African Studies Commons^™

Integrating China Into An International Human Rights Regime: The Case Of Darfur, Harry Kreisler

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Chinese leaders find themselves in unknown territory as they guide the Chinese state. Their unusual experiment combines Communist party rule with unbridled capitalism. Under these unique circumstances, a major challenge they face is to define their country’s global role as an emerging power. From what compass will they navigate their direction? If their guidance system is built for a world of international anarchy, national interest and power politics, then the direction of their course is clear. Because of U.S. neglect and indifference, Africa, rich in natural resources, is up for grabs. Flexing its muscles on the world stage with its …

Elisabeth King On Researching Conflict In Africa : Insights And Experiences. Edited By Elisabeth Porter, Gillian Robinson, Marie Smyth, Albrecht Schnabel, And Eghosa Osaghae. New York : United Nations University Press, 2005. 160pp., Elisabeth King

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Researching Conflict in Africa : Insights and Experiences. Edited by Elisabeth Porter, Gillian Robinson, Marie Smyth, Albrecht Schnabel, and Eghosa Osaghae. New York : United Nations University Press, 2005. 160pp.

Towards Resolving The Ethiopia-Somalia Disputes, Daniel Kendie

International Conference on African Development Archives

The 46-year-old dispute between Ethiopia and Somalia has been commonly called a “border dispute.” Contrary to that description, it may be more appropriate to portray it as a dispute that has been driven principally by economic interests and by the effort to control scarce resources. Among these interests and resources are the following: the struggle for water wells and fresh grazing pastures for nomads; the insecurity Somalia feels about the Juba and the Wabi Shibeli rivers, as their sources are in Ethiopia; the discovery of gas and oil in the Ogaden; Somalia’s challenging geographic shape that makes communication between the …

The Greater Horn Or Africa: Priming A Strategy And Mechanism For Greater Horn Of Africa Peace, Security And Development, Bt Costantinos

International Conference on African Development Archives

The paper will address threats to national security, real and potential, that include, among others: lack of constitutional order; incapacity to manage disputes; threats of invasion and destabilisation; terrorism; contested borders and natural resource jurisdiction – blood diamonds; small arms; poverty related unrest; ethnic conflicts; feeble governance institutions; human displacement and pandemics.

Commercial Offtake Of Cattle Under Smallholder Mixed Crop-Livestock Production System In Ethiopia, Its Determinants And Implications For Improving Live Animal Supply For Export Abattoirs, Asfaw Negassa, Mohammad Jabbar

International Conference on African Development Archives

The main objective of this study is to assess the current commercial offtake rates for cattle and shoats in the highland areas of Ethiopia in order to overcome the limited empirical information related to the offtake rates. The specific objectives are: (1) to analyze the ownership and marketing behaviour of livestock producers, and (2) to identify factors affecting the market participation and commercial offtake of live animals by livestock producers.

2 Building Democratic Institutions Of Governance & Civil Institutions, Erku Yimer

International Conference on African Development Archives

The purposes of this paper are threefold. 1. To create a basic understanding of the nature of civic organizations and the role they play in democratization of society as practiced in Western societies. 2. To examine the scope and diversity of some traditional organizations like Idir and Shimglena/Mehal Sefari as practiced in various regions of Ethiopia. 3. To develop ways and means of incorporating and integrating some selected and important civic functions particularly into Idir and Shimglena.

Estimating Remittances From The United States To Ethiopia, Gezahegne Bekele

International Conference on African Development Archives

No abstract provided.

Status Of Local Governance At Woreda/District Level In Ethiopia, Meskerem Shiferaw

International Conference on African Development Archives

In Ethiopia, about 50% of the population lives below poverty line. Efforts have been exerted to reverse the situation both by Government and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs); so far however solid results have not been achieved as expected. The question of “what has gone wrong?” has been coiling around in the minds of development practitioners. The international communities point their fingers at poor governance, corruption, internal and regional conflicts for the underdevelopment of the country. It was the outcome of these kinds of questions along with suggestions made that brought about the idea of promoting good governance in developing countries. The …

