Search results for: norm inequality

Authors: Goodness Thandi Ntuli

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Some cultural aspects in the African context have a tendency of uplifting women while some thrust them into the worst denigration scenarios; hence African Women Theologians refer to culture as a ‘double edged sword. Through socialization and internalization of social norms, some women become custodians of life, denying aspects of the culture that are against them and hand them down to the next generation. This indirectly contributes to the perpetuation of patriarchal tendencies wherein women themselves uphold and endorse such tendencies to their own detriment. One of the findings of the empirical research study conducted among the Zulu young women in the South African context was that, on the one hand, lobola (the bride-price) is one of the cultural practices that contribute a great deal in the vilification of women. On the other hand, a woman whose lobola has been paid is highly esteemed in the cultural context not only by society at large but also by the implicated woman who takes pride in it. Consequently, lobola becomes an ambiguous cultural practice. Thus from the postcolonial feminist perspective, this paper examines and critiques lobola practice while also disclosing and exposing its deep seated cultural reinforcement that is life denying to women. The paper elucidates the original lobola as a cultural practice before colonization and how it became commercialized during colonial times. With commercialization in the modern world, lobola has completely lost its preliminary meaning and ceased to be a life-giving cultural practice, particularly for women. It turned out to be the worst cultural practice that demeans women to the extent that it becomes suicidal to women dignity because, in marriage, they become objects or property to the men who purchased them. Women objectification in marriage does not only leave them culturally trapped in what was perceived to be a good practice, but it also leads to women abuse and gender based or domestic violence. The research has indicated that this kind of violence is escalating and has become so pervasive in the South African context that the country is rated as one of the capital cities of violence against women in the world. Therefore, this paper demonstrates how cultural practices at times indirectly contribute to this national scourge that needs to be condemned, disparaged and rejected. Women in the African context where such cultural activities are still viewed as a norm are in desperate need for true liberation from such ambiguous cultural practices that leave them in the margins in spite of the earned social status they might have achieved.

Keywords: african, ambiguity, critique, culture, feminist, lobola, postcolonial, society

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Authors: Rosario Carmona

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This article aims to discuss the importance of indigenous people participation in climate change mitigation and adaptation. Specifically, it analyses different understandings of climate vulnerability among diverse actors involved in climate change policies in Chile: indigenous people, state officials, and academics. These data were collected through participant observation and interviews conducted during October 2017 and January 2019 in Chile. Following Karen O’Brien, there are two types of vulnerability, outcome vulnerability and contextual vulnerability. How vulnerability to climate change is understood determines the approach, which actors are involved and which knowledge is considered to address it. Because climate change is a very complex phenomenon, it is necessary to transform the institutions and their responses. To do so, it is fundamental to consider these two perspectives and different types of knowledge, particularly those of the most vulnerable, such as indigenous people. For centuries and thanks to a long coexistence with the environment, indigenous societies have elaborated coping strategies, and some of them are already adapting to climate change. Indigenous people from Chile are not an exception. But, indigenous people tend to be excluded from decision-making processes. And indigenous knowledge is frequently seen as subjective and arbitrary in relation to science. Nevertheless, last years indigenous knowledge has gained particular relevance in the academic world, and indigenous actors are getting prominence in international negotiations. There are some mechanisms that promote their participation (e.g., Cancun safeguards, World Bank operational policies, REDD+), which are not absent from difficulties. And since 2016 parties are working on a Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform. This paper also explores the incidence of this process in Chile. Although there is progress in the participation of indigenous people, this participation responds to the operational policies of the funding agencies and not to a real commitment of the state with this sector. The State of Chile omits a review of the structure that promotes inequality and the exclusion of indigenous people. In this way, climate change policies could be configured as a new mechanism of coloniality that validates a single type of knowledge and leads to new territorial control strategies, which increases vulnerability.

Keywords: indigenous knowledge, climate change, vulnerability, Chile

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Authors: Iman Shabanzadeh

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In terms of its geopolitical position, Iran has been one of the main centers of migration movements in the world in recent decades. However, the policy makers' lack of preparation in completing the cycle of social integration of these immigrants, especially the second and third generation, has caused these people to always be prone to leave the country and immigrate to developed and industrialized countries. In this research, the issue of integration of immigrants in Iran from the perspective of four indicators, "Identity Documents", "Access to Banking Services", "Access to Health and Treatment Services" and "Obtaining a Driver's License" will be analyzed. The research method is descriptive-analytical. To collect information, library and document sources in the field of laws and regulations related to immigrants' rights in Iran, semi-structured interviews with experts have been used. The investigations of this study show that none of the residence documents of immigrants in Iran guarantee the full enjoyment of basic citizenship rights for them. In fact, the function of many of these identity documents, such as the census card, educational support card, etc., is only to prevent crossing the border, and none of them guarantee the basic rights of citizenship. Therefore, for many immigrants, the difference between legality and illegality is only in the risk of crossing the border, and this has led to the spread of the habit of illegal presence for them. Despite this, it seems that there is no clear and coherent policy framework around the issue of foreign immigrants in the country. This policy incoherence can be clearly seen in the diversity and plurality of identity and legal documents of the citizens present in the country and the policy maker's lack of planning to integrate and organize the identity of this huge group. Examining the differences and socioeconomic inequalities between immigrants and the native Iranian population shows that immigrants have been poorly integrated into the structures of Iranian society from an economic and social point of view.

Keywords: immigrants, social integration, citizen services, structural inequality

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Authors: Muuz Abraha Meshesha

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Illegal Migration, specifically Trafficking in person is one of the primary issues of the day affecting all states of the world with variation on the extent of the root causes and consequences that led people to migrate irregularly and the consequences it is costing on humanity. This paper intends to investigate the root causes and consequences of illegal migration in Ethiopia’s Tigray Regional state and come up with alternative intervening strategy. To come up with pertinent and robust research finding, this study employed mixed research approach involving qualitative and quantitative data in line with purposive and snow ball sampling selection technique. The study revealed that, though poverty is the most commonly sensed pushing factor for people to illegally migrate, the issue of psycho-social orientation and attitudinal immersion of the local community for illegal migration, both in thinking and action is the most pressing problem that urges serious intervention. Trafficking in persons and Illegal migration in general, is becoming the norm of the day in the study area that overtly reveal illegal migration is an issue beyond livelihood securing demand in practice. Basically, parties engaged in illegal migration and the accomplice with human traffickers these days in the study area are found to be more than urgency for food security and a need to escape from livelihood impoverishment. Therefore, this study come up with a new paradigm insight indicating that illegal migration is believed by the local community members as an optional path way of doing business in illegal way while the attitude of the community and officials authorized to regulate is being part of the channel or to the least tolerant of this grave global danger. The study also found that the effect of illegal migration is significantly manifested in long run than in short term periods. Therefore, a need for critical consideration on attitudinal based intervention and youth oriented and enforceable legal and policy framework accountability framework is required to face and control illegal migration by international, national, local stakeholders. Besides this, economy based development interventions that could engage and reorient the youth, as primary victims of trafficking, and expansion of large scale projects that can employ large number of youths at a time.

