Examines the approach of Ghana's Alternative Dispute Resolution Act 2010 to the question of arbitrability. Reflects on the concept of arbitrability under international law, the relevant trends emerging from case law, and the approach adopted by the Ghanaian High Court in Attorney General v Balkan Energy LLC. Reviews the Act's arbitrability exemptions, their implications for international arbitration in Ghana, the potential jurisdictional challenges under the legislation and how its provisions could be amended to increase its conformity with international trends on arbitrability.
GLOCON et la fondation Rosa Luxemburg présentent : Nouvelle étude sur l'exploitation minière artisanale et semi-mécanisée de l'or au Burkina Faso par Hermann M. Konkobo et Issaka Sawadogo Le Burkina Faso des années 2000 a connu un véritable boom du secteur minier, aussi bien dans l'exploitation industrielle que celle artisanale. L'orpaillage traditionnelle présente une caractéristique clé de l'exploitation de l'or au Burkina Faso. Malgré ses effets environnementaux et sociaux indésirables, l'orpaillage constitue une source de revenue et de développement importante en milieu rural. En 2017, l'Agence Nationale d'Encadrement de l'Exploitation Minière Artisanale et Semi-mécanisée (ANEEMAS) a été suscitée comme nouvelle structure par l'Etat du Burkina Faso et ses partenaires pour promouvoir la formalisation de l'exploitation artisanale. Cependant, elle rencontre aussi des réactions et sentiments ambivalents du côté des acteurs de l'exploitation minière artisanale. C'est dans ce contexte qu'intervient la présente étude par la description du secteur, des acteurs de la chaîne opératoire de l'exploitation artisanale et leur vécu quotidien. Elle présente, en outre, une analyse de la politique d'encadrement de l'exploitation minière artisanale à travers l'ANEEMAS, la perception des acteurs impliqués dans la chaîne opératoire sur le terrain et propose des amélioraitions d'accompagnement des mineur.euse.s.
Le Burkina Faso des années 2000 a connu un véritable boom du secteur minier, aussi bien dans l'exploitation industrielle que celle artisanale. L'orpaillage traditionnelle présente une caractéristique clé de l'exploitation de l'or au Burkina Faso. Malgré ses effets environnementaux et sociaux indésirables, l'orpaillage constitue une source de revenue et de développement importante en milieu rural. En 2017, l'Agence Nationale d'Encadrement de l'Exploitation Minière Artisanale et Semi-mécanisée (ANEEMAS) a été suscitée comme nouvelle structure par l'Etat du Burkina Faso et ses partenaires pour promouvoir la formalisation de l'exploitation artisanale. Cependant, elle rencontre aussi des réactions et sentiments ambivalents du côté des acteurs de l'exploitation minière artisanale. C'est dans ce contexte qu'intervient la présente étude par la description du secteur, des acteurs de la chaîne opératoire de l'exploitation artisanale et leur vécu quotidien. Elle présente, en outre, une analyse de la politique d'encadrement de l'exploitation minière artisanale à travers l'ANEEMAS, la perception des acteurs impliqués dans la chaîne opératoire sur le terrain et propose des amélioraitions d'accompagnement des mineur.euse.s. ; Burkina Faso has experienced a veritable boom in the industrial and artisanal mining sector since the 2000s. Artisinal and small-scale mining (ASM) is a key feature of gold mining in Burkina Faso. Despite the negative environmental and social impacts, ASM represents a key source of income and contributes significantly to the development in rural areas. In 2017, the National Agency for the Management of Artisanal and Semi-Mecanical Mining (Agence Nationale d'Encadrement de l'Exploitation Minière Artisanale et Semi-mécanisée, ANEEMAS) was established by the Burkinabe state in order to create a new structure promoting the formalisation of artisanal mining. However, ANEEMAS also encounters ambivalent reactions and feelings on the part of actors in artisanal mining. The study presents an analysis of the sector, the actors in the production chain in ASM and the working conditions on ASM sites. Furthermore, it analyses the political framework for ASM provided by ANEEMAS as well as the perception of the actors involved in the production chain on the ground, and suggests an improved support of artisanal miners.
