50 research outputs found
Are South Africans xenophobic?: migration policies need to support integration
No full textIn January this year, violence erupted again in Rustenburg, North West, and news reports carried descriptions of homes burned and shops looted. The riots were allegedly sparked by rumours in the community that the police were involved with foreign-born drug dealers. South Africans need to ask questions about the state of social cohesion within our country, write Drs Steven Gordon, Gilbert Fokou, Yul Derek Davids and Prof Narnia Bohler-Muller.
Are local stakeholders conservationists? Livelihood insecurity and participatory management of Waza National Park, North Cameroon
No full textHow fit turns into misfit and back: Institutional Transformations of Pastoral Commons in African Floodplains
No full textWe enlarge the notion of institutional fit using theoretical approaches from New Institutionalism, including rational choice and strategic action, political ecology and constructivist approaches. These approaches are combined with ecological approaches (system and evolutionary ecology) focusing on feedback loops and change. We offer results drawn from a comparison of fit and misfit cases of institutional change in pastoral commons in four African floodplain contexts (Zambia, Cameroon, Tanzania (two cases). Cases of precolonial fit and misfit in the postcolonial past, as well as a case of institutional fit in the postcolonial phase, highlight important features, specifically, flexible institutions, leadership, and mutual economic benefit under specific relations of bargaining power of actors. We argue that only by combining otherwise conflicting approaches can we come to understand why institutional fit develops into misfit and back again
A la recherche des déterminants institutionnels pour le bien-être des populations sédentaires et nomades dans la plaine du Waza-Logone de la frontière camerounaise et tchadienne
No full textMental health and resilience of young African women refugees in urban context (Abidjan—Ivory Coast and Dakar—Senegal)
No full textIntroduction: This chapter explores the mental health and resilience of young women refugees in an urban context in Africa. We studied this topic within our research regarding “young African refugees in urban context: psychosocial, identity and resilience: Comparative research between Africa (Abidjan, Ivory-Coast, and Dakar-Senegal) and Europe (Geneva, Switzerland)” (We conducted the research, “Young African refugees in urban context”: psychosocial, identity and resilience: Comparative research between Africa (Abidjan, Ivory-Coast, and Dakar-Senegal) and Europe (Geneva, Switzerland) from 2011 to 2013. The research was supported by a grant from The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (Codesria—Dakar) and The Rectors’ Conference of the Swiss Universities of Applied Sciences for the financial support (Switzerland). Principal investigators are Théogène-octave Gakuba in Geneva, Mohamadaou Sall in Dakar, and Gilbert Fokou in Abidjan. Kouakou Christiane was research assistant in Abidjan. This research is not yet published).
Main Body: A review of literature, study methodology, and results is presented. The African sample consisted of 123 young people aged 18–30 years. To gather and analyse the data, we employed qualitative methods (semi-structured interviews with young refugees as well as with the healthcare professionals and social workers) and quantitative methods (physical and mental health questionnaires). The results indicate that a number of the young refugee women have mental health problems. These problems are related to their pre-migration experiences in their country of origin and the post-migration conditions they experience in the host country. More specifically, these problems are linked to poverty, problems of cultural adaptation, family separation, and sexual abuse. Some women have constant anxiety and psychological problems characterised by fatigue, sleep disturbances, headaches, and stomach pains.
Discussion: Most refugee women in Dakar and Abidjan are in a vulnerable situation, creating a negative impact on their mental health. They also have problems accessing health care.
