ROOSEVELT INSTITUTE CAMPUS NETWORK

10
IDEAS
Policy of the Year Nominee

DEFENSE & DIPLOMACY

Sexual Exploitation and United Nations Peacekeeping: A Culture of Impunity

10 Ideas for Defense and Diplomacy 2014

National Director Taylor Jo Isenberg Operations Strategist Lydia Bowers Field Strategist Joelle Gamble Training Strategist Etana Jacobi Leadership Strategist Winston Lofton Associate Director of Networked Initiatives Alan Smith

With special thanks to:

The Roosevelt Institute Communications Team: Cathy Harding, Tim Price, Rachel Goldfarb, Dante Barry Alumni Editors Charsaree Clay, Ashley Greco-Stoner, Hanna Madsen, Kevin Powers Student Editors Brian Jencunas, Tony Lapiz, Raj Mathur

The Roosevelt Institute | Campus Network A division of the Roosevelt Institute 570 Lexington Avenue, 5th Floor New York, NY 10022 Copyright (c) 2014 by the Roosevelt Institute. All rights reserved. The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors. They do not express the views or opinions of the Roosevelt Institute, its ocers or its directors.

Who We Are
Established in the wake of the 2004 election, the Roosevelt Institute | Campus Network was formed by college students across the country in order to engage our generation as powerful actors in the policy process. They envisioned a movement in which young people could ll the critical ideas gap in their communities, generating new solutions for the nations greatest challenges. We believe in the value of a robust and active democracy, one in which all citizens have the opportunity to positively impact communities they love. By giving students a platform to elevate their ideas for local, regional, and national change, we contribute to that vision.

What Youre Holding

Now in its sixth year, the 10 Ideas series promotes the most promising student-generated ideas from across our network. This years journals, which include submissions from 20 dierent schools located from New York to Georgia to California, stand as a testament to the depth and breadth of these student ideas. Entries in 10 Ideas are selected for publication on the basis that they are smart, rigorously researched, and feasible. Simply put, theyre darn good ideas.

How You Can Join

As you explore these ideas, we encourage you to take special note of the Next Steps sections. Here our authors have outlined how their ideas can move from the pages of this journal to implementation. We invite you to join our authors in the process. Contact us on our website www.rooseveltcampusnetwork.org or by tweeting with us @Vivaroosevelt. Thank you for reading and supporting student generated ideas.

WELCOME
Dear Readers, December 2014 will mark ten years since a group of college students united behind a new model for engaging young people in the political process, a model that became the Roosevelt Institute | Campus Network. Deeply grounded in the belief that young people have more to oer than just showing up on Election Day, the Campus Network has continued to evolve and grow from its visionary beginning into the nations largest student policy organization, with a membership capable of shifting dialogue and eecting policy at the local, state, and national levels. We believe that in the context of a stagnant public discourse and increasing disillusionment with a political system incapable of tackling our complex collective challenges, it is more important than ever to invest in a generation of leaders committed to active problem-solving and concrete change in the public sphere. As the Campus Network expands to more than 120 chapters in 38 states, we serve as a vehicle for fresh ideas, exciting talent, and real change. In these pages you will nd some of those ideas from reforming western water rights to supporting green infrastructure through progressive toll taxes, students are envisioning and acting on better solutions. Its indicative of our Networks larger impact; in the past year, weve leveraged the eectiveness of our model to work with and inform dozens of other organizations on how to engage Millennials on critical issues, ranging from campaign nance to inequality to climate change. Weve elevated a fresh, Millennial-driven vision for government in an otherwise stale public debate, and launched an initiative that taps into our generations unfettered thinking and ambition to reimagine the role of citizens in shaping fairer and more equitable local economies. Our members have continued to substantively engage in local processes to shape and shift the policy outcomes that directly impact their communities, from introducing new mapping systems to improve health outcomes in low-income neighborhoods to consulting local governments on ood prevention. These ideas are just the starting place, because ideas are only powerful when acted upon. Yet this work is occurring in a dramatically shifting political and social context. The ways citizens engage their government,

participate locally, and advocate for their communities are changing every day. As a vibrant, evolving network driven by our active members nationwide, we believe there is immense potential to capture these innovations and ensure better and more progressive ideas take hold. We believe that: Millennials are turning away from traditional institutions and are looking to build new ones as vehicles for social change. We believe there is an opportunity to channel this reform-mindedness into building a healthier, more inclusive system thats responsive to citizen engagement and evidence-based solutions. To jump-start political engagement and combat disillusionment, the focus needs to be on pragmatic problem-solving and intersectional thinking across key issues. We can no longer tackle economic mobility separately from climate change. There is immense potential (and need) for scalable policy innovation at the local and state levels, and much of the most eective and important policy change in the coming decade will be local. With the shift from top-down institutions to networked approaches and collective problem-solving, it is more important than ever before to invest in the development of informed, engaged community leaders capable of driving engagement and action on ideas. As you engage with the ideas, ambitions, and goals in these journals, I encourage you to dig in and explore how our countrys future leaders are taking the initiative to create the change they know we desperately need. You wont be disappointed. Happy Reading, Taylor Jo Isenberg, National Director

Congratulations to
Erin Siela
author of Sexual Exploitation and United Nations Peacekeeping: A Culture of Impunity Nominee for Policy Of The Year

A jury of Roosevelt Institute | Campus Network members, sta and alumni elevate one piece from each journal as a nominee for Policy Of The Year based o the quality of idea, rigor of research and ability to be implemented eectively. The cover design of this journal is themed to portray the above idea in visual form.

Table of Contents
8 American Children in Danger Abroad: Granting Them a Safe Return Home Reem Aliessa An Unacceptable Risk: Reducing the Nuclear Powder Keg Eric Bias Domestically Grown Think Tanks: A Policy to Consolidate Democracy Through Capacity-Building in Tunisia Daniel Cohanpour Insuring Africa: A Strategic Partnership to Ensure African Climate Readiness Daniel Cohanpour Discovering a Bottom-Up Approach to Health Education in Rural Panama Suprita Datta Rethinking USAID: Towards Flexible, Nutrition-Based Food Aid Svati Pazhyanur A New Approach to Transatlantic Intelligence Community Cooperation Tara Raizada and Anna Vosbigian UN Regulation of Export Processing Zones Abigail Gary and Rachel Riemenschneider Participatory City Planning in Post-Conict States Nehemiah Rolle, Brian Hart, Greg Sanda, Erich Denk, Ben Smith, Jackson Soule, Matt Jeanneret and Hayden Abene Sexual Exploitation and United Nations Peacekeeping: A Culture of Impunity Erin Siela

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American Children in Danger Abroad: Granting Them a Safe Return Home

Reem Aliessa, City College of New York

American children in war zones should be allowed to return home through the State Department easing visa regulations for their foreign parents or legal guardians.
In May 2013, the US Department of State estimated that 7.6 million registered American civilians resided abroad.1 Many of these Americans reside in conict areas or war-torn nations that are on the State Department Travel Warning List, such as Syria. The State Department Bureau of Consular Aairs has issued several travel warnings stressing that every part of Syria is threatened by violence.2 The sustained, heightened warfare leading to the killing and abduction of many Syrianshas resulted in massive refugee populations in bordering nations such as Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon. Among these refugees are US-born children, American citizens, whose Syrian parents were never granted permanent residence and eventually returned to Syria. The United Nations has referred to the crisis in Syria as the worlds largest humanitarian crisis. 3 In August of 2013, the State Department stated it would make an eort to admit 2,000 Syrian refugees. 4 However, there is no prioritization for admitting the parents or guardians of American children; thus furthering the necessity to ease visa regulations for parents of American children abroad. ANALYSIS American children in conict areas are denied

