National NGOs Research Articles

Online Higher Education

Online higher education has been a critical element in the lives of refugees trying to create a better future for their families and community (Kekwaletswe 2007; Crea and McFarland 2015; Giles 2018). Education programs in refugee and humanitarian contexts have been inadequate for a variety of reasons such as: a lack of resources and poor infrastructure, shortage of trained teachers, overcrowding, lack of funding from national governments and NGOs (LWF, 2015). In the last 10 years we have seen an influx of educational institutions and Northern-based universities partnering with development organizations to provide online higher education to bridge the gaps in quality education (Kirk 2006). There have been studies that speak to the potential of higher education for refugees from the perspective of development organizations. However, little has been said from the perspective of refugees themselves about their educational experiences in their local contexts. There are major differences in how men and women experience online education that deserves attention. 
 Higher education equips refugees with the practical skills and qualifications to obtain employment opportunities within the camps or in their home countries should they return. It also enables them to think critically about their lives in a meaningful way. For women the impact goes even further, as it creates a path towards self-sufficiency, independence and empowerment (i.e., economically, politically and socially) (Kabeer, 1999). The gendered nature of access to technology has had significant impacts in the rates of participation (Kekwaletswe, 2007). Furthermore, it is also a pathway for creating female refugee scholars which is an area that is under-researched. Much of the writing on refugees by refugees themselves and development practitioners have been primarily male-dominated. The purpose of this article is to give the opportunity to heighten the female refugee scholar voice from the lens of a recent graduate of the Educational Studies program provided by York University under the Borderless Higher Education (BHER) project online higher education model. 
 The purpose of this article is to explore the empowering potential of BHER’s online teacher education program that has allowed women (and men) to be critical, thoughtful scholars speaking about their experiences, on their own terms. BHER is a development project that seeks to build the capacity of untrained refugee teachers in the Dadaab refugee camps by delivering gender-sensitive teaching and learning skills that can build the capacity of future leaders and teachers in their communities. The findings shared in this article are from the direct experiences of Dahabo Ibrahim, who is a recent graduate of the Educational Studies program. It will highlight the unique experiences of women in Dadaab pursuing tertiary education, through their own lens. The value of women authoring their own lives, and what is meaningful to them in a patriarchal society and development industry. Our aim is to ultimately examine how female scholarship shifts the way we think about refugee education in the humanitarian context.

RISK REDUCTION MANAGEMENT PREPAREDNESS OF STRASUC OLYMPICS: A DISASTER RESPONSE AND GOVERNANCE

Southern Tagalog Regional Association of State Universities and Colleges (STRASUC) Olympics is a densely populated event and composed of players that are one of the most vulnerable groups in society. To reduce this vulnerability, particularly in sports events, it is important to provide a Disaster Management Plan. STRASUC also have many resources and therefore, has a responsibility towards its immediate locality, just as the neighboring community is linked to them.Pursuant to Republic Act (RA) No. 10121 entitled The Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010, an act mandated to strengthen disaster management in the Philippines, which mandates all national government agencies to institutionalize policies, structures, coordination mechanisms and programs with continuing budget appropriation on Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) from national to local levels including CHED guidelines on DRRMO, which is mandated to initiate and spearhead the establishment of mechanisms to prepare, guarantee protection and increase resiliency of STRASUC constituents in the face of disaster, CHED issues the enclosed coordination and information management protocols in STRASUC offices to establish the system of coordination and information management and provide guidance to STRASUC offices on their respective roles and functions relative to DRRM implementation.Furthermore, Commission on Higher Education (CHED) issues the enclosed Comprehensive Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) in their lecture to ensure resilience-building in universities to maintain quality education even during disasters and/or emergencies.The DRRM office institutionalizes the culture of safety at all levels, to systematize the protecytion of education investments and to ensure continued delivery of quality education services. It shall serve as the focal and coordinative unit for DRRM-related activities. The DRRMO shall perform the following specific functions: Act as the focal point in planning, implementing, coordinating and monitoring of activities related to DRRM, EiE and CCA. Develop aznd recommend policy standards and actions on management on DRRM/EiE/CCA matters. Initiate and coordinate cooperation and collaborative activities with the national government agencies, NGO and CSO.

