On 14 June The Hague Institute and its project partners organized a workshop to present and discuss findings of the research project ‘Employment for Stability’ -“Does Opportunity Reduce Instability? A Meta-Analysis of Skills and Employment Interventions in LMICs”.

Read Will Bennett's blog on employment and stability - "Driving in the Fog: Do employment programs reduce instability?"

The multi-year research project is funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research and led by The Hague Institute for Global Justice. The project brings together a large set of leading researchers working on stability and employment in development from a range of European and African institutions. The Hague Institute’s partners are the Pan-African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PACCI) based in Addis Ababa, INES-Ruhengeri in Rwanda, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), and the United Nations University, Merit (UNU-Merit) in Maastricht.

The project builds on the realization that creating employment has become a key development strategy, resulting in turn in a surge of pro-employment interventions. With poverty and unemployment regularly cited as robust correlates of instability, such programs also have the potential to increase stability, or the preservation of the social contract. Such potential positive externalities are rarely considered, however, with success measured by economic impact.

The project contributes to filling this gap using employment interventions and stability data in a broad set of countries to identify externalities, their underlying mechanisms, and the role of the macro-environment therein. The workshop included a series of short presentations by several project researchers, followed by a group discussion. The lead of the project, Dr. Tilman Brück, started off with explaining the main drivers of instability: lack of opportunity, grievance and lack of contact.  During the workshop, special emphasis was placed on the discussion of policy relevant implications of the research, leading to suggestions of improved policies and programs strengthening employment for stability in conflict and fragile states. This led to a group discussion on the unintentional effects of targeted programs, the kind of employment that we included in our research and what links employment to peace. The theories of change were discussed in order to understand the different types of intervention that are most successful and the reasons behind their success.

To conclude, our research demonstrates that there is no evidence of a relationship between employment and stability, or that employment programs have an impact. Moreover, there is no robust relationship between employment programs and individual employment. Our findings also suggest that employment programs do not show significant spatial spillovers to non-beneficiaries. This raises questions about suitability of employment programs and how these programs can build peace.

The importance of land in the Great Lakes Region of Africa is undeniable. It is central to livelihoods and identity, and unfortunately also to conflict. Scarcity of land and questions about ownership drive violent conflict. Improper land governance problematizes prevention and resolution of this violence.

Read the one-pager of recommendations for land programming in the Great Lakes Region.

Together with Search for Common Ground, the Platform organized an expert meeting on 15 June to address land issues in the region. Bringing together a number of policy makers, practitioners and researchers working on and in the region, the meeting encouraged reflection on and exchange of (un)successful approaches to tackling land issues.

Root causes and drivers – and different priorities

Throughout the discussion, it was apparent that the priorities on the side of donor governments have shifted from land governance specifically to conflict more generally, and, in particular, migration. On the other hand, it was acknowledged that improper land governance and consequent land grievances are catalysts for both violent conflict and migration from the region.

The meeting highlighted a number of sources of conflict in relation to land. To begin with, various groups in society lack access to land, which leads to grievances that often flare into violence – even within families. Women in particular struggle with access to land. They are limited by patriarchal inheritance laws and unfavorable land registration policies. Additionally, the fear of reprisals or exclusion, and the lack of recourse to justice mechanisms, prevent women from taking claims to objective arbiters.

In Burundi, as well as elsewhere in the region, returnees that fled the country make claims on land that is now in the hands of others. Contested claims spur violence among neighbors and within communities. Unclear or outdated land registration documents prevent dispute resolution on the basis of fact, and, in some cases, only serve to worsen the situation.

While some participants argued that the lack of awareness of land governance legislation among communities in the region prevents them from addressing land injustices, others countered that often the awareness of laws is present, but enforcement by officials and local or state institutions is non-existent. Raising awareness through targeted campaigns must therefore be coupled with institutional development and real change in how land rights are enforced by authorities.

As often is the case, widespread corruption at every level of governance, from the community to the national level, exacerbates many of the aforementioned hurdles to peaceful land governance. Formal institutions tasked with land registration, adjudication and enforcement are all susceptible to corruption. As such, informal mechanisms, like mediation, present themselves as alternative options.

Addressing and mitigating conflicts

Training mediators – often women – proved to be a successful way to find solutions for land disputes that are acceptable to all parties involved, without recourse to local or state institutions. Mediators are taught to bring disputing parties together to find amicable solutions outside of regulatory frameworks. By training women and giving them an important role in resolving disputes, the program also helps to shift the perception and enhance the standing of these women in the community, as well as their involvement in land affairs in general.

A different method of mitigating or preventing land conflicts is to create opportunities for alternative livelihoods. Many land issues center on a lack of alternatives to subsistence farming. As such, employment in other sectors could help ease land scarcity and reduce contested land claims. However, doing so requires two major shifts. The first is the actual creation of sustainable alternatives. In many of the Great Lakes countries, this may be difficult to achieve without donor or government support. The second is a shift in attitudes towards a positive view of work in other sectors and away from the exclusivity of subsistence farming as a livelihood in the region.

Recommendations going forward

The Platform and Search for Common Ground will compile a one-pager that outlines the most important recommendations for policy makers and practitioners to address land issues.