KEY FACTS

The State Department estimated that 7.6 million American civilians reside abroad. Some currently reside in war-torn nations.7 In 2013, the United States stated that it would make an effort to admit 2,000 Syrian refugees. 8 The PRMs 2013 budget request to aid victims of conflict with resettlement in America was $1,625,400.9

their right to return to the United States because of their parents immigration status. Immigration policy is purportedly designed to protect the interests of American citizens, but in this case it leaves citizens born to foreign parents in perilous living conditions abroad, or as secondclass residents of their host nation. American children in Syria are unable to register as Syrian refugees in neighboring countries because of their American citizenship. The denial of refugee status and US visas for their parents has established many social, educational, and economical barriers for these young Americans. If their parents are never granted visas, they may return to America upon reaching legal age and will perhaps be trapped in a cycle of poverty and require social welfare provisions. Conversely, if they return to America as minors, they will be able to reintegrate into civil society, obtain an education, enter the job market, and help boost the economy. The concern with funding or an inux of migrants or refugees should not be alarming because the State Department has already made an eort to admit 2,000 Syrian refugees. In addition, the Bureau of Populations, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) budget request for the scal year of 2013 was $1,625,400 and these funds are used to assist refugees, stateless people, and victims of conict with resettlement in the United States.5 ENDNOTES
1 United States Department of State, Bureau of Consular Aairs. Who We Are and What We Do: Consular Aairs by the Numbers. May 2013. http://travel. state.gov/pdf/ca_fact_sheet.pdf. 2 United States Department of State, Bureau of Consular Aairs. Travel Warning for Syria. October 7, 2013. http://damascus.usembassy.gov/tw100713. html. 3 Aljazeera America. Why isnt America Taking in More Refugees? October 8, 2013. http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/america-tonight/americatonight-blog/2013/10/8/why-isn-t- americatakinginmoresyrianrefugees.html. 4 Hudson, John, and Noah Shachtman. Exclusive: U.S. Will Now Let in Thousands of Syrian Refugees. Foreign Policy, August 8, 2013. http://thecable. foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/08/08/exclusive_us_will_now_let_in_thousands_ of_syrian_refugees. 5 Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance: Fiscal Year 2013. 2013. http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/186106.pdf. 6 Bradley, Simon. Reuniting Syrian Families: New Visa Rules Raises Hopes - and

TALKING POINTS

Parents or guardians of American children residing abroad in war-torn countries should be granted permission to accompany their children on a safe return to the United States. The lives of American children residing in Syria are under major threat because they are unable to return to the United States due to their parents immigration status. Family reunification for American children and their parents is vital to human rights and American values.

Questions. Swiss Info. September 16, 2013. http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/New_visa_rules_raise_hopes_and_questions.html?cid=36894522 7 United States Department of State, Bureau of Consular Aairs. Who We Are and What We Do: Consular Aairs by the Numbers. May 2013. http://travel.state.gov/pdf/ca_fact_sheet.pdf. 8 Aljazeera America. Why isnt America Taking in More Refugees? October 8, 2013. http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/ shows/america-tonight/america-tonight-blog/2013/10/8/why-isn-t-americatakinginmoresyrianrefugees.html. 9 Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance: Fiscal Year 2013. 2013. http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/186106.pdf.

Next Steps
Implementing new immigration laws is dicult; therefore, the State Department should ease visa regulations for parents or guardians of American children residing in war-torn nations. The Swiss government eased visa regulations to reunite their citizens with their Syrian family members; however, the Swiss government did not limit visa admissions to exclusively reunite the nuclear family, their policy reunied extended relatives as well. 6 Family reunication, although an immigration concern, is essentially a humanitarian eort to protect the livelihoods of Americans in danger. Subsequent to easing visa regulations, families who are unable to aord the cost of returning to America, may receive funding or emergency loans from the PRM. Having American children safely return home with their nuclear family will continue to uphold humanitarian practices in the United States, in addition to helping these children to reintegrate into civil society.

An Unacceptable Risk: Reducing the Nuclear Powder Keg

Eric Bias - Hunter College

To reduce the potentially catastrophic risk of maintaining a deteriorating stockpile of nuclear weapons, the US president should mandate the streamlining of the total arsenal to a fraction of its current size. This will make the US safer while reducing the military budget and also set a moral example for the international community.
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In 2010, President Obama declared an American commitment to a world without nuclear weapons.1 Shortly after, he signed a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Russia that pledged to reduce by half both nations strategic nuclear arsenalsweapons meant not for battleeld use, but for destroying cities. 2 Yet the treaty ignores thousands of weapons that are non-strategic, are held in reserve, or are waiting to be dismantled. In total, the Center for Arms Control and Proliferation (CACP) has estimated that 5,750 warheads are ignored by the treaty.3 An episode recounted in Eric Schlossers Command and Control illustrates how close we can come to nuclear disaster. 4 A technician conducting routine maintenance dropped a socket from a socket wrench into a missile silo. The socket punctured the skin of a nine megaton Titan II missile, causing a fuel leak that eventually ignited, resulting in an explosion. If the warhead had detonated, the explosion would have been three times the size of both weapons dropped on Japan during World War II. In another incident, a live hydrogen bomb was dropped over Goldsboro, North Carolinathe only mechanism preventing a detonation was one low-voltage switch.5 Mistakes like thisalong with international misunderstandings, broken arrow incidents in which a nuclear weapon is lost, and simple mechanical failuresseem isolated, but with weapons of such magnitude in abundance, the risk is signicant and must be reduced. ANALYSIS A chief reason why the United States maintains a large arsenal is for deterrence. Other nations are dissuaded from attacking the US for fear of retaliatory attack, and in a nuclear context, mutually assured destruction. This nuclear umbrella is for our security as well as other countries with whom we are allied. Development and

KEY FACTS

The US pos sesses more nuclear weapons than any of the seven nuclear powers, barring Russia, combined. 12 The total US nuclear defense budget is estimated to be as high as $661 billion. 13 Since 1950, there have been 32 broken arrow incidents, resulting in the accidental launch, theft, firing, or detonation of a nuclear weapon. 14

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testing of new, modernized nuclear weapons is illegal due to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT).6 Nuclear weapons are extremely complex devices; they deteriorate and become unstable. The chances of a warhead successfully detonating after launch becomes less reliable, therefore more weapons equal greater reliability by sheer numbers. That also means that as weapons become older, the costs of maintaining their readiness increases, reaching to about $500 billion over the next 20 years by current estimates.7 The Cold War ended, however, and the likelihood of a nuclear confrontation is low. Russia and China are our chief trading partners, and rogue states such as North Korea and Iran possess few, if any, deployable weapons, and are not applicable to deterrence theory. 8 The average nuclear weapon in the US stockpile is more than 300 kilotons,9 so only 100 of these weapons would be enough to dramatically alter the planet as a whole.10 Eective deterrence does not require such vast numbers. ENDNOTES
1 Oce of the White House Press Secretary. Remarks by President Barack Obama in Prague. November 26, 2013. http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_ press_oce/Remarks-By-President-Barack-Obama-In-Prague-As-Delivered. 2 Baker, Peter. Twists and Turns on Way to Arms Pact With Russia. The New York Times, Last modied March 27, 2010. Accessed November 26, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/27/world/europe/27start.html?ref=globalhome&_r=0. 3 McNiesh, Lesley. Fact Sheet: Global Nuclear Weapons Inventories in 2013. The Center For Arms Control and Proliferation, Last modied July 2013. Accessed November 26, 2013. http://armscontrolcenter.org/issues/ nuclearweapons/articles/fact_sheet_global_nuclear_weapons_inventories_in_2012/. 4 Menand, Louis. Nukes of Hazard. The New Yorker, Last modied Sept 30, 2013. Accessed November 29, 2013. http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/ books/2013/09/30/130930crbo_books_menand. 5 Pilkington, Ed. US Nearly Detonated Atomic Bomb Over North Carolina - Secret Document. The Guardian , Last modied Sept 20, 2013. Accessed January 13, 2014. 6 U.S. Department of State. Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Accessed November 29, 2013. http://www.state.gov/t/isn/ trty/16281.htm. 7 Nuclear Threat Initiative. U.S. Nuclear Weapons Budget: An Overview. Last modied Sept 27, 2013. Accessed November 29, 2013. http://www.nti. org/analysis/articles/us-nuclear-weapons-budget-overview/. 8 McNiesh, Lesley. Fact Sheet: Global Nuclear Weapons Inventories in 2013. The Center For Arms Control and Proliferation, Last modied July 2013. Accessed November 26, 2013. http://armscontrolcenter.org/issues/ nuclearweapons/articles/fact_sheet_global_nuclear_weapons_inventories_in_2012/ 9 Kristensen, Hans M., and Robert S. Norris. U.S. Nuclear Forces, 2013.