Reconnecting society with its ecological roots

Recent high-profile analyses of trajectories and prognoses of ecosystem decline around the world have called for a renewed focus on embedding the values of the natural world across all areas of public policy. This paper reports the results of a UK-based deliberative process involving experts from a wide range of policy domains and across societal sectors: government departments, associated agencies, national and international NGOs, professional institutions, academia and independent experts. A symposium, based on a collaborative learning approach, explored instances in which ecosystem values have successfully been embedded into public policy, identified challenges to their more widespread embedding despite commitments to do so over generational timescales, and took a backcasting approach to develop actionable outcomes required to deliver transformation change across state and civil society. Emergent themes were expressed in social, technological, environmental, economic and political terms. Recommendations for interventions in complex social-ecological systems are cross-sectoral in scope and will necessarily entail multiple agents of change, well beyond governmental leadership, within any given sphere of societal activity and interest. We identify strategic challenges for, and between, a spectrum of societal policy areas, many currently overlooking ecosystem dependencies, impacts and potential benefits. Reflections on the collaborative learning approach are also provided.

Families First? The Mobilization of Family Norms in Refugee Resettlement

Abstract European resettlement programs prioritize the admission of refugee families. While this is seen as the “natural” thing to do, we argue that the mobilization of family norms is crucially political: in everyday bordering practices, interpretations of family norms are decisive for who is admitted to Europe. We study the selection of Syrian refugees in Turkey for humanitarian admission to Germany, which involves national governments, UNHCR, and NGOs. Fusing practice-theoretical approaches to humanitarianism and mobility governance on the one hand, with gender and sexuality scholarship on nationalism, empire, and migration on the other, we show how family norms configure discretionary power in transnational migration governance. First, family norms shape how power is exercised over refugees in vulnerability and assimilability assessments. Vulnerability assessments hinge on whether a family counts as protective and supportive, or deficient and threatening. Assimilability assessments scrutinize whether refugees do family “right”: in a way that will not disturb resettlement countries’ national (gender) order. Second, the mobilization of family norms reflects power disparities between actors. International and non-governmental actors strive to recognize plural family forms, but are disciplined into applying resettlement states’ more constraining family norms, thereby participating in the (re)production of the borders and boundaries of Europe.

Do people displaced by development need more than financial compensation? Evidence from Bangladesh

AbstractMotivationMillions of people worldwide have been forcibly displaced by development projects. Bangladesh is no exception: development projects have already displaced thousands. Although those displaced are usually compensated financially, the amounts are often too small to restore their livelihoods. This has led to complementary support, such as benefit‐sharing, rebuilding and rehabilitation of livelihoods, and resettlement with development.PurposeThe study assessed the sufficiency of paid compensation in the Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge (JMB) resettlement project in order to demonstrate the need for alternative supports to complement the compensation processes to reconstruct displaced people's livelihoods.Approach and methodsHouseholds affected by the JMB project were surveyed to answer a questionnaire. Professionals and officials of the implementing agencies and key informants were interviewed. The results were compared with other better cases reported in the literature.FindingsThe monetary compensation offered to those displaced by the JMB was not enough to resettle, restore, or reconstruct displaced people's livelihoods. As a result, most of the displaced people’s livelihoods have remained unreconstructed; many faced impoverishment. The respondents' felt that the compensation paid did not cover their loss. The absence of alternative solutions for coping with the limitations of compensation left persons affected by the project much worse off than before.Policy and implicationsLivelihoods of displaced people can be protected by taking measures to avoid impoverishment. In addition to ensuring that compensation is commensurate with losses, introducing benefit‐sharing — through transfers of shares of revenues, or paying a rent for land taken over — can provide additional and consistent income. Community‐supportive systems and policies in resettlement plans should be adopted. Bangladesh should legislate to legally back benefit‐sharing resettlement policies, with penalties for non‐compliance. Funding agencies such as the World Bank, the ADB, and international and national NGOs should also act to ensure that development projects do not continue to impoverish displaced people.

