradation is reflected by a loss of welfare demonstrated by the degradation in the quality of life, economic losses, and environmental losses, among others.11 The solid waste sector contributed to around 10% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2011, largely due to open dumping and burning across the country.12 13 An integrated solid waste management strategy at the national level is the only long-term solution to the solid waste problem. In the absence of such a plan, and following the solid waste crisis in 2015, several grassroots movements, civil society organizations and municipalities have tried to remedy the absence of a national plan by leading small-scale interventions based on sorting at source and waste valorization in order to minimize volumes of waste sent to landfills.14 15 16 However, none of these projects is implementable at the national level, since these initiatives rely on a municipality’s rare, and voluntary will. This paper employs a systems analysis to explore how solid waste mismanagement has been an intentional political decision-making process tailored to nurture and protect dysfunctionality through elite capture and clientelism. The hypothesis will be presented using a Causal Loop Diagram (CLD) which will then be analyzed and validated via case studies involving the municipalities of Beit Mery, Dhour Choueir, and Brih.
- Topic:
- Leadership, Waste, and Resource Management
- Political Geography:
- Middle East and Lebanon
7823. Tunisia in the wake of the referendum: A new divisive Constitution
- Author:
- Zied Boussen and Malek Lakhal
- Publication Date:
- 08-2022
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
- Abstract:
- On 25 July 2022, Tunisian President Kais Saied organized a referendum for the adoption of a new constitution, clearly carrying his signature. A first look at the situation by our researchers Zied Boussen and Malek Lakhal sheds light on a so-far unstable Tunisian context.
- Topic:
- Politics, Reform, Constitution, and Referendum
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Tunisia
7824. Tunisia’s Parliament: A Series of Post-Revolution Frustrations
- Author:
- Saida Ounissi
- Publication Date:
- 09-2022
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
- Abstract:
- Following the 25 July 2021 coup, Tunisia’s parliament has been the focus of President Kais Saied’s frustration and anger – not missing an opportunity in his speeches to point out that he speaks on behalf of the people when criticizing the parliament. This paper focuses on the logistics of the parliament’s everyday life to identify the multiple transformations of the parliamentary political landscape between imposed consensus and progressive fragmentation.
- Topic:
- Politics, Reform, Arab Spring, and Parliament
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Tunisia
7825. Perceptions and Trajectories of Youth in Baghdad, Al-Basra, and Mosul after the 2014 Conflict with ISIS
- Author:
- Farah Al Shami
- Publication Date:
- 09-2022
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
- Abstract:
- This infographics report analyzes and interprets quantitative data that was collected by the Arab Reform Initiative (ARI) in Summer 2021 using an extensive in-person/face-to-face survey targeting 676 youth (aged 18-28) in three Iraqi cities (Baghdad, Al-Basra, and Nineveh-Mosul). By doing so, the report aims at assessing the impact of the 2014 conflict with ISIS in Iraq on the perceptions, aspirations, and actual trajectories of youth living in these three cities, namely in terms of education, employment and livelihoods, political participation, civic engagement and peacebuilding efforts, as well as choices for personal life. The survey is part of the Arab Reform Initiative’s broader work on how youth in Iraq and other Arab countries have navigated armed conflicts in the last decade. We find that the conflict has had a significant negative impact on Iraqi youth’s education and employment, and that this impact is more pronounced on education compared to employment. This impact happened mainly through the channel of economic hardship and – to a lesser extent – the channel of fear, uncertainty, and security concerns. This impact has also largely shaped the surveyed youth’s personal lives and choices. Moreover, surveyed youth expressed apathy towards formal politics and fear of engaging in politics or expressing political views/affiliations/support because of security concerns. The 2014 conflict has had a significantly more negative impact on Iraqi youth’s political participation than on their civic engagement. Although our data shows that the overall impact of the conflict on these different dimensions is significant, the magnitude of this impact is substantially less than one may have expected. We found that the negative impact of the conflict is of a higher magnitude on the actual status quo of Iraqi youth compared to their aspirations and their perceptions of its actual impact. For instance, when asked general questions about the factors affecting their trajectories, Iraqi youth did not or rarely chose “the Iraqi ISIS conflict,” whereas when they were directly asked about the impact of this conflict on their trajectories, their answers exhibited a significant importance given to the conflict. In our report, we present various reasons that explain these observations and discrepancies, some of which come from our data and others from our understanding of the Iraqi context.
