539,258 research outputs found

    Commentary: Public Health and Civil Liberties in an Era of Bioterrorism

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    Safeguarding the public\u27s health, safety, and security took on new meaning and urgency after the attacks on the World Trade Towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., on September 11, 2001. The subsequent intentional dispersal of anthrax through the U.S. postal system resulted in five confirmed deaths, hundreds treated, and thousands tested. The potential for new, larger, and more sophisticated attacks have created a sense of vulnerability. National attention has urgently turned to the need to detect and react rapidly to bioterrorism as well as to naturally occurring infectious diseases

    Household Food Security in the United States, 2007

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    Eighty-nine percent of American households were food secure throughout the entire year in 2007, meaning that all household members had access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. The remaining households (11.1 percent) were food insecure at least some time during the year. About one-third of food-insecure households (4.1 percent of all U.S. households) had very low food security—meaning that the food intake of one or more adults was reduced and their eating patterns were disrupted at times during the year because the household lacked money and other resources for food. Prevalence rates of food insecurity and very low food security were essentially unchanged from those in 2005 and 2006. The typical food-secure household spent 35 percent more on food than the typical food-insecure household of the same size and household composition. Just over half of all food-insecure households participated in one or more of the three largest Federal food and nutrition assistance programs during the month prior to the survey.Food security, food insecurity, food spending, food pantry, soup kitchen, emergency kitchen, material well-being, Food Stamp Program, National School Lunch Program, WIC, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty,

    The Manifestation of Street Safety and Security as Spatial (in)justice in Selected Small Rural Towns of Vhembe District, South Africa

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    Safe and secure street spaces for pedestrians translate to spatially just urban environments. This study examined pedestrians' safety and security elements on street spaces in three selected Small Rural Towns (SRTs) in South Africa and assessed the users' physical perceptions of street safety and security in SRTs and their implications on spatial (in)justice. Forty-three street spaces from three SRTs in South Africa were purposively sampled and assessed in this study. The study adopted a mixed-method approach involving the use of a case study and a survey.  Data were collected through key informant interviews, a questionnaire survey and a street space design quality checklist. The distribution of safety and security elements across the studied 43 street spaces reflect the existence of justices and injustices concurrently. Users' theoretical perception of the meaning of street safety differs significantly from their actual experiences. The study recommends that the design and management of streets be informed by users' vision of street safety and security, as well as innovative project financing strategies to ensure spatial justice on street spaces

    Food Security in Developing Countries: Issues and Options for the 1990s

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    Summary Interest in ‘food security’ has been on a rising trend through the late 1980's, especially in sub?Saharan Africa. However, the paper finds that the term ‘food security’ is used in different ways and that partly as a result there are different approaches to food security planning. There are also different views on some of the key issues in food security: agricultural growth, market intervention, targeting. Here the paper finds a retreat from ideology into a pragmatic, case by case approach. Food security will continue to be prominent in the 1990's and five issues will dominate the agenda: the meaning and measurement of food insecurity; structural reform of food systems; improved targeting in SSA; the future of food aid; and the strengthening of rural and urban safety nets

    From military to ‘security interventions’: an alternative approach to contemporary interventions

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    In both academic and policy circles international interventions tend to mean ‘military’ interventions and debates tend to focus on whether such interventions are ‘good’ or ‘bad’ in general. This article aims to open up scholarly engagement on the topic of the thorny reality of interventions in different contexts by reconceptualising international interventions as ‘security interventions.’ The article draws attention to the ambiguous meaning of ‘security’ as both an objective (i.e. safety) as well as a practice (military forces, police, intelligence agencies and their tactics), something that is reflected in the different approaches to be gleaned from the security studies literature. From this ambiguity, it derives two interlinked concepts: ‘security culture’ and ‘security gap,’ as analytical tools to grasp the complexity of international interventions. The concept of ‘security culture’ captures specific combinations of objectives and practices. The concept of ‘security gap’ captures the particular relationship or the distinct kind of ‘mismatch’ between objectives and practices as it occurs in a ‘security culture.’ This reading of international interventions through the concept of ‘security culture’ and the interlinked analytical tool ‘security gap’ allows an analysis and understanding that goes beyond simplistic assumptions both about traditional military capabilities and the role of the ‘international community’ as a unitary actor

