Search results for: reproductive policy

Authors: Jennifer Zelmer

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The debate regarding the morality, and therefore legality, of abortion has many social, political, and medical ramifications worldwide. In a developing country like Bolivia, carrying a pregnancy to delivery is incredibly risky. Given the very high maternal mortality rate in Bolivia, greater consideration has been given to the (de)criminalization of abortion – a contributing cause of maternal death. In the spring of 2017, the Bolivian government proposed to loosen restrictions on women’s access to receiving a safe abortion, which was met with harsh criticism from 'pro-vida' (pro-life) factions. Although the current Bolivian government Movimiento al Socialismo (Movement Toward Socialism) portrays an agenda of decolonization, or to seek a 'traditionally-modern' society, nevertheless, Bolivia still has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the Americas, because of centuries of colonial and patriarchal order. Applying a feminist critique and using the abortion debate as the central point, this paper argues that the 'traditionally-modern' society Bolivia strives towards is a paradox, and in fact only contributes to the reciprocal process of the death of 'mother tongues' and the unnecessary death of women. This claim is supported by a critical analysis of historical texts about Spanish Colonialism in Bolivia; the linguistic reality of reproductive educational strategies, and the philosophical framework which the Bolivian government and its citizens implement. This analysis is demonstrated in the current state of women’s access to reproductive healthcare in Cochabamba, Bolivia based on recent fieldwork which included audits of clinics and hospitals, interviews, and participant observation. This paper has two major findings: 1) the language used by opponents of abortion in Bolivia is not consistent with the claim of being 'pro-life' but more accurately with being 'pro-potential'; 2) when the topic of reproductive health appears in Cochabamba, Bolivia, it is often found written in the Spanish language, and does not cater to the many indigenous communities that inhabit or visit this city. Finally, this paper considers the crucial role of public health documentation to better inform the abortion debate, as well as the necessity of expanding reproductive health information to more than text-based materials in Cochabamba. This may include more culturally appropriate messages and mediums that cater to the oral tradition of the indigenous communities, who historically and currently have some of the highest fertility rates. If the objective of one who opposes abortion is to save human lives, then preventing the death of women should equally be of paramount importance. But rather, the 'pro-life' movement in Bolivia is willing to risk the lives of to-be mothers, by judicial punishment or death, for the chance of a potential baby. Until abortion is fully legal, safe, and accessible, there will always be the vestiges of colonial and patriarchal order in Bolivia which only perpetuates the needless death of women.

Keywords: abortion, feminist theory, Quechua, reproductive health education

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Authors: Huizi Zeng

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This paper delineates the historical retrospective and current status of school choice in China. Focusing on analyzing the similarities and differences in origin, evolution, public dispute, policy dynamics between China and the United States, the article depicts a panorama and explores possible causes. Both China and the United States continue to learn from historical legacy and invent new programs to perfect school choice policy but the outcomes are so different. On the one hand, the percentage of public schools in China remains high all along, while there is a considerably significant reduction in the United States. On the other hand, there is more governmental intervention in the United States with continuous and constant policy updates and adjustment. Finally, this article adopts public-private partnerships (PPP) to seek to provide insights into differences between the two countries and argue that school choice is not only the production of education marketization and corporation but also driven by political mechanism.

Keywords: China, United States, school choice, comparative analysis, policy, public private partnerships

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Authors: Arshad Hussain

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Background: Sukh Initiative is a multi-donor funded, family planning and reproductive health project, primed by Aman Healthcare Services; implemented through a consortium of local and international organizations, in a selected one million underserved peri-urban population of Karachi, Sindh; which aims at increasing modern contraceptive prevalence rate by 15 percentage point. Objective: To empower women to access contraception by increasing knowledge, improving quality of services and expanding the basket of choices; contributing to the goals of FP2020. Methods: A five years project has a multi-pronged approach with door to door services by LHWs and CHWs in an LHWs covered population and provision of quality FP/RH services both at public and private health care facilities. The project engages youth (12-16 years) both with community and at secondary schools to mentor them for responsible adulthood with life skilled base initiative. A 24/7 availability of youth and FP helpline service provides counselling, referrals in addition with a follow-up mechanism. Results: 131,810 MWRAs were reached by 191 community health workers through 29,693 of community support group meetings and 166,775 house hold visits. These MWRAs were counselled on FP related myths and misconception and referred to 216 providers trained for quality family planning services and maintaining average 64% quality scores in 43 public health and 35 private facilities in the project area. Of those referred 26% MWRAs opted modern contraception with 17.56% in LARCs and 41% PPFP as compared to baseline. Aman TeleHealth is linked with 24/7 counselling, referrals and post services follow-ups to clients, showing 14% proportion of FP call volume. Sukh has a unique role in engaging all partners on youth SRHR issues through family life education sessions, 30 higher sec. schools in Sukh area have been provided LSBE to 16,000 students (aged 15-17), and in community approximately 10, 496 girls and boys have received SRHR information. Conclusion: Through individual counselling, access to quality family planning services and involvement of stakeholders, Suk created an enabling environment to rapid increase in family planning in the project intervention area.

