Donor Community Research Articles

Rebuilding war-ravaged institutions: UNDP capacity strengthening of the Sierra Leone house of parliament (2007-2018)

Post-war reconstruction and institutional rebuilding can be arduous and grueling. This is the case in countries where brutal civil conflicts completely destroyed the infrastructure of the state and its institutions, massified society, ransacked and pillaged properties, looted and plundered the economy, and created social insecurity and uncertainties. This was the state of affairs in Sierra Leone in 2002 when the civil war officially came to an end. The state institutional framework was broken, and central government had to rely on the donor community to rebuild and reconstruct the war-ravaged country. The overarching objective of this paper is to examine UNDP’s financial and technical support especially to one of the three arms of government-the House of Parliament in Sierra Leone. UNDP’s contribution to reform the Sierra Leone parliament and bring it up to speed has been overwhelming and strikingly noteworthy. The article demonstrates the fundamental role Parliaments play in the consolidation of both nascent and established democracies and how the institution empowers ordinary citizens to participate in the policies that shape their lives. This article concludes that the structural and institutional reforms put in place in the Sierra Leone’s House of Parliament by the UN Agency has the potential to strengthen and consolidate the budding democracy in the country.

Radicalisation, counter-radicalisation and countering violent extremism in the Western Balkans and the South Caucasus: the cases of Kosovo and Georgia

ABSTRACT Scholarly attention is emerging on the globalisation and proliferation of initiatives and measures in the fields of counter-radicalisation and countering violent extremism (Hayes and Kundnani 2018). A multitude of international actors endeavour to provide security norms and governance standards in that respect, including international and regional organisations, donor communities, transnational/global networks as well as non-governmental actors, informal coalitions, platforms and think tanks. This article aims at mapping and analysing how such many-sided assemblages function along European peripheries, more specifically, in two under-studied countries, Kosovo and Georgia, where several international actors are involved in projects to prevent and counter radicalisation and violent extremism. The study will contrast and compare externally driven efforts of countering violent extremism and radicalisation, and trace the interests and agendas pursued by different international actors operating in the Western Balkans and the South Caucasus. Moreover, it will analyse how the concepts of radicalisation and extremism and measures to counter them have been specifically “localised” in Kosovo and Georgia, as well as grounded and embedded in their specific socio-political contexts and normative frameworks.

Dietary Patterns and Blood Biochemical and Metabolic Parameters in an Italian Population: A Cross-Sectional Study

Diet has long been identified as a major determinant of cardiovascular and other chronic diseases. In this study, we assess the relation between adherence to different dietary patterns and biochemical and metabolic parameters as well as the 10-year risk of major cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in a community of blood donors in Northern Italy. We assess their adherence to four dietary patterns, namely, the Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, the Mediterranean diet through the Greek and Italian Mediterranean Indices (GMI and IMI) and the Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet, using a validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). We then assess their association with blood parameters and the 10-year risk of major CVD using a spline regression model. We found an inverse association between the DASH and MIND diets and total and LDL cholesterol, and triglyceride and HDL cholesterol values for the Mediterranean diets (IMI and GMI). Additionally, according to our sex-stratified analyses, men who have greater adherence to dietary patterns have a decreased risk of major CVD for all patterns. The results suggest that greater adherence to dietary patterns positively influences blood biochemical and metabolic parameters, thus reducing the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and delaying the use of drug treatments.

“He Who Has the Gold Makes the Rules”: Does Donor Control Crowd out Community Leadership?

Foundations increasingly value community leadership capacities for addressing public problems and catalyzing change in local communities. However, scholars have cautioned that the proliferation of donor-advised funds (DAFs) might undermine foundations’ commitment to community leadership. While a burgeoning line of research has begun to examine the use and trends of DAFs, empirical analysis of the relationship between DAF sponsorship and community leadership remains underexplored. Drawing on the institutional logics perspective, this study discussed the logics of donor services and community leadership, and explored the extent to which foundations combined the two by exercising DAF sponsorship and community leadership simultaneously. Using an original dataset that combined annual report data and IRS 990 data of 253 community foundations, we found consistent evidence on the positive associations between DAF sponsorship and various community leadership aspects. These findings contribute to understanding the power dynamics between donors and foundations, showcasing a possible blending of the two logics in the community philanthropic field.

