1,320 research outputs found
Playing politics: the World Health Organization’s response to COVID-19
No full textThe challenges of the World Health Organization (WHO) begin, perhaps, with its name—framed as one organization, spanning the globe, and tasked with securing, as defined by article 1 of its constitution, “the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health” (WHO, 1946). Yet the gap between the expectations of WHO and how global political actors have shaped its structure and its capacities is vast—never more so than during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is necessary to look at WHO from at least two perspectives: (1) its role as a scientific, technical, and humanitarian organization and (2) as an international organization and venue for international political negotiation, diplomacy, and policy-making. These two different, at times conflicting, missions leave WHO in a precarious position and have opened it to criticism over the years (Siddiqi, 1995). Some argue that WHO’s importance stems primarily from its political and agenda-setting functions, whereas others argue the technical information-gathering, standard-setting, and cooperation-related activities are paramount and that the agency’s political nature detracts from these activities (Clift, 2014; Jamison et al., 1998; Retreat, 1996; Ruger & Yach, 2009). There have even been calls over the years to split these functions (Hoffman & Røttingen, 2014)
Covid-19 Around the World: A Comparative look at how Countries have confronted the Pandemic (2020-10-14)
No full textWednesday, October 14, 2020, 7:00 PM CDTHear a discussion by experts from the Georgetown Law Center. They will discuss how various countries have dealt with the pandemic as well as provide an evaluation of the World Health Organization (WHO). Panel is moderated by UMD's own global governance expert, Jeremy Youde, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts.Royal D. Alworth, Jr. Institute for International StudiesPhelan, Alexandra; Pillinger, Mara; Kavanagh, Matthew; University of Minnesota Duluth. Royal D. Alworth, Jr. Institute for International Studies. (2020). Covid-19 Around the World: A Comparative look at how Countries have confronted the Pandemic (2020-10-14). Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/217717
The ethical and moral-based dimension of leadership in CSR-oriented strategies and sustainable entrepreneurship
No full textThis chapter addresses the theme of leadership and its influence on corporate social
responsibility (CSR) and sustainability-oriented strategies. Specifically, it aims to analyse,
through a deductive and literature-based approach, the relevance of the ethical and moral
leadership models with respect to the diffusion of CSR and sustainable entrepreneurship. Linking ethical and moral-based leadership to the CSR and sustainable entrepreneurship discourse allows us to point out the relevance of an authentic orientation in supporting
change and fostering sustainable entrepreneurship The theoretical construct of responsible and sustainable leadership derives from the
intersection of the moral-based leadership concepts with those of CSR and sustainable
entrepreneurship..Drawing from these premises, this chapter seeks to identify leadership models and
attributes consistent with (and necessary to develop) an authentic CSR-oriented strategy
and able to foster sustainable entrepreneurship.
Accordingly, in this chapter, we argue that leadership represents a key aspect that
warrants more research within both CSR and sustainable entrepreneurship studies. The
research questions that orients this study can be summarised as follows: Which leadership
models favour authentic CSR practices? Are moral, ethical-based and virtues-based models
of leadership effective in developing CSR and fostering sustainable entrepreneurship?
These questions guide the critical review of the different leadership approaches, bringing
attention to the models that are most coherent in regard to the actual socio-economic
context which requires managers and entrepreneurs to govern the internal and external
complexity and actively contribute to sustainability. The methodological approach is
mainly based on a literature review that surveys critical points in current literature that is
relevant to the topic.
The work is structured as follows. First, we offer an analysis of the leadership theoretical
framework in the context of the CSR debate. We begin with a brief methodological
note, followed by an analysis of the antecedents of CSR and sustainable entrepreneurship
in terms of values and virtues.
