In the wake of the end of the Cold War, Francis Fukuyama provocatively announced the end of history in his debut writing with the same title, which implied the convergence of the eventual forms of political and economic institutions. But Fukuyama argued that the end of History, a single, directional, and coherent process of developments of human societies, does not mean an end to society’s challenges for improvement, given the limitations of social change by government efforts. Fukuyama detected the critical delay in moral and social development, which should go ‘hand-in-glove’ with the progressive tendency of liberal political and economic institutions. Indeed, so vulnerable is the transparent framework of laws and institutions, which was built for political order, in place of moral consensus, drawing on law-abiding and rational yet individualistic behavior in pursuit of self-interest. Fukuyama maintained that the problem with most modern liberal democracies is that they cannot take their cultural preconditions for granted. Fukuyama also noted that liberal political and economic institutions depend on a healthy and dynamic civil society for their vitality. Fukuyama asserted that an abundant stock of social capital is presumably what produces a dense civil society, which in turn has been almost universally seen as a necessary condition for modern liberal democracy. Alexis de Tocqueville in Democracy in America best elucidated the political function of social capital in a modern democracy. Fukuyama argued that Tocqueville would agree with the proposition that without social capital, there could be no civil society, and that without civil society, there could be no successful democracy. Keywords: State (Institutions), Civil Society, Social Capital, Political Development, Political Decay

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Governance in Afghanistan is characterized by “hybrid political order,” in which state and non-state actors coexist and interact with each other. Neither state nor non-state actors are capable of filling existing governance gaps on their own. This paper argues that while the state has the responsibility to provide governance functions, and this role should be supported, institution building is a time-consuming process, and efforts by non-state traditional institutions to play governance roles should also be supported. The paper examines the utility of traditional institutions, such as the jirga, as a means to engage a broader population. The paper also analyzes how reforming the interface among the state, traditional institutions and the Afghan people may improve governance conditions. The paper then provides analysis on some initiatives occurred to this end in Afghanistan, such as the National Solidarity Programme and hybrid justice system. These initiatives indicated some progress on improving popular participation as well as people’s perception of state legitimacy. Especially notable were improvements observed with regards to women’s participation and service delivery at the community level. This indicates the potential positive impact of this approach on human security through supporting the capacity of the people and communities, including the most vulnerable, to identify and resolve issues on their own. At the same time, the efforts also have shown limitations and challenges. In order for future efforts to be effective, initial focus should be in areas where existing governance networks show a modicum of representativeness, local legitimacy, and accountability framework. Keywords: Hybrid political order, non-state actors, dispute resolution, protection and empowerment, legitimacy

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This research essay focuses on Myanmar refugees in Thailand, and explores the reality and dilemmas of voluntary repatriation of the refugees under the recovering situation of regional security, from the perspective of human security. Contrary to the expectation upon the refugee repatriation due to some ceasefire brought by the stakeholders of the armed conflict in Southeast Myanmar as well as ongoing democratization in Myanmar politics, the voluntary repatriation has been occurring only limitedly. This research has found the refugees in fact have different backgrounds, particularly between the ones fled from the uplands and the ones from the lowlands, and also the refugees of different background have different type of concerns and dilemmas upon voluntary repatriation. The upland areas still have problems with regard to both regional and human security, so that the refugees from the area still see the repatriation as almost impossible. On the other hand, even though the situation in the lowlands is much safer and more stable, the refugees from the area cannot have good prospects of their livelihood after the repatriation due to the lack of employment opportunity and adequate support in the homeland. In addition, there are now some newly developed settlement sites in Myanmar side for the displaced who cannot find a place to return. This however meets only the limited needs of the refugees. The essay finally discusses the relevancy of the repatriation in the current conditions and also the effectiveness of sustainable security communities for facilitating sustainable repatriation as well as recovering human security. Keywords: Refugees, Voluntary Repatriation, Durable Solutions, Human Security, Southeast Myanmar.