Predictability of foreign aid and economic growth in Ethiopia

Foreign aid is one source of physical capital accumulation in Ethiopia. It is also a main media of government revenue in meeting increasing trends of government expenditure. To investigate the impact of foreign aid flow on economic growth, various empirical studies were conducted, but they came up with mixed result. This leads to raise question of why impact of aid on economic growth in Ethiopia continues to be paradoxical in its findings. To assess the effectiveness of foreign aid in Ethiopia; this study sets predictability of foreign aid and economic growth in Ethiopia as a general objective. Specifically, the study sought to examine the contribution of foreign aid and the macroeconomic policy environment to economic growth in the country. In order to meet the aforementioned objective, the study employed an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach over the period 1985–2019. The empirical finding shows that foreign aid has a positive role in economic growth in the long run but its short run effect is found to be insignificant. Again, this finding also reveals that both in the short run and long run the predictability of foreign aid has a positive effect both on economic growth. Macroeconomic policy index also has a positive effect in the long run, but its short run effect become negative. Based on the listed empirical finding, the study came up with policy recommendation; the government should allocate the external assistance on the successful development projects rather than simply on consumption. Furthermore, for the persistent and predictable flow of foreign aid overtime, joint mechanism of transparency has to be developed between Ethiopian government and donor communities.

Measures of social support for blood donors during the formation of the donor movement in the USSR

Introduction. The period of formation of the donor community in the USSR fell on the 30–40s of the twentieth century. The first measures to organize the donor community were of a spontaneous nature. However, beginning in the 1930’s, with the support of the state and public organizations in the USSR, on the eve of the war, a mass donor community arose based on the ideology of the time and system of motivations.Aim — to reconstruct the measures of social support for blood donors, which contributed to the formation of the donor community in the USSR and to identify the role of the state in organizing the donor community in the USSR.Main findings. To conduct the study, a set of methods was used, including the study and generalization of experience based on archival sources, monographic description, and narrative analysis. A number of archival materials are introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. Decrees of the Council of People’s Commissars of the RSFSR, issued in the 30–40s of the 20th century, which formed the basis of the legal framework for organizing social support for donors, are given. This article is devoted to the emergence and development of the donor community in the USSR. A number of measures of social support for blood donors are described, which are characteristic of various stages in the development of the donor community (“attracting and retaining” donors in the 1930s, “survival” of donors at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, and their “encouragement” at the final stage of the Great Patriotic War). Measures of social support for blood donors, which arose in the pre-war period, proved their effectiveness (attracting about 5.5 million people into the ranks of donors, from whom 1.7 million liters of blood were harvested) during the Great Patriotic War, and with some changes, maintain their relevance today.

The confusions of democracy: The Arab spring and beyond

Celebration of democracy makes it politically difficult to extend development assistance to poor countries for fear of appearing to support non-democratic regimes. Unfortunately, there is little evidence that democracy fosters economic development. Democracy is insufficient in the absence of instrumental transmissions mechanisms that are capable of reciprocating the “upward” expression of livelihood aspirations back “down” to households so that life prospects might improve. Most developing countries—regardless of their political attributes—lack such transmission mechanisms. The Arab Spring revolts of 2010–11 have been hailed as popular demands for democracy. The empirical evidence from two econometric specifications—Logit and a Linear Probability Model—fail to support that claim. Rather, general anger and frustration at defective life prospects—high unemployment, delayed marriage, reduced population growth, high inflation, and low economic growth—are revealed as highly statistically significant reasons for the revolts. Five countries experiencing revolts—Egypt, Libya, Stria, Tunisia, and Yemen—all showed trajectories of increasing alienation in the decade leading up to 2010. The international donor community must find a way to support economic development in regimes that lack the full complement of democratic ideals. Otherwise, defective livelihoods will continue to spawn political revolts.

