Major International Agencies Research Articles

Higher Education System in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Second Half of 20th Century and 21st Century

This article examines the achievements, challenges, characteristics, and future prospects of the higher education system in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with particular emphasis on potential collaboration with the Russian Federation. The study investigates the activities, structure, and organization of the educational processes at three leading universities in the Kingdom: King Saud University (KSU), King Abdulaziz University (KAU), and King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM). An analysis of documents outlining the prospects for cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Russia in mutually beneficial areas, notably higher education, is presented. Data from major international ranking agencies, including the Academic Ranking of World Universities, QS World University Rankings, Times Higher Education World University Rankings, and Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, are provided. The article characterizes the structure of leading universities in the Kingdom, their funding sources, and distinctive features of their corporate culture. Special attention is given to the developmental directions of these universities, their scientific and educational projects, and their appeal to both Saudi nationals and international faculty and students. Based on an examination of the experiences of interaction between the authorities of the Russian Federation and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as their official statements, prospective areas for collaboration between the educational systems of both nations are highlighted.

Health system adaptations for extreme heat: Protocol for an international scoping review of reviews.

The objective of this study is to map the international evidence for extreme heat related adaptation strategies by health systems, with a particular focus on how heat-vulnerable populations and local situational awareness are considered in these strategies. Since the Paris Climate Accords in 2015, awareness has increased of the health risks posed by extreme heat along with interest in adaptations which aim to reduce heat-health-risks for vulnerable populations. However, the extant literature on these adaptations suggest they are insufficient, and call for research to examine whether, how, and what adaptations for extreme heat are effective as public health interventions. We will include English-language review articles describing and/or evaluating health system adaptations for extreme heat. Health systems will be defined broadly using the WHO Building Blocks model [1] and adaptations will range from the individual level to institutional, regional and national levels, with particular attention to localisation and the protection of vulnerable individuals. A comprehensive literature search of the published literature will be conducted using MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, the Cochrane Library and Web of Science. Searches will be limited to reviews published since 2015 in the English language. Results will be exported to EndNote for screening (with a sample checked by two reviewers to ensure consistency). A complementary search for related reports by major international agencies (e.g. WHO; International Association of Emergency Managers), as well as local searches for current guidance and case studies, will be conducted in parallel. Data from included papers will be presented in tables with a narrative commentary.

The Use of Transition Curves in Airport Runway Rapid Exit Taxiways (RETs)

This paper describes a study result focused on the transition curves used in airport rapid exit taxiways (RETs). Such geometric elements are not currently made explicit by standards, and major international government agencies, such as the International Civil Aviation Organization and the Federal Aviation Administration, are limited to providing some layouts consisting of only constant curvature elements, although the aircrafts speed in RETs is variable. In addition to the clothoid that has unitary shape parameter “n” and the multiparameter clothoids (generalized Cornu spirals), the study analyzes the Bloss curve employment. Regarding the multiparameter clothoids, four schemes with shape parameter equal to 1.25, 1.50, 1.75, and 2.00 were considered, respectively. The proposed curves’ effectiveness was evaluated by analyzing the main geometric and kinematic variables trend, that is, curvature, transversal acceleration, lateral jerk, speed, travel time, longitudinal deceleration, and centrifugal force. To ensure the analysis effectiveness, the study layouts were designed from those used for runways codes 1‐2 and 3‐4 maintaining the main geometric elements dimensions unchanged (length of straight lines, radii of circular curves, exit angles, etc.). The kinematic variables values along the design RETs were calculated “point by point” by MATLAB software to take into account nonuniform motion regimen. The obtained results show that both the Bloss curve and the multiparameter clothoid having a shape factor equal to 2 are capable of better contribution in terms of safety and comfort. Implications in the airport construction field are related to the possibility of using lower deceleration values compared to current standards, that is, allowing higher exit speed for the same deceleration. This allows aircrafts to vacate the runway more quickly and, therefore, to increase runway capacity without taking expensive RETs repositioning.

