Search results for: African National Congress

Authors: John Bosco Ngendakurio

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The key question this paper asks is, ‘how does the refugee encampment policy undermine refugees’ potentials and fail local economy in East African countries?’ It is important to develop a full understanding of the legacies of the encampment policy for refugees’ performances economically, socially, and politically. The negative impacts of the encampment policy include the lack of participation or access to opportunities outside the refugee camps such as employment, education, and local integration, unfair imprisonments and constant alienation of refugees, mental and physical health issues, just to name a few. Evidence suggests that refugee camps in East Africa have progressively become open detention centres due to their designs, their locations, and movement restrictions imposed on refugees. Such restrictions in a region that hosts millions of refugees do not only undermine refugees’ potentials, but it also hurts the local economy- host countries miss out in many ways. Outlining the negative impacts of the encampment policy will enable governments and relevant non-governmental actors, including policymakers, to re-consider this policy with the aim to improve refugees’ participation and contributions in the broader society, promote socially cohesive practices, and help millions of refugees gain independence and reach their potentials financially, socially and politically, finally and truly giving the voice to the voiceless. The encampment policy undermines the general human security in East Africa, and it is one of the migration practices showcasing East African governments’ lack of will to protect human rights, especially within the most vulnerable population groups such as refugees.

Keywords: migration policy, immigration, refugees, encampment, migration, integration, social cohesion

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Authors: Adebiyi Sunday Adeyanju, Kola Benson Ajeigbe, Fortune Ganda

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In the past three decades, there has been a notable increase in the number of firms delisting from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in South Africa. The recent increasing rate of delisting waves of corporate listed firms motivated this study. This study aims to explore the influence of institutional investor perceptions on the financial distress experienced by delisted firms within the South African market. The study further examined the impact of financial distress on the corporate performance of delisted firms. Using the data of delisted firms spanning from 2000 to 2023 and the FGLS (Feasible Generalized Least Squares) for the short run and PCSE (Panel-Corrected Standard Errors) for the long run effects of the relationship. The finding indicated that a decline in institutional investors’ perceptions was associated with the corporate financial distress of the delisted firms, particularly during the delisting year and the few years preceding the announcement of the delisting. This study addressed the importance of investor recognition in corporate financial distress and the delisting wave among listed firms- a finding supporting the stakeholder theory. This study is an insight for companies’ managements, investors, governments, policymakers, stockbrokers, lending institutions, bankers, the stock market, and other stakeholders in their various decision-making endeavours. Based on the above findings, it was recommended that corporate managements should improve their governance strategies that can help companies’ financial performances. Accountability and transparency through governance must also be improved upon with government support through the introduction of policies and strategies and enabling an easy environment that can help companies perform better.

Keywords: delisting wave, institutional investors, financial distress, corporate performance, investors’ perceptions

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Authors: Rachael Andrews, Viktoria McMillan, Shuaib Nasser, Christopher M. Roberts

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Background and objective: The National Review of Asthma Deaths (NRAD) found that asthma management and care was inadequate in 26% of cases reviewed. Major shortfalls identified were adherence to national guidelines and standards and, particularly, the organisation of care, including supervision and monitoring in primary care, with 70% of cases reviewed having at least one avoidable factor in this area. 5.4 million people in the UK are diagnosed with and actively treated for asthma, and approximately 60,000 are admitted to hospital with acute exacerbations each year. The majority of people with asthma receive management and treatment solely in primary care. This has therefore created concern that many people within the UK are receiving sub-optimal asthma care resulting in unnecessary morbidity and risk of adverse outcome. NRAD concluded that a national asthma audit programme should be established to measure and improve processes, organisation, and outcomes of asthma care. Objective: To develop a primary care dataset enabling extraction of information from GP practices in Wales and providing robust data by which results and lessons could be drawn and drive service development and improvement. Methods: A multidisciplinary group of experts, including general practitioners, primary care organisation representatives, and asthma patients was formed and used as a source of governance and guidance. A review of asthma literature, guidance, and standards took place and was used to identify areas of asthma care which, if improved, would lead to better patient outcomes. Modified Delphi methodology was used to gain consensus from the expert group on which of the areas identified were to be prioritised, and an asthma patient and carer focus group held to seek views and feedback on areas of asthma care that were important to them. Areas of asthma care identified by both groups were mapped to asthma guidelines and standards to inform and develop primary and secondary care datasets covering both adult and pediatric care. Dataset development consisted of expert review and a targeted consultation process in order to seek broad stakeholder views and feedback. Results: Areas of asthma care identified as requiring prioritisation by the National Asthma Audit were: (i) Prescribing, (ii) Asthma diagnosis (iii) Asthma Reviews (iv) Personalised Asthma Action Plans (PAAPs) (v) Primary care follow-up after discharge from hospital (vi) Methodologies and primary care queries were developed to cover each of the areas of poor and variable asthma care identified and the queries designed to extract information directly from electronic patients’ records. Conclusion: This paper describes the methodological approach followed to develop primary care datasets for a National Asthma Audit. It sets out the principles behind the establishment of a National Asthma Audit programme in response to a national asthma mortality review and describes the development activities undertaken. Key process elements included: (i) mapping identified areas of poor and variable asthma care to national guidelines and standards, (ii) early engagement of experts, including clinicians and patients in the process, and (iii) targeted consultation of the queries to provide further insight into measures that were collectable, reproducible and relevant.