TALKING POINTS

Effective nuclear deterrence can be achieved with far fewer warheads than we currently maintain. In 1958, a midair col lision off the coast of Georgia resulted in the loss of a nuclear bomb in the ocean. That bomb was never found. 15 The costs associated with maintaining the US nuclear stockpiles are projected to increase as components deteriorate.

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Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 69, no. 2 (2013): 77-86, Accessed November 29, 2013. http://bos.sagepub.com/ content/69/2/77.full.pdf. 10 Gronlund, Lisbeth. How Powerful Are Todays Nuclear Weapons and, If Used, How Would They Aect the World? Union of Concerned Scientists, Last modied Apr 2010. Accessed November 29, 2013. http://www.ucsusa.org/publications/ask/2010/nuclear-weapons.html. 11 Schlosser, Eric. Command and Control . New York: The Penguin Press, 2013. 12 Ploughshares Fund. World Nuclear Stockpile Report. Last modied Nov 4, 2013. Accessed November 29, 2013. http://ploughshares.org/world-nuclear-stockpile-report. 13 Ploughshares Fund. What Nuclear Weapons Cost Us. Last modied Sept 2012. Accessed November 30, 2013. http://www.ploughshares.org/sites/default/les/resources/What Nuclear Weapons Cost Us Final (100212).pdf. 14 Shephard, Alex. Heres a List of Every Time Someone Lost Control of Their Nukes. Business Insider, Last modied May 23, 2013. Accessed November 30, 2013. http://www.businessinsider.com/list-of-broken-arrow-nuclear-accidents-2013-5. 15 Northam, Gerry. Missing for 50 Years: US Nuclear Bomb. BBC News, Last modied Jun 22, 2009. Accessed November 30, 2013. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8107908.stm.

Next Steps
The US president, as commander-in-chief, can unilaterally dismantle the majority of the current nuclear stockpile, reducing our arsenal of deployed, strategic weapons to 311 total, a number recommended in 2010 by a group of senior Air Force leaders.11 This is large enough to provide eective minimum deterrence and to respond to any unforeseen changes in the global security landscape. The military budget would be reduced over the next ten years because dismantling the estimated 6,900 remaining weapons is cheaper than maintaining them. Opponents of reduction will argue that unilateral reduction will weaken Americas image abroad. However, the reduction would achieve the opposite, and serve as one of the greatest gestures toward nuclear nonproliferation in recent history. In anticipation of pushback, various means of public outreach, such as think pieces on inuential web outlets, or online petitions will build momentum for policy reform. Streamlining our nuclear arsenal would reduce the costs and the risks involved in maintaining a diuse security apparatus. In a time when economic austerity is a constant talking point, meaningful change is also cost eective.

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Domestically Grown Think Tanks: A Policy to Consolidate Democracy Through CapacityBuilding in Tunisia
Daniel Cohanpour, Cornell University

The first region to experience upheaval during the Arab Spring, Tunisias democratic transition is a bellwether for the region. The fall of the Ben-Ali dictatorship has opened civil society, and the United States must support the growth of domestic, non-partisan, and politically independent think tanks in Tunisia in order to improve the prospects for democracy.
Civil society in Tunisia, especially after the Arab Spring, has been dependent on continued US funding. The ousting of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011 led to the rst free election in Tunisia and the gradual developments of an infant democracy. Under Ben Ali, most of the few civil society organizations (CSOs) that existed were completely dependent on the Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD) ruling party. The few independent organizations that existed were either labor unions controlled by one party or Islamist dominated associations.1 Although jihadist violence and unrest is gradually increasing, there has been an upward growth in independent CSOs in Tunisia. However, Tunisia needs an independent, non-US partnered think tank that inuences policy and unites intellectuals. The lack of domestically grown and independent think tanks (DGTs) is a problem for Tunisias nascent democracy and represents a wider Arab shortage of DGTs as well as domestically grown civil society organizations, especially after the Arab Spring.

KEY FACTS

The ousting of Presi dent Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011 resulted in the first free elections in Tunisia. Under Ben Ali, most of the few civil society organizations (CSOs) that existed were completely dependent on the Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD) ruling party. After the Jasmine Revolution of 2011, the US pledged to support Tunisian transition with more than $55 million in non-security assistance.

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The recently released Global Go To Think Tanks report showed that more than 60 percent of global think tanks are in North America and Europe.2 With a total of about 500 think tanks, the Middle East and North Africa region has few domestically run think tanks, although several American institutes exist in the region. New frameworks in the Tunisian government after the removal of the Ben-Ali regime in 2011 necessitate a more advanced civil society in the nation. The US Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), a federal program that continues to be part of American eorts to empower the Tunisian citizens, is an example of US democratization support of civil society. Since the toppling of the regime, MEPI has supported more than 30 civil society projects in Tunisia. 3 However, none of these civil society projects are policy research centers or think tanks. It is important, especially at this pivotal moment in Tunisian history, for the US to continue to support the transition to more Arab civil society initiatives.
ANALYSIS

TALKING POINTS

A change in US policy to support DGTs in Tunisia will help consolidate the nations infant democracy by uniting intellectuals and policy advisers while allowing for a vehicle for policy discussion and guidance. The base loan would ensure that the project is not continually funded, as most current MENA policies are, thus allowing for more of a domestically-grown, Tunisian initiative.

After the Jasmine revolution of 2011, the US pledged to support the Tunisian transition with more than $55 million in non-security assistance. A portion of $43.3 million went towards democracy-building eorts, civil society, and promoting freedom of expression.4 There are about a dozen notable universities in Tunisia, each of them public except for Tunisian Private University (UML).5 MEPI and the USAIDs Middle East Bureau have worked together to establish various initiatives in MENA states. For 2014, $30 million was pledged from USAID for Tunisia, and in 2011 and 2012, as explained in USAIDs 2014 budget request, the agency has reallocated over $1.5 billion in existing funds from ongoing bilateral programs and from other sources to transitions in the Middle East and North Africa.6 There is a Middle East Incentive Fund of $750,000, which earmarked for more long-term change and is not

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allocated to any specic country in MENA.7 There is a gap in policy in regards to think tanks and think tank support in MENA by the US, especially in regards to lessening foreign dependence and promoting Arab intellectual unity and policy discussion. In the past, American initiatives to support Middle Eastern civil society have been vague. Two questions that continue to come to the forefront of the democracy building conversation are: a) what form will support take and b) how long will the support last. A change in US policy towards Tunisia would consolidate Tunisias infant democracy in the wake of Ben-Alis jettison, while simultaneously working to counteract the Salast initiatives that have led to unrest especially in mid-late 2013. 8 ENDNOTES
1 Bet, Jamel. Analysis of Civil Society in Tunisia. E-mail interview. April 2013. 2 2012 Global GoTo Think Tank Report Released. Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program . N.p., n.d. Web. 12 April 2013. 3 The U.S.-Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI). What We Do. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 April 2013. 4 IIP Digital | U.S. Department of State. Fact Sheet: Presidents Framework for Investing in Tunisia . N.p., 07 Oct. 2011. Web. 12 April 2013. 5 List of Tunisian Universities & Colleges by Name. List of Tunisian Universities & Colleges by Name. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2013. 6 USAID FY 2014 Budget Request Highlights. United States Agency for International Development . N.p., n.d. Web. 7 USAID FY 2014 Budget Request Highlights. 8 Losing Tunisia to Salas. Commentary. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 April 2013.

Next Steps
A dual-pronged policy to initiate USAID training programs for Tunisian university scholars, students, and policy experts while opening up a partnership between notable public universities in the US as well as public or private Tunisian universities is pivotal, especially at this fragile time in Tunisian politics. The initiative will receive a base fund or microloan, rather than continual funding such as the current US governmental initiatives in Tunisia and the Arab world, in order to allow the think tank to truly grow in a grassroots manner. A university partnership is important for encouraging an intellectual and scholar class in Tunisia that can inuence policy, but it is important for the US government to ensure in the long-term that the fund goes towards academic institutions with limited extremist ties and to the ability to balance both secular and Islamist interests. The establishment of the fund can be similar to the MENA Incentive Fund that was created by the US Government in the sense that it is sectioned o for a particular purpose.

