Abstract Background Youth-friendly health services are a key strategy for improving young people's health. This is the first study investigating provision of the Youth Friendly Services programme in South Africa since the national Department of Health took over its management in 2006. In a rural area of South Africa, we aimed to describe the characteristics of the publicly-funded primary healthcare facilities, investigate the proportion of facilities that provided the Youth Friendly Services programme and examine healthcare workers' perceived barriers to and facilitators of the provision of youth-friendly health services. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nurses of all eight publicly-funded primary healthcare facilities in Agincourt sub-district, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. Thematic analysis of interview transcripts was conducted and data saturation was reached. Results Participants largely felt that the Youth Friendly Services programme was not implemented in their primary healthcare facilities, with the exception of one clinic. Barriers to provision reported by nurses were: lack of youth-friendly training among staff and lack of a dedicated space for young people. Four of the eight facilities did not appear to uphold the right of young people aged 12 years and older to access healthcare independently. Breaches in young people's confidentiality to parents were reported. Conclusions Participants reported that provision of the Youth Friendly Services programme is limited in this sub-district, and below the Department of Health's target that 70% of primary healthcare facilities should provide these services. Whilst a dedicated space for young people is unlikely to be feasible or necessary, all facilities have the potential to be youth-friendly in terms of staff attitudes and actions. Training and on-going support should be provided to facilitate this; the importance of such training is emphasised by staff. More than one member of staff per facility should be trained to allow for staff turnover. As one of a few countrywide, government-run youth-friendly clinic programmes in a low or middle-income country, these results may be of interest to programme managers and policy makers in such settings.
Background: Youth-friendly health services are a key strategy for improving young people's health. This is the first study investigating provision of the Youth Friendly Services programme in South Africa since the national Department of Health took over its management in 2006. In a rural area of South Africa, we aimed to describe the characteristics of the publicly-funded primary healthcare facilities, investigate the proportion of facilities that provided the Youth Friendly Services programme and examine healthcare workers' perceived barriers to and facilitators of the provision of youth-friendly health services. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nurses of all eight publicly-funded primary healthcare facilities in Agincourt sub-district, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. Thematic analysis of interview transcripts was conducted and data saturation was reached. Results: Participants largely felt that the Youth Friendly Services programme was not implemented in their primary healthcare facilities, with the exception of one clinic. Barriers to provision reported by nurses were: lack of youth-friendly training among staff and lack of a dedicated space for young people. Four of the eight facilities did not appear to uphold the right of young people aged 12 years and older to access healthcare independently. Breaches in young people's confidentiality to parents were reported. Conclusions: Participants reported that provision of the Youth Friendly Services programme is limited in this sub-district, and below the Department of Health's target that 70% of primary healthcare facilities should provide these services. Whilst a dedicated space for young people is unlikely to be feasible or necessary, all facilities have the potential to be youth-friendly in terms of staff attitudes and actions. Training and on-going support should be provided to facilitate this; the importance of such training is emphasised by staff. More than one member of staff per facility should be trained to allow for staff turnover. As one of a few countrywide, government-run youth-friendly clinic programmes in a low or middle-income country, these results may be of interest to programme managers and policy makers in such settings.
This Discussion Paper is based on a theoretical exploration of state reconstruction and the prospects for peacebuilding in post-conflict West African countries based on critical reflections on the political thought of Claude Ake, one of Nigeria's foremost political thinkers. Its point of departure is the refutation of the view that the state project in Africa is 'hopeless' or at a dead-end. It therefore revisits the debate on the viability of the state project in the continent, particularly as it relates to those West African states emerging from or affected by violent conflict. While acknowledging the shortcomings of the state-formation project in some post conflict West African countries, the author argues that the state remains a key institutional and social actor that needs to be understood more in terms of its historical moorings, political economy and marginal position in the international order. Drawing on Ake's postulations about the limited autonomy of the state in Africa and its links to political violence and conflict, the author critiques both the hegemonic discourses on the nature of the state in Africa and those relating to post-conflict peacebuilding in the continent. The analysis of the latter focuses on the epistemological groundings of mainstream peacebuilding discourses, and posits that there is no guarantee that such imported models ensure sustainable peace in West Africa. Thus, the paper makes a compelling case for reinventing the state in West Africa based on autochthonous democratic transformation in favour of ordinary people. In this regard, it argues for an endogenous transformation of the state in Africa in ways that can strongly root it in the people as a fundamental step towards sustainable and locally owned participatory peacebuilding. It thereby opens up a new perspective on state reconstruction as a step towards ending violent conflict in the sub-region.
