Search results for: international%20technology%20trade
2882 Cybersecurity Challenges in Africa
Authors: Chimmoe Fomo Michelle Larissa
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The challenges of cybersecurity in Africa are increasingly significant as the continent undergoes rapid digital transformation. With the rise of internet connectivity, mobile phone usage, and digital financial services, Africa faces unique cybersecurity threats. The significance of this study lies in understanding these threats and the multifaceted challenges that hinder effective cybersecurity measures across the continent. The methodologies employed in this study include a comprehensive analysis of existing cybersecurity frameworks in various African countries, surveys of key stakeholders in the digital ecosystem, and case studies of cybersecurity incidents. These methodologies aim to provide a detailed understanding of the current cybersecurity landscape, identify gaps in existing policies, and evaluate the effectiveness of implemented security measures. Major findings of the study indicate that Africa faces numerous cybersecurity challenges, including inadequate regulatory frameworks, insufficient cybersecurity awareness, and a shortage of skilled professionals. Additionally, the prevalence of cybercrime, such as financial fraud, data breaches, and ransomware attacks, exacerbates the situation. The study also highlights the role of international cooperation and regional collaboration in addressing these challenges and improving overall cybersecurity resilience. In conclusion, addressing cybersecurity challenges in Africa requires a multifaceted approach that involves strengthening regulatory frameworks, enhancing public awareness, and investing in cybersecurity education and training. The study underscores the importance of regional and international collaboration in building a robust cybersecurity infrastructure capable of mitigating the risks associated with the continent's digital growth.Keywords: Africa, cybersecurity, challenges, digital infrastructure, cybercrime
Procedia PDF Downloads 282881 Chinese Leaders Abroad: Case in the Netherlands
Authors: Li Lin, Hein Roelfsema
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To achieve aggressive expansion goals, many Chinese companies are seeking resources and market around the world. To an increasing extent, Chinese enterprises recognized the Netherlands as their gateway to Europe Market. Yet, large cultural gaps (e.g. individualism/collectivism, power distance) may influence expat leaders’ influencing process, in turn affect intercultural teamwork. Lessons and suggestions from Chinese expat leaders could provide profound knowledge for managerial practice and future research. The current research focuses on the cultural difference between China and the Netherlands, along with leadership tactics for coping and handling differences occurring in the international business work. Exclusive 47 in-depth interviews with Chinese expat leaders were conducted. Within each interview, respondents were asked what were the main issues when working with Dutch employees, and what they believed as the keys to successful leadership in Dutch-Chinese cross-cultural workplaces. Consistent with previous research, the findings highlight the need to consider the cultural context within which leadership adapts. In addition, the findings indicated the importance of recognizing and applying the cultural advantages from which leadership originates. The results address observation ability as a crucial key for Chinese managers to lead Dutch/international teams. Moreover, setting a common goal help a leader to overcome the challenges due to cultural differences. Based on the analysis, we develop a process model to illustrate the dynamic mechanisms. Our study contributes to the better understanding of transference of management practices, and has important practical implications for managing Dutch employees.Keywords: Chinese managers, Dutch employees, leadership, interviews
Procedia PDF Downloads 3382880 The Integration of Prosecutorial Discretion in the Anti-Money Laundering Regime in Nigeria: A Focus on Politically Exposed Persons
Authors: Chineduum Okpala
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Nigeria, since her independence, has been engulfed in financial crimes of different forms. From embezzlement and conversion of public funds by public servants to stealing, contract inflation, and money laundering. Money laundering in Nigeria, particularly by political exposed persons, has been an issue of concern since independence. Corruption has been endemic, and Nigeria needs to integrate pro-active measures to show to the international community that it is ready to move against this vice. This paper discusses the negative effect of corruption and its effect on prosecutorial discretion. It also takes cognisance of the policy and aims of the anti-money laundering (AML) policy as enacted in Nigeria. It also takes as valid the assumption that the effective application of the rule of law will improve the efficacy of the Nigerian regime. In this regard, the perspective is internal to the Nigerian regime and its internal policy discourse which also reflect its policy discourse at international level. This paper takes notice of the typology of money laundering (ML) offences that most affect Nigeria, which hinges on corruption and abuse of office by a specific type of person, politically exposed persons (PEP). This typology of money laundering offence appears to be the most prevalent in developing nations like Nigeria. The application of essential principles of law provides an opportunity for the internalisation of the rule of law in the anti-money laundering regime in Nigeria, which could aid the successful prosecution of politically exposed persons on money laundering offences. The rule of law and how well the Nigerian legal system manages to deal with the interface between high level politics and the criminal justice system in Nigeria cannot be understood from internal sources but must be developed as a genuine but critical account informed by perspectives external to the Nigerian regime. If the efficacy of the regime is to be assessed in view of notorious failures of the regime, an external assessment is needed. Hence the paper discusses the need to integrate the essential principles of law in the application of prosecutorial discretion in the anti-money laundering regime in Nigeria, particularly with politically exposed persons. The paper highlights jurisdiction where prosecutorial discretion is integrated into the anti-money laundering regime in accordance to the rule of law which forms a basis for comparative analysis of the success of the anti-money laundering regime in Nigeria. This paper discusses why the application of prosecutorial discretion should not be used as a tool to extricate or avail the rich and powerful in the society from justice. The paper aims to argue that the successful prosecution of politically exposed persons, will raise the confidence of the citizens and the international community in the anti-money laundering regime in Nigeria.Keywords: money laundering, politically exposed persons, corruption, Nigeria
Procedia PDF Downloads 1202879 Closing down the Loop Holes: How North Korea and Other Bad Actors Manipulate Global Trade in Their Favor
Authors: Leo Byrne, Neil Watts
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In the complex and evolving landscape of global trade, maritime sanctions emerge as a critical tool wielded by the international community to curb illegal activities and alter the behavior of non-compliant states and entities. These sanctions, designed to restrict or prohibit trade by sea with sanctioned jurisdictions, entities, or individuals, face continuous challenges due to the sophisticated evasion tactics employed by countries like North Korea. As the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) diverts significant resources to circumvent these measures, understanding the nuances of their methodologies becomes imperative for maintaining the integrity of global trade systems. The DPRK, one of the most sanctioned nations globally, has developed an intricate network to facilitate its trade in illicit goods, ensuring the flow of revenue from designated activities continues unabated. Given its geographic and economic conditions, North Korea predominantly relies on maritime routes, utilizing foreign ports to route its illicit trade. This reliance on the sea is exploited through various sophisticated methods, including the use of front companies, falsification of documentation, commingling of bulk cargos, and physical alterations to vessels. These tactics enable the DPRK to navigate through the gaps in regulatory frameworks and lax oversight, effectively undermining international sanctions regimes Maritime sanctions carry significant implications for global trade, imposing heightened risks in the maritime domain. The deceptive practices employed not only by the DPRK but also by other high-risk jurisdictions, necessitate a comprehensive understanding of UN targeted sanctions. For stakeholders in the maritime