Keywords: family planning and reproductive health, married women with reproductive age, urban squatter, Pakistan

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Authors: Thi Phuong Lan Nguyen

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The English Language Teacher Education (ELTE) in Vietnam is rapidly changing to address the new requirements of the globalization and socialization era. Although there has been a range of investments and innovation in policy and curriculum, tertiary educators and learners do not engage in the enactment. It is vital to understand the practices at the tertiary education level. The study is to understand the higher education curriculum development policy, both in theory and in practice across four representatives of ELTE institutions in the North of Vietnam. The lecturers’ perceptions about the extent to which the enacted curriculum is aligned with national standards will be explored. Nineteen policy documents, seventy surveys, and twelve interviews with lecturers and instructional leaders across these four Vietnamese Northern ELTE institutions have been analyzed to investigate how the policy shape the practice. The two most significant findings are (i) a low level of alignment between curriculum and soft-skills standards of the graduates required by the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) and (ii) incoherence between current national policy and these institutions’ implementation. In order to address these gaps, it is strongly recommended that curriculum needs to be further developed, focusing more on the institutional outcomes, MOET’s standards, and the social demands in times of globalization. More importantly, professional development in ELTE is vital for a range of curriculum and educational policy stakeholders. The study helps to develop the English teaching profession in Vietnam in a systematic way, from policymakers to implementers, and from instructors to learners. Its significance lies in its relevance to English teaching careers, particularly within the researcher’s specific context, yet also remains relevant to ELTE in other parts of Vietnam and in other EFL (English as a Foreign Language) countries.

Keywords: curriculum, English language teaching education, policy implementation, standard, teaching practice

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Authors: Rashmi Tomar, A. Srinivasan, Nayan K. Mohanty, Arun K. Jain

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Phthalates have been used as additives in industrial products since the 1930s, and are universally considered to be ubiquitous environmental contaminants. The general population is exposed to phthalates through consumer products, as well as diet and medical treatments. Animal studies showing the existence of an association between some phthalates and testicular toxicity have generated public and scientific concern about the potential adverse effects of environmental changes on male reproductive health. Unprecedented declines in fertility rates and semen quality have been reported during the last half of the 20th century in developed countries and increasing interest exists on the potential relationship between exposure to environmental contaminants, including phthalates, and human male reproductive health Studies. Phthalates may be associated with altered endocrine function and adverse effects on male reproductive development and function, but human studies are limited. The aim of the present study was detection of phthalate compounds, estimation of their metabolites in infertile & fertile male. Blood and urine samples were collected from 150 infertile patients & 75 fertile volunteers recruited through Department of Urology, Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi. Blood have been collected in separate glass tubes from the antecubital vein of the patients, serum have been separate and estimate the phthalate level in serum samples by Gas Chromatography / Mass Spectrometry using NIOSH / OSHA detailed protocol. Urine of Infertile & Fertile Subjects was collected & extracted using solid phase extraction method, analysis by HPLC. In conclusion, to the best of our knowledge the present study based on human is first to show the presence of phthalate in human serum samples and their metabolites in urine samples. Significant differences were observed between several phthalates in infertile and fertile healthy individuals.

Keywords: Gas Chromatography, HPLC, male infertility, phthalates, serum, toxicity, urine

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Authors: Keivan Jamshidi, Afshin Zahedi

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Acrylamide (ACR) has been shown to cause neurotoxic effects in humans and neurotoxic, genotoxic, reproductive, and carcinogenic effects in laboratory animals. To investigate the nephrotoxic effect of Acrylamide (ACR), 50 adult male rats (Wistar, approximately 250 g) housed in polycarbonate boxes as 5 per each, and randomly assigned in 5 groups including 4 exposure groups as A, B, C, and D groups of rats (10 rats per exposure group., total) and were exposed to 0.5, 5, 50, 100 mg/kg ACR per day×11days i.p. respectively. The remaining 10 rats were housed in group (E) as control group. Control rats received daily i.p. injections of 0.9% saline (3ml/kg). On day 12, four rats, were randomly selected, perfused , dissected and proper samples were collected from their kidneys. Results of histopathological studies based on H&E technique did show no morphologic changes in kidneys of rats belong to groups A, B and E, while moderate to severe morphologic changes including glomerular hypercellularity, global pattern of proliferative glomerulonephritis, occupation of capsular space, tubular cell swelling and hyaline cast formation, were observed in different stained sections obtained from the kidneys of rats belong to group, C, and D. This finding, beside neurotoxic, reproductive and carcinogenic effects, seems to indicate for the first time another important aspect of toxic effect of ACR, i.e., acute nephrotoxicity.

Keywords: acrylamide, nephrotoxicity, glomerulonephritis, rats

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Authors: Mergen Dyussenov

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Food security has become a prominent issue on the global policy agenda. Yet, one particular region that remains understudied is a cohort of Central Asian countries. To shed light onto the issue, the paper looks into a review of existing literature related to food security policies in Central Asia. In so doing, it seeks to systematize the context analyzed, key findings, and recommendations. Furthermore, it analyzes the role of key actors in promoting the food security policies across Central Asian nations. Finally, the paper attempts to set the agenda for further research.

Keywords: food security, central Asia, the role of actors, policy analysis

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Authors: Nora Yusma Bte Mohamed Yusoff, Hussain Ali Bekhet

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The rationalization of a gradual subsidies reforms plan has been set out by the Malaysian government to achieve the high-income nation target. This paper attempts to analyze the impacts of energy subsidy reform policy on fiscal deficit and macroeconomics variables in Malaysia. The Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) Model is employed. Three simulations based on different groups of scenarios have been developed. Importantly, the overall results indicate that removal of fuel subsidy has significantly improved the real GDP and reduced the government fiscal deficit. On the other hand, the removal of the fuel subsidy has increased most of the local commodity prices, especially energy commodities. The findings of the study could provide some imperative inputs for policy makers, especially to identify the right policy mechanism. This is especially ensures the subsidy savings from subsidy removal could be transferred back into the domestic economy in the form of infrastructure development, compensation and increases in others sector output contributions towards a sustainable economic growth.

