Suchergebnisse

The international image of Sweden is one of a small, democratic and peace-loving country without the moral burden of a colonial past. This image has been reproduced in Swedish government policy as well as in most historical accounts. However, in this Current African Issues publication, the notion that "Sweden lacks a colonial past in Africa" is brought into question. The Berlin Conference 1884-85 is perhaps the most infamous political event in the history of European domination of Africa. At the conference, the rules for colonisation of Africa were agreed upon among a handful of white men. With the blessing of King Oscar II, the united kingdoms of Sweden-Norway participated in the Berlin conference, ratified the resulting convention and signed a trade agreement with King Leopold's International Congo Association. Thereafter, hundreds of Swedish militaries, seamen and missionaries took an active part in the colonial project in the Congo. What was Sweden-Norway really doing at the Berlin Conference and in the ensuing Scramble for Africa? Is it now time to re-assess Swedish identity in relation to Africa, an identity so far centered on colonial innocence? ; QC 20140626 ; Sweden and the Origins of Natural Resources Colonialism

The image of Sweden is one of a small, democratic and peace-loving country without the moral burden of a colonial past. However, in this Current African Issues publication, the notion that Sweden lacks a colonial past in Africa is brought into question. At the Berlin Conference 1884–85, the rules for colonisation of Africa were agreed upon among a handful of white men. With the blessing of King Oscar II, the united kingdoms of Sweden-Norway participated in the Berlin conference, ratified the resulting convention and signed a trade agreement with King Leopold's International Congo Association. Thereafter, hundreds of Swedish militaries, seamen and missionaries took an active part in the brutal colonial project in the Congo. What was Sweden-Norway really doing at the Berlin Conference and in the ensuing Scramble for Africa? Is it now time to re-assess Swedish identity in relation to Africa, an identity so far centered on colonial innocence? Dr DAVID NILSSON is a researcher at the Division of History of Science, Technology and Environment, Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden. His research focuses on global longterm perspectives on sustainable development in Africa. ; CONTENTS: The scramble for Africa from a Nordic perspective -- The United Kingdoms of Sweden-Norway in the run-up to Berlin -- The Berlin Conference from the perspective of Sweden-Norway -- Discussion: What was Sweden doing in Berlin? -- Conclusions: a "new" colonial past for Sweden? -- Literature -- Appendices ; Sweden and the Origins of Natural Resources Colonialism

This licentiate thesis describes and analyses the modern history of the socio-technical systems for urban water supply and sanitation in East Africa with focus on Uganda and Kenya. The key objective of the thesis is to evaluate to what extent the historic processes frame and influence the water and sanitation services sectors in these countries today. The theoretical approach combines the Large Technical Systems approach from the discipline of History of Technology with New Institutional Economics. Throughout, urban water and sanitation service systems are regarded as socio-technical systems, where institutions, organisation and technology all interact. The thesis consists of three separate articles and a synthesis in the form of a framework narrative. The first article provides a discussion of the theoretical framework with special focus on the application of Public Goods theory to urban water and sanitation. The second article describes the establishment of the large-scale systems for water supply and sanitation in Kampala, Uganda in the period 1920-1950. The third article focuses on the politics of urban water supply in Kenya with emphasis on the period 1900-1990. The main findings in this thesis are that the socio-technical systems for urban water and sanitation evolve over long periods of time and are associated with inertia that makes these systems change slowly. The systems were established in the colonial period to mainly respond to the needs and preferences of a wealthy minority and a technological paradigm evolved based on capital-intensive and large-scale technology. Attempts to expand services to all citizens in the post-colonial period under this paradigm were not sustainable due to changes in the social, political and economic environment while incentives for technological change were largely absent. History thus frames decisions in the public sphere even today, through technological and institutional inertia. Knowing the history of these socio-technical systems is therefore important, in order to ...

Great progress has been noted in Burkina Faso since the 1990s in terms of access to safe drinking water. Some – but much smaller – progress can also be seen in access to adequate sanitation. When using the WHO/UNICEF JMP definitions of coverage of improved water supply, then Burkina Faso has already met the MDG targets on water. The access to sanitation is still very low; between 11% and 20% depending on whether one uses the national definitions or the JMP definitions. There is thus progressive realisation of the rights to water and sanitation although progress on sanitation is non-satisfactory. The obligations of the State for water and sanitation are clearly stated in Burkina Faso through international conventions and national legislation. The four human rights principles of accountability, transparency, participation and non-discrimination are to a varying extent integrated in the formal institutions, organisation and operations of the sector. However, there are serious weaknesses in how they are practically implemented. Accountability is a key problem, especially at regional and national level. Participatory mechanisms exist at local level but participation of women and other marginalised groups remain weak in many places and key decisions are made at other levels, jeopardizing the meaningfulness of participation where it occurs. While most information is open to the public it does not mean it is easily accessible. Mechanisms for non-discrimination e.g. in budgeting can be strengthened using already existing data on inequity. Burkina Faso has in several aspects met and overshot international normative criteria (minimum standards) of human rights to WSS. While more ambitious normative criteria are commendable in the long run, it is also more costly and thus the rate of realisation will be slower. A lower and more flexible norm could speed up the realisation of rights especially related to sanitation. On the whole, significant opportunities exist for realising the right to water and sanitation and the use of ...