School of Politics and International Studies

Conference and Seminar Presentations (2000 to present)

1. 'Seeking basic rights in rural Ghana: securing global values through local action?', paper presented at World International Studies Conference, Ljubljana, 23-25 July 2008.
2. 'EU Human Rights and Democracy Promotion in Central Asia: From Lofty Principles to Lowly Self-Interests', paper presented at EADI General Conference, Geneva, 24-27 June 2008.
3. 'EU Human Rights and Democracy Promotion in Central Asia: From Lofty Principles to Lowly Self-Interests', paper presented at Finnish Society for Development Research annual conference, Helsinki, 24-25 April 2008.
4. 'Decentralisation and a rights-based approach to development: opportunities and constraints on realising basic rights in Northern Ghana', paper presented at Political Studies Association Development Politics annual workshop on 25th January, held at the Institute for Commonwealth Studies, University of London.
5. Invited speaker at 'Human Rights and Extreme Poverty in Africa' conference, Kampala, Uganda, 4-6 October 2007. Paper entitled 'Decentralisation and Grassroots Struggles for Human Rights in Ghana: Opportunities and Constraints'. Conference organised by University of Oslo.
6. Invited speaker at 'Poverty and Development' (PAD) Seminar Series, Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM), University of Oslo, 21 March 2007. Paper entitled 'Decentralisation and Poverty Reduction in Ghana'.
7. Invited speaker at conference on 'A Dialogue on Canada’s Approach to Democratic Development', organised by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the Democracy Council, 15 February 2007, Ottawa Congress Centre, Ottawa. Paper entitled 'Facilitating Democratic Reforms: Learning from Democratic Principles'.
8. Invited speaker at conference on 'The Quandaries of Promoting Democracy in Central Asia: Experiences and Perspectives from Europe and the USA', organised by the Centre for OSCE Research, Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg, 9-11 February 2007, Hamburg. Paper entitled 'Promoting Democracy in Central Asia: What's Needed and Why It Won't Happen'.
9. Making Democracy a Reality?: Decentralisation, Political Participation and Accountability in Ghana, paper presented at Leeds University Centre for African Studies seminar, 29 November 2006.
10. Invited speaker at workshop on 'Decentralisation, Federalism and Conflict', organised by CRISE, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford, 6-7 October 2006, paper on Decentralisation, poverty reduction and human security in Ghana.
11. Invited speaker at international workshop on 'Monitoring and Evaluating Democracy Assistance in the Balkans', Belgrade, 6-7 July 2006, organised by The Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University, USA, and the Jeffersonian Institute, Belgrade.
12. Invited participant at workshop on 'Evaluating international efforts at democracy promotion', organised by CDDRL (Stanford University) and FRIDE (Madrid), 21-23 June 2006, Madrid.
13. Invited speaker at 'The Law in its International Context' seminar series, Department of Law, University of Sheffield, paper on The EU and democracy promotion: issues and challenges, 3 May 2006.
14. Democracy promotion: issues and challenges, paper presented at Centre for Democratisation Studies seminar, University of Leeds, 9 March 2006.
15. Keynote speaker at conference on 'Thinking Democracy', public event organised by the President of Portugal, Dr Jorge Sampaio, Lisbon, 25 November 2005. Lecture on Promoting Democracy.
16. Invited speaker at conference on 'The EU as an External Democracy Promoter: East and Central Europe, the Mediterranean, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and Pacific in Comparison', Darmstadt, 18-19 November 2005. Paper on EU Democracy Promotion in Ghana. Organised by Technische Universität, Darmstadt, and the Helmut Schmidt Universität, Hamburg
17. Keynote speaker at conference on 'Human Rights, Peace and Security in EU Foreign Policy', annual conference of the Association of Human Rights Institutes (AHRI), held at the National University of Galway, Ireland. Lecture on subject of Exporting Democratic Governance to the Developing World: Problems and Prospects, 30 September to 2 October 2005.
18. Decentralisation, human security and poverty reduction in Ghana, paper presented at the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI) General Conference, Bonn, 22-24 September 2005.
19. Decentralisation and political participation in Ghana, paper presented at the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) General Conference, Budapest, Hungary, 8-10 September 2005
20. Invited speaker at international workshop on 'Evaluating International Democracy Promotion: Qualitative Research Methods for Policy Impact in the Southern Balkans', 20-22 June 2005, Ohrid, Republic of Macedonia, organised by The Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University, USA.
21. Invited speaker at seminar, hosted and organised by the Center for Democracy and Development (CDD-Ghana), Accra, Ghana, 14 April 2005, speaking on Decentralisation, Political Participation and Poverty Reduction in Ghana.
22. Invited speaker at conference on 'Governance in the Commonwealth(s): New Issues and Actors', Institute of Commonwealth Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London, 13-14 March 2005, speaking on Promoting Democracy and Governance in Ghana: The Role and Motives of International Actors.
23. Invited participant at international workshop on 'Measuring the impact of democracy and governance assistance' organized by USAID and the Clingendael Institute, held at the Clingendael Institute, The Hague, 11 March 2005.