Keywords: human traficking, illegal migration, migration, tigray region

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Authors: Raul Guerrero, Sandro Machado, Miriam Carvalho

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Soil and aquifer pollution, caused by hydrocarbon liquid spilling, is induced by misguided operational practices and inefficient safety guidelines. According to the Environmental Brazilian Institute (IBAMA), during 2013 alone, over 472.13 m3 of diesel oil leaked into the environment nationwide for those reported cases only. Regarding the aforementioned information, there’s an indisputable need to adopt appropriate environmental safeguards specially in those areas intended for the production, treatment, transportation and storage of hydrocarbon fluids. According to Brazilian norm, ABNT-NBR 7505-1:2000, compacted soil or mineral barriers used in structural contingency levees, such as storage tanks, are required to present a maximum water permeability coefficient, k, of 1x10-6 cm/s. However, as discussed by several authors, water can not be adopted as the reference fluid to determine the site’s containment performance against organic fluids. Mainly, due to the great discrepancy observed in polarity values (dielectric constant) between water and most organic fluids. Previous studies, within this same research group, proposed an optimal range of values for the soil’s index properties for mineral barrier composition focused on organic fluid containment. Unfortunately, in some circumstances, it is not possible to encounter a type of soil with the required geotechnical characteristics near the containment site, increasing prevention and construction costs, as well as environmental risks. For these specific cases, the use of an organic product or material as an additive to enhance mineral-barrier containment performance may be an attractive geotechnical solution. This paper evaluates the effect of activated carbon (AC) content additions into a clayey soil towards hydrocarbon fluid permeability. Variables such as compaction energy, carbon texture and addition content (0%, 10% and 20%) were analyzed through laboratory falling-head permeability tests using distilled water and commercial diesel as percolating fluids. The obtained results showed that the AC with smaller particle-size reduced k values significantly against diesel, indicating a direct relationship between particle-size reduction (surface area increase) of the organic product and organic fluid containment.

Keywords: activated carbon, clayey soils, permeability, surface area

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Authors: Nayara Torres B. Acioli, José Fernando T. Jucá

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The uncontrolled emission of gases in urban residues' embankment located near urban areas is a social and environmental problem, common in Brazilian cities. Several environmental impacts in the local and global scope may be generated by atmospheric air contamination by the biogas resulted from the decomposition of solid urban materials. In Brazil, the cities of small size figure mostly with 90% of all cities, with the population smaller than 50,000 inhabitants, according to the 2011 IBGE' census, most of the landfill covering layer is composed of clayey, pure soil. The embankments undertaken with pure soil may reach up to 60% of retention of methane, for the other 40% it may be dispersed into the atmosphere. In face of this figures the oxidative covering layer is granted some space of study, envisaging to reduce this perceptual available in the atmosphere, releasing, in spite of methane, carbonic gas which is almost 20 times as less polluting than Methane. This paper exposes the results of studies on the characteristics of the soil used for the oxidative coverage layer of the experimental embankment of Solid Urban Residues (SUR), built in Muribeca-PE, Brazil, supported of the Group of Solid Residues (GSR), located at Federal University of Pernambuco, through laboratory vacuum experiments (determining the characteristics curve), granularity, and permeability, that in soil with saturation over 85% offers dramatic drops in the test of permeability to the air, by little increments of water, based in the existing Brazilian norm for this procedure. The suction was studied, as in the other tests, from the division of prospection of an oxidative coverage layer of 60cm, in the upper half (0.1 m to 0.3 m) and lower half (0.4 m to 0.6 m). Therefore, the consequences to be presented from the lixiviation of the fine materials after 5 years of finalization of the embankment, what made its permeability increase. Concerning its humidity, it is most retained in the upper part, that comprises the compound, with a difference in the order of 8 percent the superior half to inferior half, retaining the least suction from the surface. These results reveal the efficiency of the oxidative coverage layer in retaining the rain water, it has a lower cost when compared to the other types of layer, offering larger availability of this layer as an alternative for a solution for the appropriate disposal of residues.

Keywords: oxidative coverage layer, permeability, suction, saturation

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Authors: Nurunnaher Nurunnaher

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This paper examines the impact of women’s participation in microcredit on women’s decision making in the slum areas of Dhaka city, Bangladesh. There is confusion in the literature about whether women’s empowerment is or is not a trickle down impact of poverty alleviation or household well-being, and the studies use more or less similar indicators to measure the status of household and the status of women. Studies very rarely conceptualize and operationalize the term ‘empowerment’ as the word is often used without proper care by policy makers and development practitioners instead of household wellbeing. Currently, decision making in many studies has been used as an indicator of women’s empowerment when assessing the impact of microcredit programs on women. Based on a qualitative and feminist study this paper operationalizes women’s empowerment through the development of a conceptual framework, the identification of assessment criteria and the development of proper indicators that guided the whole study. The testimonies of participants, both men and women, were the basis of exploration of women’s lived experiences, which is the most appropriate method to explore the impact of such programs on women’s empowerment. The study considers empowerment as a process that affects various levels of life and gender relationships. The study found that there is a positive change in women’s position in decision making when women have developed an independent economic base with credit money. However, predominantly, women’s decision making is shared with men with the final decision still in the men’s hands. It can be said that women’s microcredit participation has not significantly challenged the social norms, therefore it is not surprising that women who hand over credit to their husband rarely have any power in intra-household bargaining process. Nevertheless, overall it is evident that women are continuously struggling toward the freedom to have the authority over household, economic and personal matters. It is concluded that while making strategic choices or gaining empowerment requires several steps, women’s participation in decision-making has several implications on their lives and potentially challenges patriarchy.

