Local Administrative Offices Research Articles

Expanding the roles of malaria post workers in Thailand: A qualitative study of stakeholder perspectives.

In Thailand, since the 2000s, malaria post (MP) workers have been tasked with promptly detecting and treating all malaria cases to prevent onward transmission in the communities. Expanding their roles to provide health services beyond malaria has been proposed as a strategy to sustain their activities until elimination is reached. This article examines the perspectives of stakeholders on community-based malaria care to assess prospects for expanding the role of MPs. The study incorporated in-depth interviews (IDIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs). In forested communities and local health facilities in northeast Thailand bordering Lao PDR and Cambodia, where malaria transmission is low, IDIs were conducted with 13 MPs and 23 community members. An additional 14 policymakers and implementers across the health sector in Thailand were interviewed. The respondents highlighted how in these border areas population groups most at risk of malaria, namely forest goers and migrants, are reluctant to visit public health facilities. In these areas, MP workers are well integrated in their communities and remain relevant although the communities no longer see malaria as spriority. Common conditions such as dengue, diabetes, insect bites, diarrhea, mental illness and substance abuse, were identified as local health concerns needing potential add-on services from MP workers. Although challenges in terms of training, supervision, and financing were raised, opportunities included additional funds from local administrative offices to maintain and integrate malaria activities with other health programmes. Changes to the roles of MPs should be adapted to changing local needs, some of which were identified in this study, should avoid duplication and potential tensions with other local health programmes, and need to build on the capacity of the community and primary care system. These enabling factors are worthy of consideration by any malaria programmes looking into maintaining their village malaria workers in the Greater Mekong Subregion.

Examining the impact of climate information access on adaptive behaviors during heatwaves: insights from Central Vietnam

This study focuses on the correlation between the different sources of climatic information involving the Short Message Service (SMS), social networks, local governments, online platforms, and workplaces and the individual adaptation measures concerning heatwaves. The survey data were obtained from four areas in central Vietnam involving 400 respondents. We used propensity score matching (PSM) to estimate the average treatment effect on the treated, aiming to mitigate selection bias. Findings indicate that the availability of various information sources encourages communities to address rising heat stress, with information sourced from SMS, social media platforms, local authorities, and workplaces being prominent. The findings signal the need to increase the visibility of heatwave data, which can change people’s behavior to reduce climate risks. In order to accomplish this goal, it is important to focus on climate change information sharing through platforms such as social networks, local administration offices, and the workplace in coping with climate change-related threats.

대동법 이후 쇄마역 정비와 운영 - 남원, 임천 사례를 중심으로 -

During the Joseon dynasty, swaema refers to the conscription of horses and drivers for local administration purposes that was levied as a form of service on the local residents. Along with a majority of state- and locally-imposed services, swaema was regulated under the Daedong Law and was officially included in the system. However, Daedong Law created a structure where the official finance for the local administration was defined, it became a burden for the local administrative offices to manage the horse conscripting services while meeting the regulations. Consequently, different local administrative offices each developed diverse non-statutory countermeasures to fund the cost of horse conscription and provision. By analyzing the cases of the 18th century local administration, this article argues the following points: First, at least in the southern parts of Joseon, hiring horses was mainly related to the administrative demand and even though its expenses could not be structurally covered under the regulations, there always had to be horse conscription. Second, in these cases, the cost was distributed and paid by among the local administration, the residents, and the horse providers, implying that it was to remove imbalance of the financial burden caused by the swaema services.

Christian Sorcerers on Trial: Records of the 1827 Osaka Incident by Fumiko Miyazaki et al.

