Can aid switch gears to respond to sudden forced displacement? The case of Haut-Uele, DRC

How does the aid system respond when insecurity and suddenforced displacement occur in what has long been considered a stable, development context? Can longer-term aid interventions adapt when challenged to “shift gears” to address acute needs resulting from forced displacement? Based on observations from Médecins Sans Frontières projects in Haut-Uélé in northeastern DRC in 2008–2009, this article examines assistance to displaced populations and the residents hosting them in LRA-affected areas—above all, the stakes and dilemmas involved in responding to such a sudden-onset emergency in what international donors and the national government considered an area in development. Initially, a much-needed response to violence and displacement failed to materialize, with little permanent humanitarian presence on the ground, while development approaches failed to adapt and meet emergency needs. Short-term contingency support was provided through development NGOs, but with limited scope and maintaining cost-recovery schemes for health toward an impoverished population facing an increasingly precarious situation. A long-term development approach was simply unable to respond to the sudden population increase and a fragile health situation.Comment réagit le système d’aide lorsque l’insécurité et le déplacement forcé soudain se manifestent dans un contexte qui a longtemps été considéré comme stable et propice au développement? L’intervention humanitaire à long terme peut-elle s’adapter quand il lui faut « changer de vitesse » pour répondre aux besoins aigus résultant des déplacements forcés? S’appuyant sur l’étude de projets de Médecins Sans Frontières dans le Haut-Uélé, dans le nord-est de la RDC en 2008–2009, cet article examine l’aide aux populations déplacées et aux résidents qui les accueillent en zones touchées par l’Armée de résistance du Seigneur (LRA), plus particulièrement les enjeux et dilemmes liés à la réaction envers une situation d’urgence apparue soudai-nement dans une zone que les donateurs internationaux et le gouvernement national considéraient comme une zone de développement. Au départ, une réponse fort nécessaire à la violence et au déplacement ne s’est pas concrétisée, avec une faible présence humanitaire permanente sur le terrain, alors que les approches de développement n’ont su s’adapter et répondre aux besoins d’urgence. Des ONG de développement ont apporté un soutien d’urgence à court terme mais de portée limitée et le maintien d’un système de recouvrement des coûts pour les régimes de santé à l’intention d’une population appauvrie confronté à une situation de plus en plus précaire. Une approche de développement à long terme était tout simplement incapable de répondre à l’augmentation soudaine de la population et une situation de santé précaire

The changing face of innovation policy: implications for the Northern Ireland economy

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ICPR2017 – The Fourth International Conference on Practice Research: overview

This paper reports issues arising from the Fourth International Conference on Practice Research, held in Hong Kong in May 2017. The issues were identified by specially convened group of conference participants, and include the need to develop a better language to describe practice research in terms that make sense to practitioners, improved support for practitioners to conduct research, recognising the different drivers for practice research in different countries, and enhancing practitioners' coordinating and leadership roles

Quality of life: Conceptual challenges in exploring the role of ICT in active ageing

The chapter aims to examine the definitional challenges associated with the term quality of life, measurement challenges, the challenges associated with enhancing quality of life, and the role of information and communication technologies (ICT) in quality of life in old age, and finally comments on the challenges of a modern information society for older people. The term quality of life started as a social scientific index of the relative well-being of whole populations, i.e. the state of states. Nowadays quality of life is more likely to be viewed as an individualized aspect of the modern psyche. This shift in conceptualization is problematic in that, if quality of life is individualized, it cannot be meaningful to assess it in the same way for everyone. Nevertheless, over the years a vast range of methods of measuring quality of life has emerged, leading to several measurement challenges. Wealth, health and social relations have all been found to be prime determinants of subjective quality of life; for ICT to enhance quality of life for older people they need to mediate the relationships between these three important factors and quality of life. To date there is relatively little evidence that ICT has improved the quality of life of older people. Suggestions are made as to why ICT is unlikely to influence life quality for older citizens. The chapter is drawn to a close by asking if quality of life is a meaningless term and if the future is bleak for old people in a modern information society. The answer to both questions is no