Regions

Eurasia, Central and Eastern Europe

Eurasia and Central-Eastern Europe is a region the size of a continent, and hence extremely diverse both culturally and politically. It consists of the territory formerly occupied by the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, and other states situated in what used to be Europe’s ”Eastern bloc”. Some of these countries have become EU/NATO-members, some are attempting to integrate into these structures - to a lesser or greater extent - while others identify themselves as outside or even opposing these ”Western” political systems.

NIBR’s projects in the region have mainly but not exclusively taken place in Russia, the Baltic states and the Balkans. Our research mostly concerns political and social development; our main subjects being welfare and social policy, migration and ethnicity, regional development and local self-government, health and HIV/AIDS. Furthermore, we have made several evaluations of bi- and multilateral cooperative programs in Eurasia and Central-East Europe. Three of our researchers are area specialists, possessing considerable competence on the region’s countries and languages.

Eastern Africa

Eastern Africa historically comprises Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, and the three countries have decided to rebuild a political confederate union. In addition South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo in the Greater Lakes region have increasingly become part of the ‘Eastern Africa’ region: this can be accredited to political reasons (peace building), processes of economic integration as well as through a linguistic-cultural common ground represented by the kiswahili language. Political development in these countries has often been violent, and NIBR researchers have a particular interest in the processes of peace-building and conflict resolution in the region. Moreover, all these countries have seen extensive cooperation with the Norwegian government and civil society. In relation to this activity, NIBR have often been used for research purposes and evaluation work. 

Researchers at NIBR possess in-depth knowledge on this region with long and comprehensive research experience in critical policy areas such as decentralization reforms and local governance (Tanzania, Uganda), HIV/AIDS and the governance of international aid (country-specific and regionally), conflict resolution and peace-building (Northern Uganda, Nairobi (Kenya) and East Congo), external (Norwegian) assistance to political parties (Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda). In addition, NIBR’s expertise is also relevant to issues of environmental governance, the politics of youth, and the role of civil society organisations.

Southern Africa

Southern Africa is an interesting region of research for many reasons: countries in the region have a long history of development cooperation with Norway and the area has undergone political transformations and governance reforms in recent years. NIBR researchers possess in-depth knowledge on this region with long and comprehensive experience gained from research activities in Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa, Malawi and Mozambique.

Our expertise on these countries holds particular relevance with regards to the following topics. Decentralisation and local governance is a core research focus at NIBR; we have evaluated local government reforms, public participation in development programmes and decentralisation programmes in the region. Secondly, service delivery remains a focus of research in the region, e.g. on issues of sustainable water and sanitation management and ICT services. Thirdly, NIBR researchers have experience from land reforms and agricultural production and on the contested nature of these in relation to land rights and collective mobilisation. Finally, the HIV/AIDS pandemic continues to have severe consequences for region, and NIBR take a comprehensive approach in addressing challenges for prevention, care and treatment. We explore how the epidemic poses not only challenges but also provide opportunities for improved governance.

South and South-East Asia

Countries in this region have been characterised by rapid social change coupled with social tension and violent conflict. As a result NIBR’s research in this region has become more focused on understanding the implications of conflict for our core research areas – decentralisation and local governance, civil society organisations, and poverty and marginalisation. NIBR has a long-standing research interest in Vietnam and Sri Lanka, which over the last few years has been extended to encompass Nepal, Pakistan and the Philippines.

Long term research collaboration and capacity-building have been crucial components of NIBRs work with partner institutions in the region. Capacity-building on gender issues has been central to this work and much of our work has concentrated on women from minority backgrounds. Research topics have included our traditional core area of decentralisation and local governance. However, we have increasingly addressed these issues in conflict and post-conflict contexts where decentralisation initiatives have been designed to improve participation and service-delivery in order to achieve post-conflict recovery. A second area of interest has been marginalisation and social exclusion of groups based on ethnicity and caste and linkages between social exclusion and violent conflict. Thirdly, we have also worked on the interface between local governance institutions, local civil society organisations, and the role of humanitarian aid agencies in providing support to vulnerable groups during crises. In terms of sectors, the fisheries sector has received attention, reflecting a long tradition of collaboration between Norway and the region on development of the fisheries sector.

Latin America

The region of Latin America encompasses Mexico and Central America, the Caribbean and South America. It is characterised by its early independence from the colonial powers of Spain and Portugal, and has experienced vibrant, but contested, political developments throughout the last century. There is an increasing interest in Latin American countries in Norway. New leftist regimes have taken on the huge task of reducing income inequalities and poverty in these traditionally elite-dominated and non-democratic countries. The region profits from increasing world market prices for their abundant natural resources, making them an interesting partner for Norwegian companies.
NIBR’s research in the region focuses on the effects of institutional change on poverty and social exclusion. Our current research encompasses three areas. Firstly, how does land titling and land reform affect both economic production and intra-household allocations, specifically in relation to the effects on women's empowerment? Secondly, does a rights based approach to development lead to social inclusion? Thirdly, we have worked on how participatory budgetary and political processes emerging in Latin America affect policy outcomes. Moreover, NIBR has carried out a number of evaluations, in particular of the work of Norwegian non-governmental aid agencies in the areas of democratization, protection of the environment, and poverty reduction.  Several of our researchers are fluent in Spanish and Portuguese. NIBR has long standing collaboration with research institutions in the region.