Aleksi Ylönen is currently a Junior Fellow at the Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies, Germany. He holds a Diploma of Advanced Studies in International Relations and African Studies from the Autonomous University of Madrid and a Master’s Degree in Peace, Conflict, and Development Studies from the UNESCO Chair of Philosophy for Peace in Castellon, Spain. Aleksi’s research interests include African security issues with particular emphasis on conflict dynamics, rebel movements, and post-war situations. His specific area of expertise is Sudan. Some of Aleksi’s work has been published in English and Spanish in journals, edited volumes, magazines, and newspapers..
Research proposal: Insecurity, Authority Structures, and Identity Transformation in Southern Sudan
Prolonged nature of conflicts in Africa has at times given rise to authorities associated with non-state actors. At times these have developed capacity to exert dominance over war-affected areas under their control, which has been the case in southern Sudan, where rebel movements have reorganized local administration during two major insurgencies. The project to which the research conducted during the GCST Small Grant period seeks to explore the impact of persisting violence and conflict at the local level in Southern Sudan. It has three interconnected objectives: It seeks to elucidate the authority structures and their interaction with local communities emerging from conflict to fill the vacuum of political power and economic activity caused by war; it aims to assess the impact of the conflict on identity (trans)formation in the region; and it endeavors to examine survival mechanisms during war in the local context.
Ambika Satkunanathan is an independent researcher who is presently a Legal Consultant at the United Nations, Colombo. She specializes in issues surrounding the rule of law and accountability; minority rights; conflict, peace and development; and violence against women. Her recent publications include Mistaking Politics for Governance: The Politics of Interim Arrangements in Sri Lanka 2002-2005 (with Charan Rainford, ICES, 2009) and contributions to the European Centre for Minority Rights’ European Yearbook of Minority Issues (Martinus Nijhoff, forthcoming 2010), and Oxford University’s Refugee Studies Centre Working Paper series (Oxford, 2010). Ambika holds degrees from Monash University, Australia, and the University of Nottingham, from where she has a Master of Laws (Human Rights).
Research Proposal: Securitizing the Law: Analysis of the Impact of the National Security Regime on Tamils
This research project seeks to study the impact of the national security regime (law, policies and practice) on the Tamil community, with a particular focus on women. In doing so it will also ascertain the means through which those most affected within the Tamil community construct their self-identity through (in)security narratives to resist and cope with the violence and discrimination experienced due to the national security laws, i.e. by constructing parameters of inclusion and exclusion to ‘secure’ themselves from the adverse impact of national security laws and policies.
Dorothy Massa is a Research Coordinator and Peace and Governance Consultant for East Africa Institute of Governance and Conflict Management in Uganda. Dorothy holds a Master’s Degree in Peace and Conflict Studies and a Bachelor of Arts, both from Makerere University. She has specialized skills in research, peace building, conflict resolution and alternative to violence, governance and human security. Dorothy has earlier participated in researches as a consultant on land conflicts and mitigation measures in Uganda, as co-researcher for a study entitled Assessing the Capacity Needs of Line Ministries in Uganda in Analyzing Policy and Gender Issues and coordinator of a research entitled Promoting Ethnic Co-existence and Building Peace in Oil-producing Communities in Bunyoro Sub-region, Uganda. Dorothy is a co-founder of Action for Peace and Conflict Transformation, responsible for training high school students on issues of alternatives to violence and co-existence.
Research proposal: The Role of Civil Society Organizations in Advocating for Transitional Justice for the Victims in the Luwero Triangle
The Luwero Triangle is known for the persecution of thousands of civilians during the war between the National Resistance Army and Milton Obote’s Government. The triangle includes seven districts with a population of 474,000. The study aims at establishing the role played by CSO’s in advocating for transitional justice, monitoring and evaluating reconstruction programs, identifying actors, causes, effects, challenges, and the compensation people want, and draw conclusions and recommendations. Three sub-counties will be targeted, especially those highly affected in 1981 to 1986. Qualitative research methods will be employed. These include focus group discussions, videotapes, observation and personal narratives.
Enrique Castro is an associate researcher and coordinator for Peru at Taller de Asuntos Públicos (TAP, ‘Public Affairs Workshop’). He specializes in research and evaluation of public policies, with particular emphasis on citizen security, decentralization and accountability. He is also a consultant for Perú Descentralizado and a member of the anti-corruption experts group GTZ. With sound experience in citizen security, he has worked for Instituto de Defensa Legal (IDL, ‘Legal Defense Institute’) in Peru and has collaborated in research on police performance at the University of Victoria in Canada and at the Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económica (CIDE, ‘Center for Research and Training on Economics’) in Mexico. He currently works as an external evaluator of public policy for the Chilean government's Public Security Department (DSP).
