Financial inclusion: Policies and practices

As a key enabler for development, financial inclusion is firmly placed on the agenda of most governments as a key policy priority. Against this background, this round table provides a global and regional perspective on the policies and practices of financial inclusion. Using macro data, the collection reveals the diversity in the efforts towards achieving financial inclusion and the need for a progressive approach in financial inclusion. Further to this, the round table provides the regional perspectives on the policies and practices of financial inclusion in India, South Africa, and Australia

Advancing nursing practice : the emergence of the role of Advanced Practice Nurse in Saudi Arabia

Background: The roots of advanced practice nursing can be traced back to the 1890s, but the Nurse Practitioner (NP) emerged in Western countries during the 1960s in response to the unmet health care needs of populations in rural areas. These early NPs utilized the medical model of care to assess, diagnose and treat. Nursing has since grown as a profession, with its own unique and distinguishable, holistic, science-based knowledge, which is complementary within the multidisciplinary team. Today Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs) demonstrate nursing expertise in clinical practice, education, research and leadership, and are no longer perceived as “physician replacements” or assistants. Saudi Arabia has yet to define, legislate or regulate Advanced Practice Nursing. Aims: This article aims to disseminate information from a Saudi Advanced Practice Nurse thought leadership meeting, to chronicle the history of Advanced Practice Nursing within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, while identifying strategies for moving forward. Conclusion: It is important to build an APN model based on Saudi health care culture and patient population needs, while recognizing global historical underpinnings. Ensuring that nursing continues to distinguish itself from other health care professions, while securing a seat at the multidisciplinary health care table will be instrumental in advancing the practice of nursing

Built to last? Local climate change adaptation and governance in the Caribbean – The case of an informal urban settlement in Trinidad and Tobago

Climate Change (CC) increasingly affects cities in low-elevation coastal zones, and households in low-income areas in particular. This article focuses on local CC adaptation and governance in Trinidad and Tobago. First, it investigates the capacity of a poor urban community to adapt to CC, by examining the local impacts of and responses to flooding. Second, based on interviews with a selection of local stakeholders, the article sheds light on the institutional barriers preventing the development and implementation of effective CC adaptation strategies. The data show that households in the case study community experience the impacts of changing climatic conditions, in particular flooding. Households implement a wide range of adaptive measures before, during and after floods. It was revealed that the case study community receives very limited institutional support to withstand flooding. Looking at the different levels of CC adaptation governance in Trinidad and Tobago it can be concluded that although the institutional architecture to support local CC adaptation seems to cover all governance levels, vertical linkages between the various levels have to be strengthened to bridge the gap between community-based and national-level adaptation planning. The main institutional challenges are the lack of coordination and communication between the relevant actors