Non-governmental Development Agencies Research Articles

Assessing the Role of the Roman Catholic Church in the Education and Socio-Economic Development of Meru County, Kenya

The success and development of each nation are based on the tenets which are cherished by its populace. This is partly expressed in the way they subscribe to their religious and socio-cultural values, which in turn promote social economic development. This article examined the role of the Roman Catholic Church in fostering the well-being of people in Meru County in Kenya. The research was guided by the following question: What role has the Roman Catholic Church played in the social economic development of the people in Meru County? Two theories, namely the Hybrid Quasi Theory and the Complementary Theory were employed to contextualize the research findings. The purposive sampling technique was utilized to select thirty participants who participated in the study. Questionnaires containing both open and closed-ended items were administered to the clergy from the thirty sampled parishes of the Roman Catholic Church in Meru County. The findings revealed that the church has partnered with the national and county governments to transform the Ameru people’s lives. This study highlighted the need for both the government and non-governmental development agencies to frequently consult with the church in advancing development. This study will benefit the people of Meru, the Roman Catholic Church and other churches, academicians and in particular scholars of religion and persons in social and economic positions of decisive influence. The study further creates an awareness to the ordinary populace of Meru County that the church not only enhances their spiritual well-being but also acts as an agent of social, economic and political development. Keywords: Religion, Development, Socio-Economic Development, Parish, The Roman Catholic Church.

Football as a terrain of hope and struggle: beginning a dialogue on social change, hope and building a better world through sport

From diplomats and politicians, to the executives of sports governing bodies and non-governmental development agencies, to grassroots activists, sport – particularly football – is invariably invoked as an object of hope and a vehicle for building a better world. However, how hope is conceived by these various actors and institutions, and the better world that they imagine is often left unexamined. The purpose of this paper, a collaboration between a researcher interested in sport for development and peace and an activist involved in South African social movements and community football, is to begin an exploration of different understandings of hope and social change in relation to sport. Our aim is to demonstrate that reorienting discussions around how social change is conceptualised in different ways can result in critical understandings of how sport is currently being mobilised in various ways to affect change, and the potential alternatives that are being overlooked.

Meeting the urban challenge? Urban agriculture and food security in post-conflict Freetown, Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone has recently emerged from a long period of political instability and is ranked among the world's poorest countries. During the decade-long civil war of the 1990s, widespread forced out-migration left much of the countryside abandoned, as rural residents fled to the safety of the capital city, Freetown. Consequently, food production became severely dislocated and, in the post-conflict era, the state of the agricultural sector has become a major concern to governmental and non-governmental development agencies. Focussing on the question of urban food security in Freetown, this paper examines the incidence, dynamics and significance of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) among households, at a crucial point in Sierra Leone's post-conflict reconstruction phase. Drawing on recent field-based data, the paper contributes to the growing debate concerning how urban planning and development might be reconciled with the promotion of an ‘enabling environment’ in which UPA is encouraged and supported. It is argued that in the case of Freetown, a detailed evaluation of UPA is urgently needed to determine how agricultural activities can fit in with urban structure, urban problems and the livelihoods of a wide range of actors in and around the city. The paper concludes that not only is UPA a vital element in ensuring household food security, but it could potentially play a fundamental role in safeguarding the urban food continuum and promoting sustainable urbanization in the post-conflict period and beyond.

Angola 2006: A British Parliamentary Visit

In 2006 the author acted as interpreter for a small party of British politicians who visited Angola. His own account of the expedition highlighted the then prominent questions of agriculture and rural development, of the empowerment of women in urban communities, of perceptions of national identity and the role of electoral politics. The effect of rising and falling oil wealth on legitimate investment and on corrupt embezzlement had to be delicately addressed as did the balance between presidential power and opposition newspapers. To many Angolans the thriving Pentecostal churches seemed as important in their daily lives as the non-governmental development agencies or the cash-strapped government ministries of health and education. In 2006 the first signs of China’s new interest in Africa were beginning to match the entrepreneurial dominance of Brazil and Portugal and eclipse the regional aspirations of South Africa.