Keywords: women, gender inequality/equality, decision making, empowerment, microcredit, slums, Dhaka, Bangladesh

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Authors: Yori Gidron, Maartje Mol, Norbert Foudraine, Frits Van Osch, Joop Van Den Bergh, Moshe Farchi, Maud Straus

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Background: The worldwide pandemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV2), which began in 2019, also known as Covid-19, has infected over 136 million people and tragically took the lives of over 2.9 million people worldwide. Many of the complications and deaths are predicted by the inflammatory “cytokine storm.” One way to progress in the prevention of death is by finding a predictive and protective factor that inhibits inflammation, on the one hand, and which also increases anti-viral immunity on the other hand. The vagal nerve does precisely both actions. This study examined whether vagal nerve activity, indexed by heart-rate variability (HRV), predicts survival in patients with Covid-19. Method: We performed a pseudo-prospective study, where we retroactively obtained ECGs of 271 Covid-19 patients arriving at a large regional hospital in The Netherlands. HRV was indexed by the standard deviation of the intervals between normal heartbeats (SDNN). We examined patients’ survival at 3 weeks and took into account multiple confounders and known prognostic factors (e.g., age, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension). Results: Patients’ mean age was 68 (range: 25-95) and nearly 22% of the patients had died by 3 weeks. Their mean SDNN (17.47msec) was far below the norm (50msec). Importantly, relatively higher HRV significantly predicted a higher chance of survival, after statistically controlling for patients’ age, cardiac diseases, hypertension and diabetes (relative risk, H.R, and 95% confidence interval (95%CI): H.R = 0.49, 95%CI: 0.26 – 0.95, p < 0.05). However, since HRV declines rapidly with age and since age is a profound predictor in Covid-19, we split the sample by median age (40). Subsequently, we found that higher HRV significantly predicted greater survival in patients older than 70 (H.R = 0.35, 95%CI: 0.16 – 0.78, p = 0.01), but HRV did not predict survival in patients below age 70 years (H.R = 1.11, 95%CI: 0.37 – 3.28, p > 0.05). Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study showing that higher vagal nerve activity, as indexed by HRV, is an independent predictor of higher chances for survival in Covid-19. The results are in line with the protective role of the vagal nerve in diseases and extend this to a severe infectious illness. Studies should replicate these findings and then test in controlled trials whether activating the vagus nerve may prevent mortality in Covid-19.

Keywords: Covid-19, heart-rate Variability, prognosis, survival, vagal nerve

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Authors: Mukondi Nethavhakone

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The high prevalence of violence against women is a global public health problem. Our societies have become dangerous places for women. Women during their child-bearing ages are at a higher risk of experiencing emotional, physical, and sexual violence. What makes it more concerning is that these violent acts are perpetrated by family members or partners, or ex-partners. Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is associated with long-lasting physical, reproductive, sexual, mental, and maternal health implications. Expectedly women’s mental health would dimmish as a result of experiencing IPV. The burden of violence against women is seen to be heavier in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared to the rest of the world. Countries have committed to eliminating all forms of violence against women through the sustainable development goal, aiming to see changes by the year 2030. As such, various countries have implemented psychosocial interventions of different levels of impact. However, little is known, especially in low- and middle-income countries, with regard to the potential of psychosocial interventions for IPV to improve the mental health outcomes for the survivors and/or victims of IPV. Analysing the risk for IPV through a social-ecological theoretical approach, low- and middle-income countries still readdressing gender inequality which is the cause of intimate partner violence. That is why it is taking time for these countries to shift psychosocial interventions to focus more on the improvement of the mental health of the survivors. It is, therefore, against this backdrop that the researcher intends to undertake a scoping review to understand the nature and characteristics of psychosocial interventions that have been implemented in low- and middle-income countries. With the findings from the scoping review, the researcher aims to develop a conceptual framework that may be a useful resource for healthcare practitioners and researchers in low- and middle-income countries. As this area of research has not been thoroughly reviewed, the results from this scoping will determine whether a systematic review will be justifiable. Additionally, the researcher will identify gaps and opportunities for future research in this area.

Keywords: mental health improvement, psychosocial interventions, intimate partner violence, LMICs

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Authors: Maryam Umar Ladan, Arshad Munir

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Poverty has always been a constant feature of society throughout history. It has existed in the lives of people and it is a fact that although the majority of people lives in poverty, the remaining minority lives in luxury. While some countries called the first World countries lives in luxury, the third World countries lives in poverty. It remains an undesirable phenomenon affecting a vast number of people across the globe despite governmental, institutional and private organizations’ interventions with measures aimed at cushioning its adverse effects. Unequal distribution of societal resources, accumulated wealth in the hands of few, lack of access to education and employment, individual responsibility among others, were highlighted as factors associated with poverty. Poverty predisposes the poor individual to malnutrition and starvation, exposure to disease, thereby resulting to violence, crimes, and experiencing lifelong problems. Evidence show that about 50 percent of the world population lives on less than 2.50 dollar a day, 90 percent of whom are from Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia including countries where Islam is the major if not one adherent religion. As a solution to poverty, Islam prescribes a system of annual Zakat (charity). The Islamic law prescribes that every person who has a saving that reaches a certain limit should give out 2.5 percent of the total annual earning (as in income, money, farm produce) to deserving and prescribed citizens. This is to, among others; reduce the level of inequality through distribution of wealth among the Muslim Ummah (community). Furthermore, Islam encourages the rich in several places in the Qur’an to spend their wealth on poor people other than the compulsory 2.5%. Therefore, it is inarguable that the Islamic system of distribution of resources (as zakat) is the best strategy to poverty eradication. Thus, strongly recommended for desired results in poverty eradication efforts. If every rich person gives Zakat sincerely, poverty will be eradicated in the world, and not a single person will die of want of food or material things.

Keywords: Islam, charity, poverty, zakat

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Authors: Nur Aziza Luxfiati

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Clustering is partitioning data sets into sub-sets or groups in such a way that elements certain properties have shared property settings with a high level of similarity within one group and a low level of similarity between groups. . The K-Means algorithm is one of thealgorithmsclustering as a grouping tool that is most widely used in scientific and industrial applications because the basic idea of the kalgorithm is-means very simple. In this research, applying the technique of clustering using the k-means algorithm as a method of solving the problem of national development imbalances between regions in Central Java Province based on macroeconomic indicators. The data sample used is secondary data obtained from the Central Java Provincial Statistics Agency regarding macroeconomic indicator data which is part of the publication of the 2019 National Socio-Economic Survey (Susenas) data. score and determine the number of clusters (k) using the elbow method. After the clustering process is carried out, the validation is tested using themethodsBetween-Class Variation (BCV) and Within-Class Variation (WCV). The results showed that detection outlier using z-score normalization showed no outliers. In addition, the results of the clustering test obtained a ratio value that was not high, namely 0.011%. There are two district/city clusters in Central Java Province which have economic similarities based on the variables used, namely the first cluster with a high economic level consisting of 13 districts/cities and theclustersecondwith a low economic level consisting of 22 districts/cities. And in the cluster second, namely, between low economies, the authors grouped districts/cities based on similarities to macroeconomic indicators such as 20 districts of Gross Regional Domestic Product, with a Poverty Depth Index of 19 districts, with 5 districts in Human Development, and as many as Open Unemployment Rate. 10 districts.

