DevISSues Vol.20, no2 - The state of democracy - the case of Africa

OCTOBER 2018 VOL . 20 – NO. 2

The state of democracy – the case of Africa

Cover: Political Regime 2015 Source: Political Regime (OWID based on Polity IV and Wimmer & Min).

OurWorldInData.org/democracy The Polity IV score classifies the type of political regime for each country on a range from -10 (full autocracy) to +10 (full democracy). Regimes that fall into the middle of this spectrum are called anocracies.

Full democracy – +10 – +9 – +8 – +7 – +6 – +5 – +4 – +3 – +2 – +1

From the Editorial Board The state of democracy – the case of Africa Based on demand, our last edition featuring a discussion on the state of democracy in Latin America certainly seemed an apt and topical theme to pursue. Continuing unstable situations in Venezuela and Nicaragua have led to considerable decay in the social and economic situation in each of these Latin American countries and to considerable flows of outward migration.

As of writing, the ISS has kept up to date with the debate on Brazil democracy and the impending second round vote. A polarized public, authoritarian rhetoric by the right-wing candidate, and uncertain outcomes define the current terrain.

– 0 – -1 – -2 – -3 – -4 – -5 – -6 – -7 – -8 – -9

Our desire to give some brief insights into ‘the state of democracy’ continues into this edition, this time with a focus on Africa. The article by Hintjens and Asiimwe on Eastern African politics amply illustrates the dependency of legitimacy on a (perceived) need to deliver immediate results for some (or at least for those with most voice and power). The slippery slide into forced, administered or cajoled further terms in office has been the case in most East African states in recent times.

– -10

Full autocracy No data

Colophon DevISSues is published twice a year by the International Institute of Social Studies, PO Box 29776, 2502 LT The Hague, the Netherlands Tel +31 (0)70 4260 443 or +31 (0)70 4260 419 Fax + 31 (0)70 4260 799 www.iss.nl DevISSues@iss.nl Editor Jane Pocock Editorial Board Lee Pegler, Sunil Tankha, Sandra Nijhof Design Ontwerpwerk, The Hague Production De Bondt Grafimedia

The fragility of the concept and practice of democracy in East Africa does (as suggested by the authors) appear to require the support of forces with most voice and power – those that ‘determine its day-to day conduct’.

The fragility of processes and institutions is shown. In this sense, this is also what is happening in Venezuela and Nicaragua. Times will tell whether Brazilian institutions can uphold democratic legitimacy alongside a quite different regime to that defined by the Labour Party. From an African and internationalist perspective, as noted by Jan Pronk (also this edition), the effectiveness and popularity of the Presidential role played by Kofi Annan in terms of democracy in Africa stands out as exemplary in this respect.

Nevertheless, the practice of democracy can take many forms. One example is the gradual movement to more active citizenship for women in Rwanda, as noted by Muhumuza in this issue. The role of mobile phones in helping to give voice and a sense of inclusion/legitimacy to voiceless sufferers of HIV/AIDS in Africa, illustrated by the work of Wagner et al in Burkino Faso, is another. The activities of former students (e.g. Nderitu’s promotion of voice to the LGBT+ community) and academic writings (e.g. Icaza et al) in respect to the need for a decolonized (and gendered) perspective on development, further underline the role of ISS in these broader democratic awareness initiatives. Our questioning (staff–student interview, Schneider-Schiavoni) of standard conceptions of food security, as one needing the active involvement and views of local communities and other affected actors in its day-to-day application (moving to a concept of food sovereignty), is another good example.

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Rector’s Blog Erasmus by the Sea

Inge Hutter Rector ISS

On 18 October, ISS celebrated its 66th anniversary, our Dies Natalis. As a way of visually cementing our nine-year linkage with Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), we embedded our Dies in the context of EUR’s 105th anniversary. This EUR milestone will be celebrated around the theme of Science meets City – expressing the University’s desire to be strongly embedded in the city of Rotterdam and, given ISS presence here and our emphasis on the social relevance of our teaching and research, in The Hague.

interdisciplinarity, and the societal relevance of research and teaching. She also pointed to the growing number of collaborations between EUR and ISS, and made clear that core ISS values such as social justice and equity closely resemble the values of EUR. Importantly, she emphasized that there can be collaboration without denying our respective differences and histories. She compared the ISS- EUR collaboration to an older couple coming together later in life: they both have to jigsaw their former independent lives into a shared existence.

But why ‘Erasmus by the Sea’? The more formal description of our relationship with EUR is ‘The Hague campus of Erasmus University Rotterdam’, but Erasmus by the Sea more graphically encapsulates our geographic and intellectual relationship with the University. In fact, Erasmus by the Sea was the theme of our Dies celebrations, and we had hoped to hold the event at the beach. However, this being autumn in the Netherlands, the weather dictated otherwise, and we decided stay put on the Kortenaerkade for the academic component but hold the reception at the Panorama Mesdag, just opposite ISS in the Zeestraat. In short: Erasmus by the Sea.

Kristen Baeles’ words made me reflect on our relationship with the University and I started drawing up a list of our joint activities; a list that included our research collaborations with the Rotterdam Global Health Initiative, the Erasmus Initiative Vital Cities and Citizens, the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Centre for Frugal Innovation in Africa, and the KidsRights Index; our teaching collaboration with the International Housing Institute on Sustainable Local Economic Development; and our collaboration in the management and administration of our organization.

The ISS Dies was opened by EUR Rector Magnificus Rutger Engels who expressed his appreciation of ISS and his happiness that we have been part of the University for almost a decade.

The President of the EUR Executive Board, Kristel Baele, gave the keynote speech in which she set out the University’s strategic plan for 2019-2024. Echoing Rutger Engels’ words, she recognized ISS’ role in the strategic plan, highlighting the important role ISS can play in the fields of internationalization,

A constant presence throughout our Dies celebrations was the world-renowned 16th century humanist thinker from Rotterdam, Desiderius Erasmus (after whom the university is named). As a living statue, Erasmus can be seen around the EUR campus in Rotterdam, and he travelled to The Hague on 18 October to provide a lucid illustration of our relationship with the university. But of course, in true ISS style, even the illustrious Erasmus took a critical turn – rather than being represented by a man, he was represented by a woman…

Contents

4 Kofi Annan

6 14 Post-liberal politics in East Africa

ISS news

19

Focus on ISS

10 ISS publications - staff & PhD

19 Focus on ISS

11 Rwandan women

22 ISS publications - D&C

17 Staff-student discussion

23 Student life

4

Themed article

Jan Pronk – Professor Emeritus in the Theory and Practice of International Development at ISS and former Dutch Minister of Development Cooperation.

Annan attends inauguration of Sudan's new National Unity Government. Credit: UN photo.