Keywords: CGE, deficit, energy, reform, subsidy

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Authors: Byomakesh Debata, Jitendra Mahakud

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The recent financial crisis has been characterized by massive monetary policy interventions by the Central bank, and it has amplified the importance of liquidity for the stability of the stock market. This paper empirically elucidates the actual impact of monetary policy interventions on stock market liquidity covering all National Stock Exchange (NSE) Stocks, which have been traded continuously from 2002 to 2015. The present study employs a multivariate VAR model along with VAR-granger causality test, impulse response functions, block exogeneity test, and variance decomposition to analyze the direction as well as the magnitude of the relationship between monetary policy and market liquidity. Our analysis posits a unidirectional relationship between monetary policy (call money rate, base money growth rate) and aggregate market liquidity (traded value, turnover ratio, Amihud illiquidity ratio, turnover price impact, high-low spread). The impulse response function analysis clearly depicts the influence of monetary policy on stock liquidity for every unit innovation in monetary policy variables. Our results suggest that an expansionary monetary policy increases aggregate stock market liquidity and the reverse is documented during the tightening of monetary policy. To ascertain whether our findings are consistent across all periods, we divided the period of study as pre-crisis (2002 to 2007) and post-crisis period (2007-2015) and ran the same set of models. Interestingly, all liquidity variables are highly significant in the post-crisis period. However, the pre-crisis period has witnessed a moderate predictability of monetary policy. To check the robustness of our results we ran the same set of VAR models with different monetary policy variables and found the similar results. Unlike previous studies, we found most of the liquidity variables are significant throughout the sample period. This reveals the predictability of monetary policy on aggregate market liquidity. This study contributes to the existing body of literature by documenting a strong predictability of monetary policy on stock liquidity in an emerging economy with an order driven market making system like India. Most of the previous studies have been carried out in developing economies with quote driven or hybrid market making system and their results are ambiguous across different periods. From an eclectic sense, this study may be considered as a baseline study to further find out the macroeconomic determinants of liquidity of stocks at individual as well as aggregate level.

Keywords: market liquidity, monetary policy, order driven market, VAR, vector autoregressive model

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Authors: Ewuola E. O., Sokunbi O. A., Oyedemi O. M., Sanni K. M

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Moringa oleifera leaf has been traditionally used in the local medicine as an ingredient in some herbal formulations for blood purifier, cholesterol reducing agent, immune and reproductive enhancers. Twenty-four pubertal rabbit are divided equally into four groups were administered with varied concentrations of crude extract of the leaves of Moringa oleifera gavage at doses of 2.5ml/kg body weight (BW) in every 48 hours for 63 days. These rabbits were allotted into four treatments and each treatment was replicated six times to investigate the effect of administered crude Moringa oleifera leaf extract (CMOLE) on haematology and reproductive performance of pubertal rabbit does. Four experimental treatments were used. The animals on the control (T1) were administered water only. Rabbits on treatments 2, 3, and 4 were administered 100ml CMOLE/L, 200ml CMOLE/L, and 300ml CMOLE/L, respectively. The does were placed on extract two weeks before mating, five weeks after mating and continued for another two weeks after kindling. Six proven untreated bucks were used for the mating of the twenty-four treated does and these bucks were randomly allotted to the does such that each buck mated at least one treated does in each treatment. The same management practices and experimental diets were given ad libitum to all animals. Blood was sampled from the gestating does at the third trimester for haematological analysis. The haematology results showed that treated rabbits with 100ml CMOLE/L with mean corpuscular volume value of 93.38fl significantly (p < 0.05) higher than those on the control which is water only (82.24fl) but not significantly different from T3 (200ml CMOLE/L) and T4 (300ml CMOLE/L) which had mean values of 91.69fl and 91.49fl, respectively. While the erythrocyte counts, leukocyte counts, haematocrit, haemoglobin concentration, mean corpuscular haemoglobin, mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration, lymphocyte, neutrophil, monocyte, and eosinophil count were not significantly different across the treatments. For platelets, treated animals on T2 (100ml CMOLE/L) had the highest numerical value of 148.80 x 109/L which was identical with those on T3 (200ml CMOLE/L) with mean value of 141.50x109/L but significantly (p < 0.05) higher than those on T4 (300ml CMOLE/L) with mean value of 135.00 x 109/L and those on the control which had the least mean value of 126.60 x 109/L. The percentage conception rate of the treated animals was higher than those in the control group. The animals administered 300ml CMOLE/L had the apparently highest litter size of 5.75, while gestation length and litter weight tended to decline with increase in CMOLE concentrations The investigation demonstrated the potential effect of crude Moringa oleifera leaf extract on pubertal rabbit does. The administration of up to 300ml crude Moringa oleifera leaf extract per liter did not adversely affect but improved the haematological response and reproductive potential in gestating rabbit does.

Keywords: conception, haematology, moringa leaf extract, rabbit does

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Authors: Gatot Dwi Hendro, Hayyan ul Haq

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This work aims to explore the strategy in embodying the ecological validity in creating the sustainability of public policy, particularly in strengthening the green economy in Indonesia. This green economy plays an important role in supporting the national development in Indonesia, as it is a part of the national policy that posits the primary priority in Indonesian governance. The green economy refers to the national development covering strategic natural resources, such as mining, gold, oil, coal, forest, water, marine, and the other supporting infrastructure for products and distribution, such as fabrics, roads, bridges, and so forth. Thus, all activities in those national development should consider the sustainability. This sustainability requires the strong commitment of the national and regional government, as well as the local governments to put the ecology as the main requirement for issuing any policy, such as licence in mining production, and developing and building new production and supporting infrastructures for optimising the national resources. For that reason this work will focus on the strategy how to embody the ecological values and norms in the public policy. In detail, this work will offer the method, i.e. legal techniques, in visualising and embodying the norms and public policy that valid ecologically. This ecological validity is required in order to maintain and sustain our collective life.

