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In Africa's Great Lakes region, many rural communities face serious challenges including chronic poverty, lack of infrastructure, high unemployment, inadequate education systems and healthcare services, as well as a fundamental absence of public social protection mechanisms. In some contexts, rural dwellers suffer from the additional burden of armed conflict and political violence. Yet, rural populations show remarkable indications of resilience and exhibit innovative ways of handling their problems by themselves. Some of these approaches can be qualified as social innovations. With its focus on the role of social work in rural social innovation processes, this article aims to contribute to some under-researched aspects at the intersection of social innovation, rural studies, and social work practice. Empirical evidence of rural social innovations is based on a regional study on indigenous and innovative models of problem solving in five African countries. Here, the focus is on two case examples from Uganda and Rwanda. For Uganda, a community-based concept of household clusters to promote rural development called akabondo is presented. The example from Rwanda is called umugoroba w'ababyeyi and refers to a family strengthening and community development program that has been mainstreamed into government policies. This model is located in the challenging context of a post-genocide society. A critical analysis of these models refers to the question whether they fall into the category of a social innovation; to major players in implementing such innovations; to their impact on rural communities and the wider society; as well as to challenges facing such innovations.

External tourism development organizations are frequently utilized by the various levels of the Chinese government to develop tourism and boost local economies. However, this often occurs with limited community participation. We explore the role of institutional arrangements in how people within host communities are empowered and disempowered in such situations by looking into the experiences of Fenghuang Ancient Town and two Miao villages in Hunan Province, China. In-depth interviews, participant and non-participant observation, and document analysis were undertaken. Certain community members were empowered by tourism development, especially financially. However, top-down decision-making, local elite systems, cultural habits and responses to these challenges enabled power inequality. This inequality occurred between government, tourism developer and communities, and within the communities. Only through devolution of power can social impacts from tourism development be improved but, even then, local power imbalances may influence the equity of tourism-related outcomes. ispartof: Tourism Geographies vol:25 issue:2-3 pages:1-20 status: Published online

The article is about economic problems, economic growth, and development in Georgia in conditions of universal globalization in the world. In the modern conditions it’s hard to find national economy, which isn’t included in the system of the world economy. Globalization-integration is an irreversible tendency in the world economic development, which is characterized by high growth quality of relationships between national economics. Economic development is a necessary condition for solving many challenges facing Georgia.

In the National Development Plan, cooperatives and agriculture development are identified as possible solutions for addressing rural poverty and unemployment, especially among the youth. However, according to most research/literature, agricultural cooperatives fail for many reasons, including but not limited to lack of capital, incompetent management and organizational deficiencies. This study applied a qualitative analysis to the qualitative data using a case study of Zanokhanyo Food Security Cooperative (ZFSC) in Ndabakazi, Butterworth. Interviews with the project members, ex-members, extension officers and youth were conducted through a semi-structured questionnaire administered in IsiXhosa. According to the results, lack of intensive production resulting in very low incomes is one of the reasons why projects such as ZFSC fail to attract young people and provide employment for rural people. Agricultural extension advisory services play a very limited role because of their generalist approach; they lack depth of knowledge about diverse agricultural subject areas. This study recommends that agricultural extension and the farmers’ support system be improved by employing or outsourcing specialists to cater to the needs of agricultural cooperatives in order to improve the productivity and income of agricultural cooperatives.

Education is a key to success for every member of the society. And we emphasize this principle by saying that education changes the world as anything can be transformed with education. In many countries, especially African societies, people do focus on education for male child leaving behind the girl. But if we look at the recent updates on population of our countries, it shows that females are in higher population than males. Therefore, if this larger population does not get education it means that the whole of our society is uneducated. When we educate a male child, we have educated an individual, but if we educate a girl, the whole nation or society is educated. In this respect, the world today needs to focus much on the girl child more especially on how she can be assisted to get the quality education she deserves as this vulnerable group is facing a lot of obstacles and challenges on their way to success. With the problems that the girl child is facing, several players have to come up with necessary measures to uplift and promote the girls socially, psychologically, physically as well as economically in their education. As we are promoting the girl child in education, we are preparing and sustaining brighter future for a better Malawi.

La pandemia por COVID-19 ha representado una de las crisis sanitarias más importantes del último siglo en España y en todo el mundo. Entre las medidas desplegadas para mitigarla se encuentran específicamente las de reducción de movilidad para disminuir la transmisión comunitaria. Estas medidas pueden tener un impacto desigual en la población. Presentamos una metodología mediante el uso de datos públicos del Instituto Nacional de Estadística y de la Sociedad Española de Epidemiologia para estudiar diferencias socioeconómicas en la movilidad durante la pandemia. Describimos la aplicación de esta metodología para una provincia (Asturias), donde se encuentran patrones socioeconómicos rural-urbanos. El uso de herramientas de sistemas de información geográfica puede traer información útil para explorar los determinantes sociales de la salud a múltiples niveles.

The impacts of human trafficking are currently high across the world albeit different policies are designed to combat it. Yet, governments are not working hard practically and jointly as they write strategies and programs on the paper to reduce the impacts of women trafficking. Even though men are victims of human trafficking, scholars agree that women are the most vulnerable to human trafficking. This study describes the socio-economic impacts of human trafficking among the west Asia returnee young women in Ethiopia by taking Oromia Region’s West Shewa zone as a case study. The study used the mixed-method approach. A descriptive case study research design was applied for a detailed description of the socio-economic impacts of human trafficking among west Asia returnee young women. Feminism theory was employed to scrutinize the oppression of young women. The finding reveals that human trafficking caused the divorce of marriage and exposed children to the street because of unwise savings and disagreement of spouses; psychological and physical threats of young women on the way to work, at the workplace and after return; wastage of income as a result of saving money in the wrong place; economic crisis because young women had to pay back the loan to brokers – traffickers – and could not repay the money for lenders; and school dropout. From the finding, it is concluded that although young women exposed to human trafficking by the vision of having their job in the future and the income they could generate in West Asia. They had a dream to improve their lives, they could not realize their dream since they were unable to save the money thereby leading them to social and economic crises. Hence, it is recommended that issues of human trafficking should be incorporated into the school curriculum, at least at the elementary level, so that young women get better awareness about the negative consequences of human trafficking and abstain from traffickers. It is also recommended that young women who work abroad legally should open their formal bank account to save their wages to escape social and economic crises when they return.&nbsp

