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The report finds that while Botswana is a stable parliamentary democracy, its parliament is weak and dominated by a strong executive. It highlights deficiencies in parliamentary expertise, the lack of portfolio committees, and a fragmented opposition. The study also examines the role of the kgotla as a primary engagement tool and the emerging but still limited influence of civil society organisations on policy.

The report examines 'village demining' in Cambodia, where locals use basic tools to clear land for survival. It contrasts this with professional humanitarian mine action, which prioritizes absolute safety and standardized procedures. The author argues that professional agencies often ignore the relative risks—such as starvation and landlessness—that compel villagers to clear mines. The document recommends a paradigm shift toward community-oriented strategies, including the use of mobile quick-response teams and the integration of mine action with broader development and land-titling initiatives to reduce the vulnerabilities that make village demining necessary.

The research assesses five case studies—three in Stockholm and two in Yorkshire—to determine if lay citizens can effectively validate technical environmental policies. It finds that while citizens are capable of this, systemic barriers such as inappropriate participatory techniques, lack of managerial skills, and institutional inflexibility often hinder meaningful involvement. The study contrasts government-led initiatives, which often treat participation as a tool for awareness and public assent, with citizen-led initiatives that demonstrate higher levels of control and knowledge generation.

The report examines how young professionals—including graduate students, interns, and young employees—contribute to and benefit from knowledge networks dedicated to sustainable development. It argues that while youth bring critical ICT skills and fresh perspectives, they are often relegated to technical roles and excluded from strategic decision-making due to a lack of experience and organizational hierarchies. The document provides specific recommendations for network managers, funders, and young professionals to better integrate youth into the leadership and research processes of these networks.

The report argues that gender-sensitive approaches lead to more sustainable climate compatible development by recognizing the distinct needs of men and women and addressing power imbalances. Using case studies from urban areas in India, Kenya, and Peru, it finds that women's active participation in decision-making improves the effectiveness of resilience-building activities, such as water and sanitation projects. However, the report notes that significant obstacles remain, including patriarchal cultural norms, lack of political will, and limited women's access to land and financial assets. It emphasizes that gender equality must be an explicit goal from the start of a project to move beyond addressing practical needs toward transforming strategic power relations.

The 'Shubh Kal' pilot project tested a communication model in Bundelkhand, Central India, using community radio to connect vulnerable farmers with scientific and government experts. By training 35 radio reporters in climate change journalism, the project produced 12 radio shows per station using an 'infotainment' approach in local dialects. Findings indicate that the project improved reporters' technical knowledge and confidence, increased farmer awareness of adaptation measures like organic composting and rainwater harvesting, and provided scientists with insights into traditional farming knowledge. The project concluded that community radio can effectively facilitate two-way communication to support climate-resilient development.

The report examines the challenges faced by former South African National Defence Force (SANDF) personnel and combatants from non-statutory forces (such as MK and APLA) as they transition to civilian life. Based on a survey of 307 former soldiers, it finds high unemployment rates, particularly among the youth, and a significant mismatch between the military skills of demobilised personnel and the demands of the South African labour market. The document argues that the demobilisation process was often dysfunctional for individuals, leading to poverty and disillusionment. It recommends a policy shift toward targeted reskilling, public-private partnerships, and the creation of specific Citizen Force units to provide sustainable employment and social reintegration.

The report examines a small sample of eleven women who joined the TPLF as children and later transitioned to civilian life. It finds that while these women gained significant empowerment, education, and a belief in gender equality during their military service, they faced 'culture shock' upon reintegration into a traditional Ethiopian society. The study highlights a disconnect between the egalitarian values of the TPLF and the patriarchal norms of civilian life, leading to challenges in domestic roles and economic stability. It argues that for women recruited as children, demobilisation is not merely a return to society but a new socialisation process, challenging the 'victim' narrative often associated with child soldiers.

The document examines the demobilisation, disarmament, and reintegration (DD&R) process in Angola following the 2002 military victory of the government over UNITA. It highlights the immense humanitarian challenges, including over four million internally displaced persons, and the government's exclusive control over the DD&R process. The authors detail a research project conducted between 2003 and 2005 in the provinces of Huambo, Huíla, and Bié to assess how ex-combatants transition into civilian life within a context of weak state structures and shattered infrastructure.

The report analyzes land governance in Engcobo, Eastern Cape, highlighting a conflict between the Engcobo Local Municipality and traditional leaders. While the municipality is mandated by the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (SPLUMA) to oversee land use, it owns less than 1% of the land, most of which is under traditional custodianship. This imbalance leads to disputes over development projects, such as a proposed shopping mall, and boundary demarcations. The study also notes the failure of state-led land restitution and the rise of illegal land occupations due to land shortages and bureaucratic delays.

The author contends that traditional Security Sector Reform (SSR) fails to erase gender hierarchies in the military because it focuses exclusively on the public sphere. By analyzing interviews with soldiers in Burundi and South Africa, the paper identifies three 'societal borders'—resistance to women in combat, the role of women as primary caregivers, and perceived male superiority—that originate in the private sphere and perpetuate exclusion and discrimination in the public military environment. The author proposes a 'radical' SSR model that integrates private experiences, such as addressing domestic violence and regulating parental leave, to achieve genuine gender equality.

