International Aid Programs Research Articles

Assessment of the financial and economic situation at Ukrainian enterprises during the war

The financial stability of the enterprise is the main criterion that indicates its financial condition and ensures successful functioning. With the beginning of the war, many Ukrainian enterprises became insolvent due to their own financial problems, illiquidity and circumstances that made it impossible to continue business. The paper analyzes the results of a survey of domestic business entities with regard to their expectations regarding the current financial situation. It is studied the share of enterprises operating at full and almost full capacity compared to the pre-war period. There are clarified the main challenges that domestic enterprises are exposed to during the war, in terms of industries. During the war, problems with electricity, water and heat supply interruptions and rising prices for raw materials shared the first place in the rating of business obstacles. Difficulties with the transportation of raw materials and goods in Ukraine were recognized as the third most significant problem. Labor safety ranks fourth in the rating. Disruption of supply chains ranks fifth. There are summarized the main transformations that took place in the country's economy during the war and affected the financial stability of domestic enterprises. They are the following: enterprises revised their approaches to labor organization and the dimensions of production or service provision; in two-thirds of enterprises there was a reduction in personnel; half of the enterprises reviewed their customer base and/or suppliers; businesses began investing in business continuity (generators, communications) and security (relocation costs or employee safety). All of this complicates the financial condition of the business, because at the same time as income decreases, the items of forced expenses increase. From these positions, indicators of the assessment of the financial and economic situation and expectations in the future at Ukrainian enterprises are studied. As a result, there are systematized the directions of adaptation of domestic enterprises to support financial security in wartime, namely: attraction of direct and indirect financial investments, resumption of export of own products and participation in state and international financial aid programs.

INDIAN AGRICULTURAL POLICIES AND MEDIA REPRESENTATIONS DURING COLD WAR

The article examines the relationship between Indian agricultural policies and media representations during the Cold War. Drawing on archival research, the authors argue that the Indian government’s agricultural policies were shaped by a complex interplay of domestic and international factors, including the country’s growing population, the need for self-sufficiency in food production, and Cold War geopolitics. The authors suggest that the media played a crucial role in shaping public perceptions of Indian agricultural policies during this period. They argue that the media, both in India and abroad, often portrayed Indian agriculture as backward and inefficient, and highlighted the country’s dependence on foreign aid to support its food production. At the same time, the authors note that there were also alternative voices in the media that challenged these dominant narratives and called for a more nuanced understanding of Indian agriculture. These alternative voices included journalists, scholars, and activists who argued that Indian agriculture was undergoing a transformation, and that the country had the potential to become a major food producer in the world. The authors suggest that these diverse media representations had important implications for Indian agricultural policies. On the one hand, negative media coverage reinforced the Indian government’s commitment to self-sufficiency in food production, and spurred it to pursue policies aimed at increasing agricultural productivity and modernising the sector. On the other hand, the authors argue that the media also had a more critical role to play in holding the government accountable for its policies, and in promoting a more nuanced understanding of Indian agriculture. They suggest that this critical function of the media was particularly important in the context of Cold War geopolitics, which often shaped the international aid and development programs that supported Indian agriculture.

Agricultural holdings in the structure of agrarian legal relations: pro and contro

Purpose: the purpose of the article is to conduct an analysis of the legal aspects of the creation and operation of agrarian holdings, taking into account the need to ensure food security of Ukraine and guarantee the constitutional right of everyone to a sufficient standard of living in conditions of martial law. Methodology. The methodology includes a comprehensive analysis and generalization of the available scientific and theoretical material and the formulation of relevant conclusions and recommendations. During the research, such methods of scientific knowledge were used: comparative-legal, systemic-structural, analysis and synthesis, historical method. Results. In the process of the research, the definition of an agricultural holding in the structure of agrarian legal relations in Ukraine was substantiated as an association of enterprises in the agrarian sphere with the aim of ensuring a closed cycle of production, processing, storage and/or sale of agricultural products with the use of large land plots mainly on lease rights, which is carried out under by the principle of subordination of corporate (subsidiary) enterprises to the holding (parent) company, has at least two participants (the holding (parent) company and the corporate (subsidiary) enterprise), and in which the holding (parent) company owns, uses and disposes of holding corporate blocks of shares ( shares) of two or more corporate enterprises, on the condition that the indicated block of shares exceeds 50% or amounts to an amount that ensures the right to decisive influence on the economic activity of the corporate (subsidiary) enterprise. Originality. In the process of analyzing the activities of agricultural holdings under martial law, it is substantiated that agricultural holdings in Ukraine, together with other subjects of the agrarian market, are in difficult conditions of conducting agribusiness in the conditions of armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, while their access to land plots, financial resources, foreign investment and international aid programs is complicated. Therefore, in the post-war period, agricultural holdings may lose their dominant positions on the agricultural market of Ukraine and undergo reorganization. Practical significance. The results of the research can be used in the research field - for the further development of the problems of legislative regulation of the creation and operation of agricultural holdings in Ukraine, as well as in the rule-making work - in the preparation of projects of normative and legal acts aimed at improving the legislative regulation of the functioning of agricultural holdings in the agricultural market of Ukraine.