Reviewed by: Christian Sorcerers on Trial: Records of the 1827 Osaka Incident by Fumiko Miyazaki et al. Avery Morrow Keywords Japan, sorcery, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, fumie, persecution fumiko miyazaki, kate wildman nakai, AND mark teeuwen, TRANS. Christian Sorcerers on Trial: Records of the 1827 Osaka Incident. New York: Columbia University Press, 2020. Pp. 408. From the 1620s until the 1860s, Christianity was a mysterious banned sect in Japan, known to the common people chiefly as something they had to denounce and abhor. Most people had to affiliate themselves with a Buddhist temple to prove their disavowal of this unknown foreign religion; some had to swear oaths, and in the former Christian hotspot of Nagasaki, people were called regularly to local administrative offices to trample on images of Christ and Mary, called fumie. For one group of peasants in the 1820s, though, Christianity became a source of magical power. For the first time in English, Christian Sorcerers on Trial tells their stories, filtered through confessions to their prosecutors exacted under torture, as well the way their underground circle became rumor and legend in Edo salons. This book is a translation of primary sources buttressed by some scholarly commentary that situates it within Japanese history. The first section contains [End Page 158] confessions offered by the sorcerers, including some detective work and cross-analysis by the prosecutors. The second section is about the difficult process of sentencing, showing how the prosecutors had to step around sensitive political issues in their handling of Christianity. The final section translates the stray references to this case in contemporary literature. The editors offer background on the origins of each of the documents translated, and as an account of the incident the book feels fairly complete. The originator of "Christian sorcery" was apparently a man named Mizuno Gunki, already deceased by the time the group was uncovered. The Osaka prosecutor was unable to ascertain his origins, other than that he had moved to the city from somewhere else. He owned a few illicitly imported Chinese texts about Christianity (some by Matteo Ricci), and from 1818 onwards he carried with him a scroll bearing images of Mary and Jesus, but there is no evidence that he knew anything about the ordinary Christian form of worship. Instead, he selected only a few most trustworthy people around him to be invited into his inner sanctum, where they would drip their blood or sign an oath over his picture of the Virgin Mary, swearing to keep the worship of the "Lord of Heaven" and his mother a lifelong secret. In return, Gunki promised that his initiates would be able to work miracles and gain in material wealth. Gunki's most important initiate was Toyoda Mitsugi, a woman who was trained in yin-yang divination and mediumship through the deity Inari, often associated with foxes. Mitsugi created her own chain of initiation which ran through two other women. Among these women, Inari's mediumship became their outward practice, with the chanting of Christian names becoming the secret inward practice. Through this combination, the women claimed to have achieved worldly wealth and benefits, although when pressed by the prosecution, one claimed that she had impersonated a fox in order to encourage the others to wonder. None of the later initiates had actually read the Chinese Christian texts which Gunki possessed. Most embarrassing to the Japanese authorities was the adventure of the female initiate Sano, who never had a chance to see Gunki's scroll herself and wanted to know what the form of Jesus looked like. She had heard of the fumie practice mentioned above and so traveled to Nagasaki specifically in order to see the fumie and stamp on it, which heightened her faith. The fact that Sano made use of the fumie for precisely the opposite of its intended purpose caused much consternation among the prosecutors and it was eventually decided to censor this part of Sano's testimony from the final report. This translation makes careful note of both the original report and the revision and discusses the juridical procedure at length. [End Page 159] Much of the prior literature about this case concerns its chief prosecutor Ōshio Heihachirō, who...

An Epigraphical Journey through Bengal

The study of the architectural inscriptions of the Bengal Sultanate provides us with a new opportunity to look into the rich cultural history of this hinterland of South Asia. Most of the early Islamic monuments in the region had calligraphic works on them, as inscriptions were considered a powerful medium to convey visual, cultural, and spiritual messages to people. These inscriptions were rendered in various styles such as Kūfī, Thuluth, Naskh, Riqa‘, Rayḥānī, Muḥaqqaq, Ṭughrā’, and Bihārī. This article focuses on some interesting inscriptions discovered in various parts of Bengal. Special attention is given to the analysis of information derived from them in their historical contexts, such as the names of the contemporary rulers, local administrative officers, religious figures, military commanders, and their titles. These findings help us understand the contemporary political, administrative, social, religious, and cultural aspects of the region.

Archiwum Magistratu miasta Kielce z 1873 r. w świetle ankiety sporządzonej dla Komisji Specjalnej do Urządzenia Archiwów przy Ministerstwie Oświecenia Publicznego

In 1873, Special Committee for the Organization of Archives has been appointed. One of its first decisions was to prepare a survey, which would have allowed to obtain information on archival documentation and the technical state of the archives of local administrative offices at the territory of Imperial Russia. The survey was distributed among other administrative units at the territory of the Kingdom of Poland, hence it was sent to the magistrate of Kielce. Based on preserved source materials one can derive information regarding the character of questions addressed by the aforementioned Committee, as well as about the state of the archive of Kielce magistrate.

