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Australia welcomes significant numbers of humanitarian arrivals every year. Over 24,000 South Sudanese have come to Australia in the last two decades, and most faced difficulties during the settlement process. The aim of this study was to understand the barriers and challenges that have impacts on settlement and integration experiences among South Sudanese refugees in Australia. Further, this explored the factors influencing the social and cultural integration of South Sudanese refugees living in Australia for more than five years. This study used a phenomenological approach with purposive and snowball sampling to recruit 26 participants who self-identified as South Sudanese refugees. Participants were recruited via community networks and were invited to participate in a semi-structured interview. The interviews were conducted by a bilingual interviewer and were analysed thematically. Participants' experiences portrayed the complexities of integrating into a new society and experienced multiple challenges and barriers. Despite this identity dilemma, they showed a consensus about the experiences of coming to and living in Australia with close association with a group identity. While there are positive elements of the integration experience, inter-generational conflicts require further investigation. Government and settlement organisations need to make an effort to understand the context while developing appropriate processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Women in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are primary producers of subsistence food and significant contributors to the agricultural economy. Gender Based Violence (GBV) adversely impacts their capacity to contribute and sustain their families and undermines social, economic, and human capital. Addressing GBV, therefore, is critical to creating safe and inclusive environments for women as primary producers to participate fully in rural communities. The aim of this scoping review is to explore the existing evidence on GBV in the context of women primary producers in LMICs to inform research gaps and priorities. Methods: A scoping review was conducted using PubMed, Web of Science, Ebscohost and Google Scholar using keywords related to GBV and women producers in LMICs. Peer-reviewed journal articles published between January 2012 and June 2022 were included in the review. Duplicates were removed, titles and abstracts were screened, and characteristics and main results of included studies were recorded in a data charting form. A total of 579 records were identified, of which 49 studies were eligible for inclusion in this study. Results: Five major themes were identified from our analysis: (1) extent and nature of GBV, (2) the impact of GBV on agricultural/primary production livelihood activities, (3) sociocultural beliefs, practices, and attitudes, (4) aggravating or protective factors, and (5) GBV interventions. Addressing GBV in agriculture requires inclusive research approaches and targeted interventions to empower women producers, promote gender equality, enhance agricultural productivity, and contribute to broader societal development. Despite attempts by researchers to delve into this issue, the pervasive under-reporting of GBV remains a challenge. The true extent and nature of GBV perpetrated against women is far from fully understood in this context. Conclusion: Despite the significant challenges posed by GBV to the health, economy and livelihoods of women primary producers in LMICs, there is a paucity in the current state of knowledge. To make meaningful progress, more research is required to understand the relationship between GBV and agricultural settings, and to gain nuanced insight into the nature and impact of GBV on women primary producers in different regions and contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outbreak of COVID-19 exacerbated the structural vulnerabilities of marginalised populations globally. In Australia, international students experienced various forms of hardship due to state-mandated public health restrictions. In this exploratory study, we discuss the impacts of hard restrictions on South Asian international students studying at universities in Melbourne. Visa temporality, limited work rights, concentration into precarious and low-paid work, obligations to pay costly higher education fees, and exclusion from social security and universal healthcare contribute to the long-term structural vulnerabilities of international students in Australia. With restrictions in Melbourne leading to widespread job loss in the hospitality and accommodation services sectors during 2020-2021, the state response to pandemic caused further marginalisation of internaitonal students. We show how the public health response to the COVID-19 worsened, rather than protected or improved, self-reported health and wellbeing outcomes for our participants. By centring the lived experiences of South Asian international students, our research contributes to a growing body of evidence detailing how the public health response to pandemic has further subordinated temporary visa holders in Australia. In the future, we recommend inclusive, equitable public health responses which universalise key protective measures such as social security support, regardless of citizenship or visa status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the role of volunteers working with those experiencing homelessness in Japan. Topics include the core purpose of volunteering is to help others, whilst providing social and economic benefits, and concept of homelessness in Japan with its reasons, qualitative study to explore the motivational factors for volunteering at one homeless not-for-profit organization (NPO) in Hyōgo Prefecture.

The article presents the discussion on enabling the culturally safe health services and better health outcomes of Māori peoples. Topics include mental health nurses upholding the principles of cultural safety having awareness of the beliefs, understandings, and practices of diverse communities; and mental health nurses supporting indigenous peoples and communities experiencing lower levels of mental health on all indices.