Centre For Peace Research Articles

Evaluating effects of community-based social healing model on Ubuntu, mental health and psychosocial functioning in post-genocide Rwanda: protocol for cluster randomized control trial.

The community-based social healing (CBSH) model, developed by Ubuntu Centre for Peace, aims to support individuals with traumatic experiences and mental health challenges in achieving better mental health. CBSH combines BREATH-BODY-MIND™ (BBM) practices with collective narrative and rituals, facilitated by Community Healing Assistants in therapeutic groups. A previous pilot study involving 1889 Rwandan CBSH participants showed significant mental health improvements, including reductions in depression, anxiety, and PTSD, along with enhanced work productivity, and decreased intimate partner violence. The trial investigates the CBSH model's impact on Ubuntu and mental health. Ubuntu, a concept that encompasses humanness, compassion, and interconnectedness, is deeply rooted in the African philosophy. This cluster randomized controlled trial will involve 54 villages randomly selected in the Kirehe district, with 1080 participants randomly allocated equally to the CBSH intervention or a wait-list control group. While the trial will be conducted at the village (cluster) level, both primary and secondary outcomes will be measured individually for participants within each cluster. The Primary outcome "Ubuntu" will be measured using a context-adapted Ubuntu measurement scale. Secondary outcomes include psychosocial indicators which will be assessed through standardized tools such as the Patient Health Questionnaire for depression (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing scale (WEMWS), Connor-Davidson Resilience scale (CD-RISK-10), Somatic Symptom Severity Scale (PHQ-15), Revised Conflict Tactics scale (CTS2S), and Adapted Social Capital Assessment Tool (SASCAT). This trial aims to evaluate the CBSH model's impacts on Ubuntu, mental health, and social functioning among trauma-affected Rwandans, including those impacted by the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, mass killings, sexual abuse, and domestic violence. The findings could be of value to the Ubuntu Centre for Peace, policymakers, healthcare practitioners, and other stakeholders, by highlighting the significance of promoting Ubuntu as a foundation for addressing mental health challenges and the consequences of psychosocial trauma. ISRCTN ISRCTN17659369. Registered on February 09, 2024.

Barriers to implementing peace education in secondary schools in South Africa

ABSTRACT This study aimed to explore barriers to implementing peace education in secondary schools in South Africa. The empirical inquiry employed qualitative research methodology and evaluation research design to examine the implementation of a peace education programme in three selected secondary schools in the Western Cape, South Africa. Purposive sampling was used to select the research sites and participants. Data were collected through semi-structured individual interviews with the manager of the Quaker Peace Centre (QPC) programme and school principals; and focus group discussions with teachers and learners. The data were analysed through thematic content analysis. Findings indicate that peace education was implemented with modest success outside the formal curriculum by following a multimedia approach using learner-run peace clubs and anti-bullying campaigns. However, barriers to the implementation of peace education persist, including financial constraints; inadequate allocation of time to peace education; poor parental involvement; overburdened teachers; and negative attitudes and societal influences. Based on these findings, the study recommends that government and school management should support the successful implementation of peace education by providing teacher training on peace education, including peace education in the mainstream curriculum; ensuring that all stakeholders participate in peace education efforts; and prioritising funding for implementation.

Co-creating accompanying systems to improve adolescent girls' and women's access to services