Kofi Annan During a meeting on the reform of the United Nations, one of the participants said that the UN Secretary General should be a General rather than a Secretary. The first three SGs – Trygve Lie, Dag Hammarskjöld and U Thant – had been leaders, taking political initiatives.

T

hey had been criticized, but could not be seen as pawns of the big powers. Their successors, Kurt Waldheim and Javier Perez de Cuellar, acted like Secretaries of the Security Council and did not stick their necks out.

As a result, during the seventies and the eighties the UN system weakened. The next SG, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, was not accustomed to receiving instructions from superiors and took far-reaching initiatives, in the political as well as the socio-economic field. The US in particular did not agree with his initiatives and vetoed a second term.

Would his successor, Kofi Annan, become a Secretary or a General? He had been the favourite candidate of the US and many people foresaw that he would dance to the American tune, fearing his predecessor’s fate. But Kofi Annan gradually became his own man.

In the beginning he was careful, but became progressively stronger during his first term in office, becoming a worldranking leader. One of the highlights of his career was his leading role in the process of preparing the Millennium Declaration. Under his leadership, political leaders all around the world

looked backwards – ‘What went wrong during the century behind us? Where did we fail?’ – in order to look forward: ‘Which common values do we accept in order to guarantee a sustainable future?

Which goals, in order to guarantee equal access for all people, irrespective of their background, present people and the yet unborn?’ The Declaration went far beyond the acceptance of the well-known Millennium Development Goals. It was a clarion call, fresh in content, wider in scope than previous declarations, and worded in new and powerful language of obligations and rights.

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Annan’s speeches, though soft-spoken, were intellectual high spots, rhetorically unmatched. They were politically smart, and reached out beyond the usual political audience to people who felt themselves addressed by Annan, simply as citizens of the world. Kofi Annan was able to inspire young people, for example, who saw in him the personification of a value-based system they shared. He was trusted and followed, at a time when national political leaders were failing to live up to their promises, and were becoming less and less popular.

In 2004 Kofi Annan invited me to join him on a tour through East Africa, visiting Presidents and Prime Ministers. This was so he could introduce me to these leaders as his Representative in Sudan. I had been appointed to lead the peace operations there. When we were in Addis Ababa, Annan addressed the Annual Meeting of the African Union (AU). He spoke about power, and commented: The time is behind us that power can stay in the hands of one party or one person only. The wisdom of a statesman lies in a peaceful transfer of power.

Once chosen, power should not be used to change the constitution in order to get a new term and stay in power. The statesman knows the right moment to hand on the torch to a new generation.

international agreements. Annan left this Minister no room for manoeuvre whatsoever. On another occasion, I accompanied Kofi Annan to a meeting with an African President who blamed the UN for everything that had gone wrong. When he tried to bully the Secretary General, and used abusive language, we knew that the blame for his country’s situation lay mainly with himself. Yet far from returning the blame, Annan persisted in arguing calmly and rationally, rebutting all the arguments made, one by one. Kofi Annan had made it crystal clear that he stood for his people, for the UN system and for its values, which he represented even in the face of hostility and rejection.

This he also did in contacts with the big powers. It took him some time, but he did publicly declare that the US invasion in Iraq was illegitimate and a violation of international law. He also knew that the Americans, who had supported his election to Secretary General during Clinton’s Presidency, would not forgive him for what they saw as betrayal. And this was indeed to be the beginning of the end of Annan’s tenure. The Bush administration wanted to get rid of him, and worked hard to poison the political

During discussions and negotiations with political leaders around the world, Kofi Annan spoke smoothly, never loudly, compelling people to listen attentively to him, and in this way getting his message heard. When necessary he could be razor-sharp. On one occasion I witnessed how he drove into a corner the Minister of Foreign Affairs of one particular country that had been making a habit of violating

Photo: Petterick Wiggers

Deby from Chad, Museveni from Uganda and other Presidents who had bent the laws of their country, sat in the front rows in the audience for this speech, and yet like Obama’s similar speech at the AU more than ten years later, in 2016, this speech by Annan received an ovation.

Annan had touched a tender spot in the consciences of African political leaders.

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The statesman knows the right moment to hand on the torch to a new generation

climate, by making false accusations at the personal level. In the eyes of many, the Secretary General had simply defended a rule-based international order. Survival of this rule-based system should, after all, be seen as crucial for all those across the world seeking common answers to the cross-border challenges of the 21st century.

One of those who tried to undermine Kofi Annan as Secretary General was John Bolton, US Ambassador to the United Nations. This same Bolton is now acting in his present capacity as National Security Advisor to President Trump. His actions are now paving the way towards dismantling the entire UN system of agreements and cooperation. This is the real tragedy of Kofi Annan; during his second term as UN Secretary General, he was leading a system that was in decay, not because it had become outdated, but because the big powers started to undermine it, brush it aside and starve it of funds.

Kofi Annan became a General rather than a Secretary of the world’s powers. When necessary he chose to withstand their influence. During his second term, this struggle for UN values of rule of law and human rights became a bitter battle, and ultimately one he could not win. In the hearts of many people today, all round the world, however, Annan had become the President, not the General. He was the President for those who felt they could trust him more than their own leaders in their own country.

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Themed article

Post-liberal politics in East Africa: the tickbird and the rhino The tickbird The opening quotation hints that democratic politics in East Africa, as elsewhere, is about the capacity of the state not only to manage elections, competing parties, and constitutional rules; it is also about delivering ‘magic’: i.e. jobs, livelihoods, infrastructure, services, and social safety nets. East African experiences suggest that political reforms require material improvements.

For genuine democracy, socio-economic ‘magic’ may be essential. In façade democracies, elections are stagemanaged, and media freedoms severely restricted.

Helen Hintjens and Henry Asiimwe – Helen Hintjens is Assistant Professor at ISS. Henry Asiimwe is an ISS alumnus. He graduated in 2013.

Former Tanzanian President Nyerere warned about belief in the magical powers of ‘big men’. Leaders use various forms of ‘belly politics’, sharing resources.

But when they fail to deliver, this can also mean their downfall. In his Leadership Code, Nyerere proposed: ‘Leaders must set a good example to the rest of the people in their lives and in all their activities’.1 He continues to explain: Our policy is to make haste slowly, but it may be hard to sell this to the people.

Freedom to many means immediate

betterment, as if by magic. We are not magicians. But unless I can meet at least some of these aspirations, my support will wane and my head will roll just as surely as the tickbird follows the rhino.2

Presidential tricks In 2006, all East African countries except Uganda stuck to their constitutional provisions and limited the President to no more than two terms in office.3 Prospects for genuine democratic transition looked reasonable. By 2018, just Kenya and Tanzania had stuck to twoterm Constitutional provisions. Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi had all seen changes in the Constitution allowing multiple – and even indefinite – Presidential terms.4 This situation was worrying, since: ‘imposition of presidential term limits… may be the most important indicator of how entrenched constitutionalism has become…on a continent notorious for…’presidents-for-life’”.5 Already at independence, Amilcar Cabral warned that new regimes used a ‘bag of tricks’ to stay in power: ‘gerontocracy, nepotism, social inferiority of women, rites and practices…incompatible with the rational and national character of the

Themed article

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Kenya Election Posters. Image Courtesy: Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung (Photo: Susanne Raukamp), licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic | Flickr

struggle’ for independence.6 During the 1990s, of 18 African Presidents who completed two terms in office, only eight stood down voluntarily. Ten changed the rules and stood again, or appointed loyal proxies.7 Today, Presidents Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi, claim to protect order against chaos and violence.