sector—including maritime authorities, vessel owners, shipping companies, flag registries, and financial institutions serving the shipping industry—awareness and compliance are paramount. Violations can lead to severe consequences, including reputational damage, sanctions, hefty fines, and even imprisonment. To mitigate risks associated with these deceptive practices, it is crucial for maritime sector stakeholders to employ rigorous due diligence and regulatory compliance screening measures. Effective sanctions compliance serves as a protective shield against legal, financial, and reputational risks, preventing exploitation by international bad actors. This requires not only a deep understanding of the sanctions landscape but also the capability to identify and manage risks through informed decision-making and proactive risk management practices. As the DPRK and other sanctioned entities continue to evolve their sanctions evasion tactics, the international community must enhance its collective efforts to demystify and counter these practices. By leveraging more stringent compliance measures, stakeholders can safeguard against the illicit use of the maritime domain, reinforcing the effectiveness of maritime sanctions as a tool for global security. This paper seeks to dissect North Korea's adaptive strategies in the face of maritime sanctions. By examining up-to-date, geographically, and temporally relevant case studies, it aims to shed light on the primary nodes through which Pyongyang evades sanctions and smuggles goods via third-party ports. The goal is to propose multi-level interaction strategies, ranging from governmental interventions to localized enforcement mechanisms, to counteract these evasion tactics.Keywords: maritime, maritime sanctions, international sanctions, compliance, risk
Procedia PDF Downloads 592878 Does Pakistan Stock Exchange Offer Diversification Benefits to Regional and International Investors: A Time-Frequency (Wavelets) Analysis
Authors: Syed Jawad Hussain Shahzad, Muhammad Zakaria, Mobeen Ur Rehman, Saniya Khaild
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This study examines the co-movement between the Pakistan, Indian, S&P 500 and Nikkei 225 stock markets using weekly data from 1998 to 2013. The time-frequency relationship between the selected stock markets is conducted by using measures of continuous wavelet power spectrum, cross-wavelet transform and cross (squared) wavelet coherency. The empirical evidence suggests strong dependence between Pakistan and Indian stock markets. The co-movement of Pakistani index with U.S and Japanese, the developed markets, varies over time and frequency where the long-run relationship is dominant. The results of cross wavelet and wavelet coherence analysis indicate moderate covariance and correlation between stock indexes and the markets are in phase (i.e. cyclical in nature) over varying durations. Pakistan stock market was lagging during the entire period in relation to Indian stock market, corresponding to the 8~32 and then 64~256 weeks scale. Similar findings are evident for S&P 500 and Nikkei 225 indexes, however, the relationship occurs during the later period of study. All three wavelet indicators suggest strong evidence of higher co-movement during 2008-09 global financial crises. The empirical analysis reveals a strong evidence that the portfolio diversification benefits vary across frequencies and time. This analysis is unique and have several practical implications for regional and international investors while assigning the optimal weightage of different assets in portfolio formulation.Keywords: co-movement, Pakistan stock exchange, S&P 500, Nikkei 225, wavelet analysis
Procedia PDF Downloads 3512877 Global Analysis of Modern Economic Sanctions
Authors: I. L. Yakushev
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Economic sanctions are an integral part of the foreign policy repertoire of States. Increasingly, States and international organizations are resorting to sanctions to address a variety of issues -from fighting corruption to preventing the use of nuclear weapons. Over time, the ways in which economic sanctions have been used have changed, especially over the past two decades. In the late 1990s, the recognition of the humanitarian harm of economic sanctions and the "War on Terrorism" after the events of September 11, 2001, led to serious changes in the structure and mechanisms of their application. Questions about how these coercive tools work, when they are applied, what consequences they have, and when they are successful are still being determined by research conducted in the second half of the 20th century. The conclusions drawn from past cases of sanctions may not be fully applicable to the current sanctions policy. In the second half of the 20th century, most cases of sanctions were related to the United States, and it covered restrictions on international trade. However, over the past two decades, the European Union, the United Nations, and China have also been the main initiators of sanctions. Modern sanctions include targeted and financial restrictions and are applied against individuals, organizations, and companies. Changing the senders, targets, stakeholders, and economic instruments used in the sanctions policy has serious implications for effectiveness and results. The regulatory and bureaucratic infrastructure necessary to implement and comply with modern economic sanctions has become more reliable. This evolution of sanctions has provided the scientific community with an opportunity to study new issues of coercion and return to the old ones. The economic sanctions research program should be developed to be relevant for understanding the application of modern sanctions and their consequences.Keywords: global analysis, economic sanctions, targeted sanctions, foreign policy, domestic policy, United Nations, European Union, USA, economic pressure
Procedia PDF Downloads 512876 Ifrs Adoption, Enforcement, and the Value Relevant of Accounting Amounts: The Particular Case of South Africa
Authors: Edward Chamisa, Colin C. Smith, Hamutyinei H. Pamburai, Abdul C. Abdulla
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South Africa (SA) adopted International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for listed firms effective 1 January 2005. However, it was not until 2011 that substantial financial reporting enforcement changes were introduced, which were meant to ensure compliance with IFRS. This innovative setting allows us to examine the value relevance of accounting amounts during the (1) pre-IFRS adoption period (2002-2004); (2) post-IFRS adoption, but pre-enforcement changes period (2006-2010); and (3) post-enforcement changes period (2011-2012). The results show that accounting amounts were most value relevant in the post-enforcement changes period (R2, 75.5%) compared to both the pre-IFRS adoption period (adjusted R2 is 24.3%) and the period after IFRS adoption but before enforcement changes (adjusted R2 is 37.5%). Also, during the 2008 financial crisis, the equity book value per share was significantly value relevant (at 1%) but not earnings per share, whereas before the crisis, the opposite was true. We make two important contributions to the literature. First, we identify SA as an innovative setting that allows researchers to examine separately the effects of IFRS adoption and enforcement changes on capital markets and accounting quality. This is a departure from prior studies that are dominated by the European Union setting, where IFRS adoption occurred contemporaneously with enforcement and other regulatory changes. Second, we provide preliminary findings which suggest that while the adoption of IFRS seems to have improved the financial reporting quality of accounting amounts of SA listed firms, its impact appears to be limited unless combined with effective enforcement.Keywords: international financial reporting standards (ifrs), ifrs adoption, financial reporting enforcement, value relevance, price model, equity book value, earnings per share
Procedia PDF Downloads 642875 Spatial Economic Attributes of O. R. Tambo Airport, South Africa
Authors: Masilonyane Mokhele