Ethical Behaviour and Compliance with Donor Reporting Requirements by Non-Governmental Organisations in Uganda: A Proposition

This study seeks to respond to the question of dwindling donor generosity in the face of the UN sponsored sustainable development goals and Uganda’s Vision 2040. Recently, most donors who support poverty alleviating efforts through the medium of Non-Governmental Organisations, have been scaling down on some of their commitments. This seems to persist even as the need for humanitarian and development aid is increasing due to neighborhood immigrations and the resulting resource competitions. Ideally, donor step back should be undesirable at this time, and any cause for the same should be established and checked. Scholars suggest managerial incentives could be at play. This study is set out to examine the relationship that exists between ethical behaviour and NGO compliance with donor reporting requirements in Uganda. The study objectives will identify the various donor reporting requirements and investigate some ethical behaviour that impede NGOs’ compliance with the donors’ reporting requirements. To address the question of why donor fatigue at such a time of need, the researchers propose to engage with donor agencies, national NGO regulators and NGO senior management teams, for their input into the response. The stakeholder views obtained will be available for integration into the national regulatory framework to rejuvenate donor trust and socio-economic participation of the NGO sector in Uganda. Keywords: ethical behaviour, compliance, donor reporting requirements, NGOs, Uganda DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/11-22-07 Publication date: November 30 th 2020

Perception of University Graduates about the Project Management Education in Pakistan “Professional Perspective”

This study examines the views of project management professionals (university graduates) about the Project Management education in Pakistan. It investigates current situation, problems, its causes, and suggestions for future improvements in the project management curriculum of Pakistan. The analysis is done through thematic analysis based on semi-structured interviews with 50 project management professionals in various sectors of Pakistan’s labour market. Interview method is employed to have detailed and in-depth discussion with practitioners about the subject matter. The research identified three major problems of project management education in Pakistan i.e., deficiency of skills, gap between theory and practice, and students’ interest during their study. Furthermore, the respondents provided suggestions to fix these problems through different means such as the revision of curriculum, provision of internships for students in national and international NGO’s, arrangement of training workshops for teachers as well as students, and a robust supervision from Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan.

Local environmental information disclosure and environmental non-governmental organizations in Chinese prefecture-level cities

Many studies demonstrate that the booming number of environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) in China have substantially affected on the environmental issues. However, little research has paid attention to discern the different types of ENGOs' activities. Thus, this study aims to provide the first set of quantitative data analysis to demonstrate the effects of different types of ENGOs’ effects on the governance from two major perspectives, namely, top-down and grassroots. Both perspectives offer different assumptions of whether the effects of key ENGOs on promoting urban environmental governance are national or local. This paper collects unique data from the websites of several NGO list-collecting organizations, the urban statistical yearbooks published by the Chinese government, and the pollution information transparency index released by ENGOs annually, to accurately identify the characteristics and activities of ENGOs. By using the Ordinary Least Squares regression model in which the city fixed effects are included, this study analyzes the influences of ENGOs on the levels of environmental information disclosure among over 100 prefecture-level cities from 2008 to 2015. The results primarily support the grassroots perspective. Cities with more local ENGOs have better performance in terms of environmental information disclosure. In addition, although local ENGOs allying with national NGOs have certain influences in 2014–2015, they downgrade the effects of other local ENGOs. Taken together, the findings illustrate that, while national ENGOs have received great deal of attention, possessed more resources to align local ENGOs, and had extensive opportunities to connect with international ENGOs, local ENGOs within local contexts and activities play crucial roles in the local environmental governance. Furthermore, the results also imply that although the Chinese government has reinforced control over the civil society after 2012, local ENGOs still strengthen their influences on the environmental governance.

Analyzing Pathways of Nurturing Informal Seed Production into Formal Private Ventures for Sustainable Seed Delivery and Crop Productivity: Experiences from Ethiopia