Civilized Death: The Issue of Stray Animals and Sports Mega- Events in Russia

The article examines how the strategy of constructing the social problem of animal cruelty in Russia has become successful in the context of preparing and holding sports mega- events. The constructionist theory of social problems by M. Spector, J. Kitsius, and J. Best is developed on the basis of N. Elias’s civilization theory, as well as on the studies of mega- events in non-western countries. The analytical scheme of hierarchically interconnected levels of industries of social problems initiating, in interaction, the very actualization of various social conditions on the threshold of mega- events is offered: these are regional, national, and international. Two cities were chosen, Kazan and Sochi, for the empirical fields of research. The research sample included materials from the media of regional and federal publications. The articles on the topic of stray animals in Sochi and Kazan in the eve of the sports mega- events were also searched on the websites of major international news agencies and newspapers. The method of discourse analysis was applied to the rhetoric of the main actors, to identify the main techniques of typification and the main discourses that are formed around the issue of the homeless animals’ treatment. Longitudinal media analysis allowed us to see how the rhetoric of actors of the national industry of social problems changes under the pressure of the international industry of social problems. We consider discursive constructions that are actively promoted at the regional level, but are modified or disappear at the federal and international levels.

Developing and pilot-testing warning messages for risk communication in natural disasters

Early warning systems are an essential tool for managing flood emergencies. Alert and warning applications and mobile-phone messaging services have become increasingly widespread among major international emergency agencies as means of communicating risks to the population, and their effectiveness in reducing human and material damages during flood events is significant. Despite their crucial importance, one of the main challenges in the field of emergency communication is the lack of protocols for systematic and standardized production of warning messages. While emergency agencies produce messages on a diversity of topic areas, there are no protocols for structuring their content according to communication functions, exhaustive identification of the relevant areas of action, or classification of content according to different topics. With a view to this opportunity for improvement, the aim of this article is to propose a method for creating a catalog of warning messages enabling their systematic composition and organization. To exemplify the successive stages in the development of such a catalog, we present here the resources and methodological process followed by the authors of this article when commissioned with this task by the emergency services of the Valencian Autonomous Region (south-east Spain) for flood-risk communication. The warning message catalog was pilot tested with experts and user focus groups. Developing warning message catalogs offers a vital resource that can enhance the outreach and operability of warning systems in the current context of increased flood risk due to climate change.

Global Salvation Inc.: Sir Michael Barber’s education for the apocalypse and the church of Deliverology®

ABSTRACT Drawing on insights from philosophy and theology, we explore the relationship between religion, data and global education policy through an analysis of the career of Sir Michael Barber, widely regarded as an authority on the reform of public services and an influential policy entrepreneur. The analysis provides a novel perspective which illuminates how secularised salvation narratives and apocalyptic symbolism have become more prominent in his work as he rose to become a global actor. The story is entwined with the turn towards New Public Management (NPM) in education, the rise of international large-scale assessments (ILSAs), and the transition from speculative faith to salvation through the ‘science of delivery’. We follow Barber's role in formalising the faith as a secular political theology, and promoting it globally through Delivery Units and the management doctrine of Deliverology®. The analysis closes by reflecting on the practical implications of the movement, which is now woven into the institutional ideologies and reform strategies of major international organisations, agencies and corporations as part of a wider shift towards New Global Management (NGM) in global education governance.

Restore or rewild? Implementing complementary approaches to bend the curve on biodiversity loss

Abstract Restoration and rewilding are both relevant conservation approaches to addressing the current nature, health and climate crises. Here, we discuss the benefits of integrating restoration and rewilding in conservation projects. We highlight how such integration could increase the amount of space available for nature recovery; boost knowledge exchange and raise nature recovery ambitions; enhance landscape heterogeneity and dynamics and improve large‐scale connectivity. In particular, the two approaches may be deployed to exploit synergisms. We argue that developing a portfolio of integrated approaches that capitalise on the strengths of both restoration and rewilding and target different scales and socio‐ecological contexts is the best way to jointly address the biodiversity and climate crises. We call for major policy platforms and international funding agencies to support the emergence of infrastructures and frameworks that facilitate the coordination and integration of the restoration and rewilding agendas. Such a step would benefit biodiversity and support broader efforts to integrate different conservation strategies into whole landscape approaches.