- Topic:
- Security, Youth Culture, ISIS, Youth, and Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Iraq and Middle East
7826. On the Experience of the Sudanese Professional Association: Personal Testimonial
- Author:
- Mohamed Nagi Alassam
- Publication Date:
- 09-2022
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
- Abstract:
- Despite the divisions that plagued the SPA, trade unions and professional associations have since the coup retained a complementary and supportive role to the resistance committees. However, they remain marginal. Despite continuous strikes in various sectors, the collective and joint action of unions has remained underwhelming and failed to meet the hopes and expectations of the Sudanese.
- Topic:
- Labor Issues, Community, Professionalism, and Labor Unions
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Sudan
7827. Youth and the Future of Libya
- Author:
- Asma Khalifa
- Publication Date:
- 11-2022
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
- Abstract:
- When young people took to the streets during the 2011 uprisings, they set in motion a shift in Libyan socio-economic dynamics that remains partially captured or understood. Chief among our collective blind spots are the consequences of war on young people that have had to survive through difficult circumstances. Building on discussions with Libyan youth, this paper sets out the obstacles to their political integration and puts forward what they see as priorities and recommendations for reconstruction and reconciliation in Libya.
- Topic:
- Reform, Arab Spring, Youth, and Youth Movement
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Libya
7828. Who Benefits from Tunisia's Green Hydrogen Strategy?
- Author:
- Aida Delpuech
- Publication Date:
- 12-2022
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
- Abstract:
- As the global energy sector sought to revamp itself over recent years, several countries around the world have joined a race toward green hydrogen –labelled “energy of the future”. Unlike grey hydrogen, made by fossil fuels (natural gas) and a significant source of greenhouse gases,1 2 green hydrogen is generated by electrolysis whereby water is split using electricity from renewable energy sources. The combustion of 1kg of this gas produces almost four times more energy than one kilogram of gasoline.3 In 2021, the production of green hydrogen produced represents only 5% of the 94 million tons of overall produced hydrogen globally.4 However, this quantity is bound to rise, given the various strategies developed in the post-Covid economic recovery plans or by strategies to power Europe with alternatives to Russian gas.5 While a global market for green hydrogen is being shaped, Tunisia launched in early 2022 the development of its very own national strategy for green hydrogen to be finalized by 2024. The country has already announced that it will prioritise export6 of this green fuel over local use.7 “Promoting green hydrogen, a growing market in today’s world, is very important to Tunisia,” affirmed GIZ, 8 the Tunisian government’s lead partner in this strategy development project. Although the Tunisian Ministry of Energy has made green hydrogen one of its projects of high importance, civil society, scientists, and potentially affected communities have so far been left out of all conversations. Hence, the country misses a chance to map out eventual risks, environmental and social concerns and to address emerging concerns from the outset. The large-scale production – powered by solar and wind energy megaprojects – requires vast mobilization of several types of resources along the entire production chain of this fuel. When the Ministry of Energy asserts that: “these projects do not entail obvious negative impacts on the environment,” nothing is less verified than such statement. Current discussions focus mainly on Tunisia’s position in this emerging global market, but they rarely touch on the social and environmental costs of this type of major projects. Nonetheless, multiple studies9 were published more recently, warning of the impact of these projects on natural resources – water, land, etc. – in countries heavily affected by climate change. In addition, the benefit of this new sector is questionable in terms of Tunisia’s climate commitments. To this day, the country depends as much as 97% on Algerian gas to produce electricity10 and the energy transition has stagnated. However, it plans to export the bulk of the green hydrogen potentially produced on Tunisian soil mainly to Europe, This was confirmed in interviews and meetings in the context of this report While green hydrogen is a more preferable alternative than more polluting options, its mass production would primarily benefit the energy needs of Europe. This raises another fundamental issue as it is replicating an extractivist model oriented towards international export markets and build on the overexploitation of natural resources. To develop a green hydrogen production strategy, Tunisian authorities along with their European partners, namely Germany, seek to prolong the exploitation of resources of neighbouring countries without sufficiently considering the energy needs of locals, the social and environmental risks, the fact that Tunisia is a water stressed country or the financial debt resulting from such investments.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, Green Technology, and Green Transition
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Tunisia
7829. Why Elections Won’t Happen in Libya
- Author:
- Asma Khalifa
- Publication Date:
- 12-2022
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
- Abstract:
- The 2021 agreement on holding elections was perceived by many Libyans as the light at the end of the dark tunnel of civil war and a reset to the political stagnation and the legal crisis. More than 2.5 million Libyans registered to vote, only for them to watch on the media a deliberate sabotage by those who were trusted in the process to commit to the agreement. While Libya is again setting the ground for future elections, this paper puts forward three points on why elections will not happen in Libya.