Keywords: clustering, K-Means algorithm, macroeconomic indicators, inequality, national development

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Authors: S. Anastasiou, C. Nathanailides, S. Logothetis, G. Kanlis

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The Greek aquaculture industry is second most important economic sector for the growth of the Greek Economy. The purpose of the present work is to present some data for the management challenges that the Aquaculture industry in Greece is currently facing. Currently the Greek aquaculture industry is going through a series of mergers and restructure. The financial status of the different aquaculture companies, the working conditions and management practices may vary according to lending exposure, market mix, company size, and technological parameters of the different fish farm units and rearing systems. Frequently, the aquaculture personnel are exposed to harsh environmental conditions and to occupational risk. Furthermore, there is pressure on the personnel of fish farms to constantly improve their production efficiency and to enhance their work skills to the new methods and practices which are adopted by the aquaculture industry. There is some data to suggest the existence of gender inequality in the workforce of Greek fish farms. Women are paid less, frequently absent higher managerial positions and most of the male workmates consider the job to harsh for women. Nevertheless, high level of job satisfaction was observed in both men and women. This high level of job satisfaction of the aquaculture personnel can be attributed, at least partially, to the nature of the work which has a very distinct working environment but most of the staff has very positive experiences with the interaction with their workmates and the satisfaction of being in a business which always exceeds its production target. Indeed, there is some evidence to suggest that the Greek aquaculture industry is always exceeding its production targets, while it is rapidly adopting and improving new technology, constantly improving of human resources management practices, which include constant training of the staff, very good communication channels between management and the personnel and reducing the risk of occupational hazard to the aquaculture personnel. All these parameters of management may have a determining role for the volume and quality of the production and future of this sector in Greece.

Keywords: aquaculture, fish quality, management, production targets

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Authors: Sheel Chakraborty

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Modern society in developed countries has distanced itself from the earlier norm of joint family living, and with the increase of economic pressure, parents' availability for their children during their infant years has been consistently decreasing over the past three decades. During the same time, the pre-primary education system - built mainly on the developmental psychology theory framework of Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky, has been promoted in the US through the legislature and funding. Early care and education may have a positive impact on young minds, but a growing number of kids facing social challenges in making friendships in their teenage years raises serious concerns about its effectiveness. The survey-based primary research presented here shows a statistically significant number of millennials between the ages of 10 and 25 prefer to build friendships virtually than face-to-face interactions. Moreover, many teenagers depend more on their virtual friends whom they never met. Contrary to the belief that early social interactions in a non-home setup make the kids confident and more prepared for the real world, many shy-natured kids seem to develop a sense of shakiness in forming social relationships, resulting in loneliness by the time they are young adults. Reflecting on George Mead’s theory of self that is made up of “I” and “Me”, most functioning homes provide the required freedom and forgivable, congenial environment for building the "I" of a toddler; however, daycare or preschools can barely match that. It seems social images created from the expectations perceived by preschoolers “Me" in a non-home setting may interfere and greatly overpower the formation of a confident "I" thus creating a crisis around the inability to form friendships face to face when they grow older. Though the pervasive nature of social media can’t be ignored, the non-parental early care and education practices adopted largely by the urban population have created a favorable platform of teen psychology on which social media popularity thrived, especially providing refuge to shy Gen-Z teenagers. This can explain why young adults today perceive social media as their preferred outlet of expression and a place to form dependable friendships, despite the risk of being cyberbullied.

Keywords: digital socialization, shyness, developmental psychology, friendship, early education

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Authors: Joanna Wozniak-Holecka, Sylwia Jaruga-Sekowska

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There are 45 statutory spa and treatment areas in Poland, and the demand for spa and treatment services increases year by year. Within each type of spa treatment facilities, nutritional education services are provided. During spa treatment, the patient learns the principles of rational nutrition and applied diet therapy. It should help him develop proper eating habits, which will also follow at home. However, the nutrition education system of spa resort patients should be considered as very imperfect and requiring a definite systemic correction. It has, at the same time, a wide human and infrastructure base, which guarantees to obtain positive reinforcement in the scope of undertaken activities and management. Unfortunately, this advantage is not fully used. The aim of the project was to assess the quality of implemented nutritional education and to assess the diet of patients in spa treatment entities from a nationwide perspective. The material for the study was data obtained as part of an in-depth interview conducted among nutrition department managers (25 interviews) and a survey addressed to patients (600 questionnaires) of a selected group of spa resorts from across the country about the implementation of nutritional education in institutions. Also, decade menus for the basic diet, easily digestible diet and diet with limitation of easily digestible carbohydrates (a total of 1,120 menus) were obtained for the study. Almost 2/3 of respondents (73.2%) were overweight or obese, but only 32.8% decided on an easily digestible or low-energy diet during the treatment. Most of the surveyed patients rated the nutrition in spa resorts as satisfactory. Classes on nutrition education were carried out mainly by a dietitian (65% of meetings), the other educators were doctors and nurses. The meetings (95%) were of a group nature and lasted only 30 minutes on average. The subjects of the classes concerned the principles of proper nutrition and composition of meals, a nutrition pyramid and a diet adapted to a given disease. The assessed menus did not meet the nutrition standards and, therefore, did not provide patients with the correct quality of nutrition. The norm of protein, fat, vitamin A, B12, phosphorus, iron and sodium was exceeded, while vitamin D, folic acid, magnesium and zinc were not enough than recommended. The study allowed to conclude that there is a large discrepancy between the recommendations presented during the nutrition education classes and the quality of diet implemented in the examined institutions. The project may contribute to the development of effective educational tools in nutrition, especially about a specific group of chronically ill patients.

Keywords: diet, management, nutritional education, spa resort

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Authors: Olanike A. Ojo, Akindele M. Ojo, Jacob H. Tsado, Ramatu U. Kutigi

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The study was carried out on analysis of the effect of farmers’ socio-economic factors on the net farm income of catfish farmers in Kwara State, Nigeria. Primary data were collected from selected catfish farmers with the aid of well-structured questionnaire and a multistage sampling technique was used to select 102 catfish farmers in the area. The analytical techniques involved the use of descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis. The findings of the analysis of socio-economic characteristics of catfish farmers reveal that 60% of the catfish farmers in the study area were male gender which implied the existence of gender inequality in the area. The mean age of 47 years was an indication that they were at their economically productive age and could contribute positively to increased production of catfish in the area. Also, the mean household size was five while the mean year of experience was five. The latter implied that the farmers were experienced in fishing techniques, breeding and fish culture which would assist in generating more revenue, reduce cost of production and eventual increase in profit levels of the farmers. The result also revealed that stock capacity (X3), accessibility to credit (X7) and labour (X4) were the main determinants of catfish production in the area. In addition, farmer’s sex, household size, no of ponds, distance of the farm from market, access to credit were the main socio-economic factors influencing the net farm income of the catfish farmers in the area. The most serious constraints militating against catfish production in the study area were high mortality rate, insufficient market, inadequate credit facilities/ finance and inadequate skilled labour needed for daily production routine. Based on the findings, it is therefore recommended that, to reduce the mortality rate of catfish extension agents should organize training workshops on improved methods and techniques of raising catfish right from juvenile to market size.

