Fragile Truths Knowledge Platform Security & Rule of Law

There is a growing resentment toward Western aid in recipient countries. There are many possible reasons why: a history of double agendas from donors, creating dependencies; a strong desire for self-determination; an increasingly multipolar world – the list goes on.

 

It’s about time to discuss the unexpected outcomes of aid that can lead to the backlash or undermining of the social contract in recipient countries. We discuss this with our guest Dirk-Jan Koch, Chief Science Officer at the Dutch MFA who wrote the upcoming book ‘Foreign Aid and its Unintended Consequences’. Our other guest, Haley J. Swedlund, Associate Professor, Radboud University, did research on how aid can distort in-country priorities, but can also be used in nationalist politicians’ anti-Western propaganda.



Click here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more information about the Fragile Truths Podcast.

To get in touch with Dirk-Jan Koch, you can follow him on ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠Twitter, or check out his website here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. To follow the work of Haley J. Swedlund, you can follow her on LinkedIn or Twitter, or check out her website here.

Supplemental reading:


⁠⁠⁠Click here⁠⁠⁠ for Dirk-Jan Koch's new book "Foreign Aid and its Unintended Consequences"

Click here for Haley J. Swedlund's report "Power Dynamics in Foreign Aid"



Send a short voice note (~30 sec.) via WhatsApp to +31686837137 and mention a fragile truth or assumption in your sector that you'd like to debunk and what alternatives you might propose. Who knows, you might be featured in our next episode!*

Are you on Twitter? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and tag ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠#FragileTruthsPodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to let us know what you think! You can also reach the⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ KPSRL Secretariat⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@kpsrl.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

A string of coups and regime changes in 2021 and 2022 triggered the question: How should the international community respond to such situations? Do you disengage your support and thereby leave people to their threatening fate, or stay engaged with the risk of legitimizing abusive governments?  

 

Our guest, Betty Wainaina (NYU-CIC), worked on a report that highlights responsible options for continued engagement, as most experts agree full disengagement is not the solution. With the help of Dr. Idris Nassery (Universität Paderborn) and his knowledge of community work and (religious) law in Afghanistan, we apply Betty’s recommendations to the Afghan context. 

 

⁠Click here⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more information about the Fragile Truths Podcast.

To get in touch with Betty Wainaina, you can follow her on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ or ⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠. To follow her work at NYU-CIC, you can check out their LinkedIn page or Twitter.

To follow the work of Dr. Idris Nassery, you can follow the ⁠Paderborn Institute for Islamic Theology (PIIT)⁠ or the ⁠Institute for Law and Society in Afghanistan (ILSAF)⁠, a non-profit NGO that actively engages in research, collaboration, and evidence-based projects related to the role of law in Afghan society. Check out ⁠ILSAF's LinkedIn page here⁠.

Supplemental reading:


⁠⁠Click here⁠⁠ for the CIC report "Aid strategies in ‘politically estranged’ settings: How donors can stay and deliver in fragile and conflict-affected states"


Send a short voice note (~30 sec.) via WhatsApp to +31686837137 and mention a fragile truth or assumption in your sector that you'd like to debunk and what alternatives you might propose. Who knows, you might be featured in our next episode!*

Are you on Twitter? ⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us⁠⁠⁠⁠ and tag ⁠⁠⁠⁠#FragileTruthsPodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠ to let us know what you think! You can also reach the⁠⁠⁠⁠ KPSRL Secretariat⁠⁠⁠⁠ at ⁠⁠⁠⁠info@kpsrl.org⁠⁠⁠⁠.

In 2022, the Colombian Truth Commission published its 10.000-page thick report ‘Hay Futuro Si Hay Verdad’. It describes the immense impact the conflict had – and still has – on the victims of the civil war and society as a whole. Together with María Prada (former advisor to the Truth Commission’s President),
we discuss the different roles a Truth Commission has, such as dignity for those affected, non-repetition and evidence for justice. We also looked at the
difficulties of upholding recommendations while priorities and levels of continuing violence constantly change. Her conversation partner is the Dutch
Ambassador to Colombia, Ernst Noorman, who sheds light on the role the international community can play in such peace processes.


Click here⁠⁠⁠ for more information about the Fragile Truths Podcast. To get in touch with María Prada, you can follow her on Twitter⁠⁠⁠. To get in touch with
Ambassador Ernst Noorman, you can follow him on ⁠LinkedIn, Twitter⁠ and keep up with the Dutch Embassy in Colombia via their Twitter.