Sustaining crop production and productivity in sub-Saharan Africa requires the availability and use of quality seed of improved varieties by smallholder farmers. The private sector has been considered as the best way to sustain seed supply and crop productivity. Unfortunately, the private sector’s share in the seed production and delivery in sub-Saharan Africa countries has not been very substantial for decades. As a consequence, farmer access to quality seed of recently released varieties remains very low. This manuscript analyzes the experiences of informal seed producers who graduated to formal private seed enterprises to understand the effectiveness of the support they receive to become viable seed ventures. We used comparative research methods to analyze the qualitative and quantitative data collected to understand the underlying mechanisms. The findings showed that the analyzed seed enterprises started with as little as about USD 300 and have already multiplied over tenfold their initial capital. They benefited from a wide variety of supports, e.g., quality seed production, marketing, partnerships, and value chain development trainings and infrastructures, from extension workers, research centers, national and international NGOs, and the other private seed enterprise operators like large public seed enterprises and agro-dealers. The seed enterprises are producing pre-basic, basic, and certified seed of cereals and self-pollinated legume crops delivered directly to farmers, institutional markets, and agro-dealers. The seed production data have been increasing for the past three years with an area expanding from about 30 ha to over 150 ha per year for chickpea. The seed production and delivery practices being employed are smallholder farmer-based practices that are environmentally friendly. For sustainable and reliable seed production and delivery systems in sub-Saharan Africa, a bold step is needed whereby the informal seed production entities are nurtured and upgraded into formal certified seed production ventures that deliver social and economic benefits to the promotors and the communities.

Role and Importance of Coordination in Disaster Logistics: The Case of Earthquakes in India

Purpose: The world has witnessed an increasing number of natural disasters in recent years affecting large populations. The logistical operations to deliver relief to these populations are complex requiring careful planning and execution especially during the Last Mile Relief Distribution (LMRD), the ultimate phase in these operations. LMRD is the phase where the disaster logistics chain directly connects with the affected communities and whose performance is affected by many factors. Among these is the level of coordination between the organisations involved in relief operations. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the impact of coordination on LMRD performance in the context of India, the most affected country in the world by natural disasters. Methodology/ Design: The research was conducted into two phases. First, qualitative interviews were conducted with Indian government, national, and international NGOs involved in disaster relief operations in the country to determine the factors affecting LMRD operations. Second, an Agent-Based Simulation Model (ABM) was developed to represent the Indian LMRD system to evaluate the impact of coordination on its operational performance and ability to satisfy the needs of the affected people. Several scenarios reflecting different coordination policies were evaluated on the ABM. Findings: The qualitative phase findings identified coordination as the most significant factor affecting LMRD operations performance in India. The ABM simulation results provided empirical evidence that better coordination during LMRD reduce the level of inventory, hence costs, to satisfy disaster relief demand by approximately 16% and improve responsiveness by 13%. Originality: This research identifies coordination as a major driver of LMRD operations in India. Its impact is evaluated through the development of an innovative ABM model, which provided empirical evidence of the magnitude of LMRD performance improvement by adopting new coordination policies. The research provides suggestions for new ways on how to achieve better coordination and implement these successfully in Indian LMRD operations.

Social networks as a basis for interaction between authorities and non-profit organizations established on the basis of nationality in public communications space

The article is devoted to the discussion of the influence of modern information and telecommunication technologies on the process of building bilateral communication of state and municipal administration bodies with non-profit organizations created on the basis of national origin from the point of view of the management of public values and the stakeholder approach. The purpose of this article is to analyse the possibilities of organizing social and network interaction between the authorities and representatives of non-profit organizations as an institutionalized form of existence of national communities and faiths (on the example of social and network space of public communications of the Central Federal District). In the course of the study it was found that in the sphere of interethnic and interethnic relations the most relevant is the formation of a specialized single social and network resource in the information and communication space of the region. The preferred format of using such a resource, according to experts, should be related to the questions of obtaining information on decisions made by the authority and their subsequent discussion. At the same time, experts underestimate the possibilities of organizing dialogue and partnership on the basis of social media. At the same time, an analysis of existing social media practices has shown 1) a small proportion of accounts of state structures, which are responsible for interaction with representatives of national associations and diasporas; 2) the mismatch distribution in the social and network space of public communications pages of the authorities of the subject of the Russian Federation, carrying out in their activities interaction with national NGOs, accounts of non-profit organizations themselves, created on the basis of national origin, as well as representatives of national communities and diasporas. These circumstances allowed the authors to make a conclusion that it is necessary to establish in social networks systematic work of the authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation with non-profit organizations, which represent national diasporas and communities on the territory of the regions of the Central Federal District.