The Political Economy Of Poverty Reduction Policies In Ethiopia, Abu Girma Moges

International Conference on African Development Archives

Poverty reduction strategies and policies have gained considerable popularity in recent policy discourse and international economic relations. These policies and strategies are framed in the context of the Millennium Development Goals that set specific quantitative targets to be achieved within a specified time framework. The goals specify the targets and require countries to design national poverty reduction strategies and achieve them with a generous financial assistance from the international community. However, the domestic political economic forces remain to shape the extent and effectiveness of such strategies in addressing and reducing the extent and depth of poverty in the reforming countries. …

Government’S Response To The Challenge Of Hiv/Aids In Ethiopia, Bedri Jebril Mohammed

International Conference on African Development Archives

Ethiopia is facing a huge threat to the survival of its people and the socio-economic development of the country from a generalized HIV/AIDS epidemic. Ethiopia with an estimated 1.3 million HIV/AIDS infected people as of December 2006, is one of the worst-affected countries where HIV infection is concentrating among productive age group, thereby affecting productivity. The objective of this study is to examine the ways in which the government of Ethiopia has been dealing with the spread of HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia and suggests the ways in which it can improve its strategies. More specifically, the study tried to investigate the …

Examining The 2005 Ethiopian Parliamentary Election Results Under Alternative Electoral Rules, John Ishiyama

International Conference on African Development Archives

As many scholars have noted, electoral systems exert a powerful influence on the process of democratization (Taagepera and Shugart, 1989; Horowitz, 1985; Ishiyama 1997). Indeed first competitive or “transitional” elections are crucial moments for newly democratizing countries. Although these elections mark only a beginning point in an often arduous journey, their outcomes crucially affect the future course of democratic transition and democratic consolidation (Olsen 1993; Schmitter 1992; Bermeo, 1987). Indeed, whoever wins the transitional election often has the opportunity to re-write the rules of the game to their advantage and, hence, significantly influence future political developments.

Farmers’ Preferences For Development Intervention Programs: A Case Study Of Subsistence Farmers From East Ethiopian Highlands, Wagayehu Bekele

International Conference on African Development Archives

The aim of this paper is to better understand farmers' perception of the relevance of different development intervention programs. Farmers’ subjective ranking of agricultural problems and their preference for development intervention are elicited using a stated preference method. The factors influencing these preferences are determined using a random utility model. The study is based on a survey conducted in the Hunde-Lafto area of the East Ethiopian Highlands. Individual interviews were conducted with 145 randomly selected farm households using semi-structured questionnaires. The study suggests that drought, soil erosion and shortage of cultivable land are high priority agricultural production problems for farmers. …

An Ethiopian Dilemma: Deep Structures, Wrenching Processes, Donald N. Levine

International Conference on African Development Archives

Please find attached my keynote address presented August 3 at the 4th International Conference of Ethiopian Development Studies at Western Michigan University. Organized by Professor Sisay Asefa, the Conference assembled an edifying blend of thoughtful, forward-looking Ethiopian scholars, and culminated with inauguration of the new Ethiopian Development Studies Association.

Do Foreign Direct Investment And Foreign Aid Promote Good Governance In Africa?, Adugna Lemi, Blen Solomon, Sisay Asefa

International Conference on African Development Archives

The literature on the roles that governance/political and economic stability play to attract capital flows into African economies has been burgeoning. Good governance, liberalization, infrastructure, incentive packages have been regarded as cures to break the deadlock to reverse the economic plight, to attract inflow of capital and, in some cases, to reverse outflows of African economies. The flow of capital, however, has undesirable side effects on host economies’ working conditions, environmental standard, inequality, and culture, among others. These economic and social external or negative spillover effects are due to the phenomenon of “race-to-the-bottom” where companies invest in economies with lax …

The Global Response To The Darfur Crisis, Mehari Maru

International Conference on African Development Archives

This paper examines the global response to the Darfur crisis. The term global refers to non-Sudanese actors in Darfur crisis including but not limited to: international and multilateral governance institutions such as United Nations and its family agencies (hereafter UN), International Criminal Court (hereafter ICC), African Union (hereafter AU), European Union (hereafter EU), North Atlantic Organization (hereafter NATO), and the Arab League; countries such as United States of America (hereafter USA), Peoples Republic of China, Chad, and Central African Republic; and international NGOs such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, International Crisis Group and many other relief and humanitarian organizations, …