Keywords: ecological validity, sustainable development, coherence, Indonesian Pancasila values, environment, marine

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Authors: Aysun Pınarbaşı, Béla Vizvári

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The countries are the units that procure the vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic. The delivered quantities are huge. The countries must bear the inventory holding cost according to the variation of stock quantities. This cost depends on the speed of the vaccination in the country. This speed is time-dependent. The vaccinated portion of the population can be approximated by the cumulative distribution function of the Cauchy distribution. A model is provided for determining the minimal-cost inventory policy, and its optimality conditions are provided. The model is solved for 20 countries for different numbers of procurements. The results reveal the individual behavior of each country. We provide an inventory policy for the pandemic period for the countries. This paper presents a deterministic model for vaccines with a demand rate variable over time for the countries. It is aimed to provide an analytical model to deal with the minimization of holding cost and develop inventory policies regarding this aim to be used for a variety of perishable products such as vaccines. The saturation process is introduced, and an approximation of the vaccination curve of the countries has been discussed. According to this aspect, a deterministic model for inventory policy has been developed.

Keywords: covid-19, vaccination, inventory policy, bounded total demand, inventory holding cost, cauchy distribution, sigmoid function

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Authors: Adadu Yahaya, Abdullahi Erunke Canice

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The study sets out to examine the interface that tends to exist in the relationship between gender policy and Nigeria’s socio-economic development. Despite Nigeria’s ratification of virtually all international instruments on the protection and promotion of gender rights and equality, it appears that the practice is honored in the breach than in observance; hence, these policies have not been adequately domesticated and implemented. The implication of this is that the women folks have generally been isolated from mainstream politics and their political rights and privileges truncated in the scheme of things. The paper observes that gender inequality and marginalization in Nigeria has practically occasioned the unwholesome subjugation of Nigerian women to the background, hence poses more critical questions and challenges to the national question. The consequence of this, to this paper, is that Nigeria’s development process will be adversely affected if this trend is not checked. The paper sums up with appropriate policy options which are believed to have the potentials of giving women the right pride of place in the socio-economic and political dynamics in the 21st century Nigeria and beyond.

Keywords: development, equality, gender, policy

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Authors: Yan Ding, Fei Yan, Ji Liang, Hong Jiang, Xiaoguang Yang, Xu Qian

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The health status of GonjiKolela District, Amhara Region, Ethiopia is below its national average, and a sub-project of China UK Global Health Support Programme (GHSP) is expected to increase the uptake of a suite of reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH) interventions there. To explore what is on the ground and what could be helpful for the uptake of RMNCH services in GonjiKolela, a qualitative study was performed as part of the baseline assessment before the implementation of the project. Nine key informants from GonjiKolela were interviewed with self-designed interview guides and they were from the district Health Office, health centers, health posts, women health development army (community volunteer groups), mothers of newborns, and also a gynecologist from the maternal and child health center which is the referral center for pregnant women for this project. The interview were transcribed into words and sorted with qualitative analysis software MAXqda. Content analysis was mainly used to analyze the data. The district health office, the health centers and the health posts all had focal persons taking care of the management and provision of RMNCH services, and RMNCH related indicators were recorded and reported at each level routinely. In addition, district government and administration at community/administrative village level kept a close eye on the reduction of maternal, neonatal and child mortality. Women Health Development Amy at household level supported health workers at community/administrative village level (called health extension workers) in tracing, recording and reporting pregnant women, newborn and under-five children,organizing events for health education, demonstrating and leading health promotion activities, and stimulating the utilization of RMNCH.

Keywords: Reproductive Maternal Newborn and Child Health, Health Care Utilization, Qualitative Study, Ethiopia

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Authors: Kamal Kumar Gupta, Sunil Kayesth

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Dysdercus koenigii is serious pest of cotton and other malvaceous crop. Present research work aimed at ecofriendly approach for management of pest by plant extracts. The impact of Ocimum sanctum was studied on reproductive performance of Dysdercus koenigii. The hexane extract of Ocimum leaves was prepared by ‘cold extraction method’. The newly emerged fifth instar nymphs were exposed to the extract of concentrations ranging from 0.1% to 0.00625% by ‘thin film residual method’ for a period of 24h. Reproductive fitness of the adults emerged from the treated nymphs was evaluated by assessing their courtship behaviour, oviposition behaviour, and fertility. The studies indicated that treatment of Dysdercus with the hexane extract of Ocimum altered their courtship behaviour. Consequently, the treated males exhibited less sexual activity, performed fewer mounting attempts, increased time to mate and showed decreased percent successful mating. The females often rejected courting treated male by shaking the abdomen. Similarly, the treated females in many cases remained non-receptive to the courting male. Premature termination of mating in the mating pairs prior to insemination further decreased the mating success of the treated adults. Maximum abbreviation of courtship behaviour was observed in the experimental set up where both the males and the females were treated. Only females which mate successfully were observed for study of oviposition behaviour. The treated females laid lesser number of egg batches and eggs in their life span. The eggs laid by these females were fertile indicating insemination of the female. However, percent hatchability was lesser than control. The effects of hexane extract were dose dependent. Treatment with 0.1% and 0.05% extract altered courtship behaviour. Doses of concentrations less than 0.05% did not affect courtship behaviour but altered the oviposition behaviour and fertility. Significant reduction in the fecundity and fertility was observed in the treatments at concentration as low as 0.00625%. The GCMS analysis of the extract revealed a plethora of phytochemicals including juvenile hormone mimics, and the intermediates of juvenile hormone biosynthesis. Therefore, some of these compounds individually or synergistically impair reproductive behaviour of Dysdercus. Alteration of courtship behaviour and suppression of fecundity and fertility with the help of plant extracts has wide potentials in suppression of pest population and ‘integrated pest management’.