Varied forms of mobility are rapidly transforming communities across the world. In Africa’s cities and urban peripheries, the results of human movements include ever more diverse sets of new arrivals living alongside longer-term residents as they seek protection, profit, and passage elsewhere. Some move on and others return home, while still others shift within in search of new opportunities or security. In the absence of muscular state institutions or dominant cultural norms, these areas have become estuarial zones in which varied communities of convenience are taking shape. Unlike well-documented urban gateways or ghettos, these communities range from radical forms of exclusion to remarkable modes of accommodation that enable people to extract usufruct rights: to live in but not become fully part of the cities they occupy. Using examples from Maputo, Johannesburg, and Nairobi, this article explores the nature of these estuaries in ways that challenge the conceptual foundations typically informing debates over migrant rights, integration, and the boundaries of belonging. This means eroding clear distinctions between hosts and guests along with a call to reevaluate the relative importance of state institutions and policies. Most fundamentally, it questions new residents’ interests in localized political and social recognition and participation. The article concludes by suggesting the need to reconsider the forms and scale of community through which the newly urbanized claim rights and the nature of the rights they desire.

Despite federal policy changes facilitating the recruitment and retention of international students in Canada, programming at Canadian universities is uneven and has created conditions for the population’s social exclusion. Canadian immigration policy has positioned international students as a desirable cohort of prospective immigrants, due to their age, economic potential, education, and official language skills. Canada’s 2014 International Education Strategy aims to double the number of international students, retaining them as economic migrants, and later permanent residents. However, temporary legal status and limited access to federally funded settlement services positions post- secondary institutions as the population’s primary settlement service provider, compounding the barriers to successful societal integration. As such, international graduates face barriers that mirror those of traditional immigrants. Critically exploring Canadian policy and post-secondary programming relating to international students, this paper applies the social inclusion perspective to recommend policy modifications and service approaches to ensure greater inclusion of international students.

The Central America Solidarity movement emerged in the early 1980s when US citizens sought ways to support Nicaraguans, Salvadorans, and Guatemalans who were fighting for human rights, economic justice, and democratic freedoms. Solidarity activists also worked to obstruct US political, economic, and military intervention in Central America. Keywords: civil war; foreign interventionism; regional movements; war; Central America; United States of America

The COVID‐19 pandemic has led to a health, economic and care crisis for all workers including those in the informal economy. This article draws on data from the first round of a mixed‐methods longitudinal study conducted (in June 2020) by the research advocacy network Women in Informal Employment Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) in partnership with informal workers’ organizations in 12 cities. It assesses the impact of the multidimensional crisis on care responsibilities and the resulting effect on livelihoods and food security. A gendered analysis of paid work and unpaid care work sheds light on the unique features of the current ‘pandemic recession's’ impact on the world's labour force.

So far an approach in overcoming poverty, both at the national, regional and local, generally is with a purely economic approach. The problem of poverty seems to be simply understood as a problem of lack of income, so that the prevention programs which are carried out especially by the government focus only on the provision of assistance in the field of capital, the provision of subsidies, aid equipment and the like. This paper uses the form of social capital theory to understand, map out and promote poverty reduction by optimally utilizing social capital in the community. By utilizing social capital theory of Bourdieu, Coleman and Putnam, this research takes place in the Betet Village, Pesantren, Kediri City as the unit of analysis. The basic consideration of the location chosen is that Betet village is one of village areas in Kediri which implements poverty reduction programs since 2009 until now. The result shows that the poverty reduction in Betet village is implemented through a series of stages called PNPM Mandiri Urban cycle; it is started with a reflection of poverty, self power-mapping, determination of a medium-term program of poverty reduction programs. The characteristics of social capital of Betet Village community has grown and developed far before the PNPM program is implemented. The characteristics of social capital includes trust, links that has formed, values and norms that are awakened, participation and pro-active action. The existence of social capital contributes positively to their poverty reduction programs that emphasize community participation in various activities. Keywords : Poverty, social capital, empowerment, PNPM-MP

In this paper we use an anti, intra and inter-categorical intersectional approach, and ethnographic enquiry in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to nuance debate over gender and participation in urban water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) projects in low-income settlements. We make three claims. First, that a mismatch exists between how ‘women’ are framed and targeted in WASH projects and everyday experience characterised by the unequal distribution of benefits and burdens. Second, the likelihood of participation and leadership in WASH projects differs between women according, especially, to age, income, marital and occupancy status, social and political relationships. Third, the same interconnected leaders - including married ‘power couples’ - are involved in all development projects, with implications for the consolidation of power and authority. We call for urban development research, policy and practice to better engage with difference and the conflicting roles certain women and men play in NGO management, local politics and broader claim-making.

This paper focuses on the integration of refugees and immigrants into Greek society through the provision of housing. This topic is a hot one due to the fact that many refuges have arrived in Greece during the previous years and there is a need to remain for a long time. Thus, the provision of housing is imperative. However, due to the economic crisis, the creation of such spaces is expensive and unachievable. As a result, alternatives should be examined. For this purpose, different policies of the smooth integration of refugees and immigrants in European countries can provide such solutions. Three case studies were selected across Europe and they have been compared to the Athenian paradigm. Through this research, proposals about their successful integration have been derived. In that way, it will be possible to provide specific plans that reorganize various areas in Athens in order to make this vision a reality.