Keywords: asthma, primary care, general practice, dataset development

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Authors: Tiina Brandt, Isaac Wanasika

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Culturally diverse global companies need to understand cultural differences between leaders and employees from different backgrounds. Communication is culturally contingent and has a significant impact on effective execution of leadership goals. The awareness of cultural variations related to communication and interactions will help leaders modify their own behavior, and consequently improve the execution of goals and avoid unnecessary faux pas. Our focus is on young adults that have experienced cultural integration, culturally diverse surroundings in schools and universities, and cultural travels. Our central research problem is to understand the impact of different national cultures on communication. We focus on four countries with distinct national cultures and spatial distribution. The countries are Finland, Indonesia, Russia and USA. Our sample is based on business students (n = 225) from various backgrounds in the four countries. Their responses of communication and leadership styles were analyzed using ANOVA and post-hoc test. Results indicate that culture impacts on communication behavior. Even young culturally-exposed adults with cultural awareness and experience demonstrate cultural differences in their behavior. Apparently, culture is a deeply seated trait that cannot be completely neutralized by environmental variables. Our study offers valuable input for leadership training programs and for expatriates when recognizing specific differences on leaders’ behavior due to culture.

Keywords: communication, culture, interaction, leadership

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Authors: Ipek Krom, Nurdan Tumbek Tekeoglu

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In our globalizing world increased competition between cities have resulted in expanding investments in marketing activities. In order to promote tourism and reinvestments, the cities have been using marketing activities to create more attractive sites and make use of their resources more efficiently. In becoming a branded city marketing activities play a major role in building brand value, which in turn results in the attraction of newcomers, revisits, settlements, reinvestments and the development of the city. This paper focuses on the Istanbul brand, which carries an important role in the promotion of Turkey as being its cultural, economic and financial center. As one of the most historical and appealing metropolitans in the world with remains of ancient civilizations, Istanbul has attracted 11 million 843 thousand tourists in 2014. Increasing number of marketing activities developed by numerous actors of private and public sector are among the reasons why tourists prefer Istanbul. Among these reasons we can list the increasing number of hotels, developed infrastructure and better transportation, modern shopping malls, international festivals, exportation of Turkish TV series, gastronomy investments, congress tourism, health tourism, student exchange programs, expatriation opportunities, recreational activities and new tourism destinations. In this paper we explore the marketing activities in Istanbul in order to make the city of the most visited metropolitans in the world. Decision making people in the tourism sector have been interviewed to provide better insight to the addressed topics.

Keywords: brand cities, marketing, tourism in istanbul, tourism marketing

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Authors: Mahadehe Hassan

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In most countries manufacturing, trading and distribution of gasoline and diesel fuels belongs to the most important sectors of national economy. For Bangladesh, a robust, well-functioning, secure and smartly managed national fuel distribution chain is an essential precondition for achieving Government top priorities in development and modernization of transportation infrastructure, protection of national environment and population health as well as, very importantly, securing due tax revenue for the State Budget. Bangladesh is a developing country with complex fuel supply network, high fuel taxes incidence and – till now - limited possibilities in application of modern, automated technologies for Government national fuel market control. Such environment allows dishonest physical and legal persons and organized criminals to build and profit from illegal fuel distribution schemes and fuel illicit trade. As a result, the market transparency and the country attractiveness for foreign investments, law-abiding economic operators, national consumers, State Budget and the Government ability to finance development projects, and the country at large suffer significantly. Research shows that over 50% of retail petrol stations in major agglomerations of Bangladesh sell adulterated fuels and/or cheat customers on the real volume of the fuel pumped into their vehicles. Other forms of detected fuel illicit trade practices include misdeclaration of fuel quantitative and qualitative parameters during internal transit and selling of non-declared and smuggled fuels. The aim of the study is to recommend the implementation of a National Fuel Distribution Integrity Program (FDIP) in Bangladesh to address and resolve fuel adulteration and illicit trade problems. The program should be customized according to the specific needs of the country and implemented in partnership with providers of advanced technologies. FDIP should enable and further enhance capacity of respective Bangladesh Government authorities in identification and elimination of all forms of fuel illicit trade swiftly and resolutely. FDIP high-technology, IT and automation systems and secure infrastructures should be aimed at the following areas (1) fuel adulteration, misdeclaration and non-declaration; (2) fuel quality and; (3) fuel volume manipulation at retail level. Furthermore, overall concept of FDIP delivery and its interaction with the reporting and management systems used by the Government shall be aligned with and support objectives of the Vision 2041 and Smart Bangladesh Government programs.

Keywords: fuel adulteration, octane, kerosene, diesel, petrol, pollution, carbon emissions

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Authors: Irfan Mehmood

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The goal of this paper is to examine Toni Morrison's novels Beloved and The Bluest Eye from a cultural materialistic perspective. The history and society of African Americans provide the inspiration for the stories of Beloved and The Bluest Eye. The cultural materialist elements and characteristics of Morrison's literary text will be highlighted in this study. The topic covered in this paper will include racism, gender discrimination, social class differences, and slavery in the text. In other words, the study will focus on the underrepresented groups in society, including women, slaves, and Afro-Americans. In this aspect, Toni Morrison is a fantastic writer whose works are full of diverse races. Morrison uses her incredibly well-informed language and well-produced stories to attempt to illuminate many facets of American life. She establishes a distinctive style of writing that sharply contrasts the suffering and enslavement of Afro-Americans with the traditional writings of Euro-American authors. Morrison shows a profound understanding of the exploitation of Afro-Americans in terms of race, gender, and class conflict in Beloved and The Bluest Eye. A unique culture and the history of a typically ignored set of people whose minds and societies have been permanently changed by class, racial, and gender discrimination were introduced through the study of Morrison's chosen novels. Toni Morrison places a lot of emphasis on the marginalized members of society, particularly in terms of class, ethnicity, and gender, because the majority of the key characters in her book are black. Therefore, the purpose of this essay is to concentrate on the culturally materialistic elements of Morrison's Beloved and The Bluest Eye and to ascertain the author's position on these minorities.

