Catching the reading bug: looking at how to immerse children in the literary experience using visual and textual literacy

Dissertação de mestrado em Biologia Celular e Molecular apresentada ao Departamento de Zoologia da faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade de Coimbra

The Role of Gender in Serious and Organised/Transnational Crime

This rapid review synthesises evidence on the role of gender in serious and organised/transnational crime (SOC) with regard to gender norms, participation and prevention. It looks at the literature on the roles women play in organised crime groups and their pathways to participation, the impact of cultural gender norms in different forms of participation for men and women in SOC, and the role of gender dynamics within families or communities in preventing SOC. Key Overall Findings linking gender norms, female participation and prevention of SOC: 1). Gender norms and women’s participation in SOC are varied and highly contextual, highlighting the importance of gender analysis to programming; 2). Gendered perceptions of men as perpetrators and women as victims in SOC undermine effective responses; and 3). Some types of masculine identity have been linked to involvement in violent crime and societal tolerance of organised crime groups. In Italy, some feminists characterise opposition to SOC as an anti-patriarchal struggle.FCDO (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Global Evidence on the Prevalence and Impact of Online Gender-based Violence (OGBV)

This rapid review updates a previous report (Fraser and Martineau-Searle, 2018) with evidence from 2018 onwards. It finds an evidence base on online gender-based violence (OGBV) covering a wider range of countries than the previous report. Some key findings on the nature and prevalence of OGBV include: The most recent surveys show a prevalence of OGBV ranging from 16% to 58%; Men and boys also experience online abuse in high numbers, but it is less likely to be gender-based; Several studies from different countries identify Facebook as the top location for incidents of OGBV; Higher levels of online harassment and abuse are faced by people with intersecting inequality factors; According to victim-survivors, perpetrators are more likely to be unknown and acting alone, but large numbers are known to the victims. Perpetrators themselves report divergent, multifaceted and often over-lapping motivations for their actions; Analysis of underlying drivers of OGBV highlights an overarching theme of power and control, and heteronormative expectations around gender roles and sexual practice. Many authors recommend that OGBV be understood as part of a continuum of abuse where normalised behaviours, such as sexual harassment in public spaces, shade into behaviours widely recognized as criminal, such as physical assault. The societal impact of OGBV includes: Media freedom is compromised; Democracy being undermined; Economic losses resulting from lost productivity; A ‘climate of unsafety’ prevails. Evidence base: The number of surveys about self-reported experiences with online harassment has increased rapidly. The majority of the research found during the course of this rapid review came from international and domestic non-governmental organisations and think-tanks. Academic research studies were also found, including several literature reviews.FCDO (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Drivers of Compliance with International Human Rights Treaties

Are international human rights treaties associated with better rights performance? The appetite for a conclusive answer has driven a number of large scale quantitative studies that have broadly shown little or no effect, and sometimes even a backsliding. However, the headline conclusions belie much more complicated findings, and the research methods used are controversial. These issues undermine confidence in the findings. Comparative and individual case studies allow for more detailed information about how domestic human rights activists use international human rights laws in practice. They tend to be more positive about the effect of treaties, but they are not as systematic as the quantitative work. Some indirect measures of treaty effect show that the norms contained within them filter down into domestic constitutions, and that the process of human rights reporting at the UN may be useful if dialogue can be considered an a priori good. It is likely that states are driven to comply with human rights obligations through a combination of dynamic influences. Drivers of compliance with international law is a major, unresolved question in the research that is heavily influenced by the worldview of researchers. The two strongest findings are: Domestic context drives compliance. In particular: (1) The strength of domestic non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and links with international NGOs (INGOs), and (2) in partial and transitioning democracies where locals have a reason to use the treaties as tools to press their claims. External enforcement may help drive compliance when: (1) other states link human rights obligations in the treaties to preferential trade agreements, and (2) INGOs ‘name and shame’ human rights violations, possibly reducing inward investment flows from companies worried about their reputation. Scholars also identify intermediate effects of continued dialogue and norm socialisation from the UN’s human rights reporting processes. Interviews with diplomats involved in UN reporting say that the process is more effective when NGOs and individual governments are involved.FCDO (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Defining and Measuring Diplomatic Influence

This review found no sources of straightforward indicators for use in measuring diplomatic influence. The literature and evaluations found to recommend the use of tailor-made evaluations to account for “differences in diplomatic settings, diplomatic activities and policy fields”. They hinge on developing a theory of change alongside questions and evaluation criteria that are context-specific. They rely on assessing intermediate goals as a ‘proxy’ for the immeasurable long-term influence, and causal contributions (contributed to a result) rather than causal attributions (caused a result). It was also frequently mentioned that programme designers tend to design programmes to support diplomatic influence without specific and measurable objectives because influencing processes are by nature non-linear. In these cases, evaluations will be correspondingly unable to provide specific and measurable indicators of achievement.FCDO (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Health Workforce Interventions in Low-and-Middle-Income-Countries (LMICs)

