Regional Advocacy Networks and the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa

While there has been a significant amount of research on transnational feminist activism at the global level, many feminist transnational advocacy networks are mobilizing within world regions. The lack of attention to the regional level has created a considerable imbalance in research on transnational activism. This article\u27s first objective is to define regional advocacy networks (RANs) as a collection of individuals and organizations from the same world region working together toward a common goal. The article\u27s second objective is to explore the conditions under which RANs are influential. We investigate conditions for RAN success through a case study of an African network that helped create one of the world\u27s most progressive treaties on women\u27s rights, the African Union Protocol to the Charter on Human and People\u27s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa. From an analysis of primary sources and interviews with key participants, we suggest that three factors are crucial for network success: whether a RAN builds alliances with key politicians and civil servants, whether a RAN is able to participate in the decision-making process, and whether a RAN\u27s goals overlap with the target institution\u27s priorities. The broader implication of our study is that scholars seeking to understand the creation of women\u27s rights commitments, the diffusion of women\u27s rights norms, and compliance with women\u27s rights treaties need to look beyond the international and domestic levels of action to include the regional level in their analyses

Regional Advocacy Networks and the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa

While there has been a significant amount of research on transnational feminist activism at the global level, many feminist transnational advocacy networks are mobilizing within world regions. The lack of attention to the regional level has created a considerable imbalance in research on transnational activism. This article\u27s first objective is to define regional advocacy networks (RANs) as a collection of individuals and organizations from the same world region working together toward a common goal. The article\u27s second objective is to explore the conditions under which RANs are influential. We investigate conditions for RAN success through a case study of an African network that helped create one of the world\u27s most progressive treaties on women\u27s rights, the African Union Protocol to the Charter on Human and People\u27s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa. From an analysis of primary sources and interviews with key participants, we suggest that three factors are crucial for network success: whether a RAN builds alliances with key politicians and civil servants, whether a RAN is able to participate in the decision-making process, and whether a RAN\u27s goals overlap with the target institution\u27s priorities. The broader implication of our study is that scholars seeking to understand the creation of women\u27s rights commitments, the diffusion of women\u27s rights norms, and compliance with women\u27s rights treaties need to look beyond the international and domestic levels of action to include the regional level in their analyses

Her Ladyship Chief Justice: The Rise of Female Leaders in the Judiciary in Africa

In recent years, women have been selected as leaders of African judiciaries. This article identifies where and when women have become chief justices and presidents of constitutional courts from 1990 to 2014. We profile women from three civil-law and three common-law countries and find that the women selected meet or exceed the requirements for holding the highest position in the judiciary. We then explore why some African countries, but not others, have had female judicial leaders. We initially find that the selection method may be less important than the type of legal system, the commitment of gatekeepers, the end of major armed conflict, and regional diffusion in explaining why some countries have seen women rise to leadership positions in the judiciary

Coalitions Matter: Citizenship, Women, and Quota Adoption in Africa

We provide new theory and evidence of the role of domestic women’s coalitions in the adoption of gender quotas. Previous research has shown the importance of women’s movements to policy change. We show that specific types of mobilization, often multiethnic in character, are a more precise way of describing these influences. Using a new dataset of coalitions in 50 countries in Africa (1989–2014), we first examine where coalitions are likely to emerge. Controlling for factors that correlate with their formation, we find that when domestic women’s organizations form a coalition for quotas, governments are more likely to adopt them and do so more quickly. This correlation holds when controlling for international aid, involvement of international women’s movements, and whether countries recently emerged out of major armed conflict, complementing recent scholarship that highlights global influences. A comparative case study of the adoption of a gender quota in Senegal and non-adoption in Benin helps illustrate the nuances of the theory

Global South scholars are missing from European and US journals. What can be done about it

Studies have shown that scholars in the global South are under represented in top international peer-reviewed social and medical sciences journals. The global South refers to African, Asian, Latin American, and Middle Eastern countries who are also members of the Group of 77. The intergovernmental organisation of mainly developing countries is used to identify countries in the South. The global North includes the Group of 8 and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. Our own analysis of gender and politics journals shows scholars in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East are missing from leading journals published in the US and Europe. We found that between 2008 and 2017 less than 3% of 947 full length articles in four gender and politics journals published in the global North were written by scholars based in the global South. Researchers based in the global North have a wider global reach and are generally judged to be at the forefront of knowledge production and dissemination. Meanwhile, South-based scholars are often not part of major debates and conversations in their field. This points to a severe imbalance in the production of new knowledge. But all countries in the South are not alike. We found that scholars at three universities in South Africa (Rhodes University, University of Cape Town, and the University of the Witwatersrand) published the most articles followed by researchers at four universities in India. Surprisingly, scholars from large countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Nigeria have not published articles in these journals

Learning to be lean in an emerging economy

노트 : Prepared for IMVP Sponsors Meeting, Toronto, Canada June 199

Learning to be Lean in an Emerging Economy: The Case of South Korea

First draftBalance of payments considerations have driven the automobile industry strategies of many late-industrializing countries such as Thailand, Mexico, and Malaysia. These countries do not intend to become leading suppliers in the world automobile industry but rather, have designed (if only by default) their assembly and parts operations with a view towards protecting their balance of payments. Because an automobile is a high-value import, and because demand for automobiles rises steeply as per capita income rises, free importation of automobiles often hurts a young economy's balance of payments. Therefore, virtually all lateindustrializing countries have some intention of developing a production capability in autos in order to protect the supply of and demand for foreign exchange

Upper Extremity Prosthetics: Designing A Life Without Limits

When you’re a kid you don’t think very much about how your body grows, it just does. Sometimes you may get a little taller or stronger but you never think very far beyond that point - unless you have to wear a prosthetic. The question of how children that wear prosthetic limbs keep up with their ever-changing bodies as they grow into adulthood is what sparked our curiosity and led us to research the multifaceted prosthetics industry for this thesis project. We wanted to see if there was a socially, fiscally, and environmentally responsible solution to this problem and if not, what we could do to help

Constraints to micro and small enterprise growth in Uganda : implications for development

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1999.Includes bibliographical references (leaf 71).The rapid proliferation of micro and small enterprises (MSEs) has become an increasingly important factor for economic growth in less developed countries. In Uganda, the micro and small enterprise sector has been particularly successful in providing employment opportunities for rural populations. As a result, the Government of Uganda has implemented policy initiatives designed to encourage their sustained development. In order to evaluate some of the policies that have been drafted by the government, survey work was carried out in two secondary towns of Uganda, Wobulenzi and Lugazi, in order to better characterize the enabling environment of MSEs and to study the effects of better water infrastructure provision on firm productivity. The empirical evidence obtained suggests that individuals are able to easily enter into the MSE sector but that firms are highly constrained once established, and therefore, unable to grow. Some of the most significant obstacles to growth for the MSEs surveyed are the taxation system, the limited access to financing and an unreliable electricity supply. It has also been found that the provision of piped water infrastructure in Wobulenzi has had a significant effect on the productivity of these micro and small enterprises. However, much must still be learned about these MSEs and their constraints to growth in order for government intervention to prove to be successful.by Alice H. Kang.M.C.P