AbstractThe disciplinary integration of biology and economy is taking new forms in the postgenomic era, transforming long-standing exchanges between human biology and economics. In this article, we first describe how an emerging area of research in development and health economics has embraced, stabilized, and expanded the emerging field of the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD). We map the global expansion of this literature particularly in the Global South. Via an analysis of shifting models of health in human capital, we argue that as economists draw on DOHaD theories, their increasing focus on marginalized groups in postcolonial settings produces a darker model of health deficit. Based on notions of accumulated shocks, this model questions the generalizable expansion of the economization of life and speaks to a wider and more sombre range of figures. Health models in economics reflect the double nature of biological and developmental plasticity caught between agency and passivity, change, and near-permanency.
This study assessed household health risks in relation to sanitation and hygiene practices. A convergent parallel mixed method design, involving a survey of 200 household heads and two semi-structured interviews, was employed. The forward linear regression method was used to determine how sanitation and hygiene practices influence household health risks. From the results, age was the most considered criterion for using a homestead toilet facility. Income made the most significant contribution to change in the choice of toilet facility with a Beta Weight of 0.313 at a statistically significant level of p<0.00. Income was again identified to be the most statistically significant determining factor for access to sanitation and hygiene materials with 0.389 at a significant alpha level of p<0.00. The identified factors that define sanitation and hygiene practices cut across gender division of labour, age, occupation, housing type and residential location. Owing to the range of demographic, social and economic factors influencing the adoption of proper sanitation and hygiene practices, it is recommended that sanitation and hygiene improvement interventions should inculcate socio-demographic and economic concepts to reduce household health risks.
Purpose: The prevention through design (PtD) initiative places a duty on designers to originate designs that are inherently safe for construction, maintenance, occupation and demolition. In the UK, legislation has been introduced creating a new statutory role called the principal designer (PD) to ensure that PtD occurs during the design process. To realize this objective, PDs under the regulations must have appropriate skills, knowledge and experience (SKE) of occupational safety and health risks as they relate to construction products. However, there is a paucity of knowledge, in the extant literature and in practice, regarding what specifically constitutes PDs' SKE of PtD and how to measure the same. Design/methodology/approach: The study undertook a systematic review of meanings of SKE and carried out content analyses to provide robust conceptualizations of the constructs SKE. This underpinned the development of nomological networks to operationalize the constructs SKE in respect of PDs' ability to ensure PtD. Findings: PDs' SKE of PtD are presented as multidimensional constructs that can be operationalized at different levels of specificity in three theoretical models. Practical implications: The models indicated in this study can assist project clients to clarify the PtD SKE of prospective PDs in the procurement process. Correspondingly, PDs can look to these frameworks to identify their SKE gaps and take steps to address them. Originality/value: This study contributes to the PtD literature by providing theoretical frameworks to clarify the PtD SKE of PDs. The study provides a basis for future research to empirically test the attributes of these as they relate to PDs' competence to ensure PtD.
Wa, a fast growing municipality in Ghana, is at the first stage of the urban environmental transition where most of the environmental problems tend to occur within or close to the home, including the management of human faecal matter. This study examined the state of faecal matter management in Wa. A stratified sample of residential areas and a systematic sampling of households were employed for the selection of respondents and data was collected using questionnaire survey and key informant interviews. The results indicate that 52% of households in the municipality do not have their own toilet facilities and open defecation appears to be an acceptable practice for them. Surprisingly, public perception about faecal matter handling generally indicates that there are no dangers posed by exposure to humans. The finding suggests a considerable demand for improvements in the management of faecal matter but efforts to improve the situation might be thwarted by misconceptions of the risks posed by exposure to humans. Local government authorities need to re-engineer their efforts of providing a liveable environment by developing a regulatory framework that incorporates subsidies for the construction of household toilets and enforcement of sanitation bye-laws.Keywords: Sanitation, Human Excreta, Management, Perceptions, Wa
Infrastructure comprises the physical facilities, institutions and organisational structures or the social and economic foundations for the operation of a society (UNCTAD, 2008). The World Bank (1994) defines infrastructure in physical and economic terms as public utilities (power, telecommunications, piped water supply, sanitation and sewerage, solid waste collection and disposal and piped gas), public works (roads and major dam and canal works for irrigation and drainage) and transport facilities (urban and inter-urban railways, urban transport, ports and waterways, and airports). Whilst the 'public' tag may no longer be relevant in the light of widespread private sector participation and ownership, one can agree with the examples of infrastructure projects cited in the definition above. UNCTAD (2008) provides a similar list with a caveat that this is changing with the growth of information communication technology (ICT). Many authors such as Prud-homme (2004) and Kessides (1993) also define infrastructure projects in similar terms as the World Bank report. In Ghana, infrastructure has been defined to include 'immovable capital such as, roads, power plants, water delivery systems, sewerage treatment plants, telecommunication and transport facilities, electrification, hospitals and schools' (World Bank, 1997, p.2). All these facilities share common characteristics (UNCTAD, 2008). Firstly, they are capital-intensive. They are 'formidable undertakings' (p.88) involving huge financial outlay. Secondly, they often involve physical networks of strategic importance. Thirdly, they are also major determinants of the competitiveness of an economy; good infrastructure can play a major role in the decision of an investor to set up in a particular economy. Fourthly, in many societies, services associated with infrastructure are thorny social and political issues and, thus, subject to public interventions. Finally, infrastructure projects are relevant to economic development and global integration.