Analytical assessment of the volume of international financial assistance for Ukraine during the war period

The purpose of the paper is to carry out an analytical assessment of the amount of financial aid from international partners received by Ukraine under martial law within the framework of international cooperation and, on this basis, to determine the conditions for its further involvement for the purpose of post-war reconstruction of our state. By analyzing, systematizing and summarizing the scientific works of many economists, researchers and analysts, the essence of international financial aid was determined, its main forms were considered, and the amount of financial support received by Ukraine from international partners for the period from January 24, 2022, to February 24, 2023, was analyzed. It was found that the most desirable form of financial support for Ukraine is grants, therefore the study focused on the help provided by international partners in the form of grants. In more detail, attention is focused on financial assistance from international financial organizations, in particular the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The main problems that largely prevent Ukraine from receiving larger amounts of financial aid from international partners are highlighted. These are, in particular, the insufficiently good results of the fight against corruption, the unfinished reform of the economy and the budget system, the low level of trust in the Ukrainian authorities and the lack of transparency in the activities of power structures, the lack of proper transparency and efficiency in the use of budget financial resources, etc. As a result of the study, key recommendations were highlighted that will affect the prospects of Ukraine's accession to the EU - this is the possibility of conducting a constructive dialogue with international partners on a parity basis, as well as the possibility of support and assistance from international partners in the restoration of our country. Prospects for further scientific research will include such directions as evaluating the results of the implementation of international financial aid programs to Ukraine during the war and post-war periods, in particular in terms of achievements (advantages and disadvantages); assessment of the effectiveness of the use of the received funds; analysis of new financial instruments used by international partners in providing aid, etc.

A simple solar crop drying and pasteurizing system appropriate for smallholder and subsistence farmers in tropical and subtropical regions

Open sun drying is the predominant process used for food preservation by smallholder and subsistence farmers (SHSFs), and their families, globally constituting about 2 billion people on about 475 million farms. The major problems with this process are the slow, unreliable speed of completion, rain-caused loss of vital food sources, risks from mycotoxin accumulation, environmental contamination, and loss of nutritional quality. SHSFs represent the poorest and least educated human demographic, whose survival is largely ignored by Governments, untouched by international aid programs, and with limited access to basic utilities. Solar drying systems can greatly improve the preservation of safe and nutritious food, but current systems deployed put this technology beyond the reach of the demographic which needs it most. Here, our objective was to develop the technology for the simplest low-cost drying system, which would minimize all risk factors, particularly eliminate mycotoxin accumulation, and which could be practically deployed by SHSFs.

Соціальне забезпечення внутрішньо переміщених осіб

The purpose of the article is to analyze the ways of social security for internally displaced persons in the ongoing wartime context. To achieve the article’s purpose, the author used the methods of analysis (to analyze the current state of social protection and social security of internally displaced persons); monographic method (to reflect the situation with internally displaced persons in the ongoing wartime context); abstract-logical method (to summarize the collected material). Under current conditions, there is an increasing need for social protection and social security. Beginning with the Russian military aggression of 2014, such a group of the population as internally displaced persons appeared in Ukrainian society. According to Ukrainian legislation, as such person is treated a citizen of Ukraine, a foreigner or a stateless person who stays legally on the territory of Ukraine and has the right to permanent residence in Ukraine, who was forced to leave or abandon her/his place of residence as a result of/in order to avoid the negative consequences of armed conflict, occupation, widespread violence, human rights violations and natural or man-made emergencies. Internally displaced persons are people who have been forced to flee their homes suddenly as a result of armed conflict, internal hostility, systematic human rights violations or natural disasters, but stay on the territory of their own country. Currently, there are a number of social benefits for internally displaced persons on the territory of Ukraine, as well as international aid programs, in particular: the Ministry of Social Policy Program, the UN Government Program, the UN World Food Program, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Program, the Ministry of Social Policy Program in cooperation with UNICEF, the International Committee of the Red Cross in