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Across the world, different planning models of the so-called airport-led developments are becoming bandwagons hailed as key to the future of cities. However, in the existing knowledge, there is paucity of empirically informed description and explanation of the economic fundamentals driving the forces of attraction of airports. This void is arguably a result of the absence of an appropriate theoretical framework to guide the analyses. Given this paucity, the aim of the paper is to contribute towards a theoretical framework that could be used to describe and explain forces that drive the location and mix of airport-centric developments. Towards achieving this aim, the objectives of the paper are: one, to establish the type of economic activities that are located on and around O.R. Tambo International Airport (ORTIA), and analyse the reasons for locating there; two, to establish changes that have occurred over time in the form of the airport-centric development of ORTIA; three, to identify the propulsive economic qualities of ORTIA; four, to analyse the spatial, economic and structural linkages within the airport-centric development of ORTIA, between the airport-centric development and the airport, as well as the airport-centric development’s linkages with their metropolitan area and other regional, national and international airport-centric developments and locations. To address the objectives above, the study adopted a case study approach, centred on ORTIA in South Africa: Africa’s busiest airport in terms of passengers and airfreight handled. Using a lens of location theory, a survey was adopted as a main research method, wherein telephonic interviews were conducted with a representative number of firms on and around ORTIA. Other data collection methods encompassed in-depth qualitative interviews (to augment the information obtained through the survey) and analysis of secondary information, particularly as regards establishing changes that have occurred in the form of ORTIA and surrounds. From the empirical findings, ORTIA was discovered to have propulsive economic qualities that act as significant forces of attraction in the clustering of firms. Together with its airport-centric development, ORTIA was discovered to have growth pole properties because of the linkages that occur within the study area, and the linkages that exist between the airport-centric firms and the airport. It was noted that the transport-oriented firms (typified by couriers and freight carriers) act as anchors in some fellow airport-centric firms making use of elements of urbanisation economies, particularly as regards the use of the airport for airfreight services. The empirical findings presented in the paper (in conjunction with results from other airport-centric development case studies) could be used as contribution towards extending theory that describes and explains forces that drive the location and mix of airport-centric developments.Keywords: airports, airport-centric development, O. R. Tambo international airport, South Africa
Procedia PDF Downloads 2552874 Migrant Women’s Rights “with Chinese Characteristics: The State of Migrant Women in the People’s Republic of China
Authors: Leigha C. Crout
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This paper will investigate the categorical disregard of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in establishing and maintaining a baseline standard of civil guarantees for economic migrant women and their dependents. In light of the relative forward strides in terms of policy facilitating the ascension of female workers in China, this oft-invisible subgroup of women remains neglected from the modern-day “iron rice bowl” of the self-identified communist state. This study is being undertaken to rectify the absence of data on this subject and provide a baseline for future studies on the matter, as the human rights of migrants has become an established facet of transnational dialogue and debate. The basic methodology of this research will consist of the evaluation of China’s compliance with its own national guidelines, and the eight international human rights law treaties it has ratified. Data will be extracted and cross-checked from a number of relevant sources to monitor the extent of compliance, including but by no means limited to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Universal Periodic Review (UPR) reports and responses, submissions and responses of international human rights treaty bodies, local and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and their annual reports, and articles and commentaries authored by specialists on the modern state and implementation of Chinese law. Together, these data will illuminate the vast network of compliance that has forced many migrant women to work within situations of extreme economic precarity. The structure will proceed as follows: first, an outline of the current status of migrant workers and the enforcement of stipulated protections will be provided; next, the analysis of the oft-debated regulations directing and the outline of mandatory services guaranteed to external and internal migrants; and finally, a conclusion incorporating various recommendations to improve transparency and gradually decrease the amount of migrant work turned forced labor that typifies the economic migrant experience, especially in the case of women. The internal and international migrant workers in China are bound by different and uncomplimentary systems. The first, which governs Chinese citizens moving to different regions or provinces to find more sustainable employment (internal migrants), is called the hukou (or huji) residency system. This law enforces strict regulation of the movement of peoples, while ensuring that residents of urban areas receive preferential benefits to those received by their so-called “agricultural” resident counterparts. Given the overwhelming presence of the Communist Party of China throughout the vast state, the management of internal migrants and the disregard for foreign domestic workers is, at minimum, a surprising oversight. This paper endeavors to provide a much-needed foundation for future commentary and discussion on the treatment of female migrant workers and their families in the People’s Republic of China.Keywords: female migrant worker’s rights, the People’s Republic of China, forced labor, Hukou residency system
Procedia PDF Downloads 1332873 Moving beyond Medical Tourism: An Analysis of Intra-Regional Medical Mobility in the Global South
Authors: Tyler D. Cesarone, Tatiana M. Wugalter
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The movement of patients from the Global North to the Global South in pursuit of inexpensive healthcare and touristic experiences dominates the academic discourse on international medical travel (IMT). However, medical travel exists in higher numbers between Global South countries as patients who lack trust in, and feel disenfranchised by, their national healthcare systems seek treatment in nearby countries. Through a review of the existing literature, this paper examines patterns of IMT in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Southern Africa, distinguishing North-South medical tourism from South-South intra-regional medical mobility (IRMM). Evidence from these case studies demonstrates that notions of medical distrust and disenfranchisement, rooted in low-resourced and poor quality healthcare systems, are key drivers of IRMM in the Global South. The movement of patients from lower income to proximate higher income countries not only reveals tensions between patients and their healthcare systems but widens gaps in the quality of healthcare between departing and destination countries. In analyzing these cross-regional similarities, the paper moves beyond the current literature’s focus on singular case studies to expose global patterns of South-South IRMM. This presents a shift from the traditional focus on North-South medical tourism, demonstrating how disparities in healthcare systems both influence and are influenced by IRMM.Keywords: global South, healthcare quality, international medical travel (IMT), intra-regional medical mobility (IRMM), medical disenfranchisement, medical distrust, medical tourism
Procedia PDF Downloads 3922872 Law of the River and Indigenous Water Rights: Reassessing the International Legal Frameworks for Indigenous Rights and Water Justice
Authors: Sultana Afrin Nipa
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Life on Earth cannot thrive or survive without water. Water is intimately tied with community, culture, spirituality, identity, socio-economic progress, security, self-determination, and livelihood. Thus, access to water is a United Nations recognized human right due to its significance in these realms. However, there is often conflict between those who consider water as the spiritual and cultural value and those who consider it an economic value thus being threatened by economic development, corporate exploitation, government regulation, and increased privatization, highlighting the complex relationship between water and culture. The Colorado River basin is home to over 29 federally recognized tribal nations. To these tribes, it holds cultural, economic, and spiritual significance and often extends to deep human-to-non-human connections frequently precluded by the Westphalian regulations and settler laws. Despite the recognition of access to rivers as a fundamental human right by the United Nations, tribal communities and their water rights have been historically disregarded through inter alia, colonization, and dispossession of their resources. Law of the River such as ‘Winter’s Doctrine’, ‘Bureau of Reclamation (BOR)’ and ‘Colorado River Compact’ have shaped the water governance among the shareholders. However, tribal communities have been systematically excluded from these key agreements. While the Winter’s Doctrine acknowledged that tribes have the right to withdraw water from the rivers that pass through their reservations for self-sufficiency, the establishment of the BOR led to the