Objective In the United States, restrictive abortion policies are concentrated in a subset of states. Little research has examined how people who consider abortion make sense of abortion obtainability and the extent of regulation of abortion care in their state. Study design We conducted in-depth interviews with 30 pregnant women in Maryland, a state with high abortion service availability and few policies restricting abortion, and 28 pregnant women in Louisiana, a state with low service availability and numerous restrictions, who had considered but not obtained an abortion for their pregnancy. We analyzed findings using inductive qualitative analytic techniques. Results All participants were financially struggling. Most participants in Maryland considered abortion easy to get, while a plurality of participants in Louisiana considered abortion difficult to get. Yet, despite their measurable differences in access, participants in both states considered abortion generally obtainable. Participants in Louisiana who thought abortion difficult to get, but nonetheless obtainable, cited strategies that they already employed for other challenges in their lives as options for overcoming abortion barriers. Conclusions Pregnant women who consider abortion and are subject to restrictions do not necessarily perceive restrictions as barriers. Their accounts illustrate how those impacted by restrictions adapt to constraints on their reproductive autonomy just as they manage many other challenges that restrict their freedom to live self-determined lives. Implications Financially struggling pregnant people who considered abortion in Louisiana did not perceive restrictions as barriers to abortion, illustrating the broader adoption of strategies to deal with constraints among women living on low incomes.

At the height of the UK’s COVID-19 ‘lockdown’, a group of families subject to the ‘no recourse to public funds’ (NRPF) immigration condition1 brought legal action against the UK government on the basis of their exclusion from free school meals support. The challenge succeeded, resulting in the temporary extension of free school meals support to some families with NRPF during the coronavirus pandemic. According to the Home Office, the extension was put in place ‘in recognition of the difficulties they may be facing during these unique circumstances’ (Home Office, 2020). The need was thus framed as something exceptional, induced by the COVID-19 crisis. While the pandemic has exacerbated the issues faced by those with NRPF, families subject to the immigration condition have long been living in extreme poverty and precarity. The UK government’s line ignores the long-standing destitution experienced by migrant families with NRPF and the years of campaigning by activist groups and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for their access to free school meals. The extension of eligibility for free school meals may be limited to the coronavirus outbreak, but the hardship experienced by families with NRPF is not. The COVID19 pandemic has made more visible the everyday destitution experienced by these families, which had been largely hidden from view.

In general, family planning can be defined as an effort to regulate the number of pregnancies in such a way that it will have a positive impact on the mother, baby, father and family concerned and will not cause harm as a direct result of the pregnancy. Family planning is an attempt to regulate the population or the use of methods to regulate fertilization to help a person or family achieve certain goals. The purpose referred to here is an intentional arrangement of pregnancy by the family, which is not against the applicable laws or regulations and also the morals of Pancasila and for the welfare of the family. Giving understanding to couples of childbearing age that there are various kinds of contraceptives and their benefits, so that people can choose any contraceptive that suits the individual. With more benefits than side effects, especially to keep the pregnancy distance, and a prosperous family can be achieved. It is hoped that with careful family planning, pregnancy is something that is really expected so that it will avoid the act of terminating a pregnancy with abortion. Ciamis Regency is in the province of West Java, where the area is directly adjacent to two regencies, namely Banjar and Tasikmalaya. Its location in the center of the city makes the Benteng village not like a village in general.

In general, family planning can be defined as an effort to regulate the number of pregnancies in such a way that it will have a positive impact on the mother, baby, father and family concerned and will not cause harm as a direct result of the pregnancy. Family planning is an attempt to regulate the population or the use of methods to regulate fertilization to help a person or family achieve certain goals. The purpose referred to here is an intentional arrangement of pregnancy by the family, which is not against the applicable laws or regulations and also the morals of Pancasila and for the welfare of the family. Giving understanding to couples of childbearing age that there are various kinds of contraceptives and their benefits, so that people can choose any contraceptive that suits the individual. With more benefits than side effects, especially to keep the pregnancy distance, and a prosperous family can be achieved. It is hoped that with careful family planning, pregnancy is something that is really expected so that it will avoid the act of terminating a pregnancy with abortion. Ciamis Regency is in the province of West Java, where the area is directly adjacent to two regencies, namely Banjar and Tasikmalaya. Its location in the center of the city makes the Benteng village not like a village in general.

In Ethiopia, major policy reforms to increase equitable access to pre-primary education were instigated in 2010, leading to a surge in pre-primary school enrolment. This paper investigates the effects of the expansion on who gets access to pre-primary education and on readiness for primary school. We find that inequalities in pre-primary access between advantaged and disadvantaged regions of the country persist following the reforms, with girls less likely to attend school, particularly in more disadvantaged regions. More than half of children enrolled in pre-primary classrooms are below the official age of 6 years. Children from more advantaged backgrounds (those whose parents are literate, have reading materials at home, and live in urban areas) are more likely to participate in pre-primary schools both before and after the reform. Yet pre-primary education could play a role in equalizing opportunities in primary school: we find pre-primary participation to be positively associated with children's reading skills in Grades 2 and 3 of primary school after the expansion. These findings highlight the need to focus policy attention on efforts to reduce barriers to pre-primary access for children in disadvantaged circumstances.