Empowered Aid is a participatory action research project led by the Global Women's Institute (GWI) in partnership with humanitarian aid actors. It aims to prevent sexual abuse and exploitation (SEA) from occurring, through models that actively reduce power disparities and give girls and women sustained voices in how aid is delivered. Empowered Aid began working in Jordan in September 2022, in partnership with World Vision, to contextualize and scale up interventions arising from completed research in Uganda, Lebanon and Bangladesh. The Empowered Aid team worked with World Vision Jordan to consult refugee girls and women on the SEA-related risks they faced in Al Azraq camp when accessing aid services and centers, such as the “Road to Resilience” Peace Center – a space where educational and life-skills activities are organized to promote resilience for children and youth. This practice insight suggests a low-to no-cost participatory solution towards mitigating SEA and other GBV risks in accessing services, for example when girls and women are prevented from accessing non-governmental organizations' (NGO) services safely due to verbal and physical harassment by other camp residents. The underlying cause of this harassment are the power imbalances that limit the movement of girls and women, which must also be addressed through longer-term violence prevention and response programming that incorporates their contextual knowledge. Alongside such efforts, creating accompanying systems for girls and women can serve to quickly enhance their safety and access to services, while helping them feel more empowered and secure in navigating gender-unequal environments.

THE IMPACT OF THE TREND TOWARDS INTELLIGENT PRODUCTS IN CRISIS MANAGEMENT ( A field study on the Doves of Peace Center for children with autism in the city of Najaf)

THE IMPACT OF THE TREND TOWARDS INTELLIGENT PRODUCTS IN CRISIS MANAGEMENT ( A field study on the Doves of Peace Center for children with autism in the city of Najaf)

Empowering women for conflict resolution: A case study on Laiya Island, Pangkep Regency, Indonesia

This study aimed to enhance public awareness regarding conflict identification and encourage the adoption of suitable resolution strategies. The community service initiative employed a training approach, engaging a group of 52 women on Laiya Island, Pangkep Regency, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Furthermore, this activity was a collaboration between CPCD (Center for Peace, Conflict, and Democracy) Hasanuddin University and the Pangkep District Fisheries Service. The results showed that an effective measure for conflict prevention entailed the empowerment of women. Therefore, there had been a notable improvement in community understanding of appropriate conflict resolution techniques. This activity introduced a novel approach where the empowerment of women through the utilization of marine products and the establishment of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as well as home industries played a vital role in conflict resolution strategies. In conclusion, the conflicts experienced on Laiya Island were minimal, and the community successfully resolved disputes through meaningful discussions.

HBIM MODELLING FOR THE ARCHITECTURAL VALORISATION VIA A MAINTENANCE DIGITAL ECO-SYSTEM

Abstract. The present contribution falls within the framework of the actions envisaged by the "SMART Bethlehem – Sustainable Management And Renewal of Technology in the City of Bethlehem" (2022 – ongoing) research project, scientifically coordinated by the University of Pavia and co-founded by the Italian Agency for Cooperation and Development (AICS). Among the main objectives of the cooperation project is the sustainable urban and territorial development of the Bethlehem area by means of multi-scalar activities, mainly focusing on refurbishment and energy optimisation of a few relevant municipality buildings. A test case implementation of the HBIM methodology was then carried out on the Peace Center, an iconic building facing the "Manger Square" in close proximity to the "Nativity Church", aiming to validate the proposed systematisation of a scan-to-BIM approach focused on the development of an optimised data repository for the planned operation and maintenance activities. An ECO-Systemic workflow is presented, organised in five recursive steps. Starting from a SLAM-TLS integrated digital survey (3DS), the federated sub-models that comprise the overall project are geo-referenced (GEO) within a shared coordinate system (FSC) environment, thereby providing the basis for the subsequent architectural modelling of the built asset (ARC) and the associated enhancement of the level of information (LOI).

Sion sebagai Pusat Kerajaan (tidak) Damai: Membaca Yesaya 2:1-4 dari Konteks Indonesia

Various interpretive tendencies towards the text of Isaiah 2:1-4 that exist today emphasize the physical and eschatological aspects of Israel's restoration. Efforts to realize the prophecy in Israel have contributed to the rise of radicalism in Indonesia. This paper aims to answer several questions in the text read from the Indonesian context, namely: what is the relevance of rebuilding the Temple? What is the truth of God's word? And is Jerusalem really the center of peace? This research was conducted with an exegesis approach and library research. The results of exegesis are critically reciprocally dialogued with the Indonesian context using related literature studies. The results of the analysis show the relationship between rebuilding the temple of God and building churches in Indonesia, the validity of the truth of God's word in Indonesia is based on pragmatic proof of the truth, and Indonesia as a Center for Peace . The findings of this study encourage action plans, among others; intensify inter-religious dialogue starting from the level of religious figures to the lower level of the community and encourage moderate religious life. It needs the openness of various parties in the development of the study of Bible interpretation as well as adjustments to various methods of interpretation that continue to develop, as well as seeking practical forms of Indonesia's involvement in creating world peace.