Keywords: credit, income, stock, mortality

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Authors: Laxuman Thakuri

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Community-based forest management is often glorified as one of the best forest management alternatives in the developing countries like Nepal. It is also believed that the transfer of forest management authorities to local communities is decisive to take efficient decisions, maximize the forest benefits and improve the people’s livelihood. The community forestry of Nepal also aims to maximize the forest benefits; share them among the user households and improve their livelihood. However, how the local communities fix the price of forest products and local pricing made by the forest user groups affects to equitable forest benefits-sharing among the user households and their livelihood improvement objectives, the answer is largely silent among the researchers and policy-makers alike. This study examines local pricing system of forest products in the lowland community forestry and its effects on equitable benefit-sharing and livelihood improvement objectives. The study discovered that forest user groups fixed the price of forest products based on three criteria: i) costs incur in harvesting, ii) office operation costs, and iii) livelihood improvement costs through community development and income generating activities. Since user households have heterogeneous socio-economic conditions, the forest user groups have been applied low pricing strategy even for high-value forest products that the access of socio-economically worse-off households can be increased. However, the results of forest products distribution showed that as a result of low pricing strategy the access of socio-economically better-off households has been increasing at higher rate than worse-off and an inequality situation has been created. Similarly, the low pricing strategy is also found defective to livelihood improvement objectives. The study suggests for revising the forest products pricing system in community forest management and reforming the community forestry policy as well.

Keywords: community forestry, forest products pricing, equitable benefit-sharing, livelihood improvement, Nepal

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Authors: Mersha Tewodros Getnet, Mengistu Ketema, Bamlaku Alemu, Girma Demilew

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The availability of forest products determines the possibilities for forest-based livelihood options. Plantation forest is a widespread economic activity in highland areas of the Amhara regional state, owing primarily to degradation and limited access to natural forests. As a result, tree plantation has become one of the rural livelihood options in the area. Therefore, given the increasing importance of smallholder plantations in highland areas of Amhara Regional States, the aim of this research was to evaluate the extent of smallholder plantations and their socio-economic impact. To address the abovementioned research, a sequential embedded mixed research design was employed. This qualitative and quantitative information was gathered from both primary and secondary sources. Primary data were collected from 385 sample households, which were chosen using a three-stage, multi-stage sampling method based on the Cochran sample size formula. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Smallholder eucalyptus plantations in the study area were discovered to be common, and they are now part of the livelihood portfolio for meeting both household wood consumption and generating cash income. According to the PSM model's ATT results, income from selling farm forest products certainly contributes more to total household income, farm expenditure per cultivated land, and education spending than non-planter households. As a result, the government must strengthen plantation practices by prioritizing specific intervention areas while implementing measures to counteract the plantation's inequality-increasing effect through a variety of means, including progressive taxation.

Keywords: smallholder plantation, Eucalyptus, propensity score matching, average treatment effect and income

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Authors: Masnur Marzuki

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As in other democratic countries, the constitutional court of Indonesia has the role of interpreting and applying the Constitution in order to preserve its supremacy testing the constitutionality of statutes. With its strong power to enforce and guard the Constitution, the court is now challenged to provide people an opportunity to understand their constitutional rights close up. At the same time, the court has built up an enviable reputation among constitutional courts in new democracies for the technical quality of its legitimacy in the legal sense. Since its establishment in 2003, the Constitutional Court of Indonesia has decided more than 190 statutes in judicial review case. It has been remarkably successful to make a credible start on its work of guarding the Constitution. Unsurprisingly, many argue that the Court has elevated Indonesia’s democracy to a whole new level. In accomplishing its roles judicial review, the basic principle that can be identified is that the Constitutional Court must always be subordinated to the Constitution. It is not being allowed to invade the field of the legislator. In doing so, the court does not have any discretionary political basis in order to create legal norms or provisions that could not be deducted from the Constitution itself. When interpreting a statute “in accordance with the constitution”, the court recognizes and reasserts that it is strictly forbidden to extend the scope of a legal provision in such a way that would create a general norm not established by the law-maker. This paper aims to identify and assess the latest role of Indonesian Constitutional Court in interpreting and applying the Constitution. In particular, it questions 1) the role of the Constitutional Court in judicial review; and 2) the role of the court to assist the legislators in the accomplishment of their functions in order to preserve its supremacy testing the constitutionality of statutes. Concerning positive legislator, jurisprudential and judicial review theories will be approached. The empirical part will include qualitative and comparative research. Main questions to be addressed: Can the Constitutional Court be functionalized as positive legislator? What are the criteria for conducting role of Constitutional Courts as Positive Legislators and how can it be accepted? Concerning the subordination of Constitutional Courts to the Constitution and judicial review, both qualitative and quantitative methods will be used, and differences between Indonesia and German Constitutional Court will be observed. Other questions to be addressed: Can Constitutional Courts have any discretionary political basis in order to create legal norms or provisions that could not be deducted from the Constitution itself. Should the Constitutional Court always act as a negative legislator? However, the Constitutional Court in Indonesia has played role as positive legislators which create dynamic of Indonesian legal development. In performing the task of reviewing the constitutionality of statutes, the Constitutional Court has created legal norms or provisions that could be deducted from the Constitution itself.