The enrollment of students from African Region has increased in India in the last decade. It has expanded to 22 African countries and across the climatic zones of Africa. This study, delineates climatic adaptations of African students in Indian conditions. Studies have significantly indicated about the role of climatic conditions and adaptations on educational outcomes at higher education level. Besides the social and academic challenges of studying in countries other than home countries climatic adaptations have been one of several struggles students face while studying professional courses with long study hours, group projects and site visits for practical understandings. With the help of focus group discussion and qualitative interviews of selected group of students studying in universities of National Capital Region of India, and feedbacks from the faculty and peer group a comprehensive framework of the study has been developed to assess the challenges in climatic adaptation for international students. This study also demonstrate some of the implications of climatic adaptation in terms of increase in frequency of visiting health care centers, additional financial burden and pursuit of academic excellence through study abroad. With the help of persons responsible for management of international student affairs, this study acknowledges and makes suggestion on some of the institutional preparedness for supporting international students joining respective organizations to pursue their dream courses in higher education institutions.

The year 2020 will forever be associated with a new chapter in the history of global health, COVID-19. However, this new chapter would have a similar message as many other chapters written before it. The COVID-19 pandemic would disproportionately affect minorities, those of low socioeconomic class, and those with limited access to health care. However, this would also bring about a new health care disparity, the affect COVID-19 would have on those with non- COVID related medical needs.

Why do infrastructure projects that are similar in nature develop along starkly different trajectories? This question sheds light on the varying state capacity of developing countries. Divergent from structural explanations that stress external agency and institutional explanations that emphasize bureaucratic capacity, I propose a political championship theory to explain the variance in states capacity of infrastructure delivery. I argue that when a project is highly salient to leaders' survival, leaders commit to the project; leaders with strong authority build an implementation coalition, leading to higher effectiveness. I trace the process of the Standard Gauge Railway in Kenya and Addis-Djibouti Railway in Ethiopia, relying on over 180 interviews. This research highlights the individual agency within structural and institutional constraints, a previously understudied area in state capacity.

What does it mean to be young and poor in Iran? How does the youth living in uncertainty and with few economic resources manage to build a life which is decent and valuable to them? Why is the tens...

Data for low- and middle- income countries (LMICs) are used to investigate the effect of the demographic transition on economic growth at sub-national level. We introduce a detailed classification of demographic window phases, determine how these phases are distributed among and within LMICs, and analyze the relationship between the demographic window of opportunity (DWO) and economic growth for 1921 urban and rural areas of sub-national regions within 91 LMICs. Many areas in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East have entered the window, but most of Sub-Saharan Africa is still in the traditional or pre-window phase. Our analyses reveal higher growth rates in areas passing through the DWO. Positive growth effects are particularly strong in rural and more educated regions and in countries with lower levels of corruption. Policy measures aimed at effectively using the DW for achieving growth should combine investments in education and rural development with better governance., Social Indicators Research, 161 (1), ISSN:0303-8300, ISSN:1573-0921

Colombia's health sector reform has been recognized for its universal health (UHC) coverage scheme. However, this reform evolved without palliative care (PC), thereby omitting a core element of UHC. In this paper, we analyze the Colombian health system reform and health policies in relation to PC. We present the history, innovations, successes, and shortcomings of the reform and summarize the lessons learned to strengthen efforts leading to PC integration. Our analysis is based on the WHO public health framework for PC (policy, access to medicines, education, service provision). For several years and especially during the last decade, the government enacted laws and regulations to improve access to essential medicines and to integrate PC. Relative to other countries in Latin America, Colombia was the first to launch a PC service and to accredit palliative medicine as a specialty, the second to establish a national PC association and one of the few countries with a specific PC law. However, data shows that there are still too few services to meet the PC needs of approximately 250,000 adult patients annually. Our analysis shows that the country's failure to integrate PC most likely is a result of limited health worker education. Advocacy efforts should include deans of schools and provosts, in addition to policy makers and regulators. Other possible factors affecting uptake and implementation of existing national policies are civil unrest and limited collaboration between government offices. Additional research is needed to evaluate the impact of these and other related factors on PC integration in Colombia.

Exploring the short-term and long-term interests is relevant towards understanding the perceptions of rural collectives around Land Value Capture (LVC) changes caused by land marketization. So far, research has focused too much on the short-term interest, arguing that rural collectives often show positive perceptions because of their LVC gains. However, rural collective perceptions cannot be sufficiently explored if the long-term interest is neglected. This paper attampts to answer “Which kind of interest dominates the perceptions of rural collectives around LVC changes caused by rural land marketization reform?” Empirical answers come from a Chinese case study that varies in rural collectives' types, space, and institutional settings (modes). Data were collected employing 95 semi-structured interviews out of 430 rural land transactions in five counties/districts piloting rural land marketization reform. Within a mixed-method, the qualitative analysis was used as a predominant method in this study. In contrast to the literature, these results indicate that the perceptions of some rural collectives are not so positive, especially if the ‘rural land stock cooperative system’ has not been put in place yet. The reason for this is that rural collectives focus on the long-term interest rather than on the short-term interest. These findings shed new light on ongoing debates about future trends regarding the collectives.

From the perspective of similarity of doing business, this paper seeks to find the pivotal countries of China's OFDI in the “Belt and Road” initiative. Based on the Doing Business Index data and macro-location panel data of China's OFDI in 61 countries, six countries are selected as pivotal countries. Further analysis found that proposal of the “Belt and Road” initiative, promotion of China's economic development level, raising of the partnership level and visits of bilateral leaders can make the inflection point forward. Our findings will provide a meaningful reference for deepening the “Belt and Road” initiative.

We consider the adequacy of the legislative and administrative provisions for environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) in Uganda. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) legislation was enacted in Uganda in 1995. Although it was intended that social impacts would also be considered, the nomenclature, organizational culture and practice of EIA has given an over-emphasis to biophysical issues, with social issues being under considered. Lack of explicit instructions about how to assess social impacts and the positioning of ESIA too late in the project cycle limit the ability of social issues to be properly considered. From document analysis, an on-line survey, in-depth interviews, reflexive practice, and a literature review, we found that there was inadequate public participation, poor follow-up, low levels of capacity in all stakeholders, and political interference in the project approval process. To improve the effectiveness of ESIA in Uganda and other developing countries, we make recommendations to address the challenges facing ESIA practice.