Backward mapping from outcomes: Using a realist evaluation lens to evaluate an international aid program

In this paper, a backward mapping approach to realist evaluation is used to evaluate the efficacy of an international inclusive education short course program in transforming inclusive perspectives and practices of educators from Nepal who were considered leaders in inclusive education. The program, an Australia Awards South and West Asia (AASWA) short course, delivered by an Australian university, was designed to build on the existing capacity of the participants to lead the implementation of inclusive education reforms and system enhancements within the school system in Nepal. Data collected before, during and after the program provide insights into the ways in which participants responded to the program. Our findings indicate that a deep understanding of context is needed by program planners to identify how and why particular mechanisms are triggered that lead to transformative learning of the participants. We suggest that backward mapping as a methodology is a viable realist evaluation process to evaluate complex programs such as the short-term international aid program on IE. Our paper concludes with recommendations for developers of similar programs in the future.

Country-led monitoring and evaluation systems through the lens of participatory governance and co-production: Implications for a Made in Africa Evaluation approach

Background: The history of evaluations on the African continent can be linked to the introduction of upward systems of accountability resulting from the rapid introduction of international aid programmes for the (re)building of African states during the post-independence era. Results-based management and monitoring and evaluation (ME) became commonplace, the features of which continue to imbue national ME systems across the continent. These systems, if not intentionally so designed and implemented, are not particularly focused on learning for course-correction and performance improvement from the perspective of citizens. Conducting evaluations, in particular, is often based on the need for accountability to funders or decision-makers, as opposed to downward accountability to the public and intended beneficiaries of the interventions.Objectives: This article explores how localised approaches to governance (merged with co-production) could ensure that evaluation systems are liberatory if they are endogenous and indigenous in their design and respond to the needs of citizens (rather than serving an upward accountability agenda).Method: Through the analytical framework of participatory governance and co-production, this article examines how participatory approaches to establishing national evaluation (and monitoring) systems may help the African continent liberate itself from the instrumental adoption of ME systems, defined by compliance and accountability, and instead design systems based on a citizen-owned, people-centred notion of downward accountability.Results: Participatory governance and co-production are well aligned to the principles of MAE (Made in Africa Evaluation) and may provide the means to arriving at more inclusive forms of ME systems development and, concomitantly, more inclusive ways of producing and using evidence for policy, governance and development on a national scale.Conclusion: Although desirable due its potential to transform systems of governance to become more citizen-centred, co-production must not be romanticised nor over-simplified. Increasing levels of citizen participation in governance must consider that there are significant changes that need to be made to institutional structures and processes, such as new forms of accountability, governance, systems and structures for citizen involvement. Therefore, a combination of practical, technical, ideological, relational and political factors must be considered in the adoption of more participatory approaches in establishing national ME systems.

International human rights teachers in Myanmar universities: The individual constraints of structure on intermediaries

The literature on the transnational promotion of human rights looks to the role of intermediaries who facilitate connections between global and local discourses. Local discourses, however, may host actors and dynamics with diverse perspectives not entirely receptive to international norms, and so call for attention as to how they impact the work of intermediaries. Myanmar university human rights teachers serve an intermediary role, receiving international human rights training from international aid programs and promoting such training within their professional work environments. The actors and dynamics of their work environments constitute local discourses affecting the conduct of university teachers, and thereby influence their efforts to promote international human rights norms. The analysis draws on empirical fieldwork involving the experiences of Myanmar university human rights teachers, using their concerns to demonstrate the ways their professional environments constrain their teaching of human rights. From such findings, the analysis raises implications for theories of intermediaries and international aid policies to promote human rights norms.

