Impact of Aid Reduction on Local Civil Society in Conflict-Affected States

This document represents a summary of the proceedings of the multi-stakeholder workshop “Impact of Aid Reduction on Local Civil Society in States in Transition,” held at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, DC, November 2-3, 2015 and cosponsored by USIP, Kennesaw State University, CIFAL Atlanta, and the US Army Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute

Does civil society really democratize global governance? Examining transnational civil society engagement with the World Bank.

Academics and practitioners alike recognize that global governance institutions suffer from a democratic deficit. A large body of literature suggests that civil society can reform global governance, but a countervailing body of work indicates that civil society may actually facilitate new forms of elite domination. This thesis seeks to contribute to this debate by examining the impact of civil society on policymaking at the World Bank. This thesis' core question is: 'Do data about the World Bank support the idea that civil society can democratize global governance.' Using three case studies, the thesis examines how civil society organizations engaging with the Bank interact with one another, set their agendas, and achieve their impacts, and how these organizations engage with local civil society and governments in developing countries. The resulting data are analyzed using a framework for democratic legitimacy derived from the work of Uhlin, Scharpf, and Dingwerth. The case studies reveal civil society is far more atomized than indicated in much of the literature. Strong ideological commitments, coupled with financial incentives, inhibit dialogue between organizations and make it difficult for international organizations to respond to the concerns of grassroots stakeholders. Civil society advocacy increases stakeholder control over the World Bank, but new channels of influence are controlled primarily by elite organizations based in the global North. Civil society organizations also utilize state power to achieve their objectives, soliciting the assistance of the Bank's major donors in ways that marginalize developing country governments. The thesis finds that civil society has abundant impact on the World Bank and that some impacts, like improved transparency and accountability, facilitate direct stakeholder influence over the institution. However, the thesis concludes that because transnational civil society consolidates that influence in the hands of a minority of stakeholders, it does not democratize the World Bank

Atypical chemokine receptor ACKR2 controls branching morphogenesis in the developing mammary gland

Macrophages are important regulators of branching morphogenesis during development and postnatally in the mammary gland. Regulation of macrophage dynamics during these processes can therefore have a profound impact on development. We demonstrate here that the developing mammary gland expresses high levels of inflammatory CC-chemokines, which are essential in vivo regulators of macrophage migration. We further demonstrate that the atypical chemokine receptor ACKR2, which scavenges inflammatory CC-chemokines, is differentially expressed during mammary gland development. We have previously shown that ACKR2 regulates macrophage dynamics during lymphatic vessel development. Here, we extend these observations to reveal a novel role for ACKR2 in regulating the postnatal development of the mammary gland. Specifically, we show that Ackr2−/− mice display precocious mammary gland development. This is associated with increased macrophage recruitment to the developing gland and increased density of the ductal epithelial network. These data demonstrate that ACKR2 is an important regulator of branching morphogenesis in diverse biological contexts and provide the first evidence of a role for chemokines and their receptors in postnatal development processes

A global comprehensive vaccine-preventable disease surveillance strategy for the immunization Agenda 2030

As part of the Immunization Agenda 2030, a global strategy for comprehensive vaccine-preventable disease (VPD) surveillance was developed. The strategy provides guidance on the establishment of high-quality surveillance systems that are 1) comprehensive, encompassing all VPD threats faced by a country, in all geographic areas and populations, using all laboratory and other methodologies required for timely and reliable disease detection; 2) integrated, wherever possible, taking advantage of shared infrastructure for specific components of surveillance such as data management and laboratory systems; 3) inclusive of all relevant data needed to guide immunization program management actions. Such surveillance systems should generate data useful to strengthen national immunization programs, inform vaccine introduction decision-making, and reinforce timely and effective detection and response. All stakeholders in countries and globally should work to achieve this vision

A922 Sequential measurement of 1 hour creatinine clearance (1-CRCL) in critically ill patients at risk of acute kidney injury (AKI)

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2020 taxonomic update for phylum Negarnaviricota (Riboviria: Orthornavirae), including the large orders Bunyavirales and Mononegavirales.

In March 2020, following the annual International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) ratification vote on newly proposed taxa, the phylum Negarnaviricota was amended and emended. At the genus rank, 20 new genera were added, two were deleted, one was moved, and three were renamed. At the species rank, 160 species were added, four were deleted, ten were moved and renamed, and 30 species were renamed. This article presents the updated taxonomy of Negarnaviricota as now accepted by the ICTV

Revolutionary, advocate, agent, or authority: context-based assessment of the democratic legitimacy of transnational civil society

The literature on transnational civil society encompasses a number of conflicting views regarding civil society organizations' (CSOs) behavior and impacts and the desirability of civil society involvement in international policymaking. This piece suggests that this lack of consensus arises from the diverse range of contexts in which CSOs operate and the wide variety of activities in which they engage. This article seeks to organize and analyze the disparate data on civil society by developing a context-based standard of democratic legitimacy for CSOs. The article disaggregatcs democracy into input, throughput, and output components, and shows how CSOs must support or manifest different aspects of democracy in order to be democratically legitimate in a given context. Applying this standard to existing works, the article identifies several problems in current research, including a failure to recognize ways the democratic imperatives of transnational advocacy differ from national advocacy, and the potential for international civil society interventions to undermine local democratic processes

Identity, Individualism, and Activism beyond the State: Examining the Impacts of Global Citizenship

The concept of global citizenship has risen to prominence through its use by policy makers, activists, and scholars, who employ the idea of global interconnectedness to encourage individuals to actively engage with transnational issues. Proponents of global citizenship claim that it will promote greater global unity and equality of rights, and even generate a new, post-national identity. Yet self-professed global citizens operate in a transnational realm marked by extreme disparities in power between the members of different states and economic classes. This article assesses whether global citizenship can live up to the claims of its adherents, or whether it will replicate the existing inequalities and moral hazard currently manifest in global policy-making. The article uses the work of T.H. Marshall to identify the conditions under which citizenship has generated equality and unity in the national realm and examines whether these conditions are present beyond the state. It then compares the resulting theory with global citizenship\u27s observed impacts in transnational activism. It concludes that unity and equality of rights cannot be achieved globally in the absence of a commonly shared pool of social and economic resources and that, ironically, global citizenship may worsen existing power imbalances by legitimating elites\u27 use of power

Undemocratic Activism? Transnational Civil society, the World Bank, and the Democratization of Global Governance

For much of the past 20 years, scholars and practitioners have argued that transnational civil society organizations (CSOs) can act to remedy power imbalances within global governance. They have argued that the UN and the World Bank privilege the interests of the Northern societies over those in the global South, who are marginalized in the decision-making processes and also disproportionately impacted by the resulting policy. However, new research is showing that civil society itself is divided by disparities in power and resources between CSOs