R4D Bosnia and Herzegovina

Healing the crisis. A prescription for public health action in South-Eastern Europe.

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:40:00 GMT

Miscellaneous Rechel B and McKee M. 2003 Open Society Institute, Published by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK, ISBN 0 902657 73 9, 117 pp. This review summarizes existing evidence, highlights gaps, and reviews donor and other priorities in public health investment. The sources of data include published studies, health statistics, reports from governments, development agencies, and NGOs.

The Sustainability of 'Voluntary Assisted Return': The Experience of the Balkans. Tirana, Albania, 14th September 2004

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 09:26:00 GMT

Miscellaneous 2004 Sussex, UK, DRC on Migration, Globalisation and Poverty, 23 pp. There is considerable but diverse experience of return in the Balkans, including mass return after war in the context of international civil administration in Bosnia and Kosovo, forced return of failed asylum seekers and irregular migrants in several other countries, and possible voluntary return of migrants at the end of the migration 'project', not least in Albania. This workshop aimed to bring together these diverse experiences and to have some discussion about definitions with the aim of producing some conclusions of value to researchers and policy makers covering:

· Does it make sense to talk about 'sustainable' return

· What does it mean and can it be measured

· What influences whether return is sustainable

Champions of Participation: Engaging Citizens in Local Governance. International Learning Event Report 31 May - 4 June 2007, UK.

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 12:00:00 GMT

Miscellaneous 2008 Development Research Centre on Citizenship, Participation and Accountability, 48 pp.

The Champions of Participation event in May 2007, led by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) at Sussex University, brought together 44 people (24 from the UK and 20 from 14 other countries: China, Philippines, India, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Brazil, Chile, Bosnia, Spain, Hungary, Bulgaria, Norway, USA) involved in local government to look at the challenges local governments face in responding to growing demands for citizen engagement and more participatory forms of governance. It was sponsored by two UK government departments: the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG). The participants comprised elected officials; city councillors; local government officials and other service providers; community activists; workers from local and national NGOs; academics and representatives of central government.

This report summarises the discussions and debates held over the five-day period which included a two-day workshop, two days of visiting sites in the UK of particular interest, and one day of policy dialogue with UK policymakers in the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) and the Department for International Development (DFID).

Working Paper T7. Defining, Measuring and Influencing Sustainable Return: The Case of the Balkans.

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Miscellaneous R. Black, S. Gent 2004 WP-T7, Sussex, UK, DRC on Migration, Globalisation and Poverty, 23 pp. The return of refugees and other migrants represents an issue of growing concern for governments and international organisations working in the refugee and migration fields. In the Balkans in particular, large-scale international returns of refugees to Bosnia and Kosovo have occurred alongside intense efforts to promote so-called 'minority return' of displaced people within the two territories. This interest in return comes from a number of directions, including domestic political concerns in countries and regions of origin, as well as a desire to promote 'durable solutions' for forced migrants. Yet return has also become a highly politically charged process in a number of contexts, both for returnees and those who did not migrate or flee, leading many observers to question the notion of an unproblematic return 'home'. Specifically, doubts remain both about the conditions and voluntariness of return, the ability of individual returnees to re-integrate in their home countries and regions, and the wider sustainability of the return process.

This paper seeks to provide an overview of recent policy interest in returns globally, as well as to and within the Balkans, before setting out a definition of what might be considered 'sustainable' return in the region. For example, it is possible to draw a distinction between narrow indicators of the 'sustainability' of return, such as whether returnees subsequently re-emigrate after their return, and wider definitions, which see 'sustainability' as including both the extent to which individual returnees are able to reintegrate in their home societies, and the wider impact of return on macro-economic and political indicators. It is argued that the development of robust indicators of the sustainability of return could assist in monitoring the impact of return programmes, providing valuable insight on return policies. Equally important, such indicators present one way in which return can be assessed against broader development objectives in countries of origin in general, and post-conflict countries in particular.

Low Cost Machines to Accelerate Landmine Clearance

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Completed To develop a low cost vegetation clearance vehicle suitable for manufacture in poor countries, for improving the cost effectiveness of humanitarian mine clearance. The University of Warwick has designed and developed a remote controlled ground based system to assist vegetation clearance and neutralise tripwire initiated anti-personnel mines called "TEMPEST". The system consists of a diesel powered hydraulically driven chassis, a RF remote control subsystem, and a 1.2 metre wide horizontal flail head. An initial prototype machine has been developed and field tested in Cambodia. In parallel with this, a unit has also been deployed for field testing in Bosnia. Both programmes proved very successful and on the basis of these the development of the TEMPEST has been carried forward to a point where, by the end of the project in December 1999, a viable design will be available for replication. Interest in the purchase and deployment of the TEMPEST has been expressed not only by NGO's engaged in humanitarian demining in poor countries but also by the US military. There has recently also been some interest in further commercial development and exploitation of the design.