Emerging, re‐emerging and/or atypically behaving infectious diseases

Emerging, re‐emerging and/or atypically behaving infectious diseases

A Comparative Study of Regulations of Nasal Products in the US and EU

A study relating to the regulation for nasal products has been conducted for the current review. The analysis emphasized the significance of classifying nasal products. Nasal products are challenging to manufacture in India due to regulatory and logistical issues. In addition to the production guidelines established by the USFDA and EU, the study analyses the prospects for nasal products in the future. Some common policies held by the 2 major international agencies have been shown in this review.
 The current evaluation focuses on how nasal product production should be done in conjunction with other product production and will examine the fundamental recommendations made by the USFDA and EU, as well as whether or not there is a specific category of recommendations for nasal products.
 Conclusions
 The article demonstrates the USFDA and EU guidelines, and it was found that there were not major differences between the guidelines of the two. Instead, there are only minor differences between the infrastructures of the two agencies related to nasal products.

How Narcissism Threatens the Global Environment: The Relationship between Environmental Awareness and Non-Clinical Narcissism

Major international agencies are making appeals to address the plethora of environmental issues that are now plaguing the world. One obstacle to a concerted global effort to prevent further environmental degradation is environmental awareness. And a lack of environmental awareness has been linked to non-clinical narcissism. This study attempted to verify this connection between environmental awareness and non-clinical narcissism. 97 first year college students from a private school in the Province of Rizal, Philippines volunteered to take part in this study. The Environmental Awareness Quiz for College Students, a researchermade, 20-item, true or false quiz was used to measure the respondents’ environmental awareness.The Narcissistic Personality Inventory 16-item version (NPI16), was utilized to measure the respondents’ level of non-clinical narcissism. Pearson r computation yielded an r value of -0.3014, which indicates a moderate negative relationship between environmental awareness and narcissism.

Assessing the Impacts of Changes in the Currency Exchange Rate on Air Pollution in Tehran: A Sectoral Review

The 2022 winter was the most polluted season of Tehran in the past five years. Tehran is rated as one of the world’s most polluted cities in World Air Quality Index (AQI) Ranking. Air pollution in Iran’s big cities is the consequence of several economic, technological, management, and socio-cultural factors. But how important is the currency exchange rate? Since the Iranian revolution in 1979, the country has been subjected to sanctions imposed by a varied of international entities, namely the United States. The economic and political consequences of the exchange rate have so far been the central topics of interest to researchers, journalists, and officials. Although multiple factors affect the level of air pollution in cities, this study narrows down its focus on the 2018-2020 period, during which changing in Dollar to Rial have burdened environmental strategies in Iran. National and public entities do not officially reveal the trade volume between Iran and the international community, importing and exporting transactions, and foreign and domestic investments. Therefore, this descriptive-analytical paper examines the experts’ and official debate over the topic in the major national and international newspapers, news agencies, and interviews. Findings reveal political debate and economic consequences, namely a decrease in the Iranian Rial exchange rate against the U.S. dollar, have had undeniable impacts on the national and local actions related to five key areas of public transit, motorcycles, automobiles, petrol, and refineries and power plants, which are five significant pollution factors in Tehran.

The impact of new global and regional trends on the national economic security of Russia

The article examines how the transforming picture of the world and the changing balance of political forces in the Eurasian space affect Russian economic security. The authors make an attempt to assess this influence, first of all, in the light of changes in the geopolitical situation in the world, when the concept of a polycentric world was put forward in contrast to the economic and political dominance of the West. The sanctions imposed by Western European states and their consequences have given a certain impetus to the development of the Russian economy and its movement towards overcoming dependence on imports. This vector of the national economy, in turn, provided significant support to Russia in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recognizing that at present, estimates of how the Russian economy has overcome the consequences of the coronavirus crisis are only conditionally objective and much depends on the current information policy, the article provides data from major international organizations and agencies on the impact of the pandemic on the economic growth of Russia, developed countries and the EAEU countries. Considering the events on the southern borders of the post-Soviet space that have worsened regional security, the authors determine the position of Russia in its relations with the Central Asian republics, as well as priorities in the development of Eurasian integration to ensure its national security.