In November 2020 Anine Kriegler interviewed Shaun Shelly about recent developments in South African Drug Policy in the wake of the 2018 Constitutional Court judgment decriminalising personal possession of cannabis, and the subsequent Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill. Shaun is a researcher at the University of Pretoria Department of Family Medicine where he is part of the team implementing a community oriented primary care approach to address drug use in the City of Tshwane. He is the founder of the South African Drug Policy Week and is the drug policy lead at TB HIV Care, a non-profit organisation that works to prevent, find, and treat TB, HIV, and other major diseases by targeting interventions to address the needs of populations at risk, such as inmates, sex workers, and people who inject drugs. Shaun is a founding member and chair of the South African Network of People Who Use Drugs and the former Deputy Secretary of the United Nations Vienna NGO Committee on Narcotic Drugs. He sits on various other national and international task teams and advisory boards on drugs. Anine is a board member of the South African Drug Policy Initiative, a voluntary association that aims to reform South African drug laws, and which submitted an objection to the Bill.

In the health sector, decentralisation mainly consists of the devolution of administrative functions to local governments. Since 2009, Burkina Faso has engaged in a process to transfer health resources to local governments. This study examines the decision-makers' knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) about the decentralisation and health resources transfer to local governments in Burkina Faso. We used a qualitative research method. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with key decision-makers. The data collected went through a directed qualitative content analysis. Findings suggest that all respondents are aware of the rationale of the decentralisation and resources transfer to local governments. The vast majority of respondents have a positive opinion towards decentralisation and the main elements that appear to be motivating their attitude, are the expected outcomes from decentralisation. The practical experience was limited to awareness raising, training, supervision, technical assistance and resources mobilisation. Poor collaboration between health districts and local governments, the control of certain resources by the state and the health districts constrain the implementation of health resources and skills transfer policy at grassroots level. Careful attention should be given to the country's political context and institutional design.

This paper estimates the impact of home country natural disasters on the academic performance of immigrant students in New York City public schools. It provides credible evidence of these effects by exploiting the exogenous timing of natural disasters relative to testing dates in models with student fixed effects. Natural disasters in the home country lower immigrant students’ test scores in reading by 0.051 standard deviation, and by 0.028 standard deviation in mathematics. This paper provides strong evidence that the home country is an important out-of-school factor shaping immigrant students’ academic success and shows that children are affected by distal contexts in which they do not directly participate.

Rapid globalization and increased connectivity led to the launch of e-pharmacies also known as online-pharmacy, internet pharmacy or mail-order pharmacy in 1990s. Despite being a boon of technology, unregulated e-pharmacies have now become an issue of major public health concern requiring international action. This paper analyses the promise and perils of this technology, discusses the measures undertaken by national and regulatory bodies and the possible solutions.

The mission of the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN), as stated in its Constitution, is ‘to advance the rights of refugees and other people in need of protection in the Asia Pacific region’. This article describes and analyses APRRN’s internal governance and resourcing and the manner in which it is going about achieving its mission. It argues that APRRN’s organisational strength is inadequate to support all that it is trying to do. The article concludes by considering what APRRN could do to improve the likelihood of achieving success in the pursuit of its mission and reflecting on the lessons of the APRRN case study for wider civil society.

The poor state of public finances in many countries has led to calls for fiscal consolidation. In practice, implementing concrete consolidation measures appears to meet with public resistance, suggesting that the success of consolidation efforts strongly depends on the popularity of the chosen measures. To identify public attitudes toward fiscal consolidation and alternative consolidation measures, we conducted a survey among 2,000 German citizens. Applying ordered and multinominal logit models, we test theory-based hypotheses about the determinants of individual attitudes toward public debt. We find that, inter alia, personal economic situation, time preferences, fiscal illusion, and trust in politicians exert a significant impact on attitudes toward fiscal consolidation and preferences for alternative consolidation measures.

This article analyses processes of exploitation, accumulation and social reproduction in rural Java. Using fieldwork in a primarily agrarian and a predominantly non-agrarian village, it underlines the ways in which pluri-active labouring class households contribute to processes of accumulation through a variety of forms of petty self-employment and wage-labour–above all sharecropping and female homework, which is interwoven seamlessly with reproductive labour. Agrarian accumulation is dominated by traders and absentee capitalist landowners. Forms of exploitation are linked to petty capitalism's relationship to capital-in-general. The article briefly discusses the potential for labouring class collective action given the villages' relatively flat social structures.

