Development Of National Policy Research Articles

Strategic Thrusts Of Malaysian Education Policy Human Capital Development Towards 2022

National educational transformation is undoubtedly linked to national development policies, strategies and priorities. The challenges of Vision 2020 demand that Malaysians be able to rise to meet the global challenges of the 21st Century. The development of quality workforce and resource of highly qualified, innovative and creative human capital is based on the model of the ‘glocalized’ human capital development programmes. Not only that the strategy has become a top priority, but the task of creating such a workforce has to depend on several critical factors and challenges. The overall strategy is to ensure that there is a greater commitment and a more effective involvement of the government and the private sector in order to ensure the success of the government’s initiatives in the transformation process. The paper will address some of the critical issues and strategic approaches in the developmental process underpinned by the Malaysian education policy in building an educated, innovative and creative workforce as the basis of human capital development towards 2020.

S10-1 Developing and monitoring physical activity policy: 1990 to today

BackgroundPhysical inactivity accounts for as many as 5 million deaths per year globally but has yet to be addressed effectively by most governments or the World Health Organization (WHO).Description of the problemReasonable evidence for effective strategies exist, and several countries have implemented consistent public health policies and programs that have increased population prevalence of regular physical activity. In 2018 WHO launched a Global Action Plan for Physical Activity (GAPPA). However, most countries do not have effective public health policies in place for physical activity. Evaluating the history of national and global policies to understand how some countries have developed sound public health programs for physical activity while most have not requires monitoring and evaluating policy, programmatic, and perhaps even research indicators for physical activity. Only recently have there been systematic efforts to do so.ResultsSeveral key questions about physical activity policy, starting with an examination of the evolution of public health physical activity policy and policy research from when it was first explicitly identified in the 1990s to the present will be addressed. Key recommendations, global statements, research reviews and action plans will be summarized to provide a clear picture of the evolution of this important aspect of public health. Evidence on the implementation of policy at national and global levels will also be reviewed. We will examine whether it feasible to track physical activity policy at the global and country levels, if the existence of ?good? physical activity policy is associated with less physical inactivity, how policy indicators may be used for advocacy and guidance.LessonsPhysical activity policy for public health is a relatively new concept that has evolved significantly in the last three decades with formal national and global policy statements, research, and evaluation efforts all increasing markedly since 1990.Main MessageDespite notable growth in policy research and the development of sophisticated national and global policies and action plans, implementation of effective national and global policies and programs for physical activity remains limited.

S10-4 The Global Observatory for Physical Activity-GoPA! Policy Inventory: preliminary findings and lessons learned

BackgroundInsufficient physical activity (PA) is considered to be one of the main risk factors for premature mortality. Its high prevalence and associated costs for the health care system present a strong incentive for national governments to develop PA policies. There is a lack of recent and mutually comparable data on national PA policies, particularly for low- to middle-income countries. In 2019, the Global Observatory for Physical Activity (GoPA!) has therefore started collecting data on national PA policies globally using the GoPA! Policy Inventory, version 3.0. Our aim is to present the preliminary findings of this data collection and lessons learned during the process.MethodsThe GoPA! Policy Inventory, version 3.0 was distributed to 149 GoPA! Country Contacts, with an option to provide their responses in an online survey or in an interactive Word document. The GoPA! Policy Inventory, version 3.0 includes 20 questions about availability, content, implementation, comprehensiveness, and effectiveness of national PA policies.ResultsData were collected for 24 high-income, 13 upper-middle-income, nine lower-middle-income, and three low-income countries (overall n = 49) from all six WHO regions. A large majority of countries (76%) reported having a national PA policy or plan. Fifty-seven per cent of countries reported having PA recommendations. However, less than a half of the countries (45%) had PA recommendations for each of the following key target groups: children and young people, adults, and older adults. National health surveillance/monitoring system, which includes measures of PA, was available in 78% of countries. Most Country Contacts indicated that the ministries of health, sport, and education had active roles in PA promotion. Quantifiable national targets for PA were established in 43% of countries. The median score for the implementation of policies was 6, for comprehensiveness five, and effectiveness four and a half (out of a maximum score of 10).ConclusionFurther efforts are needed in the development and implementation of comprehensive national PA policies. More countries should establish quantifiable national targets for PA and track progress toward meeting them. Monitoring the effectiveness and implementation of PA policies remains challenging, as countries do not have established systems for their assessment.