Keywords: courtship behaviour, Dysdercus koenigii, Ocimum sanctum, oviposition behaviour

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Authors: Vladimir A. Grachev

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Today, in the context of rapidly developing technosphere and hourly emerging new technologies, the industrial and environmental safety issue is ever more pressing. The article is devoted to the relationship of social, environmental, and industrial policies with industrial safety, occupational health and safety, environmental safety, and environmental protection. The author assesses the up-to-day situation through system analysis and on the basis of the existing practices. A complex system of the policies implementation without "gaps" and missing links ensures preservation of human lives, health and a favorable living environment. The author demonstrates that absence of an "environmental safety" high-priority link can lead to a significant loss of human lives and health and the global changes in the environment. The role of implementing the environmental policy of enterprises and organizations, and of economic sectors in the implementation of national environmental policy is shown. It was established that the system for implementing environmental policy should be based on a system analysis.

Keywords: environmental protection, environmental safety, industrial safety, occupational health and safety

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Authors: Edward Y. W. Chu

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This paper exemplifies how the political and educational considerations have shaped the heavy-handed MOI policy in Hong Kong after its handover to China in 1997. Its result, a significant degeneration of English standard among the non-elite students, will be reported based on a detailed analysis of the public exam statistics available and other empirical studies. The remedial action taken by the Education Bureau out of the economic and educational considerations will be reported with reference to the official documents. The political, economic and educational considerations exemplified in different stages of Mother-tongue MOI policy in Hong Kong are found to be influential in the MOI policy in other Asian countries as well. For example, out of rapid internationalization and marketization, there has been increasing adoption of English as the MOI in post-secondary institutions in China, Japan & South Korea. On the other hand, while colonial languages were firmly made as the MOI in former colonies such as Vietnam and India, they were greatly retrieved upon independence for political and educational reasons. Malaysia also followed the same pattern upon independence but re-introduced partial English MOI policy in late 90s hoping to capitalize favourable globalization benefits. The short-lived policy was abandoned in 2009 because of the perceived political threat of national identity as well as the lack of educational effectiveness. Based on the great majority of Asian countries studied, this paper argues that MOI policy in Asia is much more than an educational issue, and that there is a clear pattern of how decisions of MOI matters are made. Studying the history and development of MOI in Hong Kong and other Asian countries provides a unique angle to view of how Asian countries prepare for the political, economic and educational challenges nowadays.

Keywords: economics, Hong Kong, medium of instruction, politics

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Authors: Mandana Karimi, Martha McMahon

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One of the most important consequences of water scarcity worldwide is the increase in conflicts over water issues, reduced access to clean water, food shortages, energy shortages, and reduced economic development. The extreme weather conditions in British Columbia are because of climate change, which is leading to water scarcity becoming a serious issue affecting British Columbians, aquatic ecosystems, the BC water policy, agriculture, and the economy. In light of climate change and water stress, the British Columbia government introduced a new water legislation in 2016 named the Water Sustainability Act to manage water resources in British Columbia. So, this study aimed to present a deep understanding emanating from the political and social dimensions of the new water policy in BC in the agriculture sector and which sociological paradigm governs the current water policy (WSA) in BC. Policy analysis based on the water problem representation approach was used to present the problem and solutions identified by the water policy in the agricultural sector in BC. The results of the policy analysis highlighted that the Water Sustainability Act is governed by a positivist and modernist approach because the groundwater license is the measurable situation to access the adequate quantity of water for the farmers. In addition, by the positivist paradigm water resources are conceptualized as a commodity to be bought and sold. Under the positivist approach, the measurable parameter of groundwater is also applied based on the top-down approach for water management to show the use of water resources for economic development. In addition, the findings of the policy analysis suggest that alternative paradigms, such as relational ontology, ecofeminism, and indigenous knowledge, could be applied in introducing water policies to shift from the positivist or modernist paradigm. These new paradigms present the potential for environmental policies like the Water Sustainability Act, based on partnership, and collaboration and with an explicit emphasis on protecting water for nature.

Keywords: water governance, Water Sustainability Act, water policy, small-scale farmer, policy analysis

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Authors: Joyly Jill Apud

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Corruption is an all-encompassing issue worldwide. Many attempts have been done to address such cases especially by the government through increasing transparency. The Philippine government increased the mechanism of transparency by opening to public its financial transactions through Full Disclosure Policy – mandating all local governments to post in their websites all financial transactions (Philippine Public Transparency Reporting Project, 2011). For transparency to be fully realized, the challenge lies in creating a mechanism where the constituents are encouraged to engage as social auditors. In line of the said challenge, the study focused in Davao City, Philippines measuring the respondent’s awareness, access and utilization of Full Disclosure Policy (FDP). Particularly, this study determined the significant difference on the awareness, access and utilization of respondents when grouped according to sector and the significant relationship between respondents’ awareness and in the access and utilization of FDP reports. The study used descriptive-correlation, Mean, Anova and Pearson R as statistical treatment. The 120 respondents are from the different sectors of Davao City. These are the Academe, Youth, LGUs, NGOs, Business, and Church groups. The awareness of the respondents was measured in three main categories: Existence of the Policy, Content of the Policy and the Manner of Publication. Access and Utilization of the FDP reports is divided into three: Budget Reports, Procurement Reports and Special Purpose Fund Reports. Results showed that the respondents are moderately aware of the Policy. Though it manifested that the respondents are aware of the disclosure, they are unaware of the Full Disclosure Policy and Full Disclosure Policy Portal. Moreover, the respondents seldom access and utilize all the FDP reports. Further results revealed that there is a significant difference in the awareness and the access and utilization of FDP when grouped according to sector. Moreover, significant relationship in the awareness and the access and utilization of the FDP is evident. It showed that the higher the awareness on FDP, the higher the level of access and utilization on the FDP reports.