Problem setting. It is important to assess the compliance of the results of the decentralization reform in Ukraine with the population expectations regarding the changes caused by the reform, in particular, the formation of amalgamated territorial communities (ATCs). Attention should be paid to identifying social and economic problems that require further measures to solve them.Recent research and publications analysis. Administrative reforms are continuous in each country and provide for identifying shortcomings and upgrading public administration. Ukrainian scientists proposed a method for assessing the impact of administrative and financial decentralization mechanisms on the social and economic development of regions, districts, cities, and territorial communities. Experts and scientists analyzed the implementation of projects in decentralization, compared Ukrainian and foreign decentralization models.Highlighting previously unsettled parts of the general problem. An important task in terms of the future social and economic development of Ukraine is identifying problems that are still unresolved or are due to the process of decentralization of power in Ukraine. The article is to reveal such problems based on the assessment analysis of this process.Paper main body. Decentralization of power is considered one of the most successful reforms in Ukraine implemented after 2014. The success was based on the clarity of intentions announced by the authorities, the interest of communities in obtaining greater resources and powers, as well as their ability to implement their local development initiatives. A network of Administrative Service Centers (ASCs) has been developed in Ukraine, which can be considered an important achievement of the administrative reform. However, 46–63% of respondents noted a deterioration in the following areas: combating corruption in government; care for vulnerable groups (pensioners, disabled persons); medical care; providing jobs, and combating unemployment. The problems of newly created ATCs included: lack of qualified personnel; strengthening political monopolies that control resources in communities; phenomena when some ATC leaders felt permissive in their new status. Although the number of full-time employees in ATC self-government bodies has generally decreased compared to the total number of employees in the bodies of non-integrated settlements, “inflating” of the salaries of officials takes place.The survey in 2020 reflected the people’s opinion that decentralization of power has led to a deterioration in environmental protection management. The analysis showed that the opinions of respondents on the priority of environmental protection tasks differ significantly depending on their level of education. In particular, when people were asked about the powers that should be primarily exercised by local governments, the distribution of answers on “Environmental Protection” was as follows among the educational social groups: incomplete secondary and lower – 9,9%, full secondary – 19,8%, secondary vocational – 18,4%, and higher – 26,7%. This might be influenced by the amount of environmental knowledge gained. The coronavirus pandemic has apparently led to the creation of conditions for improving the health situation which, according to the new local governments, is one of their key priorities.Conclusions of the research and prospects for further studies. Based on the research results by reputable organizations, the following general social and economic problems have been identified that need to be solved: corruption in government; social vulnerability of pensioners and disabled persons; insufficiently effective medical care; unemployment; armed conflict in eastern Ukraine; and improper environmental management. Problems of some newly created ATCs included: lack of qualified personnel; “inflating” the salaries of officials; strengthening political monopolies that control resources in communities; a sense of permissiveness of “local princes”; lack of a clear list of measures in case of epidemics, natural or man-made disasters; and lack of projects designed to stimulate long-term community development.

Problem setting. The article examines the possibilities of providing employment for young people through the activities of public communities. An environment that will allow young people to develop themselves in the communities where they were born, live and plan to stay.Recent research and publications analysis. Youth employment is very closely linked to the general employment situation. However, it has its own dimensions and problems that require specific measures. Domestic scholars, for instance, Yu. Palahniuk, O. Shtym, G. Koval, Y. Makogon paid considerable attention to the European experience of youth employment policy, and G. Koval, M. Karpulenko, Y. Hetmanenko studied the state youth policy in general. Highlighting previously unsettled parts of the general problem. The article analyzes the typical challenges of youth employment: unemployment, going abroad; an insufficient level of qualification and opportunities to involve young people through the cooperation of educational institutions and opportunities to involve young people in cooperation of educational institutions; non-formal education; participation in local community self-government. As a result of the research, it is proposed to develop an effective state youth policy in ensuring youth employment in small communities through the development of youth entrepreneurship; activation of youth and involvement in community activities, inclusion of youth in councils and committees. Therefore, the object of study is youth employment through the activities of young communities in Ukraine. Paper main body. In Ukraine, youth unemployment is associated primarily with underdevelopment and economic growth, trends in the international economy’s globalization. It is migration processes that strongly influence the situation on the world labor market because, during the growth of cross-border movements, more and more young people leave their homes in the hope of finding work, which leads to migration from rural areas to cities or other countries. This will have an impact on labor markets in their countries as well as abroad. The International Labor Organization estimates that about 85,3 million young women and men were unemployed worldwide in 2020, or 44 per cent of the world’s unemployed. Many more young people try to earn a living in the informal economy and often end up as unemployed, unskilled young people. To replace older ones, they hire even younger children for lower pay, thus greatly reducing the chances of providing education for both. It is estimated that 59 million young people between the ages of 15 and 17 are employed in unsafe jobs.Unemployment is one of the problems of young people in small communities of Ukraine, as 73% of young people do not see opportunities for even temporary employment due to lack of supply in the market, and 27% due to housekeeping.Traditionally, the lower unemployment rate in rural areas is due to participation in housekeeping. However, this positive fact about the lower unemployment rate among rural youth is reduced by a longer unemployment period. According to the research, the experience of youth unemployment is more devastating for them than for their parents because parents have fewer economic means to support their children. Accordingly, the development of youth in the community is impossible without creating employment conditions.An important factor is to acquaint young people with the trends and directions of development of the whole territorial community and even better involve them in the planning process, allowing them to assess the threats and challenges to the development of small communities. Accordingly, contributing to education and informing about medium-term prospects and available vacancies are practical things that can already make youth unemployment low.The article describes the main provisions of the youth program “DOBRE”, which operates in Ukraine. This program offers its own 4-level system of youth involvement: “Hear youth”, “Develop youth”, “Strengthen youth”, “Support youth”. Addressing the lack of support and activity of young people in small communities is done by creating the opportunities they need for young people, namely creating enough jobs, developing opportunities, decent pay, and creating a sense that young people are included in community life. Also, the priorities are adhered to and supported by the community.Conclusions of the research and prospects for further studies. To solve the problem of youth employment, it is necessary to form state guarantees aimed at stimulating self-employment and entrepreneurial activity of young people; improving the legal framework in the context of preferential taxation of enterprises that hire young workers; active control and monitoring of labor market and educational services indicators to timely adjust and take the necessary measures, as well as to implement a preventive policy of youth employment. An important area of problem-solving is forming a mechanism for effective interaction between government, business and education, which determines the coordination of efforts and joint activities aimed at improving the situation on the labor market and providing young people with jobs. The state’s policy in the field of youth employment needs to be improved, taking into account the current state of the labor market, new trends in social and labor relations through the introduction of best foreign experience and its adaptation to domestic realities.

The Covid 19 pandemic that occurred in 2020 impacts all areas of life, especially in the economy. The restriction of community activities causes a decrease in income that the government, business sector, and the community is not only felt by the government. This activity aims to increase the knowledge and ability of homemakers in managing family finances in the covid 19 pandemic period where many families' income decreases so that a mother as a financial manager must have knowledge and skills in family financial management. This activity was carried out at the Cisitu Village Office, attended by 20 participants consisting of homemakers and RT RW Cisitu Village. This activity went smoothly. The method of this service activity uses counseling and discussion methods. This activity shows that participants better know how to manage family finances by making household budgets, making spending priorities so that the income earned every month can meet all needs to avoid debt and start saving.