Second, a review of relevant literature on leadership approaches and models consistent
with the CSR and sustainable entrepreneurship discourse is presented, emphasising the relationship between transformational, moral and virtues-based leadership and
CSR-oriented strategies and sustainable entrepreneurship. Drawing from the analysis,
four main propositions are introduced. The final sections illustrate the propositions and
summarise the implications and limitations of the study
Understanding and comparing HIV-related law & policy environments: cross-national data and accountability for the global AIDS response
No full textLaw and policy differences help explain why, as HIV-related science has advanced swiftly, some countries have realised remarkable progress on AIDS while others see expanding epidemics. We describe the structure and findings of a new dataset and research platform, the HIV Policy Lab, which fills an important knowledge gap by measuring the HIV-related policy environment across 33 indicators and 194 countries over time, with online access and visualisation. Cross-national indicators can be critical tools in international governance—building social power to monitor state behaviour with the potential to change policy and improve domestic accountability. This new and evolving effort collects data about policy through review of legal documents, official government reports and systematic review of secondary sources. Alignment between national policy environments and global norms is demonstrated through comparison with international public health guidance and agreements. We demonstrate substantial variation in the content of law and policies between countries, regions and policy areas. Given progress in basic and implementation science, it would be tempting to believe most countries have adopted policies aligned with global norms, with a few outliers. Data show this is not the case. Globally, alignment is higher on clinical and treatment policies than on prevention, testing and structural policies. Policy-makers, researchers, civil society, finance agencies and others can use these data to better understand the policy environment within and across countries and support reform. Longitudinal analysis enables evaluation of the impact of laws and policies on HIV outcomes and research about the political drivers of policy choice
Raymond Queneau’s Œuvres complètes de Sally Mara
No full textThis chapter follows the development of Raymond Queneau’s works published under the pseudonym (or auteur supposé) of Sally Mara, including her journal intime, at a time when diary-writing and the writing subject itself were out of favour with the literary avant-garde. A novel published in 1947 attributed to Sally Mara, followed by her Journal intime (1950) and her Œuvres complètes (1962), draw on Gide’s experiments with diary-writing, but comically expose the formal processes by which an author-figure and literary œuvre are constructed. This is often done by creating conflict between the several authorial figures involved (Queneau, Mara, and the fictional editor Michel Presle), and by processes of metalepsis (the transgresssion of boundaries in a narrative framework). Yet the works do not reduce the author-figure to an entirely textual, discursive phenomenon, disconnected from reality, and they tend to endorse a reader’s curiosity about the ‘real’ author.</p
A study on fire evacuation awareness at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) / Norshafiqah Elina Mohd Mustafa
No full textThis thesis is about fire evacuation awareness at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). In this study, there are three campus of Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) which from branch Shah Alam, Selangor, Puncak Alam, Selangor and Seri Iskandar, Perak. Respondents from the 3 branch of Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) are the key to succeed this study where the questionnaire are distributed to the staff and students who are occupied in that building, and there has an interview session between the author and the person who is in charge in this studies. The issues that are arise in the Campus of Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) branch Shah Alam, Selangor is there are no assembly point because this campus are crowded with buildings. Because of the issues, it brings to the making of this study. The author decided to study about the fire evacuation on the campus with different situation, which are the old campus are longer, new campus, and small capacity campus. This study was conducted to study about fire evacuation system in all the different campuses. Not all the campuses are using the same system. They used conventional system, full addressable system and semi addressable system. By studying the system, the author know what are the problems on the buildings that the fire drill are not conducted for their building occupants. Fire drill is important to increase the level of awareness of building occupants. The study also highlight suggestions from the Facility Department to improve their current system, as well as suggestions from the respondents to improve their self-awareness
Humans reshape wetlands: Unveiling the last 100 years of morphological changes of the Mara Wetland, Tanzania