Tracking development assistance for health and for COVID-19: a review of development assistance, government, out-of-pocket, and other private spending on health for 204 countries and territories, 1990–2050

SummaryBackgroundThe rapid spread of COVID-19 renewed the focus on how health systems across the globe are financed, especially during public health emergencies. Development assistance is an important source of health financing in many low-income countries, yet little is known about how much of this funding was disbursed for COVID-19. We aimed to put development assistance for health for COVID-19 in the context of broader trends in global health financing, and to estimate total health spending from 1995 to 2050 and development assistance for COVID-19 in 2020.MethodsWe estimated domestic health spending and development assistance for health to generate total health-sector spending estimates for 204 countries and territories. We leveraged data from the WHO Global Health Expenditure Database to produce estimates of domestic health spending. To generate estimates for development assistance for health, we relied on project-level disbursement data from the major international development agencies' online databases and annual financial statements and reports for information on income sources. To adjust our estimates for 2020 to include disbursements related to COVID-19, we extracted project data on commitments and disbursements from a broader set of databases (because not all of the data sources used to estimate the historical series extend to 2020), including the UN Office of Humanitarian Assistance Financial Tracking Service and the International Aid Transparency Initiative. We reported all the historic and future spending estimates in inflation-adjusted 2020 US$, 2020 US$ per capita, purchasing-power parity-adjusted US$ per capita, and as a proportion of gross domestic product. We used various models to generate future health spending to 2050.FindingsIn 2019, health spending globally reached $8·8 trillion (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 8·7–8·8) or $1132 (1119–1143) per person. Spending on health varied within and across income groups and geographical regions. Of this total, $40·4 billion (0·5%, 95% UI 0·5–0·5) was development assistance for health provided to low-income and middle-income countries, which made up 24·6% (UI 24·0–25·1) of total spending in low-income countries. We estimate that $54·8 billion in development assistance for health was disbursed in 2020. Of this, $13·7 billion was targeted toward the COVID-19 health response. $12·3 billion was newly committed and $1·4 billion was repurposed from existing health projects. $3·1 billion (22·4%) of the funds focused on country-level coordination and $2·4 billion (17·9%) was for supply chain and logistics. Only $714·4 million (7·7%) of COVID-19 development assistance for health went to Latin America, despite this region reporting 34·3% of total recorded COVID-19 deaths in low-income or middle-income countries in 2020. Spending on health is expected to rise to $1519 (1448–1591) per person in 2050, although spending across countries is expected to remain varied.InterpretationGlobal health spending is expected to continue to grow, but remain unequally distributed between countries. We estimate that development organisations substantially increased the amount of development assistance for health provided in 2020. Continued efforts are needed to raise sufficient resources to mitigate the pandemic for the most vulnerable, and to help curtail the pandemic for all.FundingBill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

TasminBradleyGlobal Perspectives on Violence against Women and GirlsZed Books, 2020, 208 p., £65.00

TasminBradleyGlobal Perspectives on Violence against Women and GirlsZed Books, 2020, 208 p., £65.00

Reporting Conflict from Afar: Journalists, Social Media, Communication Technologies, and War

ABSTRACT We conducted interviews with conflict journalists who covered the conflicts in Syria, Yemen, Libya, and Iraq and who work for the major international news agencies and media companies. These journalists did most of their reporting from remote locations as the conflict zones were too dangerous to be physically present. We investigated how the journalist did their jobs with the communicative affordances of digital tools and how digital trust-building occurred. The trust-building process between journalists and sources shifted across platforms and according to the technologies’ communicative affordances. We established that reporters had embraced the flow of news material on social media platforms as a valuable source of information, but after exercising extreme caution. Journalists upheld the boundaries that separated them from amateurs by emphasizing their role in making sense of events. They also fortified their gatekeeping role through verifying and vetting information – a task needed to maintain credibility and protect readers and viewers from misinformation and propaganda. Encrypted messaging applications such as WhatsApp played a major role in speeding up communication with and protecting potential sources and verification.