Keywords: race, slavery, social class, Toni Morrison, African American culture

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Authors: Gerhard D. Muller, Nadine C. Sonnenberg, Suné Donoghue

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This study delves into the intricacies of male and female consumers’ perceptions of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the South African clothing retail sector, a sector experiencing increasing consumption, yet facing significant environmental and social challenges. The aim is to discern between male and female consumers’ perceptions of clothing retailers’ CSR initiatives based on the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) framework, which evaluates organizational sustainability across social, environmental, and economic domains. Methodologically, the study is embedded in a quantitative research paradigm adopting a cross-sectional survey design. A purposive sampling strategy was used to recruit male and female respondents from a diverse South African demographic background. A structured questionnaire was developed and included established consumer CSR perception scales that were adapted for the purposes of this study. The questionnaire was distributed via online platforms. The data collected from the online survey, were split by gender to allow for comparison between male and female consumers’ perceptions of clothing retailers’ CSR initiatives. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was conducted on each of the datasets. The EFA for females revealed a five-factor solution, whereas the male EFA presented a six-factor solution, with the notable addition of an Economic Performance dimension. Results indicate subtle differences in the gender groups’ CSR perceptions. While both genders seem to value clothing retailers’ focus on quality services, females seem to have more pronounced perceptions surrounding clothing retailers’ contributions to social and environmental causes. Males, on the other hand, seem to be more discerning in their perceptions surrounding clothing retailers’ support of social and environmental causes. Ethical stakeholder relationships emerged as a shared concern across genders. Still, males presented a distinct factor, Economic Performance, highlighting a gendered divergence in the weighting of economic success and financial performance in CSR evaluation. The implications of these results are multifaceted. Theoretically, the study enriches the discourse on CSR by integrating gender insights into the TBL framework, offering a greater understanding of consumers’ CSR perceptions in the South African clothing retail context. Practically, it provides actionable insights for clothing retailers, suggesting that CSR initiatives should be gender-sensitive and communicate the TBL's elements effectively to resonate with the pertinent concerns of each segment. Additionally, the findings advocate for a contextualized approach to CSR in emerging markets that aligns with local cultural and social differences.

Keywords: consumer perceptions, corporate Social responsibility, gender differentiation, triple bottom line

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Authors: Andrew Kanzunguze, Sopani Sichinga, Paston Simkoko, George Nxumayo, Cosmas, V. B. Dambo

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Early detection of plant invasions is a necessary prerequisite for effective invasive plant management in protected areas. This study was conducted to determine the distribution and abundance of alien invasive trees in Nyika National Park (NNP). Data on species' presence and abundance were collected from belt transects (n=31) in a 100 square kilometer area on the central plateau. The data were tested for normality using the Shapiro-Wilk test; Mann-Whitney test was carried out to compare frequencies and abundances between the species, and geographical information systems were used for spatial analyses. Results revealed that Black Wattle (Acacia mearnsii), Mexican Pine (Pinus patula) and Himalayan Raspberry (Rubus ellipticus) were the main alien invasive trees on the plateau. A. mearnsii was localized in the areas where it was first introduced, whereas P. patula and R. ellipticus were spread out beyond original points of introduction. R. ellipticus occurred as dense, extensive (up to 50 meters) thickets on the margins of forest patches and pine stands, whilst P. patula trees were frequent in the valleys, occurring most densely (up to 39 stems per 100 square meters) south-west of Chelinda camp on the central plateau with high variation in tree heights. Additionally, there were no significant differences in abundance between R. ellipticus (48) and P. patula (48) in the study area (p > 0.05) It was concluded that R. ellipticus and P. patula require more attention as compared to A. mearnsii. Howbeit, further studies into the invasion ecology of both P. patula and R. ellipticus on the Nyika plateau are highly recommended so as to assess the threat posed by the species on biodiversity, and recommend appropriate conservation measures in the national park.

Keywords: alien-invasive trees, Himalayan raspberry, Nyika National Park, Mexican pine

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Authors: Nia Kurniati, Efa Laela Fakhriah

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The regulation in Indonesia provides space for the land dispute to be settled outside the court by the government through National Land. In this case, the bureaucrat of Badan Pertanahan Nasional (BPN) acts as mediator to reach a fair agreement between the disputing parties. Land dispute is from a party who denies the ownership of the other party of a land and denies legal-technical facts written on land certificate published by BPN. Appointing the bureaucrat of BPN as mediator in dispute settlements may possibly create conflict of interest since the object. It has become a concern since bureaucrat of BPN acts as mediator, he will be bias and partial in assisting the dispute settlement, thus the spirit and purposes of mediation will be hampered. This issue triggers to be thoroughly examined further in a relation with the role and function of BPN as land dispute mediator. The methodology used in this research is a normative-legal one with qualitative-legal analytical method. The object of this research is in the form of random sampling of land dispute cases being occurred in some areas. Several principles in mediation have to be made as the base of the consideration to appoint bureaucrat of BPN as mediator since the mediator is an impartial third party, working with both disputing parties and assisting them to reach a fair resolution written in agreement as a foundation of land dispute settlement. The existence of BPN as mediator in land dispute settlement encounters conflict of interest which uphold legal uncertainty to act objectively.