Keywords: constitution, court, law, rights

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Authors: Sarwat un Nisa

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One of the remarkable gifts that a human being is blessed with is the ability to speak using a combination of sounds. Different combinations of sounds combine to form a word which in turn make a sentence and therefore give birth to a language. A person can either be a monolingual, i.e., can speak one language or bilingual, i.e., can speak more than one language. Whether a person speaks one language or multiple languages or in whatever language a person speaks, the main aim is to communicate, express ideas, feelings or thoughts. Sometimes the choice of a language is deliberate and sometimes it is a habitual act. The language which is used to put our ideas across speaks many things about our cultural, linguistic and ethnic identities. It can never be claimed that bilinguals are better than monolinguals in terms of linguistic skills, bilinguals or multilinguals have more than one language at their disposal. Therefore, how effectively two languages are used by the same person keeps linguists always intrigued. The most prominent and common features found in the speech of bilingual speakers are code switching and code mixing. The aim of the present paper is to explore these features among the adolescent speakers of Kashmir. The reason for studying the linguistics behavior of adolescents is the age when a person is neither an adult nor a child. They want to drift away from the norms and make a new norm for themselves. Therefore, how their linguistics skills are influenced by their age is of great interest because it can set the trend for the future generation. Kashmir is a multilingual society where three languages, i.e., Kashmiri, Urdu, and English are regularly used by the speakers, especially the educated ones. Kashmiri is widely used at home or mostly among adults. Urdu is the official language, and English is used in schools and for most of the written official correspondences. Thus, it is not uncommon to find these three languages coming in contact with each other quite frequently. The language contact results in the code switching and code mixing. In this paper different aspects of code switching and code mixing are discussed. Research Method: The data were collected from the different districts of Kashmir. The informants did not have prior knowledge of the survey. The situation was spontaneous and natural. The topics were introduced by the interviewer to the group of informants which comprised of three participants. They were asked to discuss the topic, most of the times without any intervention of the interviewer. Along with conversations, the informants also filled in written questionnaires comprising sociolinguistic questions. Questionnaires were analysed to get an idea about the sociolinguistic attitude of the informants. Percentage, frequency, and average were used as statistical tools to analyse the data. Conclusions were drawn taking into consideration of interpretations of both speech samples and questionnaires.

Keywords: code mixing, code switching, Kashmir, bilingualism

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Authors: Jayita Mukhopadhyay

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Even though more than six decades has passed since the death of India’s iconic thinker and mass leader Mahatma Gandhi, the world besieged by terrorism may still take a leaf out of his philosophical discourse on non-violence and attempt to turn his theory into praxis to save mankind. The greatest soul world has ever produced, a man of divine fire, an apostle of peace and non-violence, a revolutionary, a visionary, a social reformer and deliverer of the downtrodden, Father of the nation, these and numerous other epithets have been used by eminent personalities and scholars while describing Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi was a relentless fighter and mass mobiliser who awakened a sleeping giant, the common men and women of India, shook them out of their docile, fatalistic mould, invigorated them with his doctrine of ahimsa and satyagraha (non violence and strict adherence to truth), instilled in them nationalist zeal and patriotic fervour and turned them into determined, steadfast freedom fighters. Under his leadership, the national liberation movement got a new life and ultimately succeeded in ending the era of foreign domination. And he did all these while resisting a natural tendency of his people to respond violently to unspeakable violence and atrocities unleashed by the colonial British administration desperate to keep India in its empire. In this paper, an attempt will be made to unravel Gandhi’s elucidation of the concept of non-violent resistance, along with non-cooperation and civil disobedience and their actual application through political practices which succeeded in capturing the imagination of not only India’s teeming millions but the entire world. The methodology of analytical study will be used as Gandhi’s own writings and those by noted scholars on Gandhi will be examined extensively to establish contemporary relevance of his thought, his invaluable guidelines about how to cope with poverty, inequality, exploitation, repression and marginalization of some sections of society and resultant radicalization of some disturbed members of human race, the very conditions which spawn terrorism in today’s world.

Keywords: India, non cooperation, non violence, terrorism

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Authors: Fouzia Brihmat

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Economic planning models, which are used to build microgrids and distributed energy resources, are the current norm for expressing such confidence (DER). These models often decide both short-term DER dispatch and long-term DER investments. This research investigates the most cost-effective hybrid (photovoltaic-diesel) renewable energy system (HRES) based on Total Net Present Cost (TNPC) in an Algerian Saharan area, which has a high potential for solar irradiation and has a production capacity of 1GW/h. Lead-acid batteries have been around much longer and are easier to understand, but have limited storage capacity. Lithium-ion batteries last longer, are lighter, but generally more expensive. By combining the advantages of each chemistry, we produce cost-effective high-capacity battery banks that operate solely on AC coupling. The financial implications of this research describe the corrosion process that occurs at the interface between the active material and grid material of the positive plate of a lead-acid battery. The best cost study for the HRES is completed with the assistance of the HOMER Pro MATLAB Link. Additionally, during the course of the project's 20 years, the system is simulated for each time step. In this model, which takes into consideration decline in solar efficiency, changes in battery storage levels over time, and rises in fuel prices above the rate of inflation. The trade-off is that the model is more accurate, but it took longer to compute. As a consequence, the model is more precise, but the computation takes longer. We initially utilized the Optimizer to run the model without MultiYear in order to discover the best system architecture. The optimal system for the single-year scenario is the Danvest generator, which has 760 kW, 200 kWh of the necessary quantity of lead-acid storage, and a somewhat lower COE of $0.309/kWh. Different scenarios that account for fluctuations in the gasified biomass generator's production of electricity have been simulated, and various strategies to guarantee the balance between generation and consumption have been investigated. The technological optimization of the same system has been finished and is being reviewed in a recent paper study.

Keywords: battery, corrosion, diesel, economic planning optimization, hybrid energy system, lead-acid battery, multi-year planning, microgrid, price forecast, PV, total net present cost

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Authors: Chowdhury Dilruba Shoma

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Gender is about equal rights that both males and females having access to responsibilities and opportunities in decision making is a fundamental human right. It is also a precondition for, and a mark of, sustainable people-oriented development. In Bangladesh, women have fewer opportunities than men do to access credit from banks and financial institutions. Entrenched patriarchal attitudes, unequal inheritance rights, and male-dominated hierarchies in the financial system, plus high interest rates and a lack of security/collateral, make it harder for women to obtain bank loans. Limited access to institutional credit is a serious restraint on the productivity and income of women entrepreneurs, (and the wider economy). These gender-biased and structural barriers inhibit women’s access to fundamental economic rights. Using a liberal feminist theoretical lens, this study provides some useful insights into the relationship between gender inequality and entrepreneurship, leading to a better understanding of women’s entrepreneurship development in Bangladesh. Recently, the Bangladesh Government, the United Nations Capital Development Fund, and Bangladesh Bank opened up the Women Entrepreneur Support Fund (WESF) ‒ Credit Guarantee Scheme (CGS) pilot project to cover collateral shortfalls for women entrepreneurs in the small and medium enterprise sector. The aim is to improve gender equality and advance women’s rights in relation to receiving credit. This article examines the challenges and prospects of the WESF-CGS, and suggests that implementation of measures in WESF-CGS policymaking, coupled with a combination of legislatory and regulatory reforms that implement the fundamental tenets of liberal feminism, can lead to a comprehensive and effective credit policy to boost women’s agency and economic empowerment. This may ultimately lead to more sustainable development in Bangladesh.