Community-Based Research in Fragile Contexts: Reflections From Rohingya Refugee Camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

This commentary examines community-based research in fragile settings based on the authors’ experience working with Rohingya and host community researchers in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. This iteration of a community-based approach to research focuses on putting community researchers at the center and emphasizes their involvement at each stage of the research process – from design to implementation to analysis – alongside external researchers. Community researchers contribute their expertise to increase understanding of nuances that might otherwise be lost to external researchers. Integral to this approach is building and nurturing the trust of researchers, respondents and community members through innovative means such as an informal “trust network.” Also central to the community-based approach, especially in fragile 1 settings, is a sustained emphasis on community researchers’ learning and skills-building. The commentary article describes methods developed by the Centre for Peace and Justice, Brac University (CPJ), implemented with Rohingya refugees and host community researchers in Cox’s Bazar. The article suggests: Putting community members at the heart of learning and research approaches helps to amplify marginalized voices and emphasize their needs and choices. The political and economic atmosphere of a refugee setting can change rapidly. In such circumstances, community-based research can be vital to policymakers that seek to understand emerging concerns and issues. Community-based experiential education and research approaches hold potential to promote grassroots leadership among refugee youth in situations of protracted displacement. Strengthening the capacities of community researchers is crucial to this approach. Community researchers often lack language skills, especially writing and reading, and translating from local dialects to English or any other preferred language. The acquisition of research skills can also pave a durable and critical pathway toward meaningful youth engagement. Trust and familiarity between refugee interlocutors and researchers require long-term engagement. Creating a culture of mutual respect and dignity is of utmost importance. The community expects researchers to respect their religious beliefs and cultural values. The two-way exchange between community researchers and respondents enhances the learning process and can help discover areas for further inquiry.

“We Think We’re Far from Conflict, but That’s Not True”: Peace Building and Remembrance through Memory Sites in Colombia

Although memory sites and formal schooling both serve as battlegrounds for postconflict disputes over memory, there is a dearth of research that examines the connection between the two. This article draws on the case of Colombia to explore the use of memory sites, such as museums and memorials, as pedagogical tools in education for peace building. Through observations of school visits to the Centro de Memoria, Paz y Reconciliación (Center for Memory, Peace, and Reconciliation) and interviews with students, I highlight the potential that memory sites have for establishing a sense of closeness in students’ understanding of conflict. I conceptualize closeness across three axes: familiarity, temporality, and spatiality. In bringing students closer to the history of the armed conflict, memory sites hold the potential to transmit a sense of responsibility toward peace building. This research adds to our understanding of the construction, transmission, and contestation of collective memories of violence.

POLITIK ISLAM INDONESIA SEBAGAI SENTRUM PERDAMAIAN DUNIA

This study was conducted to determine the political Islam of Indonesia position in the world, it could become a center for world peace. Cause of the socio - political situation of Islam has recently faced what is called a real and inevitable paradox, accompanied by its status as the largest religion in Indonesia. In previous era, Islam managed to come out as a winner with a very real labeling and Islamic identity, other forces were unable to stem it, avoiding fear of defeat, let alone groups. But in reality, none of them last. In the socio - political dynamics of Indonesia, it turns out that Islamic politics is not necessarily easy to be a winner in political contestation in the case area and legal dimensions of Indonesia. This study is qualitative - descriptive based on field research, with historical approaches and political sociology. In conclusion, the Islamic ummah in Indonesia must be able to re-construct, re-solve and re-contextualize Indonesia's socio - political transformation. The exclusive nature of Indonesian Islam will in fact make it worse off because it is unable to withstand all changes. If the nature of inclusion becomes the main identity of Indonesian Muslims as a whole, political Islam in Indonesia will become the center of peace in the world. No country is as complex as Indonesia, in which various ethnicities, races, cultures, languages, religions and so on. But what other countries worry about Indonesia is in fact disproved. Indonesia has been able to survive until now with various differences, this is because of the Islamic figures in Indonesia. Although sometimes or even often religious issues are played only to gain power.