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International development players have been embracing “crosscutting” topics, such as human rights and human security, since the late 90s. This is apparent in their planning and implementation of development interventions: with regard to human rights, many organisations refer to ‘human rights mainstreaming’ and a few apply a ‘human rights-based approach’ where all results are expected to contribute to the improvement of human rights. When it comes to evaluating results of development interventions, however, human rights are rarely if at all included in the assessment. Little practical guidance is currently available on how to address human rights in evaluation. In the evaluation literature, human rights are only indirectly tackled: either evaluation is considered the medium through which others are being empowered or how social justice is supported. Thus, the question for this paper is how to, methodologically, assess human rights as a crosscutting theme in a ‘typical’ evaluation of a development project? To respond to this question, this paper suggests combining elements of the evaluation theory on ‘use’ with the evaluation theory on ‘valuing’. This paper also shares the main results of a recent pilot-test of this methodology in an evaluation of an anti-trafficking project in Myanmar. Findings include a wide(r) context analysis for better understanding the stakeholder situation, capture knowledge and attitudes of rights holders and reveal capacity bottlenecks for duty bearers. The author concludes that these would not have been obtained without an added human rights dimension and underlines the feasibility of the approach. Keywords: development evaluation, human rights, participatory approach, mixed methods, human trafficking.

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The United Nations (UN) has adopted a human rights-based approach (HRBA) since the 1990s and tries to promote all human rights through its various development projects. Human rights aim at realizing the inherent dignity of all human beings, which is also targeted by human security. This article analyzes the effectiveness of an HRBA as a measure for human security through examining the case of Kyrgyzstan. The right to adequate housing is defined as everyone’s right to obtain a secure home and community in which to live in peace and dignity. Since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Kyrgyzstan has shifted to a free market economy and faces issues of urban migration, poverty, privatization, and ethnic conflicts. These factors result in housing problems for vulnerable groups such as low-income families, the disabled, ethnic minorities, women, and children. Informal settlements on urban peripheries have faced forced eviction, resulting in homelessness. Lack of adequate housing increases insecurity in the society and becomes a potential trigger of conflicts. The UN has supported the government to enhance its capability through technical assistance and the encouragement of the incorporation of international human rights standards. Progress has been made in implementing the right to adequate housing. Nevertheless, respect of the state’s sovereignty and facilitation of economic growth are indispensable to fully achieve the right. The Kyrgyzstan case indicates that an HRBA is an effective measure for peacebuilding, development, and realization of an inherent dignity, namely, human security; however, its implementation needs to overcome existing constraints. Keywords: The right to adequate housing, human rights-based approach, human security, urban poverty, Kyrgyzstan

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This paper examines how individuals make choices in their daily lives. The case in point is the children at primary schools in rural Lao PDR, many of whom often drop out of school pushing down the overall graduation rate. How to secure the basic needs for the family has often been held to be the main reason for children (and their parents, for that matter) to forgo the choice of continuing schooling. However, it is found that many of the children choose to leave school because the choice of staying on often doesn’t meet their “schooling” needs that schools are supposed to offer. Primary school dropout has been a persistent problem for Laos (low survival rate to grade 5 slightly over 50% for more than the past 10 years). This problem is particularly critical in rural areas where the majority of population is still living near the subsistence level. Unstable income from farm works sometime drives them (and their family members) to migrate to different places like Vientiane and some cities in Thailand. However, that is only a part of the whole “drop-out” problem. To address the problem, narrowly defined as a low graduation rate, in 2009 Progressive Promotion Policy (PPP) was introduced to allow students to proceed to higher grades without final exam. The idea was that PPP would lure the children to stay at school until their graduation and to encourage the students to return to school when they are not occupied without the need to repeat the class. PPP, however, overlooked one serious problem: graduation alone is not strong enough as an incentive for the children to stay in school. Moreover, the absence of remedial classes and other means to prepare the returned children place these children in difficult positions where they have to struggle in keeping up with the classes and in picking up the contents of the classes. A net result is the increase in dropout and the decline in the graduation rate. Keywords: Dropout, Laos, Primary Education, Progressive Promotion, Choice Making

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