Launch of Master’s program (M.Sc.) in Health Economics and Statistics in Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv

Health Economics has now evolved into a complex science that is based on related disciplines, including epidemiology, statistics, psychology, sociology, operations research, and mathematics. Thus, Health Economics is a set of economic and statistical disciplines that serve as the basis for decision-making by healthcare providers and governments. It also includes a set of analytical methods used in the analysis of the healthcare market.
 Health Economics and Statistics is a modern master’s program with the main objective to prepare statistics specialists who are able to solve complex problems, make appropriate analytical decisions in the field of clinical research and management decisions in the field of public health that involves conducting research and fostering innovation in the face of uncertainty. Studying statistical methods enables students to acquire up-to-date analytical skills applied to clinical research and healthcare management.
 The objectives of the Master’s program are focused on providing students with the necessary information about international clinical research experience, forming a critical understanding of the pricing process on the healthcare market, as well as the mechanism for reimbursement of medical expenses in the world. In addition, the program will provide students with an understanding of the organization of existing health systems and methods needed to analyze health policies.
 The advantages of the program are tied to the goals of the acquisition of applied statistical analysis skills, which is an indispensable requirement of high qualification of an analyst in clinical research and public health. This is ensured by: 1) integration of practice with academic training; 2) the opportunity to contribute to the development of one's own potential; 3) expanding the capacity for scientific research; 4) the opportunity to defend a master’s thesis, working on a real project; 5) providing real career perspectives.
 Thus, the implementation of this program will provide an opportunity to prepare highly qualified specialists – analysts in the field of clinical research and public health. Specialists who are in high demand in the private sector (clinical research market) on the national and international level, in the national, regional and local NGOs and institutions in positions related to the planning, collection, processing, and analysis of clinical and public health data, as well as evaluating the quality of managerial decisions in healthcare. All of this, in turn, will help to ensure the competitiveness of specialists and increase the prestige of the specialty.

PRO76 CAREGIVER-PROXY EQ-5D RATINGS OF CHILDREN WITH GAUCHER DISEASE: A COMPARISON OF 5 DOMAINS BETWEEN GENDERS

Gaucher disease is often associated with high treatment expenses but low health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Yet few studies comprehensively assessed the gender-specific HRQoL among child patients. This study aimed to assess the caregiver-proxy HRQoL on children patients with Gaucher disease, and explore the gender differences in the 5 domains of HRQoL. Participants were recruited from the China Gaucher Disease Association, a national NGO formed by Gaucher patients and their families. People taking care of children aged 5-18 years old were eligible for this study. HRQoL was measured by EuroQoL Five-Dimension Questionnaire (EQ-5D) containing Mobility, Self-Care, Usual Activities, Pain/Discomfort, and Anxiety/Depression of the patients. Descriptive analyses of each domain were performed with STATA 14.0. Among the 52 male patients and 26 female patients, over 70.5% (55 subjects) were reported as ‘suffering Pain/Discomfort’. 43 subjects (55.1%) reported ‘some or extreme problems’ with the patients’ usual activities. 36 (46.2%) subjects reported ‘moderately or extremely Anxiety/Depression’ of their kids. 35 subjects (44.8%) reported ‘some or extreme problems with the patients’ Self-Care ability’. Although male and female patients on average had similar EQ-5D utility scores, gender differences were observed in Mobility, Self-Care, Usual Activities, and Anxiety/Depression domains. Comparing to female child patients, males had a significantly higher change of having problems in Usual Activities (male: 59.6% vs. female: 46.2%, p<0.05) and Anxiety/Depression conditions (57.7% vs 45.2%, p<0.05), yet better Self-Care Ability (42.2% males had problems vs 49.9% females, p<0.05). The high proportion of child patients with problems in self-care, mobility, usual activities and mental health status implied huge physical and psychological burdens of patients’ caregivers. Comparing the situation between genders, male patients’ usual activities and depression/anxiety conditions, as well as female patients’ self-care ability, need to be further attended.