National Food Intake Assessment: Technologies to Advance Traditional Methods.

National dietary surveillance produces dietary intake data used for various purposes including development and evaluation of national policies in food and nutrition. Since 2000, What We Eat in America, the dietary component of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, has collected dietary data and reported on the dietary intake of the US population. Continual innovations are required to improve methods of data collection, quality, and relevance. This review article evaluates the strengths and limitations of current and newer methods in national dietary data collection, underscoring the use of technology and emerging technology applications. We offer four objectives for national dietary surveillance that serve as guiding principles in the evaluation. Moving forward, national dietary surveillance must take advantage of new technologies for their potential in enhanced efficiency and objectivity in data operations while continuing to collect accurate dietary information that is standardized, validated, and publicly transparent.

Analysis Long-Term and Spatial Changes of Forest Cover in Typical Karst Areas of China

In recent decades, China has exhibited the fastest and most remarkable social-economic development in the world. As a result of such development, the forest cover of the country has undergone radical changes. This paper aims to develop a method for analyzing long-term and spatial changes in forest cover based on historical maps and remote sensing images. Moreover, we will focus on the reduction or restoration of forests distributed at different altitudes, slopes, soils, and lithologic types in different periods, to reveal the problems that should be paid attention to in forest restoration in karst areas. A typical county of China was selected as the study area. A historical military operation map was considered the principal source of basic data. These data were then combined with Landsat satellite images to conduct quantitative analysis on changes in the spatial area and location of forest cover with a long time series. The findings are as follows: in terms of time series, the forest area in the study area showed a trend of decreasing at first and then increasing, with the year 1986 as the turning point. In terms of spatial patterns, a considerable difference is observed in regions with changes in forest cover under different historical periods. Changes are obvious in limestone areas, rock soil areas, and areas with an elevation of 2000–2500 m and a slope gradient of 6°–15°. Spatial–temporal changes in forest cover reflect the effects of the war, national policy, and economic development to some extent. All these results indicate that, despite its limitations, a historical map is a valuable document for studying an ecological environment.

The green, gold grass of home: Introducing open access in universities in Norway.

In this paper, we investigate how open access is reflected and implemented in all Norwegian universities and how they responded to national policy developments for open access in the period 2009-2021. We analyse how the universities adapted arguments for the three core missions of the universities-research, education, and societal impact-when they reacted to increasing pressures to facilitate open access. Our analysis is based on 182 institutional strategy documents, open access policies and annual reports. When considering the profile of the institutional policies and the explicit referrals to national policies, we find there is a great deal of homogeneity between Norwegian universities, and they are mostly aligned with national policy. Open access is connected to the third mission in all university strategies, but often in a very general manner and without documenting benefits for non-academic users. We find limited emphasis on open access as advantageous for education. All universities show commitment to open access, and several can be described as proactive as they tie it to different types of local incentives. Development over time suggests more mature and institutionalised polices that do not challenge what we may call the academic heartland and its core value of academic freedom, including where and how to publish. We propose a framework for analysing similar institutionalisation processes with three main dimensions: mimesis, adaptation/integration with existing practices, and maturation/commitment.

COVID-19 and the state of mental health challenges among Women, Girls and Children: the case of Nigeria

Health is a resource for daily existence and wellbeing. Mental, social, emotional, spiritual, psychological and physical health constitute an overall essence of that well-being. The COVID-19 epidemic has had a profoundly negative impact on women, children, and society as a whole by causing unfathomable loss, grief, pain, and solitude. The pandemic has pushed many families into poverty and exacerbated conditions of inequality with women and children exposed to violence and other deprivation which deeply impacted on their mental health. The study employed the use of content analysis of secondary sources of data, and the social stress, social model and general strain theories constituting the theoretical framework for examining the subject under investigation. The findings of the study demonstrated that the prevalence of mental disorders among women and children is rising, with serious human rights and socio-economic repercussions as a result of poverty and gender inequality. Furthermore, the majority of those suffering from mental health issues are unable to get the crucial medical and social care they need. The study's recommendation emphasized the need to address issues of poverty, inequality, and gender inequality as well as make sure that Nigeria's national and sustainable development policies and programmes must address the serious mental health problems that women and children currently face as well as those that will arise after the post-Covid-19 era.