Exploring the Motivations for Youth Group Membership and Identity Construction in the Tamale Metropolis, Ghana

Globally, cities are relevant centres for peace and security studies; however, evidence abounds that many states are incapable of providing adequate social services, including policing the urban space. In sub-Sahara Africa (SSA), rapid urbanisation is synonymous with a rising youthful population, limited youth employment opportunities and emerging youth groups in the streets. Notwithstanding the role of cities as economic hubs, the rise in the unemployed youthful population and the limited urban space governmentality by states, youth group formation to effect collective effort as a survivalist strategy is not uncommon. While some scholars in SSA have largely focused on the initiation processes, consequences, shapes and forms of youth group formation and associated violence within cities, an overarching exposure on youth group identity construction and motivation for youth group membership despite the inherent risk in emerging secondary cities, is limited. Critical discourse analysis of media reports, relevant literature, data from key informant interviews and focus group discussions (FGD) was instrumental in giving a historical perspective of youth group identity construction and young peoples’ motivation for youth group membership in the Tamale metropolis, Ghana. Drawing on the General Strain Theoretical framework, this study aims to foreground how the intersection of politics, economic, cultural, ecological and social marginalities induces young peoples’ desire for youth group membership and defines youth group identity. The study unravels that poverty and economic marginalities, political party-driven interest, religious dogmatism, and ethnic orientation posit strong motivation for youth group membership and defining identity.

Bringing the Dead Sea to Life: Art and Nature at the Lowest Place on Earth

Bringing the Dead Sea to Life: Art and Nature at the Lowest Place on Earth

Complicating difficult heritage and the politics of institutionalized memory in post-Accord Colombia

ABSTRACT The Colombian peace process with the insurgent group FARC-EP has been characterized by a lack of compliance and the politicization of peace and memory including the work of sites of memory and peace. Through complicating the European-focused concept of difficult heritage, this article presents the interventions of three museum curators and/or directors of the country’s key centralized memory and peace institutions: the Memory House Museum in Medellin, the Memory Centre for Peace and Reconciliation in Bogotá and the National Centre for Historical Memory in Bogotá. Based on interviews undertaken between late 2019 and early 2020, this article reveals how those in charge of these institutions negotiate the lines between the politicization of memory and the ‘alive memories’ of civil society, due to the ongoing conflict. Bringing together key debates on difficult heritage and Latin American memory studies, this article seeks to contribute to Southern understandings of critical heritage and museum studies.

Exploring the Effects of the Adoption of the Open Government Partnership: A Cross-Country Panel Data Analysis

Over the past decade, scholars have paid attention to the importance of open government, which aims to make public administration more transparent, democratic, and effective by using information and communication technologies. However, there is a lack of empirical research that examines the effects of open government. Therefore, this study intends to rigorously test the democratic and administrative effects of open government, focusing on a global initiative known as the Open Government Partnership (OGP). Specifically, this study examines whether OGP adoption in national governments has reduced government corruption and improved government effectiveness across countries. For this purpose, this study collected longitudinal data from the Center for Systemic Peace, the United Nations, and the World Bank. Then, it employed a panel data analysis based on a fixed effects model. As a result, there was no direct effect of OGP adoption on government corruption and government effectiveness, respectively. However, legal and economic factors were likely to moderate the effects of OGP adoption on curbing government corruption and enhancing government effectiveness. This study can make a theoretical and practical contribution to open government, e-government, and collaborative governance.