Supplemental reading:


⁠Click here⁠ for the Comisión de la Verdad website
Click here for English content about the Comisión de la Verdad


Send a short voice note (~30 sec.) via WhatsApp to +31686837137 and mention a fragile truth or assumption in your sector that you'd like to debunk and what alternatives you might propose. Who knows, you might be featured in our next episode!*

Are you on Twitter? ⁠⁠⁠Follow us⁠⁠⁠ and tag ⁠⁠⁠#FragileTruthsPodcast⁠⁠⁠ to let us know what you think! You can also reach the⁠⁠⁠ KPSRL Secretariat⁠⁠⁠ at ⁠⁠⁠info@kpsrl.org⁠⁠⁠.

When we think of security, we usually think of weapons, patrols, war and crime. For many indigenous people in Colombia however, security is more linked to well-being of the collective community and its natural environment. Our guest, Cristina Hoyos (DCAF), represents a recent research on indigenous strategies to adapt to climate change and their broader interpretation of security. With Abigail Robinson (Continua), she will a.o. discuss the role ‘ecofeminism’ and the security sector can play in supporting these indigenous communities.



⁠Click here⁠⁠ for more information about the Fragile Truths Podcast. To get in touch with Cristina Hoyos, you can follow her on ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠. To get in touch with Abigail, you can follow her on LinkedIn.



Supplemental reading:


Click here for the study discussed in the episode (available in English, Spanish and Portuguese)
Click here for the IUCN study mentioned in the episode (links between natural resource extraction and SGBV)



Send a short voice note (~30 sec.) via WhatsApp to +31686837137 and mention a fragile truth or assumption in your sector that you'd like to debunk and what alternatives you might propose. Who knows, you might be featured in our next episode!*

Are you on Twitter? ⁠⁠Follow us⁠⁠ and tag ⁠⁠#FragileTruthsPodcast⁠⁠ to let us know what you think! You can also reach the⁠⁠ KPSRL Secretariat⁠⁠ at ⁠⁠info@kpsrl.org⁠⁠.

Violence and poverty have a large impact on one’s “mental landscape”, as our guest Mareike Schomerus, Vice President of Busara, refers to it. A ‘mental landscape’ encompasses the many experiences, memories and emotions that influence your decisions such as biases and expectations; your willingness to take risks, and what you think is fair or just. Western peacebuilders often lack understanding of such mental landscapes. Our other guest, Nika Saeedi from UNDP, is the global lead on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Peacebuilding, a field where such understanding is key. How do we understand each other’s realities better?

⁠Click here⁠ for more information about the Fragile Truths Podcast. To get in touch with Mareike Schomerus, you can follow Mareike on Twitter on ⁠LinkedIn⁠. To get in touch with Nika Saeedi, you can follow Nika on ⁠Twitter⁠ or ⁠LinkedIn⁠.

Supplemental reading:


Mareike's book Lives Amid Violence: Transforming Development in the Wake of Conflict can be found here. The publisher’s direct open access link can be found here.
UNDP's Guidance Note on Integrating Mental Health and Psychosocial Support into Peacebuilding (2022) can be found here.
UNDP's story series providing a people-centred perspective on MHPSS in peacebuilding can be found through these links: pilot, story 2 & story 3.

Send a short voice note (~30 sec.) via WhatsApp to +31686837137 and mention a fragile truth or assumption in your sector that you'd like to debunk and what alternatives you might propose. Who knows, you might be featured in our next episode!*

Are you on Twitter? ⁠Follow us⁠ and tag ⁠#FragileTruthsPodcast⁠ to let us know what you think! You can also reach the⁠ KPSRL Secretariat⁠ at ⁠info@kpsrl.org⁠.

Peacebuilding initiatives regularly only produce small scale, short-lived results. Our guest Dr. Sukanya Podder (researcher at King’s College London) says it’s time to think in terms of the Peacebuilding Legacy. That means: not-too-tightly planned interventions that fit local norms and behavior, and - with the help of youth leadership - take different interpretations of a conflict across generations into account. A prominent case in the book concerns a community radio initiative in Sierra Leone, so our other guest, Isata Mahoi, will share her experiences as network coordinator of the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) - and as a radio star in one of the peacebuilding initiatives, Atunda Ayenda.

Click here for more information about the Fragile Truths Podcast. To get in touch with Sukana Podder, you can e-mail: sukanya.podder@kcl.ac.uk or follow Sukanya on LinkedIn. To get in touch with Isata Mahoi, you can e-mail: imahoi@wanep.org, follow Isata on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Send a short voice note (~30 sec.) via WhatsApp to +31686837137 and mention a fragile truth or assumption in your sector that you'd like to debunk and what alternatives you might propose. Who knows, you might be featured in our next episode!*

Are you on Twitter? Follow us and tag #FragileTruthsPodcast to let us know what you think! You can also reach the KPSRL Secretariat at info@kpsrl.org.