Keywords: Bangladesh, credit guarantee scheme, liberal feminist theory, women entrepreneur support fund

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Authors: Avani Maniar, Shivani Mehta

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Population aging is one of the most challenging issues of the twenty-first century, facing both developed and developing countries worldwide. In the developed world, there has already been a substantial amount of research on aging and work to help understand the capacity and potential of older people. They attract ever ones attention. Their existence in human society gives rise to variety of responses, reactions and apprehensions, because it connotes on greater part, to some kind of compulsion or willingness that prompt elderly to decide to work after retirement. Work due to social attention and assurance for security both economical and social. In this age, elderly aspire for psychological security with due attention. But the fact remains that despite age related limitations good number of persons in their age of sixty and beyond were hunting for work that would support them and get them some kind of support and in it turns helps them to remain physically and mentally active. Based on the existing diversities in the ageing process, it may be stated that there is a need to pay greater attention to the increasing awareness on the ageing issues and its socio-economic effects and to promote the development of policies and programmes for dealing with an ageing society. Addressing the needs, wants, and well-being of elderly people is essential for maintaining a healthy productive workforce in an aging society. This paper will draw on the results of the study about reasons of elderly working post retirement, problems faced by them and about the future of retirement to ask how widespread negative attitudes and stereotypes among employers are and whether these attitudes influence behavior towards older employees. The aim of research is not only to point out certain stereotypes concerning the elderly labour force, but also to stress that unless preconditions for overcoming these stereotypes are created and employment opportunities are given to this segment of the labour force, full employment as an ultimate goal of global economic policy cannot be achieved.

Keywords: employers, India, inequality, problems, reasons of working, silver workers

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Authors: Denise Muro

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Conflict in Syria, producing over 11 million displaced persons, has incited global attention to displacement. Although neighboring countries have borne the largest part of the displacement burden, due to the influx of refugees into Europe, the so-called ‘refugee crisis’ is taking place on two fronts: Syria’s neighboring countries, with millions of refugees, and Europe, a destination goal for so many that European states face unprecedented challenges. With increasing attention to displacement, forcibly displaced persons are consistently portrayed as either un-agentic victims, or as dangerous free agents. Recognizing that these dominant portrayals involve discourses of power and inequality, this research investigates the extent to which this victim-agent dichotomy affects refugees and organizations that work closely with them during initial integration processes in Berlin, Germany. The research measures initial integration based on German policy measures regarding integration juxtaposed with the way refugees and those who work with them understand integration. Additionally, the study examines day-to-day interactions of refugees in Germany as a way to gauge social integration in a bottom-up approach. This study involved a discourse analysis of portrayals of refugees and participant observation and interviews with refugees and those who work closely with them, which took place during fieldwork in Berlin in the summer of 2016. Germany is unique regarding their migration history and lack of successful integration, in part due to the persistent refrain, ‘Wir sind kein einwanderungsland’ (‘We are not an immigration country’). Still, their accepted asylum seeker population has grown exponentially in the past few years. Findings suggest that the victim-agent dichotomy is present and impactful in the process of refugees entering and integrating into Germany. Integration is hindered due to refugees either being patronized or criminalized to such an extent that, despite being constantly told that they must integrate, they cannot become part of German society.

Keywords: discourse analysis, Germany, integration, refugee crisis

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Authors: Kebron Abich Asnake

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The outbreak of COVID-19 has had far-reaching socio-economic consequences globally, and Ethiopia is no exception. This abstract provides a summary of a research study on the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 in Ethiopia. The study analyzes the health impact, economic repercussions, social consequences, government response measures, and opportunities for post-crisis recovery. In terms of health impact, the research explores the spread and transmission of the virus, the capacity and response of the healthcare system, and the mortality rate, with a focus on vulnerable populations. The economic impact analysis entails investigating the contraction of the GDP, employment and income loss, disruption in key sectors such as agriculture, tourism, and manufacturing, and the specific implications for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), foreign direct investment, and remittances. The social impact section looks at the disruptions in education and the digital divide, food security and nutrition challenges, increased poverty and inequality, gender-based violence, and mental health issues. The research also examines the measures taken by the Ethiopian government, including health and safety regulations, economic stimulus packages, social protection programs, and support for vulnerable populations. Furthermore, the study outlines long-term recovery prospects, social cohesion, and community resilience challenges. It highlights the need to strengthen the healthcare system and finds a balance between health and economic priorities. The research concludes by presenting recommendations for policy-makers and stakeholders, emphasizing opportunities for post-crisis recovery such as diversification of the economy, enhanced healthcare infrastructure, investment in digital infrastructure and technology, and support for domestic tourism and local industries. This research provides valuable insights into the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 in Ethiopia, offering a comprehensive analysis of the challenges faced and potential pathways towards recovery.

Keywords: impact, covid, ethiopia, health

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Authors: Vandana Dave, Neelam Kumari

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India, a fast growing global power, is climbing the ladder of success very swiftly and has been attracting the world’s attention in recent decades. But unfortunately in the modern society, women who constitute half the population of our country have been the victims of violence in different fields of life both physically, socially, mentally and economically. Women face a lot of societal pressure, gender based violence – including rape, domestic violence, dowry death, murder and sexual abuse. But none the less, it is not considered as a problem of serious concern. Among the issues related to women, domestic violence is one of the major issue in our society which is occurring within the safe confines of home at the hands of close family members and cuts across line of race, nationality, language, culture, economics, sexual orientation, physical ability and religion to affect women from all walks of life. It is not to be perceived as a law and order problem alone but it is a socio- cultural problem and it is directly affecting the family life, health of women and life of children. Structural imbalance of power, systematic gender based discrimination; inequality between women and men and other kind of subordination are the context and cause of violence against women. Understanding it as a major problem of our society, the present study was conducted to assess the status of women of Rohtak, district of Haryana. The present study is based on primary and secondary data, adopting feminist research methodology. Case study method was incorporated during the research. It was observed that violence varied according to different age groups of women, marital status, education status, economic status and sociodemography factors. The case studies depicted the inadequate justice system for the victims of domestic violence. The study also revealed that the victims failed to understand the judiciary system and considered themselves helpless and hopeless. The study indicates the need of women friendly justice system for the upliftment of the society.