Identification of crucial stepping stone habitats for biodiversity conservation in northeastern Madagascar using remote sensing and comparative predictive modeling

Madagascar is a global biodiversity hotspot of conservation concern. The decline of natural forest habitats due to shifting cultivation has been one of the major land use changes during the last decades. We analyzed satellite images between 1990 and 2018 from northeastern Madagascar to evaluate the contribution of nine variables (e.g., topographic, demographic, forest protection) to explain past forest loss, predict future deforestation probabilities to define important areas that require further conservation attention. Forest cover declined by 21% since 1990 and the once continuous rain forest belt of the region is disrupted twice, in the center and at the southern limit of the study region. Status of forest protection and proximity to the forest edge were identified as most important predictors, but all variables contributed to explaining the observed pattern of deforestation. At least 20% of the 3136 villages in the area were established since 1990 at the expense of previously forested areas. This housing sprawl was mainly driven by accessibility, decreasing landscape connectivity. To conserve the unique biodiversity of the region, the expansion of protected forests and active reforestation measures are urgently needed. Sustainable land use planning and forest management integrating the needs of local land users and conservation priorities should be promoted. We see the highest potential for external stakeholders (e.g., national NGOs) to implement targeted interventions embedded in community-based approaches. Our land cover maps and predictive modeling highlight crucial areas that could act as stepping stone habitats for dispersing or retreating species and therefore important locations to intensify conservation measures.

Sharing victories: Characteristics of collaborative strategies of environmental non-governmental organizations in Canadian marine conservation

Over the last 50 years, non-state actors, particularly environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs), have taken on increasingly important roles in environmental governance. These roles have strengthened capacity in policy development and enhanced connections between decision makers and the public. How environmental NGOs navigate the tension between maintaining independence from government while also influencing decisions within political systems is not well understood. A change in the government of Canada following the 2015 national election provided an opportunity to explore the dynamic relationships between ENGOs and government. The government enlisted the assistance of ENGOs to achieve the 2020 national marine protection targets. In this study, the activities of two ENGOs—WWF-Canada (a national NGO) and the Ecology Action Centre (a local NGO)—regarding planning for three marine protected areas (MPAs) were studied. The objective of this research was to increase understanding of the role of ENGOs in decision making regarding MPAs, particularly focusing on how ENGOs use information in formal and informal processes to fulfil their mandates to promote marine conservation. Data were obtained from interviews; observations of formal and informal meetings and conversations; content analysis of email exchanges of the ENGOs with government staff, other ENGOs and numerous stakeholders; and review of key publications and public research reports. The results demonstrate the significant role of ENGOs in conservation governance and the major strategies that they use in deploying information at the science-policy interface. The ENGOs operate in an important boundary-spanning role using four types of action (hard advocacy, soft advocacy, gathering information and intelligence, and administration) and their interactions with diverse stakeholders. The ENGOs bridged interactions between government and stakeholders and transmitted scientific data and information, generated by researchers, to decision makers. The boundary-spanning activities of the ENGOs uniquely positions them in conservation decision processes. The ability to be flexible means that ENGOs can adapt their strategies to advance conservation policy and practice.

Everything is Politicss: Understanding the Political Dimensions of NGO Legitimacy in Conflict-Affected and Transitional Contexts

This paper examines how national NGOs operating in conflict-affected or transitional regions generate and maintain legitimacy. It considers the experience of NGOs in three such contexts – Sri Lanka, Nepal and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). The paper argues that existing accounts of NGO legitimacy are unhelpful for understanding the dynamic and highly politicised processes of NGO legitimation that can be observed in these contexts and argues that greater attention should be paid to the contextual and political dimensions of NGO legitimation and de-legitimation.

From commitment to implementation: lessons learnt from the first National Strategy for the Reduction of Teenage Pregnancy in Sierra Leone

This study provides insight into the extent to which public commitment to reduce teenage pregnancy made by the President of Sierra Leone made the issue a political priority and the factors that facilitated and hindered this. Using historical observations from government and civil society actors who were involved in the formulation and implementation of the country’s National Strategy for the Reduction of Teenage Pregnancy (NSRTP), the study presents lessons learnt, with a particular focus on advocacy. It does not examine the extent to which the NSRTP was operationalised and its objectives fulfilled. Findings indicate that the availability of locally relevant data as well as advocacy from international and national NGOs were factors that led to the President’s commitment and the development of a national strategy. Whilst continued verbal support from political leaders and administrative mechanisms for implementation assured that teenage pregnancy reduction stayed on the political agenda, the scarcity of resources as well as the necessary diversion of efforts and resources to the Ebola epidemic impeded implementation. Overall, the findings demonstrate that public commitments made by political leaders – starting with President Ernest Bai Koroma’s public declaration in 2012 – kick-started efforts to reduce teenage pregnancy in Sierra Leone; and that despite inadequate human and financial resources for the implementation of the NSRTP, actions taken by both the government and partners over time have contributed to tangible progress.

