This Speaker's Corner, an online discussion on protecting livelihoods in conflict and fragile states held from January 22-24, 2008, was hosted by Laura Hammond, Lecturer in Development Studies at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies.  In complex humanitarian emergencies, the need to provide live-saving support often masks another essential need: to protect or restore livelihoods. This online discussion forum looked at the reasons for and role of a livelihoods approach in conflict and fragile states and address approaches to providing this support in a context of conflict or fragility.

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The discussion focussed on the following three topics: 

• Day 1: Why is a livelihoods approach essential to working in conflict and fragile state contexts? What is meant by a “livelihoods approach" and how can or should it work? How can conflict and insecurity threaten livelihoods? And how do people’s responses to conflict and fragility relate to livelihoods, and what does that mean for livelihood support?
  
• Day 2: When and for whom might microfinance be appropriate in the midst and immediate aftermath of conflict or in contexts of fragility? Microfinance may not be appropriate in some situations -- for example if local markets have collapsed or if people do not have realistic options for repayment -- or for some people. We'll discuss when it is and when it isn't appropriate. 
  
• Day 3: What other forms of livelihood support might be useful? Should a suite of livelihood support options (for example grants for the poorer, micro-finance for others) be provided? What options would they be and how could it work? This, and other topics of interest to the participants will be discussed on the final day. 

Resources 1 | 2 Page 1 of 2 Document   A Critical Review of Approaches to Assessing and Monitoring Livelihoods in Situations of Chronic Conflict and Political Instability Susanne Jaspars and Jeremy Shoham ODI Working Paper 191   Accelerating the transition from conflict to sustainable growth: value chain development in conflict-affected environments A. Saperstein Literature review of resources related to value-chain development in conflict-affected environments.   Cash-Based Responses in Emergencies Harvey, Paul HPG Report#24   Darfur, Livelihoods Under Siege Young, H., A. Osman, Y. Aklilu, R. Dale, and B. Badri Feinstein International Famine Center   Economic Continuum (Graphic) Graphic illustrating the economic continuum   Household Coping Responses to Shocks (Graphic) TDI supplementary resource guide An image illustrating household coping responses to food security stress and emergencies.   Operational Guidelines for Business Education Workshops Mary Morgan CARE Guidelines   Operational Guidelines for Economic Livelihood Grants Mary Morgan CARE Guidlines   Operational Guidelines for Establishing Market Links Mary Morgan CARE Guidelines   Operational Guidelines for Forming Business Associations Mary Morgan CARE Guidelines   Operational Guidelines for Multiethnic Health Teams Mary Morgan CARE Guidelines   Operational Guidelines for Reconciliation and Reintegration Mary Morgan CARE Guidelines   Operational Guidelines for Technical Training Workshop Mary Morgan CARE Guidelines   Operational Guidlines for Psychosocial Group Work Mary Morgan CARE Guidlines   Protecting Livelihoods in Conflict and Fragile States Speaker's Corner Compilation Document Message Compilation   Protecting Livelihoods in Conflict and Fragile States Speaker's Corner: Summary Report Jan 2008 Speaker's Corner   Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (Graphic) Graphic illustrating the sustainable livelihoods framework   USAID Conflict and Livelihoods Toolkit 2005 Toolkit   Violence and Complex Humanitarian Emergencies: Implications for Livelihoods Models Lautze, Sue; Raven-Roberts, Angela Article from Disasters Journal   WV Category I, II and III Emergency Profiles Short presentation describing three emergency profiles

Conversations Livelihoods (ID: 2106)    |  2 Day 4: Thanks, a Summary and 'See' You Soon! (nonew) Dear All, I want to thank you for what has been for me a really inspirational and educational discussion. When I agreed to moderate this discussion, I did not really know what to expect - my fear was ... Last Post: 01-25-2008   21 Day One (nonew) Welcome to Poverty Frontier’s inaugural 3-day virtual discussion on protecting livelihoods in conflict and fragile states!  We are pleased to support this discussion as part of advancing the ... Last Post: 01-25-2008   20 Day 2: Microfinance in Conflict/P-Conflict/Fragile Settings (nonew)     Today I would like to narrow the focus of our discussion a bit to think about how microfinance might be an effective tool for supporting livelihoods in midst or the immediate ... Last Post: 01-24-2008   5 Re: Day 2: Microfinance in Conflict/P-Conflict/Fragile Settings [Livelihoods] (nonew) Hi Everybody,This is Sowmya, currently working for a consulting firm based out of Hyderabad, India (Parishkaar Advisory Services Private Limited). It was a learning experience all through the ... Last Post: 01-24-2008   13 Day 3: Other forms of Livelihood Support, and Where Do We Go From Here? (nonew) Hi All, This post introduces the last topic of our three-day event. We have been discussing the general need to for greater collaboration between economic value chain analysts and livelihoods ... Last Post: 01-24-2008   1 RE: Day One [Livelihoods] (nonew)  Posted by:Adina Saperstein Value Chain Specialist ACDI/VOCA Cairo, Egypt Tel: +20 106659862 As someone who might be considered part of the 'value chain taliban' I'm excited about this dialogue, ... Last Post: 01-23-2008   1 start-up support (nonew) Mary has rightly voiced need for redistribution of resources for global security. Increasing gap between the haves and have-nots is certainly a major reason for conflict whether ... Last Post: 01-23-2008   2 Re: fragile pockets in otherwise stable countries [Livelihoods] [Livelihoods] (nonew) I agree with mary Morgan on the need for redistribution of resources as oneof the modalities of reducing conflict and contributing towards globalsecurity. This process should target policies and ... Last Post: 01-23-2008   4 fragile pockets in otherwise stable countries (nonew) While on the issue of fragile states and impact on livelihoods, I feel we should also look at and can  learn from the experience of fragile pockets in states labelled from a macro ... Last Post: 01-22-2008   1 Welcome to this Speaker's Corner (nonew) This is the main event area for the January 22-24 Speaker's Corner on poverty and livelihoods. To sign up or if you have any questions, please e-mail me at avanderheijden@irgltd.com. We look ... Last Post: 12-27-2007   Legend: - there are 1 or more new posts in this thread since your last login