Review: Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods before Me: Why Governments Discriminate against Religious Minorities, by Jonathan Fox

Many have sensed what comedian Tom Lehrer sang in jest: “Oh, the Protestants hate the Catholics, and the Catholics hate the Protestants, and the Hindus hate the Moslems, and everybody hates the Jews” (“National Brotherhood Week,” 1965). In Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods Before Me, Jonathan Fox digs deep into the data and provides a clear and well-written analysis to illustrate overwhelmingly that Lehrer was right, at least at the governmental level around the globe.Fox uses the third round of the Religion and State-Minorities data set—a subset of the Religion and State data set from more 180 countries (including more than 770 religious minorities) collected between 1990 and 2014—as the foundation for his research. Relying on these data, he seeks to explain “the nature, causes, and dynamics of government-based religious discrimination” (GRD), which he defines as “restrictions placed by governments or their agents on the religious practices or institution of religious minorities that are not placed on the majority religion” (3). Of necessity, part of Fox’s analysis includes a consideration of “societal religious discrimination” (SRD), which he defines as “societal actions taken against religious minorities by members of a country’s religious majority who do not represent the government” (4). But he also explores other theories to explain levels of GRD in various national groupings, which he identifies as the Muslim world, non-Orthodox Christian-majority democracies in the West and Europe (as defined by the 2018 “Polity Project” from the Center for Systemic Peace), Orthodox Christian, Buddhist, and Communist states, the Rest 1 (the democracies not already discussed) and the Rest 2 (the non-democracies not already discussed).Sadly, Fox finds that both GRD and SRD increased globally between 1990 and 2014, and that almost no nation was guiltless: nearly 95 percent of the nations covered engaged in GRD against at least one minority group. More profoundly, he finds that despite their self-congratulatory rhetoric, the non-Orthodox Christian-majority democracies in the West and Europe are not the best protectors of religious freedom. Rather, it is “the Rest” (both the democracies and the non-democracies)—particularly those in the Global South—that provide greater freedom to their religious minorities, likely because government-based discrimination requires the expenditure of scarce resources. Religious liberty, it seems, has less to do Western ideology than with cost-effectiveness. Among those nations that can afford to discriminate, GRD may result from security anxieties (related to religion-based terrorism), the identification of a religious tradition as “foreign” to the nation or culture, the existence of an official religion (or one favored by the government), or an anti-religion bias, as well as SRD and other factors.It is the reading of this work—and not its content or argumentation—that may present the greatest challenge. Readers from the humanities may find the material a bit dense; those more comfortable in the field of statistics and data analysis will doubtlessly have an easier time. Others might mistake the use of “religious minorities” (in the subtitle) to mean new religious movements and the like. But Fox relies on the data to define the term simply: religious groups that are not in the majority in a given nation-state (the unit of measure in the source data), such as Christians (and others) in Muslim-majority states, Protestants and Catholics (and others) in Orthodox Christian-majority states, and Jews everywhere but Israel. Readers must examine the charts and tables—which are plentiful—to find smaller groups or finer levels of distinction. Some of the author’s rhetorical tics may be distracting, such as restating (“…as I have argued”) or telegraphing (“as I will argue…”) claims, or his seeming enthusiasm for acronyms. Most are the result of the author’s reasonable impulses, either to provide a strong methodological foundation early in the work, or to save the reader from excessive repetition.These challenges are slight and are here offered as a caution to the reader and not as a critique of the work, which is so densely packed with data and analysis that this reviewer became increasingly judicious with the highlighter, not wishing to make its use superfluous. Readers should feel free, after assimilating the general layout, to scan sections rather than read the work straight through. It may work best as a handbook to which one turns, rather than a monograph to which one devotes evenings reading cover to cover. Nonetheless, Jonathan Fox’s Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods Before Me is a powerful and informative volume and will serve well all readers interested the relationship between governments worldwide and their religious minorities.