The spatial distribution of economic activity is unevenly distributed across regions within countries. Regional development policies and the incidence of crime rates, an important aspect of the quality of the local business environment, may both impact spatial disparities in economic activity. This thesis examines the relationship between regional development policy, the quality of local business environment, that is, security or lack thereof, captured by crime incidence, and regional economic outcomes. The study argues that regional development policy incentives such as labour and tax regulations influence the local cost of doing business and hence are an important part of local business environment. In addition, the incidence of violent crime rates such as robbery and murder are an important dimension of the local business environment. Regional development policies and variations in the quality of the local business environment may drive regional inequality within a country through its effects on factors related to economic activity such as firm entry and labour migration. South Africa provides a good opportunity to study the impact of regional policies and local business environment, given the high levels of spatial inequality due to historical factors and the country had the first experience of regional development polices in Sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, the country is characterised by high rates of crime incidence. The first analytical chapter of the thesis examines the relationship between regional development policy incentives and regional disparity in economic activity. Chapters two and three, then examines the impact of crime incidence on various measures of economic activity, captured by firm entry and migration of labour, particularly skilled labour. These three chapters are linked by the focus on the determinants of the spatial distribution of economic activity across local municipalities in South Africa. The first main chapter uses a new dataset on business registrations that spans from 1800 to 2011, to examine the relationship between the creation of Regional Industrial Development Programme zones in 1982 and their removal in 1991, and the spatial distribution of firm entry in South Africa. The creation of these zones marks the introduction of Sub-Saharan Africa's first Special Economic Zones. However, little is known about the effects of such programs. Since incentives in these policies are expected to reduce the costs of registering and doing business to attract industries in targeted regions and create long lasting effects that make the regions economically sustainable, it is expected that the creation of these zones will increase firm entry and the impacts will persist after the removal of policy incentives. Using merged data on the location of Regional Industrial Development Programme zones and the business registration database, empirical results show that the creation of RIDP zones was positively associated with firm entry when the policy incentives were still present, and after the removal of policy incentives, firm entry decreased. However, these results show that in the manufacturing and services sector, the reduction of entry after the removal of RIDP zones did not completely offset the positive effect of the policy on entry. This finding is consistent with the presence of agglomeration economies in the manufacturing sector. Overall, results from this chapter suggests that regional policy incentives were important in encouraging private sector development in marginalised regions of the country, although the policy did not create long-run economic benefits. The second main chapter empirically examines the impact of an important aspect of the local business environment that affect regional economic incentives, that is, crime rates, on entry of firms across local municipalities in South Africa. South Africa's crime rates are high by international standards and surprisingly, little is known about how crime rates affect business activity in the country. Since crime rates increase the fixed costs of entry and the costs of doing business, it is expected that high crime rates in a region will lead to fewer firms entering the market, because only more productive firms will have expected profits high enough to justify paying the entry costs. This chapter merged crime data with the business registration database and found out that crime rates, particularly, property crimes have a deterring effect on firm entry and the effect is large for firms in the wholesale and retail sector. These results are robust to using rainfall shocks as an instrumental variable for crime rates, to control for the fact that crime might be a consequence not a cause of firm activity. The third main chapter empirically examines whether crime rates affect another aspect closely related to firm performance, that is, the availability of labour through migration across local municipalities in South Africa. Since high crime rates increases the costs of living in a region and this will reduce net income and utility associated with living in that region, it is expected that high crime rates will reduce in-migration. The chapter merged crime data used in the previous chapter with migration data created from 2011 population census and showed that contact crime rates reduce migration of labour into municipalities. These results are also robust to using rainfall shocks as an instrumental variable for crime rates, to control for reverse causality. Empirical results also show that the effects of contact crime differ by population group and skill level, with the effects stronger for male, unskilled and black African migrants. Since unskilled and African migrants will have lower expected wages to cover the costs of crime because of lack of high paying work opportunities and labour market discrimination. In addition, it is expected that the effect of crime is high for these population groups compared to skilled and white migrants, who have the income and the mechanisms to mitigate the risks of crime, like picking better neighbourhoods to live in. Estimated results by gender also reveal that the effect of contact crimes is high for male migrants as compared to female migrants suggesting that increases in contact crimes reduces in-migration of male individuals by a higher magnitude as compared to females. This result is consistent with the view that male African workers may be more mobile than females, and most of these migrants are unskilled. Important policy messages from these findings are that any industrial development strategy and economic policy in the country that seeks to create jobs in marginalised municipalities or improve integration of local labour markets should also consider other measures, besides targeting disadvantaged regions with policy incentives. This thesis provides empirical evidence that crime prevention measures are likely to be one of the important tools for industrial policy. This implies that the government should put measures that improve policing and security. In addition, the private sector and international development organisations should continue to engage the government to put in programs and projects that reduce crime rates in the country. These may include, providing support for research that examines the main causes of crime rates in South Africa.