Yet it was violent police repression of protesters against a Presidential third term that provoked massive refugee flight from Burundi in 2014 and 2015.

After two of the five-member Electoral Commission fled and members of the Constitutional Court received death threats, the remaining judges ruled in favour of the President standing for election again!8 In the 2016 presidential elections in Uganda, after protests following the results, opposition leader Besigye was arrested without charge, and only released once the constitutionallyspecified time limit for challenging election results had elapsed.9 After 30 years of his Presidency, ‘Uganda’s constitution was amended to allow Museveni to remain in office for life’.10

Democracy’s downs and ups Democracy can be risky. The Rwandan genocide followed close on democratic reforms in the early 1990s, reforms imposed by the West amidst civil war and economic retrenchment. As the late Kofi Annan warned: If a leader doesn't want to leave office, if a leader stays on for too long, and elections are seen as being gamed to suit a leader and he stays term after term after term, the tendency may be the only way to get him out is through a coup or people taking to the streets...I think Africa has done well; by and large the coups have more or less ended, generals are remaining in their barracks, but we are creating situations which may bring them back.11 Scepticism about political democracy without accompanying economic and social justice is justified. So are fears of scapegoating minorities. Electoral violence in Kenya resulted from rising expectations, and protests and violence provoked by Kibaki’s ‘politricks’ in seeking a third term in office.12 Anger and frustrated hopes can be diverted, finding form in the persecution of minorities, like

Kenyan Somalis, who today are experiencing the same scapegoating that resulted from the colonial ‘divide and rule’ policies before independence.

When electorates become dispirited, their anger can be channelled by politicians along sectarian lines, producing ‘ethnic’ polarization and even violence. Indeed, early optimism about democratic transition per se may be evaporating among scholars too, as countries like Rwanda, Uganda or Burundi start to look like ‘no transition’ situations. As Carrothers suggests, these countries: ‘…are neither dictatorial nor clearly headed toward democracy.

They have entered a political gray zone…

[Perhaps] It is time for the democracypromotion community to discard the transition paradigm’.13 As Barack Obama warned African leaders when talking to the African Union: ‘When journalists are put behind bars and activists are threatened as governments crack down on civil society, then you may have democracy in name but not in substance’.14 Yet even in undemocratic states, there is some good news! Rwanda’s post-

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Themed article

Source: https://freedomhouse.org/blog/democratic-governance-africa-three-key-trends

… so long as those in office only feather their nests and do not attend to the general good, their rule will be precarious.

genocide policy of non-ethnic political identification leads it to be ranked second in Africa to Seychelles in the percentage of those surveyed who agreed that: ‘The Constitution protects diversity and minority interests’ and that the ‘government and leadership represents all segments and diverse interests’.15 Another bright spot in East Africa, irrespective of the degree of democracy, is progress in gender representation in politics. Whereas in Kenya women generally make up just 10-20 per cent of Parliamentarians, in relatively undemocratic Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda, and in slightly more democratic Tanzania, there are quotas for women. Globally, these countries are: ‘In the lead…with reserved quotas’.16 In 2008, 56 per cent of Rwanda’s elected parliamentarians were women, compared with 36 per cent in Tanzania and 35 per cent in Uganda. These figures compare well with 2017 figures for the UK (32 per cent), Netherlands (34.5 per cent) and of course the US Congress (19 per cent).

And the West must take some responsibility for failures. During his May 2016 Presidential swearing-in ceremony, Museveni criticized Western meddling in Uganda’s internal economy and finances.

He went on to praise China and Russia as friendly countries, willing to trade, even in weapons, without interference. At this point, EU and US delegations walked out of the ceremony. Perhaps they should have stayed, and listened for a change.

Yet East African politicians undermine their own credibility when they themselves mismanage aid or fail to pay public sector salaries, for example.17

Dangerous magic So Nyerere was right; politicians are not magicians. The ideals and promises they make before elections can turn into a raw ambition to stay in power afterwards.

Questions of legitimate rule have flummoxed great thinkers for centuries.

For Machiavelli, ‘such evils as affect the state itself…unless they are checked and corrected by some wise hand…will cause the ruin of the state’.18 Today in East

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…anger can be channelled by politicians along sectarian lines…

Africa, perhaps the main evils affecting the state are rising mass poverty and politicians who over-stay in office. In connection with Nyerere’s tickbird metaphor, so long as those in office only feather their nests and do not attend to the general good, their rule will be precarious.

When the stakes are high, politicians even resort to literal magic. Tanzania’s Deputy Home Affairs Minister Pereira Silima, warned in June 2015: ‘Tanzanian politicians...[should] steer clear of witchcraft ahead of elections…after the nation's parliament heard lawmakers could be involved in a wave of attacks on albinos whose body parts are prized in black magic’.19 One report called this: ‘…the first admission of its kind in parliament…[the] minister said reports linking politicians to albino killings could be true since attacks rose during elections’.20 In 2014, the Tanzanian government had imposed a ban on witchcraft to control Albino killings across the country. Literal magic here has meant death and injury of victims, and the undermining of democracy.

This is certainly not the magic Nyerere was referring to!

So the message is clear: if Presidents amend constitutions to gain ‘indefinite leave’ to remain in power, they must also provide what people need, or face the consequences. Otherwise civil society will demand democratic change.21 Right now: ‘…recent struggles for the removal of term limits have thus necessitated the interventions of democracy movements to act as bulwarks against the usurpation and personalization of power by presidents… with mixed

results’.22 Structural socio-economic transformations are required for more democratic politics in future. In Nzongola-Ntalaja’s view: Democratization is a continuous process of expanding the political space to enhance participation by all, including hitherto excluded groups and strata of the population…for the poor and vulnerable groups, democracy is meaningless without economic and social rights.23 As China, rather than the US or Europe, becomes the main economic partner of choice for East African rulers, regimes in the region may no longer play by the constitutional rule book. We end as we began, with Nyerere, who: …warned his fellow leaders that the mwananchi (citizens) would not wait for long before seeking such miracle cures...

The democratic character of a government does not depend [only]… on the way in which it is elected, but rather on the forces that determine its day-to-day conduct.24

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1 Arusha Declaration 5 February 1967.