No full textThe Lower Mara River and Wetland, Tanzania, is an important ecosystem and unique water resource for a vast semi-arid area. The river, an affluent of Lake Victoria, and the wetland are experiencing morphological and vegetation changes resulting in channel avulsions and wetland expansion. This study analyses the changes over the last 100 years and investigates natural and anthropogenic behaviors to explain the increase of the Mara Wetland area. We collated historical topographic maps and satellite images. We conducted two field surveys in low and high flow condition with an unmanned aerial vehicle, a sonar and an ADCP. We mapped selected areas as well as the bed topography in some stretches of the river, measured discharges, and collected river bed and suspended sediment samples. The analysis of the sediments shows that the wetland system, dominated by papyrus sp., is very efficient in trapping sediment, releasing clear water to the Lake Victoria. The historical reconstruction using topographic maps, satellite images and a multivariable analysis including hydrology and land cover, shows that 4 major avulsions occurred in the last 70 years due to a combination of natural behaviors, hydrological fluctuations and anthropogenic factors such as basin deforestation, farming and grazing along the river banks and in the wetland. Each avulsion led to substantial expansion of the wetland. Combined, they increased the wetland area by a factor of 3.6. Describing the Lower Mara River dynamic behavior, this work provides relevant information for sustainable future water and sediment management in order to preserve wetland habitats and natural resources.Accepted Author ManuscriptEnvironmental Fluid MechanicsWater Resource
Investigating morphological responses to sediment flux alterations and land use changes in the Mara Wetland, Tanzania
No full textThe Mara River is the only perennial river of a vast semi-arid area, including the Mara Serengeti ecoregion in Kenya and Tanzania. The river sustains more than one million inhabitants and millions of wild animals. In its lower reaches, the Mara River forms a wide wetland before flowing into Lake Victoria. The wetland represents a rich ecosystem providing essential services, but it is being threaten by increasing human activities. Farming, grazing, fishing and deforestation to produce charcoal and open new crops have deeply modified the riparian vegetation spatial distribution and the habitat morphology. Additionally, the construction of a new dam is planned immediately upstream of the wetland for irrigation purposes and hydropower.This work is undertaken to set up a hydro-morphodynamic model to predict the short- and long-term effects of human activities on the Mara Wetland habitat. The model will be a tool to evaluate strategies to mitigate the negative effects of the activities.The Lower Mara River is poorly gauged and only a few scattered data and observations are available. Therefore, in October - November 2017 (dry period) and May 2018 (wet period) multidisciplinary field work was conducted along a 130 km stretch of the river. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was used to produce high resolution orthophoto mosaics and digital elevation models of selected areas. The UAV gave topography and ground observations on vegetation type, size and distribution, and other features of unattainable areas. A sonar was used to map the bathymetry of some stretches of river and wetland. River discharge was measured on 4 locations. Bed sediments and water samples were collected from 8 spots to analyse sediment granulometry and suspended sediment concentration. Results suggest that, at wetland inlet, the river is particularly rich in suspended sediment, with measured averaged concentrations of the order of 500 mg L-1 and peaks of 2700 mg L-1. The wetland, thanks to its extent and dense vegetation cover, traps the 90% of the suspended sediments and releases clear waters to the Lake Victoria. The future placement of the dam may have a strong influence: without an adequate management, the dam solid and liquid discharge regulation may further trigger morphological changes and jeopardize the wetland ecosystem.Abstract B43I-2963 presented at 2018 Fall Meeting, AGU, Washington, D.C., 10-14 Dec. Session: B43I The Resilience of Wetland Ecosystems to Multiscale Environmental Changes PostersEnvironmental Fluid MechanicsWater Resource
Comparative tense and aspect in the Mara Bantu languages : towards a linguistic history
No full textThrough the elicitation of 91 Swahili sentences and the collection of one oral text, this research compares the TAM systems of several Mara Bantu languages (Tanzania/Kenya) with the aim of finding any shared "individual-identifying" innovations (Nichols 1996) that can either affirm Mara as a coherent genetic linguistic sub-group (Schoenbrun 1990) or point toward a different historical scenario. A secondary goal is to provide a preliminary linguistic description of the TAM systems of five Mara languages: Ikizu (JE402, [ikz]), Ikoma (JE45, [ntk]), Kabwa (JE405, [cwa]), Simbiti (JE431, [ssc]), and Zanaki (JE44, [zak]).
The research concludes that there is sufficient "individual-identifying" evidence from TAM systems to validate both a North Mara and a South Mara subgroup (Schoenbrun 1990). There is not, on the other hand, a sufficient base of shared "individual-identifying" innovations to propose a unique proto-Mara TAM system uniting North Mara and South Mara at a post-proto-Great Lakes phase of development
Language enrichment activities for preparatory English / Ho Chui Chui
No full textThis article deals with the use of language enrichment activities for students taking the Preparatory English course in Universiti Teknotogi MARA. The author shares her ideas to make the teaching and learning of fft/s course a
more pleasant and appealing process
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