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Research
The UN Studies Program continued to expand its research activities during the current academic year. The research projects are conceived by Prof. Lindenmayer in such a way that they match the research capacity available at SIPA with the research needs of the UN. For students these research projects are an opportunity to meet UN officials, conduct field research in places like Haiti, Kenya, Jordan and Uganda and gain expertise in the issues and challenges facing the UN today.
2009-2010
The Role of the Private Sector in Rebuilding Haiti
Building on last year’s research project on the role of the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Haiti, Prof. Lindenmayer is again directing a research project analyzing the challenges of statebuilding and the potential of current new initiatives to consolidate peace and jumpstart development in Haiti. During the course of the Fall Semester, the research team had the opportunity to meet with Edmond Mulet, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping and now Special-Representative of the Secretary-General; Michele Montas, Spokeswoman for the Secretary-General and renowned Haitian human rights activist as well as Dr. Paul Farmer who has recently been appointed UN Deputy Special Envoy to Haiti.
In January 2010 the team travelled to Haiti to conduct further interviews and field research. They were caught in the middle of Haiti’s tragic earthquake which destroyed the capital city and led to the death of several hundreds of thousands of people. The team remained in Haiti for three days before being evacuated to the Dominican Republic.
Upon their return, the team made great efforts to re-focus their research question, recognizing that a thorough analysis of the role of the private sector, the international community and the Haitian themselves in order to build a viable state is now more important than ever. Their report will be published in May 2010.
Report on Harnessing Private Sector Potential for Haitian Statebuilding (pdf)
UNICEF Workshop on Mobile Data Collection with field trips to Uganda and the Iraq Country Office
During the Spring Semester 2010, the UN Studies Program under the academic leadership of Prof. Lindenmayer is conducting a workshop for UNICEF that will run a pilot study to inform the development of the Global Impact and Vulnerability Alert System (GIVAS) that the Office of the UN Secretary-General is preparing to implement. The aim of the GIVAS is to collect real-time data and information from the most vulnerable population in order to establish a mechanism to monitor the impact of crises and external shocks on the worlds’ poorest.
In December 2009, two participating students were invited to attend a conference in Amman that brought together various stakeholders to discuss their experiences in applying technology for development purposes. During the Spring Semester 2010, students will travel to Uganda and to Amman (where the Iraq Country office of UNICEF is located) to conduct further research and to explore new technologies for collecting and disseminating data.
KENYA– Restoring Peace and Security after the contested elections in December 2007
Prof. Lindenmayer is also continuing her research on the post-election violence in Kenya. At the beginning of December 2009, Prof. Lindenmayer and three students traveled to Kenya to conduct further research on the situation in Kenya and to attend meetings chaired by Kofi Annan with various stakeholders on the reform process. Prof. Lindenmayer also took students to Geneva to attend a conference on Kenya organized by the Kofi Annan Foundation. Last year’s research conducted by the UN Studies Program on the 41 days of mediation culminated in a paper entitled “A Choice for Peace? The Story of the 41 Days of Mediation” and was published by IPI this summer.
Enlarging the Pool of Troop Contributing Countries for UN Peacekeeping Operations
In the summer of 2009 the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) approached Prof. Elisabeth Lindenmayer, Director of the UN Studies Program, and requested assistance in the compilation of country profiles of potential new troop contributors to UN Peace Operations. Prof. Lindenmayer selected six students for a UNSP Workshop which analyzed the incentives for countries to participate in UN peacekeeping operations and produced a framework to assess the profiles of ten potential new troop and police contributors. Regular meetings with UN Officials, Ambassadors and troop contributors formed an essential part of this research. In January 2010 the Workshop presented their findings to UN DPKO.
2008-2009
The United Nations Studies Program (UNSP), under the academic leadership of its Director, Elisabeth Lindenmayer was working on the following research projects:
Haiti – UN Peacekeeping: A View from the Ground
The United Nations Studies Program (UNSP) is bringing a United Nations Peacekeeping Operation into the academic arena for the first time.
The aim of the research project is to analyze and evaluate the impact of the various crises Haiti is currently dealing with (price of food, 4 hurricanes, the food shortage, and now the impact of the global financial crisis) on the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission (MINUSTAH). The other important aspect of the research is to show students how a peacekeeping operation functions on the ground.
MINUSTAH presents some of the truly complex issues of international peacekeeping, affording students the opportunity to explore issues not only of peacekeeping, but also of state-building, peace building, post-conflict reconstruction and economic and political development. Last semester (fall 2008) the six SIPA students selected for the project embarked on preparatory research in New York conducting interviews with Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), Mr. Hédi Annabi, as well as many productive meetings with the UN and UN agencies. This was followed by a visit to Haiti in January 2009, hosted by MINUSTAH, where students conducted interviews with the Haitian Prime Minister, Her Excellency Ms. Michèle Pierre-Louis, as well as representatives from government ministries, civil society, and the private sector. Upon their return from Haiti, the research team was also invited to brief the Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the United Nations, Ambassador Jorge Urbina, who will be leading a Security Council mission to Haiti in March 2009.