Sustainable Development Goals and Islamic Social Finance: From Policy Divide to Policy Coherence and Convergence

This study aims to show how Islamic social finance (ISF) instruments can contribute to achieving SDGs and to filling the gaps in pressing humanitarian crises, such as refugee protection. ISF institutions enjoy sufficient financial capacity to bridge the gaps and realize the most relevant and urgent SDGs. However, due to policies and other constraints, their participation in international development aid programs is limited. Accordingly, this study explores the existing policy divide between Western and Islamic countries regarding the use of Faith-Based funds in international humanitarian and development aid programs. Through case studies, this study demonstrates that ISF instruments have the potential at national and international levels to mobilize resources to support marginalized groups in society in various countries. The analysis indicates the need to develop a framework that helps to build cooperation among local and international actors to mobilize ISF funds for cross-country development and humanitarian aid, which accelerates the achievement of the SDGs. This paper studies ongoing dialogues among various stakeholders to create policy convergence and to use ISF instruments towards SDGs. This study suggests that the dialogue should be more inclusive by including all potential stakeholders, including Muslim leaders, policymakers and Shariah Scholars, to narrow policy gaps and to draw policy coherence for using ISF tools in the duality aid programs and for creating synergies towards achieving the SDGs.

Becoming Agents of Change: Contextual Influences on Medical Educator Professionalization and Practice in a LMIC Context

Phenomenon Medical educators are particularly needed in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC), where medical schools have grown rapidly in size, number, and global outlook in response to persistent health workforce shortages and increased expectations of quality care. Educator development is thus the focus of many LMIC programs initiated by universities and governments of high income countries. While signs of medical educator professionalization such as postgraduate qualifications, specialized units, and professional associations have emerged in LMIC, whether these relate to programs originating from outside LMIC contexts is unknown. This study investigated the contextual influences on the long-term impact of an international faculty development program a decade after its delivery in a LMIC context – Vietnam. Approach Ten years after an international aid program to develop clinical skills teaching expertise in Vietnam, we conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with eight medical educators from all eight participating medical schools. Selected for their leadership potential, each participant had completed the Maastricht Masters in Health Professions Education during the program. Interview transcripts underwent thematic analysis, using the Theory of Practice Architectures as a conceptual lens to highlight the contextual influences on professional practice. Findings Four themes were identified: Careers and Practices before, during, and after the program, Unrecognized and Unseen practice, Structural Restraints on individual advancement and collective activity, and the Cultivation of Connections through social traditions. Participants reported being in well-established teaching delivery roles. However, the absence of professionalizing discourses and material resources meant that practice was restricted and determined by institutional leadership and individuals’ adaptations. Insights Informed by the theory of practice architectures, we found that change in medical education practice will falter in contexts that lack supporting discursive, material-economic, and socio-political arrangements. While there were emerging signs of individual agency, the momentum of change was not sustained and perhaps unapparent to Western framings of educational leadership. Practice architectures offers a framework for identifying the contextual features which influence practice, from which to design and deliver sustainable and impactful interventions, and to advance context-relevant evaluation and research. Our findings suggest that faculty development delivered across diverse contexts, such as in distributed or transnational medical programs, may have more effect if informed by a practice architectures analysis of each context.

Acts of Spatial Violation: The Politics of Space-Making inside the Palestinian Refugee Camp

Refugee camps have been, and continue to be, highly polemical spaces to inhabit and study. Notions such as temporality, permanence, exception and camp-cities are used in academic publications in an attempt to understand the continued existence of these spaces. Scholars nonetheless have fallen short of presenting a historical narrative, or convincing argument, as to why and how these camps can ensure their continued operation within often violent and complex host geographies. Refugee camps are not merely humanitarian spaces relegated to international aid programmes. On the contrary, due to their common protracted nature, they have evolved into some of the most dynamic and vital forms of built environment. The fundamental element which guarantees this vitalism, in socio-economic and political terms, is space and space-making. This essay, based on long-term fieldwork research in two Palestinian refugee camps – Baqa’a in Jordan and Burj el Barajneh in Lebanon –showcases the specific ingenious acts of space-making developed by Palestinian refugees throughout 73 years of forced displacement. Furthermore, the essay introduces the notion of ‘spatial violations’ to describe the political act of space-making adopted by Palestinian refugees to overcome modes of ‘management and control’ by host governments and the United Nations. Scenarios of violence and economic development triggered by these acts of ‘spatial violation’ will also be illustrated, as will some spatial interventions designed and built inside these two Palestinian camps as part of this research project. The installations were designed as experiential architectural devices to provoke conversation around space and space-making across Palestinian camps.