Comparative Analysis between the Role of Local Communities in Regional Development inside Japanese and Russian UNESCO’s Biosphere Reserves: Case Studies of Mount Hakusan and Katunskiy Biosphere Reserves

The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization has designated the Man and Biosphere Program to foster a better relationship between the environment and people. The topic of this study is to elucidate the role of local communities in the regional development of Biosphere Reserves with a focus on management roles (top-down or participatory) and the motivational drivers of the people involved (ecocentric or anthropocentric). Based on qualitative interviews taken from the two case studies of the Mount Hakusan Biosphere Reserve in Japan and the Katunskiy Biosphere Reserve in Russia, a comparative analysis was conducted to explore the differences between the engagement of locals in the management of their biosphere reserves. This analysis examined relationships between the government and the local communities, the attitudes of the locals towards the biosphere reserves, and the historical perception on nature protection for each community. The findings showed that Russian biosphere reserves are mainly managed by local people who live inside the protected area while Japanese biosphere reserves are governed by local authorities and administration offices. This allows the Russian communities to have greater access to management processes, and therefore play a larger role in regional development.

A Assessment of Management Efficiency in Local Administrative Offices: Case Study Poland

The analysis of management efficiency is an important element in evaluating the functioning of public administration from an economic point of view. In order to achieve greater efficiency of the management process, and thus the quality in public administration, it is important to analyze and evaluate its elements. Modern research usually covers individual elements, parts of the management process. However, the current study proposes a comprehensive approach to this process. The objective of the article is the evaluate levels of management efficiency of local government offices using a single synthetic indicator and also to identify areas that hinder management efficiency. The study applies the institutional analysis methodology, adjusting it to the needs of the article. The article postulates that areas that call for immediate changes in Poland's local government offices should include such areas as strategic and financial management, invigorating economic development, project management and public service offers. Any changes thus introduced in these areas may enhance improvements in management processes, effectiveness and efficiency of activities, the quality of the office's functioning, organizational development, which togethr indirectly affects local development.

Procedure and Document Format for Requesting Construction of Local Administrative Offices by each Province in the 1930s

Procedure and Document Format for Requesting Construction of Local Administrative Offices by each Province in the 1930s

Association of environmental factors and high HFMD occurrence in northern Thailand

BackgroundThe major population vulnerable to hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is children aged less than 5 years, particularly those who are cared for at day care centers (DCCs). This study aimed to assess the associations of environmental and sanitation factors with high HFMD occurrence rates in DCCs of northern Thailand.MethodsA case-control study was used to gather information from caregivers and local government administrative officers. DCCs in areas with high and low HFMD occurrence rates were the settings for this study. A validated questionnaire was used to collect environmental and sanitation information from the DCCs. In-depth interviews were used to collect information from selected participants who were working at DCCs and from local government administrative officers on the HFMD capacity and prevention and control strategies in DCCs. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the associations between many environmental factors and HFMD at the α = 0.05 significance level while the content analysis was used to extract information from the interviews.ResultsTwo variables were found to be associated with a high rate of HFMD occurrence: the number of sinks available in restrooms and the DCC size. Children attending DCCs that did not meet the standard in terms of the number of sinks in restrooms had a greater chance of contracting HFMD than children who were attending DCCs that met the standard (AOR = 4.21; 95% CI = 1.13–15.04). Children who were attending a large-sized DCC had a greater chance of contracting HFMD than those attending a small-sized DCC (AOR = 3.28; 95% CI = 1.21–5.18). The yearly budget allocation and the strategies for HFMD control and prevention, including collaborations among stakeholders for HFMD control and prevention in DCCs, were associated with the effectiveness of HFMD control and prevention.ConclusionsThe number of sinks in restrooms and DCC size are major concerns for HFMD outbreaks. Sufficient budget allocation and good collaboration contribute to effective strategies for preventing and controlling HFMD in DCCs.

The Feeling of Fear among Local Government Administration Employees as a Result of the Introduction of E-Administration

The implementation and smooth functioning of e-administration depends on many technical and organizational factors but also on psychosocial factors, including the sense of fear. In this paper, the authors treat fear as a subjective and perceptible sense of threat. They recognize that employees may express various concerns. Previous research has shown that employees may be afraid of losing their jobs as a result of implementing e-administration. The introduction of technology brings with it the threat of dehumanization. There are also numerous concerns that the development of modern technologies will not ensure adequate economic growth because it will be too slow. This paper discusses issues related to the fear of the changes taking place in the present, in particular those related to the introduction of modern technologies, as well as problems related to the possibility of reducing unethical behavior. The research has been carried out in local administration offices using a qualitative research procedure. The results of the research indicate the existence of relationships between the quality of e-administration and fears or threats experienced or perceived by employees. If e-administration does not simplify work and does not reduce employees’ workload, the only fears are employees’ fear of change and their inability to master new information technologies. The data obtained allow management practitioners to overcome barriers related to the implementation of e-administration.