The Composite Indices (CI) are essential for policy-makers. They can be used to guide public policy. The same tools are used to evaluate the performance of public equities. However, they are subject to debate, as there are no standard rules for their construction. This paper discusses the methodological issues in the development of CI. It illustrates them by building a simple sustainable development index for 15 countries. Following the basic steps, the results obtained by the arithmetic mean show that in general, high-income countries, except the USA, have a higher 0.7 index. Emerging countries are the least sustainable of the sample, the developing countries are in an intermediate position. The geometric method provides mixed results. With this method, it is the emerging economies that become leaders in the standings and rich countries, except Australia, saw their index to deteriorate sharply. The sensitivity analysis indicates that the scores and rankings of countries are sensitive to the methods used. It confirms the uniqueness of the BOD method. The uncertainty weighting methodologies ranges from 1.27% to 95.16% in developing countries and emerging countries against 23% on average for the developed countries. ; Les Indices Composites (IC) sont indispensables pour les décideurs publics. Ils peuvent servir à orienter les politiques publiques. Les mêmes outils sont utilisés pour évaluer les performances des actions publiques. Cependant, ils sont sujets à débats tant il n'existe pas de règles standard pour leur construction. Cet article discute des aspects méthodologiques dans l'élaboration des IC. IL les illustre en construisant un indicateur simple de Développement Durable pour 15 pays. En suivant les étapes essentielles, les résultats obtenus par la moyenne arithmétique montrent que dans l'ensemble, les pays à revenus élevés, exception faite des USA, ont un IDD supérieur 0,7. Les pays émergents sont les moins soutenables de l'échantillon, les PED étant dans une position intermédiaire. La méthode géométrique ...
The Composite Indices (CI) are essential for policy-makers. They can be used to guide public policy. The same tools are used to evaluate the performance of public equities. However, they are subject to debate, as there are no standard rules for their construction. This paper discusses the methodological issues in the development of CI. It illustrates them by building a simple sustainable development index for 15 countries. Following the basic steps, the results obtained by the arithmetic mean show that in general, high-income countries, except the USA, have a higher 0.7 index. Emerging countries are the least sustainable of the sample, the developing countries are in an intermediate position. The geometric method provides mixed results. With this method, it is the emerging economies that become leaders in the standings and rich countries, except Australia, saw their index to deteriorate sharply. The sensitivity analysis indicates that the scores and rankings of countries are sensitive to the methods used. It confirms the uniqueness of the BOD method. The uncertainty weighting methodologies ranges from 1.27% to 95.16% in developing countries and emerging countries against 23% on average for the developed countries. ; Les Indices Composites (IC) sont indispensables pour les décideurs publics. Ils peuvent servir à orienter les politiques publiques. Les mêmes outils sont utilisés pour évaluer les performances des actions publiques. Cependant, ils sont sujets à débats tant il n'existe pas de règles standard pour leur construction. Cet article discute des aspects méthodologiques dans l'élaboration des IC. IL les illustre en construisant un indicateur simple de Développement Durable pour 15 pays. En suivant les étapes essentielles, les résultats obtenus par la moyenne arithmétique montrent que dans l'ensemble, les pays à revenus élevés, exception faite des USA, ont un IDD supérieur 0,7. Les pays émergents sont les moins soutenables de l'échantillon, les PED étant dans une position intermédiaire. La méthode géométrique ...