The topic of middle class in Africa though broadly discussed, still faces significant gaps in terms of empirical data, especially from sub-Saharan countries. It has been well-established that measures such as income and consumption power are insufficient to assess middle classness. Everyday habits and how these relate to status and prestige have been increasingly used in a number of disciplines as a better gauge. Specific political and historical contexts have also been considered key to better understand how people navigate classes. This study aims to explore the concept of middle class in Mozambique, by trying to answer three main questions: 'How do women entrepreneurs in Maputo perceive middle classness?'; 'What are the views of today's women entrepreneurs in Maputo about changing class ambitions and expressions?'; and 'How can (female) entrepreneurship impact on social mobility?'. Here, entrepreneurship is specifically regarded as formal entrepreneurship carried out by women in Maputo, Mozambique. To answer these questions, life story interviews were conducted with women entrepreneurs from Maputo and complemented by field observations and a review of relevant literature. The findings suggest that Maputo middle class, as perceived by women entrepreneurs, is moving away from traditional privileged and state dependent elites towards a more independent group of society, characterised by their ambitions of self-fulfilment and the quest of a better life. Furthermore, entrepreneurship is seen as a desirable option for social upward mobility, but its success is highly dependent on factors such as socioeconomic backgrounds and the individual character. ; O tema da classe média em África, embora amplamente debatido, apresenta ainda lacunas empíricas significativas, especialmente nos países da África Subsaariana. O rendimento e o poder de consumo foram já considerados insuficientes para determinar a classe média, tendo os hábitos quotidianos e a sua relação com estatuto e prestígio sido gradualmente utilizados em várias disciplinas como um melhor indicador. As conjunturas políticas e históricas também se revelaram fundamentais para uma melhor compreensão da mobilidade entre classes. O presente estudo visa explorar o conceito de classe média em Moçambique, procurando responder a três perguntas centrais: "Quais as perceções das mulheres empreendedoras em Maputo relativamente à classe média?"; "Qual a visão das mulheres empreendedoras de hoje, em Maputo, sobre as mudanças nas ambições e expressões de classe?"; e "De que forma o empreendedorismo (feminino) pode ter impacto na mobilidade social?". Aqui, considera-se especificamente o empreendedorismo formal exercido por mulheres em Maputo, Moçambique. Para responder a estas questões, foram realizadas entrevistas de história de vida com mulheres empreendedoras de Maputo, complementadas por observações de campo e uma revisão da literatura relevante. As conclusões sugerem que a classe média de Maputo, segundo a perceção das interlocutoras, está a afastar-se das tradicionais elites privilegiadas e dependentes do Estado e a transformar-se num grupo mais independente, caracterizado pelas suas ambições de autorrealização e pela luta por uma vida melhor. Além disso, o empreendedorismo é visto como uma boa opção para a mobilidade social ascendente, porém o sucesso depende grandemente de fatores como os contextos socioeconómicos e o carácter individual.