Introduction to the Special Issue “Gender and Development in Rural Communities and Agriculture”

Abstract Gender inequality and women’s empowerment are on the agenda of many governments, businesses, and most major international development agencies and organizations today. Despite this emphasis, there is growing concern among many feminists that the “mainstreaming” of gender within existing institutions has undermined the transformative potential of these concepts and practices (Collins 2021; Cornwall and Rivas 2015; Farhall and Rickards 2021). Within this context, feminist scholarly and applied work remains a priority for those seeking to reduce gender inequality and ensure women’s empowerment. This special issue seeks to contribute to these efforts. The authors in this special issue illuminate key areas related to agriculture and rural communities, including: agricultural technologies, disasters and climate change, maternal mortality, microfinance, and rising rates of global hunger. They demonstrate that gender inequalities and women’s empowerment remain challenging because of the multifaceted nature and ways in which these inequalities and power imbalances are embedded in specific social relationships. At the same time, these authors provide important empirical evidence and theoretical framings that can aid future scholarly efforts to expand our understandings of how we can enhance the strategic capacity of women to build positive change in this area.

A crise da Unasul pelas agências internacionais de notícias: a veiculação do colapso da integração regional Sul-americana pela mídia

O artigo investiga o discurso perpetrado pela grande mídia no que se refere à crise interna pela qual a União das Nações Sul-Americanas (Unasul) enfrenta desde 2017. Para essa análise foram selecionadas e analisadas todas as notícias publicadas sobre o assunto nos sites de duas grandes agências de notícias internacionais, a Reuters e a EFE, no período de abril a agosto de 2018 – da suspensão das atividades de seis membros do bloco à notificação por parte da Colômbia de retirar-se do bloco. Parte-se da hipótese que a maneira como a mídia – representada neste estudo pelas agências de notícias selecionadas – ressignifica os acontecimentos, por meio do conteúdo midiático veiculado, pode reforçar discurso contrário à integração sul-americana. Observa-se que os desafios da integração na América do Sul são complexos, indo desde as assimetrias e a situação política e econômica dos países do bloco até o enfrentamento do discurso propagado pela grande mídia.

From armed conflict to urban violence: transformations in the International Committee of the Red Cross, international humanitarianism, and the laws of war

The International Committee of the Red Cross traditionally seeks to protect and assist victims of armed conflict. Over the past 10 years, however, the International Committee of the Red Cross and several other major international humanitarian agencies have turned their attention to situations of urban violence that fall short of the international humanitarian law thresholds for armed conflict. This article examines the institutional consequences of expanding the International Committee of the Red Cross mandate to include urban violence, to make a three-fold argument. First, the incorporation of urban violence into its mandate has led to significant and surprising shifts in the organization’s humanitarian boundaries: from eschewing any effort to prevent or reduce conflict and prioritising neutrality and dialogue with all parties to conflict, the International Committee of the Red Cross has begun engaging in violence-prevention and violence-reduction activities, compromising its neutrality and limiting dialogue with some armed groups. Second, because the International Committee of the Red Cross is such an important and influential actor in international humanitarianism, these shifts in its boundaries have the potential to transform definitions of humanitarianism. Third, these shifts may serve to undermine the moral authority of the International Committee of the Red Cross to persuade combatants in international humanitarian law contexts to comply with international humanitarian law, irrespective of the rightness or wrongness of their or their opponents’ goals. Ultimately, then, they may erode the distinction between jus ad bellum and jus in bello in the laws of war.

New development: China seeks better capital investment and credit assessment

ABSTRACTIn the 2018–2019 period, the Chinese government adopted three policy measures to improve the quality of decision-making in state institutions and financial markets. The first measure requires cost benefit analysis in proposing public investment projects; the second requires local governments to make extensive disclosures before they could issue debt securities; and the third allows major international rating agencies to assess the creditworthiness of Chinese local government borrowers. Together, these steps represent China’s steadfast expansion of institutional capacity and market efficiency. They are also evidence of China’s continued adaptation of Western techniques in institutional capacity building to increase global competitiveness.

Reading in the classroom and society: An examination of “reading culture” in African contexts

In the education context of sub-Saharan Africa, reading has received substantial attention in recent years. Reading skills and habits have been identified as a marker of success in formal education, particularly with the current international focus on reading achievement as a measure of learning. Meanwhile, adult literacy continues to be seen as an important feature of human development, and reading skills are carefully tracked in reporting on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This attention given to reading by major international agencies, and by the partners whom they influence, has contributed to a general belief that progress of all kinds can be linked to the ability to read and understand written text. Literacy and reading certainly feature prominently in many aspects of lifelong learning. However, the current interest in establishing so-called reading cultures is handicapped by a significant mismatch in assumptions about the utility and functions of literacy.