Keywords: Indonesia, land dispute, mediator, national land authority

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Authors: Chenyi Ma

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Background: The second costliest hurricane in U.S. history, Sandy landed in southern New Jersey on October 29, 2012, and struck the entire state with high winds and torrential rains. The disaster killed more than 100 people, left more than 8.5 million households without power, and damaged or destroyed more than 200,000 homes across the state. Immediately after the disaster, public policy support was provided in nine coastal counties that constituted 98% of the major and severely damaged housing units in NJ overall. The programs include Individuals and Households Assistance Program, Small Business Loan Program, National Flood Insurance Program, and the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) Public Assistance Grant Program. In the most severely affected counties, additional funding was provided through Community Development Block Grant: Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation, and Mitigation Program, and Homeowner Resettlement Program. How these policies individually and as a whole impacted housing recovery across communities with different socioeconomic and demographic profiles has not yet been studied, particularly in relation to damage levels. The concept of community social vulnerability has been widely used to explain many aspects of natural disasters. Nevertheless, how communities are vulnerable has been less fully examined. Community resilience has been conceptualized as a protective factor against negative impacts from disasters, however, how community resilience buffers the effects of vulnerability is not yet known. Because housing recovery is a dynamic social and economic process that varies according to context, this study examined the path from community vulnerability and resilience to housing recovery looking at both community characteristics and policy interventions. Sample/Methods: This retrospective longitudinal case study compared a literature-identified set of pre-disaster community characteristics, the effects of multiple public policy programs, and a set of time-variant community resilience indicators to changes in housing stock (operationally defined by percent of building permits to total occupied housing units/households) between 2010 and 2014, two years before and after Hurricane Sandy. The sample consisted of 51 municipalities in the nine counties in which between 4% and 58% of housing units suffered either major or severe damage. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to determine the path from vulnerability to the housing recovery, via multiple public programs, separately and as a whole, and via the community resilience indicators. The spatial analytical tool ArcGIS 10.2 was used to show the spatial relations between housing recovery patterns and community vulnerability and resilience. Findings: Holding damage levels constant, communities with higher proportions of Hispanic households had significantly lower levels of housing recovery while communities with households with an adult >age 65 had significantly higher levels of the housing recovery. The contrast was partly due to the different levels of total public support the two types of the community received. Further, while the public policy programs individually mediated the negative associations between African American and female-headed households and housing recovery, communities with larger proportions of African American, female-headed and Hispanic households were “vulnerable” to lower levels of housing recovery because they lacked sufficient public program support. Even so, higher employment rates and incomes buffered vulnerability to lower housing recovery. Because housing is the "wobbly pillar" of the welfare state, the housing needs of these particular groups should be more fully addressed by disaster policy.

Keywords: community social vulnerability, community resilience, hurricane, public policy

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Authors: Nthabiseng Portia Mahumapelo, Andre van Niekerk, Ndabenhle Sosibo, Nirdesh Singh

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The foundry industry generates large quantities of solid waste in the form of waste foundry sand. The ever-increasing quantities of this type of industrial waste put pressure on land-filling space and its proper management has become a global concern. The South African foundry industry is not different when it comes to this solid waste generation. Utilizing the foundry waste sand in other applications has become an attractive avenue to deal with this waste stream. In the present paper, an evaluation was done on the suitability of foundry waste sand as an additive in clay masonry products. Purchased clay was added to the foundry waste sand sample in a 50/50 ratio. The mixture was named FC sample. The FC sample was mixed with water in a pan mixer until the mixture was consistent and suitable for extrusion. The FC sample was extruded and cut into briquettes. Water absorption, shrinkage and modulus of rupture tests were conducted on the resultant briquettes. Foundry waste sand and FC samples were respectively characterized mineralogically using X-Ray Diffraction, and the major and trace elements were determined using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy. Adding purchased clay to the foundry waste sand positively influenced the workability of the test sample. Another positive characteristic was the low linear shrinkage, which indicated that products manufactured from the FC sample would not be susceptible to cracking. The water absorption values were acceptable and the unfired and fired strength values of the briquette’s samples were acceptable. In conclusion, tests showed that foundry waste sand can be used as an additive in masonry clay bricks, provided it is blended with good quality clay.

Keywords: foundry waste sand, masonry clay bricks, modulus of rupture, shrinkage

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Authors: María Del Mar Ramos-Lorente, Rafael Martínez-Martín

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More than 40 years have passed since the Spanish Constitution in force today was approved in 1978. The period prior to that Constitution, which marked the transition to democracy, was marked by National Catholicism, which actively limited the existence of religions other than Catholicism in the national territory. The approval of this norm allowed the opening in many aspects, including the religious one. This work will profusely describe the evolution of the appearance of religious minorities in Spain from the moment of the transition, in which the space for religious freedom appears up to the present. The methodology is twofold. On the one hand, qualitative analysis of the legislation has allowed the religious opening. On the other, the quantitative analysis of the NMRs implemented in Spain. The entire analysis establishes the increase in religious organizations as a result, with notable variations across the territory.

Keywords: new religious movements, religious minorities, sociological analysis, Spain

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Authors: Vijaya

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This paper reports the results of a study that measures the level of receptive vocabularies using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) in an ESL context. PPVT is a popular standardized test used to measure the vocabulary level of L1 learners. In this study, PPVT was administered to fourteen 9 to 11 year old Indian ESL learners from the fifth standard from a school in Hyderabad. Their performance is compared with the age appropriate performance of L1 learners. Their performance on noun versus verb items is also compared. The results are discussed concerning the learning goals set by the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) position paper on Teaching of English in India.