Research proposal: Towards a Local Strategic Management Model in a Nationwide Context: The Experiences of Chile and Peru
The focus of the research is to approach the construction of a formula for strategic planning in public security at the local territorial level, but linked to the direction that has been established nationally. This is based on two national models for security that share similar characteristics: the Peruvian and the Chilean experiences. The particular purpose of the research is not to qualify either experience as good or bad, better or worse, in relation to the other. It is, therefore, an analysis of cases, which in a critical and creative way seeks to gather aspects that serve as replicable evidence for decision-making at the local level in regard to planning security actions at the national level; in other words, paradigms for territorial coherence and services.
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Javier is a PhD student in Political Science at the University of Notre Dame. Before enrolling in graduate school he worked at the World Bank as Civil Society Specialist and at the Federal Electoral Institute in Mexico. Javier is committed to bridge the analytical and methodological rigor of academia with policy-oriented concerns fostering institutional development and democratic consolidation in Latin America. His current research agenda analyzes space-time dynamics of drug-related violence in Mexico, and its effects on citizen’s political attitudes and behaviors. He also has academic and professional experience on vote buying and non-programmatic mobilization, corruption and information access, indigenous social movements and repression-dissent dynamics.
Research proposal: Drug-Related Violence and Democracy in Mexico
In December 2006 the Mexican government declared a “war against drugs” by staring a full-fledged military campaign against drug-trafficking organizations. Rough estimates suggest a death toll of more than 22,000 people killed since 2006. The general objective of the project is to assess the effects of increasing drug-related violence on citizens’ attitudes and political behavior in the context of local elections in Mexico. This research will use a nationally representative public opinion survey to analyze the impact of violence on perceptions of security and institutional performance; democratic values and civil liberties; and political attitudes and behavior.
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Kristen Lundquist is the Women for Peace Program Officer at the Institute for Global Engagement (IGE), a Washington DC-based think-tank at the forefront of the emerging field of religion and international affairs. Her research and programming at IGE focuses on the intersection of gender, religion, and security, specifically within the Middle East. In 2005, Kristen spent a year in the Middle East, namely in Egypt, Syria, Israel, The Palestinian Territories, Lebanon, and Jordan examining women’s roles in Christian-Muslim Relations and U.S.-Middle East Foreign Policy. She holds an M.A. in World History from Eastern Illinois University, a B.A. in Ancient History, and a B.A. in Biblical Studies with a focus on Near East Languages from Northwestern College.
Research proposal: Women, Religion, and Security in the Middle East
This research seeks to examine the ways in which women are engaged in or are opposed to conflict and extremism at the grassroots level in Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Syria, and Lebanon. It specifically looks at the religious frameworks that women utilize to undergird and justify their position in this regard. What are the current religious perspectives of women in these regions concerning their spiritual role as either perpetrators of conflict or advocates of peace? What are the scriptural hermeneutics put forth at the local level that either sanction or discourage their action in pursuing security and sustainable peace? By striving to answer these questions, across not only religious divides but also within various vocational foci (social service, government, military, and clergy), a clearer idea of religion’s role, in women’s actions for violence or peace, can be obtained.
Holds a master in Social Science (FLACSO/Guatemala), and is a Phd candidate at GIGA Institute for Latin American Studies, working on Private Security in Guatemala: explanatory factors and effects on Democracy. His labor and academic experiences are related to security matters in Guatemala and El Salvador, such as at the Investigations Department of the Political and Social Sciences Faculty at Rafael Landívar and San Carlos de Guatemala University; and the Advisory Security Council for the Guatemalan Government. His publications include “Seguridad privada en Guatemala: diferentes caminos hacia un mismo resultado” in Foro de Debate, Iberoamericana 35 (2009).
Research proposal: Local Security Boards in Guatemala: Continuities and Changes of Civilian Self-Defense Mechanisms
The research focuses on the security neighborhood organizations both coming from the population itself or from state institutions. These organizations proliferated in Guatemala as a supposed response to the increase in crime in areas with low presence of state institutions as well as low crime rates. The main research objective is to identify the explanatory factors of the proliferation of security neighborhood organizations and their relationship with crime rates. In addition, the research seeks to explain whether this proliferation is a consequence of the informal continuity of social control mechanisms created during the internal war.
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Pamreiso Shimray is a journalist, independent researcher and photographer. He is currently engaged as media consultant with Window Media. He has worked as journalist with media houses like The Times of India, Nagaland Post, Meghalaya Guardian, The Northeast Today and Eastern Panorama. He worked as a Research Assistant for Austrian Broadcasting Corporation’s documentary “Drought and Flood,” part of which was filmed at the world’s wettest place Cherrapunjee, Meghalaya, India. He has done a case study on Media and Militancy in Northeast of India, and presented its findings at a national seminar organized in Shillong, India, in 2004.