Translocal vulnerability of temporary rural–rural labor migrant-sending households in Quarit district, Northwestern Ethiopia

The current era of globalization is accompanied by vulnerabilities of migrants at their destination. Although such cases possibly shape the vulnerabilities of migrant-sending households through the network of migration, most studies give little attention to these spatial vulnerabilities. Informed by the translocal approach, this article attempts to bridge this gap based on a mix of quantitative and qualitative data generated from households that send temporary labor migrants to export-oriented cash crop growing areas in Ethiopia. Quantitative data were collected from randomly selected 250 migrant-sending households and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Qualitative data meant to support quantitative data were gathered before and after collecting quantitative data through focus group discussions, key informant interviews and a review of secondary sources. The findings demonstrate that temporary rural–rural labor migrants are vulnerable to multiple shocks at their destination. These vulnerabilities of migrants are transferred to migrant-sending households through migration networks and result in various degrees of negative livelihood outcomes such as asset decumulation and food insecurity depending on the type of migrant-households. It is learned, in this case, that a localized approach to vulnerability analysis appears inadequate in revealing the whole spectrum of vulnerability. The implication is that efforts meant to address migration-related vulnerability require coordinated responses involving actors situated both at the origin and destination of migrants. Interventions to address migration-related vulnerability also require mainstreaming migration into national development policies and strategies designed based on a translocal approach.

Advancing right to health considerations in national responses against health sector corruption: the case for action

PurposeHealth sector corruption constitutes a pervasive challenge and a major obstacle to the equitable enjoyment of the right to health by exacerbating health inequalities within societies, while often eroding public trust primarily amid public health crises that threaten human security. The purpose of this paper is to examine the value of advancing right to health considerations in national legislative and regulatory responses against health sector corruption.Design/methodology/approachThis paper builds on existing evidence, with focusing attention on international standards that are relevant to the topic under discussion. The literature research included publicly available reports, peer-reviewed studies and other documents primarily of human rights bodies at the United Nations level.FindingsAdvancing right to health considerations in national responses against health sector corruption offers comprehensive guidance for the deployment of a strong regulatory anti-corruption framework for action by the governments as part of their health rights obligations. Essentially, the implementation of such a national framework for action, encompassing accountability, participatory decision-making and transparency, constitutes a necessary and an important step towards maintaining well-functioning health systems and a robust social pressure for continued political commitment with the ultimate goal the provision of equitable access to quality health services at all times.Originality/valueBy using a rights-based approach, the paper identifies a national framework for state action consisting of legal obligations and tools towards guiding governments, while at the same time empowering civil society groups to demand the implementation of core human rights principles of transparency, participation and accountability within health system governance. It provides insights for the future development, reinforcement and/or reform of national law, policies and practices towards minimizing and eradicating vulnerabilities to health sector corruption.

How are policies implemented in children's services? Developing an initial programme theory to evaluate the implementation of the new Child Sexual Exploitation guidance in Wales

AbstractAlthough children's social care is an area rich in guidance, there is very little research looking at the implementation of new policies in the United Kingdom. In this article, we report on the first stage of a realist evaluation of the implementation of the new Safeguarding Children from Child Sexual Exploitation guidance in Wales. We discuss the development of an initial programme theory, for which we conducted semi‐structured interviews with practitioners and managers in three local authorities. We developed programme theories across three areas: policy nature and development, implementation plans and organizational context. Findings suggest that, for policies to produce a significant impact on practice, they need to be sufficiently different to social workers' current perceptions of practice. Second, we found that the coordination between national and local policies is critical for successful implementation as contradictions between them might lead to confusion in what local teams should prioritize. Finally, our findings highlight the importance of effective communication of policy changes, as well as a supportive organizational culture to strengthen implementation in local contexts. These findings illustrate the complexity of policy implementation and the need for policymakers to consider the meaningful involvement of local practitioners in national policy development.