International transfer of knowledge: Training and education in craniomaxillofacial surgery. Contributing to humanitarian aid by teaching the teachers

The development of multiple international aid programs aims to offer health care according to basic quality standards to the global population. In many fields of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery such as the treatment of head and neck tumours, complex or acquired malformations and craniomaxillofacial trauma, aid programs contribute to solve urgent needs although in the long term only the establishment at local or subregional levels of stable specialized healthcare networks including training of specialized health personnel will be able to contribute to achieving an adequate standard of care. In this paper we review our experience regarding the different efforts made to enhance education and training in the specialty at the European level by the EACMFS and at the global level by the IAOMS.

Aiding Syrian refugees in Turkey: International approaches and domestic policies

After the breakout and the escalation of the Syrian civil war and because of its humanitarian consequences, Turkey now hosts the largest refugee community worldwide. This paper attempts to investigate the role of the international community in assisting Syrian refugees in Turkey. Beyond looking at the main elements of the Turkish government policies, this study focuses on the Emergency Social Safety Net Programme of the European Union, the World Food Programme and the Turkish Red Crescent. It also reviews the Turkish aspects of the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan of the United Nations. The primary purpose of the study is to provide a comparative analysis of the two programmes alongside the main objectives, results and difficulties. Beyond reviewing the essential international literature, the examination of this issue is principally based on data analysis of the reports of relevant international organisations. The Turkish government plays an important role in this crisis and the actions of international organisations complement the country’s domestic policies. Two international aid programmes are compared and a conclusion is reached that the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan tries to balance urgent humanitarian needs with durable solutions, while the Emergency Social Safety Net Programme is determined by humanitarian aspects. Nonetheless, both initiatives address the challenges to the Turkish host community which are posed by the protracted refugee issue. While acknowledging the remaining gaps, challenges and the obvious complexity of the refugee situation in Turkey, it can be concluded that the aid initiatives discussed have developed innovative solutions to address this protracted crisis.

The Efforts of the International Financial Institutions in Fighting the COVID‑19

The article analyses the periods of socio-economic and socio-cultural cycles. it reveals the factors of interrelating conditions of an economy and a nation’s health. it reconsiders the issues of organizing international assistance programs in various countries. it introduces proposals as to the directions of international aid programs in poor countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America. A major deliverable of the article is the significance of the necessity to break away from the isolation in international relations and deeper cooperation between the nation-states based on the international financial and economic organisations such as the iMF and the World Bank.

PEMBANGUNAN DAN PERATURAN GLOBAL DI NEGARA-NEGARA EROPAH DAN ASIA

Development in the world can be influenced through several mediums such as interaction with policymakers, international aid programs, and international regulations. The compliance of countries in the world with international rules can reduce the negative impact on development in the countries. The question of regulatory failure highly occurred in less developed countries associated with imperfect regulatory models. In addition, coordination of the development sector in the aspects of human morality related to regulation can help overcome the problem of poverty and is a meso approach focused globally as well as on individual companies. Therefore, this concept paper aims to analyse global development and regulation in European and Asian countries. Research shows that there are various solutions to regulatory capability problems experienced by developing countries such as code and standard implementation incentives during market pressures and voluntary schemes to provide reliable and standardized information. Thus, the government plays a role in establishing social goals, focusing on the freedom of civil society, planning and governing the country, enhancing the progress of the country, and producing effective rules. Regulation in administration and development has an important impact on administrative and development procedures because regulation can be defined as effective once the desired effect has been achieved as well as the general interest that creating the desired regulation and function regulatory. In addition, rights-based human resource management can create redistribution and development in the dual economy which causes the rules of consumption to produce rent that can finance the allocation of labour for resource-free production.

