The specific task of this thesis is to illustrate the complexity of a cooperation between civilian and military entities by examining Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) and their role as an actor among others in the field in a war-torn Afghanistan. By using counterinsurgency strategy as an analytical framework it has been possible to examine the civilian and military contexts closer. Underlying structures concerning the norms and interpretation of reality of the PRTs has been partly revealed. Studies of the PRTs as one significant bearers of "the comprehensive approach", which includes a holistic approach regarding the use of civilian and military capabilities, new conclusions can be drawn on whether a general civil-military approach can be a part of the solution for current and future conflicts. Based on the counterinsurgency strategy, the author has identified three themes as bearing and thus appears through the thesis as a foundation. These are Coordination, Development and Security. The empirical material is filtered through these themes as they are central to counterinsurgency and there by affect the PRT-concept. This study leads to five conclusions regarding the integration of the civilian and military contexts. In summary the conclusions states that it seems to be no starting points for creating a robust culture for cooperation. The absence of common objectives regarding operation, competition between different narratives as well as parallel processes of development and security risks causing a counterproductive outcome. A single resonance must be allowed to emerge from a convergence of civil and military powers as to what should be the civilmilitary mission. With mutual trust and dialogue improved conditions can be shaped to build common ground and goals for what needs to be done in countries with similar problems like Afghanistan.

Submitted by Elesbão Santiago Neto (neto10uepb@cche.uepb.edu.br) on 2016-09-01T19:31:25Z No. of bitstreams: 1 PDF - Daniel Castanheira do Amaral Gonçalves.pdf: 2102409 bytes, checksum: 9f633fb3db4954105bbd0f091a35df9c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-01T19:31:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 PDF - Daniel Castanheira do Amaral Gonçalves.pdf: 2102409 bytes, checksum: 9f633fb3db4954105bbd0f091a35df9c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-05-17 / Capes / This study aims to analyze the impacts of the UN’s integration policies over the humanitarian space, based on the High Commissioner of the United Nations for Refugees (UNHCR). It presents the development of such policies, exposing it as a direct result of a process of reform that sought to bring more coherence to the UN system’s action in favor of peace-building, intending to avoid the repetition of failures such as Rwanda and Srebrenica, which occurred during the 1990s peace operations. It analyzes, furthermore, the relation between the UNHCR’s mandate and the humanitarian space, exposing that the concept of the later, as used by the agency and by other humanitarian actors, favors a space destined to humanitarian action promoted by humanitarian actors in a neutral, impartial and absent form and with political influence. Nevertheless, questioning the possibility of completely divorcing the humanitarian action from politics, it is proposed that the humanitarian space be understood as an arena in which several actors negotiate its interests, world perspectives and operational objectives. This concept would allow to conciliate the heterogeneous nature of the humanitarian system and better understand not only the operational reality of humanitarian action, but also the threats to the humanitarian space represented by the integration policy. To explain and analyze these threats, it is used the five areas of humanitarian space - as identified by the United Nations Integration Steering Group - to assess how integration affects the humanitarian space: humanitarian security; humanitarian access; engagement with non-state armed actors; perceptions of humanitarian actors; and humanitarian advocacy. At the end, an analyses is made of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), a mission that since its genesis was structured under the precepts of integration, with the purpose of assess the impacts of integration on the humanitarian space in the Liberian using the five areas aforementioned. It attempts, therefore, to analyze if the UN integrated missions can expand the humanitarian space for UNHCR. It is, therefore, a documentary analysis - from UNHCR authored files - and a field study, in which data was collected through semi-structured interviews conducted with six UNHCR officers who served in Liberia and were interviewed at March 2015. It was used, moreover, scientific articles, books and academic dissertations obtained through electronic and bibliographic sources. It was concluded that in Liberia the integrated mission had a positive impact on the humanitarian space and that it facilitated the humanitarian action. It is proposed, by the end, that the use of the concept of the humanitarian space as an arena and the strategic engagement promoted by the humanitarian actors with