Envisioning legitimacy: visual dimensions of NGO annual reports

PurposeThis paper explores the communication of legitimacy in the annual reports of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), focusing specifically on the function of images. The visual mode of discourse and meaning construction has to date only scarcely been explored in legitimacy research, especially in the NGO context.Design/methodology/approachDistinguishing between normative, regulatory, cognitive and outcome legitimacy, the paper inquires into the kinds of legitimacy that NGOs communicate to their constituents and the claims that predominate. Turning to research on impression management, the paper explores whether and how organizations use images as symbolic mechanisms of legitimacy. Finally, the paper considers the socio-cultural implications of these legitimation strategies for beneficiary groups, donor communities and the organizations themselves.FindingsA qualitative content analysis of images in the reports of the eight influential members of the US-based Global Emergency Response Coalition confirms the widespread presence of legitimacy claims in NGO visual communications, with normative (especially need) and output (especially implementation) categories predominating. However, these practices are potentially contradictory; measures to increase legitimacy to and of donors result in forms of beneficiary exclusion and reduction. Strategies of impression management, namely self-promotion, ingratiation and exemplification, appear to shape these NGO representative logics.Originality/valueThe results of this study extend prior research into legitimacy, legitimation and impression management in and beyond the non-governmental sector by differentiating among categories of legitimacy and incorporating images as the object of analysis. In this capacity, they also support and augment the emerging literature on imagery use in NGO annual reports.

Tingkat Pengetahuan terhadap Donor Darah pada Masyarakat Pendonor

Blood donation is an activity to donate blood for transfusion purposes. The number of voluntary blood donors in Indonesia is around 20% of the total production of blood bags per year, the rest is met from replacement donors. People are generally reluctant to donate blood because of fear of pain when blood is drawn using a syringe, fear of running out of blood, resulting in anemia, contracting the disease through blood donors, feeling unwell to donate blood and feeling that it is enough to only donate blood once. This is a factor that causes the limited number of donors due to limited knowledge. Research Objectives: To see an overview of the level of knowledge about blood donors in the community of donors at Pekalongan City. Methods: The type of research used is descriptive quantitative with a cross sectional approach with a questionnaire to determine the level of knowledge of the donor community. Results: Most of the blood donors at the Pekalongan City are Male 73 respondents (73%), the highest percentage aged 17-30 years as many as 54 respondents (54%), high school education, namely as many as 49 respondents (49%). Most of the donor knowledge level is said to be good, namely 88 respondents (88%). Conclusion: Most of the donor community at the Pekalongan City have a good level of knowledge about blood donation

“A Painful and Tender Sympathy Pervaded Every Class of Society”

AbstractThe Great Irish Famine was a moment of unprecedented global giving. Sympathy for the suffering Irish traversed class hierarchies and vast geographical spaces, with indentured workers in the West Indies donating alongside members of the royal family and attendees at charity balls and galas in New York, Port Elizabeth, and Surrey. This article examines the socioeconomic geographies of this giving. It provides a quantitative analysis that brings together donations from both sides of the Atlantic, approaching these donors as a single global community. This famine giving is also considered within the context of wider traditions of Western humanitarianism. The article suggests that although famine humanitarianism mobilized a vast community of donors and traversed class, gender, and ethnic groups, it was ultimately a conservative force that upheld social hierarchies and replicated the socioeconomic and racial inequalities that characterize Western humanitarianism more generally.

