Working Papers

​Respecting her international obligations? Analyzing Rwanda’s 2014 Law Relating to Refugees

Frank Ahimbisibwe
Working paper 2023.06

Rwanda enacted its first laws regarding refugees in 1966 and 1984, primarily for Rwandan refugees returning from exile, but later developed comprehensive legislation in 2001 and 2006 to address refugees from other countries, ultimately passing the Law Relating to Refugees in May 2014, aligning with international and regional obligations, though some gaps remain in addressing issues like environmental refugees, appeals mechanisms, and the role of immigration authorities in asylum applications.

​IGAD and forced migration response in the Horn of Africa: prospects and obstacles​

Frank Ahimbisibwe and Cedric M. Nkiko
Working paper 2023.05

The paper discusses how the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has taken on a significant role in responding to forced migration in the Horn of Africa, aligning with international frameworks, but faces challenges like the non-legally binding nature of its declarations, capacity gaps, and limited member state consultations, which could threaten its efforts in addressing forced migration.

​Driving change in the Democratic Republic of Congo: an initial mapping of participation in mineral regulation and responsible sourcing​

Sarah Katz-Lavigne, Hadassah Arian, Raphaël Deberdt and Sara Geenen
Working paper 2023.04

This working paper provides an overview of the numerous ethical supply chain initiatives implemented in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to address human rights concerns and conflict-related issues associated with mineral extraction, particularly focusing on tin, tantalum, tungsten, gold, copper, and cobalt, with a theoretical emphasis on the participation of small-scale producers in transnational mineral supply chain initiatives.

​Effective Altruism: doing transhumanism better

Mollie Gleiberman
Working paper 2023.03

This paper explores the idea that Effective Altruism is being used as a vehicle to promote transhumanism as the natural progression of global aid and development, by mainstreaming it through its rebranding as a humanitarian effort and embedding it within the EA movement.

North-South academic partnership as inherent ‘frictions’: what does this mean for IOB?​

Kristof Titeca
Working paper 2023.02

The paper explores how global inequalities impact North-South academic partnerships and identifies four frictions affecting such partnerships: asymmetries, tension between academic and developmental goals, balancing international standards and local needs, and differing political economies. It also reflects on how these frictions affect IOB's relations with its partner institutes and suggests ways to reduce inequalities.

​The added value of a collaborative, multi-perspective team approach to multi-country evaluations

Nash Tysmans, Sara Dewachter, Nathalie Holvoet, et al. 
Working paper 2023.01

Using a collaborative, multi-perspective team approach to evaluate the impact of a development studies’ programme is beneficial for learning, accountability, and the evaluation process itself. 

The politics of football in Kinshasa: power, profit and protest

Kristof Titeca and Albert Malukisa Nkuku
Working paper 2022.07

This paper discusses the politics of football in Kinshasa, with a particular focus on the ways this manifested itself during the regime of Joseph Kabila. 

​Is Development Studies leaving no one behind? Insights from an alumni study of three Belgian international master’s programs in development studies​

Sara Dewachter, Mariluz Salgado, Nathalie Holvoet, Eva Wuyts and Wanda Casten
Working paper 2022.06

This paper examines whether master’s in development studies are adhering to the ‘leaving no one behind’ pledge of the SDGs. 

InforMining. An in-depth study of informalization in global gold production  (EN | FR | ES)​

Eugenia Robles Mengoa, Boris Verbrugge, Sara Geenen, Divin-Luc Bikubanya, Beverly Besmanos and Rafael López Valverde
Working papers 2022.03 - 2022.05

This series of papers is part of the project ‘InForMining. An in-depth study of informalization in global gold production’ funded by the Flemish Research Foundation (FWO). The project has two main objectives: (1) to study informalization processes in the global gold production system and (2) to study their effects on workers. We studied the question of informal labour in mining areas in three countries across three continents: Peru in Latin America, the Philippines in Asia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in Africa.

The gender-remittances nexus and the impact of COVID-19

Catherine Van den bosch and George Mavrotas
Working paper 2022.02

Remittances are an important source of development finance, particularly in recent years due also to increased migration flows at global level. The recent COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a sudden drop of remittances and an alarming aspect of the pandemic is that it particularly affected female migrants. Despite the importance of gender for remittance sending and usage, research about international migration and remittances insufficiently takes into account its role. Against this background, the aim of this paper is to partially fill this gap in the relevant literature

The impact of governance and capital flows on food and nutrition security and undernourishment: further evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa​

Danny Cassimon, Olusegun Fadare and George Mavrotas
Working paper 2022.01

The Sustainable Development Goal 2 to “end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture” has received a lot of attention in recent years as part of the 2030 Agenda. At the same time, there exists a complex interaction between institutions, capital flows, and food and nutrition security. In this paper we estimate a series of dynamic panel data models to examine the impact of governance quality and capital flows (in the form of ODA, FDI, Portfolio Equity and Remittances) on food security, nutrition security and undernourishment by using panel data for 25 SSA countries over the period 1996 to 2018.