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Insuring Africa: A Strategic Partnership to Ensure African Climate Readiness

Daniel Cohanpour, Cornell University

Invest in African climate risk insurance while strengthening the United States strategic partnership with the African Union and its member nations.
On November 18, 2013, Ambassador Jean-Baptiste Natama, Chief of Sta of the Bureau of the Chairperson at the African Union Commission, stressed that Africa is calling not for aid but for investment in the continent. African nations are looking to evolve the assistance they receive from constant and often unreliable injections of aid to capital for self-driven strategies for addressing the continents most pressing challenges.1 Climate-related disasters have taken staggering human and nancial tolls in Africa. During the past 40 years, over 95 percent of disasterrelated deaths occurred in developing nations. In sub-Saharan Africa, 36 percent of all World Food Programme eorts from 2002 to 2009 were related to drought and there have been approximately 130 recorded droughts since 1990.2 The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) claims that nancial losses from climate-related disasters have also begun increasing in recent years.3 A new African Union (AU) program known as African Risk Capacity provides immediate funds to AU nations hit by severe drought or other climate-related disasters. 4 After the preparatory process, which takes approximately 12 months, African nations are quickly placed into a pan-African risk pool that aims to protect agricultural investments through risk management and nancial planning.

KEY FACTS

There have been approximately 130 recorded droughts in Sub-Saharan Africa since 1990. USAID has spent a substantial yet comparatively small, percentage of its capital on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR).

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For the 2014 scal year, USAID has allocated $917 million to the Feed the Future initiative (FTF), which focuses on chronic hunger and local farmers. From the fund, $317 million will be allocated to global climate change initiatives (GCC) distributed among three pillar areas: climate change adaptation, clean energy, and sustainable landscapes. Financial Year 2014 also includes an International Disaster Assistance (IDA) request of $2,045 million primarily for post-disaster rehabilitation and reconstruction.5 This amount also includes $1,416 million for emergency food assistance. 6 While USAID has dedicated a sizeable, yet comparatively small, percentage of its appropriations on Disaster Risk Reduction, many of these programs focus on climate change adaptation and mitigation in Asia.7 In July 2012, delegates from 41 African countries initiated the African Risk Capacity Establishment Agreement. Since then, the AU, in conjunction with organizations such as the World Food Program, has worked to create a weather insurance scheme to decrease African reliance on external aid, a development that is especially important in the face of worsening droughts in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa. 8 Late last year, nations turned in their contingency plans. To lessen the burden placed on national governments, African Risk Capacity serves as a mutual insurance company that aims to respond to the current humanitarian assistance system not being as timely or equitable as it could be. The program shifts away from a system of simply treating devastation after a crisis occurs to improving African risk management through an index-based insurance mechanism for infrequent, severe droughts and an insurance pool complete with the usual payouts and premiums.

TALKING POINTS

The African Risk Capacity works in a similar vein as CCRIF and aims to make climate readiness more dependable and accessible via insurance-based propositions with participation from member states. To make African climate readiness and disaster relief more sustainable and less stagnant, the US must support this African Risk Capacity program at its start.

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ANALYSIS

African Risk Capacity was largely modeled on a successful Caribbean initiative called the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF), which was created after Hurricane Ivan in 2004, a disaster that caused billions of dollars of losses in the region. In Grenada and the Cayman Islands, for example, nancial losses were close to 200 percent of the national annual gross domestic product. The political heads of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) held an emergency meeting where they discussed the importance of including provisions for catastrophe risk insurance, and CCRIF was created.9 CARICOM approached the World Bank for assistance and also received an initial nancial grant from the Japanese government.10 The Japanese grants, administered by the World Bank, totaled $1.8 million. The Japanese partnership led to great strides in human capital resources for this program under the Policy and Human Resource Development program (PHRD) and other capacity building initiatives.11 The African Risk Capacity program works in a similar vein as CCRIF in that they are both insurance-based programs. The US can benet African nations greatly, while also strengthening its partnership with the AU and African Risk Capacity by developing a partnership with the AU similar to the Japan-CARICOM agreement, with minor adjustments. ENDNOTES
1 Anuforo, Emeka. Dont Give us Aid. National News, November 18, 2013. 2 Goodman, David. From Managing Crises to Managing Risks. Swiss Re Center for Public Dialogue. January 18, 2013. 3 AGREEMENT FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE AFRICAN RISK CAPACITY (ARC) AGENCY. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. http://www.ipcc.ch/. September 20, 2013. 4 How A Country Gets a Payout. African Risk Capacity. http://www.africanriskcapacity.org/fr/about/howarcworks 5 Disaster Risk Reduction. US Agency for International Development June 26, 2013. http://www.usaid.gov/what-wedo/working-crises-and-conict/disaster-risk-reduction 6 FY 2014 Budget Highlights. US Agency for International Development. http://www.usaid.gov/results-and-data/ budget-spending 7 Brune, Nancy E. USAID Supports Disaster Risk. US Agency for International Development . http://blog.usaid. gov/2013/05/u-s-aid-supports-disaster-risk-reduction-resiliency-and-climate-adapation-engagement-in-asia-pacic/. May 31, 2013. 8 How A Country Gets a Payout. 9 Why was CCRIF Established? CCRIF CARICOM. http://www.ccrif.org/node/34 10 Carribean Community Secretariat. CARICOM. http://caricom.org/ 11 Japan policy and human resources. The World Bank . http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/ en/2002/12/2946735/japan-policy-human-resources-development-fund-annual-report-2002. December 1, 2002.

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Next Steps
To make African climate readiness and disaster relief more sustainable and less stagnant, the US must support this African Risk Capacity program at its start through a nancial investment of $3 million, allocated equally from USAID, FTF, GCC, and IDA funds in order to ensure maximum agency collaboration. This will be an initial annual grant, but in the next three years, USAID should oer the African Union a $2 million line of credit on an as-you-need-it basis in order to ensure maximum support. This investment will begin a new US-AU partnership, especially in the areas of sustainable development and disaster relief, at a time when the global community is looking toward new initiatives as a means of making development more sustainable. The United Nations Post-2015 Development agenda, with its focus on innovation and longevity of assistance, is a clear example of this. Such nancing will go towards human capital resources for the initiative, administrative resources for the AU, and capacity-building eorts as well as monitoring and evaluation on a nation-by-nation basis, based on when each nation begins its risk insurance policy. The latter will be the largest allocation.

Discovering a Bottom-Up Approach to Health Education in Rural Panama

Suprita Datta, Macaulay Honors College at the City University of New York

The United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) Panama should take a bottom-up approach to establish collaborative community health education programs in indigenous communities to alleviate poverty, address the lack of healthcare services, and foster goodwill between Panamanian governments and native leaders.
Indigenous communities in Panama are denied their basic right to a healthy life because of a lack of access to healthcare that is exacerbated by poverty. A history of discrimination and cultural dierence has cultivated distrust between indigenous communities and local and federal governments.

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Health outposts that serve Latino communities welcome indigenous populations, but are inaccessible to them. Villagers often have to walk hours and pay fees that they cannot aord.1 Based on models that have been implemented in rural India, Senegal, and Mississippi in the United States, a volunteer-based community healthcare educational approach would enable improvement of basic healthcare awareness and help provide preventive measures for lifestyle-related diseases.2 Moreover, in the 1970s, a community health program was established in the Ngawbere territory of rural Panama where health care workers worked collaboratively with indigenous leaders and community healers to deliver care.3 In 1991, the International Labour Organization put into eect Convention No. 169, a legally binding international convention that calls for the consultation and participation of indigenous communities on issues that aect them. 4
ANALYSIS

KEY FACTS

A single health educator can serve up to 100 households. Indigenous communi ties in Panama make up 8 percent of the whole population, but represent 19 percent of the poor and 35 percent of the extremely poor. 12 Panama spends the most on healthcare out of any other country in the region (8.4 percent of GDP) but centralized administrative practices have marginalized indigenous communities. 13

To address the lack of information available to indigenous communities, health education should be approached at a grassroots level with attention to organization and proper administration. Peer education amongst youth, respecting traditional medicinal practices, and training local women will create a door-to-door approach to healthcare that is sustainable and empowering for these communities.5 A single health educator can serve up to 100 households. 6 In Senegal, a community-based nutrition awareness program helped eradicate severe malnutrition within 18 months of its implementation.7 Poor health also has economic consequences. A loss in productivity due to poor health results in a 10 percent loss in earnings for an individual and a 2 to 3 percent loss of a nations Gross Domestic Product. In India, the cost of treating malnutrition is 27 times more expensive than the amount required for its prevention. 8 Ac-