Developing Good Governance through Strengthening Literacy Skills from Schools to Organizational Management: The Case of Indonesia

Purpose: The main issue in this study is the poor public organizational management in Indonesia due to the low quality of governance literacy skills among school graduates. Such a situation is caused by the weak and conventional public administration methods used by most public managers across the country, hence calling for improved approaches that can only be created through research. Design/methodology/approach: In the present study, the authors have tried to establish a better way of teaching good governance by strengthening literacy skills at the school level. The current research applied an approach and development design, with the research respondents from selected local administration offices with varying characteristics from around Bandung city. It has been established that developing good governance through strengthening literacy skills among school graduates improves the management of the organization's competence, both public and private. Findings: The model generated through this research is a learning model of literacy reading oriented to the development process and learning outcomes. Under the conditions of its final form, the model developed has some differences with other models that have been developed by experts in several previous studies. Practical implications: The model gives a positive contribution to the improvement of the reading literacy skills of elementary school students. Originality/Value: The proposed model is a solution to improve the students' habits and students' skills in reading comprehension in a variety of text types, either in scientific, social, and mathematical texts.

Collective efforts of people to reduce disasters in the Indian Sundarban islands

PurposePeople from chronic flood-affected areas in the Sundarban islands understand that individual efforts are not sufficient to deal with the floods of increasing magnitude caused by tidal waves in coastal areas and take proactive measures to minimise the impact of floods before turning to the government for support. Their perception of disaster risk influences them to engage in collective activities and develop strategies to mitigate flood disasters. However, many villagers do not participate in collective disaster management activities. The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors of homogeneity that motivate people to work together to reduce the impact of natural hazards.Design/methodology/approachQualitative research has been conducted in Sibpur and Gobordhanpur villages of Indian Sundarban islands. Participant observation and in-depth interview have been applied to explore the collective activities of disaster reduction. Affected, non-affected villagers, representatives of the local government and government administrative officers have been interviewed to understand the disaster management efforts of the government and local people.FindingsThe research has found that drivers of homogeneity and leadership are important for collective activities in disaster management. Threat of disasters, potential loss of livelihood and damages of properties, emotional attachment with the village and ties with extended family members influence villagers to engage in collective activity. Collective activities of villagers help to address the local needs of disaster reduction to the government in a better way.Originality/valueThe study has revealed that strong leadership is required in effective collective activities to manage disaster in the Indian Sundarban islands.

官・学・民が連携した防災教育〜「島原防災塾」〜

官・学・民が連携した防災教育〜「島原防災塾」〜

The Social Accountability Report within the Chambers of Commerce: Theory, Procedure and Empirical Evidence

In Italy, many companies and central and local public administration offices, including the Chambers of Commerce, are turning to new forms of accounting of their results. Amongst these, the social accountability report definitely represents an innovative tool; an innovation intended to guarantee compliance with the principles of accountability and social control, that are growing strong within the wider process of transparency and accessibility of management data, as well as the use of the resources, which involves the whole Public Administration. The social accountability report is presented as a non-accounting tool meant to spread a systemic and structured vision of the activities carried out and of the results obtained by the administration in reference to the period of the ending mandate. The aim of the work is to examine in depth the issue of social reporting in the Chambers of Commerce, referring in particular to the social accountability report, highlighting its potential and its criticalities through a theoretical, empirical and methodological analysis. By using the empirical analysis, we are going to show, first of all, the composition and the territorial distribution of social reporting in the Chambers of Commerce between 1999 and 2016. By offering, later on, a case study, such as the social accountability report of the Chamber of Commerce of Treviso, we will show how the experiences of the Chambers of commerce relating to social reporting are so heterogeneous that the several reports produced often show some significant peculiarities on a structural level. In the knowledge that such heterogeneity represents, however, a methodological enhancement, the work will later show a standard social accountability report for the Chambers of Commerce that is a result of the adaptation and reasoned integration of the contents of the social accountability reports produced by the Chambers of Commerce so far.

Charting the Way Forward in the Aftermath of the Sewol Tragedy

Under the Government Organization Act of Korea, the following two issues could be raised in regards to the legal authority and status of the Korea Coast Guard: First, there is an issue involving a potential conflict of authority between the Korea Coast Guard and the Ministry of Public Safety and Security. Second, pursuant to the Government Organization Act, the Korea Coast Guard has characteristics of an advisory agency in providing assistance to the Minister of Public Safety and Security. However, the actual authority to direct and control local administrative government offices under the Korea Coast Guard belongs to the Coast Guard. This is a bifurcation between structure and actual work which can create gaps between jurisdictional duties and responsibilities.