FELDA LANDS DEVELOPMENT BASED ON SUSTAINABILITY AND HIGHEST-BEST USE APPROACH: HOW TO GO ABOUT IT?

Rural catalysts, specifically Malaysia’s Federation Land Development Authority (FELDA) settlement schemes promise a higher future return growth and become sustainable and resilient areas. FELDA, through the implementation of a Smart Plantation Management System (SPMS), has recently moved toward modern agricultural practices to increase productivity and optimise profits for the livelihoods of its settlers. This paper attempts to discover the FELDA lands development framework based on sustainability and the highest-best use (SHBU) concept as a missing link approach to SPMS. The idea is to oversee the potential of FELDA lands, not only for crops but also for other potential possible developments comprehensively. Analyses were based on literature review, contents analysis of relevant national development policies and FELDA’s Kertas Putih and preliminary works based on a focus group discussion (FGD). In the end, this paper offers a comprehensive FELDA lands development framework, which is timely in coping with the current issues and future potential development crop lands and FELDA settlements, with the aim to bring profits and prosperity to its settlers and all nations.

Putting conservation efforts in Central Africa on the right track for interventions that last

AbstractInterventions in Africa designed to stop biodiversity decline have often failed because they were based on a top‐down approach to management and focused on enforcing restrictive rules and imposing bans. They were equally misaligned with the values and needs of local actors. This paper presents an African perspective on the discourse regarding the bushmeat crisis and shows that bushmeat in Africa goes beyond being a source of livelihood, having a multifaceted use that must be considered when designing interventions. We show that current conservation initiatives often do not address the right issues, by neglecting nonmonetary dimensions of bushmeat use, inadequately planning interventions, failing to align wildlife laws with realities on the ground, and carrying out ineffective law enforcement characterized by poor governance and corruption. We recommend a revision of current legal frameworks to enhance local ownership, tenure rights, and the sustainable economic empowerment of local communities to reduce hunting. We also call for development of regionally led innovative programs that invest in nature‐based solutions and payments for environmental services. Finally, we identify where more research is needed to understand why wildlife use in Africa is overlooked in national development policies and not considered in national accounting.

Review of Agricultural-Related Water Security in Water-Scarce Countries: Jordan Case Study

Food security is an essential issue for human survival and civilization. Whenever food–water security is in doubt, the community is negatively affected. Globally, Jordan is the second most water-stressed country, located in an arid, politically divided and migratory active Middle East region that lacks the access to valuable natural resources such as fertile soils. Jordan receives about 78 m3/person/year from renewable resources, which represents 1% of the world water share. Jordan’s Water Minister declared that a 50 million m3 lack of drinking water is to be faced next year; this shortage is added to the lack of irrigation water, which yields food insecurity and food price fluctuations that wear out the consumer. The aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive overview of the impact of agricultural cropping patterns and water security by analyzing the most relevant national databases. The study results will contribute to the development of national policy in order to strategize the aid programs and adaptation measures for more sustainable planning in the Jordanian agri-food sector.

Application of The Juridic-Scientific Religious Approach Model in Execution of Penal Law Enforcement

Reforming the criminal application legislation in the national legal system is critical. This research uses the paradigm of legal constructivism and the type of research used is juridical-sociological. Criminal law enforcement regulations are currently still scattered in various laws and regulations, it is not impossible that they will disrupt the law enforcement system, especially in the implementation of criminal decisions/actions. Character building is an effort to establish a conservation value system to achieve the value of justice, the value of certainty and the value of benefit in law enforcement for the implementation of criminal law. Therefore, efforts are needed to enforce the law on the implementation of criminal law through a juridical-scientific-religious approach that is oriented (guided) on “science” (criminal implementation law) and “God’s guidance”. The juridical-scientific religious approach is realized as a concrete effort to reform the law through reforming the substance and culture of the law. In reforming the legal substance, the religious approach is carried out by making religious teachings a source of motivation, inspiration, and creative evaluation source in building legal people with noble character, so that concrete efforts must be developed in the content of national legal development policies.