Download UNSP Haiti Report (pdf)
The research will be written up into a substantive UNSP report, hopefully for publication, during the spring 2009 semester and the project will culminate in a conference on Tuesday, April 7, 2009, which aims to raise the visibility of Haiti and share the results of the research. We will invite a wide range of people to whom the subject matter is relevant including donors, Ambassadors and representatives from the UN, professors and academics, the Haitian diaspora, and of course the SIPA student body.
Kenya – Restoring Peace and Security post December 2007 contested elections.
The research on Kenya is an in-depth academic case-study, which consists of two distinct, yet complimentary analyses:
Analysis of the 41 Days of Mediation in Kenya
This research examines the diplomatic and humanitarian efforts to restore peace and security to Kenya in the wake of the December 2007 Presidential elections. The research draws on the first hand experience of members of the mediation team and interviews with the key actors who participated in the 41-day negotiations.The research involves a detailed analysis of the story of the successful 41-day mediation process in January and February 2008 (currently being submitted for publication)
Analysis of the 2007 Post-Election Crisis
This research analyzes the challenges that the Kenyan leadership faced in their attempts to restore sustainable peace to Kenya in the wake of the December 2007 post-election violence. The paper will evaluate to what extent the new coalition government, formed under the Power-Sharing agreement that was negotiated by the international mediation team led by Kofi Annan, is successfully implementing the mediated peace accord–a roadmap toward future stability.The research involves a detailed analysis addressing some of the following key issues:
- Is the political leadership in Kenya addressing the root causes of the conflict–namely land reform; inequitable development; unemployment, particularly among the youth; comprehensive constitutional reform; institutional reform; national cohesion; corruption?
- Is the power sharing agreement being implemented according to the agreed upon plan?
- Will the current peace be sustained?
- What lessons can Kenya offer for other countries experiencing similar crises?
- In May 2008, one student traveled with Professor Lindenmayer to Kenya in order to conduct on-the-ground, in-depth interviews with representatives of the Panel of Eminent African Personalities, members of the Kenyan coalition government, Kenyan civil society and members of the donor community.
- In fall 2008, a team of five students was constituted in order to continue this research.
- In March of 2009, two students will travel to Kenya with Professor Lindenmayer in order to conduct in-depth interviews with representatives of the Panel of Eminent African Personalities, members of the Kenyan coalition government, Kenyan civil society, members of the donor community, and leading members of the committees to review the elections and the violence surrounding the elections. This visit aims to follow up on findings from the May 2008 travel as well as to more closely engage with key, on-the ground political developments.
The research will examine, inter alia, the findings from the various committees established to review the elections and the violence surrounding the elections, as well as possible constitutional and institutional reform in Kenya.
United Nations Management Reform Capstone Workshop
Working on behalf of the Congressional Research Service (CRS), this research workshop is examining U.N. Management Reform Efforts from the 2005 World Summit to the present. The final report will include a thorough overview of the process and effects of management reform at the UN using case studies addressing Ethics, Governance, and Personnel reform. Each case study will focus on a particular issue: the Ethics Office (Ethics); the Office of Internal Oversight (Governance); and staff mobility policy (Personnel). A description of the geopolitical context in which the reforms took place, the roles of different stakeholders in the reform process and of the UN as a multilateral instrument will be thematic throughout the report.
The primary audience for this report is the CRS senior leadership. Members of the U.S. Congress and their staff, as the consumers of CRS analysis, are also an important audience. The report will rely on a series of interviews at the United Nations Secretariat and an extensive review and analysis of primary source material on reform efforts. Students will present their findings to CRS in Washington, DC in May 2009.
Security Council Working Methods Reform
Working in consultation with the Security Council Report this research group is examining the most recent initiatives regarding the reform of the working methods of the Security Council (SC). As the only UN organ with executive authority under the UN Charter, the SC's decisions are binding on all of the 192 sovereign member states. Therefore its legitimacy, credibility, efficiency and effectiveness matter as it executes its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.
The group is, inter alia, analyzing the many interventions made during the 2008 SC open debate (S/PV.5968) on the SC's working methods, identifying the proposals for change, which were put forward, comparing them with previous ideas for reforms, and determining the progress made, political support, legal implications and other outstanding issues related to their implementation. The research will culminate in a final report providing an analysis of its findings in May 2009.
The group is relying on interviews with SC member states, other member states in the General Assembly including the Group of Small Five (S5), officials of the UN Secretariat, academics and primary source material including official and non-official UN documentation.
Download UNSC Working Methods (pdf)