Keywords: national council for educational research and training, India, PPVT, second language acquistion, vocabulary acquisition

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Authors: Induja R. Nimma, Anand Reddy Maligireddy, Artur Schneider, Melissa Lyle

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Background: Although heart failure is one of the most common causes of hospitalization in adult patients, there is limited knowledge on outcomes following initial hospitalization for COVID-19 with heart failure (HCF-19). We felt it pertinent to analyze 30-day readmission causes and outcomes among patients with HCF-19 using the United States using real-world big data via the National readmission database. Objective: The aim is to describe the rate and causes of readmissions and morbidity of heart failure with coinciding COVID-19 (HFC-19) in the United States, using the 2020 National Readmission Database (NRD). Methods: A descriptive, retrospective study was conducted on the 2020 NRD, a nationally representative sample of all US hospitalizations. Adult (>18 years) inpatient admissions with COVID-19 with HF and readmissions in 30 days were selected based on the International Classification of Diseases-Tenth Revision, Procedure Code. Results: In 2020, 2,60,372 adult patients were hospitalized with COVID-19 and HF. The median age was 74 (IQR: 64-83), and 47% were female. The median length of stay was 7(4-13) days, and the total cost of stay was 62,025 (31,956 – 130,670) United States dollars, respectively. Among the index hospital admissions, 61,527 (23.6%) died, and 22,794 (11.5%) were readmitted within 30 days. The median age of patients readmitted in 30 days was 73 (63-82), 45% were female, and 1,962 (16%) died. The most common principal diagnosis for readmission in these patients was COVID-19= 34.8%, Sepsis= 16.5%, HF = 7.1%, AKI = 2.2%, respiratory failure with hypoxia =1.7%, and Pneumonia = 1%. Conclusion: The rate of readmission in patients with heart failure exacerbations is increasing yearly. COVID-19 was observed to be the most common principal diagnosis in patients readmitted within 30 days. Complicated hypertension, chronic pulmonary disease, complicated diabetes, renal failure, alcohol use, drug use, and peripheral vascular disorders are risk factors associated with readmission. Familiarity with the most common causes and predictors for readmission helps guide the development of initiatives to minimize adverse outcomes and the cost of medical care.

Keywords: Covid-19, heart failure, national readmission database, readmission outcomes

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Authors: Lynda C. Mbadugha, Bankole Awuzie, Kwanda Khumalo, Lindokuhle Matsebula, Masenoke Kgaditsi

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Inadequate waste management remains a fundamental issue in the majority of cities around the globe, but it becomes a threat when it concerns informal settlements. Although studies have evaluated the performance of waste management measures, only a few have addressed that with a focus on South African informal settlements and the reasons for their apparent ineffectiveness in such locations. However, there may be evidence of variations in the extant problems due to the uniqueness of each location and the factors influencing the performance. Thus, there is a knowledge deficit regarding implementing waste management measures in South African informal settlements. This study seeks to evaluate the efficacy of waste management measures in the Alaska informal settlement in South Africa to assess the previously collected data of other areas using the degree of correlation. The research investigated a real-world scenario in the specified location using a case study approach and multiple data sources. The findings described various waste management practices used in Alaska's informal settlements; however, a correlation was found between the performance of these measures and those already used. The observed differences are primarily attributable to the physical characteristics of the locations, the lack of understanding of the environmental and health consequences of careless waste disposal, and the negative attitudes of the residents toward waste management practices. This study elucidates waste management implementation in informal settlements. It contributes to the relevant bodies of knowledge by describing these practices in South Africa. This paper's practical value emphasizes the general waste management characteristics of South Africa's informal settlements to facilitate the planning and provision of necessary interventions. The study concludes that the enablers and inhibitors are mainly political, behavioral, and environmental concerns.

Keywords: factors, informal settlement, performance, waste management

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Authors: Andres Calderon

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In order to avoid detection and punishment, cartels have recruited the help of third parties to organize, execute and disguise the anticompetitive practices cartel members have agreed upon. These third parties may take the form of consultancy firms, guilds or professional advisors that do not perform an economic activity in the market where the collusion takes place. This paper takes a look into how national competition authorities and national legislators have dealt with the emergence of the cartels’ facilitators in Latin America. Following the practice of other jurisdictions such as United States (Toys R' Us, Apple), European Union (AC Treuhand), United Kingdom (Replica Kits, Hasbro) and Spain (Urban, Snap-On), some countries (e.g. Argentina, Chile) in Latin America have started to conduct investigations and find antitrust liability in cartels’ facilitators for helping others to violate their national competition laws. Some countries (e.g. Peru and Colombia) have also amended their legislation to amplify the subjective scope of application in order to include cartels’ facilitators. The Latin American case is one of special relevance because public officials are often prone to promote or indulge agreements between competitors in sectors of political interest. A broad definition of cartels’ facilitator, consequently, could lead to the prosecution of punishment of public officials that may hinder the competitive process.

Keywords: anticompetitive practices, cartel, collusion, competition, facilitator, hub and spoke

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Authors: Georg Ebner

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The National Defence Academy, an element of the Austrian Ministry of Defence, is undergoing a transition process leading the Academy towards a new target structure that is currently being developed. In so doing, in addition to a subject-oriented approach, also an employee-oriented process was introduced. This process was initiated by the Ministry of Defence and should lead the National Defence Academy into a new constellation. During this process, the National Defence Academy worked in very special adapted World Café sessions. The “change manager” dealed with very different issues. They took the data feedback from the sessions and prepared with the feedback and information from the guidance the next session. So they got various information and a very different picture around the academy. It was very helpful to involve most of the employees of the academy during this process and to take their knowledge and wisdom. The process himself started with very different feelings and ended with great consent. A very interesting part of this process was also that the commander and his deputy worked together during all of this sessions and they answered all questions from the employees in time. The adapted World Café phases were necessary to deal with the information of the staff and to implement these absolutely needful data into this process. In cooperation with the responsible Headquarters, the first items resulting from the World Café phases could already be fed back to the employees and be implemented. The staff-oriented process is currently supported via a point of contact, through which the staff can contribute ideas as well, but also by the active information policy on the part of the Headquarters. The described change process makes innovative innovations possible. So far, in the event of change processes staff members have been entrusted only with the concrete implementation plan and tied into the process when the respective workplaces were to be re-staffed. The procedure described here can be seen as food-for-thought for further change processes. The findings of this process are that a staff oriented process can lead an organisation into a new era of thinking and working. This process has shown, that a lot of innovative ideas can also take place in a ministry. This process can be a background for a lot of change management processes in ministries and governmental and non-governmental organisations.