2 Julius Nyerere “Island of Peace.” Time magazine, 15.12.1961, cited in Mkapa, Benjamin William ‘Leadership for Growth, Development, and Poverty Reduction: An African Viewpoint and Experience’, Chapter 2, pp. 36-37, World Bank publication. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTPREMNET/ Resources/489960-1338997241035/Growth_ Commission_Vol3_Leadership_Growth_Ch2_ Leadership_Growth_Development_Poverty_ Reduction_African_Viewpoint_Experience.pdf 3 Daniel Venconsky (2007) “Presidential term limits in Africa”, Conflict Trends, No. 2, 15-21, Table p. 17: http://www.kms1.isn.ethz.ch/serviceengine/Files/ ISN/.../en/Chapter%203.pdf 4 UNECA (2013) African Governance Report III: Elections and the Management of Diversity, Oxford-New York: Oxford University Press/UNDP. 5 E. Gyimah-Boadi (2015) “Africa’s Waning Democratic Commitment”, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 26 (1): 101-113, p. 102.

6 Amilcar Cabral cited in Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja (2006) ‘Challenges to state building in Africa’ African Identities 4 (10): 71-88: 72.

7 Vencovsky “Presidential term limits in Africa” op. cit.

8 “New blow to Nkurunziza as top Burundi election official flees; may be a 'catastrophe'”, Mail and Guardian Africa, 30 May 2015, at: http://mgafrica.com/ article/2015-05-30-new-blow-to-nkurunziza-asburundi-election-official-fleesmay-be-a-catastrophe [accessed 3 August 2015].

9 Bariyo, Nicholas (2016) ‘Ugandan Police Detain Main Opposition Leader, Raid His Party’s Headquarters’ The Wall Street Journal 22 February 2016, available at: http://www.wsj.com/articles/ugandan-police-arrestmain-opposition-leader-as-he-tries-to-leaveresidence-1456136721 10 Venconsky, “Presidential term limits in Africa”, op. cit. p. 18.

11 Aggrey, Mutambo (2016) ‘Annan urges Africa’s ‘life presidents’ to retire to prevent rebellion’ Daily Nation, 20 April 2016, available at: http://www.nation.co.ke/ news/africa/Annan-urges--life-presidents--toretire/1066-3167496-rcxg9c/index.html 12 Jambo News Spot, Kenya Presidential Election Results 2013, by constituency, show strong tendency to polarized voting in different regions of the country: http://www.jambonewspot.com/live-coveragebarack-obama-in-kenya/kenya-presidential-electionresults-2013/ 13 Carothers “The End of the Transition Paradigm” op cit., quotations pp. 9, 17.

14 Video ‘Obama addresses the African Union, at: http://www.nytimes.com/video/world/ africa/100000003823656/obama-addresses-africanunion.html 15 However it can be noted that these findings were in response to an ‘Expert Opinion Survey’, and it cannot be assumed that all experts are equally free to respond in a critical manner to such questions about their government. Data from UNECA, African Governance Report III…, op. cit., pp. 62, 67.

16 UNECA, African Governance Report, op. cit., p. 69.

17 Nalubega, Leilah and Sseunjogi Eriasa (2016) ‘Museveni sworn-in as US, EU envoys walk out’, Monitor 13 March, available at: http://www.monitor. co.ug/News/National/Museveni-sworn-in-as-US-EUenvoys-walk-out/688334-3201004-eh3o6qz/index. html 18 Niccolo Machiavelli (1950) The Prince and the Discourses, The Modern Library: New York: p. 540.

19 Makoye, Kizito and Belinda Goldsmith, ‘Tanzania: Politicians Warned Off Witchcraft Ahead of Election’, 1 June 2015, available at: http://allafrica.com/ stories/201506020952.html [accessed 15 September 2015].

20 Makoye and Goldsmith, op. cit.

21 Juluis Nyerere (1998) ‘Good Governance for Africa’, 13 October speech at a conference, available at: https://www.marxists.org/subject/africa/nyerere/ 1998/10/13.htm [accessed 15 September 2015].

22 Dulani, Boniface (2011) “Democracy Movements as Bulwarks against Presidential Usurpation of Power: Lessons from the Third Term Bids in Malawi, Namibia, Uganda and Zambia”, Wiener Zeitschrift für kritische Afrikastudien . 20 (11): 115-139, at: http://stichproben. univie.ac.at/fileadmin/user_upload/p_stichproben/ Artikel/Nummer20/20_Dulani.pdf [accessed 4 August 2015], p. 118.

23 Nzongola-Ntalaja, Georges (2006) ‘Challenges to state building in Africa’, African Identities 4 (1): 71-88: 82, 85.

24 Martin-Baro, Ignacio ‘Political Violence and War as Causes of Psychological Trauma in El Salvador’, International Journal of Mental Health, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 3-20, p. 3.

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ISS publications

New publications Decolonization and Feminisms in Global Teaching and Learning Edited by Sara de Jong, ISS Associate Professor Rosalba Icaza and Olivia U. Rutazibwa, this book is a resource for teachers and learners seeking to participate in the creation of radical and liberating spaces in academy and beyond. The volume is inspired by, and applies, decolonial and feminist thought – two fields with powerful traditions of critical pedagogy.

Research Handbook on Economic Diplomacy: Bilateral Relations in a Context of Geopolitical Change This book by Professor Peter van Bergeijk and ISS PhD graduate Selwyn Moons positions economic diplomacy as a multidisciplinary field and presents state-of-the-art research relevant to policy makers and academia around the globe. It focuses on four themes: the role of economic diplomats, the impact and evaluation of economic diplomacy, politics, and trade and emerging markets.

Mobilising International Law for ‘Global Justice’ Edited by Dr Jeff Handmaker and Professor Karin Arts, this book examines how enforcing international law creates particular challenges for intergovernmental regulators seeking to manage tensions between incompatible legal systems and bringing an end to harmful practices such as foreign corruption and child abduction.

Monetary Plurality in Local, Regional and Global Economies Associate Professor Georgina Gomez edited this volume and contributed five chapters. The book discusses monetary plurality – the circulation of several currencies at the same time and space. It addresses how multiple currency circuits work together and transform socio-economic systems.

Adolescent Girls' Migration in the Global South Co-authored by Katarzyna Grabska, this book provides a nuanced analysis of adolescent girls’ mobility in the Global South. It explores how concepts of adolescence and adulthood for girls are being transformed in the context of migration.

Themed article

Rwandan women: from submission to active citizenship

Valentin Akayezu Muhumuza – PhD researcher at ISS-EUR

In Rwanda, as in many other African societies, woman has been relegated to second class citizenship despite her vital role in agriculture, family well-being, and struggles for democracy.

Traditional African cultures are often rooted in family practices which still treat women as subordinate to men.

Rwandan anti-corruption advice centre receives complaints.