24. Linking decentralisation and a rights-based approach: opportunities and constraints in Ghana, paper presented at the conference on 'The Winners and Losers from rights-based approaches to development', University of Manchester, 21-22 February 2005.
25. International Actors and the Promotion of Liberal Democracy: The case of Ghana, paper presented at the British International Studies Association (BISA) conference, University of Warwick, 20-22 December 2004.
26. Co-operating for democracy? Contrasting and conflicting agendas in Ghana, paper presented at the pre-BISA workshop. 'Regional Co-operations/Conflicts/Contrasts', Institute of Commonwealth Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London, 19-20 December 2004.
27. Presentation on Democratisation and Decentralisation in Ghana, as invited speaker at the 2nd EADI International Summer School on 'Constructing Democracy? Challenges for the European Development Agenda', held at the University of Twente, the Netherlands, 29 August to 8 September 2004.
28. Presentation on The impact of G8 policies on Africa, invited speaker at Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr) seminar on 'Democracy and governance in Africa: policy priorities for the G8', 21 July 2004
29. Conference rapporteur at international conference on 'Enhancing the European Profile in Democracy Assistance', organised by the Netherlands Institute For Multi-Party Democracy, The Hague, 4-6 July, 2004.
30. Presentation on Evaluation: developing an appropriate methodology, invited speaker at conference on 'Achieving sustainable political change in emerging democracies: the political party challenge', Wilton Park Conference in association with the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, 15-17 March 2004.
31. Presentation on The European Union and Democracy Promotion: The case of Ghana, invited speaker at conference on 'The European Union and Africa', organised by the European Community Studies Association of South Africa, University of the Western Cape, 22-23 January 2004.
32. Invited participant and discussant at International Expert Workshop on 'Promotion of Democracy: Current Problems and Policies', organised by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Berlin, 12 December 2003.
33. Fifty years of thinking about development: a review, paper presented at Prince Songkla University, Phuket campus, Thailand, part of Masters programme in Community Development, 15 November 2003.
34. Democratic decentralisation in Ghana: issues and prospects, paper presented at conference on 'Politics and Poverty', Norwegian Association for Development (NFU) annual conference, Oslo, 23-24 October 2003.
35. Democratisation in Ghana: assessing the impact of political aid (1997-2003), paper presented at European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) General Conference, Marburg, Germany, 18-21 September 2003.
36. Invited speaker at 'The Great Trade Debate', organised by Christian Aid, University of Bradford, 28 June 2003.
37. Democracy promotion and participatory evaluation: asserting democracy control over international assistance to democratisation, paper presented at the British International Studies Association (BISA) conference, London School of Economics, 16-18 December 2002
38. Promoting governance from without: evaluating from within, paper presented at the conference on 'Towards a New Political Economy of Development: Globalisation and Governance', University of Sheffield, 4-6 July 2002.
39. Evaluating democracy assistance: the inadequacy of numbers and the promise of participation, paper presented at the conference on 'Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Development Research', University of Wales Swansea, 1-2 July 2002.
40. Partnership or Power?: Deconstructing the ‘Partnership for Governance Reform' in Indonesia, paper presented at the Nordic Institute for Asian Studies, Copenhagen, 17 May 2002.
41. Democracy, human rights and good governance, paper presented at roundtable discussion at the Danish Centre for Human Rights, Copenhagen, 17 May 2002.
42. Invited speaker at an international workshop on 'The EU and Civil Society Development in North Africa' in Rabat, Morocco, 6 April 2002.
43. Re-asserting domestic control over international actors in democratisation processes: the role of evaluation, paper presented at workshop on 'The Role of International and Domestic Actors in Democratisation' at the Parahyangan Catholic University, Bandung, Indonesia, 1 March 2002.
44. Evaluating EU promotion of human rights and democracy, paper presented at UACES one-day conference, University of Liverpool, 9 November 2001
45. Promoting Democracy From Without: Learning From Within, paper presented at conference on 'Democratization: Freeways and Detours', Duke University, Durham, USA, 19-20 October 2001.
46. Evaluating EU promotion of human rights, democracy and good governance: towards a participatory approach, paper presented at Development Studies Association Conference, University of Manchester, 10-12 September 2001
47. Whose agenda? 'Partnership' and international assistance to democratisation and governance reform in Indonesia, paper presented at EUROSEAS (European Association for Southeast Asian Studies) conference, SOAS, University of London, 6-8 September 2001
48. Partnership or Power? Deconstructing the 'Partnership for Governance Reform in Indonesia, paper presented at conference on 'Failed States?', University of Sussex, 18-20 April 2001.
49. Governance and Multilateral Development Organisations: the Partnership for Governance Reform in Indonesia, paper presented at Centre for Development Studies/Centre for Democratisation Studies seminar series on 'Governance and Global Regulation', University of Leeds, February 2001.
50. Promoting Democracy from outside: issues and problems, paper presented at Parahyangan Catholic University (UNPAR), Bandung, Indonesia, 8 September 2000.
51. The West and Democracy Promotion: issues and controversies, paper presented at Dept of Politics and Administrative Studies, University of Zimbabwe, 7 May 2000.