construction of dams without tribal consultation, denying the ‘Winters’ regulation and violating these rights. The Colorado River Compact, which granted only 20% of the water to the tribes, diminishes the significance of international legal frameworks that prioritize indigenous self-determination and free pursuit of socio-economic and cultural development. Denial of this basic water right is the denial of the ‘recognition’ of their sovereignty and self-determination that questions the effectiveness of the international law. This review assesses the international legal frameworks concerning indigenous rights and water justice and aims to pinpoint gaps hindering the effective recognition and protection of Indigenous water rights in Colorado River Basin. This study draws on a combination of historical and qualitative data sets. The historical data encompasses the case settlements provided by the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) respectively the notable cases of Native American water rights settlements on lower Colorado basin related to Arizona from 1979-2008. This material serves to substantiate the context of promises made to the Indigenous people and establishes connections between existing entities. The qualitative data consists of the observation of recorded meetings of the Central Arizona Project (CAP) to evaluate how the previously made promises are reflected now. The study finds a significant inconsistency in participation in the decision-making process and the lack of representation of Native American tribes in water resource management discussions. It highlights the ongoing challenges faced by the indigenous people to achieve their self-determination goal despite the legal arrangements.Keywords: colorado river, indigenous rights, law of the river, water governance, water justice
Procedia PDF Downloads 262871 How Envisioning Process Is Constructed: An Exploratory Research Comparing Three International Public Televisions
Authors: Alexandre Bedard, Johane Brunet, Wendellyn Reid
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Public Television is constantly trying to maintain and develop its audience. And to achieve those goals, it needs a strong and clear vision. Vision or envision is a multidimensional process; it is simultaneously a conduit that orients and fixes the future, an idea that comes before the strategy and a mean by which action is accomplished, from a business perspective. Also, vision is often studied from a prescriptive and instrumental manner. Based on our understanding of the literature, we were able to explain how envisioning, as a process, is a creative one; it takes place in the mind and uses wisdom and intelligence through a process of evaluation, analysis and creation. Through an aggregation of the literature, we build a model of the envisioning process, based on past experiences, perceptions and knowledge and influenced by the context, being the individual, the organization and the environment. With exploratory research in which vision was deciphered through the discourse, through a qualitative and abductive approach and a grounded theory perspective, we explored three extreme cases, with eighteen interviews with experts, leaders, politicians, actors of the industry, etc. and more than twenty hours of interviews in three different countries. We compared the strategy, the business model, and the political and legal forces. We also looked at the history of each industry from an inertial point of view. Our analysis of the data revealed that a legitimacy effect due to the audience, the innovation and the creativity of the institutions was at the cornerstone of what would influence the envisioning process. This allowed us to identify how different the process was for Canadian, French and UK public broadcasters, although we concluded that the three of them had a socially constructed vision for their future, based on stakeholder management and an emerging role for the managers: ideas brokers.Keywords: envisioning process, international comparison, television, vision
Procedia PDF Downloads 1222870 Assessment of the Level of Awareness and Adoption of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) in the Curriculum of Accounting Education in Selected Tertiary Institutions in Ondo and Ekiti States Nigeria
Authors: Olurankinse Felix, Fatukasi Bayo
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Over the years, the medium through which government financial statements are prepared has been on cash basis of accounting. This basis was characterised with some shortcomings ranging from non- disclosure of quality and detail information relating to government financial transactions, ill informed assessment of government resource allocation, weak internal control system that inhibits accountability and transparency and non- standardisation of reporting ethics for the purpose of comparability. The emergence of international public sector accounting standards (IPSAS) is therefore seen as leverage as it aims at improving the quality of general purpose financial reporting by public sector entities thereby increasing transparency and accountability. IPSAS is a new concept that all institutions must fully adopts. The crux of this paper is to find out to what extent is the awareness and adoption of IPSAS to both students and lecturers interms of teaching, learning and inclusion in the curriculum of accounting education. The methodology involved the use of well designed questionnaires to obtain information from some selected institutions and the analysis was done with the use of maximum likelihood ordered probit regression. The result of the analysis shows that despite a high level of sensitisation/awareness of IPSAS, the degree of adoption is still low due to low level of desirability by students and lecturers. The paper recommend the need for the government to enact an enabling law to back up the adoption and more importantly to institute appropriate sanctions to ensure full compliance.Keywords: assessment, awareness, adoption, IPSAS, cash basis
Procedia PDF Downloads 4722869 Anti -proliferative and Apoptotic Effects of Selected Saudi Herbs from the Rhamnaceae, Polygonaceae, and Apocynaceae Families Against Various Cancer Cell Lines
Authors: Allulu Yousef Alturki, Raghad Abdullah Alshafi, Sara Abdulaziz Alghashem, Sahar Saleh Alghamdi, Rasha Saad Suliman, Zeyad Alehaideb, Rizwan Ali
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Cancer is recognized as a worldwide public health concern. Therefore, there is a continuous quest to discover new effective medications with less side-effects. In recent years, researchers have shown an increased interest in medicinal plants as several plant species have shown promising biological activities. Thus, we seek to investigate three medicinal herbs that are commonly-found in the Middle Easternregion and yet have not been explored in depth, including plants belonging to the Rhamnaceae, Polygonaceae, and Apocynaceaeplant families. Initially, we investigated using three types of cancer cell lines for breast, colorectal, and liver cancers. We performed high Content Imaging (HCI)-Apoptosis Assay and ApoTox-Glo™ Triplex Assay on KAIMRC2 and HCT8 cell lines. The highest activity of HCI-Apoptosis Assay was with Calligonumcomosum and Ziziphusnummularia in ethanol, followed by Calotropis procera and Ziziphusnummularia in ethyl acetate. The IC50values for the families of Rhamnaceae, Polygonaceae, and Apocynaceae in HepG2 and HCT8 cell lines ranged from 0.089 to 9.84mg/mL and 0.080to 15.08mg/mL, respectively. Further screening was conducted on an additional two cell lines, namely the MDA-MB-231 and KAIMRC2, for selected seven extracts with the highest activity having IC50values ranged from 0.058 to0.51mg/mL and 0.029 to0.19mg/mL, respectively. Continuous scientific investigations to isolate and characterize the potent bioactive phytochemical(s) are warranted. Funding: The authors acknowledge financial support from King Abdullah International Medical Research Center (KAIMRC), Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Institutional Review Board Statement: The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Institutional Review Board of King Abdullah International Medical Research Center (SP21R/463/12, 24 January 2022). Acknowledgments: The authors want to express their gratitude to the College of Pharmacy (COP) at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS) and King Abdullah International Medical Research Center (KAIMRC) for their continued support.Keywords: rhamnaceae, polygonaceae, apocynaceae, natural products
Procedia PDF Downloads 1072868 Disrupting Patriarchy: Transforming Gender Oppression through Dialogue between Women and Men at a South African University
Authors: S. van Schalkwyk
