Inclusion and empowerment are vital for both democracy and development to take hold in conflict and post-conflict situations, according to Nicholas Haysom, special representative of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for Sudan and South Sudan.
“I think the temptation in some of these situations is to suppress different people’s identities,” said Haysom, who was previously the secretary-general’s representative in Afghanistan. “They’ll say there’s only one identity, [and] you can understand that because of the imperative of nation building.”
South Sudan demonstrates how conflict over resources has proven to be a major impediment to democratization.
Better understanding the nexus between food, energy, and water could strengthen international aid efforts—as well as preparations for global challenges to come, according to researchers at RAND and students at the Pardee RAND Graduate School who have spent years tracing the links and nodes of the nexus, country by country.
A global assessment of need could make aid efforts more effective and help anticipate threats posed by conflict, natural disasters, and climate change, their research suggests. The result has been an unprecedented look at where people struggle the most just to survive—a map of the world (above), alight with need.