political and military actors would allow humanitarian agencies to offer a stronger protection for those who benefit from their actions. Additionally, it would also better protect humanitarian interests in face of perceived threats that integration may represent to the humanitarian space / Sistema ONU em benefício da consolidação da paz, com o intuito de evitar-se a repetição de falhas como as de Ruanda e Srebrenica, ocorridas nas operações de paz dos 1990. Analisa-se, ademais, a relação do mandato do ACNUR com o espaço humanitário, expondo que o conceito deste espaço utilizado pela agência, bem como por outros atores humanitários, privilegia um espaço destinado à ação humanitária prestada por atores humanitários de forma neutra, imparcial e sem influências políticas. No entanto, questionando-se a possibilidade de se divorciar integralmente a ação humanitária da política, propõe-se que o espaço humanitário seja entendido como uma arena, na qual diversos atores negociam interesses, perspectivas de mundo e objetivos operacionais. Este conceito permitiria conciliar a realidade heterogênea do sistema humanitário e compreender melhor não apenas a realidade operacional da ação humanitária, mas também as ameaças ao espaço humanitário representadas pela política de integração. Para a explicação e análise destas ameaças, utilizam-se as cinco áreas do espaço humanitário - conforme identificadas pelo Grupo das Nações Unidas de Direção da Integração - para avaliar como a integração ameaçaria o espaço humanitário: a segurança dos atores humanitários; o acesso humanitário; a interação com atores armados não-estatais; as percepções dos atores humanitários por atores locais; e a advocacia humanitária. Faz-se, ao fim, um estudo da Missão das Nações Unidas na Libéria (UNMIL), operação de paz estruturada desde sua gênese sob os preceitos da integração, com o propósito de analisar o impacto da integração no espaço humanitário dentro do contexto liberiano, utilizando as cinco áreas anteriormente identificadas. Intenta-se, deste modo, analisar se as missões integradas da ONU permitem expandir o espaço humanitário para o ACNUR. Trata-se, portanto, de um estudo de análise documental - em arquivos de autoria do ACNUR - e de um estudo de campo, no qual se colheram dados por meio de entrevistas semi-dirigidas feitas com funcionários do ACNUR que atuaram na Libéria e que foram entrevistados em março de 2015. Utilizaram-se, ainda, artigos científicos, livros e dissertações acadêmicas obtidas por meio de fontes eletrônicas e bibliográficas. Conclui-se que, na Libéria, a missão integrada teve um impacto positivo no espaço humanitário e facilitou a ação humanitária. Propõem-se, ao final, que o uso do conceito de espaço humanitário como arena e o engajamento estratégico por parte dos atores humanitários com atores políticos e militares permitiriam às agências humanitárias oferecer maior proteção aos beneficiários de suas ações, bem como melhor defender os interesses humanitários em face das ameaças percebidas que a integração representaria ao espaço humanitário.

The humanitarian space in the European Union is shrinking, causing unnecessary suffering and preventable deaths, or is it? Humanitarian organisations are calling on the respect of principled humanitarian aid, protection of humanitarian workers and unhindered access to the affected population namely, undocumented asylum seekers.They are blaming the prioritisation of national security interests over humanitarian concerns as well as the politicisation of aid for the shrinking humanitarian space. In doing so, humanitarian organisations are becoming the primary obstacle in their appeal for a greater humanitarian space by misinterpreting it as a borderless, apolitical arena governed by supra-national laws. Through a single case study of the humanitarian border in the EU, this study seeks to analyse to what extent the humanitarian space in the EU is really shrinking. The three-fold enclosed humanitarian pyramid theoretically guides the critical analysis of the qualities and virtues that make up the humanitarian space as constructed in the humanitarian arena. Furthermore, acts of humanity are clearly defined as either belonging to the humanitarian or civic space, thereby further enforcing the borders of the humanitarian space. This study finds that the humanitarian space as the humanitarian pyramid is unable to shrink, it is built to overcome obstacles and external pressures. As it cannot shrink, so it cannot grow; it is either complete orabsent. Originally, the humanitarian space debate was employed to promote safe and accessible humanitarian assistance and protection for affected populations. Today, the discourse is employed by humanitarian organisations to promote the agency space while the needs of rights-based individuals seeking assistance and protection has become secondary. The affected population is rendered invisible through a crisis narrative, only to be made visible through a greater humanitarian space. Humanitarian organisations need to abandon false narratives of apolitical and borderless ideals,especially when working within violent borders, and train on political literacy to improve cooperation with states.