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On international levels and across disciplines gender scholars have argued that patriarchal scripts of masculinity and femininity are harmful as they negatively impact constructions of selfhood and relations between women and men. Patriarchal ideologies serve as a scaffolding for dominance and subordination and fuel violence against women. Toxic masculinity—social discourses of men as violent, unemotional, and sexually dominant—are embedded in South African culture and are rooted in the high rates of gender violence occurring in the country. Finding strategies that can open up space for the interrogation of toxic masculinity is crucial in order to disrupt the destructive consequences of patriarchy in educational and social contexts. The University of the Free State (UFS) in South Africa in collaboration with the non-profit organization Gender Reconciliation International conducted a year-long series of workshops with male and female students. The aim of these workshops was to facilitate healing between men and women through collective dialogue processes. Drawing on a collective biography methodology outlined by feminist poststructuralists, this paper explores the impact of these workshops on gender relations. Findings show that the students experienced significant psychological connections with others during these dialogues, through which they began to interrogate their own gendered conditioning and harmful patriarchal assumptions and practices. This paper enhances insights into the possibilities for disrupting patriarchy in South African universities through feminist collective research efforts.Keywords: collective biography methodology, South Africa, toxic masculinity, transforming gender oppression, violence against women
Procedia PDF Downloads 4692867 Consultation Liasion Psychiatry in a Tertiary Care Hospital
Authors: K. Pankaj, R. K. Chaudhary, B. P. Mishra, S. Kochar
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Introduction: Consultation-Liaison psychiatry is a branch of psychiatry that includes clinical service, teaching and research. A consultation-liaison psychiatrist plays a role in having an expert opinion and linking the patients to other medical professionals and the patient’s bio-psycho-social aspects that may be leading to his/her symptoms. Consultation-Liaison psychiatry has been recognised as 'The guardian of the holistic approach to the patient', underlining its pre-eminent role in the management of patients who are admitted in a tertiary care hospital. Aims/ Objectives: The aim of the study was to analyse the utilization of psychiatric services and reasons for referrals in a tertiary care hospital. Materials and Methods: The study was done in a tertiary care hospital. The study included all the cases referred from different Inpatient wards to the psychiatry department for consultation. The study was conducted on 300 patients over a 3 month period. International classification of diseases 10 was used to diagnose the referred cases. Results: The majority of the referral was from the Medical Intensive care unit (22%) followed by general medical wards (18.66%). Majority of the referral was taken for altered sensorium (24.66%), followed by low mood or unexplained medical symptoms (21%). Majority of the referrals had a diagnosis of alcohol withdrawal syndrome (21%) as per International classification of diseases criteria, followed by unipolar Depression and Anxiety disorder (~ 14%), followed by Schizophrenia (5%) and Polysubstance abuse (2.6%). Conclusions: Our study concludes the importance of utilization of consultation-liaison psychiatric services. Also, the study signifies the need for sensitization of our colleagues regarding psychiatric sign and symptoms from time to time and seek psychiatric consult timely to decrease morbidity.Keywords: consultation-liaison, psychiatry, referral, tertiary care hospital
Procedia PDF Downloads 1422866 Public Space, Environmental Violence and Female Vulnerability in Radwa Ashour’s Specters and Betool Khadiri’s Absent
Authors: Jihan Zakarriya
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This paper aims at examining the concepts of gender vulnerability, militarized spaces and environmental degradation in Egyptian novelist Radwa Ashour’s Specters (1999) and Iraqi novelist Betool Khadiri’s Absent (2005). Although the socio-economic, environmental and political conditions in the 1990s- Egypt and Iraq are different, this paper argues that Ashour’s Specters and Khadiri’s Absent show the two societies as sharing a concern with the politics of public participation, individual freedom and political violence. For example, while Specters exposes the planned processes of economic-political and cultural violence towards Egyptian environment and people that undermine concepts of justice, equality and democracy, Absent shows the destructive effects of the systematic, successive waves of (international) militarized interferences and socio-economic sanctions imposed on Iraq following the Gulf War that hinder efforts of social development and kindle ethnic-religious violence and polarization in the country. This paper investigates and relates issues of gender, environmental and political violence and repression in Ashour’s Specters and Khadiri’s Absent in relation to the concepts of public space and security in the two countries. The paper argues that the selected novels articulate a particular awareness of the political-international conflicts and difficulties in the 1990s-Egypt and Iraq, with the aim both to emphasize the issue of gender as a tool of oppression and power hierarchy worldwide and to figure out new notions of public participation and change.Keywords: gender violence, public space, environment, change
Procedia PDF Downloads 1322865 Autonomy in Pregnancy and Childbirth: The Next Frontier of Maternal Health Rights Advocacy
Authors: Alejandra Cardenas, Ona Flores, Fabiola Gretzinger
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Since the 1990s, legal strategies for the promotion and protection of maternal health rights have achieved significant gains. Successful litigation in courts around the world have shown that these rights can be judicially enforceable. Governments and international organizations have acknowledged the importance of a human rights-based approach to maternal mortality and morbidity, and obstetric violence has been recognized as a human rights issue. Despite the progress made, maternal mortality has worsened in some regions of the world, while progress has stagnated elsewhere, and mistreatment in maternal care is reported almost universally. In this context, issues of maternal autonomy and decision-making during pregnancy, labor, and delivery as a critical barrier to access quality maternal health have been largely overlooked. Indeed, despite the principles of autonomy and informed consent in medical interventions being well-established in international and regional norms, how they are applied particularly during childbirth and pregnancy remains underdeveloped. National and global legal standards and decisions related to maternal health were reviewed and analyzed to determine how maternal autonomy and decision-making during pregnancy, labor, and delivery have been protected (or not) by international and national courts. The results of this legal research and analysis lead to the conclusion that a few standards have been set by courts regarding pregnant people’s rights to make choices during pregnancy and birth; however, most undermine the agency of pregnant people. These decisions recognize obstetric violence and gender-based discrimination, but fail to protect pregnant people’s autonomy, privacy, and their right to informed consent. As current human rights standards stand today, maternal health is the only field in medicine and law in which informed consent can be overridden, and patients can be forced to submit to treatments against their will. Unconsented treatment and loss of agency during pregnancy and childbirth can have long-term physical and mental impacts, reduce satisfaction and trust in health systems, and may deter future health-seeking behaviors. This research proposes a path forward that focuses on the pregnant person as an independent agent, relying on the doctrine of self-determination during pregnancy and childbirth, which includes access to the necessary conditions to enable autonomy and choice throughout pregnancy and childbirth as a critical step towards our approaches to reduce maternal mortality, morbidity, and mistreatment, and realize the promise of access to quality maternal health as a human right.Keywords: autonomy in childbirth and pregnancy, choice, informed consent, jurisprudential analysis
Procedia PDF Downloads 462864 Impact of International Student Mobility on European and Global Identity: A Case Study of Switzerland
Authors: Karina Oborune