21

cording to the World Health Organization, as of 2011, the Panamanian Ministry of Health does not spend resources on preventive health services.9 However, it does provide UNICEF Panama $300 thousand annually to conduct childhood education projects within indigenous communities along with government agencies.10 By utilizing its local and logistical contacts within indigenous communities, UNICEF Panama can mediate the creation of these health education programs. STAKEHOLDERS Indigenous communities are highly organized and have roles of leadership. Members of UNICEF Panama have already established a relationship with these leaders and should utilize their contacts to help raise health awareness within the community. Indigenous women, healers and older teenagers should work with health workers at the outposts within Latino communities to learn how to a) hold educational nutritional, hygiene, and sexual health workshops b) discuss symptoms of common diseases and c) conduct routine visits to households to check up on community members. Local health educators will also avoid barriers of language and cultural misunderstandings. Furthermore, by empowering women and youth through leadership roles, the community will benet from a better-educated and healthier population. ENDNOTES
1 Alvarez, Megan, Carmen Brown , Susana Benites, Vanessa Campos, and Nelson Taku. Panama Breached Its Obligation Under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to Protect he Rights of Its Indigenous People. Manuscript, Indiana University School of Law at Indianapolis, 2008. http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/docs/ngos/PIHRLPanama92.pdf. 2 Peabody, JW, Taguiwalo MM, Robalino DA, et al. Improving the Quality of Care in Developing Countries. Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries. 2nd edition. Washington (DC): World Bank; 2006. Chapter 70. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK11790/ 3 Bletzer, Keith. Health Care Among the Ngawbere in Panama. Cultural Survival . Last modied 1988. Accessed December 2, 2013. http://www. culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/panama/healthcare-among-ngawbere-panama. 4 International Labour Organization, Convention No. 169. Accessed December 2, 2013. http://www.ilo.org/indigenous/Conventions/no169/ lang--en/index.htm. 5 Dholakia, Jhalak, Rhonda Buchanan, and Whitney Nash. Multifaceted Adolescent Reproductive Health Education Strategies in Panama.: The Journal

TALKING POINTS

The prevention of life style-related diseases such as hypertension, vitamin-deficiencies, sexually transmitted diseases, and respiratory hazards require health practitioners who can provide basic primary healthcare practices and knowledge. Indigenous communi ties are often hesitant to use government services because of cultural differences. Training local women in basic preventive practices and taking a door-to-door approach to healthcare will create a more intimate form of care and foster a sustainable system by empowering these communities.

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of Global Health , 2012.http://www.ghjournal.org/jgh-print/fall-2012-issue/adolescent-reproductive-health-educationstrategies-in-panama/ (accessed December 2, 2013). 6 Aga Khan Foundation: Aga Khan Development Network in India. Community Health Programme. Accessed December 2, 2013. http://www.akdn.org/india_community.asp. 7 Marek, Tonia, Issakha Dialo, and Biram Ndiaye. Successful contracting of prevention services: ghting malnutrition in Senegal and Madagascar, Health Policy Plan , 14, no. 4 (1999): 382-389, http://heapol.oxfordjournals.org/ content/14/4/382.full.pdf (accessed December 2, 2013). 8 The Coalition for Sustainable Nutrition Security in India. Overcoming the Curse of Malnutrition in India: A Leadership Agenda for Action. Last modied September 2008. Accessed December 2, 2013. http://www.nutritioncoalition.in/ attachment/curse-of-malnutrition.pdf. 9 World Health Organization. Global Health Expenditure Database, 2011. Accessed December 2, 2013. http://knoema. com/WHOGHEDB2011/global-health-expenditure-database-2011. 10 UNICEF. 2012 Annual Report. Accessed December 2, 2013. http://www.unicef.org/publications/les/UNICEF-AnnualReport2012-LR_12Jun2013.pdf 11 UNICEF Panama. 2011 Annual Report. Accessed December 2, 2013. http://www.unicef.org/about/annualreport/les/ Panama_COAR_2011.pdf 12 The World Bank. Panama: Poverty Assessment: Priorities and Strategies for Poverty Reduction. Accessed December 2, 2013. http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTPOVERTY/EXTPA/0,,contentMDK:20 207841~menuPK:443285~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:430367,00.html. 13 World Health Organization. Country Cooperation Strategy At A Glance: Panama. Accessed December 2, 2013. http://www.who.int/countryfocus/cooperation_strategy/ccsbrief_pan_en.pdf.

Next Steps
UNICEF Panama, an organization that has worked extensively with the Panamanian government and indigenous populations and provided technical and logistical support for programs such as PROBISIDA (an HIV/ AIDS prevention and treatment program), should play a key role in the implementation of such a program.11 It already has friendly contacts and relations within indigenous communities in Panama and should act as a friendly liaison between government workers and community leaders. The Ministry of Health, which runs the health centers in Latino communities, should make sure that indigenous leaders and health workers establish contact and create a program for the health education workshops. Local health outpost center workers in Latino communities should train indigenous women and youth leaders to lead preventive care workshops. Health education relies on communicating accurate information. Creating a community health education program in indigenous communities could set a precedent for countries in the region. Furthermore, it can establish goodwill and improve relations between indigenous peoples and the Panamanian government.

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Rethinking USAID: Towards Flexible, Nutrition-Based Food Aid

Svati Pazhyanur, Cornell University

Measuring the nutritional outcomes of food aid will allow US aid agencies to better cater their product to the specific needs of recipients, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of such programs in addressing malnutrition and food insecurity.
For decades, the US has been the worlds leading provider of food aid to vulnerable and malnourished people. US food aid has typically been in the form of farm bills authorizing the purchase of American crops, and sending them to local distributers (usually NGOs) in the recipient country. The US government began purchasing American crops to export as food aid with the 1954 Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act. In April, President Obamas budget proposed to modernize food aid programs by ending wasteful practices and eliminating programs that are saddled with outdated regulations. The changes would use the savings to boost programs like the Emergency Food Security program that have a proven track record of success. In the last decade, the US has provided more than $2.9 billion annually of food assistance to 45 developing countries, providing approximately 2.8 million metric tons and reaching over 70 million people.1 ANALYSIS Currently, the composition of food aid is determined by the needs of entire areas with malnourished populations. However, one-sizets-all approaches cannot meet the specic nutritional needs of all people and groups, which is especially problematic for vulnerable populations such as malnourished children. Aid

KEY FACTS

The US currently spends $20 billion on foreign assistance, $5 billion of which goes directly to food aid.7 Diets deficient in vitamin A, zinc, iron and iodine (all micronutrients found in MNPs) are responsible for 2.2 million deaths per year in children under age 5 and contribute to mortality from HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other infectious diseases .9

24

designed with the entire population in mind, or general distribution food aid is usually a dry whole grain such as rice, corn, wheat or sorghum because large quantities are required. However, such grains are more dicult than blended food products to fortify with macronutrientsnutrients that provide calories or energy and are needed in large quantitieseither in the eld or at the production plant.2 Thus, food provided by general distribution aid falls short of addressing the nutritional needs of numerous groups, including pregnant and lactating women, children, and people with compromised health, especially with populations with high HIV/AIDS prevalence. This is exacerbated by chronic food shortage emergencies, during which food aid is the main source of nutrition for extended periods of time. Chronic situations are becoming increasingly common; now, more than half of the emergency food aid provided by the US is distributed in multi-year programs.3 ENDNOTES
1. Paganelli, Susan. Africa Aid Success: 4 Keys. University of Denver, Center for Human Rights and Human Welfare. June 2010. 2. Bleggi, Scott. Improving Food Aid to Improve Maternal and Child Nutrition. Bread for the World Institute. February 2012. 3. U.S. Agency for International Development, Food for Peace Oce (2010), Fiscal Year 2010; Title II Proposal, Annex H; Food Aid Commodities Availability List. 4. U.S. Agency for International Development, Oce for Food for Peace. Description of FFP Awardee Reporting Requirements. July 30, 2010. 5. Webb, Patrick et al. Improving the Nutritional Quality of U.S. Food Aid: Recommendations for Changes to Products and Programs. Tufts University. 2011. 6. Singer, Barney et.al. Tips for USAID Partners. Capable Partners Program . USAID. 2012. 7. FY 2013 Budget Highlights and Past Trends. USAID. January 2013. 8. Improving the Nutritional Quality of Food Aid: Recommendations for Changes to Products and Programs. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University. August 18, 2011. 9. Horton, Richard. Maternal and Child Undernutrition: An Urgent Opportunity. The Lancet Medical Journal . Elsevier: 2008.