Implications: We include recommendations for promoting integration of woman refugees in Dakar and Abidjan. Those programmes are of crucial importance within the integration process
Government wildlife, unfulfilled promises and business: Lessons from participatory conservation in the Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania
No full textResearch−implementation organisations and their role for sustainable development
No full textOver the past decade, considerable progress has been made by higher education institutions (HEIs) to align with sustainable development goals. Specifically, aspects of sustainable development have been integrated into the existing mandates of HEIs – education, research and operations. The main objective of the current study was to assess a sub-group of African HEIs that have an explicit mandate for implementation science and pursue development assistance-type services and to describe their added value to advance sustainable development. We conducted a qualitative situational assessment, including 22 institutions from 13 countries. Interviews and surveys were done with 42 participants composed of director-level representatives and staff members engaged both in research and implementation. The data were subjected to qualitative content analysis. The main strengths of the participating organisations vis-à-vis implementation projects and wider sustainable development were the quality of implementation, local relevance of the research and uptake of research evidence into policy and practice. A major weakness was the challenge of operating such a bi-sectoral model, while maintaining high-level performance in both areas. Yet, the examined research implementation institutions draw from and combine the competences of research, education and implementation and have a distinctive role to play in the attainment of sustainable development, especially when operating by an optimised support system and within strong research ecosystems. Based on our study, we provide a definition of research implementation organisations that may serve institutions to enhance their standing, their operations and their significance for sustainable development
Natural resource institutions in transformation: the tragedy and glory of the private
No full textThe present article focuses on continuity and change in natural resource institutions in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan. Two main trends have characterised the management of water, agricultural land and pastures since the country became independent in 1991. First, while natural resources were collective and state-owned during the Soviet period, they are now being gradually pri- vatised and passed into individual or group ownership. Second, by contrast with central administration under the Soviet regime, after independence natural resource management has been and is increasingly being decentral- ised to the community level. We suggest that these processes have created a new concept of the ‘private’, defined as clearly assigned property rights as opposed to ‘commons’, and individual or group ownership as opposed to ‘public’ ownership. We attempt here to analyse how privatisation and decen- tralisation have created new property relations and new forms of natural resource governance. We conclude that these processes have yielded both favourable and unfavourable outcomes
L’analyse jurilinguistique des qualifications juridiques en tant que métaphores de la réalité sociale : l’exemple du contrat d’adhésion
No full textL’auteur livre ici une critique jurilinguistique ou métajuridique de la notion ou de la qualification de « contrat par adhésion », proposée au début du xxe siècle par Georges Dereux en remplacement de celle de « contrat d’adhésion » qui a été consacrée par le législateur. En effet, pour Dereux et ses continuateurs, la qualification de « contrat d’adhésion » est une notion grammaticalement inexacte qui violerait les règles élémentaires de la syntaxe. À travers le prisme de la linguistique et de la philosophie du langage, il ressort toutefois que la critique dereusienne n’a de pertinence qu’en apparence. Elle méconnaît précisément certains usages du langage et les spécificités du « Droit » en tant qu’acte de langage et de communication. Au-delà de la qualification de « contrat d’adhésion », l’étude s’inscrit plus largement dans le champ de la jurilinguistique qui reste une nouvelle discipline, voisine de la légistique, mais encore peu explorée par la doctrine juridique.In this article, the author offers a jurilinguistic or metajuridical critique of the notion or qualification of “contract by adhesion”, proposed at the beginning of the 20th century by Georges Dereux to replace that of “contract of adhesion” enshrined by the legislator. For Dereux and his followers, the term “contract of adhesion” was a grammatically inexact notion that violated the elementary rules of syntax. Through the prism of linguistics and the philosophy of language, however, it becomes clear that Dereux’s criticism is only superficially relevant. It ignores certain uses of language and the specific features of “law” as an act of language and communication. Beyond the qualification of “contract of adhesion”, the study is part of the broader field of jurilinguistics, which remains a new discipline, close to legistics, but still little explored by legal doctrine.El autor propone aquí una crítica jurilingüística o metajurídica de la noción (o de la cualificación) del « contrato por adhesión » propuesta a principios del siglo XX por Georges Dereux, para reemplazar la del « contrato de adhesión » que ha sido consagrada por el legislador. De hecho, para Dereux y sus sucesores, la cualificación de « contrato de adhesión » es una noción gramaticalmente inexacta que infringiría las reglas básicas de la sintaxis. No obstante, a través del prisma de la lingüística y de la filosofía del lenguaje, se desprende que la crítica de Dereux es relevante sólo en apariencia, ya que justamente ignora algunos usos del lenguaje y las especificidades del « Derecho » como acto de lenguaje y de comunicación. El estudio se ha inscrito de forma más amplia en el ámbito de la jurilingüística, que es una disciplina nueva, próxima a la legística, pero aún poco explorada por la doctrina jurídica