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International student mobility involves a unique spatio-temporal context and exploring the various aspects of mobile students’ experience can lead to new findings within identity studies. The previous studies have mainly focused on student mobility within Europe and its impact on European identity arguing that students who participate in intra-European mobility already feel European before exchange. Contrary to previous studies, in this paper student mobility is analyzed from different point of view. In order to see whether a true Europeanization of identities is taking place, it is necessary to contrast European identity with alternative supranational identity which could similarly result from student mobility and in particular a global identity. Besides, in the paper there is explored whether geographical constellation (host country continental location during mobility- Europe vs. outside of Europe) plays a role. Based on newly developed model of multicultural, social and socio-demographic variables there is argued that after intra-European mobility only global identity of students could be increased (H1), but the mobility to countries outside of Europe causes changes in European identity (H2). The quantitative study (survey, n=1440, 22 higher education institutions, experimental group of former and future/potential mobile students and control group of non-mobile students) was held in Switzerland where is equally high number of students who participate in intra-European and outside of Europe mobility. The results of multivariate linear regression showed that students who participate in exchange in Europe increase their European identity due to having close friends from Europe, as well as due to length of the mobility experience had impact, but students who participate in exchange outside of Europe increase their global identity due to having close friends from outside of Europe and proficiency in foreign languages.Keywords: student mobility, European identity, global identity, global identity
Procedia PDF Downloads 7192863 The Utility and the Consequences of Counter Terrorism Financing
Authors: Fatemah Alzubairi
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Terrorism financing is a theme that dramatically evolved post-9/11. Supra-national bodies, above all UN Security Council and the Financial Action Task Form (FATF), have established an executive-like mechanism, which allows blacklisting individuals and groups, freezing their funds, and restricting their travel, all of which have become part of states’ anti-terrorism frameworks. A number of problems arise from building counter-terrorism measures on the foundation of a vague definition of terrorism. This paper examines the utility and consequences of counter-terrorism financing with considering the lack of an international definition of terrorism. The main problem with national and international anti-terrorism legislation is the lack of a clear objective definition of terrorism. Most, if not all, national laws are broad and vague. Determining what terrorism remains the crucial underpinning of any successful discussion of counter-terrorism, and of the future success of counter-terrorist measures. This paper focuses on the legal and political consequences of equalizing the treatment of violent terrorist crimes, such as bombing, with non-violent terrorism-related crimes, such as funding terrorist groups. While both sorts of acts requires criminalization, treating them equally risks wrongfully or unfairly condemning innocent people who have associated with “terrorists” but are not involved in terrorist activities. This paper examines whether global obligations to counter terrorism financing focus on controlling terrorist groups more than terrorist activities. It also examines the utility of the obligations adopted by the UN Security Council and FATF, and whether they serve global security; or whether the utility is largely restricted to Western security, with little attention paid to the unique needs and demands of other regions.Keywords: counter-terrorism, definition of terrorism, FATF, security, terrorism financing, UN Security Council
Procedia PDF Downloads 3182862 Experimental Monitoring of the Parameters of the Ionosphere in the Local Area Using the Results of Multifrequency GNSS-Measurements
Authors: Andrey Kupriyanov
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In recent years, much attention has been paid to the problems of ionospheric disturbances and their influence on the signals of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) around the world. This is due to the increase in solar activity, the expansion of the scope of GNSS, the emergence of new satellite systems, the introduction of new frequencies and many others. The influence of the Earth's ionosphere on the propagation of radio signals is an important factor in many applied fields of science and technology. The paper considers the application of the method of transionospheric sounding using measurements from signals from Global Navigation Satellite Systems to determine the TEC distribution and scintillations of the ionospheric layers. To calculate these parameters, the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) model of the ionosphere, refined in the local area, is used. The organization of operational monitoring of ionospheric parameters is analyzed using several NovAtel GPStation6 base stations. It allows performing primary processing of GNSS measurement data, calculating TEC and fixing scintillation moments, modeling the ionosphere using the obtained data, storing data and performing ionospheric correction in measurements. As a result of the study, it was proved that the use of the transionospheric sounding method for reconstructing the altitude distribution of electron concentration in different altitude range and would provide operational information about the ionosphere, which is necessary for solving a number of practical problems in the field of many applications. Also, the use of multi-frequency multisystem GNSS equipment and special software will allow achieving the specified accuracy and volume of measurements.Keywords: global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), GPstation6, international reference ionosphere (IRI), ionosphere, scintillations, total electron content (TEC)
Procedia PDF Downloads 1742861 The Implementation of Organizational Ecoinnovativeness as an Expression of a Strategic Approach of an Organization
Authors: Marzena Hajduk-Stelmachowicz
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This paper presents the reasons why the implementation of the organizational eco-innovation (based on requirements of the International Standard ISO 14001) can be an expression of a strategic organization approach. An elaboration about different issues associated with the Environmental Management Systems are given.Keywords: envionmental management system, ISO 14001, organizational ecoinnovativeness, ecoinnovation
Procedia PDF Downloads 3082860 Immigrant Women's Voices and Integrating Feminism into Migration Theory
Authors: Florence Nyemba, Rufaro Chitiyo
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This work features the voices of women as they describe their experiences living in the diaspora either with their families or alone. The contributing authors of this work pursued this project to understand how the women’s personal lives (and those of their families back home) changed (both positively and negatively). The work addressed the following important questions, what is female migration? What are the factors causing women to migrate? What types of migration do women engage in? What is the influence of family relationships on migration? What are the challenges of migration? How do migrant women maintain ties with their home countries? What is the role of social networks in migration? How can feminist theories and methodologies be incorporated in migration studies? Women continue to contribute significantly to mass movements of people across the yet, their voices silent in the literature on migration. History shows that women have always been on the move trying to make a living just like their male counterparts. Whether they migrate as spouses, daughters, or alone, women make up a sizeable portion of migration statistics around the world. These women are migrating independently without the accompaniment of male relatives. This calls for the need to expand research on women as independent migrants without generalizing their experiences as in the case with early studies on international migration. The goal of this work is to offer a rich and detailed description of the lives of immigrant women across the globe using theoretical frameworks that advance gender and migration research. Methodology: This work invited scholars and researchers from across the globe whose research interests were in gender and migration. The work incorporated a variety of methodologies for data collection and analysis, which included oral narratives, interviews, systematic literature reviews and interviews. Conclusion: There is a considerable amount of interest in various topics on gender, violence, and equality throughout social science disciplines in higher education. Therefore, the three major topics covered in this work, Women’s Immigration: Theories and Methodologies, Women as Migrant Workers, and Women as Refugees, Asylees, and Permanent Migrants, can be of interest across social sciences disciplines. Feminist theories can expand the curriculum on identity and gendered roles and norms in societies. Findings of this work advance knowledge of population movements across the globe. This work will also appeal to students and scholars wanting to expand their knowledge on women and migration, migration theories, gender violence, and women empowerment. The topics and issues presented in this work will also assist the international community and lawyers concerned with global migration.Keywords: gender, feminism, identity formation, international migration