Leadership Perspective: Country Development And Transition To Free Market Economy, Kinfu Adisu

International Conference on African Development Archives

In the following essay, the author will examine the need for a clear understanding of the transition process and economic development in Ethiopia. The country’s move towards a free market economy will be critically analyzed as an important step to fight poverty. This will also raise the question of what policies need to be changed to make the nation competitive. A case method is taken into consideration to examine various experiences from African and Asian developing nations. The analysis will be from leadership perspective and takes a business approach to examining the issues and primarily utilizes free market transitional theories. …

Investors' Willingness To Pay For Urban Land: The Case Of Addis Ababa City, Alebel Bayrau, Genanew Bekele

International Conference on African Development Archives

The spatial, physical and socio-economic conditions of Addis Ababa City, in general, is by far behind the requirements fundamental to sustain the livelihood of the city. In addressing the problems of the city, the suggested government intervention strategies include, among others, the relocation and resettlement of residents for efficient utilization of potential sites, and bringing balanced and coordinated investment/development in different parts of the city. These strategies, so far, seam to concentrate on the supply side and neglected the effective demand of the majority of investors. This study, therefore, aims to assess determinants of investors' willingness to pay for a …

2007 International Conference On Ethiopian Development Studies (4th Iceds) A Multidisciplinary Conference On The Challenges Of Peace And Development In Ethiopia & The Horn Of Africa, Western Michigan University

International Conference on African Development Archives

Proceedings from the 2007 International Conference on Ethiopian Development Studies (4th ICEDS) A Multidisciplinary Conference on the Challenges of Peace and Development in Ethiopia & the Horn of Africa, held in Kalamazoo, Michigan (WMU), August 2-4, 2007.

Private Transfers, Informal Loans And Risk Sharing Among Poor Urban Households, Eskander Alvi, Seife Dendir

International Conference on African Development Archives

This paper contributes to a growing literature that investigates the mechanisms of risk-sharing among poor households. There are two aspects of the paper that are particularly relevant in the context of the literature. First, it focuses on poor urban areas. The disproportionate focus in the literature on rural households has meant that we know relatively little about the risk-sharing practices of poor urban households. Given that formal insurance is largely absent even in urban areas of most developing economies, it is apparent that these households may be no less vulnerable to income risk than their rural counterparts. Furthermore, because of …

August Roundtable: Introduction

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

“How China's Support of Sudan Shields a Regime Called 'Genocidal'" by Danna Harman. Christian Science Monitor. June 26, 2006.

Ending The Cold War Is A Good Place To Start, Judith Blau

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Recently, I told my daughter that the U.S. media had hyped the Chinese toy recall. “Just more rehashing of Cold War rhetoric,” I said. My two-year old daughter rebuked me: “Come on, Mom! You read politics into everything!” Then, after a moment or two of silence, she said, “Oh yes, I see what you mean. The Chinese toys with toxic paints could have been made in sweatshops owned by U.S. multinationals” (proud mom—politically aware daughter).

Countering Chinese Influence In Sudan, Ali Wyne

Human Rights & Human Welfare

It is difficult to imagine a more poisonous symbiosis than that between China and Sudan. The former requires a continuous flow of low-cost oil imports to satisfy its soaring oil demand, and the latter requires sufficient economic support to immunize itself against international interventions and preempt potential internal uprisings. Sudan supplies 64 percent of its oil to China (meeting seven percent of the economic power’s demand in 2006), and China, for its part, has invested heavily in Paloich, one of the country’s central oil-producing areas.