Credit: Transparency International Rwanda

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the couple do not have children, a widow is still entitled to half the property, the other half being shared among her deceased husband’s other heirs. With practical independence, it was hoped that women would start to exercise broader citizenship rights in Rwanda, and indeed women’s dramatic entry into political life is one of the most remarkable features of post-genocide Rwanda.

A woman in Rwanda tells an audience how corruption has affected her life.

Credit: Transparency International Rwanda

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istorically, the functioning of family and social systems in Rwanda followed an order that was seen as ‘naturally’ governed by patriarchy and male dominance in politics, economy and social life.

Conservative values placed a woman on a lower step on the social ladder; her choices subordinated to her husband's decisions.1 However, since the 1994 genocide against Tutsis in Rwanda, the gender question and women’s role as citizens has been looked at again. As one recent study noted: ’in the immediate aftermath of the genocide, women were left as heads of households, as economic providers and as major actors in the society'.2 From this perspective, the 1994 genocide became a key catalyst for the reconsideration of women’s place in post-genocide Rwandan public life, in politics, the economy and even inside

the family. The idea of citizenship means little without economic rights, and appropriately the first major field of reform was in inheritance and property rights. The first significant reform was the Matrimonial Regimes, Liberties and Successions Law of 1999.3 This law enshrined the principle of parity between men and women, including in matters of inheritance. This and subsequent reforms moved Rwandan women beyond accessing land only through husbands or fathers. Women – and most especially widows – could no longer be treated as objects to be given away to the family of the deceased husband. According to this law, upon the death of her husband, a woman cannot lose assets jointly owned with her husband to her husband's family. If the widow has custody of children born from the marriage, she is entitled to full administration of the entire patrimony that had belonged to her and her husband, including land. If

…. Rwandan women… have greater opportunities…to take a full part in public life and representational government.

A number of other laws have been enacted, for example to protect women against violence, including domestic violence. Other measures aim to increase women's presence in the labour market, by ensuring women can choose their profession and employment. These are impressive changes, given the old segregated labour market and commercial codes inherited from the Belgian colonial masters at independence.

These only allowed Rwandan women to engage in commercial activities or paid employment with her husband’s consent.

All these legal reforms represent remarkable steps. They cannot on their own solve all the obstacles Rwandan women face in becoming full and equal citizens, and some provisions still limit the scope of women to freely decide their destiny. Yet the reform process marks a tremendous turnaround in gender equality, and this trend continued with the adoption of the 2003 Constitution.

Important sections of the Constitution are devoted to strengthening the legal basis for equal rights between women and men, with specific organs created to implement and regularly monitor the Constitution’s provisions. Public participation of women, including public office, was explicitly provided for.

Under the Constitution4, the Rwandan legal regime recognizes only ’civil monogamous marriage between a man and a woman’. In this spirit, polygamy has become an offence in Rwanda.5 And while the husband was for many years considered the head of the family, another newly enacted family law6 provides that ‘spouses jointly provide management of the household including moral and material support to the household as well as its maintenance’.

Themed article

The protection of equal roles for men and women in household management makes it clear that men no longer have exclusive representation rights for both spouses’ interests within the matrimonial home. On this basis, a wife needs to give clear consent to any act regarding acquisition, ownership or alienation of property or land. And both partners have the right to take legal proceedings to recover property, in the event of fraudulent acts by the spouse. In line with this, Article 4 of the Land Law7 specifies that: ‘all forms of discrimination in relation to access to land and the enjoyment of real rights shall be prohibited. The right to land for a man and a woman lawfully married shall depend on the matrimonial regime they opted for’. This leaves a few loopholes that may need more attention in future, but does ensure that a woman in Rwanda is no longer treated as her husband’s dependent in terms of enacting her basic rights of citizenship.

Full implementation of these reforms must deal with customary and other attitudes that may impede the strengthening of gender equality in Rwanda. Yet as far as legal provisions are concerned, the reforms are significant.

Violence against women has received particular attention, for instance, in both a legal and practical sense, ending the former impunity towards domestic violence. Rwandan women, especially those living in rural areas, are not free of gender-based violence, but the reforms ensure a better chance of redress for women who experience such abuse.

Overall, the establishment of an adequate legal framework has been a commendable first step towards a more conducive environment to promoting respect and dignity for women. The remarkable and rapid growth of women’s direct participation in public life and across all levels of government is a testament to this8. The legal approach still needs other policy actions in order to ensure real equality for women9. From Amartya Sen we learn about: ’…an important distinction between capabilities and functionings… between having a right and being able to

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…. women’s dramatic entry into political life is one of the most remarkable features of post-genocide Rwanda.

exercise it’.10 Rwandan women now have significant legal guarantees in many dimensions of their lives, and potentially this gives them greater opportunities to build a secure future for themselves, their families and communities, and to take full part in public life and representational government. The huge challenge remains to ensure that even women in rural areas can use their rights effectively in their daily lives.

What might be proposed is a holistic approach, so that gender equality laws, and the human rights theories behind them, can be translated into rational exercises in gendered governance.

Building successful gender practices in Rwandan society still requires the realistic consideration of traditionally, culturally and perhaps religiously-informed understandings of the appropriate places and roles of women and men in the home, and in Rwandan society more generally.

All too often, debates on gender issues and women’s rights remain confined to decision-making gatherings that take place among elite circles. A more grounded approach could be bottom-up, to style rights in a way that integrates communities with traditional values to overcome resistance to the new norms promoted by laws in favour of gender equality. Yet without involving the rural population more centrally in this process, implementation may prove difficult. Most Rwandans are deeply embedded in religious beliefs, and most religious organizations are conservative in relation to gender and family, rejecting national and international laws promoting gender equality as dogmas. For this reason, those designing and implementing gender policies need to engage religious institutions more directly, tapping into their adherents’ trust in these institutions’ moral authority. In schools too, genderrelated education could start in primary schools, before children’s gender-related beliefs and attitudes become fixed.

Social transformation can be stimulated through law; yet social change also calls for an awareness that shared understandings among Rwandans of what is right and wrong will help determine whether gender parity laws are underpinned by strong support among Rwandans themselves. In this way, firm economic, legal and cultural foundations will be laid for fully equal Rwandan citizenship in the future. This in turn will strengthen the basis for democratic politics in the country, on the basis of both genders’ capacities and needs. In Rwanda, as elsewhere, (in the words of Chairman Mao) women still ‘hold up half the sky’. And sometimes more than half.