TALKING POINTS

Current General distri bution food aid, usually dry grains, provides few benefits to pregnant women, young children, and severely ill recipients. 8 Using a results-driven approach to customize nutritional support will increase the cost-effectiveness of aid and help some of the most vulnerable recipients.

25

Next Steps
To better address the nutritional needs of the most vulnerable populations, nutrition outcomes from current food aid programs must be studied, reported and shared. Currently, the end-of-year reporting required of implementing partners of USAID does not require empirical reporting on nutrition and local food consumption. 4 An emphasis on the nutritional outcomes of food interventionssuch as measurements of child stunting and birth defects caused by malnutritionrather than simply tons of food delivered will benet the groups most desperately in need of assistance. Many agencies implementing programs using Title II (USAID) foods have been working in the same area for many years.5 Encouraging and assisting these agencies to incorporate their knowledge of local food availability and food consumption into studying samples of the recipients of aid is entirely feasible, especially if the information is made available so that not every agency would need to repeat the same studies, which should be conducted yearly to account for demographic changes. In order to receive award funds from USAID, NGOs must enter into Cooperative Agreements or some other legally binding document that outlines requirements and penalties for not fullling them. 6 Annual studies on the nutrition of food aid should be included in these agreements to ensure compliance and accountability for the ecient use of funds.

A New Approach to Transatlantic Intelligence Community Cooperation

Tara Raizada and Anna Vosbigian, Northwestern University

The extensive surveillance conducted by the US upon its ostensible allies in Europe necessitates an intelligencesharing and anti-espionage agreement between the US and the European Union. This agreement would cut costs, allow for more comprehensive and less redundant intelligence gathering, and improve diplomatic relations between the parties involved.
26

Classied documents released by former American intelligence analyst Edward Snowden have exposed the surveillance by the US and its National Security Agency (NSA) on allies such as France, Germany, and Spain, as well as on oces of the European Union (EU) in Washington, New York, and Brussels.1 The alleged actions of the NSA have stalled diplomatic relations between the US and its allies, as well as with the entire EU. 2 The international community has taken oense at what it perceives to be a breach of trust by the NSA, since all the countries exposed by Snowden are allies of the US.3 The results of Snowdens revelations conrm the necessity for more transparent intelligence sharing channels between the US and its allies in the EU. There is precedent for intelligence gathering collaboration: the UKUSA Agreement, drafted in 1946 as an intelligence-sharing and antispying alliance between the two governments and their intelligence agencies. 4 This alliance grew to include the English-speaking countries of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, hence the moniker Five Eyes.4 This prohibits state-on-state espionage and fosters more comprehensive and relevant intelligence gathering. 4
ANALYSIS

KEY FACTS

Accusations against the US intelligence community, which include tapping German Chancellor Angela Merkels personal cell phone, 1 eavesdropping on more than 60 million Spanish phone calls in one month alone, 6 and accessing 70 million phone records of French citizens, 3 have lead to a breakdown in diplomatic relations. The Five Eyes coun tries today collect information that is most applicable to their locations and agree to share such information with all member states in a balanced and reciprocal manner, while reducing costs. 4 The UKUSA agreement system leads to what officials call total trust, including not tapping the phones of one anothers leaders and officials. 4

An intelligence-sharing agreement between the US and certain, established members of the European Union comparable to the existing UKUSA Agreement would reduce intelligence spending, create a global network founded on trust and help abolish state-on-state espionage in a world where the chief dangers to international security are not established states. The US surveillance of leaders of allied countries, such as Angela Merkel, has provoked outrage in the international community because it is viewed as a breach of trust between allies and as a return to the state-on-state espionage

27

characteristic of the Cold War,5 while the main threats in the global War on Terror are stateless groups unconnected to such close allies. For example, in the wake of this discovery, the European Parliament voted to suspend its transatlantic Terrorist Finance Tracking Progra m, a joint EU-US eort.2 The German Justice Minister claims this to be a signal that both his country and the EU in general are beyond outraged, to the point of changing their policy regarding America.6 On the other hand, UKUSA intelligence ocials refer to the environment created by the Five Eyes agreement as one of complete trust, which extends to not tapping the phones of each others leaders or embassies, 4 and not conducting intelligence operations within each others borders without express permission. 6 Additionally, the Five Eyes countries share intelligence collecting duties worldwide, with each nation focusing on their geographic location, proximity to suspicious activities, or intelligence specialties. This is especially benecial to countries such as New Zealand that lack the worldwide satellite network the US boasts. 4 This extends to each country bearing the costs of its own eorts in the UKUSA mission,7 which reduces overlapping expenses by the nations, and allows for more ecient and actionable connections between the data collected. 6 The $52.6 billion dollar budget allocated to the US intelligence community in the past scal year includes $14.7 billion directed to the CIA, whose budget has grown by 50 percent since 2004, and $10.8 billion to the NSA. 8 This budget also nances the surveillance of leaders of countries that America counts as friends, thus wasting funds to spy on allies rather than gathering intelligence truly pertinent to national security. An agreement between the US and established EU members would cut down on these costs as the

TALKING POINTS

The extensive foreign surveillance conducted by the US has frayed its relationship with European allies. An intelligence-sharing agreement between the US and the EU modeled after the current UKUSA Agreement would eliminate redundant intelligence gathering and expenses, as well as establish an alliance grounded in trust and addressing the most salient threats to international security.

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UKUSA mission has done, thus allocating some of these vast resources to other areas of the government. Stakeholders include the US intelligence community, including the CIA, NSA and 14 other agencies. They also include the EU, its governments, and its intelligence communities, such as Frances Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE) and Germanys Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND).
ENDNOTES
1. British Broadcasting Corporation. Edward Snowden: Leaks that exposed US spy programme. Last modied October 25, 2013. Accessed November 2013. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23123964. 2. Dasilva, Natalia. MEPs call for suspension of EU-US bank data deal in response to NSA snooping. European Parliament News. Last modied October 23, 2013. Accessed November 2013. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/news-room/ content/20131021IPR22725/html/MEPs-call-for-suspension-of-EU-US-bank-data-deal-in-response-to-NSA-snooping. 3. Ball, James. NSA monitored calls of 35 world leaders after US ocial handed over contacts. The Guardian . Last modied October 24, 2013. Accessed October 2013. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/24/nsa-surveillanceworld-leaders-calls. 4. Warner, Margaret. An exclusive club: The ve countries that dont spy on each other. PBS Newshour. Last modied October 25, 2013. Accessed October 2013. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2013/10/an-exclusive-club-the-vecountries-that-dont-spy-on-each-other.html. 5. Corera, Gordon. Spying scandal: Will the ve eyes club open up? British Broadcasting Corporation . Last modied October 28, 2013. Accessed November 2013. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24715168. 6. RT.com. NSA, Five Eyes use Australian embassies to gather intel on Asia. Last modied October 31, 2013. Accessed November 2013. http://rt.com/news/nsa-australian-embassies-asia-intelligence-998/. 7. Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and United States Combined Joint Military Information Exchange Annex. Combined Joint Multilateral Master Military Information Exchange Memorandum of Understanding. Accessed November 2013. http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/76043.pdf. 8. Gellman, Barton, and Greg Miller. U.S. spy networks successes, failures and objectives detailed in black budget summary. The Washington Post. Last modied August 29, 2013. Accessed October 2013. http://articles.washingtonpost. com/2013-08-29/world/41709796_1_intelligence-community-intelligence-spending-national-intelligence-program.

Next Steps
This policy would require an extensive deliberation process due to its sensitive nature. Congress and the US intelligence community would need to approve such an action, either as a new treaty or as an extension of the preexisting UKUSA Agreement. Once approved, the US government should propose the agreement to the EU. EU member states and the European Parliament would need to debate and accept the agreement.