Keywords: both directions approach, change management, knowledge database, transformation process, World Cafe

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Authors: Chialing Chang

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Language and culture are critical foundations of international mobility. However, the students who are limited to the local environment may affect their learning outcome and global perspective. Video Conferencing has been proven an economical way for students as a medium to communicate with international students around the world. In Taiwan, the National Development Commission advocated the development of bilingual national policies in 2030 to enhance national competitiveness and foster English proficiency and fully launched bilingual activation of the education system. Globalization is closely related to the development of Taiwan's education. Therefore, the teacher conducted an integrated lesson through interdisciplinary learning. This study aims to investigate how the teacher helps develop students' global and language core competencies in the international education class. The methodology comprises four stages, which are lesson planning, class observation, learning data collection, and speech analysis. The Grice's Conversational Maxims are adopted to analyze the students' conversation in the video conferencing course. It is the action research from the teacher's reflection on approaches to developing students' language learning skills. The study lays the foundation for mastering the teacher's international education professional development and improving teachers' teaching quality and teaching effectiveness as a reference for teachers' future instruction.

Keywords: international education, language learning, Grice's conversational maxims, video conferencing course

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Authors: Ana Luiza Casasanta Garcia, Maria Del Carmen Cortizo

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From the classic contractualist and early declarations of modern rights, discussions on policies for the protection and promotion of human rights were highlighted in an attempt to ensure the realization of human dignity and its values, which are (re) negotiated according to the needs evidenced in each historical and contextual moment. Aiming at guaranteeing human rights to Brazilian citizens, created in 2009 and updated in 2010, the Third National Human Rights Program (PNDH III) in force highlights guidelines and recommendations to guarantee human rights, among them, to guarantee the rights of women in Brazil. Based on this document, this article aims to locate historically and culturally the understanding of human rights related to the rights of women in Brazilian territory, from the analysis of the guiding axes of women's rights of the PNDH III. In methodological terms, the qualitative approach and documentary research were used to analyze the data according to the critical discourse analysis. As a result, it has been found that the process of building and maintaining the guarantee of women's human rights needs a reformulation that also shows a social revolution. This is justified by the fact that even with the provision in the PNDH III that, in order to guarantee the rights of women, it is necessary, for example, to adapt the Penal Code to the decriminalization of abortion and the professionalization of prostitution, these points are still very controversial and are not put into practice by the State. Finally, the importance of the critique of politics and the current system of production of understandings in favor of this social transformation is emphasized.

Keywords: human rights of women, social transformation, national human rights program III, public politics

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Authors: Bellarmine Ezumah, Michael Mawa

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Glocalization is often defined as the practice of conducting business according to both local and global considerations – this epitomizes the curriculum co-development collaboration between a journalism and mass communications professor from a university in the United States and the Uganda Martyrs University in Uganda where a brand new journalism and mass communications program was recently co-developed. This paper presents the experiences and research result of this initiative which was funded through the Institute of International Education (IIE) under the umbrella of the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program (CADFP). Vital international and national concerns were addressed. On a global level, scholars have questioned and criticized the general Western-module ingrained in journalism and mass communication curriculum and proposed a decolonization of journalism curricula. Another major criticism is the concept of western-based educators transplanting their curriculum verbatim to other regions of the world without paying greater attention to the local needs. To address these two global concerns, an extensive assessment of local needs was conducted prior to the conceptualization of the new program. The assessment of needs adopted a participatory action model and captured the knowledge and narratives of both internal and external stakeholders. This involved review of pertinent documents including the nation’s constitution, governmental briefs, and promulgations, interviews with governmental officials, media and journalism educators, media practitioners, students, and benchmarking the curriculum of other tertiary institutions in the nation. Information gathered through this process served as blueprint and frame of reference for all design decisions. In the area of local needs, four key factors were addressed. First, the realization that most media personnel in Uganda are both academically and professionally unqualified. Second, the practitioners with academic training were found lacking in experience. Third, the current curricula offered at several tertiary institutions are not comprehensive and lack local relevance. The project addressed these problems thus: first, the program was designed to cater to both traditional and non-traditional students offering opportunities for unqualified media practitioners to get their formal training through evening and weekender programs. Secondly, the challenge of inexperienced graduates was mitigated by designing the program to adopt the experiential learning approach which many refer to as the ‘Teaching Hospital Model’. This entails integrating practice to theory - similar to the way medical students engage in hands-on practice under the supervision of a mentor. The university drew a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with reputable media houses for students and faculty to use their studios for hands-on experience and for seasoned media practitioners to guest-teach some courses. With the convergence functions of media industry today, graduates should be trained to have adequate knowledge of other disciplines; therefore, the curriculum integrated cognate courses that would render graduates versatile. Ultimately, this research serves as a template for African colleges and universities to follow in their quest to glocalize their curricula. While the general concept of journalism may remain western, journalism curriculum developers in Africa through extensive assessment of needs, and focusing on those needs and other societal particularities, can adjust the western module to fit their local needs.