1 Amusan, L. And O. Olutola (2017). ‘Contextualising African Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture: Challenges from Climate Change and Mineral Extraction Perspectives’. Journal of International Women's Studies, 18(4), 117-130. Available at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol18/iss4/9 2 Pamela A. and D. Malunda (2015), ‘The Promise and the Reality: Women’s Rights in Rwanda’. Oxford Human Rights Hub, Working Paper No. 5. Available at: http://ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk/wordpress/wp-content/ uploads/2014/04/OxHRH-Working-Paper-Series-No5-Abott-and-Malunda.pdf 3 This law has been replaced by a new Law Nº27/2016 of 08/07/2016 governing matrimonial regimes, donations and successions in Official Gazette n°31 of 01/08/2016 4 Art. 17, Constitution of the Republic of Rwanda of 2003 revised in 2015 in Official Gazette n° Special of 24/12/2015 5 Law N°59/2008 of 10/09/2008 on prevention and punishment of gender- based violence in Official Gazette N°14 of 06/04/2009 6 Art. 209, Law Nº32/2016 of 28/08/2016 governing persons and family in Official Gazette nº37 of 12/09/2016 7 Law No 43/2013 of 16/06/2013 governing land in Rwanda in Official Gazette No special of 16/06/2013 8 According to Article 10(40), Constitution of the Republic of Rwanda of 2003 revised in 2015, supra note 4: Rwandan women shall have 30% representation in all national political instances.

9 Rwanda holds 4th place in the 2017 Global Gender Gap Report. However, while Rwanda is 4th for women’s political empowerment, it is still in 113th place for educational attainment. See World Economic Forum (2017). ‘Global Gender Gap Report’. Available at: http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2017.pdf 10 A. Sen, (1999) ‘Development as Freedom’. Oxford University Press as quoted by Pamela A. and D. Malunda (2015), ‘The Promise and the Reality: Women’s Rights in Rwanda’. Oxford Human Rights Hub, Working Paper No. 5. Available at: http://ohrh. law.ox.ac.uk/wordpress/wp-content/ uploads/2014/04/OxHRH-Working-Paper-Series-No5-Abott-and-Malunda.pdf

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ISS news

ISS news alumni awards EUR events PhD projects research staff students

Exploring children’s rights in surrogacy’ events

ISS consortium wins research grant research

On 7 December, ISS is hosting a symposium to draw up international principles and standards governing the commercial surrogacy market. The aim is to agree to principles which are in accordance with human rights norms and standards and particularly with the rights of the child.

A consortium of four institutions that includes ISS has won a CAD$ 500,000 research grant from the International Development Research Centre, to study the intersection of climate change politics and the global land rush in Mali and Nigeria. The project will be coordinated by ISS professor Jun Borras.

Valedictory lecture Professor Max Spoor staff

As Emeritus Professor of Development Studies, Max Spoor retired after 25 years at ISS. Entitled 'Water, Land and Farmers along the Silk Road', his valedictory lecture discussed the issue of water stress with special attention to Central Eurasia, the region known for the ancient (and recently revived) Silk Road.

Murat Arsel appointed Professor of Political Economy of Sustainable Development staff Murat Arsel teaches in the Development Studies MA programme at ISS and is Research Group Coordinator of the Political Ecology Research Group. His research is concerned with emancipatory and ecologically sustainable socioeconomic development within the context of global capitalism with the focus specifically on social conflicts.

ISS blog BlISS turns 1 ISS This October, the ISS blog on global development and social justice celebrated its first anniversary. Since its launch, BlISS has published 68 posts, attracted over 13,000 visitors and generated more than 30,000 views.

ISS news

ISS welcomes 174 new MA students students

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ISS alumna wins best thesis award awards ISS alumna Anna Farrow is the winner of this year's best master thesis awarded by the Erasmus Migration & Diversity Institute.

In her thesis, entitled 'EU Norms in crisis: challenges of the 1:1 scheme of the EUTurkey Statement for non-refoulement', she investigates EU migration policies with third countries, using the EU-Turkey Statement of March 2016 as the main case study.

At the beginning of September, ISS opened its doors to its new students. Representing 55 countries, the new batch spent the first two weeks in The Hague following the ISS’ orientation programme, introducing them to their studies, teachers, ISS facilities, and dealing with the practicalities of settling down in a new country.

Dr Veena Srinivasan appointed to Prince Claus Chair research

Oane Visser awarded Toyota Foundation grant awards

ISS student selected as EUR ‘Student in the Spotlight’ students

Dr Veena Srinivasan has been appointed Prince Claus Chairholder 2018-2020. With her research into sustainable and inclusive food production in Asian delta regions, Srinivasan is keen to not only contribute to delta and food research, but also to play a role in further intensifying collaboration between Dutch and Indian institutions.

The Toyota Foundation has awarded Dr Oane Visser a two year grant as principal investigator on the project ‘The Rise of Digital Farming’. Visser will investigate the role of social interaction and values in the ‘new agricultural revolution’ and undertake field research in two major actors in digital farming: Australia and the EU.

Levis Maina Nderitu is the founder of the Sullivan Reed Society, whose main activities are aimed at promoting a world where the LGBT+ community is free from discrimination and persecution and also has equal opportunities in life.

‘Student in the Spotlight’ rewards students who do special things to achieve their ambitions.

ISS wins grant to monitor socio-economic change in Ecuador research ISS, Universidad San Francisco de Quito and El Frente de Defensa de la Amazonia have won a research grant to fund a project to strengthen the ability of organzations and communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon to monitor socioenvironmental changes in their territories.

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ISS news

In Memoriam

ISS 66th Dies Natalis ISS

Lily Ling Former ISS staff member, Professor Lily Ling passed away on 1 October following an aneurysm the day before. She was a Senior Lecturer at ISS from 1998 to 2002. She will be remembered as an eminent and sharp scholar, a very inspiring teacher and a warm and pleasant person. Our thoughts are with her family, friends and students.

The event, which was held on 18 October, was part of the 21st Lustrum of Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), with ISS proud to be ‘Erasmus by the Sea’. The keynote lecture was given by EUR President, Kristen Beale on EUR Strategy and Diversity.

ISS offers computer classes to refugees in The Hague ISS On 1 October, ISS welcomed the first group of refugees to a computer skills course offered by Unity in Diversity. The aim of the course is to familiarize the participants with computer skills and help them get comfortable around computers.

Victor Hugo Canda We were very sorry to learn of the untimely death of our alumn Victor Hugo Canda in a shooting on 16 October in his native Nicaragua.

Victor was in the 2013-2014 MA batch.

ISS sends it deepest condolences to Victor’s family and friends.