How do people support each other in emergencies? A qualitative exploration of altruistic and prosocial behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ball State University Center for Peace and Conflict Studies in the United States has compiled altruistic stories from different countries such as India, Australia, the United States, and England since the onset of the COVID‐19 pandemic. We examined those stories to understand (1) who receives the most support, (2) what type of support is provided, (3) who those supporters are, and (4) why people support each other during the pandemic. Conducting a qualitative content analysis of 104 altruistic stories, we first identified that (a) older individuals , (b) people with sensitive health conditions, and disabilities, (c) frontline workers, and (d) working class and marginalized communities received the primary support. Second, we identified three types of support: (a) material, (b) social/emotional, and (c) psychological. Third, we found that support was coming from (a) different organizations, (b) advantaged groups, and (c) volunteers. Last, (a) sharing a community/humanity identity, (b) allyship, and (c) showing gratitude were the reasons behind altruistic and prosocial behavior. Our findings contribute to the literature by providing some possible reasons and ways that allies have supported disadvantaged communities via sharing the available resources and how showing gratitude can be a reason for altruism and prosocial behavior in a pandemic.

Location, materiality, participation: Memorial design for victims of violence in Latin America

Places of traumatic memories provide particular design challenges. Conflict landscapes are complex terrains that challenge ideas about identity, sense of place and commemoration and feelings of belonging. How can memorials provide opportunities for the development of social practices, meaningful materiality, individual experience and collective memory? Developing memorial languages and symbolic framings can support the construction of narratives and spaces in which individuals and groups can grapple with traumatic pasts. Each tragedy leaves its own unique set of wounds and scars, and memoryscapes can bring meaning and form to them. This article explores how memorial languages shape responses to traumas caused by conflict and violence in Latin America. In order to address this question, we examine two cases_the Center for Memory, Peace and Reconciliation in Bogotá, Colombia, and the Memorial to Victims of Violence, in Mexico City, Mexico.

In 2020 SBCS Sails Skillfully Through First Online Annual Meeting November 20 and December 1–2

