Technical Assistance Initiatives Research Articles

Foreign aid for rural development: village design and planning in post-independence Morocco

ABSTRACT During the late colonial era and after independence, international organizations engaged in donating foreign aid to Morocco. The United Nations' technical assistance initiatives engaged in ambitious schemes targeting the rural realm. Among them, the Lalla Mimouna community development project (1957–1965), the Projet Sebou (1963–1980), and the Programme d'habitat rural (1967–1972). All three projects were concerned about the physical rural environment, which is assessed in this article on a common scale: the village. Given that they each focus on the geographical area of the Gharb plain, these projects offer a cross-section over the entanglements between their supporting international organizations' policies and the disciplinary expertise of village planning and design. After providing an overview of the development agendas of the aforementioned UN bodies, we discuss each of the case studies on the basis of unpublished archival material. Then, we discuss the overlaps in the UN bodies' development ideologies in relation to the ideologies inherited from the colonial era, and their selective appropriation by Moroccan polities. Finally, we argue that whereas planning practices were highly sensitive to the shifting paradigms of international aid organizations, village design remained relatively autonomous. This raises questions concerning the capacity of the disciplines of planning and development studies to carry out their emancipatory missions.

Assessment of Innovation Cooperation of Ukraine and Scandinavian Countries in Terms of the New Industrial Revolution

Research background: The article explicates the approach of assessing the factors of innovation cooperation of Ukraine and Scandinavian countries in the face of the new industrial revolution.Purpose of the article: The paper aims to assess the current state of cooperation between Ukraine and Scandinavian countries and define the most critical factors for its further development in the new industrial revolution.Methods: The article presents the research scheme of cooperation between Ukraine and Scandinavian countries based on qualitative and economic-statistical analysis, comparative advantages analysis, correlation-regression analysis.Findings & value added: As a result of the research, it was revealed that the main directions of innovation cooperation between Ukraine and Scandinavian countries are investment projects, technical assistance initiatives, experience and technologies transfer. The cooperation is mainly implemented in energy, information technologies, education, science and high-tech trade. Based on the eco-nomic-diplomatic component analysis, a forecast and the dynamics of trade turnover of Ukraine and Scandinavian countries are presented, including the critical for Ukrainian economy time-frame of 2013-2014. It has been revealed that economic diplomacy plays a vital role in establishing and expanding trade relations. To deepen the innovation cooperation between Ukraine and Scandinavian countries, the authors see the need for: (1) expanding spheres of cooperation through joint projects in infrastructure, energy, aerospace and pharmaceutical industries, and the production of components for automobiles; (2) conducting joint research on biotechnology and nanotechnology; (3) signing of agreements in order to establish partnerships between the universities of Scandinavian countries and Ukraine; (4) the introduction of state support for the aerospace industry, the creation of scientific and production clusters in this field; (5) further development and diversification of the Ukrainian IT services market and interaction with Scandinavian countries in this field.

The Geographic Dynamics of Deposit Insurance

Geography plays a fundamental role in today’s interconnected world. Financial flows operate within a multitude of regulatory and supervisory parameters often heavily influenced by regional factors. While deposit insurance is one factor affecting these flows, it too has been influenced by regional factors, particularly in the past 20 years with the rapid growth and development of deposit insurance systems, and has undergone substantial changes as a result. Understanding geographic dynamics in deposit insurance design enables policy makers to better understand the impact of regional factors on the features of deposit insurance systems and vice versa. Correlation between deposit insurer features in neighbouring jurisdictions offers the potential to facilitate collaboration under the grounds of common history and institutional development, but also introduces many challenges to multiple and bilateral coordination. We explore these issues further and highlight considerations for deposit insurance research, training and more targeted technical assistance initiatives.