New deals for the past: the Cold War, American archaeology, and UNESCO in Egypt and Syria

ABSTRACT From the 1930s to the late 1970s, American archaeologists pursued a paired agenda of science and salvage such that their focus on logical positivism converged with US foreign policy towards international technical assistance. River basin salvage archaeology, pioneered in the US by the Tennessee Valley Authority and exported to the Middle East in the 1950s, was a prime example of American Cold War techno-politics that accompanied other international aid and technical assistance programmes. Amphitheaters of archaeology along the Nile and Euphrates were fertile testing grounds for the development of what became known as the ‘New Archaeology’, but also new deals, new science, infrastructure, and agriculture within a Cold War setting, so that monumental heritage and dam projects became flashpoints between American visions for the Middle East and attempts by UNESCO to maintain the spirit of internationalism.

Agrifood Chains as Complex Systems and the Role of Informality in Their Sustainability in Small Scale Societies

Agrifood chains are complex systems; they encompass biological, economic, social, health and political variables at different scales (e.g., on-farm, local, regional, national and global). Consequently, what enables a food system to achieve ‘sustainability’ is also complex. This is particularly the case in small-scale societies in developing nations which are socially constituted. In this paper we posit that a habitus of informality underpins food systems’ sustainability in these societies. We argue that conventional applications of approaches like the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) and Circles of Sustainability (CoS) frameworks fail to assist understanding of sustainability in informal socio-economic systems because they either place too much emphasis on economic growth (TBL) or underplay the strength of socio–cultural obligations and responsibilities (CoS). This is seen in international aid programs that encourage economic growth in the agrifood sector, which is challenging for villages in such societies. We review data from two Pacific Island countries—Tonga and Solomon Islands—to demonstrate the need for a more holistic way to think about sustainability in informal agrifood systems in small-scale developing nations. We demonstrate the value of employing a Hybrid Value Chain Framework for collecting information necessary to understanding how sustainability is constituted in the food systems of small-scale societies.

Building <em>Benkadi</em>: The Role of Trust in Malian Women's Community Savings Groups

The affective bonds between women that lead to trust and cooperation are recognized as the foundation of microfinance programs for women based on the village savings and loan association (VSLA) model. Nevertheless, there has been little anthropological consideration of how trust operates in such groups: how it is established, under what contexts it is sustained, and the importance of culturally-specific values and norms around mutual support. Through studying the concept of benkadi (cooperation or mutual aid) among Malian women who participate in community savings groups, Deubel and Boyer examine how systems of trust constitute the driving force for Saving for Change (SfC), a large-scale savings group program throughout rural southern Mali, and consider the larger implications for the sustainability of international aid programs focused on gender and development.

‘The struggle isn’t over’: Shifting aid paradigms and redefining ‘development’ in eastern Myanmar

Abstract In recent years, international optimism about Myanmar’s fledgling democratization and peace process has contributed to a shift by many Western donors towards the ‘normalization’ of aid relations with the former pariah state, and from more ‘humanitarian’ to more ‘development’-style approaches. Yet these shifts are not necessarily seen as progress by members of community-based health organizations, which operate under para-state governance systems in the borderlands. Instead, members of these organizations often describe the emerging ‘development’ paradigm in Myanmar as doing more harm than good. This article draws on long-term ethnographic research conducted over a decade-long period with ethnic minority health workers operating in Myanmar’s eastern borderlands. It examines the meanings of ‘humanitarianism’ and ‘development’ – and of the ‘humanitarian-development nexus’ – from the perspective of local-level actors whose voices are still too often ignored in debates about international aid programs and their implementation. It finds that the reactions of the health workers to shifting aid paradigms and programs highlight what is at stake in an evolving politics of aid. These reactions are linked with a politics of suffering; with an ongoing struggle for recognition of non-state governance systems; and with impacts that international aid economies have in designating different socio-political actors as legitimate, and in territorializing border spaces in different ways, at different times. The health workers’ attempts to advance an alternative model for ‘development’ in their communities in turn illustrate how different actors, who are brought together in an unequal ‘aid encounter’, are involved in an ongoing struggle over the legitimacy of competing systems of government and over the territorialization of border areas. Finally, the article contends that, without understanding local perspectives and engaging critically with the political implications of evolving aid interventions, international aid programs risk impacting negatively on conflict dynamics in contested and transitional states.