UN Regulation of Export Processing Zones

Abigail Gary and Rachel Riemenschneider, Northwestern University

To reduce human rights violations committed against workers within Export Processing Zones, the United Nations should create a task force to implement strict labor laws with potential for penalties.

29

Export Processing Zones (EPZs) date back to the 1940s, originating in Latin American and gaining popularity after their replication in East Asia.1,2 EPZs typically oer foreign businesses nancial incentives, including duty-free imports of raw and intermediate inputs, as well as tax concessions and exible labor laws.1 Because Export Processing Zones can be tailored to t the needs of the individual countries and foreign rms, there is no specic denition of what constitutes an EPZ. They can take many forms including free trade zones, special economic zones, bounded warehouses, [and] free ports.1 Developing countries create EPZs with the intention of attracting foreign investment to enhance domestic economies. Historically, EPZs foster labor abuses, human rights violations, and environmental degradation. These abuses continue today in the estimated 3,000 EPZs spanning 116 countries and aecting approximately 43 million workers. 3 ANALYSIS Labor laws seldom apply to EPZs, and if they do, governments often do not monitor the area. 4 Poor working conditions are common in EPZs, including unsafe environments, long hours, wage below subsistence and abuse of reproductive rights, especially among vulnerable populations. 4,5,6,7 In addition, although the International Labor Organization (ILO) lists the ability to unionize as a core right, very few EPZs permit their workers to organize. 4,3 While these human rights violations are obviously unacceptable, the benets of EPZs are too great to consider eradicating them. They provide the host country with increased exports, more paying jobs, labor training to develop a skilled work force, and industrial infrastructure. 4 The ILO has been working for several decades to improve and preserve the workers right to organize.3 However, it seems that little is being done to address the other human rights abuses. To advance this, we propose a task force under the United Nations to create a plan for EPZ where human rights are being violated. STAKEHOLDERS This policy would have an eect on all groups involved in EPZs. The UN would penalize the countries containing the oending EPZs for the human rights violations they commit. The host governments would have to take initiative to protect their citizens working in the EPZs. As a result, the management in the EPZs and the multinational corporations would have to change their behaviors to comply with the UNs measures to eliminate human rights violations. We also hope that this policy will bring these issues to the attention of consumers, who will begin to advocate for change as well.

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ENDNOTES

1. The World Bank. Export Competitiveness and Export Processing Zones. Last modied 2012. http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/ TRADE/0,,contentMDK:205 405 3 4~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSite PK:239071,00.html. 2. Sachs, Jeery. The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for our Time. NYC: Penguin, 2005. 3. International Labor Organization. Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/--declaration/documents/publication/wcms_095898.pdf. 4. Madani, Dorsati. A Review of the Role and Impact of Export Processing Zones. The World Bank . 5. Bama, Athreya. A Report on Fundamental Labor Rights in the Export Processing Zones and Sugar Sector of the Dominican Republic. International Labor Rights Fund. 6. Klein, Naomi. No Logo. Canada: Picador, 1999. 7. UN Women. Gender and Racial Discrimination Report of the Expert Group Meeting 21-24 November 2000 Zagreb, Croatia. Last modied 2000.

TALKING POINTS

Export Processing Zones (EPZs) are increasingly important to the globalized economy. The UN should work to end human rights violations against workers in EPZs by creating a joint task force. The task force should create guidelines for working conditions and help host countries to follow them.

Next Steps
As the world becomes increasingly globalized, Export Processing Zones need to be a part of international discourse. The International Labor Organization and global collaborators should bring EPZs to the attention of the United Nations General Assembly and request a formal study on human rights violations in Export Processing Zones. The General Assembly should then pass a resolution to create the UN Interagency Task Force on Export Processing Zones. This will include members from International Labor Organization, the UN Human Rights Council, UN Women (the majority of exploited workers are female) and other interested groups within the UN. This task force will create guidelines for Export Processing Zones and the treatment of their workers that reect individual liberties outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the core labor rights outlined by the ILO. The task force must also establish procedures for countries that continue to defy the task forces guidelines.

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Participatory City Planning in Post-Conict States

Nehemiah Rolle, Brian Hart, Greg Sanda, Erich Denk, Ben Smith, Jackson Soule, Matt Jeanneret, and Hayden Abene, Wake Forest University

The Millennium Challenge Corporation and US Agency for International Development Aids Bureau of Policy, Planning, and Learning (USAID-PPL) should facilitate participatory city planning between new regimes and civil society institutions in post-conflict states to increase the US ability to manage post-conflict situations.
Post-conict situations in the developing world are a common theme in the 21st century international system. The must develop a better handle on these situations, lest these places further dissolve into breeding grounds for extremism. Reducing the attraction of extremism and fostering good governance lies at the heart of successfully managing post-conict situations. The US can accomplish these goals by facilitating participatory city planning that cultivates an emerging civil society, fosters accountability and political engagement, and provides sustainable economic development. The Millennium Challenge Corporation and USAID are already engaged in similar initiatives. The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is an independent US foreign aid agency created in 2004 to ght poverty and promote good governance in developing countries around the world, emphasizing citizen participation in the construction and implementation of its initiatives.1 Citizen engagement is fostered through publicly available and comprehensive criteria, such as the degree of civil liberties protection, that evaluate these initiatives. Despite its robust work, the MCC is not designed for purposes besides economic growth, such as civil society support in post-conict situations.

KEY FACTS

The MCC was ranked the most transparent aid organization of 2013 by Publish What You Fund, and increased cooperation with USAID could increase its efficacy in other areas of foreign aid. The MCC has an immense budget, providing $8.4 billion in aid to primarily African countries in sectors such as agriculture and infrastructure. The PPL coordinates USAIDs vast organizational resources, including the invaluable field expertise that would increase the success of participatory city planning in post-conflict states.

32

The US Agency for International Developments new Bureau of Policy, Planning, and Learning (PPL) can mitigate this shortcoming. Established in 2010, the PPL is the strategic nucleus of USAID, infusing evidence and analysis into USAID policies, promoting innovation, and coordinating its resources and relationships with other aid partners, such as the MCC. 2 These resources include USAIDs eld expertise in navigating varied political and economic environments. It has also previously partnered with MCC in MCCs threshold aid programs. 3 USAID was instrumental in the implementation of agriculture and infrastructure themed threshold programs. 4 However, these partnerships occurred in countries that have self-initiated the reform process, rather than vulnerable, post-conict states. Despite these dierent experiences, the PPL and the MCC possess the capacities to bolster economic growth and political engagement, evaluated by transparent and robust metrics in post-conict states. ANALYSIS This initiative benets all stakeholders involved, utilizing their strengths and mitigating their weaknesses. Since its inception in 2004, MCC has consistently received praise for its evaluative criteria that eectively capture impact.5 Collected results are likewise captured in their Open Data Catalog that illustrates quality, scope, and accessibility. Accessible data would be invaluable in mitigating the challenges of participatory development initiatives, such as scalability and adaptability. Its ecacy can be increased if the MCC nds the right amount of citizen participation, an issue it has yet to address. Its emphasis on country ownership predisposes the MCC to a hands-o approach that can aect the sustainability of its funded initiatives. Better coordination with USAID could resolve this issue. USAID has developed a cadre of initiatives to foster accountability and transparent gov-

TALKING POINTS

Post-conflict states are breeding grounds for extremism, but they are also an opportunity for inclusive nation rebuilding that the US must facilitate to decrease the likelihood of extremism. Economic develop ment and political engagement are vital to stabilization of postconflict states. The capacities of the MCC and USAIDs PPL can foster these facets in an inclusive manner. Participatory city planning is the ideal environment to promote these forces, specifically the rebuilding of a states capital that is often the crux of political, economic, and cultural life in the state.