Procedia PDF Downloads 1272859 The Feasibility of Ratification of the United Nation Convention on Contracts for International Sale of Goods by Islamic Countries, Saudi Arabia as a Case
Authors: Ibrahim M. Alwehaibi
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Recently the windows of globalization weirdly open, which increase the trade between the Western countries and Muslim nations. Sales of goods contracts are one of the most common business transaction in the world. This commercial exchange has faced many obstacles. One of the most concerned obstacles is the conflicts between laws. Thus, United Nation created a Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). Some of Islamic countries have ratified the CISG, while other Islamic countries have concerns about the feasibility of ratification of the CISG, and many businessmen have a concern of application of the convention. The concerns related to the conflict between CISG and Sharia, and the long debate about the success, ambiguity, and stability of the CISG. Therefore, this research will examine the feasibility of Muslim countries and Muslim businessmen to adopt the CISG by following steps: First, this research will introduce sharia Law (Islamic contracts law) and CISG and provide backgrounds of both laws. Second, this research will compare the provisions of CISG and Sharia and figuring out the conflicts and provide possible solutions for the conflicts. Third, this study will examine the advantages and disadvantages of adopting the CISG and examining the success of the CISG. Fourth, this study will explore the current situation in Islamic countries by taking Saudi Arabia as a case and explore how the application of Sharia law works and the possibility to enforce the CISG and explore the current practice of foreign Sales in Saudi Arabia. The research finds that there are some conflicts between CISG and Sharia Law. The most notable conflicts are interest and uncertainty in considerations. Also, this research finds that it seems that ratification of CISG is not beneficial for Muslim countries because the convention has not reached its goal which is uniformity of laws. Moreover, the CISG has been excluded and ignored by businessmen and some courts. Additionally, this research finds that it could be possible to enforce CISG in Saudi Arabia, provided that no conflict between the enforced provision and Sharia Law. This study is following the competitive and analysis methodologies to reach its findings. The researcher analyzes the provision of CISG and compares them with Sharia rules and finds the conflicts and compatibilities. In fact, CISG has 101 articles, so a comprehensive comparison of all articles in CISG with Sharia is difficult. Thus, in order to deeply analyze all aspects of this issue, this study will exclude some areas of contract which have been discussed by other researchers such as deliver of goods, conformity, and mirror image rules. The comparative section of this study will focus on the most concerned articles that conflict or doubtful of conflict with Sharia, which are interest, uncertainty, statute of limitation, specific performance, and pass of risk.Keywords: Sharia, CISG, Contracts for International Sale of Goods, contracts, sale of goods, Saudi Arabia
Procedia PDF Downloads 1432858 The Sense of Recognition of Muslim Women in Western Academia
Authors: Naima Mohammadi
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The present paper critically reports on the emergency of Iranian international students in a large public university in Italy. Although the most sizeable diaspora of Iranians dates back to the 1979 revolution, a huge wave of Iranian female students travelled abroad after the Iranian Green Movement (2009) due to the intensification of gender discrimination and Islamization. To explore the experience of Iranian female students at an Italian public university, two complementary methods were adopted: a focus group and individual interviews. Focus groups yield detailed collective conversations and provide researchers with an opportunity to observe the interaction between participants, rather than between participant and researcher, which generates data. Semi-structured interviews allow participants to share their stories in their own words and speak about personal experiences and opinions. Research participants were invited to participate through a public call in a Telegram group of Iranian students. Theoretical and purposive sampling was applied to select participants. All participants were assured that full anonymity would be ensured and they consented to take part in the research. A two-hour focus group was held in English with participants in the presence and some online. They were asked to share their motivations for studying in Italy and talk about their experiences both within and outside the university context. Each of these interviews lasted from 45 to 60 minutes and was mostly carried out online and in Farsi. The focus group consisted of 8 Iranian female post-graduate students. In analyzing the data a blended approach was adopted, with a combination of deductive and inductive coding. According to research findings, although 9/11 was the beginning of the West’s challenges against Muslims, the nuclear threats of Islamic regimes promoted the toughest international sanctions against Iranians as a nation across the world. Accordingly, carrying an Iranian identity contributes to social, political, and economic exclusion. Research findings show that geopolitical factors such as international sanctions and Islamophobia, and a lack of reciprocity in terms of recognition, have created a sense of stigmatization for veiled and unveiled Iranian female students who are the largest groups of ‘non-European Muslim international students’ enrolled in Italian universities. Participants addressed how their nationality has devalued their public image and negatively impacted their self-confidence and self-realization in academia. They highlighted the experience of an unwelcoming atmosphere by different groups of people and institutes, such as receiving marked students’ badges, rejected bank account requests, failed visa processes, secondary security screening selection, and hyper-visibility of veiled students. This study corroborates the need for institutions to pay attention to geopolitical factors and religious diversity in student recruitment and provide support mechanisms and access to basic rights. Accordingly, it is suggested that Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have a social and moral responsibility towards the discrimination and both social and academic exclusion of Iranian students.Keywords: Iranian diaspora, female students, recognition theory, inclusive university
Procedia PDF Downloads 602857 Monitoring Prolong Use of Intravenous Antibiotics: Antimicrobial Stewardship
Authors: Komal Fizza
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Irrational and non-judicious use of antibiotics pave the way for an upsurge in antibiotic resistance, diminished effectiveness of different therapeutic regimens and as well as impounding effect on disease management leading to further morbidities. In the backdrop of this the current research is aimed to assess whether antimicrobial prescribing is in accordance with the Infectious Disease Society of America Guidelines in hospitalized patients at Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad, Pakistan. Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad is a 500 bed hospital. With the help of MIS team a form wad developed that gave the information about medical records number, name of the patient, day of start of antibiotic, the day antibiotic is supposed to be stopped and as well as the diagnosis of the patient. A ward pharmacist was employed to generate this report on a daily basis. The therapeutic regiment was reviewed by the pharmacist by monitoring the clinical progress, laboratory report and diagnosis. On the basis of this information, pharmacist made suggestions and forwarded to the hospital doctors responsible for prescribing antibiotics. If desired, changes were made regularly. In the current research our main focus was to implement this action and therefore, started monitoring patients who were on antibiotic regimens for more than 10-15 days. We took this initiative since November, 2013. At the start of the program a maximum 19 patients/day were reported to be on antibiotic regimen for more than 10-15 days. After the implementation of the initiative, the number of patients was decreased to fifteen patients per day in December, further decreased to 7 in the month of January and 9 and 6 in February and March respectively. The average patient census was 350. The current pilot study highlighted the role of pharmacist in initiating antibiotic stewardship programs in hospital settings.Keywords: stewardship, antibiotics, resistance, clinical process