Maize lethal necrosis is a disease of maize caused by the combination of maize chlorotic mottle virus (mcmv) and any of the viruses belonging to the potyviridae family. Maize lethal necrosis was first identified on the african continent in kenya in 2012 (wangai et al. 2012), and subsequently in rwanda (adams et al. 2014), and the democratic republic of congo (lukanda et al. 2014). In africa, maize lethal necrosis symptoms have been associated with mcmv and sugarcane mosaic virus (scmv). In july 2014, maize plants exhibiting severe yellowing and chlorotic mottle symptoms were observed in the upper awash valley of ethiopia. From a survey of 12 farms in the central rift valley, 126 samples were collected from maize (100 samples) and other grass species (26 samples, including johnsongrass, couch grass, unidentified grass sp., Digitaria sp., sedge, sorghum, setaria spp., and sugarcane), and either with symptoms or without virus symptoms. Samples were analyzed for the presence of scmv and mcmv using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa) with polyclonal antibodies produced against the east african strains of mcmv and scmv. Of the nonmaize samples, mcmv was detected in johnsongrass, digitaria sp., sedge, setaria sp., sugarcane, and an unidentified grass species, whereas scmv was detected only in setaria sp. To confirm elisa results, greenhouse-grown maize plants were mechanically inoculated with sap extracted from eight mcmv-positive maize samples. Chlorotic mottle symptoms were observed, and the presence of mcmv confirmed by elisa. Maize plants inoculated with sap extracted from mcmv-positive digitaria sp. developed typical mcmv symptoms, and the presence of mcmv confirmed by elisa. Plants inoculated with sap extracted from scmv-positive samples developed mild to severe mosaic symptoms and tested positive for scmv. None of the plants inoculated with sap extracted from johnsongrass, sedge, or sugarcane samples tested positive for mcmv. To establish the genetic affinity of the ethiopian strains to those previously described in kenya and rwanda, whole virus genomes were sequenced from six samples using illuminamiseq (2 samples) and illuminahiseq (4 samples) as described by adams et al. (2014). All the six samples contained mcmv and three samples had scmv. Phylogenetic tree constructed based on the complete genomes of mcmv showed that the isolates found in ethiopia were highly similar (>99% identity) to those found previously in east africa (adams et al. 2013, 2014). In contrast, phylogenetic tree constructed using coat proteins of the sequenced scmv isolates from ethiopia were found to be similar to each other and to those found in rwanda (adams et al. 2014) with 96% identity, but relatively distant from those originally found in kenya (adams et al. 2013). To our knowledge, this is the first report of mcmv and maize lethal necrosis on maize in ethiopia, as well as mcmv in some alternate poaeceae family hosts. The results illustrate the need for further studies to identify alternate hosts for maize lethal necrosis-causing viruses, investigate the role of seed transmission of scmv and mcmv, create awareness among the stakeholders about maize lethal necrosis, and strengthen diagnostic and surveillance capacity in sub-saharan africa to minimize further spread of the disease.
During the last two decades, women politicians have emerged as female democratisation agents, i.e. change agents who actively lobby, struggle and organize for a pro-democracy regime change and a subsequent functioning democratic system, often with a (or the only) mass following – whose personal sacrifices, political contributions and legacies arelargely overlooked or contested in related democratisation and gender studies. This article aims to critically assess in how far democratisation and gender studies have systematically studied and analysed the contributions towards democratisation and the consolidation of democracy made by women as head of state or government. It is argued, that there is a strong research desideratum with regard to this phenomenon despite statistical evidence in Latin America, Europe, sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. An overview of different case studies of women heads of state and government in Southern and Eastern Europe, Latin America, South and Southeast Asia is presented, outlining the career paths, political agenda and democratisation record of the respective female democratisation agents. Nevertheless, systematic and substantial research needs to be conducted to allow a profound and appropriate assessment of the political performance and legacies of female democratisation agents at the top echelons of political power. These studies can contribute to a better understanding of the nexus of gender and democratisation, gender and politics as well as to enlarge the explanatory strength of democratisation theories in general.Durante las dos últimas décadas, las mujeres políticas han emergido como agentes femeninos de democratización, es decir agentes de cambio como grupos de presión activos, que luchan y se organizan en pro de un cambio hacia el régimen democrático y al subsiguiente funcionamiento del sistema, a menudo con el seguimiento de las masas (incluso el único) – quienes con sus sacrificios personales, contribuciones políticas y sus legados, son enormemente pasadas por alto o refutadas en cuanto a democratización y estudios de género se refiere. Este artículo intenta evaluar de forma crítica hasta dónde los estudios de género han estudiado y analizado las contribuciones para con la democratización y la consolidación de la democracia llevada a cabo por mujeres como cabezas de Estado o de gobierno. Se sostiene que hay un fuerte desideratum respecto a América Latina, Europa, África Subsahariana y Asia. Una mirada a los diferentes estudios de casos de mujeres jefas de Estado y de gobierno en América Latina, Europa, África Subsahariana, y Sur y Sudeste de Asia se presentan como un esbozo del camino de la carrera, la agenda política y la relación de democratización de los respectivos agentes femeninos de la democratización. Sin embargo, una investigación sistemática y sustancial necesita ser realizada para permitir una profunda y apropiada valoración del cambio político y legado de los agentes femeninos de democratización en el último escalón del poder político. Estos estudios pueden contribuir a un mejor entendimiento entre los nexos de género y democratización, género y política mejor así como también a extender la solidez explicativa de las teorías democráticas en general.