Keywords: corruption, e-governance, budget transparency, participation

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Authors: Abdon O. Makore

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The study analyses policy and institutional implications with regard to the successful implementation of IPTS in Harare. IPTS has widely been recommended as a rich solution to chaotic public transport operations, yet studies to determine the suitability or applicability of this concept have not been done in light of the existing transport institutions and policy framework in Harare. A predominantly qualitative research approach was employed backed by a deep scrutiny of the NTP and other subsidiary legislations and plans in place so as to ascertain the views and perceptions of various stakeholders regarding the proposed concept. As such, key informant interviews, unstructured interviews, and questionnaires were vital tools in gathering data and these were effectively buttressed by observations, photography, and documentary analysis. The study revealed from a policy perspective that there are high prospects for the implementation of IPTS in Harare as the existing NTP, subsidiary legislations and plans do have provisions for the concept backed by keen interest of all responsible urban public transport authorities. However, there is lack of coherent and systematic approach among other responsible institutions, as such recommendations formulated advocated for institutional integration and strong political will for the ultimate success of the concept.

Keywords: integrated public transport system, policy, legislation, institutions

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Authors: B. Baran, S. N. Kaptanoglu, M. Ocal, Y. Kagnici, E. Esen, E. Siyez, D. M. Siyez

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Infertility is the fact that couples cannot have children despite 1 year of unprotected sexual life. Infertility can be considered as an important problem affecting not only sexual life but also social and psychological conditions of couples. Learning about information about preventable factors related to infertility during university years plays an important role in preventing a possible infertility case in older ages. The possibility to facilitate access to information with the internet has provided the opportunity to reach a broad audience in the diverse learning environments and educational environment. Moreover, the internet has become a basic resource for the 21st-century learners. Providing information about infertility over the internet will enable more people to reach in a short time. When studies conducted abroad about infertility are examined, interactive websites and online education programs come to the fore. In Turkey, while there is no comprehensive online education program for university students, it seems that existing studies are aimed to make more advertisements for doctors or hospitals. In this study, it was aimed to design and develop online infertility prevention education for university students. Mayer’s Multimedia Learning Theory made up the framework for the online learning environment in this study. The results of the needs analysis collected from the university students in Turkey who were selected with sampling to represent the audience for online learning contributed to the design phase. In this study, an infertility prevention online education environment designed as a 4-week education was developed by explaining the theoretical basis and needs analysis results. As a result; in the development of the online environment, different kind of visual aids that will increase teaching were used in the environment of online education according to Mayer’s principles of extraneous processing (coherence, signaling, spatial contiguity, temporal contiguity, redundancy, expectation principles), essential processing (segmenting, pre-training, modality principles) and generative processing (multimedia, personalization, voice principles). For example, the important points in reproductive systems’ expression were emphasized by visuals in order to draw learners’ attention, and the presentation of the information was also supported by the human voice. In addition, because of the limited knowledge of university students in the subject, the issue of female reproductive and male reproductive systems was taught before preventable factors related to infertility. Furthermore, 3D video and augmented reality application were developed in order to embody female and male reproductive systems. In conclusion, this study aims to develop an interactive Online Infertility Prevention Education in which university students can easily access reliable information and evaluate their own level of knowledge about the subject. It is believed that the study will also guide the researchers who want to develop online education in this area as it contains design-stage decisions of interactive online infertility prevention education for university students.

Keywords: infertility, multimedia learning theory, online education, reproductive health

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Authors: Aminu Musa Audu

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This paper examines the human resources management issues of the Nigeria Police and how it is impacting the community policing policy transfer. Nigeria Police Force is the organisation in the country with the constitutional responsibility of maintaining law and order. The high level of crime and other forms of insecurity called for the introduction of ‘police-community partnership’ strategy in 2003. The trend of events has suggested that the effort is not yielding result, partly because the police in Nigeria are facing human resources management challenges. For instance, the prospective candidates for the police jobs are usually not vetted a situation which provides the possibility of recruiting persons of low academic background and questionable character, or even criminal records. Moreover, the existing training, development infrastructure and other logistics for the job of policing are not in good condition. Consequently, the implementation of the ‘community policing’ policy for crime prevention and control in Nigeria stands to suffer setbacks. Adopting qualitative methods and with focus groups discussions and individual in-depth interviews for data collections, the findings from the views and perspectives of the participants were suggestive of poor handlings of human resources management of the Nigeria police organisation and with negative effect on the implementation of community policing policy. The paper therefore recommends that a total overhaul of the human resources component of the police organisation is necessary in the community policing policy transfer process for crime prevention and control in Nigeria.

Keywords: Nigeria Police Force, community policing policy transfer, human resources management, police-community partnership

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Authors: Daniel Schwarz, Jan Fivaz, Alessia Neuroni

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Although digitization is a buzzword in almost every election campaign, the political parties leave voters largely in the dark about their specific positions on digital issues. In the run-up to the 2019 elections in Switzerland, the ‘Digitization Monitor’ project (DMP) was launched in order to change this situation. Within the framework of the DMP, all 4,736 candidates were surveyed about their digital policy positions and values. The DMP is designed as a digital policy supplement to the existing ‘smartvote’ voting advice application. This enabled a direct comparison of the digital policy attitudes according to the DMP with the topics of the ‘smartvote’ questionnaire which are comprehensive in content but mainly related to conventional policy areas. This paper’s main research goal is to analyze and visualize possible differences between conventional and digital policy areas in terms of response patterns between and within political parties. The analysis is based on dimensionality reduction methods (multidimensional scaling and principal component analysis) for the visualization of inter-party differences, and on standard deviation as a measure of variation for the evaluation of intra-party unity. The results reveal that digital issues show a lower degree of inter-party polarization compared to conventional policy areas. Thus, the parties have more common ground in issues on digitization than in conventional policy areas. In contrast, the study reveals a mixed picture regarding intra-party unity. Homogeneous parties show a lower degree of unity in digitization issues whereas parties with heterogeneous positions in conventional areas have more united positions in digital areas. All things considered, the findings are encouraging as less polarized conditions apply to the debate on digital development compared to conventional politics. For the future, it would be desirable if in further countries similar projects to the DMP could emerge to broaden the basis for conclusions.