    Linking Gender Security with the Armed Conflict to Peace Continuum

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    In the immediate aftermath of armed conflict, security is critical to the possibility that refugees, displaced persons, and former combatants will return home, that the rule of law can be established, and that the state can move forward positively. Security in a post-conflict society is critical to preventing further conflict. Available empirical evidence suggests that conflicts are highly cyclical and for societies experiencing internal conflict there is up to a 50% risk that conflict will again reignite. Security issues are at the heart of the reconstruction process for the local population, national leaders, and the international community. Security is also central to the psychological notion of safety and well-being at the individual and communal level. But what does “security” mean? We work from a layered conception of security, meaning security that encompasses both security from further state-supported armed groups and militia (typically conceived of as encompassing only public violence) and security to live in civil society without violence inflicted by post-conflict state actors in public societal settings as well as in the home. This essay examines the essential issue of security and its link to the establishment and maintenance of peace for women. It explores the multiple and contradictory versions of security that arise in societies transitioning away from violence. Our interest lies in ascertaining how women fare in these variable settings, and how concepts and implementation might be improved to make conflict transitions gender attentive. The analysis then unmasks the roles that gender and gendering play in security, showing how security priorities accord with masculine conceptualizations of safety, and critiquing the state-centric approach which focuses on public violence. Our micro analysis is focused primarily on security sector reform because that is the vehicle by which security in many post-conflict societies is conceptualized and delivered. We point to the weaknesses and limitations of existing frameworks and the ways in which gender bias is structured into existing solutions. Finally, we suggest a new paradigm for future efforts at security transitions that affects, and effects, equity between genders. We encourage a rethink of how conflict management processes manage and implement safety to the overall benefit of both men and women

    Safety education in the face of threats to human security

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    The article provides information on relationships and dependencies between education and human security. The author tries to combine these two areas (levels) of meaning into one whole, giving them a uniform form of definition – the concept of safety education. This concept includes elements such as values, attitudes, human awareness, counteracting threats, a sense of security or institutionalism. The content of the article consists of two main parts: determinants of the safety education process and the essential social and cultural threats to human existence. Much attention has been devoted to the risks to personal security. The main idea of the article proves that personal (human) safety together with a sense of peace and stagnation as well as structural safety have a fundamental impact on the sense of security of individuals

    Emerging Agribusiness Enterprises: the Need for Food Safety Policy in Nigeria

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    Quality standards are usually related to improving the safety of food products suitable for consumption in accordance to specifications by food regulatory bodies. This study noted that although steps have been taken in Nigeria to address an aspect of food security (increasing food production to prevent hunger) in the issue of food safety, another aspect of food security, received only little attention. Findings of this study revealed that Educational level and amount of assets owned by respondents have direct relationships with their awareness about the need for food safety regulations. The number of years spent in school also influenced the ease of adoption of technological innovations associated with food safety regulations. The negative signs of X1 and X4 (age and years of experience) means due to lack of education of most of the respondents, even as they continue growing older and stay longer in business they may not see the need to spend additional money on safety measures as it does not have much meaning to them. The paper also observed that even though Nigeria has over nine food laws, the problem lies with implementation of these laws. It, therefore, recommends that the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the food agency in Nigeria be empowered to enable her extend surveillance and awareness-creation activities to food enterprises at the grassroots. It also needs to ensure that retail establishments, restaurants and other food vendors meet basic food safety standards as well as proper sanitary practices

    Skills and knowledge as a basis for safety competence in teacher education curriculum

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    Enhancing the safety culture in school context sets new challenges to prospective teachers, their need for safety skills, knowledge and competence. Based on the latest studies, the paper describes the factors of safety culture in the educational institutions. These factors are risks, processes, learning environments, learning, normative guidance, actors, target groups and tools. As a case study, further analysis is provided about the factor of learning. The data is teacher education curriculum text of one Finnish teacher education unit. In the content analysis, the data was first classified with themes in the context of safety. During the second round of analysis, special attention was paid to the verbs. Further, two groups, skills (S) and knowledge (K) were established. The analysis showed that there were more knowledge based (K) than skills based (S) meaning units. As the university studies are based on theoretical issues, this is understandable. Based on the analysis, it seems that the curriculum describes safety one-sided as the social issues and the interaction were in focus in both groups, knowledge and skills. This could mean that safety is valued in the teacher education. However, the results raise some concerns, whether the future teachers are able to provide decent education for their pupils in the various safety and security areas, such as traffic safety, injuries or occupational safety, or whether they are able to respond in the sudden crisis situations during the school day, for instance in case of violence or fire.Enhancing the safety culture in school context sets new challenges to prospective teachers, their need for safety skills, knowledge and competence. Based on the latest studies, the paper describes the factors of safety culture in the educational institutions. These factors are risks, processes, learning environments, learning, normative guidance, actors, target groups and tools. As a case study, further analysis is provided about the factor of learning. The data is teacher education curriculum text of one Finnish teacher education unit. In the content analysis, the data was first classified with themes in the context of safety. During the second round of analysis, special attention was paid to the verbs. Further, two groups, skills (S) and knowledge (K) were established. The analysis showed that there were more knowledge based (K) than skills based (S) meaning units. As the university studies are based on theoretical issues, this is understandable. Based on the analysis, it seems that the curriculum describes safety one-sided as the social issues and the interaction were in focus in both groups, knowledge and skills. This could mean that safety is valued in the teacher education. However, the results raise some concerns, whether the future teachers are able to provide decent education for their pupils in the various safety and security areas, such as traffic safety, injuries or occupational safety, or whether they are able to respond in the sudden crisis situations during the school day, for instance in case of violence or fire
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