PhD defences PhD

Elena del Consuelo FernándezSalvador (10 October 2018) Shuar and LargeScale Mining in Zamora-Chinchipe, Ecuador: A Study of Ethnopolitics and the Struggle over Natural Resources

Duygu Avci (8 October 2018) Transformative Politics in Environmental Struggles

Jose Alice Diemel (4 October 2018) Mining Reform, Governance and the State in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Traces ‘Conflict-Mineral’ Policy Left Behind on Natural Resource Governance in Katanga

Eri Ikeda (24 September 2018) Global and Developing Country Business Cycles

Alberto AlonsoFradejas (10 September 2018) The rise of Agro-Extractive Capitalism: Insights from Guatemala in the Early 21st Century

Katerina Mojanchevska (22 May 2018) Accommodation of Cultural Diversity in Public Spaces: The Case of Skopje (Macedonia)

Staff-student dialogue

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Women from the Abrono Organic Farming Project (ABOFAP) showcase their seeds. Near Techiman, Ghana. Credit: Global Justice Now

Food security and food sovereignty – conversation between Assistant Professor Mindi Schneider and PhD researcher Christina Schiavoni This conversation was conducted via Skype

Mindi (M): Most would agree that food security is an important and honourable goal. The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) defines food security very clearly - a situation in which all people, at all times have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their daily dietary needs for an active and healthy life.

But there are issues with mainstream narratives in food security policies. The

first issue lies in how food security is measured. It is derived from household income and expenditure surveys that are used to calculate the per capita available calories in a country. This statistic measures hunger, which the FAO defines as the presence of under-nourishment, defined as an extreme form of food insecurity where a household doesn’t have enough food energy to cover a sedentary lifestyle which lasts for more than a year. This definition of hunger overlooks the crucial point that the poor

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Staff-student dialogue

are not sedentary. Additionally, the FAO measures hunger for a period of a year, which does not consider short-term shocks due to seasonal scarcity, or price shocks related to the vagaries of global markets.

Secondly, food security becomes a political concept when the measure itself is modified depending on the context in which it is examined. The 2012 State of Food Insecurity in the World report, which the FAO publishes annually, changed the measure of food security, resulting in the reported number of hungry people globally being cut by about 220 million. This simply changed how the estimate was made, improving the figures, while concealing the ongoing problem of hunger.

Christina (C): Another issue with the measurements is the problem of looking at aggregate numbers in a way that vulnerable populations can often get overlooked. Also, there is much that numbers alone don’t tell us. At the World Food Summit in 1996 these issues were approached through a mainstream food security frame. Small-scale food producers, who actually make up the majority of the world’s hungry, were facing an onslaught of policies that were further driving them into poverty and hunger. In response, movements of small-scale food producers from across the globe, united under La Via Campesina, put forward the concept of food sovereignty as a response to the mainstream, neo-liberal packaging of food security.

In 2007, a bit over a decade after the concept of food sovereignty was launched, transnational social movements including La Via Campesina, World March of Women, Friends of the Earth, and movements of workers, indigenous peoples, urban dwellers, and youth came together for the Nyéléni Global Forum for Food Sovereignty in

...we're now in a time in which the political is personal.

Mali and developed a framework around food sovereignty which included its general definition and six pillars. It was defined as the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agricultural systems. The pillars focus on food for people (rather than food merely as a commodity), valuing food providers, localized food systems, local control, building knowledge and skills, and working with nature.

M: It seems that the food security discourse wants to be equated with fighting hunger, which might be missing in the food sovereignty discourse. What do you feel about that?

C: Good point. Food sovereignty doesn’t always sufficiently address nutrition, whereas in food security dialogues there is the opposite extreme and production is hardly talked about, or the argument is simply that we need more production.

I think both camps can learn from each other. Food sovereignty advocates often talk about increased crop diversity for increased dietary diversity. This is true to a large extent, but a recent study in Ghana on inter-household dynamics and nutrition found that increased crop diversity does not always translate into more diverse diets.

M: Yes. One of the key things that we have to do when we talk about the food

system – its problems and their solutions - is to embed food and food systems in social relations, from the household to the global level: it’s always social relations that mediate food.

C: Absolutely. And we also have to consider what happens when we move from discourse to the actual nuts and bolts of practice. A lot of movements which are doing really important work still have a lot of internal work to do to address inequalities, both within the movements themselves and within the specific locations where they operate.

M: That’s true; borrowing from feminist scholarship, it seems we’re now in a time in which the political is personal. Big slogans, discourses, and commitments have to come down to the personal level. Because if you’re promoting equality and justice in the global food system, but you don’t have these things ‘in the house’, then that needs looking at.

It’s heartening to see this coming out more prominently.

C: Agreed! Traditional food security studies have lent themselves to traditional, de-politicized methodologies; with food sovereignty, on the other hand, you’re explicitly looking at issues of power and at how movements work. I feel that the strongest and most interesting research is that in which there are real partnerships between researchers and movements; in which the lines between the two are blurred. I’d love to have more of these discussions at ISS. M: In the Agrarian, Food and Environmental Studies major of the MA at ISS, we work with and critically engage in food security, food policy, and social movements related to food and farming systems. Thinking about hunger, justice, equality, and ecology in food systems is very much at the heart of what we do, both in teaching and in research.

Focus on ISS

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How can ICT be used to support people living with HIV in Burkina Faso?

The rapid uptake of mobile phones across the developing world in recent years has inspired a host of innovative concepts for how these devices can be harnessed to promote public health. In this context, the potential of mobile devices to promote healthy behaviours and facilitate health service delivery looms large. However, existing evaluations about the impact of ’mobile health’ (mHealth) interventions show rather mixed results.

SMS intervention service In order to better understand the possible short- and long-term impacts of mHealth, ISS set up a large randomized controlled trial. From 2014 to 2017 we implemented a short message service (SMS) reminder system to support HIV/AIDS patients in Burkina Faso. Our SMS intervention is the first to evaluate a sample of participants that is nationally representative. The representativeness of our study resulted in a large sample: more than 3,800 patients on antiretroviral treatment participated and were randomly assigned to an SMS intervention or control group. Those participants enrolled in the intervention group, received a weekly SMS reminding them to take their antiretroviral medications. The control group did not receive SMS messages.

We conducted a baseline and three follow-up surveys over a two-year intervention period, allowing us to go beyond the assessment of short-term impacts. We reported the outcomes on patients’ responses at 6, 12 and 24 months of receiving SMS messages. Our findings show that adherence, retention and health outcomes are not affected by the intervention. We do, however, find positive impacts on psychosocial well-being, this effect tending to be most pronounced in the short run.

Interestingly, for happiness, expected future happiness, faith in life, not being worried about the risk of falling ill, not feeling alone, and concerning forgiveness as important, we also find long-term effects. According to the qualitative research that we undertook along with the quantitative analysis, beneficiaries of the intervention highly value the text messages because they ‘make them feel good’. The recipients see the messages as encouragement and emotional support. In the words of the survey respondents themselves:

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Focus on ISS

‘I can wake up in the morning and be disappointed in life, because of my status. But when I receive the message from the association I get encouraged to take my drugs.’ (beneficiary) ‘The messages give me courage and they remind me to take the drugs.’ (beneficiary) ‘When the message comes it makes me happy, because the message tells me that my life is important for somebody. Taking the drugs is for my own good, it makes me feel more healthy.’ (beneficiary)

ICT literacy While these impacts are encouraging, we also made an important observation that is largely undiscussed when SMS interventions are put in place in developing countries, namely ICT literacy. Not all survey participants knew how to operate their phones properly: some could only receive calls, others could receive and make calls, and many were unable to find the inbox and to open a message when we asked them to show us the messages they had received from the project. The awareness of the SMS intervention was therefore lower than the intended outreach. To give an impression of the lack of ICT literacy, we again let the beneficiaries talk:

‘One lady whose husband died was rejected by family members, but now, with the SMS, she got to know that even if your own family can reject you, there are some other people/family who care about your well-being.