El número de migrantes provenientes de Venezuela en Colombia se ha incrementado sustancialmente. Por su ubicación geográfica de frontera extendida, Bucaramanga ha sido una de las principales ciudades receptoras de este flujo migratorio. En este artículo se caracterizan las iniciativas empresariales desarrolladas por migrantes venezolanos en Bucaramanga entre 2010 y 2018, a través de tres dimensiones de análisis: sociodemográfica, antecedentes empresariales y desempeño empresarial en Colombia. Para ello, se realizaron 19 encuestas y visitas de observación. Se concluye que en Bucaramanga existe una “economía étnica”, entendida como un conjunto de negocios creados por migrantes para enfrentar las barreras de acceso al mercado laboral y la xenofobia. No obstante, se ratifican las críticas que sobre este concepto se han formulado, pues no se evidencia una relación estrecha entre propietarios y clientes migrantes, pero sí en la conformación de equipos de trabajo que soportan el proceso productivo.

Purpose Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, has presented an opportunity to set aside traditional regional collaborations and take responsible leadership to overcome difficult times. This paper aims to explore the current COVID-19 vaccination progress and pandemic status for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries and suggests responsible leadership to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and to think beyond. Design/methodology/approach This paper offers a viewpoint of the current COVID-19 vaccination among eight SAARC nations. It scrutinises the recent COVID-19 vaccination statistics for the eight South Asian countries based on Web-based analytics and comparative analysis until 28 August 2021. Findings This paper calls for collaborative decisions and responsible actions for policymakers in the SAARC countries to deal with the COVID-19 vaccination crisis. When South Asian countries are fraught with the increasing number of populations with COVID-19 cases, deaths and acute shortage of life-saving vaccines, it is time for their national and SAARC leaders to strengthen regional cooperations and initiate collaborative actions. The paper demonstrates that implementing responsible leadership can result in favourable outcomes for individuals, organisations, regions and the world. Moreover, this paper suggests SAARC, through responsible actions, has the potentiality to overcome the current crisis of COVID-19 vaccination and enhance the regional sustainability of the South Asian nations. Originality/value This paper delivers information about the present developing situation of COVID-19 vaccination in SAARC countries, how the governments and regional leadership are handling and future challenges that have been raised and can be overcome effectively. This paper can be helpful for the policymakers and SAARC leaders for effective public health interventions in the region and to develop a recovery roadmap for the sustainable economic zone.

This research is a qualitative research which aims to determine the level of understanding and views of the people of Bengkulu City about cash waqf as a solution to poverty alleviation in Bengkulu City. The data used are primary data obtained through questionnaires distributed directly or indirectly (questionnaires online). The results showed that the level of understanding of the people of Bengkulu City about cash waqf was still low and the public view of cash waqf as a solution to poverty alleviation in Bengkulu City was good, where the average Bengkulu City community thought that cash waqf if applied in Bengkulu City would have a positive impact. for the economy in Bengkulu City.

The Asia Pacific Stroke Organization is the largest international and professional stroke group in the region. It has worked consistently over the last 10 years to gain visibility and consistency across the Asia-Pacific and beyond. The 10-year journey will be reviewed in the background of many internal and external developments including changes in Asia-Pacific stroke epidemiology, stroke care systems, and stroke service developments as well as major research studies in the Asia-Pacific.

Purpose Undocumented Central American migrants in Mexico are legally eligible for free access to the public health system through the new Instituto para la Salud y el Bienestar (INSABI) health program, but many experience structural vulnerability and stigmatization that prevent them from accessing health-care facilities. The purpose of this study is to investigate the discrepancy between the migrants’ Human Right to health, proclaimed by the Mexican Government and supposedly guaranteed by law, and the reality of the migration process. Design/methodology/approach This study reviewed relevant literature on the health risk factors, social and structural vulnerability, stigmatization and structural violence experienced by undocumented migrants as obstacles to their Human Right to health. It also reviews the current legal framework in Mexico and internationally. Findings This review demonstrates the lack of implementation of the current legal framework in Mexico and identifies a set of complex obstacles to effective access to health for undocumented migrants. Although the migration process itself was not found to be directly associated with major health issues, the social conditions of the migratory journey expose the migrants to serious threats, especially sexually transmitted diseases and tuberculosis. Practical implications This paper makes 10 practical recommendations for interventions collectively involving the state, international and civil organizations and the migrant community. These are especially relevant since the implementation of the INSABI health program in 2020. Social implications The paper lays the basis for influencing Mexican health system stakeholders to improve the health of migrants. Originality/value The sociological barriers to health access for undocumented populations in Mexico have not been fully explored. In addition, this paper provides a unique reflection on opportunities and challenges linked to the 2020 health system reform.

In the context of recent environmental debates related to the impact of economic development on environment quality, this paper's aim is to explain the GHG emissions in few EU New Member States (Bulgaria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Poland) in the period 1990–2019 using a panel data approach (panel threshold and dynamic panel models) and a time series approach (vector error correction models). The importance of this study is related to the identification of paths to reduce pollution in order to manage climate challenges. The results indicate similarities and differences in terms of the impact of various indicators on the total GHG emissions and in the agricultural sector. There is a negative correlation between human development index/GDP and total GHG emissions when GDP growth is below and above 0.83%. Above this threshold estimate, there is a more strong and negative correlation between human development index and GHG emissions than below the threshold value. Below 1.41%, human development index and growth of value-added in agriculture do not influence pollution in agriculture. Above 1.41%, economic growth and change in value-added in agriculture positively influence the pollution in this sector. The relationship between GDP and GHG is inverted N-shaped for Bulgaria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and Romania (sample countries), while the relationship between value-added in agriculture and GHG is N-shaped. This research confirms the U-shaped RKC at the national level and for agriculture in the sample countries, while an inversely U pattern was observed for Poland. Renewable energy consumption reduces total GHG emissions in the sample countries. Some policy proposals are indicated to promote a sustainable development in these countries with less pollution.