Commitment and innovation on the road to people-centred PHC financing

Commitment and innovation on the road to people-centred PHC financing

Changes in production, yields, and the cropped area of lowland rice over the last 20 years and factors affecting their variations in Côte d′Ivoire

To meet high demand for rice in West Africa, many governments and the regional and international donor community embarked on ambitious rice sector development. The questions are how much rice farmers have increased rice production in West Africa in the past two decades and what factors have contributed to the increase in rice production there. As a case study on lowland rice farming in central Côte d′Ivoire, we aim to describe changes in production, yields, the cropped area, and agronomic practices between 2000 and 2020, and to identify factors affecting rice yields and cropped area. Farm surveys were conducted in 2000 and 2020 around the city of Bouaké in Côte d′Ivoire to construct panel data, and descriptive and multiple regression analyses were performed. Rice production increased by an average of 89% over the 20 years, of which 26% and 63% increase in rice production were attributed to the increase in yields and the cropped area, respectively. Yield variation was 0.1–8.0 t/ha and 0.2–7.0 t/ha in 2000 and 2020, respectively, with medians of 1.6 and 2.4 t/ha. Farmers using low inputs relative to the land area tended to increase their cropped area. Changes in agronomic practices had limited impact on yield increase except for farmers’ adoption of a new variety and its impact on yields. These results indicate a need to understand the causes of poor adoption of agronomic practices such as fertilizer use and water management practices, and to identify the associations between yields and biophysical factors. These could help identify strategies for narrowing the yield gap through the diffusion of yield-enhancing agronomic practices. • Changes in rice production and agronomic practices were assessed over 20 years. • Production, yield, and cropped area increased by 150%, 30%, and 100%, respectively. • Yield and area contributed to increased production by 26% and 63%, respectively. • Farmers cultivating rice extensively tended to increase their cropped area. • Except for adopting new varieties, agronomic practices were not changed.

Vulnerabilities to Petty Corruption in Ghana’s Healthcare System: An Ethnographic Study

Corruption continues to be a major issue of global concern and discussions on the issue have escalated over the past two decades, prompting the Bretton Woods institutions and the donor community to tie development assistance to governance indicators. Accordingly, there is a growing shift among the research community toward a disaggregated corruption research due to the beguiling assumption that a reduction in grand corruption would have a knock-on effect on petty corruption. Ghana has a multiplicity of laws and policies aimed at tackling the menace of corruption in public service. Notwithstanding, corruption continues to be a major hindrance to national development efforts. Indeed, the country has been performing below average in the global Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International in the past decade. The study examines the drivers of petty corruption in the health sector through a field survey comprising two hundred respondents in five major referral hospitals across five regions, combined with key informant interviews and secondary sources. It finds informal payments as the main driver of petty corruption in the health sector, which is sustained by social norms and the desire to obtain preferential treatment occasioned by social pressures. The study discusses the implication for interventions such as the national health insurance scheme, which was designed to protect vulnerable groups against out-of-pocket payments for healthcare and concludes with directions for future research. Key words: Ghana, Corruption, Healthcare, Informal Payments, Value systems, Health insurance DOI: 10.7176/PPAR/12-1-05 Publication date: February 28 th 2022

Hidden within a pandemic: how is international funding supporting mental health during COVID-19?

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is bringing to light the long-neglected area of mental health. Current evidence demonstrates an increase in mental, neurological and substance use conditions globally. Although long-established as a leading cause of disease burden, mental health has been historically grossly underfunded. This analysis seeks to demonstrate the extent to which funding for mental health has been prioritised within the international COVID-19 response. The authors analysed the development and humanitarian funding through data provided by the International Aid Transparency Initiative. Project-level COVID-19 data from January 2020 to March 2021 were reviewed for mental health relevance. Relevant projects were then classified into categories based on populations of concern for mental health and the degree of COVID-19 involvement. Financial information was assessed through project transaction data in US Dollars. Of the 8319 projects provided, 417 were mental health relevant. Mental health-relevant funding accounted for less than 2% of all COVID-19 development and humanitarian funding. Target populations which received the majority of mental health relevant funding were children and humanitarian populations, and 46% of funding went towards activities which combined COVID-19 responses with general humanitarian actions. Over half of mental health relevant funding was received by ten countries, and ten donor organisations provided almost 90% of funding. This analysis shows that the international donor community is currently falling short in supporting mental health within and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. As the pandemic continues, sustainable country-led awareness, treatment, and prevention for mental, neurological and substance use conditions must be prioritised.