Kentin “Yeni” Sakinini Kentsel Alan ve Mülteciler için Sosyal Hizmet Tasarımına Eklemek

With the mass migration from Syria to Turkey in 2011, Gaziantep, the most developed city in the Syrian border, became a focal place. The high numbers of Syrian refugees led to an urban transformation, during which many international and national NGO’s started to work in the city. Both of the migrations ended up with an important raise in the rents, and created new strata. This paper, which covers the relations in 2016 and 2017 in Gaziantep, is an outcome of my own observations in the field I developed as a former NGO worker, and the findings of an independent field research I conducted in 2017. This work makes a reflexive reading of socio-spatial dynamics between locals, refugees and NGO workers to scrutinize the ways to engage socio-spatial dynamics to the social services mechanism. The reading aim is to pose the contribution of their combined value, in both implementation and evaluation processes. The presentation of the data aims to bring into discussion this power balance between the local, the refugee and the service provider over its impact on the city surface. It is believed that deciphering these paths and nodes would support a better understanding of the refugee situation and the newly developed urban dynamics.

Effects of a scalable home-visiting intervention on child development in slums of urban India: evidence from a randomised controlled trial.

BackgroundAn estimated 63.4 million Indian children under 5 years are at risk of poor development. Home visits that use a structured curriculum to help caregivers enhance the quality of the home stimulation environment improve developmental outcomes. However, achieving effectiveness in poor urban contexts through scalable models remains challenging. MethodsUsing a cluster randomised controlled trial, we evaluated a psychosocial stimulation intervention, comprising weekly home visits for 18 months, in urban slums of Cuttack, Odisha, India. The intervention is complementary to existing early childhood services in India and was run and managed through a local branch of a national NGO. The study ran from August 2013 to July 2015. We enrolled 421 children aged 10–20 months from 54 slums. Slums were randomised to intervention or control. Primary outcomes were children's cognitive, receptive language, expressive language and fine motor development assessed using the Bayley‐III. Prespecified intent‐to‐treat analysis investigated impacts and heterogeneity by gender. Trial registrations: ISRCTN89476603, AEARCTR‐0000169.ResultsEndline data for 378 (89.8%) children were analysed. Attrition was balanced between groups. We found improvements of 0.349 of a standard deviation (SD; p = .005, stepdown p = .017) to cognition while impacts on receptive language, expressive language and fine motor development were, respectively, 0.224 SD (p = .099, stepdown p = .184), 0.192 SD (p = .085, stepdown p = .184) and 0.111 (p = .385, stepdown p = .385). A child development factor improved by 0.301 SD (p = .032). Benefits were larger for boys. The quality of the home stimulation environment also improved. ConclusionsThis study shows that a potentially scalable home‐visiting intervention is effective in poor urban areas.

The Role of Indigeneity NGOs in the Legal Recognition of Adat Communities and Customary Forests in Indonesia

The main assumption of indigeneity NGOs in Indonesia is that state recognition will strengthen indigenous peoples’ rights to their land and forests against ongoing or future dispossession. In Indonesia, legal recognition has become central to the approaches of indigeneity NGO campaigns, while the local realities and problems among indigenous communities seem to receive less attention. Has legal recognition of indigenous communities turned into a national NGO project that does not solve the communities’ land and forest-related problems? In this article, we compare two locations where communities have succeeded in obtaining state recognition. By focusing our analysis on the steps in the recognition process, from articulating community problems to eventually solving them, we show how indigeneity NGOs have had a dominant role, but achieved limited success. Instead of resulting in community autonomy and tenure security, the legal recognition process reproduces state territorialisation over customary forests and communities.