Aid Suspensions As Coercive Tools? The European Union’S Experience In The African-Caribbean-Pacific (Acp) Context, Clara Portela

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Since the signing of the Cotonou Agreement in 2000, the European Union (EU) has suspended development aid towards a number of African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries in response to breaches of Human Rights and democratic principles by activating the so-called Human Rights clause (article 96). The present article analyses the use by the EU of aid suspensions as political tools and their efficacy in achieving the desired policy goals, in an attempt to identify and explain the determinants leading to the success of these measures. The investigation finds that the use of development aid suspensions is frequently effective. Classical …

Political Dialogue And Human Rights In The Framework Of The Cotonou Agreement, Clara Portela

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The present study analyses the use of the political instruments for the protection of Human Rights, democracy and the rule of law under the Partnership Agreement between the European Union (EU) and the African-Caribbean–Pacific (ACP) countries embedded in the Cotonou Agreement: the consultations under article 96, intensified and regular political dialogue. It briefly outlines the legal provisions of the revised treaty, reviews recent practice, and looks into the involvement of civil society and parliamentary bodies in the political dialogue.

Le Nouvel « Engagement »? : Rachid Boudjedra Entrehistoire Et Écriture, Hafid Gafaït

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

According to Charles Bonn and other critics in the 1980’s and 1990’s, North-African literature evolved from a perspective that underlined both the centrality of style, or the writer’s aesthetic standpoint, and the importance of themes, ideas and content, to a production that was dominated by ideology, politics, factual events and testimony. To what extent can this statement be generalized? Does referentiality necessarily exclude literarity? These are questions I will explore on the basis of Rachid Boudjedra’s recent work, which is characterized by an increasingly visible fusion of writing and History. From this, I will consider if what we are witnessing …

Boudjedra, Écrivain De Langue Arabe?, Touriya Fili-Tullon

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

This paper is devoted to bilingualism in R. Boudjedra’sliterary practice. Our aim is to show how French and Arabic versions of his books may be read as hypertexts of metadiscoursive value. Considered from this point of view, the differing versions neutralize any genetic approach and make the rules of an “authoritative” translation obsolete.

La Vie À L’Endroit De Rachid Boudjedra : Entre Subjectivité Et Folie, Sonia Zlitni Fitouri

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

In this study of Rachid Boudjedra’s La vie à l’endroit, I will show how the Algerian writer endeavours to put “en abyme” three types of madness (joyful, fatal, hallucinatory); these generate one another in a cause and effect relationship and distance themselves from the delirious discourse of his first novels in order to give an account of a period of terror which struck Algeria under the Muslim fundamentalist threat. We will also show how the character-narrator faces all this madness by setting up his subj bj ectivity as a shield against what he calls “external fear and inner fear”, and …

Meka Ou Le Lent Retour À Soi, Alexandre Lizotte

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

Inspired by Ferdinand Oyono’s novel Le vieux nègre et la médaille and relying on the works of Albert Memmi and a number of critics of the negro-african novel, what we are proposing here is a reflection on the relation between the colonizer and the colonized. At the very core of our analysis is the character of Meka, Oyono’s main character, who symbolizes the people’s strive for freedom and self-rediscovery and reconquest. Step by step, we follow him through his long and difficult “walk” or journey towards himself, towards his own truth. In our understanding of that whole liberation process, we …

De L’Écriture De L’Urgence À L’Écriture Du Renouveau, Armelle Crouzières-Ingenthron

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

This critical analysis focuses on Rachid Boudjedra’s trilogy that deals with Algerian fundamentalism. Even though Boudjedra’s famous labyrinthine and vertiginous technique was at first based on the literary, on a pleasure of writing that would in turn trigger political thought – at least until the publication of the political pamphlet FIS de la haine –, his more recent technique reflects an urgency and a writing focused on political thought, both of which give birth to a literary process. Despite the author’s well-known reticence regarding conventional happy endings, he annihilates once and for all terrorism and fundamentalism, and embraces an optimistically …

Une Révolution Boudjedrienne Des Concepts Historiques : Un Regard De L’Histoire (Fictionnelle) Sur L’Histoire, Laetitia Vincent

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

Rachid Boudjedra binds ingeniously fictional and real history and, beyond historic forgery, this author succeeds in transcribing the authentic events of his country. This article exposes one of the novelist’s historic conceptions through which the reader apprehends History : detailed visions alternate and blend with globalizing visions. For this author, nothing must be abandoned or put aside; by analyzing his novelistic writing, a fictional mosaic, we will come to understand his perspective on History.