Based on 60 semi-structured interviews conducted in 2015, the study finds that individuals are inconsistent in how they define the boundaries of Norwegian nationhood, often drawing on different symbolic resources depending on the time, place, and their personal circumstances. While boundaries appear clear when they are actively produced, the uncertainty of when and why they emerge blurs the overall perception of a fixed national boundary. The author argues that boundary-making is a contingent event influenced by socioeconomic status and the distinction between public and private spheres, suggesting that nationhood's boundaries are permeable rather than stable.

The document details the history of displacement in Cyprus, starting from the 1950s and culminating in the 1974 division of the island, which left over 220,000 people dispossessed. It examines the divergent property policies of the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, the role of the European Court of Human Rights in adjudicating property claims, and the emotional and psychological impact on displaced Greek and Turkish Cypriots. Findings from focus groups indicate a growing sense of realism and pessimism regarding the possibility of return, with many displaced persons now favoring compensation or exchange over restitution due to the passage of time and the establishment of new lives in their current locations.

The report argues that formal education systems can either fuel or mitigate armed conflict depending on their inclusivity, quality, and relationship with the community. Through case studies in Guatemala, Nepal, and Liberia, the author identifies four conflict-transforming concepts: equitable inclusion, positive socialization, the creation of social capital, and the provision of socio-economic benefits. The study finds that educational exclusion and authoritarian teaching methods often mirror and reinforce the structural inequalities that drive conflict, while participatory, child-centered education and equitable resource distribution can raise the opportunity costs of joining rebellions and foster a culture of non-violence. The report recommends that national governments and international donors integrate education into peacebuilding processes, prioritize social justice in curricula, and better link schooling to the labor market to ensure that education provides tangible hope and economic mobility.

The research examines how Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh mitigate the ban on formal education through two primary resources: community-led education networks and online learning platforms. The authors document the operation of 27 community-organized networks that utilized the Myanmar curriculum to teach thousands of children, as well as the rise of digital education via YouTube, WhatsApp, and Facebook. The study highlights a tension between the restrictive policies of the Government of Bangladesh and the aspirations of refugees to maintain a cultural and linguistic link to Myanmar. It concludes that humanitarian agencies should better engage with these untapped community resources to improve educational outcomes and reach marginalized groups, such as adolescent girls.

The study examines the relationship between contributing and belonging in Norway, finding that the act of contributing functions as an 'admission ticket' for those experiencing ontological insecurity. Through interviews in a rural municipality, the author identifies that while non-migrants possess a taken-for-granted sense of belonging, internal and international migrants use public contributions—such as employment, language learning, and volunteering—to gain recognition. The paper argues that belonging is practiced across multiple geographical scales, with internal migrants focusing on local acceptance and international migrants seeking both local and national recognition.

The document examines the iBorderCtrl project, an EU-funded initiative that developed an AI-based 'lie detector' (ADDS) to identify deceitful third-country nationals at Schengen borders. The author argues that the project is not 'just research' but is driven by the securitisation of migrants, who are framed as security threats to justify the use of high-risk, experimental technology. The thesis finds that the project operated in a weakly regulated legal space where fundamental rights were treated as barriers rather than guiding principles. It further contends that migrants are treated as 'rights-optional' test subjects due to power imbalances and a lack of thorough ethical assessments, which the author describes as a 'rushed process'.

The report analyzes the relationship between human rights NGOs and the law in Colombia, specifically regarding forced displacement between 2002 and 2012. It proposes a typology of legal mobilization: 'appropriation' (strategic use of legal resources), 'adaptation' (weaving existing goals into new legal frameworks), and 'resistance' (proposing alternative frameworks outside dominant legal norms). Through three case studies, it details how Colemad fought 'legal dispossession' of land in the Atlantic coast, how the CNMI integrated indigenous cosmovisions and 'spiritual violence' into national legislation, and how COCA shifted from standard workshops to ancestral healing practices in Putumayo to address the psychological trauma of war. The text also highlights systemic challenges for these organizations, including precarious international funding, the 'privatization of social work,' and persistent insecurity from armed actors.

The research explores how young members of the Somali diaspora, specifically those born or raised in Norway and the United States, navigate their identities and civic participation. It challenges binary views of citizenship and integration, proposing 'multi-sited embeddedness' to describe how these individuals belong to and act within multiple communities simultaneously. The study finds that civic engagement is both a result of belonging and a tool used to claim inclusion in various national and local contexts.

The paper examines how women in a conflict-affected district of Assam utilize the concept of 'motherhood' to enter the political sphere and engage in peacebuilding. It challenges security expert assumptions that these women lack independent agency, finding instead that while they are often linked to tribal identities and militant factions, they use these alliances to build political power. The author notes a tension between 'motherhood' as a tool for tribal mobilization and as a potential basis for a common female identity for peace. The study also highlights the barriers to formal political participation, such as male-dominated party structures and a lack of seat reservations in tribal areas.