Good governance of local forest is neither easy nor cheap: Policy learning from Bimbia-Bonadikombo

This paper interrogates good governance of the Bimbia-Bonadikombo community forest (BBCF) Cameroon by the Bimbia-Bonadikombo Natural Resources Management Committee. While governance processes are essential for sustainability of forest resources, they also reveal the transaction costs associated with managing the resource. The paper is based on a longitudinal ethnographic case study of the BBCF carried first between 2005 and 2006, and later between 2019 and 2020. The paper finds that the BBCF is neither governed by provisions of the Cameroon community forestry manual nor by its own Constitution, but by the personalized governance style of its board president, who was accountable to no one in the institution; secondly, an inability to generate enough revenue to meet its operational cost, led to corruption among its forest patrol team. The paper thus shows that the transaction cost of governing the BBCF was greater than its resource capacity. The paper recommends the setting up of vertical, horizontal, and diagonal accountability mechanisms to incentivize good forest governance at the local level. The paper also recommends for a permanent financial subsidy from the global donor community to local forest groups managing community forests in Cameroon. This could be considered as a transfer payment from developed countries to local people in developing countries to maintain their forests as a global ecological good without losing their local access to essential forest products. The paper concludes with a call to forest governance policy makers to not equate local with ahistorical, simple, cheap, and easy because the local is embedded in history and political culture. As donors and governments invests heavily in initiatives like forest landscape restoration, which depends on long-term support of local communities to achieve its goals, this lesson on how to incentivize good forest governance at the local level is of vital importance.

Virtual Learning for Persons with Visual Impairment: An Exploration of Learning Platform in a Home Environment from UTH Special School in Lusaka, Zambia


 
 
 
 The purpose of this study was to explore the accessibility of virtual learning platforms for person with visual impairment in the home environment. The study was qualitative in nature and took the form of a case study design. Purposive sampling was used to sample fifteen participants who took part in the study. Emergent from this study was a cluster of digital tools in use such as WhatsApp, Zoom, Google Meet/ Classroom, or Email applied to access virtual learning. In addition, computers with JAWS, smart phones with speech reader and readily available internet facility, some radios and TVs were required for virtual learning at home. The study found accessibility of virtual learning in a home environment depended on internet connectivity and having rightful gadgets which were user-friendly to individual with visual impairment as well as low socio-economic background as it determined the purchasing power. Further, challenges faced included children’s lack of computers and phones with bundles to go online, poor internet connectivity and unconducive home environment. The study also revealed that parents needed social support and financial support from well-wisher like donor community and government to support them with ICT gadgets specifically designed for children with visual impairment. Besides, they need internet services and with ITC gadgets instilled with speech readers or JAWS. Thus, the study suggested among others, that teacher should start using video and audio-conferencing teaching, open up virtual resources Centre for learners, strength the collaboration between teacher and parents and make pricing of ICT equipment affordable for the visually impaired.
 
 
 
 

Pakistan’s Health-Care System: A Case of Elite Capture

Pakistan currently ranks 154 out of 189 countries on the UNDP’s Human Development Index. In this paper, we use a ‘political settlements analysis’ to understand how the distribution of political, economic and social power explains this ranking and the inequity in Pakistan’s health system. We investigate elite power struggles over the last seven decades to explain how ad hoc policy-making, instability, patronage politics and rent-seeking have led to a maldistribution of resources, lack of oversight, and inequitable access and service provision for a burgeoning population. We argue that these factors have had two consequences: the privatisation of health care, and the opening up of a considerable sphere of influence to the donor community to direct state policy. Despite promising ongoing reform efforts, we conclude that Pakistan’s health system will remain hamstrung by the constraints of a political settlement in which elites with short-term horizons bargain for influence rather than developing an inclusive, consensus-based approach to improving governance outcomes for citizens.