"The rise of social protection in form of social safety nets is attributed to the forceful return of poverty onto the international development agenda credited to World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)" (Chisinga, 2007:3). The basis of the discussion of social protection as a new model for development derives from the vision of the initiative as a path to sustainable economic development due to its holistic approach to poverty eradication and capability deprivation (Taylor, 2008)."In Africa, where pre-existing welfare regimes are often absent or comparatively very weak, the origins of cash transfer schemes stem from the search for alternatives to food and input transfers to tackle hunger"(Slater,2011:256). In the sub-Saharan region, for example, countries such as South Africa, Zambia, Kenya, Namibia and Malawi have similarly embraced the trend by adopting social grants and cash transfers as a solution to poverty and capability deprivation. Malawi, portrays a vivid image of a country with little resources for 17 million inhabitants, leaving more than half of the population below the poverty line (Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MDGS) III report (2017). The goal of the Malawi Social Cash Transfer Program (SCTP) is to reduce poverty, hunger and increase school enrolment among the poorest 10% of households. Targeting the correct 10% is key to the success of the program. The World Bank Group, Malawi Poverty Assessment (2016), calls into question the likelihood of precisely targeting the chronically poor people in such initiatives. On the other hand, Houssou et al., 2007 and Slater, 2011 insist on the need to evaluate the foresee-ability of contextual intervention programs, especially if a country does not have the capacity for widespread social grants as targeting becomes a matter of concern. The idea is that social cash transfers will be successful in reducing poverty if the right individuals are targeted. Considering the high poverty rate in Malawi and the gaps between the lower poverty deciles and the income profile are marginal (Ellis, 2008), how accurate is the decentralized targeting process? Based on this rationale, this exploratory research explored and highlights the complexities in targeting of beneficiaries in the program which, as a result has contributed to the derailment of the program. Findings show that the Government of Malawi (GoM) has overlooked the necessary control mechanisms to achieve effective targeting. As such, the study identifies anomalies in the targeting process that play a significant role in affecting the achievement of the goal of the program. Thus, SCTP falls short of combating poverty in a multi-dimensional manner.
International protection systems are based on the centrality of the State to guarantee the safety of human rights defenders (HRDs). In parallel, the dominant paradigm to protect HRDs at risk is the provision of individual protection measures. These solutions do not match the reality in many countries: States have regressed in their role as guarantor of human rights; and they have yielded their place to non-state actors, even entering into corrupt alliances with the latter, favoring the repression of communities that organize to defend their rights. The fieldwork experience of Protection International teams in countries of Latin America, Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa has shown that the protection of HRDs is part of activism for claiming human rights as a social process and within its nature as social and relational beings. In other words, HRDs must be assumed as beings immersed in the struggles of their communities, their relationship with other social and political actors, and in their interaction with the territories, in the resistance to repressive and violent environments. It is from these relationships within networks that collective action in defense of human rights is favored - action that incorporates protection practices that help maintain resistance. ; Los sistemas internacionales de protección se basan en la centralidad del Estado para garantizar la seguridad de las defensoras y defensores de derechos humanos (DDH). En paralelo, el paradigma dominante para proteger aquellos DDH en situación de riesgo es la provisión de medidas individuales de protección. Estas soluciones no se compaginan con la realidad en muchos países: los Estados han retrocedido en su rol de garante de los derechos humanos; y han cedido su lugar a actores no estatales, incluso entrando en alianzas corruptas con estos últimos, favoreciendo la represión de comunidades que se organizan para defender sus derechos. La experiencia de trabajo de terreno de los equipos de Protection International en países de América Latina, Sudeste asiático y África subsahariana ha venido demostrando que la protección de las y los DDH se inscribe dentro del activismo por reivindicar derechos humanos como proceso social y dentro de su naturaleza como seres sociales y relacionales. Es decir, las y los DDH deben ser asumidos como seres inmersos en las luchas de sus comunidades, su relacionamiento con otros actores sociales y políticos, y en su interacción con los territorios, en la resistencia ante entornos represivos y violentos. Es a partir de ahí esas relaciones dentro de redes que se favorece la acción colectiva de defensa de los derechos humanos – acción que incorpora prácticas de protección que ayudan a mantener la resistencia.