Contribution of Islamic Debt Financing in Entrepreneurship Promoting Financial Sector Transformation

Empirically conventional financial development theories provided mixed results in motivating entrepreneurship. The risk transferring and fixed returns based lending may harm the new venture if the borrower is not financial literate. In comparison, Islamic finance provides a juristic, participative, and equitable alternative for new ventures, which empirically shows growth promoting effects. This study explores the holistic curvilinear effect of financial development on entrepreneurship while allowing the moderating role of rising Islamic debt financing in the economy. This study selected the unbalanced panel data of all Islamic banks of 16 countries and used panel quantile regression to estimate the quadratic financial development effects and moderation of the Islamic debt financing. The results showed that Islamic debt financing provides entrepreneurship support coverage in countries where the financial sector is not fully developed. Central Banks and Islamic advisory councils can follow the outcomes to integrate increasing Islamic financing in the national financial development policy in developing a facilitative environment for new businesses.

Stand structure, biomass and carbon stock along disturbance gradients in differently managed tropical forests of Assam, northeast India

Forest ecosystems play an integral role in climate regulation through carbon sequestration and storage. Tropical forests in Assam (northeast India) have undergone major degradation which has threatened the standing biomass and carbon sequestration potential of these forests, apart from altering the dynamics of the ecosystem. In the present assessment, protected forests (PA), reserved forests (RF) and village forests (VF) were studied to understand how disturbances, or the lack of it, influence the plant species diversity, stand characteristics, biomass and carbon storage. In each forest a belt transect 250m in length and 20m in width was laid for enumeration of all woody individuals having a diameter at breast height (dbh) ≥5 cm. Disturbance index, community parameters and biomass and carbon stock were computed for each study site. Species richness, density, basal area, biomass and carbon varied between the forests and exhibited a negative correlation with the disturbance gradients under the different forest management regimes. The mean aboveground biomass (AGB) was 172.90±12.98 Mg ha−1 in the PAs, 82.89±8.47 Mg ha−1 in the RFs and 88.48±19.89 Mg ha−1 in the VFs. The corresponding mean belowground biomass (BGB) was 84.77±14.23, 40.81±1.50 and 40.20±8.18 Mg ha−1 in the PAs, RFs and VFs, respectively. The mean AGB C stock was 81.95±6.16, 39.29±4.01 and 41.94±9.42 Mg C ha−1 in the PAs, RFs and VFs, respectively. The BGB C stock ranged between 15.18 and 46.93 Mg C ha−1 among the study sites. The AGB accumulation was greater in the diameter class >56 cm in the PAs and RFs, whereas in VFs the intermediate diameter classes accounted to 44−58% of the total AGB. Species richness and stand characteristics were affected by human-induced disturbances in the study sites irrespective of the existing management regime, which in turn influenced the biomass and C stock. The study emphasizes the need of enhanced management practices in the disturbed tropical forests of Assam, which have a large potential in sequestering atmospheric CO2 and contributing to national development policies in climate change mitigation.

Monitoring and Analysis of Urban Sprawl Based on Road Network Data and High-Resolution Remote Sensing Imagery: A Case Study of China's Provincial Capitals

The primary prerequisite for sustainable urban development is to accurately grasp the development of the city. The dynamic changes in the urban area can reflect the urban expansion process and spatial development model. Carrying out urban expansion monitoring and extracting urban areas is of great importance for grasping the law of urban development and promoting the sustainable development of cities. However, the related research reveals several problems such as insufficient accuracy and low intelligence of urban boundary extraction. In response to these problems, this paper proposes a new method for urban area extraction based on the progressive learning model. By combining prior knowledge and image features, the number of training samples required for machine learning is reduced, and the problem of using high-level semantic information expression in the process of urban areas is avoided by using the classification method, and thus the accuracy of urban area extraction is improved. The method uses urban road network data to divide the city into blocks. It applies the scene classification method to extract the urban areas and uses the pyramid layer-by-layer to carry out the space constraint method to integrate the urban extraction principle into the machine learning process, which can be obtained and kept artificial under a small sample condition. Extracting the effect of the urban area is very close, greatly reducing the workload and providing a new solution for high-precision automatic extraction of urban areas. Through the analysis of urban expansion, the following results were obtained: (1) from 2000 to 2015, China's provincial capital cities maintained a high-speed growth trend with a total area increased by 90%; (2) urban expansion showed significant regional differences. The eastern expansion rate gradually slowed down, the western and northeast regions accelerated their expansion, and the central region expanded steadily; (3) 61% of the provincial capital cities expanded exponentially; (4) the development of China's provincial capital cities was highly correlated with national urban development policies and regional development strategies.