The 2017 outbreak of Mycoplasma bovis in New Zealand deeply impacted rural communities, particularly cattle farmers. In 2018, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) implemented an eradication programme that involved herd testing, stock culls, restriction of stock movements, decontamination of affected farms, and compensation to farmers for losses associated with the eradication programme. New Zealand news media reported widely on the emotional trauma experienced by affected farmers and MPI was criticised for poor management of the outbreak. We interviewed nineteen farmers and farming couples affected by M. bovis in Southern New Zealand to gain insight into their experiences of the outbreak. In this paper, we present the findings pertaining to one dominant thematic: that of farmers' interactions with the bureaucracy associated with the management of the outbreak. The farm appeared to quite literally represent a site of collision between farming values of stock welfare and practical and relational forms of knowledge; and policy, regulation, compliance and technical instrumental forms of knowledge. For these reasons, Habermas’ theory of lifeworld and system presented itself as a particularly salient framework for interpreting our data. Participants experienced the eradication programme as intrusive, impractical, and inhumane; while their situated local knowledge and pragmatism were ignored in favour of adherence to wasteful and inefficient bureaucratic processes that while compliant with policy, made no sense to the farmers. We suggest that biosecurity threats such as M. bovis might be more effectively managed when the bureaucracy is attentive to the rural lifeworld and responsive to the situated knowledge of farmers.

COVID-19 worsened urban slum dwellers' pre-existing vulnerabilities. Maintaining WHO-suggested physical distancing/isolation made planning more challenging in slums. The scenarios hint at the urgency to investigate whether these resource-scarce communities – already susceptible to climate change, poverty, health services, infrastructure, and space constraints, could build resilience against COVID-19. What lack of resources/assets made communities vulnerable there, and what adaptation measures were taken? What planning/management practices were adopted there, and to what extent could WHO's IPC guidelines (on transmission prevention and control) be followed? Findings show that pre-COVID economic, infrastructural, and health-related issues had affected slum dwellers' COVID-time vulnerabilities. While poor infrastructure and sanitation, informal employment, livelihood diversity, superstition, and comorbidities remained the key ‘internal’ issues, lack of institutional preparedness and safety-net programs, discontinued municipal services and inaccessible/untrustworthy healthcare services and corruption/bias/non-coordination in beneficiary selection remained the key ‘external’ issues. Information sharing, openness to pandemic knowledge, and active participation in awareness/training programs have been the most adopted measures. Aid schemes, despite criticisms, saved dwellers from starvation. Therefore, this proved to be a critical coping element. However, NGOs systematic monetary aid gave dwellers the most flexibility in spending. On top, NGOs proved to be the most vital external stakeholder in all sectors except for built environment/planning. To increase adaptive capacity, scopes remain in maximizing the use of community infrastructure in future events. Simultaneously, spatial aspects, alongside the non-spatial, seemed crucial in tackling complex poverty profiles, resource-scarcity, and vulnerabilities of slums. Findings are based on NGO BRAC's existing dataset and fieldwork between April–August 2020 on 29 slums in Khulna, Bangladesh, using a qualitative methodology. The study contributes to a growing body of knowledge and practice on resilient planning for COVID-19 (and similar future pandemics), especially for slums, while addressing its overlooked spatial dimensions.

Background Despite the lack of official COVID-19 statistics, various workplaces and occupations have been at the center of COVID-19 outbreaks. We aimed to compare legal measures and governance established for managing COVID-19 infection risks at workplaces in nine Asia and Pacific countries and to recommend key administrative measures. Methods We collected information on legal measures and governance from both general citizens and workers regarding infection risks such as COVID-19 from industrial hygiene professionals in nine countries (Indonesia, India, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Republic of the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand) using a structured questionnaire. Results A governmental body overseeing public health and welfare was in charge of containing the spread and occurrence of infectious diseases under an infectious disease control and prevention act or another special act, although the name of the pertinent organizations and legislation vary among countries. Unlike in the case of other traditional hazards, there have been no specific articles or clauses describing the means of mitigating virus risk in the workplace that are legally required of employers, making it difficult to define the responsibilities of the employer. Each country maintains own legal systems regarding access to the duration, administration, and financing of paid sick leave. Many workers may not have access to paid sick leave even if it is legally guaranteed. Conclusion Specific legal measures to manage infectious disease risks, such as providing proper personal protective equipment, education, engineering control measures, and paid sick leave are recommended to be stipulated in Industrial safety and health-related acts.

Over its first year Public Health Scotland (PHS) played a key role in the national vaccination programme by providing professional leadership and expertise. We expedited the reporting of all aspects of the pandemic, and accelerated rapid evidence reviews. We contributed to rigorous research showing that: vaccination reduced hospitalisation by 90%, and the transmission of COVID-19 within households by 55%; hence vaccination works. Lessons for the future included strengthening whole genome sequencing to manage COVID-19 and to prepare for future pathogens. COVID-19 also stimulated the redesign of many health and social care services: by exploiting digital media; by implementing evidence on reducing barriers to service delivery; and by greater integration - of projects rather than organisations - enabling groups who had not worked together to address common issues. PHS and partners soon recognised the need to mitigate the adverse impact of the pandemic on existing inequalities. So we aim to ‘build back fairer’ as the pandemic recedes, by pursuing PHS's four priorities: poverty; children and young people; place and community; and mental health and well-being.