In 2020 SBCS Sails Skillfully Through First Online Annual Meeting November 20 and December 1–2 Sandra Costen Kunz Due to the corona virus pandemic, the 2020 annual meeting of the SBCS was entirely online. Although we genuinely missed our formal and informal face-to-face gatherings, the board and membership were delighted by the outcome. The board decided not to use American Academy of Religion (AAR)'s platform due to the expenses that this would have involved for our participants. Instead, we accepted the gracious offer of Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs to host us on Zoom. The happy result was that our board meeting completed its agenda effectively in a compressed time frame with our usual good humor and camaraderie. Several of the presentations in our two sessions included beautiful slides, something we've missed at AAR because the convention center and hotel venues charge extremely high projector fees. The first session drew 175 viewers from 14 nations and the second drew 110 viewers from 15 nations. Canada had the second-most viewers after the United States, and Italy was right after Canada. This is, by far, our highest attendance in the past twelve years. We are still very committed to continuing as a "related scholarly organization" within AAR, having had our status reviewed and renewed at the beginning of this March. We thus look forward to meeting face-to-face in conjunction with their meeting in San Antonio the weekend before Thanksgiving, 2021. The board is also weighing whether or not to hold online events in the future so that we can again make our programming available to people outside the United States, and to faculty, monastics, chaplains, and other people without travel allowances. We welcome your thoughts about this at https://www.society-buddhist-christian-studies.org/contact. board of directors meeting: friday, november 20 President Leo Lefebure called the meeting order at 10 a.m. EST. After the agenda and last year's minutes were approved, we moved immediately to the international advisor's reports, due to the time difference. European Network of Buddhist Christian Studies Advisor Report Elizabeth Harris in Britain reported that the papers from the Network's 2019 conference: "Buddhist-Christian Encounter – A Visionary Approach: A Conference [End Page 299] Inspired by Lynn A. de Silva (1919-1982)," held in cooperation with the World Council of Churches, will be published in 2021. Some SBCS members who contributed are Wesley Ariarajah, André van der Braak, Thomas Cattoi, Jim Fredericks, and Amos Yong. They've postponed their conference in Salzburg, "Euro-Buddhism and the Role of Christianity," until June 30 to July 4, 2022. Liz reported that the discussion in the online meetings of the Buddhist-Christian Dialogue Forum in the UK, which she co-convenes, have sometimes reflected the anger around the trustworthiness of public leaders and institutions. Topics have included: "Resilience, Responsibility and Wise Action in the Current Crisis," "Wise Action in Public Life: How to Speak the Truth without Violence," and "Caring for our One World." Some of the papers from the 2019 Sri Lanka meeting of the Special Committee of the Red Cross's long-term project on "Buddhism and International and Humanitarian Law" will be published online in the Journal of Buddhist Ethics. A book will be published, too. Because the project is not a mere academic exercise, activists, military and legal experts, and others are involved. Their next conference is scheduled to meet in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Liz hopes it will draw more Mahayana participants. Japan SBCS Advisor Report Kuni Terasawa reported from Tokyo where he's teaching online for Wartburg College. Last fall in Hong Kong, he met with Daniel Young who's researching Dao Fong Shan, the Norwegian Lutheran center for Buddhist-Christian dialogue begun there in the early twentieth century. Many Hong Kong Christians are participating in the protest movement, but some people in Hong Kong still hold a bit of resentment about the British government's favoring Christians over Buddhists. Better Buddhist-Christian cooperation could be important for human rights and the democratic movement in Hong Kong, he thinks. In Korea, where he spent last spring, young Rissho...

Dementia Response Technology Development Strategy through PEST-SWOT Analysis

The number of dementia patients in Korea is expected to increase to 3.30 million in 2050, and the cost of dementia management will increase sharply to KRW 106.5 trillion of GDP. In August 2017, the Moon Jae-in government announced the 'Dementia National Responsibility System' through a five-year plan for government operation and expanded the Dementia Peace Center nationwide. However, for this, strategic dementia-related technology development strategies should be established and given the role of government and the role of the private sector. Therefore, in order to derive the corresponding strategy, this study developed the government's 'dementia' response technology development strategy through the situation analysis from the political, economic, social, and technological perspective and the environmental (PEST) analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT). As a result, the direction of technology development in the dementia-related medical device market is expected to become a trend of developing dementia self-measurement by developing low-cost and high-efficiency diagnostic technology products. It has been shown that the development of various products for consumers should begin. As a result, the dementia market approach strategy should be premised, the related technical support and legal restrictions should be minimized, and the education of related experts should be strengthened to solve the government's development of dementia technology and the social problems of dementia. In addition, by developing joint projects with major companies around the world and actively participating in the technology platform, it is important to naturally build up skills accumulation for the development of dementia technology and competence skills of dementia technology experts in the long term.

Varied Incident Rates of Global Maritime Piracy: Toward a Model for State Policy Change

Maritime piracy is a problem that plagues our navigable seas. This study provides a quantitative understanding of factors that influence the frequency of yearly maritime piracy occurrences. Using a nonprobability sampling technique, 11 countries with reported cases of maritime piracy were purposefully selected. Open sourced data from the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, the World Bank, the United Nations, the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, and the Center for Systemic Peace were utilized in this study. Using regression features, as well as socioeconomic and geopolitical data from these countries over a longitudinal period of 34 years (1985–2018), a time-series cross-sectional design provides an in-depth understanding of factors that affect the frequency of piracy occurrences. The four-factor model concluded that state weakness, total population size, gross domestic product, and total fish catch tonnage are found to be associated with the frequency of pirating activity worldwide. Policy implications and measures to mitigate piracy are also discussed.