- Topic:
- Government, Democracy, Conflict, and Voting
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Libya
7830. Qualitative Synthesis Maps for Data-Driven Urban Governance A Methodological Evaluation
- Author:
- Murat Güvenç
- Publication Date:
- 11-2022
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
- Abstract:
- Prof. Dr. Murat Güvenç explains the methodology of maps produced within the scope of projects carried out by TESEV since 2016, including The Empowering Civil Society and Municipalities for Data-Driven Participatory Gender Equality Policies.
- Topic:
- Governance, Sustainability, Digital Policy, Mapping, and Methodology
- Political Geography:
- Turkey and Middle East
7831. Gender Sensitive Urban Policy: Balıkesir-İzmir Examples
- Author:
- Gizem Fidan
- Publication Date:
- 11-2022
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
- Abstract:
- Gender Sensitive Urban Policy: Balıkesir-İzmir Examples, prepared within the scope of The Empowering Civil Society and Municipalities for Data-Driven Participatory Gender Equality Policies project, carried out by the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV) with the support of the Association for Monitoring Gender Equality (CEID), aims to to provide brief information on the data collected and maps prepared for the two project provinces and to aggregate the policy recommendations elaborated by the participants from the focus provinces during the workshops.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Inequality, Public Policy, Urban, and Gender
- Political Geography:
- Turkey and Middle East
7832. Community-Based Open Data for Disasters and Emergencies
- Author:
- Hüseyin Can Ünen and Gizem Fidan
- Publication Date:
- 10-2022
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
- Abstract:
- Community-Based Open Data for Disasters and Emergencies” report, prepared within the scope of “Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) for Sustainable Cities” project as a part of “Supporting Sustainable Cities” program aims to provide information about the tools of open data and free, community-based mapping, assess the current situation in this area and compile suggestions and evaluations that emerged as a result of the field studies carried out in İstanbul, Bodrum and Hatay within the scope of the project. We thank the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for their support.
- Topic:
- Governance, Urban, Data, and Disaster Management
- Political Geography:
- Turkey and Middle East
7833. Cooperation Between Municipalities and Civil Society for Local Democracy
- Author:
- Itır Akdoğan
- Publication Date:
- 10-2022
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
- Abstract:
- Given the fact that almost all ecological, economic, political, and social problems around the world are essentially urban issues today, the democratization of urban governance is becoming even more vital of a concern. In order to be able to speak of democratic local governance, all stakeholders of the city are expected to be involved in urban government. One way to achieve this is to plan, implement, and monitor partnerships between municipalities and civil society in a way that strengthens local democracy. When thinking of cooperation with the public sector, civil society organisations (CSOs) in Turkey still tend to think of the municipalities first. In reality, these kind of partnerships tend to be generally far from democratic due to different political, legal, technical and cultural barriers. The analysis and discussions in this report examine the legal framework regarding cooperation between municipalities and CSOs, the policy trajectory in development plans, the factors that support and hinder cooperation, as well as efforts undertaken to strengthen it, in particular TESEV’s Empowering Civil Society for a More Democratic Local Governance Project, which the foundation carried out within the scope of the European Union’s Partnerships and Networks for Enhancing Cooperation Between the Public Sector and CSOs funding program.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Governance, Democracy, and Municipalities
- Political Geography:
- Turkey and Middle East
7834. Legal Aspect of The Concept of Climate Refugee: Evaluation of Existent Protection Tools and Suggested Solutions
- Author:
- Neva Övünç Öztürk
- Publication Date:
- 09-2022
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
- Abstract:
- Even though it can be accepted at the first glance that such kind of migrations can be considered within the scope of “forced migration” in sociological terms due to the compelling effect of environmental reasons on migration, tools offered by international law for forced migration fall short of protecting “climate refugees” in practice.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Law, Refugees, Justice, and Protection
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
7835. Local Governance of the Demographic Transition Process in Turkey: Aging Society and Urban Policies
- Author:
- Mehmet Şahin
- Publication Date:
- 09-2022
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
- Abstract:
- Demographic transition theory was developed in Europe as a result of the long-term monitoring of birth and death rates. While Turkey has been going through this process with its specific dynamics as a part of the demographic transition process, it is commonly said that as distinct from other countries of the world, it has a young and dynamic population, which is perceived as an advantage over other countries. This demographic imagination, which is desired to be seen as an advantage, functions as some kind of a moral support against unfavorable developments, socioeconomic crises, and unexpected failures.