Keywords: domestic violence, women, victim, justice

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Authors: Sanchari Mukhopadhyay

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Today, almost the entire realm of human activities are becoming increasingly dependent on the power of information, where through ICTs it is now possible to cater distances and avail various services at a few clicks. In principle, ICTs are thus expected to blur location-specific differences and affiliations of development and bring in an inclusive society at the wake of globalization. However, eventually researchers and policy analysts realized that ICTs are also generating inequality in spite of the hope for an integrated world and widespread social well-being. Regarding this unevenness, location plays a major role as often ICT development is seen to be concentrated into pockets, leaving behind large tracks as underprivileged. Thus, understanding the spatial pattern of ICT development and distribution is significant in relation to exploring the extent to which ICTs are fulfilling the promises or reassuring the existing divisions. In addition, it is also profoundly crucial to investigate how regions are connecting and competing both locally and globally. The focus of the research paper is to evaluate the spatial structure of ICT led development in India. Thereby, it attempts to understand the state level (four selected states) pattern of ICT penetration, the pattern of diffusion across districts with respect to large urban centres and the rural-urban disparity of technology adoption. It also tries to assess the changes in access dynamisms of ICTs as one move away from a large metropolitan city towards the periphery. In brief, the analysis investigates into the tendency towards the uneven growth of development through the identification of the core areas of ICT advancement within the country and its diffusion from the core to the periphery. In order to assess the level of ICT development and rural-urban disparity across the districts of selected states, two indices named ICT Development Index and Rural-Urban Digital Divide Index have been constructed. The study mostly encompasses the latest Census (2011) of the country and TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) in some cases.

Keywords: ICT development, diffusion, core-periphery, digital divide

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Authors: Suci Lestari Yuana, Shofi Fatihatun Sholihah, Derarika Ensta Jesse

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Textile is one of buyer-driven industry which rely on label trust from the consumers. Most of textile manufacturers produce textile and textile products based on consumer demands. The company’s policy is highly depend on the dynamic evolution of consumers behavior. Recently, ecofriendly has become one of the most important factor of western consumers to purchase the textile and textile product (TPT) from the company. In that sense, companies from developing countries are encouraged to follow western consumers values. Some examples of ecolabel certificate are ISO (International Standard Organisation), Lembaga Ekolabel Indonesia (Indonesian Ecolabel Instution) and Global Ecolabel Network (GEN). The submission of national company to international standard raised a critical question whether this is a reflection towards the legitimation of global norms into national policy or it is actually a practical strategy of the company to gain global consumer. By observing one of the prominent textile company in Indonesia, this research is aimed to discuss what kind of impetus factors that cause a company to use ecolabel and what is the meaning behind it. Whether it comes from normative power or the strategy of the company. This is a qualitative research that choose a company in Sukoharjo, Central Java, Indonesia as a case study in explaining the pratice of ecolabelling by textitle company. Some deep interview is conducted with the company in order to get to know the ecolabelling process. In addition, this research also collected some document which related to company’s ecolabelling process and its impact to company’s value. The finding of the project reflected issues that concerned several issues: (1) role of media as consumer information (2) role of government and non-government actors as normative agency (3) role of company in social responsibility (4) the ecofriendly consciousness as a value of the company. As we know that environmental norms that has been admitted internationally has changed the global industrial process. This environmental norms also pushed the companies around the world, especially the company in Sukoharjo, Central Java, Indonesia to follow the norm. The neglection toward the global norms will remained the company in isolated and unsustained market that will harm the continuity of the company. So, in buyer-driven industry, the characteristic of company-consumer relations has brought a fast dynamic evolution of norms and values. The creation of global norms and values is circulated by passing national territories or identities.

Keywords: ecolabeling, waste management, CSR, normative power

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Authors: Manvelidze irakli, Iashvili Genadi

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Research has shown that public institutions in Autonomous Republic of Ajara try their best to make their official electronic data (web-pages, social websites) more informative and improve them. Part of public institutions offer interesting electronic services and initiatives to the public although they are seldom used in communication process. The statistical analysis of the use of web-pages and social websites of public institutions for example their facebook page show lack of activity. The reason could be the fact that public institutions give people less possibility of interaction in official web-pages. Second reason could be the fact that these web-pages are less known to the public and the third reason could be the fact that heads of these institutions lack awareness about the necessity of strengthening citizens’ involvement. In order to increase people’s involvement in this process it is necessary to have at least 23 e-services in one web-page. The research has shown that 11 of the 16 public institutions have only 5 services which are contact, social networks and hotline. Besides introducing innovative services government institutions should evaluate them and make them popular and easily accessible for the public. It would be easy to solve this problem if public institutions had concrete strategic plan of public relations which involved matters connected with maximum usage of electronic services while interaction with citizens. For this moment only one governmental body has a functioning action plan of public relations. As a result of the research organizational, social, methodological and technical problems have been revealed. It should be considered that there are many feedback possibilities like forum, RSS, blogs, wiki, twitter, social networks, etc. usage of only one or three of such instruments indicate that there is no strategy of regional electronic governance. It is necessary to develop more mechanisms of feedback which will increase electronic interaction, discussions and it is necessary to introduce the service of online petitions. It is important to reduce the so-called “digital inequality” and increase internet access for the public. State actions should decrease such problems. In the end if such shortcomings will be improved the role of electronic interactions in democratic processes will increase.

Keywords: e-Government, electronic services, information technology, regional government, regional government

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Authors: Shafiqul Islam, Cordia Chu

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Bangladesh contributes little to global climate change, yet it is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change. Based on semi-structured in-depth interviews and literature review, focusing public spending distribution process, this paper demonstrates how the processes of political economy- enclosure, exclusion, encroachment, and entrenchment hinder the Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) efforts of Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund (BCCTF). Enclosure refers to when CCA projects allocated to less vulnerable areas or expand the roles of influencing actors into the public sphere. Exclusion refers to when CCA projects limit affected people's access to resources or marginalize particular stakeholders in decision-making activities. Encroachment refers to when allocation of CCA projects and selection of location and issues degrade the environmental affect or contribute to other forms of disaster risk. Entrenchment refers to when CCA projects aggravate the disempowerment of common people worsen the concentrations of wealth and income inequality within a community. In the case of Bangladesh, climate change policies implemented under the country’s National Adaptation Program of Action (NAPA) and Bangladesh Climate Change Strategic Action Plan (BCCSAP) have somehow enabled influential-elites to mobilize and distribute resources through bureaucracies. Exclusionary forms of fund distribution of CCA exist at both the national and local scales. CCA related allocations have encroached through the low land areas development project without consulting local needs. Most severely, CCA related unequal allocations have entrenched social class trapping the backward communities vulnerable to climate related disasters. Planners and practitioners of BCCTF need to take necessary steps to eliminate the potential risks from the processes of enclosure, exclusion, encroachment, and entrenchment happens in project fund allocations.

Keywords: Bangladesh, climate change adaptation, political economy, public fund distribution

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