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Human Security and Development in Myanmar : Issues and Implications
Get PDFThe nexus between human security and development as a workable approach towards inclusive development is gaining prominence. In present-day Myanmar, which is currently undergoing transition and reform, human security needs and challenges are acute, particularly in striving for inclusive and equitable social and economic development in tandem with political stability and national reconciliation. Trust among the different interest groups is a crucial element for moving forward with human security issues. There is a role for inclusive and participatory practices to be instituted in Myanmar’s pursuit of human security in the national development plans. The human security and development approach to assistance programs in Myanmar is thus worth consideration. ASEAN and development partners can leverage on ASEAN’s constructive engagement mechanisms in pursuing this approach in Myanmar.research repor
Convergence of Aid Models in Emerging Donors?Learning Processes, Norms and Identities, and Recipients
Get PDFThis paper analyses aid models of emerging economies in terms of their orientation to the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) aid model. This paper first provides a short literature review. After summarizing the DAC aid model, several hypotheses to account for the convergence process of aid models are considered, followed by a discussion of how recipient perceptions of desirable aid may also work indirectly to promote both the convergence and divergence of aid models. In addition, this paper considers the hypothesis that the convergence and divergence of aid models may be promoted and inhibited by a donor’s learning of other models as well as predominant norms and identities, which are shared by major aid-related stakeholders. Secondly, this paper provides a brief overview of some characteristics of individual donors such as China, India, South Africa and South Korea and Arab countries. Arab donors have created an Islamic aid model, China utilizes an emerging superpower aid model, South Africa advocates a Southern hybrid aid model, and South Korea has established an Asian DAC aid model. While China and India have kept their distance from the DAC aid model, the aid models of South Africa and Arab donors have incorporated elements of the DAC aid model, with the Korean aid model introducing it most completely. Thirdly, the paper will explore how the perceptions of recipients, donor learning from other donors, and the norms and identities of emerging donors may influence different levels of convergence of aid models. In terms of recipient perceptions, Chinese aid has generally been appreciated partially because the approach is distinct from the DAC aid model. South Africa has neighboring countries that are cautious about the asymmetric relationship and trade dependency on South Africa. To ease their concerns, South Africa incorporated elements of the DAC aid model, while offering some kind of assistance through the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and DBSA. Donor learning of other models is relevant to South Africa and South Korea. Identities and norms of donors are quite influential in building and re-building the aid models. China has a ‘superpower identity’ and Arab donors have a ‘religious identity’; these outstanding identities and norms underlie their unique aid models, which potentially challenge the established international aid regime. Unlike ‘norm-makers’ in China, middle powers in the South and North, as ‘norm-takers’, follow international aid regimes, regardless of the difference in convergence levels. South Africa balances the DAC aid model with African solidarity, while South Korea, as a full member of DAC, may promote strong convergence.research repor
Determinants of School Enrollment of Girls in Rural Yemen: Parental Aspirations and Attitudes toward Girls’ Education
Get PDFParental perceptions have been considered important for the primary school enrollment of girls, particularly in countries where female activities are constrained by social norms and values. In Yemen, primary school enrollment steadily improved throughout the 2000s, but the gender gap still remains. We conducted a comprehensive survey of households and schools in rural Yemen, in which fathers and mothers were separately asked about their educational aspirations for girls and their general attitudes toward girls’ education, the marriage age for girls, and their attitudes toward women in the workforce. This paper describes the perceptions of fathers and mothers, and empirically examines their relationship to primary school enrollment for girls aged 6-9 years and 10-14 years, controlling for both demand- and supply-side factors. As a result, we observe a certain degree of variation in paternal and maternal perceptions among households and son preference in both the paternal and maternal aspirations. The regression analyses reveal that both the paternal and the maternal aspirations, and the son preference in their aspirations are strongly related to the enrollment of older girls. Additionally, the analyses show that other paternal perceptions of girls’ education, the desirable marriage age, and women in the workforce are statistically significant for older girls. We also found that paternal perceptions are more highly correlated to the enrollment of both younger and older girls than maternal perceptions, and that the supply-side factors such as the qualification of teachers and the presence of female teachers are also significant to the enrollment of girls.research repor
“コンテキスチュアライズド・イノベーション”環境の構築による経済開発： フィリピン共和国ボホール州における「FabLabを用いたイノベーション環境構築による貧困削 減プロジェクト」による事例研究
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Chains of Knowledge Creation and Emerging Donors
Get PDFThe objective is to cast new light on the possible contribution of ‘emerging donors,’ highlighting their ‘knowledge creation’ based on the experience of receiving aid. The process of knowledge creation is examined through a model composed of three hypotheses. A knowledge is created through the interaction between ‘local knowledge’ and ‘foreign (donor’s) knowledge.’ A new knowledge also evolves through the interaction between explicit and tacit knowledge. The created knowledge plays a vital role in the aid giving of emerging donors. Contrary to the mainstream idea of technical cooperation as a ‘one-way transfer’ of the best practices, the above model emphasizes the ‘two-way interaction’ between donors and recipients. To check how the proposed model can explain the reality of emerging donors’ activities, three in-depth case studies are presented. First, China nurtured their pragmatic model of economic cooperation through the interaction between its own idea of ‘Da Jingmao’ and Japan’s idea of ‘Trinity Development Cooperation’, which the Chinese policy-makers found effective based on the evaluation of Japan’s aid. Nowadays, China extensively applies the created knowledge to the engagement with other developing countries, in particular Sub-Saharan Africa. Second, Thailand achieved the gigantic Eastern Seaboard Development Plan (ESDP) based on their tacit knowledge of ‘checks and balances a la Thai’ and Japanese explicit knowledge of coastal industrial complex construction. The evolution of the local/tacit knowledge was triggered by the strained donor-recipient relationship with the World Bank who criticized the largescale investment. Today, the Thai leaders are keen to assist Myanmar in utilizing the experience of the ESDP. Third, the chains of knowledge creation are identified bylinking Japan’s learning of the model of the TVA (the Tennessee Valley Authority), their application to the Aichi Canal under the World Bank loan, Japan’s assistance to the Brantas River Basin Development Plan in the central Java, and the evolution of the Indonesian concept of ‘One River, One Plan, One Management’, which was adopted as the basic philosophy of an Asian regional institute of water resources management. Throughout the link, a basic element is shared: the pursuit of ‘integration.’ The results of testing the plausibility of the hypothetical model show that the four East Asian aid recipients created new knowledge of their own through the interaction with the donors; the next step is to test the cases of other regions. The emerging donors could contribute to the global development agenda by utilizing their newly created knowledge.research repor