Submitted by Elesbão Santiago Neto (neto10uepb@cche.uepb.edu.br) on 2018-04-13T19:19:45Z No. of bitstreams: 1 PDF - Daniel Castanheira do Amaral Gonçalves.pdf: 64867867 bytes, checksum: aec28662296c219afd8550ddf11ca730 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-04-13T19:19:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 PDF - Daniel Castanheira do Amaral Gonçalves.pdf: 64867867 bytes, checksum: aec28662296c219afd8550ddf11ca730 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-07-17 / CAPES / This study aims to analyze the impacts of the UN’s integration policies over the humanitarian space, based on the High Commissioner of the United Nations for Refugees (UNHCR). It presents the development of such policies, exposing it as a direct result of a process of reform that sought to bring more coherence to the UN system’s action in favor of peace-building, intending to avoid the repetition of failures such as Rwanda and Srebrenica, which occurred during the 1990s peace operations. It analyzes, furthermore, the relation between the UNHCR’s mandate and the humanitarian space, exposing that the concept of the later, as used by the agency and by other humanitarian actors, favors a space destined to humanitarian action promoted by humanitarian actors in a neutral, impartial and absent form and with political influence. Nevertheless, questioning the possibility of completely divorcing the humanitarian action from politics, it is proposed that the humanitarian space be understood as an arena in which several actors negotiate its interests, world perspectives and operational objectives. This concept would allow to conciliate the heterogeneous nature of the humanitarian system and better understand not only the operational reality of humanitarian action, but also the threats to the humanitarian space represented by the integration policy. To explain and analyze these threats, it is used the five areas of humanitarian space - as identified by the United Nations Integration Steering Group - to assess how integration affects the humanitarian space: humanitarian security; humanitarian access; engagement with non-state armed actors; perceptions of humanitarian actors; and humanitarian advocacy. At the end, an analyses is made of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), a mission that since its genesis was structured under the precepts of integration, with the purpose of assess the impacts of integration on the humanitarian space in the Liberian using the five areas aforementioned. It attempts, therefore, to analyze if the UN integrated missions can expand the humanitarian space for UNHCR. It is, therefore, a documentary analysis - from UNHCR authored files - and a field study, in which data was collected through semi-structured interviews conducted with six UNHCR officers who served in Liberia and were interviewed at March 2015. It was used, moreover, scientific articles, books and academic dissertations obtained through electronic and bibliographic sources. It was concluded that in Liberia the integrated mission had a positive impact on the humanitarian space and that it facilitated the humanitarian action. It is proposed, by the end, that the use of the concept of the humanitarian space as an arena and the strategic engagement promoted by the humanitarian actors with political and military actors would allow humanitarian agencies to offer a stronger protection for those who benefit from their actions. Additionally, it would also better protect humanitarian interests in face of perceived threats that integration may represent to the humanitarian space. / O presente trabalho se propõe a analisar os impactos da política de integração da ONU sobre o espaço humanitário, tomando como base o Alto Comissariado das Nações Unidas para Refugiados (ACNUR). Apresenta-se o desenvolvimento da política, expondo-a como resultado direto de um processo de reforma que buscou trazer mais coerência para as ações do Sistema ONU em benefício da consolidação da paz, com o intuito de evitar-se a repetição de falhas como as de Ruanda e Srebrenica, ocorridas nas operações de paz dos 1990. Analisa-se, ademais, a relação do mandato do ACNUR com o espaço humanitário, expondo que o conceito deste espaço utilizado pela agência, bem como por outros atores humanitários, privilegia um espaço destinado à ação humanitária