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ernance, coordinated by the PPL. Its knowledge of local sociocultural contexts and emerging civil society groups is invaluable. This knowledge will cultivate the benets of participatory city planning, such as strengthened capacity of local citizens and better-informed development strategies. However, there have been calls for reforms, including increased local ownership of initiatives and greater transparency. 6 This weakness of the PPL is the strength of the MCC. As such, the PPL will also reap benets, testing these reforms through a cooperative initiative. Lastly, a states citizens are engaged, rather than neglected, in the rebuilding of its political and economic spheres. Citizen engagement is paramount to the success of development programs, which have traditionally practiced a top-down approach, devoid of information about local power relations and needs that would hamper the progress of these development programs.7 ENDNOTES
1 The Millenium Challenge Corporation. About MCC. The MCC.gov. Accessed 28 November 2013, http://www.mcc. gov/pages/about. 2 USAID. Bureau for Policy, Planning, and Learning. USAID.org. Accessed 28 November 2013, http://www.usaid.gov/ who-we-are/organization/bureaus/bureau-policy-planning-and-learning. 3 Emerging Issues: The MCC Moving Forward. The Center for Global Development. Accessed 28 November 2013, http://www.cgdev.org/page/emerging-issues-mcc-moving-forward 4 Gitis, Julia. Partnering on the Ground: USAID and the Millennium Challenge Corporation. USAID.gov. November 8, 2011. Accessed 28 November 2013, http://blog.usaid.gov/2011/11/partnering-on-the-ground-usaid-and-mcc/. 5 Leo, Ben. How Open Are US Development Agencies? The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Center for Global Development, 24 October 2013. Accessed 28 November 2013, http://www.cgdev.org/blog/how-open-are-us-development-agencies-good-bad-and-ugly. 6 Carothers, Thomas. Eective U.S. Democracy Assistance Requires Reform at USAID. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. June 10, 2010. Accessed 28 November 2013, http://carnegieendowment.org/2010/06/10/eectiveu.s.-democracy-assistance-requires-reform-at-usaid/3w8c. 7 de Gramont, Diane. Rethinking Participatory Development: From Critique to Better Practice - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. http://carnegieendowment.org/2013/08/21/ rethinking-participatory-development-from-critique-to-better-practice/gm8q?reloadFlag=1 (accessed February 10, 2014).

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Next Steps
With the potential for this proposed initiative to marry organic civic engagement and sustainable development, USAIDs PPL and the MCC should focus on a countrys capital. A countrys capital is the nexus of its political sphere and also home to inuential cultural and economic forces that will redene a states post-conict identity. This opportunity for citizens to use their own agency to create and engage with the institutions that will shape the citys identity will attract traditionally marginalized citizens. Moreover, increased opportunities for economic development will incentivize engagement. USAIDs PPL should use its existing expertise and resources to coordinate with civil society institutions that will shape political engagement with increased local sociocultural awareness. In addition to providing the necessary capital, the MCC should conduct evaluations every ve years to monitor the ecacy and inclusivity of this proposed initiative. Further, they should publish these evaluations using their accessible open data catalog for best practice sharing to aid in further initiatives.

Sexual Exploitation and United Nations Peacekeeping: A Culture of Impunity

Erin Siela, Georgetown University

To combat the sexual assault of civilians by peacekeepers, the United Nations should update the 1990 Model Status of Mission Agreements to include a clause allowing for United Nations investigation and prosecution of allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse.
It is dicult to know exactly how many women, men, and children have experienced sexual assault at hands of the United Nations (UN) peacekeepers designated to protect them. In 2013 alone, 61 allegations of sexual exploitation were levied against peacekeepers.1 However, widespread underreporting conceals the true extent of the problem. In Cambodia, scholars estimate that UN peacekeepers fathered 25,000 children, illus-

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trating much higher rates of abuse than those reported.2 Common oenses include sexual harassment, soliciting brothels, and propositioning children to exchange sex for food.3 Though the sexual abuse problem in the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) has been widespread for many years, the UN has only recently made an eort to address the issue. In 2003, the UN created a zero tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse. Although this seems like a strong stance, due to the Status of Mission agreements signed by member states, the policy only is enforced if the member states military decides to investigate the charges. 4 Few cases are tried, and peacekeepers often receive lenient sentences. The DPKO has also implemented gender mainstreaming, which works to include women in peacekeeping missions, thereby changing the culture of peacekeeping, and hopefully reducing sexual violence.5 This approach aims to undermine some of the cultural and social biases surrounding women, gender, and sexual violence that peacekeepers carry with them on their missions.6 ANALYSIS The UNs zero tolerance policy is currently an empty threat; even if the UN has evidence of sexual abuse by a peacekeeper, it has little recourse. This lack of accountability has far-ranging impacts on the legitimacy and effectiveness of peacekeeping missions. First, reporting and accounting of sexual violence suers as a result of the immunity clause, and little ocial data is collected.7 In addition, sexual abuse destroys the legitimacy of peacekeeping missions. Peacekeepers are meant to protect civilians from violence, and in order to do so they must have both good standing in communities and the populations trust. Sexual exploitation undermines this relationship and hinders

KEY FACTS

While statistics suffer from underreporting, more than 60 allegations of sexual violence have been brought against peacekeepers in 2013 alone. 10 Rates of sex trafficking and prostitution increase significantly with the arrival of peacekeepers. The number of prostitutes in Cambodia increased from 6,000 to 25,000 during the DPKO mission. 11

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the ability of peacekeepers to protect civilians. Finally, peacekeepers often turn a blind eye to sexual abuse perpetrated by citizens, further exacerbating the problem. 8
1 Statistics: Allegations for All Categories of Personnel Per Year (Sexual Exploitation and Abuse). United Nations Conduct and Discipline Unit. Accessed November 17, 2013, http://cdu.unlb.org/Statistics/ AllegationsbyCategoryofPersonnelSexualExploitationandAbuse/AllegationsforAllCategoriesofPersonnelPerYearSexualExploitationandAbuse.aspx 2 Ndulo, Muna. The United Nations Responses to the Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Women and Girls by Peacekeepers During Peacekeeping Missions. Cornell Law Faculty Publications, Paper 59 (2009): 127-161, pg. 157. 3 Natalie Novick, When those meant to keep the peace commit sexualized violence, Women Under Siege, May 25, 2012. Accessed November 17, 2013, http://www.womenundersiegeproject.org/blog/entry/when-those-meant-tokeep-the-peace-commit-sexualized-violence. 4 Novick. When those meant to keep the peace commit sexualized violence. 5 Dharmapuri, Sahana. Just Add Women and Stir? The US Army War College Quarterly Parameters, 41 (2011): 56-70, pg. 65. 6 Novick, When those meant to keep the peace commit sexualized violence. 7 Ibid. 8 Ibid. 9 Spencer, Sarah. Making Peace: Preventing and Responding to Sexual Exploitation by United Nations Peacekeepers. Journal of Public and International Aairs, 16, (2005): 168-181, pg. 177. 10 Statistics: Allegations for All Categories of Personnel Per Year (Sexual Exploitation and Abuse). 11 Sexual Exploitation and Abuse of Children by Aid Workers and Peacekeepers. Save the Children. December 2009. Accessed November 17, 2013, http:// www.savethechildren.org.uk/sites/default/les/docs/Policy_Brief_-_Sexual_Exploitatiting_and_Abuse_1.pdf. 12 Spencer. Making Peace: Preventing and Responding to Sexual Exploitation by United Nations Peacekeepers. pg. 177. 13 Novick. When those meant to keep the peace commit sexualized violence.

TALKING POINTS

The UNs zero tolerance policy is currently ineffective: the most severe punishment that the UN can administer to a peacekeeper is repatriation. 12 The Status of Mission Agreement leaves punishment to member states, which in most cases do not investigate claims, and, if they do, they give lenient sentences. In 2011, five Pakistani peacekeepers were sentenced to just one year in jail after gang raping a 14year-old boy. 13

Next Steps
Despite the UNs best eorts, lack of accountability persists in peacekeeping operations. Therefore, the UN should reform the 1990 Model for the Status of Mission Agreements to allow for UN prosecution of sexual violence by peacekeepers.9 Next, the UN should negotiate new Status of Mission Agreements with nations currently deploying peacekeeping forces to incorporate these changes. In addition, the UN Security Council should, working with the DPKO and the Oce of Internal Oversight Services, establish a court in the form of an International Criminal Tribunal to try accused peacekeepers. By including a clause allowing for UN prosecution of sexual exploitation and abuse allegations, both the zero-tolerance policy and the gender mainstreaming approach will be made more eective.

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