Procedia PDF Downloads 3432856 Economic and Financial Crime, Forensic Accounting and Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs). Bibliometric Analysis
Authors: Monica Violeta Achim, Sorin Nicolae Borlea
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This aim of this work is to stress the needs for enhancing the role of forensic accounting in fighting economic and financial crime, in the context of the new international regulation movements in this area enhanced by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). Corruption, money laundering, tax evasion and other frauds significant hamper the economic growth and human development and, ultimately, the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The present paper also stresses the role of good governance in fighting the frauds, in order to achieve the most suitable sustainable development of the society. In this view, we made a bibliometric systematic review on forensic accounting and its contribution towards fraud detection and prevention and theirs relationship with good governance and Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs). In this view, two powerful bibliometric visual software tools, VosViewer and CiteSpace are used in order to analyze published papers identifies in Scopus and Web of Science databases over the time. Our findings reveal the main red flags identified in literature as used tools by forensic accounting, the evolution in time of the interest of the topic, the distribution in space among world countries and connectivity with patterns of a good governance. Visual designs and scientific maps are useful to show these findings, in a visual way. Our findings are useful for managers and policy makers to provide important avenues that may help in reaching the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, in the area of using forensic accounting in preventing frauds.Keywords: forensic accounting, frauds, red flags, SDGs
Procedia PDF Downloads 1252855 The Curse of Natural Resources: An Empirical Analysis Applied to the Case of Copper Mining in Zambia
Authors: Chomba Kalunga
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Many developing countries have a rich endowment of natural resources. Yet, amidst that wealth, living standards remain poor. At the same time, international markets have been surged with an increase in copper prices in the last twenty years. This is a presentation of the findings on the causal economic impact of Zambia’s copper mines, a country located in sub-Saharan Africa endowed with vast copper deposits on living standards using household data from 1996 to 2010, exploiting an episode where the copper prices on the international market were rising. Using an Instrumental Variable approach and controlling for constituency-level and microeconomic factors, the results show a significant impact of copper production on living standards. After splitting the constituencies close to and far away from the nearest mine, the results document that constituencies close to the mines benefited significantly from the increase in copper production, compared to their counterparts through increased levels of employment. Finally, the results are not consistent with the natural resource curse hypothesis; findings show a positive causal relationship between the presence of natural resources and socioeconomic outcomes in less developed countries, particularly for constituencies close to the mines in Zambia. Some key policy implications follow from the findings. The finding that increased copper production led to an increase in employment suggests that, in Zambias’ context, policies that promote local employment may be more beneficial to residents. Meaning that it is government policies that can help improve the living standards were government needs to work towards making this impact more substantial.Keywords: copper prices, local development, mining, natural resources
Procedia PDF Downloads 2032854 Strategies for a Sustainable Future of Forest and Tribal Peoples on This Planet
Authors: Dharmpal Singh
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The objective of this proposed project is to relocation and resettlement of carnivores tribal communities who are currently residing in the protected forest land in all over the world just like resettlement project of the carnivores tribal families of Mongia who at past were residing in Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve (RTR) and had caused excess damage of endangered species of wildlife including Tigers. At present several tribal communities are residing in the another national parks and they not only consuming the wild animals but also involved in illegal trading of vital organs, skin and bones with National and international traders. Tribal are ideally suited for the job because they are highly skilled game trackers and due to having had a definite source of income over the years, they easily drawn in to the illegal wildlife trade and slaughter of wild animals. Their income is increasing but wild animals are on the brink of extinction. For the conservation of flora and fauna the rehabilitation process should be thought out according to the RTR project (which not only totally change the quality of life of mongia tribal community but also increased the conopy cover of forest and grass due to reduced the biotic pressure on protected land of forest in Rajasthan state) with appropriate understanding of the sociology of the people involved, their culture, education standard and the need of different skills to be acquired by them for sustenance such as agriculture, dairy, poultry, social forestry, job as forest guard and others eco-development programmes. Perhaps, the dimensions presented by me may generate discussion among the international wild life lovers and conservationists and remedies may be result oriented in the field of management of forest and conservation of wildlife on this planet.Keywords: strategies, rehablety of tribals, conservation of forest, eco-development Programmes, wildlife
Procedia PDF Downloads 4262853 Promoting Gender Diversity in the UN Peacekeeping Operations: An Analysis of Factors Influencing Female Military Troops Deployment
Authors: Rahab Kisio
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The persistent underrepresentation of female miltary in United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions remains a critical concern for addressing the multifaceted challenges in conflict-affected regions. This research explores the factors influencing countries’ decisions to deploy female military troops to UN peacekeeping operations, examining data ranging from 2010 to 2020. The study highlights the urgent need for policymakers and international organizations to recognize gender equality as key instrument in dealing with sexual exploitation and abuse within these missions. The study suggests three reasons for the low female military troops deployment. Firstly, countries actively breaking down barriers for women in the workforce are more likely to send female military troops. Secondly, nations supporting women in politics are more likely to deploy female military troops, showing their value for gender equality. Lastly, countries with a history of conflict may send more female military troops to align with the UN's call and potentially gain international support in future conflicts. Theoretical approaches are presented to explore these motivations further, and the study uses negative binomial regression with country-year as the unit of analysis to test various explanations for a country's contribution of female military troops to UN peacekeeping missions. Findings shows that there is a connection between troop contributing countries’ gender equality and the participation of female military troops in peacekeeping operations. Nations that prioritize gender equality and empower women have a higher likelihood of deploying more female military personnel. The study emphasizes the significance of women in political leadership, indicating that countries actively addressing barriers to women's political representation are more willing to contribute higher numbers of female military troops to peacekeeping missions. While the research supports hypotheses related to gender equality and political representation, it finds no significant evidence that a country's history of conflict directly influences the deployment of female military troops in other conflict-ridden nations. This research contributes valuable insights into gender equality within peacekeeping forces, shedding light on factors influencing the deployment of female military personnel. The implications underscore the importance of actively addressing discrimination, promoting women's political participation, and understanding the influence of a nation's conflict history. The interdisciplinary nature of this work calls for collaborative efforts from policymakers, international organization, and researchers to formulate strategies for effectively increasing female military troops participation in UN peacekeepingKeywords: UN peacekeeping, gender diversity, female military troops, discrimination
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