Keywords: curriculum co-development, glocalization of journalism education, international journalism, needs assessment

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Authors: Haidy Weliam Megaly Gouda

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Dermatology is often a neglected specialty in low-resource settings despite the high morbidity associated with skin disease. This becomes even more significant when associated with HIV infection, as dermatological conditions are more common and aggressive in HIV-positive patients. African countries have the highest HIV infection rates, and skin conditions are frequently misdiagnosed and mismanaged because of a lack of dermatological training and educational material. The frequent lack of diagnostic tests in the African setting renders basic clinical skills all the more vital. This project aimed to improve the diagnosis and treatment of skin disease in the HIV population in a district hospital in Malawi. A basic dermatological clinical tool was developed and produced in collaboration with local staff and based on available literature and data collected from clinics. The aim was to improve diagnostic accuracy and provide guidance for the treatment of skin disease in HIV-positive patients. A literature search within Embassy, Medline and Google Scholar was performed and supplemented through data obtained from attending 5 Antiretroviral clinics. From the literature, conditions were selected for inclusion in the resource if they were described as specific, more prevalent, or extensive in the HIV population or have more adverse outcomes if they develop in HIV patients. Resource-appropriate treatment options were decided using Malawian Ministry of Health guidelines and textbooks specific to African dermatology. After the collection of data and discussion with local clinical and pharmacy staff, a list of 15 skin conditions was included, and a booklet was created using the simple layout of a picture, a diagnostic description of the disease and treatment options. Clinical photographs were collected from local clinics (with full consent of the patient) or from the book ‘Common Skin Diseases in Africa’ (permission granted if fully acknowledged and used in a not-for-profit capacity). This tool was evaluated by the local staff alongside an educational teaching session on skin disease. This project aimed to reduce uncertainty in diagnosis and provide guidance for appropriate treatment in HIV patients by gathering information into one practical and manageable resource. To further this project, we hope to review the effectiveness of the tool in practice.

Keywords: prevalence and pattern of skin diseases, impact on quality of life, rural Nepal, interventions, quality switched ruby laser, skin color river blindness, clinical signs, circularity index, grey level run length matrix, grey level co-occurrence matrix, local binary pattern, object detection, ring detection, shape identification

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Authors: Anwar Hassen Tsega

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International labor migration is an integral part of the modern globalized world. However, the phenomenon has its roots in some earlier periods in human history. This paper discusses the relatively new phenomenon of female migration in Africa. In the past, African women migrants were only spouses or dependent family members. But as modernity swept most African societies, with rising unemployment rates, there is evidence everywhere in Africa that women labor migration is a growing phenomenon that deserves to be understood in the context of human security research. This work explores these issues further, focusing on the experience of Ethiopian women labor migrants to Sudan. The migration of Ethiopian people to Sudan is historical; nevertheless, labor migration mainly started since the discovery and subsequent exploration of oil in the Sudan. While the paper is concerned with the human security aspect of the migrant workers, we need to be certain that the migration process will provide with a decent wage, good working conditions, the necessary social security coverage, and labor protection as a whole. However, migration to Sudan is not always safe and female migrants become subject to violence at the hands of brokers, employers and migration officials. For this matter, the paper argued that identifying the vulnerable stages and major problem facing female migrant workers at various stages of migration is a prerequisite to combat the problem and secure the lives of the migrant workers. The major problems female migrants face include extra degrees of gender-based violence, underpayment, various forms of abuse like verbal, physical and sexual and other forms of torture which include beating and slaps. This peculiar situation could be attributed to the fact that most of these women are irregular migrants and fall under the category of unskilled and/or illiterate migrants.

Keywords: Ethiopia, human security, labor migration, Sudan

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Authors: Sheridan Wigginton

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This research project investigates the representation of Dominicans and Dominican culture in nine widely-used Spanish textbooks in universities and colleges in the United States. The project uses the “culture” standard established by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages to examine the texts. The organization, commonly referred to by its acronym ACTFL, describes products as books, tools, foods, laws, music, and games; practices as patterns of social interactions; and perspectives as meanings, attitudes, values, and ideas. The content analysis of the texts will also specifically include visual analysis of the physical representation of the people depicted in Dominican-themed culture activities to more clearly integrate issues of color and national identity into the discussion.

Keywords: blackness, culture, Dominican republic, foreign language education, national identity, Spanish, textbooks

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Authors: Argyro Maria Skourmalla

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Internationalization and management of linguistic diversity in Higher Education (HE) have gained much attention in research in the last few years. Internationalization policies in HE aims at promoting the dual role of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), civilization and competitiveness. In the context of the European Union, the European Education Area initiative aims at “inclusive national education and training systems” through networking and exchange between HEIs. However, the use of English as a ‘lingua academica’ in the place of the official, national, and regional/minority languages raises questions regarding linguistic diversity, linguistic rights and concerns that have to do with the scientific weakening of these languages. In fact, the European Civil Society Platform for Multilingualism, in the Declaration for Multilingualism in Higher Education, draws attention to the use of English at the expense of other regional/national languages and the impact of English-only language policy on an epistemological level. The above issues were brought up during semi-structured interviews with lecturing staff coming from three multilingual Universities in Europe. Lecturers shared their experiences and the practices they use to manage linguistic diversity in these three Universities. Findings show that even though different languages are used in teaching across disciplines, English -or ‘Globish’ as mentioned during an interview- is widely used in research. Despite English being accepted as the “lingua academica,” issues regarding loss of identity come up

Keywords: higher education, internationalization, linguistic diversity, teaching, research, English

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Authors: Anna Lytvynova

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This essay presents labour as a performatively national phenomenon from a cultural perspective. Considering Engels’ proposition of labour as the epicentre of development of social structures and communities, it theorizes the formation and sustainment of group identities through labour identities. Taking labour in the cultural sector as the starting point case study, the essay further enunciates such labour and labour identity as a form of engaged citizenship. In doing so, this piece hopes to arrive at a potential contemporary understanding of labour as having a central and dynamic role in cultural organization and citizenship. A parallel goal is to de-link sociological models of cultural labor from narratives of art and culture as something that stands separate from the 'real world' and the economy and exists in precarity. Combining discourse from cultural sociology, performance studies, and economics and grounding it in historical archive, the essay makes a primarily discursive theoretical contribution. Taking North American theatre organizations as the exemplifying starting point, this project positions cultural workers not solely as workers in a professional industry but as active citizen-subjects who are deeply involved in their society’s democratic processes. The resulting discourse can be used to shape more effective labour policies, as well as help art and cultural organizations find more effective organizational structures to engage the arts in the economic, political, and social spheres.