Collaborating with local administrative offices to improve neighborhoods: A case study of the Design Consultant program

In 2016, the Seoul Design Foundation, a city-funded design organization in Seoul, carried out a program that aims to solve local problems in the city by catalyzing collaboration between designers and civil servants. The one-year program, called “Design Consultant” program, supported 15 design projects addressing problems at a sub-district level through the collaboration with sub-district offices in Seoul. This paper examines the underlying strategies of the program to address a city’s problems, and at the same time to promote the adoption of the design in the public sector. Four projects carried out under the framework of the Design Consultant program were studied by interviewing the civil servants and junior designers who collaborated for five months at local sub-district offices. Keywords: transformation design, local administrative offices, scaling out, scaling up, Seoul metropolitan city.

The spiritual and educational activities of the Tatars in the Kazakh Steppe in the context of the Russian Empire’s domestic policy (second half of XVIII – the beginning of XX century)

This paper discusses the spiritual and educational activities of the Tatars in Kazakhs steppe in pre-revolutionary period. The Empress Catherine II let mass penetration of the Tatar mullahs into the steppe zone. They performed some of the functions of the tsar officials in addition to religious and educational activities. They completed parish registers and directed civil proceedings. The Tatar language became the main language of the clerical work in the steppe zone. After the Crimean and Caucasian war the attitude of imperial administration to the activities of Tatar preachers changed dramatically. Since that time, Islam and Muslim education in the Steppe zone started to be considered by officials as a threat to the Russian state. The Russian government limited the powers of the mullahs, subdued Muslim schools to the Ministry of Education and strictly regulated it, tried to introduce the Russian language into the mosques and madrasas. Minister of Internal Affairs through its secret messages made local administration offices translate clerical works from the Tatar language on Arab ligature to the missionary Kazakh language on Cyrillic alphabet. It was also strongly recommended to replace Tatar interpreters to Kazakh or Russian ones. Despite the internal policy of the Russian state had changed, the Tartars built powerful spiritual and educational infrastructure in the Steppe zone. At the beginning of the XX century it included the old and new madrasas, mosques, Muslim Library and publishing houses. In Muslim schools prominent people of Tatar and Kazakh culture were educated, first books and newspapers in both languages were issued in theses publishing houses. The spiritual and educational activity of the Tatars played a significant role in the formation of the Kazakh and Tatar intelligentsia and led to the rise of religious and political consciousness of both nations.

Food and Gastronomic Tourism for Developing Rural Areas Around the Via Francigena in Tuscany

The paper reports results from an explorative research on the socio-economic opportunity that the presence of pilgrims and tourists along the Tuscan section of the Via Francigena can be for local communities. The aim is to deepen the actual and future opportunities that gastronomy represent for the development of tourism around the Via Francigena , with a special attention to destinations out of the beaten tracks. The research has been carried out merging different sources of information, including scientific literature, news, media, direct observation and personal experience, and performing a dozen of face-to-face interviews to key-informants, selected within socioeconomic actors involved in developing tourism around the course of the Via Francigena in Tuscany. The interviews have been carried out during the last six months, involving farmers, wine producers, restaurant owners, tourism and rural tourism entrepreneurs and local administrative offices. Local communities have already understood the strategic importance to sustain their socioeconomic activities with the development of pilgrimage and tourism along the Via Francigena . The rich variety of local gastronomy can satisfy both frugal needs of pilgrims and those of visitors more interested in gourmandizing. Food and gastronomy could be a strong leverage to increase tourist presences out of the beaten tracks.

Peacebuilding or ‘Development’? The Dynamics of Conflict and NGOs’ Role in Borana, Oromia Region, Ethiopia

This study explores the debates about the role of NGOs that have been involved in the Borana zone, Oromia Region, in Ethiopia. The study examines some of the major areas of their engagement in Borana with regards to peace building and ‘development’. The interviews and focus group discussion and observations from the various reports indicate that there were several NGOs working in the area, which was also acknowledged by members of the community during the fieldwork. Information from the local government administration offices in Borana also show that they do recognize the wide ranging activities of NGOs. The study indicated that while NGOs continue to engage in the region in activities relating to natural resource management, community capacity building and humanitarian responses generally presented as ‘development works’, the involvement of most of them in peace building in the form of hosting conferences, meetings and facilitating peace agreements have been abandoned following the coming into being of what has been popularly termed as civil society legislation (Proclamation 621/2009). Consequently NGOs that were involved in direct forms of peace building at some level have now shifted their discourses to ‘development’.