Keywords: comparison of political issue dimensions, digital awareness of candidates, digital policy space, party positions on digital issues

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Authors: Tippawan Nasawan

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The objective of this study is to find the replenishment policy in Assembly-to-Order manufacturing (ATO) which some of the major components have lead-time longer than customer lead-time. The variety of products, independent component demand, and long component lead-time are the difficulty that has resulted in the overstock problem. In addition, the ordering cost is trivial when compared to the cost of material of the major component. A conceptual design of the Decision Supporting System (DSS) has introduced to assist the replenishment policy. Component replenishment by using the variable which calls Available to Promise (ATP) for making the decision is one of the keys. The Poisson distribution is adopted to realize demand patterns in order to calculate Safety Stock (SS) at the specified Customer Service Level (CSL). When distribution cannot identify, nonparametric will be applied instead. The test result after comparing the ending inventory between the new policy and the old policy, the overstock has significantly reduced by 46.9 percent or about 469,891.51 US-Dollars for the cost of the major component (material cost only). Besides, the number of the major component inventory is also reduced by about 41 percent which helps to mitigate the chance of damage and keeping stock.

Keywords: Assembly-to-Order, Decision Supporting System, Component replenishment , Poisson distribution

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Authors: Fatihin Khoirul, Muhammad Muqorrobin Ist

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Bojonegoro Regency is one of the districts that use the concept Agropolitan as the Territorial Development Policy. Three sub-district designated as Area Development District of Agropolitan are Kapas, Dander, and Kalitidu or commonly called KADEKA. Current policy has been shown results, but there was an inequality of results in some areas. One of them occurred in the Ngringinrejo village with the main commodities is Starfruit and Wedi village with the main commodities is Salak fruit. Therefore, a comparative study is used to search for causal factors of inequality result of the policy by using the 5 aspects compared, namely: (1) Management Development Agropolitan; (2) Physical Condition agropolitan Region; (3) Implementing Agency at the Village Level; (4) Village Government Support; and (5) Community support. Based on the discussion of qualitative analysis, it was found that five aspects have their respective roles in creating inequality of outcomes that occur in both villages. But beyond that, there are conditions where the two villages experienced the same condition that is when the initial implementation of the policy. The condition is referred to as 'the phenomenon of price trap.' The condition is caused by lower commodity prices, causing the village government's commitment in implementing policies too low, followed by public awareness in support of the policy is also low, so care for commodities is also low, and the quality is too low lead and eventually back causing low price. However, the difference is that the village Ngringinrejo able to get out of this condition with 'the new culture of administration' at the end of 2013. While the conditions in the village of Wedi compounded by not respected request assistance by the irrigation district.

Keywords: comparative policy analysis, qualitative comparative, inequallity, price trap, new culture of administration

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Authors: Maria Thaemar Tana

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The paper examines the policy and practice of Japan’s human security. Specifically, it asks the question: How does Japan’s shift towards a more proactive defence posture affect the place of human security in its foreign policy agenda? Corollary to this, how is Japan sustaining its human security policy? The objective of this research is to understand how Japan, chiefly through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency), sustains the concept of human security as a policy framework. In addition, the paper also aims to show how and why Japan continues to include the concept in its overall foreign policy agenda. In light of the recent developments in Japan’s security policy, which essentially result from the changing security environment, human security appears to be gradually losing relevance. The paper, however, argues that despite the strategic challenges Japan faced and is facing, as well as the apparent decline of its economic diplomacy, human security remains to be an area of critical importance for Japanese foreign policy. In fact, as Japan becomes more proactive in its international affairs, the strategic value of human security also increases. Human security was initially envisioned to help Japan compensate for its weaknesses in the areas of traditional security, but as Japan moves closer to a more activist foreign policy, the soft policy of human security complements its hard security policies. Using the framework of neoclassical realism (NCR), the paper recognizes that policy-making is essentially a convergence of incentives and constraints at the international and domestic levels. The theory posits that there is no perfect 'transmission belt' linking material power on the one hand, and actual foreign policy on the other. State behavior is influenced by both international- and domestic-level variables, but while systemic pressures and incentives determine the general direction of foreign policy, they are not strong enough to affect the exact details of state conduct. Internal factors such as leaders’ perceptions, domestic institutions, and domestic norms, serve as intervening variables between the international system and foreign policy. Thus, applied to this study, Japan’s sustained utilization of human security as a foreign policy instrument (dependent variable) is essentially a result of systemic pressures (indirectly) (independent variables) and domestic processes (directly) (intervening variables). Two cases of Japan’s human security practice in two regions are examined in two time periods: Iraq in the Middle East (2001-2010) and South Sudan in Africa (2011-2017). The cases show that despite the different motives behind Japan’s decision to participate in these international peacekeepings ad peace-building operations, human security continues to be incorporated in both rhetoric and practice, thus demonstrating that it was and remains to be an important diplomatic tool. Different variables at the international and domestic levels will be examined to understand how the interaction among them results in changes and continuities in Japan’s human security policy.