Mountain grassland restoration using hay and brush material transfer combined with temporary wheat cover

Mountain grassland restoration success may be hampered by limited seed dispersal and poor soil seed banks of many grassland species. These constraints can be overcome by actively introducing propagules from nearby non-degraded communities. We tested different restoration techniques in order to understand the mechanisms favouring target species seedling recruitment and establishment. In five degraded mountain grasslands, we analysed (i) the effect of two techniques increasingly used in ecological restoration to overcome low seed dispersal: transfer of brush-harvested seed material and hay transfer, and (ii) the potentially facilitative effect of a temporary plant cover (common wheat) on the recruitment of transferred brush-harvested propagules. We found that both propagule transfer techniques were successful in establishing plant species of the donor community with an increase of plant species richness, cover and abundance of transferred species. Hay transfer was more efficient in transferring species of the donor grassland than brush-harvested material transfer. Brush-harvested material transfer only increased abundance and cover of donor grassland species when sown together with wheat. The results indicated that hay mulch favoured seedling recruitment of target species, and that propagule transfer without hay mulch needs to be compensated by additional temporary plant cover in order to create favourable conditions for seedling recruitment. A comparison with best reference communities for each restoration grassland confirmed that hay transfer and brush material transfer with wheat sowing were successful in driving plant community composition towards the desired reference state. In conclusion, restoration of mountain grasslands with shallow and stony soils clearly benefits from a facilitative effect of dead (hay) or living (wheat) vegetation cover.

Global Governance Meets Local Land Tenure: International Codes of Conduct for Responsible Land Investments in Uganda

Throughout the last decade, the international donor community has developed a plethora of regulatory initiatives for responsible agricultural investments. It remains unclear how such guidelines are invoked in practice in investment cases, and whether their use can prevent conflict and protect local land rights, as promoted. Uncovering how international guidelines work necessitates an understanding of the formal-legal setting and underlying land tenure regimes that shape investment projects. In Uganda, these contexts vary from region to region and investments take place on land held under various tenure regimes, including private, state-owned, and customary land. Based on 8 months of fieldwork in Uganda, I compare three cases of large-scale land investments in different settings and argue that variation in the underlying land tenure systems determines the variation, uneven applicability and effectiveness of global governance mechanisms.

Discordant humoral and T cell immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in people with multiple sclerosis on anti-CD20 therapy.

BackgroundSphingosine-1-phosphate receptor (S1P) modulators and anti-CD20 therapies impair humoral responses to SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines. Relatively few studies have assessed the impact of an array of disease modifying therapies (DMTs) for multiple sclerosis (MS) on T cell immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination.MethodsIn 101 people with MS, we measured humoral responses via an immunoassay to measure IgG against the COVID-19 spike S1 glycoprotein in serum. We also measured T cell responses using FluoroSpot assay for interferon gamma (IFN-γ) (Mabtech, Sweden) using cryopreserved rested PBMCs and then incubated in cRPMI with 1µg/ml of pooled peptides spanning the entire spike glycoprotein (Genscript, 2 pools; 158 peptides each). Plates were read on an AID iSpot Spectrum to determine the number of spot forming cells (SFC)/106 PBMCs. We tested for differences in immune responses across DMTs using linear models.FindingsHumoral responses were detected in 22/39 (56.4%) participants on anti-CD20 and in 59/63 (93.6%) participants on no or other DMTs. In a subset (n=88; 87%), T cell responses were detected in 76/88 (86%), including 32/33 (96.9%) participants on anti-CD20 therapies. Anti-CD20 therapies were associated with an increase in IFN-γ SFC counts relative to those on no DMT or other DMTs (for anti-CD20 vs. no DMT: 425.9% higher [95%CI: 109.6%, 1206.6%] higher; p<0.001; for anti-CD20 vs. other DMTs: 289.6% [95%CI: 85.9%, 716.6%] higher; p<0.001).InterpretationWe identified a robust T cell response in individuals on anti-CD20 therapies despite a reduced humoral response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. Follow up studies are needed to determine if this translates to protection against COVID-19 infection.FundingThis study was funded partially by 1K01MH121582-01 from NIH/NIMH and TA-1805-31136 from the National MS Society (NMSS) to KCF and TA-1503-03465 and JF-2007-37655 from the NMSS to PB. This study was also supported through the generosity of the collective community of donors to the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine for COVID research.