Transformations dans l'exploitation de l'or au Sud-Kivu, RD Congo

​Série de publications
Working papers 2021.04-2021.10

Cette série de working papers est le produit de deux projets de recherche, et d’une équipe de chercheurs. Les recherches ont été conçues comme une recherche collaborative, avec une implication active des membres dans toutes les étapes de la recherche, de la conception jusqu’à l’écriture.

• 1. Transformations technologiques et régimes de travail dans l’EMAPE au Sud-Kivu, RDC. Dunia Kabunga, Philippe & Geenen, Sara
• 2. Apprivoiser l’eau et l’air: la lutte contre les fuites des technologies dans l’EMAPE au Sud-Kivu, RDC. Marijsse, Simon & Munga Mwisha, Thierry
• 3. Technologies (ir)responsables dans l’orpaillage: quels risques pour l’environnement et la santé? Cas de Kamituga et Misisi, RDC. Nkuba, Bossissi; Zahinda Mugisho, Franck & Muhanzi Aganze, Gabriel
• 4. Celles qui “vieillissent trop vite”: la santé des femmes dans les mines de Kamituga, RDC. Geenen, Sara; Kabilambali, Gracia; Mussa Bashizi, Fiz & Vanlerberghe, Elisa
• 5. Productivité et profitabilité: une analyse comparative basée sur l’impact de la mécanisation dans l’EMAPE de l’or en RDC. Bikubanya, Divin-Luc & Radley, Ben
• 6. Taxation des technologies dans l’EMAPE: contribution à l’économie locale et à la province du Sud-Kivu, RDC. Mushagalusa Buhendwa, Ancert; Igugu, Olivier & Munga Mwisha, Thierry
• 7. La fièvre de l’or: santé et environnement dans les mines d’or de Kamituga, RDC

Decolonization: where and how does it fit at IOB?

Mollie Gleiberman
Working paper 2021.03

This paper is part of a wider effort IOB initiated last year – under the mandate of the previous Bureau of IOB - to question its “DNA” in view of rethinking its academic activities, particularly in the field of education.

​Towards HIPC 2.0? Lessons from past debt relief initiatives for addressing current debt problems

Dennis Essers and Danny Cassimon
Working paper 2021.02

When the COVID-19 pandemic added to already elevated debt vulnerabilities in low-income countries, the G20 launched the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) and the Common Framework for Debt Treatments beyond the DSSI, which have provided limited relief so far. For several countries, deeper and more wide-ranging debt treatments will likely be needed to secure future debt sustainability. This paper looks at the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, the largest and most comprehensive debt relief effort for low-income countries to date, as a potential reference point for the 2020s.

​Industrie minière et développement local en RDC: focus sur l’emploi dans les sous-traitances​

Sara Geenen, Anuarite Bashizi, Elie Lunanga, Philippe Dunia Kabunga, Alain Ntibonera Mushagalusa, Eustache Kuliumbwa and Joseph Bahati Mukulu
Working paper 2021.01

Ce rapport s'inscrit dans le cadre d'un projet financé par le Fonds Scientifique Flamand (FWO) qui a été initié en 2017 et clôturé en 2019. Le projet était initié et coordonné par prof. Sara Geenen, affiliée à l’ Institut de Politique de Développement (IOB) de l’ Université d’Anvers en Belgique et au Centre d’Expertise en Gestion Minière (CEGEMI) de l’Université Catholique de Bukavu en République Démocratique du Congo.

​The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in the Democratic Republic of Congo: (un)invited guests?​

Kristof Titeca
Working paper 2020.07

This analysis focuses on a consistent claim which is made among many actors in the DRC: that the LRA was invited, and supported, by the Congolese authorities. This analysis reviews this claim, by zooming in on the available evidence, such as the circumstances in which the rebel group arrived in the country. 