Keywords: human security, foreign policy, neoclassical realism, peace-building

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Authors: Saifurahman Fayiz

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Geo-strategically and geo-politically location of Afghanistan has endured the consideration of Indian government policy. Afghanistan has a durable and widespread economic, historical, military, and cultural relationship with India. Afghanistan has significant and durable bilateral relations with its neighbor India. India has enjoyed friendly relations with Afghanistan since 1947. After the collapse of the Taliban regime, India and Afghanistan started diplomatic relations. The relationship between the two countries was friendly and stable. The objective of this research is to study the India- Afghanistan relationship from 2001 to 2021 from different aspects. The research conducted a qualitative research method based on descriptive. The research findings propose that India should expand its soft power in Afghanistan, and India’s foreign policy in Afghanistan should be evaluated.

Keywords: relation, policy, soft power, sector

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Authors: Ramadhan Febriansyah, Sarah Novianti, Santi Agustini

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Indonesia is a big country with Moslem population. The government must fulfill all needs of the people. However, we do not have a good policy yet especially on healthy, safety and halal food. We try to offer a new solution to overcome this with ASUH (Aman, Sehat, Utuh, Halal) or in English is SHIH (Safe, Healthy, Intact, Halal) as alternative Indonesian policy on food security. This policy is Indonesian Government’s commitment to support Sustainability Development Goals program for the zero hunger (end hunger, to achieve food security and improved nutrition for Indonesian people, of course, to promote sustainable agriculture). Hopefully, it not only can increasing quality on food especially on livestock goods (meat, egg, milk) but also to guarantee the halal food. However, this policy can be an example to others country especially Moslem countries to support SDG’s programs. This research conducted means of the descriptive method; the authors find compare the secondary data obtained from journals, textbook and scientific articles in order to determine the factors that influence food safety and food security. Relevant data used and contain a description of SDG’s as well as about the system food safety and food security that SHIH (Safe, Healthy, Intact and Halal) so these ideas can be implemented.

Keywords: food safety, food security, food sovereignty, halal SDG's

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Authors: Thanduxolo Nomngcoyiya, Simon M. Kang’ethe

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The paper aimed to critically analyse gaps pertaining to the cultural policy environments governing traditional male circumcision in the Eastern Cape as exemplified by an empirical case study. The original study which this paper is derived from utilized qualitative paradigm; and encompassed 28 participants. It used in-depth one-on-one interviews complemented by focus group discussions and key informants as a method of data collection. It also adopted interview guide as a data collection instrument. The original study was cross-sectional in nature, and the data was audio recorded and transcribed later during the data analysis and coding process. The study data analysis was content thematic analysis and identified the following key major findings on the culture of male circumcision policy: Lack of clarity on culture of male circumcision policy operations; Myths surrounding procedures on culture of male circumcision; Divergent views on cultural policies between government and male circumcision custodians; Unclear cultural policies on selection criteria of practitioners; and Lack of policy enforcement and implementation on transgressors of culture of male circumcision. It recommended: a stringent selection criteria of practitioners; a need to carry out death-free male circumcision; a need for male circumcision stakeholders to work with other culture and tradition-friendly stakeholders.

Keywords: human rights, policy enforcement, traditional male circumcision, traditional surgeons and nurses

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Authors: Bridget J. Kenny, Elizabeth Hoban, Jo Williams

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Adolescent pregnancy presents a significant public health challenge for Cambodia. Despite declines in the overall fertility rate, the adolescent fertility rate is increasing. Adolescent pregnancy is particularly problematic in the Northeast provinces of Ratanak Kiri and Mondul Kiri where 34 percent of girls aged between 15 and 19 have begun childbearing; this is almost three times Cambodia’s national average of 12 percent. Language, cultural and geographic barriers have restricted qualitative exploration of the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) challenges that face indigenous adolescents in Northeast Cambodia. The current study sought to address this gap by exploring the SRH practices of adolescent mothers from indigenous populations in Ratanak Kiri Province. Twenty-two adolescent mothers, aged between 15 and 19, were recruited from seven indigenous villages in Ratanak Kiri Province and asked to participate in a combined body mapping exercise and semi-structured interview. Participants were given a large piece of paper (59.4 x 84.1 cm) with the outline of a female body and asked to draw the female reproductive organs onto the ‘body map’. Participants were encouraged to explain what they had drawn with the purpose of evoking conversation about their reproductive bodies. Adolescent mothers were then invited to participate in a semi-structured interview to further expand on topics of SRH. The qualitative approach offered an excellent avenue to explore the unique SRH challenges that face indigenous adolescents in rural Cambodia. In particular, the use of visual data collection methods reduced the language and cultural barriers that have previously restricted or prevented qualitative exploration of this population group. Thematic analysis yielded six major themes: (1) understanding of the female reproductive body, (2) contraceptive knowledge, (3) contraceptive use, (4) barriers to contraceptive use, (5) sexual practices, (6) contact with healthcare facilities. Participants could name several modern contraceptive methods and knew where they could access family planning services. However, adolescent mothers explained that they gained this knowledge during antenatal care visits and consequently participants had limited SRH knowledge, including contraceptive awareness, at the time of sexual initiation. Fear of the perceived side effects of modern contraception, including infertility, provided an additional barrier to contraceptive use for indigenous adolescents. Participants did not cite cost or geographic isolation as barriers to accessing SRH services. Child marriage and early sexual initiation were also identified as important factors contributing to the high prevalence of adolescent pregnancy in this population group. The findings support the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports' (MoEYS) recent introduction of SRH education into the primary and secondary school curriculum but suggest indigenous girls in rural Cambodia require additional sources of SRH information. Results indicate adolescent girls’ first point of contact with healthcare facilities occurs after they become pregnant. Promotion of an effective continuum of care by increasing access to healthcare services during the pre-pregnancy period is suggested as a means of providing adolescents girls with an additional avenue to acquire SRH information.

Keywords: adolescent pregnancy, contraceptive use, family planning, sexual and reproductive health

Procedia PDF Downloads 89