The clearest overall message from across the literature is that designing human resources for health (HRH) initiatives should begin by understanding the needs of a health system or population rather than choosing a specific strategy. In other words, there are no strategies that are universally effective, only strategies that are more or less appropriate to their context. One group of experienced researchers note the “difficulty in predicting how effective a strategy will be in a given context” (Rowe et al, 2018b). Another states that “in 2006, the World Health Report observed that a ‘solution is not straightforward, and there is no consensus on how to proceed.’ This observation remains true in 2020” (Kerry et al., 2020, p.1). The appetite for evidence-based solutions to the health workforce crisis in low-and-middle-income-countries (LMICs) has driven a large research effort to compare different strategies across multiple contexts. The most comprehensive to date, the Health Care Provider Performance Review (HCPPR), offers some findings, but the authors themselves are tentative in their recommendations given the methodological complexity of the research task

Export of Digital Surveillance Technologies From China to Developing Countries

There is evidence to show that Chinese companies, with some state credit backing, are selling digital surveillance technologies to developing countries, which are then sometimes used in authoritarian practices. However, there is little direct evidence to show that surveillance technologies sold by Chinese companies have more authoritarian potential than the technologies sold by non-Chinese companies. Some researchers define “surveillance technologies” as including any form of digital infrastructure. There is data to show that developing country governments are contracting Chinese companies to build digital infrastructures. Other researchers define “surveillance technologies” as smart city projects. It is estimated that in 2019, Chinese smart city technologies have been purchased in over 100 countries worldwide. Other researchers look at more specific elements of smart cities: There are estimates that the “AI surveillance” components of smart cities have been purchased in 47-65 countries worldwide, and the “data integration” security platforms in at least 80 countries. None of these figures imply anything about how these technologies are used. The “dual use” nature of these technologies means that they can have both legitimate civilian and public safety uses as well as authoritarian control uses. There is evidence of some governments in Africa using Chinese surveillance technologies to spy on political opponents and arrest protesters. Some authors say that some Chinese smart city projects are actually not very effective, but still provide governments with a “security aesthetic”. Research also shows that Chinese smart city technologies have been sold mostly to illiberal regimes. However, in the wider context, there is also ample evidence of non-Chinese surveillance technologies contributing to authoritarian control in developing countries. There is also evidence that UK companies sell surveillance technologies to mostly illiberal regimes. Some reports consulted for this rapid review imply that Chinese surveillance technologies are more likely to be used for authoritarian control than those sold by non-Chinese companies. This analysis is largely based on circumstantial rather than direct evidence. They rely on prior judgements, which are themselves subject to ongoing enquiry in the literature: Almost all of the reports consulted for this rapid review say that the most important factor determining whether governments in developing countries will deploy a particular technology for repressive purposes is the quality of governance in the country. No reports were found in the literature reviewed of Chinese state pressure on developing countries to adopt surveillance technologies, and there were some anecdotal reports of officials in developing countries saying they did not come under any pressure to buy from Chinese companies.Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO

Examples of 'Systems Thinking' Projects in International Development

A “systems thinking” (ST) approach generally recognises that international development processes are complex, inter-related, non-linear, and constantly changing. They involve many different types of actors, all with different levels of power. ST change methods try to mirror these qualities, and move away from more conventional project design and implementation that use simple linear input-output-impact project logic. Thus, this rapid literature review seeks to find out what are some examples of ‘systems thinking’ projects in international development. The aim of this rapid review is to provide concrete examples of how ST shows up in the project design and management processes that are typically used by people working in the international development sector. These include project management arrangements, evaluation indicators, results frameworks, budget allocations and procurement, country diagnostics, and the foundational analysis that informs project design. The examples found were mostly extracted from donor project documents. Different definitions of ST may emphasise different elements. An attempt was made to find a range of projects from different sectors, and to go beyond projects that exemplified “Market Systems Development” and “Adaptive Management,” for which there are already repositories of project examples (see Further Resources).The inclusion of the projects in this review does not imply that they were successful, only that they contain some evidence of ST in them. Most of the projects identified have a further library of documents, including evaluations, that give more detailed information about their successes and failures.Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO

Trade Facilitation for Environmental Goods and Services

This rapid review synthesises the literature from academic, policy, and knowledge institution sources on how reform in customs procedures can facilitate international trade in environmental goods and services. Overall, it finds that there is a general belief in the literature from the World Trade Organization (WTO), International Trade Center and World Bank, that streamlining customs procedures supports international trade in environmental goods. There is survey evidence that firms exporting environmental goods encounter difficulties with customs procedures at the point of entry. Previous trade facilitation projects have not considered trade in environmental goods, so provide no evidence about what has or has not worked well. The evidence base identified during this literature review was extremely small, and came largely from international trade institutions such as the WTO or World Bank, or research organisations working with them. Most of the references to trade in EGS and customs procedures were mentioned in passing as mutually compatible without going into further detail. One of the few documents to combine trade in EGS with trade facilitation is not available for public viewing.FCDO (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office