So the SMS are important.’ (surveyor)

‘I mostly use the phone to pick up calls; I can’t do anything else with it, only pick up calls.’ (beneficiary)

‘Some people used to be disappointed in life, but now with the SMS, people feel that they are not alone, that there are some people that are with them.’ (beneficiary)

‘My previous phone broke down and I don’t know how to operate my new phone. I knew how to operate the old one, but couldn’t open the inbox. I was able to make calls and pick up.’ (beneficiary)

‘When I receive the message, I know that the doctors don’t hate me, but they care about my life, they care about me and they love me.’ (participant 1 of a focus group) ‘If someone doesn’t like you or love you, they will not remind you to take the drugs.’ (participant 2 of a focus group)

Focus group discussion. Credit: Boundia Thiombiano

‘I don’t know how to use the phone. I never call, but I receive calls.’ (beneficiary)

‘I can make calls, I can pick up calls, I don’t need someone to assist me with that. I can access my message box, but don’t know how to remove messages.’ (beneficiary) ‘It is my wife who opens the SMS for me. I don’t know how to operate the phone.’ (beneficiary)

Focus on ISS

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What next?

Is this the end of the project? No. Our results so far have further spurred our curiosity. There is so much more we want to learn in order to understand and support PLHIV even better.

If psychosocial well-being can be affected by text reminders, what about preferences, choices and tastes: can they also be affected? Economists generally think that preferences are stable over time. Time and risk preferences in particular are assumed not to vary. Yet there is still little empirical evidence that this assumption is reasonable. Public health and psychology literature recognises a phenomenon called response shift: this phenomenon suggests that as a response to the diagnosis of a life threatening disease such as HIV, patients change their internal reference points, values, perceptions and preferences.

We think that it is very important to understand whether such mechanisms are indeed at play in order to better target patients who initiate antiretroviral treatment.

Policy lessons What do we learn from this research for development policy?

• First, it is indeed the case that SMS messages are a costefficient tool to keep in touch with patients and reach remote populations. However, this tool might be even more effective if voice messages could be sent or a two-way interaction could be established.

• Second, our experience shows that People Living with HIV (PLHIV) do not need reminders to take their medication on time: they can programme the alarm clock on their mobile phones or ask others to programme the alarm for them.

What is needed is support, and SMS messages can be a means to provide that from a distance and for difficult to reach populations.

• Third, in the current surge of mHealth we need more studies about ICT literacy. Most interventions assume that the potential participants are able to make use of the SMS services on their mobile phones. Yet our research showed that many people cannot even find the inbox on their phones.

Thus, we might overestimate the possible gains from ICT interventions if we continue to neglect issues of ICT literacy.

• Fourth, the SMS intervention did not affect the standard measures of medical well-being, which are retention, adherence and health biomarkers, but it did have positive impacts on psychosocial well-being. These contrasting findings highlight that health policies should not narrowly focus on biomarkers and the medical aspects of health, but also consider subjective aspects of well-being. In developed countries there is an increasing awareness of psychological needs but too often health interventions designed for developing countries narrowly focus only on the medical and physical aspects of health. Thus, we advocate for a rethinking of health policies and health policy goals in developing countries towards a more comprehensive concept of health that combines physical and psychosocial aspects.

In our continued research efforts with the Burkinabe PLHIV, we have assessed, with the help of experimental games, to what extent risk, time and altruism are a function of disease progression, on the spot self-reported well-being, and psychosocial support. We conducted four rounds of risk, time preference and altruism games among 336 PLHIV over a period of 12 months. Our results suggest that there is little stability in preferences and that risk-taking and altruism are linked to various physical and psychological covariates. The study contributes to a growing body of literature showing that changes in the reference points and preferences of vulnerable populations have to be taken into account by policy makers and support programmes since these changes are likely to affect the uptake and thus effectiveness of social programmes.

But we believe that even more can be done. If individuals change their internal reference points due to a negative shock (such as contracting HIV), they might also respond to a positive shock. Currently, we provide unconditional cash transfers to a randomly chosen sub-group of individuals to help them make ends meet. After two rounds of follow-up experimental surveys we will assess whether such a positive shock can also alter preferences. We very much look forward to gathering the data and to learning more about PLHIV so that we can support them even better in the future by designing the most appropriate policies.

Curious about our work? Contact Natascha Wagner: wagner@iss.nl.

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ISS publications

Development and Change Development and Change is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal devoted to the critical analysis and discussion of current issues of development. It was established by the ISS in 1969, in response to the perceived need for a multidisciplinary journal dealing with all aspects of development studies. http://www.iss.nl/publications/development_and_change

Volume 49, Number 4, July 2017 Forum issue Timothy Hildebrandt, Lynette J. Chua Negotiating In/visibility: The Political Economy of Lesbian Activism and Rights Advocacy Annina Kaltenbrunner, Photis Lysandrou The US Dollar's Continuing Hegemony as an International Currency: A Double-matrix Analysis Sharmin Afroz, Rob Cramb, Clemens Grünbühel Exclusion and Counter-exclusion: The Struggle over Shrimp Farming in a Coastal Village in Bangladesh Matthew Alford, Stephanie Barrientos, Margareet Visser Multi-scalar Labour Agency in Global Production Networks: Contestation and Crisis in the South African Fruit Sector Vani Kant Borooah Caste and Regional Influences on the Practice of ‘Untouchability’ in India Pál Nyíri, Xiuli Xu South–South? Culture Talk and Labour Relations at a Chinese-owned Factory in Hungary Dennis Arnold, Stephen Campbell Labour Regime Transformation in Myanmar: Constitutive Processes of Contestation

Review essays Engelbert Stockhammer Branko Milanovic's Long Waves in Income Distribution and Growth Tathagatan Ravindran, Charles R. Hale Rethinking the Left in the Wake of the Global ‘Trumpian’ Backlash

Student life

STUDENT LIFE

Scheveningen International Kite Show, Haydhar Muhammad Bachtiar

One of the beautiful Art Nouveau building in The Hague, Kristen Cheney

Scheveningen sunset, Wooyoung Lee

Autumn in The Hague, Wooyoung Lee

The sun always shines on ISS, Amina Aoulad Said

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International Institute of Social Studies

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