prestada por atores humanitários de forma neutra, imparcial e sem influências políticas. No entanto, questionando-se a possibilidade de se divorciar integralmente a ação humanitária da política, propõe-se que o espaço humanitário seja entendido como uma arena, na qual diversos atores negociam interesses, perspectivas de mundo e objetivos operacionais. Este conceito permitiria conciliar a realidade heterogênea do sistema humanitário e compreender melhor não apenas a realidade operacional da ação humanitária, mas também as ameaças ao espaço humanitário representadas pela política de integração. Para a explicação e análise destas ameaças, utilizam-se as cinco áreas do espaço humanitário - conforme identificadas pelo Grupo das Nações Unidas de Direção da Integração - para avaliar como a integração ameaçaria o espaço humanitário: a segurança dos atores humanitários; o acesso humanitário; a interação com atores armados não-estatais; as percepções dos atores humanitários por atores locais; e a advocacia humanitária. Faz-se, ao fim, um estudo da Missão das Nações Unidas na Libéria (UNMIL), operação de paz estruturada desde sua gênese sob os preceitos da integração, com o propósito de analisar o impacto da integração no espaço humanitário dentro do contexto liberiano, utilizando as cinco áreas anteriormente identificadas. Intenta-se, deste modo, analisar se as missões integradas da ONU permitem expandir o espaço humanitário para o ACNUR. Trata-se, portanto, de um estudo de análise documental - em arquivos de autoria do ACNUR - e de um estudo de campo, no qual se colheram dados por meio de entrevistas semi-dirigidas feitas com funcionários do ACNUR que atuaram na Libéria e que foram entrevistados em março de 2015. Utilizaram-se, ainda, artigos científicos, livros e dissertações acadêmicas obtidas por meio de fontes eletrônicas e bibliográficas. Conclui-se que, na Libéria, a missão integrada teve um impacto positivo no espaço humanitário e facilitou a ação humanitária. Propõem-se, ao final, que o uso do conceito de espaço humanitário como arena e o engajamento estratégico por parte dos atores humanitários com atores políticos e militares permitiriam às agências humanitárias oferecer maior proteção aos beneficiários de suas ações, bem como melhor defender os interesses humanitários em face das ameaças percebidas que a integração representaria ao espaço humanitário.

In January 2023, the newly elected right-wing government led by Giorgio Meloni approved Decree-Law No. 1/2023 which restricts the work of civil Search and Rescue (SAR) organizations, with the aim to reduce the flow of people reaching the country's shores. Simultaneously, SAR organizations claimed that the Italian government started to deploy a policy of allocating distant ports to the NGO ships for the disembarkation of survivors. This thesis aims to analyse this new twofold approach towards civil sea rescue activities in the Central Mediterranean to answer the question of how it impacts the work of civil SAR organizations. For this purpose, a mixed-methods approach that joins quantitative and qualitative methods is deployed. The quantitative analysis of this thesis draws upon rescue data provided by SAR NGOs, as well as on press reports to understand the impact of the new approach on the disembarkation of survivors and movements of ships. To gain a deeper understanding of the impact on the rescue dynamics in the Mediterranean Sea, the qualitative analysis draws upon the results of semi-structured interviews conducted with staff of civil SAR organizations. In the course of this thesis, I argue that the new Italian approach falls into a larger trend of obstructing the work of SAR NGOs, deployed by the Italian government since the start of the de-governmentalisation of SAR activities in the Central Mediterranean in 2014. While the distant port policy leads to obstruction of SAR activities by delaying the disembarkation of survivors, Decree-Law No. 1/2023 falls into a wider strategy of criminalisation of civil SAR activities. I furthermore argue, that it is the interplay of the two newly introduced policies mentioned above that leads to severe obstruction of civil SAR activities. Finally, I engage theories about humanitarian space to describe the obstruction of civil SAR activities as the shrinking of the humanitarian space in the Mediterranean Sea.