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT OF THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR ON THE GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP) OF NIGERIA

The construction sector makes significant contribution to employment, domestic capital formation and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). However, the Nigerian Construction Sector (NCS) is beset by a number of challenges including over-dependent on foreign inputs, economic volatility, low linkages and poor project cost and time performance. The study investigates the impact of the construction sector on the GDP using a 47-year annualized Time Series Data (TSD) gotten from the United Nations Statistics Department (UNSD) database. The study employs econometric methodology which involves series of tests and procedures including tests for unit root and cointegration and Polynomial Distributed Lag (PDL) model. The summary of the estimates including the PDL indicate significant effect of the construction sector on the GDP only when the lag of the GDP is not included as one of the regressors. The study concludes that the effect of the construction sector on the GDP is not robust. Finally, the study recommends for a new national housing and transport infrastructure policy for the sustainable development of the Nigerian constructed infrastructure facilities. The study has demonstrated the relationship between the NCS and GDP. The study added to the body of knowledge by using time series data involving the use of distributed lag model (DLM), autoregressive distributed lag (ADL) model and polynomial distributed lag (PDL) model to assess the relationship.

Reconstruction Of Good Corporate Governance In The Order To Realize Indonesia Incorporated As A Welfare Country (Regulatory-Deregulation-Reregulation Perspective Of The Jatimnomic Model)

The dynamic state administration reflects the crystallization of the idea that the presence of state governance called Good Corporate Governance (GCG) is a product of the development of the state's way of providing public services. The economic arrangement of the East Java model which can be called Jatimnomic in reconstructing GCG with the content of the corporate spirit. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the Good Corporate Governance (GCG) in order to realize Indonesia as a welfare state with the JATIMNOMIC model. The method used is a legal research type and uses a statute approach and a conceptual approach. The result of the discussion is that in realizing Good Corporate Governance (GCG) for People's Welfare, all state resources must be mixed in the formulation of national economic development policies that move in the wave of globalization with responsive leadership for a sustainable economy for the people's welfare. Reformative and solution construction of the national economy by making Indonesia a world economic supercorridor within the ASEAN (AEC) scope through the conception and implementation of what is called JATIMNOMIC.

Skin conditions among pediatric dermatology outpatients in Botswana

An understanding of the prevalence patterns of skin diseases in children in Botswana is needed to guide national dermatological policy development, training, and resource allocation to improve patient care. To describe local skin disease patterns in children aged 0-18 years presenting for dermatologic care in Botswana. A retrospective review of records from 1st January 2011 to 31st December 2016 was conducted at the outpatient dermatology clinic of Princess Marina Hospital (PMH) in Gaborone, Botswana and outreach clinic sites. There were 4413 pediatric visits constituting 18.6% of all dermatology visits. There was a slight male predominance of 1.2:1. The majority of disorders were noninfectious 80.1% (3537/4413) versus infectious 14.6% (645/4413), with 5.2% (231/4413) unclassified. In the noninfectious category, two-thirds were inflammatory, followed by disorders of nails, skin appendages, and pigmentary disorders. Atopic dermatitis was the most common inflammatory disorder. Over half of infectious skin diseases were viral, followed by fungal and bacterial disorders. In the HIV-related disorders, the majority were verrucae 94% (108/115) followed by Kaposi sarcoma. The nine most common skin diagnoses accounted for close to 70% of all skin diseases seen at the clinic, and these included atopic dermatitis (almost half of all cases), followed by verruca, acne, and vitiligo. There is a high burden of skin disorders in children in Botswana. In our cohort, a small number of skin conditions made up the vast majority of pediatric diagnoses. This information can be used to guide dermatology training and resource allocation to better manage these common diseases.