Keywords: arts labour, cultural sociology, national identity, performativity

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Authors: Asharaf Abdul Salam, Ibrahim Elsegaey, Rshood Khraif, Abdullah AlMutairi, Ali Aldosari

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Arab World that comprises of 22 member states of Arab League undergoes rapid transition in demographic front - fertility, mortality and migration. A distinctive geographic region spread across West Asia and North East Africa unified by Arabic language shares common values and characteristics even though diverse in economic and political conditions. Demographic lag that characterizes Arab World is unique but the present trend of declining fertility combined with the existing relatively low mortality undergoes significant changes in its population size. The current research aimed at (i) assessing the growth of population, over a period of 3 decades, (ii) exploring the components and (iii) understanding the public health impact. Based on International Data Base (IDB) of US Census Bureau, for 3 time periods – 1992, 2002 and 2012; 21 countries of Arab World have been analyzed by dividing them into four geographic sectors namely Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), West Asia, Maghreb and Nile Valley African Horn. Population of Arab World grew widely during the past both through natural growth and migration. Immigrations pronounced especially in the resource intensive GCC nations not only from East Asian and central African countries but also from resource thrifty Arab nations. Migrations within the Arab World as well as outside of the Arab World remark an interesting demographic phenomenon that requires further research. But the transformations on public health statistics – impact of demographic change – depict a new era in the Arab World.

Keywords: demographic change, public health statistics, net migration, natural growth, geographic sectors, fertility and mortality, life expectancy

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Authors: Albert Oluwole Uzodimma Authority

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Nigeria is a diverse nation with a rich cultural heritage that has produced numerous art musicians and a vast range of art songs. The compositional styles, tonal rhythm, text rhythm, word painting, and text-tone relationship vary extensively from one dialect to another, indicating the need for standardized tools for the structural and analytical deconstruction of Nigerian indigenous art music. The purpose of this research is to examine the structures of Nigerian indigenous art music and outline some crucibles for analyzing it, by investigating how dialectical inflection influences the choice of text tone, scale mode, tonal rhythm, and the general ambiance of Nigerian art music. The research used a structured questionnaire to collect data from 50 musicologists, out of which 41 responded. The study's focus was on the works of two prominent twentieth-century composers, Stephen Olusoji, and Nwamara Alvan-Ikoku, titled "Oyigiyigi" and "O Chineke, Inozikwa omee," respectively. The data collected was presented in percentages using pie charts and tables. The study shows that in Nigerian Indigenous music, several aspects are to be considered for proper analysis, such as linguistic sensitivity, dialectical inflection influences text-tone relationship, text rhythm and tonal rhythm, which help to convey the proper meanings of messages in songs. It also highlights the lack of standardized rubrics for analysis, which necessitated the proposal of robust criteria for analyzing African music, known as Neo-Eclectic-Crucibles. Hinging on eclectic approach, this research makes significant contributions to music scholarship by addressing the need for standardized tools and crucibles for the structural and analytical deconstruction of Nigerian indigenous art music. It provides a template for further studies leading to standardized rubrics for analyzing African music. This research collected data through a structured questionnaire and analyzed it using pie charts and tables to present the findings accurately. The analysis focused on the respondents' perspectives on the research objectives and structural analysis of two indigenous music compositions by Olusoji and Nwamara. This research answers the questions on the structures and analytical crucibles used in Nigerian indigenous art music, how dialectical inflection influences text-tone relationship, scale mode, tonal rhythm, and the general ambiance of Nigerian art music. This paper demonstrates the need for standardized tools and crucibles for the structural and analytical deconstruction of Nigerian indigenous art music. It highlights several aspects that are crucial to analyzing Nigerian indigenous music and proposes the Neo-Eclectic-Crucibles criteria for analyzing African music. The contribution of this research to music scholarship is significant, providing a template for further studies and research in the field.

Keywords: art-music, crucibles, dialectical inflections, indigenous, text-tone, tonal rhythm, word-painting

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Authors: Valeri Arghutashvili, Mari Gogochuri

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Tourism industry development is one of the key priorities in Georgia, as it has positive influence on economic activities. Its contribution is very important for the different regions, as well as for the national economy. Benefits of the tourism industry include new jobs, service development, and increasing tax revenues, etc. The main aim of this research is to review and analyze the potential of the Georgian tourism industry with its long-term strategy and current challenges. To plan activities in a long-term development, it is required to evaluate several factors on the regional and on the national level. Factors include activities, transportation, services, lodging facilities, infrastructure and institutions. The major research contributions are practical estimates about regional tourism development which plays an important role in the integration process with global markets.

Keywords: regional tourism, tourism industry, tourism in Georgia, tourism benefits

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Authors: Dimitrios J. Dimitriou, Maria F. Sartzetaki

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Air Transport links markets and individuals, making regions more competitive and promoting social and economic development. The assessment of social contribution is the key objective of this paper, focusing on the definition of the components of social dimension and welfare metrics in the national scale. According to a top-down approach, the key dimensions that affect the social welfare are presented. Conventional wisdom is to provide estimations on added value to social issues caused by the air transport development and present the methodology framework for measuring the contribution of transport development in social value chain. Greece is the case study of this paper, providing results from the contribution of air transport infrastructures in national welfare. The application key findings are essential for managers and decision makers to support actions and plans towards economic recovery of an economy presenting strong seasonal characteristics (because of tourism) and suffering from recession.

Keywords: air transport, social coherence, resilient business development, socioeconomic impact

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