- Topic:
- Demographics, Governance, Aging, and Sustainability
- Political Geography:
- Turkey and Middle East
7836. Green Systems and Resilient Cities
- Author:
- Ali Faruk Göksu
- Publication Date:
- 09-2022
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
- Abstract:
- Comprehensive and participatory solutions that take into account the inadequacy of familiar approaches and methods in the solution of global problems such as climate change, migration, poverty, epidemic etc. should be developed with an approach that focuses on designing the process. The process should embrace steps towards understanding the current system and problems well; planning strategies within the framework of future predictions, and designing solutions to primary problems and strategies.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Migration, Poverty, Governance, and Cities
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
7837. Why Should Turkey Comply With The Global Climate Regime?
- Author:
- Ahmet Atıl Aşıcı
- Publication Date:
- 04-2022
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
- Abstract:
- It is clear that Turkish economy is in need of a new trajectory. Under the current circumstances, it is not possible to offer jobs and hope to young people, and a secure future to the society. Therefore, it is necessary to reverse this vicious circle with a well-designed transformation program in an attempt to establish a durable and promising economic structure.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Governance, Economy, and Sustainability
- Political Geography:
- Turkey and Middle East
7838. Increasing Vulnerability of Female Labor Force and Deepening Gender Inequalities During The Covid-19 Outbreak
- Author:
- Deniz Beyazbulut
- Publication Date:
- 08-2022
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
- Abstract:
- This study aims to examine women’s unemployment and its course during the pandemic period by making use of Turkish Statistical Institute’s (TÜİK’s) Household Labor Force Survey data (HIA), reports prepared by the Research Center of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK-AR) on Unemployment and Employment Outlook, and International Labour Organization’s (ILO) World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2021. In the study, gender inequalities, which have intensified with the increase in women’s domestic work and care burdens with the pandemic, will also be discussed.
- Topic:
- Women, Employment, Inequality, COVID-19, and Gender
- Political Geography:
- Turkey and Middle East
7839. The Role and Importance of Disaster Risk Communication in Disaster Risk Reduction
- Author:
- Emin Yahya Menteşe
- Publication Date:
- 06-2022
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
- Abstract:
- The communication model defined as disaster risk communication is one of the main components of disaster risk reduction and is often described along the lines of sharing critical information with the public and relevant parties during and after a disaster. However, the meaning of disaster risk communication goes beyond that single feature. This communication model aims to explain and create an accurate understanding of risk reduction activities, encourage people to integrate the concept of risk into their lives, and make the risk reduction approach a priority policy by turning it into a societal norm.
- Topic:
- Communications, Governance, Public Policy, Disaster Management, and Risk Assessment
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
7840. Stolen decades: the unfulfilled expectations of the Belarusian economic miracle
- Author:
- Aleś Alachnovič and Julia Korosteleva
- Publication Date:
- 05-2022
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
- Abstract:
- The case of the Belarusian economy has puzzled many academic scholars for years. Belarus has often been referred to as a transition outlier, given its relatively fast recovery in 1996 and spectacular growth prior to the global financial crisis without much transformation of its economy. Three decades after gaining its independence, the state control of the economy still remains considerably high. Subsidized financing of state-owned enterprises allowed to preserve production capabilities over the first decade, to achieve some productivity gains in the late 1990s–early 2000s, and to avoid social destabilization. However, with a delay in structural reforms, this economic model, also heavily dependent on the Russian subsidies and foreign debt, has become fatigue, driving the economy into stagnation in the 2010s. The Covid-19 pandemic, the 2020 post-presidential political crisis and Russia’s war in Ukraine in 2022 put further strains on the economy, calling for change. This working paper gives an overview of the Belarusian economic developments before the presidential elections to have a better understanding of how various rigidities of the Belarusian economic model have amplified the detrimental effect of the political unrest for the economy and the Belarusian society overall, and discusses the anticrisis and mid-term economic reforms Belarus will have to undergo.
- Topic:
- Demographics, Labor Issues, Economy, Social Policy, and Trade
- Political Geography:
- Eastern Europe and Belarus