Research proposal: The Role of Civil Society in the Indo-Naga Peace Process
The participation of civil society in the Indo-Naga peace process yielded substantial impact on security sector in Nagaland, India. This study would attempt to analyze the role of civil society in the Indo-Naga peace dialogue, and steps taken for security transformation by both the state and non-state actors. The research aims to provide insights on how security transformation helps in facilitating a conducive milieu to ensure social, economic and political rights for vulnerable sections of the community. It would also open a new perspective for the ongoing debate in this South Asia’s hottest trouble zone.
Patrick Mutahi is a Fellow at the Centre for Human Rights and Policy Studies (CHRIPS) based in Kenya, where he works on policy issues relating to Peace, Security and Governance. He has done extensive field research in the areas of Human Rights, Electoral and Political Violence and Political Economy of Kenya and Africa, having published widely in these fields. Previously, he has worked with the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and Central Depository Unit (CDU), monitoring and researching on political violence. He has a Master’s Degree in Human Rights and Democratization from the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
Research proposal: The Politics of Protection: A Case Study of Vigilantes in Kibera and Mathare Slums
Similarly to many other countries, the Kenyan government faces the challenge of providing adequate security to its citizens. Hence, people resort to private security. While the rich hire private security services, the poor are mostly under the mercy of vigilantes. This study investigates the role of vigilantes in security provision in Kenya’s urban slums of Kibera and Mathare. The findings will help to extend the debate and understand the role of non-state actors in providing security in Kenya in the light of current security sector reforms.
Rafael Molina was born in San Salvador, El Salvador. He studied law at the Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas (UCA) from 2000-05. The following year he received a scholarship from the Universidad de Salamanca and Banco Santander to study a PhD in contemporary political processes, and obtained the pre-doctoral French Diploma of Advanced Studies Degree (DEA) in 2008. His doctoral research is about the construction of an index to make an evaluation of the public security systems in Central America.
Research proposal: Institutional Analysis of Public Security Systems: A Vision from the Rule of Law. The cases of El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua
The investigation will seek to build a methodology to assess the public security sector through the construction of an index, with its respective dimensions and indicators, protected and grounded on the theory of the quality of democracy and the rule of law. The project aims to determine the status and progress of the transformation of the public security system used by Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador. The assessment that will be carried out is based on the description, interpretation and assessment of the policy and institutional map of the organizational structures of public safety systems.
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Seema Mundoli is a Research and Programme Coordinator with the Dhaatri Resource Centre for Women and Children, a gender justice organization based in Hyderabad, India. Her research and advocacy interests include land, environment and resource rights with a gender perspective. One of the main focuses of her work is the gendered impact of mining, especially on indigenous women, as a result of displacement and as mine workers. Her educational qualifications include a post-graduation in business administration and masters in ecology and environment.
Research proposal: ‘Free Prior and Informed Consent’: A Tool for Conflict Resolution for Adivasi Women Impacted by Mining Projects
This research aims at understanding the issues of resource conflict faced by indigenous women living in the mineral rich lands of India. It will explore the extent to which existing national and international mechanisms, with specific focus on the right to free, prior and informed consent of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, can protect their rights and security. It is necessary to view indigenous women as the agents of change in the process of sustainable development, and to incorporate their consent and perspectives for effective development and prevent conflicts over mineral resources in remote areas. The study will contribute by serving as a guide to civil society, non-government organizations, companies and policy-makers.
Shweta Verma works in the framework of mental health, human rights and inclusive development in India. Since completing her M.A. (Social Work) in 2002, she has been working with Saarthak, an NGO based in India. Her work focuses on capacity building, program review and design, advocacy and research. For the past 8 years, she has been working on the issues of disability rights, disaster response, child rights and protection, gender-based violence and human trafficking. In 2008, she was deployed as Psycho-social Specialist by BCPR, UNDP, in response to cyclone Nargis (Myanmar). Currently, Shweta is a PhD scholar concentrating on the theme of resilience, gender and conflict in Kashmir.
Research proposal: Understanding Life Impacted by Conflict – The Voices of Young Women from Kashmir
Peace in Kashmir has been repeatedly interrupted due to conflicts, both internal and external. There has been a situation of turmoil, especially, for the last 20 years. Generations in Kashmir have faced the impact of ongoing political conflict. The situation of normalcy seems to be slowly emerging. The research aims to understand the patterns in life of young women from Kashmir who have survived this context. The qualitative research will seek to discover what young women think about the current scenario in Kashmir and what patterns in their lives help them cope and survive in the context of conflict.
FACULTAD LATINOAMERICANA DE CIENCIAS SOCIALES (FLACSO- CHILE)
Av. Dag Hammarskjold 3269, Vitacura, Santiago de Chile.
Phones : (56 2) 2900200 - (56 2) 2900212
Email: securitytransformation@flacso.cl