A casa e a roça: socioeconomia, demografia e agricultura em populações quilombolas do Vale do Ribeira, São Paulo, Brasil

Este estudo tem como objetivos caracterizar o perfil demográfico e socioeconômico de nove comunidades remanescentes de quilombos no vale do Ribeira, estado de São Paulo, e identificar os principais fatores responsáveis pelas mudanças recentes nos seus padrões de subsistência. Desde a formação das primeiras aglomerações de escravos libertos e foragidos no século XVIII, as relações estabelecidas entre estas populações com as cidades próximas e com o mercado regional têm vivenciado momentos de retração e de expansão, adaptando-se e ajustando-se a novas mudanças políticas e socioeconômicas. Nas últimas cinco décadas, o impacto de fatores externos na aceleração das mudanças nos padrões de subsistência locais parece ter tido um aumento significativo. Os resultados mostram que as restrições impostas pela legislação ambiental, os conflitos de terra, a construção de uma rodovia na região, a crescente inserção no mercado regional e a atuação de órgãos governamentais e não-governamentais de desenvolvimento são os principais fatores responsáveis pelas mudanças observadas no sistema agrícola de corte e queima e, conseqüentemente, na organização socioeconômica destas populações.

Cervical Cancer: The Indian Perspective

Cancer of the uterine cervix is the commonest gynaecologic cancer in India, with most women presenting with disease extending beyond the cervix. The majority of women belong to the lower socioeconomic status, are rural, aged between 35 and 64 years and highly noncompliant for complete treatment and follow-up. Opportunistic screening with cytology, colposcopy and test for Human Papilloma Virus and appropriate treatment are available on payment at urban private medical centres but are not available at urban and rural government health centres that are accessed by women of the lower socioeconomic status. The Government's investment in health is 0.9% of the GDP. Thus cytology screening as a government health measure is not feasible. The ‘social vaccine’ of health empowerment along with visual inspection and appropriate referral by the rural and urban health personnel (Department of Health and Family Welfare); with an additional input of health awareness and motivation by Anganwadi Workers (Department of Women and Child Development), elected women representatives in the Panchayats (Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj) and non-governmental development agencies could be a collaborative effort towards “downstaging” cervical cancer. This could lay the foundation for the introduction of cytology screening when resources are available.

Six months on: What shift is there in the EU approach to EPA negotiations?

With the UK presidency of the EU Council of Ministers pending (July 2005), EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson is coming under increased pressure to modify the European Commission’s approach to Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. Criticism and pressure for change is not only coming from an increasingly vocal and active campaign by non-governmental development agencies in the UK, Europe and Africa (see http://www.stopepa.org/ for details of the campaign), but also from several more official sources. These include the Africa Commission established by prime minister Tony Blair, the inquiry by the House of Commons Select Committee on International Development into EU-ACP EPA negotiations1 and the joint position paper adopted by the UK Department of Trade and Industry and Department for International Development.2 Commissioner Mandelson has responded to this criticism by modifying and extending the rhetoric on the centrality of development concerns to the EC’s approach to EPA negotiations. However it is still unclear to what extent the Commissioner’s rhetoric is being taken up in practice by EC trade negotiators and EC aid officials. As the Zambian trade minister, Dipak Patel, has recently declared: what Peter has said in his speech to the LSE [London School of Economics] was excellent, but perhaps his negotiators need to read it more than we do.3

Organic production and ethical trade: definition, practice and links

In recent years there has been a growing debate about ethical aspects of production and trade. This has evolved from concerns about fair trade, safe working conditions for producers and employees and sustainable and environmentally safe natural resource management. The principles of organic agriculture are wide ranging and include concerns for safe food production, for the environment, for animal welfare and for issues of social justice. A working definition of ethical trading, and an assessment of the links between organic production and ethical trading were obtained from 34 organisations in the UK involved in ethical or fair trading or organic agriculture. Interviewees were from major supermarkets, independent and multiple retailers, alternative trading organisations, importers, wholesalers, accreditation bodies, non-governmental development agencies and lobby groups. A definition of ethical trading based on the interviewees' responses is developed and discussed. The paper examines current practice in ethical and organic trading and assesses the role of the Ethical Trading Initiative and major supermarkets. Current and potential links between organic production and ethical trade are explored. Constraints to linking the two concepts more fully, both conceptual and practical, are evaluated. There is potential for organic production to be ethical, using the holistic definition given here, by the addition of social criteria to the standards of the organic regulatory authorities. Ethical trading is now becoming mainstream trading and internationally traded organic produce will therefore have to comply with the current view of what is ethical.