Every year, BICC's Global Militarisation Index (GMI) maps the relative weight and importance of a country's military apparatus in relation to its society as a whole. The Index is financially supported by Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. The GMI 2021 is an anniversary edition. Its first part reflects, as usual, current developments and trends based on the latest available data. It covers 153 countries and is based on the latest available figures (in most cases, data for 2020). The ten countries with the highest levels of militarisation in the GMI 2021 are Israel, Oman, Azerbaijan, Kuwait, Armenia, Saudi Arabia, Brunei, Bahrain, Singapore and Russia. These countries allocate particularly high levels of resources to the military compared to other areas of society. Besides countries primarily from conflict regions in the Middle East, three European countries can also be found here, all of which are involved in violent conflicts. A further three - Greece and Cyprus, both EU member states, and Ukraine - are among the Top 20. In the regional focus on Europe, one overall trend of the GMI 2021 becomes particularly clear: Despite the decrease in global GDP as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, countries are spending more resources on the military in absolute terms and as a proportion of their economic output. Another regional focus this time is on Sub-Saharan Africa. In West Africa, in particular, the security situation has deteriorated dramatically over the past few years. Therefore, it is particularly interesting to look at the dynamics of militarisation on that continent. Alongside relatively stable countries, such as Botswana, Namibia, Mauritania, Angola, Gabon and Guinea-Bissau, countries with current violent conflicts, such as Chad, South Sudan and Mali, can be found among the Top 10. The second part of the GMI looks at the global and regional development of militarisation over the past 20 years. This overall view of global militarisation between 2000 and 2020 shows that, except for an interim peak in 2005, it initially decreased steadily. Our resource-based concept of militarisation explains this as follows: It is due to the increase in the world's population and that of global financial resources, which cause the proportion of the military sector in the GMI to decrease from 2000 to 2018. This, however, does not imply "true demilitarisation", as is evidenced by the absolute increase in military spending over the period under review (SIPRI, 2020). Since 2019, this trend has reversed again. In the past two years, rising militarisation can be observed again across the globe, mainly because the resources allocated to the military are increasing in absolute and in relative terms.
Introducing the special issue on psychosocial studies of migration and community, we briefly reflect on the global increase in, and issues related to, both international and domestic migration, particularly from rural areas of less developed countries, which has fueled rapid urbanization and intercultural tensions in both post-industrial and developing countries. Topics covered in the issue are summarized, including an Italian study of the emotional impact of discrimination against immigrant adolescents; acculturation, integration and adaptation of Muslim immigrant youth in New Zealand; perceptions of human trafficking in Moldova; Chinese migrant workers' social networks, life satisfaction and political participation; physician brain drain from sub-Saharan Africa; and a critical analysis of the oppressive and liberating impact of organizations on immigrants, multiculturalism, and social justice. The issue concludes with commentary articles by four leading international scholars of migration and community. The breadth of topics helps to address wide-ranging gaps in the literature, but more psychological and social research must connect ecologically across multiple levels and to cultural, political, economic, and environmental studies of migration and community. ; Para presentar este monográfico sobre estudios psicosociales de las migraciones y comunidad, hacemos una breve reflexión sobre cómo la era global ha supuesto un aumento de las migraciones y un cambio en los procesos asociados. Se resalta su carácter internacional y nacional—especialmente en las zonas rurales en los países menos desarrollados. Estas migraciones han impulsado una rápida urbanización y han sido el origen de múltiples tensiones interculturales tanto en países post-industrializados como en los que están en vías de desarrollo. El monográfico incluye un estudio sobre el impacto emocional de la discriminación contra los adolescentes inmigrantes en Italia; otro sobre la aculturación, integración y adaptación de los jóvenes musulmanes inmigrantes en Nueva Zelanda; un análisis de las percepciones sobre la trata de seres humanos en Moldavia; otro que aborda las redes sociales, satisfacción con la vida y participación política de los inmigrantes chinos trabajadores, incluye un estudio sobre la fuga de cerebros de los médicos del África subsahariana; y un análisis crítico de los efectos opresores y liberadores de las organizaciones de inmigrantes en las comunidades de asentamiento. El monográfico concluye con los comentarios de cuatro destacados especialistas internacionales sobre la psicología de las migraciones y la comunidad. La amplitud de los temas abordados ofrece un escenario para reflexionar sobre las lagunas existentes en la literatura, poniendo de manifiesto la necesidad que hay en la psicología de las migraciones de realizar estudios internacionales e interdisciplinares que aborden la complejidad de los múltiples niveles implicados, incluyendo aspectos culturales, políticos, económicos y ambientales.