Introduction

Introduction

Innovation cooperation between Ukraine and Scandinavian Countries under conditions of a new industrial revolution

The current experience of building up a global economic system in the context of a new industrial revolution proves that economic growth and the competitiveness of the leaders of the state are mainly conditioned by the strengthening of the role of innovation. Therefore, the study of innovation cooperation between Scandinavian countries, both technological leaders and Ukraine is extremely relevant. The purpose of the article is to assess the current state of cooperation between Ukraine and the Scandinavian countries and provide recommendations for its development. The article set out and solved the following tasks: to characterize features of innovative development and prospects of cooperation in this area of the specified countries; to estimate comparative advantages in high-tech trade between them; identify prospects and develop recommendations for innovative cooperation between Ukraine and the Scandinavian countries. The materials and methods used to achieve the research goal were: statistical method, comparative analysis, comparison and extrapolation method. As a result of the study, it was discovered that the main directions of innovation cooperation of these countries are innovation-investment projects, technical assistance initiatives, experience transfer and technologies. Cooperation is mainly implemented in energy, information technology, education, science and high-tech trade. Ukraine has competitive advantages in the export of goods in the aerospace industry, information and communication services to the Scandinavian countries. Conclusions In order to deepen innovation cooperation between Ukraine and Scandinavian countries, it is expedient: (1) to expand the areas of cooperation in joint infrastructure projects, in the aerospace and pharmaceutical industries, and the production of components for automobiles; (2) joint research on biotechnology and nanotechnology; (3) concluding agreements in order to establish partnerships between the universities of the specified countries; (4) the introduction of state support to the aerospace industry and the creation of scientific and production clusters in this field; (5) further development and diversification of the Ukrainian IT market and interaction with Scandinavian countries in this area.

Transfers and Learning in the Framework of Bulgarian Legal Reforms (1990–2013)

Since the fall of communism and all the way up to the present day, various international initiatives aimed at influencing justice reform in Bulgaria have sought to compel domestic actors to abandon inherited practices characterised by patrimonialism and political clientelism through imported professional and organisational standards. On the basis of an extensive qualitative study of the implementation of international technical assistance initiatives in the Bulgarian judicial system, we revisit the theory of relations between transfers and learning as it has been elaborated in studies of Europeanisation. Starting with an examination of specific reforms to modify the methods of recruiting, appointing and promoting magistrates, the article tackles the construction of an alternative conceptualisation that understands learning as the emergent and cumulative effect of a conjunction of social processes. This effect not only puts into play the process of appropriating exported elements but also carries with it endogenous dynamics, in particular political struggles between groups of justice professionals.

Interview With Dr José M Zuniga

José M Zuniga speaks to Frances Adlam, Commissioning Editor: Dr José M Zuniga was appointed President of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC) in 1999. Prior to his appointment, he served as IAPAC's Vice President, charged with advancing the association's medical education and technical assistance initiatives. He lectures at several academic institutions; has been published in various journals; has authored thematic chapters for four books and edited three books: The HIV Pandemic (Oxford University Press [OUP], 2006); Decade of HAART (OUP, 2008) and Advancing the Human Right to Health (OUP, 2013). He is Editor of the Journal of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (JIAPAC). He is an IAPAC Trustee, and a member of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee. He routinely advises United Nations health agencies, as well as bilateral institutions, such as the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. He is a member of the American Public Health Association and the National Hispanic Medical Association.

Supporting community-based prevention and health promotion initiatives: developing effective technical assistance systems.

As research evidence for the effectiveness of community-based prevention has mounted, so has recognition of the gap between research and community practice. As a result, state and local governments are taking a more active role in building the capacity of community-based organizations to deliver evidence-based prevention interventions. Innovations are taking place in the establishment of technical assistance or support systems to influence the prevention and health education activities of community-based organizations. Several challenges for technical assistance systems are described: (1) setting prevention priorities and allocating limited technical assistance resources, (2) balancing capacity-building versus program dissemination efforts, (3) collaborating across categorical problem areas, (4) designing technical assistance initiatives with enough "dose strength" to have an effect, (5) balancing fidelity versus adaptation in program implementation, (6) building organizational cultures that support innovation, and (7) building local evaluative capacity versus generalizable evaluation findings.