Flagged and tagged by ITSCI: the potential and risks of non-state supply chain regulation

Hester Postma and Sara Geenen
Working paper 2020.06

This paper reports on a case study of the most widely used traceability and due diligence programme for 3T minerals (tin, tungsten and tantalum), the International Tin Supply Chain Initiative (ITSCI) Programme for Responsible Mineral Supply Chains). It studies the concrete implementation of the programme in Rwanda, and addresses the key question whether and how this non-state actor (in this case a non-profit organization implementing a due diligence programme) can hold private actors (in this case upstream supply chain actors that are members of the programme) to account.

The RPF did it: a fresh look at the 1994 plane attack that ignited genocide in Rwanda

Filip Reyntjens
Working paper 2020.05

On July 3, 2020 the investigating chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal upheld the December 21, 2018 decision of the investigating judges Herbaut and Poux, dismissing, for lack of sufficient evidence, the case regarding the missile attack, on April 6, 1994, against the plane of Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana. This decision meant the abandonment of proceedings against nine suspects close to the current RwandanPresident, Paul Kagame.

Retour sur l’attentat de Kigali, l’étincelle qui a allumé le feu du génocide

Filip Reyntjens
Working paper 2020.04

Le 3 juillet dernier, la chambre d’instruction de la cour d’appel de Paris a confirmé le non-lieu prononcé le 21 décembre 2018 par les juges d’instruction Herbaut et Poux dans l’affaire de l’attentat, le 6 avril 1994, contre l’avion du président rwandais Juvénal Habyarimana. Cette décision signifie l’abandon des poursuites engagées contre neuf proches de l’actuel président rwandais, Paul Kagame.

Covid-19 vs. Ebola: impact on households and SMEs in Nord Kivu, DR Congo

Sébastien Desbureaux, Audacieux Kaota, Elie Lunanga, Nik Stoop, Marijke Verpoorten
Working paper 2020.03

Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is currently facing two major infectious disease outbreaks: Covid-19 and Ebola Virus Disease. The results in this paper show that different infectious disease outbreaks can have very different effects, largely unrelated to case numbers of the disease.

The 2006 Refugees Act in Uganda: between law and practice

Frank Ahimbisibwe
Working paper 2020.02

Uganda hosts refugees and asylum seekers from neighboring countries and the region. Uganda passed the Refugees Act in 2006 which has been praised world wide as being a progressive law that meets international protection standards. However, there is a discrepancy between the provisions of the Act and the country’s practice.

Determinants of inter-regional financial inclusion heterogeneities in the Philippines

Je-Al Burguillos, Danny Casimon
Working paper 2020.01

This study explores the key factors that affected the deepening of financial inclusion across the 17 regions of the Philippines from 2013-2017.

Does access to international capital markets affect investment dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa?

Christian Senga, Danny Cassimon and Thomas Kigabo
Working paper 2019.05

This study investigates the influence of government borrowing through international capital markets on investment dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). 

Why Sub-Saharan African Countries only get to Tax the Crumbs of Corporate Synergy Profits? A Content Analysis of the Revised Transactional Profit Split Method unravelling Unequal Power in Global Tax Governance

Cassandra Vet, Danny Cassimon and Anne Van de Vijver
Working paper 2019.04

It is widely recognized that international corporate taxation holds a distributional bias towards advanced economies and that developing countries only play a marginal role in tax governance-making. 

In utero seasonal food insecurity and cognitive development Evidence on gender imbalances from Ethiopia

Habtamu Beshir and Jean-François Maystadt
Working paper 2019.03

Food insecurity is pervasive and highly seasonal in Ethiopia. In this study, we investigate the effect of seasonal food insecurity on child development. 

La réforme électorale au Burundi: un commentaire du projet de Code électoral

Françoise Toyi et Stef Vandeginste
Working paper 2019.02

Après la réforme constitutionnelle du 7 juin 2018, le Burundi s’apprête à une réforme de sa législation électorale en vue des élections générales de 2020. En janvier 2019, le Conseil des Ministres a adopté un projet de loi portant révision du Code électoral du 3 juin 2014. Les auteurs mettent l’accent sur la conformité du projet de loi avec la Constitution du 7 juin 2018, avec les traités internationaux en matière des droits de l’homme qu’a ratifiés le Burundi et avec l’Accord d’Arusha pour la Paix et la Réconciliation au Burundi du 28 août 2000.

​Télécharger l'annexe ici (pdf)

Sub-Saharan Migrants' life conditions in Morocco in light of migration policy changes

Imane Bendra
Working paper 2019.01

For years, Morocco’s migration policy has adopted a security approach towards irregular migration through the containment, mistreatment and deportation of migrants. However, on 9 September 2013 the government announced a new National Strategy for Immigration and Asylum (NSIA). The article looks at the reasons behind the change in Morocco’s migration policy.