Countries around the world are working towards a low-carbon future. Since the adoption of the Paris Agreement in December 2015, 189 countries have submitted national plans that set clear goals to increase investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable infrastructure, climate-smart agriculture, and more. Beyond setting the stage for bottom-up action, these Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) also opened massive potential for investment—nearly $23 trillion according to the 2016 International Finance Corporation (IFC) Climate Investment Opportunities in Emerging Markets report. Much of this investment will need to come from the private sector. Governments— including Cote d'Ivoire—are increasingly interested in working with the private sector to unlock vital finance and develop innovative solutions. Costs for renewable energy are rapidly decreasing and in certain cases can be less expensive than generating electricity from fossil fuels. This has helped to radically change the model of energy development and access around the globe, and a larger share of the energy mix is expected to be renewable in future. In regions like Sub-Saharan Africa where there is high interest in expanding infrastructure to improve access to energy, there is an opportunity to leapfrog traditional electrification approaches and develop new models that are cleaner, more efficient, and focused on customer and business needs. Cote d'Ivoire's commitments are ambitious. The country's NDC, released in 2016, set a target to reduce its greenhouse-gas emissions by 28 percent by 2030, including a target to generate 42 percent of electricity from renewable energy by 2030. As highlighted in the IFC Climate Investment Opportunities report, the country is focused on spurring economic growth and solidifying its role as an economic engine for West Africa. The government recognizes the key role of private sector investment in expanding renewable energy penetration. Overall, Cote d'Ivoire's 2016-2020 National Development Program aims to attract $32 million in private investment. The main drivers of sustained growth are expected to be both public and private investments in infrastructure, opening significant opportunities for the energy and electricity sectors. The Ministry of Petroleum, Energy and Renewable Energy Development is developing the overall strategy and policy framework for including renewables into the energy mix. The Societe des Energies de Cote d'Ivoire (CI-Energies), a state-owned asset holding company, is moving this framework forward and has mapped technology-specific needs and is offering tenders to develop the projects that will contribute to NDC goals. Although Cote d'Ivoire has yet to increase its power generation capacity, it has made substantial progress in improving the existing transmission and distribution network and restoring the energy sector's financial viability.
La pobreza es considerada como un problema social que ha causado efectos perversos en el mundo, especialmente en aquellas regiones donde se evidencia altos índices como es el caso de las regiones de África Subsahariana y Asia Pacifico , cuya situación es alarmante , no es menos cierto que en América Latina también la situación es crítica, en promedio un poco más del 30 % de la población no está en capacidad de cubrir sus necesidades básicas y existe evidencia que en ciertos países Centroamericanos este porcentaje se duplica. La erradicación de la pobreza fue considerada como uno de los objetivos primordiales del desarrollo del milenio; está presente en la agenda de todos los gobiernos del mundo y se ha constituido en un reto para una serie de organismos internacionales como las Naciones Unidas, El Banco Mundial, la Organización de Estados Americanos. En este trabajo de investigación se considera que el desarrollo del sector turístico puede realizar una contribución significativa al alivio de la pobreza, ya que esta actividad puede constituirse en un motor de desarrollo de varios sectores de la economía generando empleo, oportunidades empresariales, asegurando y mejorando los medios de vida, por lo que el objetivo es elaborar un modelo conceptual con fines de medición y evaluación de la relación turismo pobreza y permita el diseño de estrategias que faciliten el alivio de la pobreza ,el modelo que se desarrolla se aplica en el Ecuador Palabras clave: Ecuador, pobreza, turismo ABSTRACT Poverty is considered a social problem that has had perverse effects on the world, especially in those regions where high rates are evident, such as sub-Saharan Africa and Asia-Pacific, which are alarming. In Latin America, the situation is also critical, on average a little more than 30% of the population is not able to cover their basic needs and there is evidence that in some Central American countries this percentage doubles. The eradication of poverty was considered as one of the primary objectives of the millennium development; is on the agenda of all the governments of the world and has been a challenge for a number of international organizations such as United Nations, the World Bank and the Organization of American States. In this research, it is considered that development of the tourism sector can make a significant contribution to the relief of poverty, since this activity can be an engine of development of several sectors of the economy, generating employment, business opportunities, ensuring and improving livelihoods, so the objective is to develop a conceptual model for the purpose of measuring and evaluating the relationship between poverty and tourism, and to design strategies to facilitate poverty relief, the model that is developed applies in Ecuador. Key words:Ecuador, poverty, tourism
