governments need to be aware of their tax base and the needs of their citizens. Therefore, under this subtheme we also count studies on the quality of national surveys and country statistics. A concrete example is‘ The challenge of measuring hunger’ through surveys. Given the policy relevance of conflict and peace studies, SES researchers engage in public advocacy, as is testified by the publication of IOB Analyses & Policy Briefs but especially by the high number of opinion articles in newspapers or blogs on issues such as the political crisis in Burundi, the‘ sliding’ of Congolese presidential elections, the amendments to constitutional presidential term limits in several African countries, the violence in Uganda, DRC and South Sudan, and the nature of the Rwandan state. Capacity-building in the South is an important pillar of service delivery. For the SES research line, partnership with the Université Catholique de Bukavu( UCB) is particularly relevant, and embedded in institutional cooperation that began in 2011. Its associated project,‘ Expertise Center for Mining Governance’( CEGEMI), concentrates on the mining sector, which is critical for South Kivu’ s economy and often mentioned as playing a key role in the historical and ongoing violence. Four PhD students from Bukavu and two Belgian PhD students are currently doing their doctoral research on the governance of natural resources, and three Master’ s students from Bukavu have completed programmes in Belgium. In the framework of its cooperation with UCB, IOB contributed to the organisation of an international conference in Bukavu, DRC, on 8, 9 and 10 December 2016. The theme of the conference was‘ Transition and Local Development in Eastern DRC’. Its aim was to provide an overview of the current social science research on transitions and local developments in eastern DRC, to bridge the policy-academia divide, and to bring together a host of research institutions( for more information, see Box on page 13). Through its Centre for the Study of the African Great Lakes Region, the IOB has continued to treat this geographical area as a major transversal focus, and this is reflected in the activities of all four research lines. The Centre’ s yearbook( L’ Afrique des grands lacs. Annuaire 2015-2016, University Press Antwerp), published for the twentieth consecutive year, remains a major international reference, as is Conjonctures congolaises( co-edited by Professor Emeritus Stefaan Marysse), now in its sixth edition.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS SES
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Briones Alonso, E., Houssa, R. and Verpoorten, M.( 2016)“ Voodoo versus fishing committees: the role of traditional and contemporary institutions in fisheries management”, Ecological Economics, 122: 61-70.
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Bryceson, D. F. and Geenen, S.( 2016)“ Artisanal frontier mining of gold in Africa: labour transformation in Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo”, African Affairs, 115( 459): 296-317.
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De Herdt, T. and Titeca, K.( 2016)“ Governance with empty pockets: the education sector in the Democratic Republic of Congo”, Development and Change, 47( 3): 472-494.
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Reyntjens, F.( 2016)“ The struggle over term limits in Africa: a new look at the evidence”, Journal of Democracy, 27( 3): 61-68.
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Titeca, K. and Fahey, D.( 2016)“ The many faces of a rebel group: the Allied Democratic Forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo”, International Affairs, 92( 5): 1189-1206.
# # Vandeginste, S.( 2016)“ Legal loopholes and the politics of executive term limits: insights from Burundi”, Africa Spectrum, 51( 2): 39-63.
12 • Annual Report 2016