Educational Empowerment, Community Development and the Disadvantaged Case Study Analysis: The Informally Housed, Internally Displaced Community Population of Bogota, Colombia; South America
EDUCATIONAL EMPOWERMENT, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND THE DISADVANTAGED. CASE STUDY ANALYSIS: THE INTERNALLY DISLACED, INFORMALLY HOUSED COMMUNITY POPULATION OF BOGOTA, COLOMBIA; SOUTH AMERICA. Edgard Jason Rincon, M.S., M.A. George Mason University, 2013 Thesis Committee Chair: Dr. Sandra Cheldelin This thesis is a descriptive analysis of how specific governmental bodies and non state organizations in Bogotá, Colombia are working to further educational advancement and community development for the largest community populations of the internally displaced social group. Educational empowerment for the internally displaced is analyzed through an examination of literature and data underlying stated government provisions, specifically created for the protection of IDP rights in the educational social sector. Equal consideration is given to specific initiatives undertaken by non state actors to advance the access to and quality of education for the internally displaced. Community development in this thesis is defined by an analysis of the infrastructure, access to state funded institutional and economic support, as well as the relationship between established periphery host communities and the internally displaced living within those communities. This study is primarily a qualitative descriptive analysis of the internally displaced living in the periphery of the city of Bogotá, Colombia. Quantitative empirical research data is introduced as a supplement to the underlying objectives of this research, and when necessary to identify the indicators of participation of the internally displaced within the educational system. Recommendations for the educational advancement and community development of the internally displaced population of Bogotá are provided in light of research findings.
Forced displacement in Colombia: Magnitude and causes
The article describes the magnitude, geographical extent, and causes of forced populationdisplacements in Colombia. Forced migration in Colombia is a war strategy adopted by armed groups to strengthen territorial strongholds, weaken civilian support to the enemy, seize valuable lands, and produce and transport illegal drugs with ease. Forced displacement in Colombia today affects 3.5 million people. Equivalent to 7.8 percent of Colombia’s population, and second worldwide only to Sudan, this shows the magnitude of the humanitarian crisis the country is facing. The phenomenon involves all of Colombia’s territory and nearly 90 percent of the country’s municipalities expel or receive population. In contrast to other countries, forced migration in Colombia is largely internal. Illegal armed groups are the main responsible parties, migration does not result in massive refugee streams but occurs on an individual basis, and the displaced population is dispersed throughout the territory and not focused in refugee camps. These characteristics pose unique challenges for crafting state policy that can effectively mitigate the impact of displacement.
The Internet and the Changing Beijing-Taipei Relations: Toward Unification or Fragmentation?
Information and its technologies facilitate the exercise of what has been called “soft power,” a concept that differentiates information from the conventional dimensions of “hard power,” which is mainly associated with military force and economic influence. Soft power, according to Nye, a former Assistant Secretary of Defense of the United States, means that “A country may obtain the outcomes it wants in world politics because other countries want to follow it, admiring its values, emulating its example, aspiring to its level of prosperity and openness. In this sense it is just as important to set the agenda in world politics and attract others as it is to force them to change through the threat or use of military or economic weapons.”1