Across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) urban water supply systems face a range of challenges—so much so that the situation across the region has been classified by the United Nations as being among the most dire globally with respect to provision of water and sanitation (UN-HABITAT 2007). Among the tremendous challenges is the issue of uneven and variable delivery of services, often with some middle and high-income locales receiving safe and affordable water, while nearby lower income areas do not even enjoy basic access to safe water for drinking and other domestic uses. This report provides data from a survey implemented early in 2012 with focus on basic household water uses and sources, perceptions of accessibility and affordability, and other elements of the lived experience associated with water access and governance in four relatively underserved sites of Accra, Ghana and Cape Town, South Africa. Please note that we targeted underserved sites for the survey, so the data speaks to the conditions in these sites, rather than for the cities overall. Specifically, the survey was undertaken in the communities of Teshie and Ashaiman in Accra, and Philippi and Khayletisha in Cape Town (see Maps 1 and 2). In Ghana there were a total of 243 respondents, with 123 respondents from Ashaiman (Roman Down) and 120 from Teshie (51% of the Ghanaian sample were female, and 49% male). For the South African sites, there were a total of 256 respondents—132 from Khayelitsha and 124 from Philippi (of the South African survey respondents, 61% were female and 39% male). There are considerable socio-cultural, political-economic and other differences across these study sites. The survey results presented here help to capture and elaborate some of these differences. The data, both in aggregate senses, and for each specific country, also serves to capture how relatively impoverished and underserved communities in both urban contexts access and assess water as part of their everyday lives. Indeed, we find the differences across the sites to be instructive in several ways, including highlighting key concerns that face relatively impoverished communities in either context, and also as background information to evaluate and understand the importance and effects of different policy and historical contexts that help to shape the realities as reported by respondents. For instance, one observation is that affordability is a key concern in Ghana, yet respondents in this country do not believe that water should be free, revealing a stark difference from their South African counterparts. Our survey results have also informed several publications, as noted in the bibliography. ; Science, Faculty of ; Non UBC ; Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES), Institute for ; Unreviewed ; Faculty ; Graduate
Gender analysis focuses on the different roles and responsibilities of women and men and how these affect society, culture, the economy and politics. For example, important differences exist between women and men in their quality of life; in the amount, kind and recognition of work they do; in health and literacy levels; and in their economic, political and social standing. Women are too often marginalized in their families and their communities, suffering from a lack of access to credit, land, education, decision-making power and rights to work. Explicitly, while gender analysis focuses on the relations between men and women, such analyses including the ones that will later be cited in this paper, disproportionately find that women have less access to, and control of, resources than men which is why this paper emphasizes the role of women, and their well-being in agriculture, nutrition and food security. Not surprisingly, women therefore comprise the majority of the world's poor in both the urban and rural sectors and the majority of those working in the informal sector (Spieldoch 2007). There are 450 million women and men working as agricultural laborers worldwide who do not own or rent the land on which they do not work nor the tools and equipment they use. These workers comprise over 40 percent of the world's agricultural labor force often living below the poverty line and forming part of the majority of the rural poor in many parts of the world (FAOILO-IUF 2005). The number of waged female agricultural workers, currently at 20-30 percent of the waged workforce is increasing (Spieldoch 2007). According to the United Nations (2006), women are responsible for over half the world's food production. In developing countries, rural women produce between 60-80 percent of the food and are the main producers of the world's staple crops (such as rice, wheat, maize), which provide up to 90 percent of the rural poor's food intake. Women dominate the production of legumes and vegetables in small plots, raise poultry and small animals and provide most of the labor for post-harvest activities such as storage, handling and processing of grains. The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) indicates that women produce as much as 80 percent of the basic foodstuffs for household consumption and sale in Sub-Saharan Africa (FAO-ILO-IUF 2005). According to Huston (1993), women share of food production in Africa is estimated at 80 percent while Mijindadi (1993) asserted that in Nigeria women are responsible for about 70 percent of actual farm work and constitute up to 60 percent of the farming population. ; Non-PR ; IFPRI1; GRP32; GRP26; NSSP ; DSGD