Industrial Transformation and Quality of Growth
Get PDFThis paper aims to gain insights into the interrelationship between transformation and quality of growth with attributes such as being inclusive, sustainable, innovative, secure, and balanced. It draws on case studies regarding four outstanding cases of industrial transformation. This analysis found that quality of growth needs to be discussed in the context of transformation because it features basically in the driving forces of growth, and that the interrelationship between transformation and quality of growth needs to be considered in a holistic manner as a comprehensive target to be achieved. As such, it might be more realistic to design measures to attain the desired attributes of quality of growth alongside the development of specific industries, within which structural transformation is taking place. On the other hand, as the interrelationship between attributes of quality growth and industrial transformation is complex, a comprehensive approach is needed, which pays due attention to macro-economic balance and stability, fiscal balance, synergy, trade-offs, and so on.research repor
On the Determinants of High Productivity Rice Farming in Irrigated Areas in Senegal: The Efficiency of Large Compared with Small-Scale Irrigation Schemes
Get PDFIrrigated rice farming in the Senegal River Valley is known to be highly productive, as indicated by the average yield of nearly 5 tons per hectare, and the extensive adoption of modern seed-fertilizer technology. This study seeks to understand why rice farming is so productive in this region; analyzing this situation from the viewpoint of the management efficiency of large versus small scale irrigation schemes. Contrary to popular belief, the study found that farmers in large-scale irrigation schemes achieve significantly higher yields and profits than those in small-scale irrigation schemes.research repor
Human Security in Cambodia: Far From Over
Get PDFThe concept of human security is based on the fundamental principles of ‘freedom from fear’ and ‘freedom from want’ through the 1994 Human Development Report of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).1 It argues for a shift from a state-centric view of security to one that focuses on the security of every individual. Human Security is about protection and empowerment of the individual. It tackles general threats to human existence and finds ways to overcome these threats, recognizing that the state itself can at times be a threat to its own people. This report aims to understand how the internationally minted notions of human security and insecurity are perceived and interpreted by Cambodian people, and what suggestions people may offer for mitigating threats to human security. We conducted interviews and focus groups with people in diverse sectors including government, academics, civil society, rural and urban communities, media, students, and Buddhist monks. Our research suggests that when we replace the discourse of security in Cambodia with the concept of human security, it opens new conversations toward understanding and responsiveness to human rights and human development.2 We argue that the connected, multi-dimensional insecurities in Cambodia can be revealed through taking a broad approach to human security that recognizes ‘freedom from fear’, ‘freedom from want’, and ‘freedom to live in dignity’ as inter-related in ways that may be contradictory. Currently much of the debate about the referent of security is too focused on either protection or empowerment; the voices of our research participants lead us to suggest that security comes from communication and dialogue between government and communities, and the importance of ‘cooperative leadership’.research repor
Perception on Human Security: Indonesian View
Get PDFTwo decades after its inception in the Human Development Report 1994, the Human Security (HS) concept has gained certain traction among the policymakers as well as the civil society. Some stakeholders have welcomed the concept as a useful tool for elevating some issues that posed significant challenges to the security of the individuals within a country or more than a country at the same time. But some others consider the concept as too broad and all-encompassing, which needs more clarification in terms of its application, to take up some issues as security concerns. Therefore, it is timely to check the understanding on this HS so far and to what extent the concept has been considered suitable and useful to deal with challenges that may be considered as new or non- traditional security concerns. This paper aims to elaborate on the perception of different stakeholders on HS in Indonesia. The perception covers aspects such as definition of HS in relation to three basic elements, i.e., freedom from want, freedom from fear, and freedom to live in dignity; priority issues; protection and empowerment; and cross-border characteristics. It also examines sovereignty and the involvement of military instrument questions in dealing with issues that fall under the HS discussion. The study is based on in-depth interviews with different stakeholders that included policymakers (high-rank officials), ex-military officers, academics, and non-governmental organization activists. The paper is divided into three sections. The first section begins with an introduction of the HS concept, the research methodology, and some results of a survey by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on the perception of HS among the society. The second section broadly examines several acts/regulations that contain elements related to HS. It is interesting to note that while many regulations have been enacted to ensure freedom from want, freedom from fear, and freedom to live in dignity, none of the regulations actually include the word “Human Security.” This somehow may reflect a level of hesitancy among the policymakers to fully embrace the concept and use it as a policy tool, due to some perceptions on the intentions behind the delivery of the HS concept and in what direction that concept is heading to. These different perceptions of HS are then elaborated in the third section. Finally, it is hoped that this elaboration may provide a better knowledge of how the HS concept is being perceived in Indonesia.research repor