Civil War, Sexual Violence and HIV Infections: Evidence from the Democratic Republic of the Congo

This paper estimates the effect of conflict and conflict-related vulnerability factors, namely sexual violence and economic vulnerability, on HIV prevalence rates. We find that HIV prevalence rates are higher in conflict-affected regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) than in non-conflict regions, and that sexual violence and economic vulnerability significantly affect HIV prevalence rates. Specifically we find that (i) HIV prevalence is 1.64 % higher in war-affected zones than elsewhere in the DRC; (ii) the impact of sexual violence in conflict-affected regions is 55 times greater than on average (1.10 % versus 0.02 %); (iii) Civil war and sexual violence jointly increase HIV infection rates by 1.45 %; (iv) Finally, economic conflict-related vulnerability does not explain HIV infection rates. In contrast, a one percent point decrease in the poverty incidence, that is a reduction in economic vulnerability, increases HIV prevalence rates by 0.048 % regardless of the situation of conflict.AIDS, HIV, Civil war, sexual violence, DRC, Sub-Saharan Africa.

Time-Varying Parameters in the Almost Ideal Demand System and the Rotterdam Model: Will the Best Specication Please Stand Up?

This paper assesses the ability of the Rotterdam model and of three versions of the almost ideal demand system (AIDS) to recover the time-varying elasticities of a true demand system and to satisfy theoretical regularity. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we find that the Rotterdam model performs better than the linear-approximate AIDs at recovering the signs of all the time-varying elasticities. More importantly, the Rotterdam model has the ability to track the paths of time-varying income elasticities, even when the true values are very high. The linear-approximate AIDS, not only performs poorly at recovering the time-varying elasticities but also badly approximates the nonlinear AIDS.AIDS, Rotterdam model, structural time series models, Monte Carlo experiment, theoretical regularity.

Challenges of Institutional Coordination in Planning for Public Transportation in East Africa: Analysis Based on Perceptions of Stakeholders in Dar-es-Salaam and Nairobi

This paper examines the challenges of institutional coordination in planning for public transport in Dar-es-Salaam and Nairobi. Sources of data included literature review from published and unpublished documents, interviews with institutions involved in public transportation and workshops. The data was coded and analyzed using structural-functional and content analysis. Analysis of results showed a number of challenges that constrain institutional coordination in planning for public transport in the cities of Dar-es-salaam and Nairobi. Those challenges are inherently embedded in the institutional, political, cultural, economic and technological conditions of Tanzania and Kenya. This paper recommends establishment of a framework for institutional coordination in planning for public transport suited to circumstances of each of these countries. This will be a tool to address uncontrolled fragmentation of public transport agreements across different agencies, and a guide to different sectors to pursue individual public transport initiatives within the agreed policy objectives. Good governance and leadership principles should be central attributes in the framework for institutional coordination with emphasis on democratic participation and the development of partnerships between private and public sectors and citizens in planning for public transport

Investigating the relationship between adaptation in the UNFCCC and reparation under customary international law.

Begreppet adaptation to the adverse effects of climate change är relativt nytt in internationell miljörätt. Begreppet adaptation är inte definierat i UNFCCC. Den här uppsatsen analyserar adaptation i ljuset av begreppet reparation i internationell sedvanerätt. Uppsatsen undersöker vad begreppen adaptation och reparation har gemensamt. Kan adaptation i UNFCCC ses som en möjlig utveckling eller förlängning av reparation i internationell sedvanerätt? Den här uppsatsen undersöker relationen mellan adaptation i UNFCCC och reparation enligt ILCs draft articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally wrongful acts. Undersökningen görs genom att analysera begreppet adaptation med hjälp av internationella miljörättsliga principer, GEFs riktlinjer för finansiering och UNFCCC. Uppsatsen undersöker också vad reparation innebär genom att beakta internationella rättsfall, avgöranden, skiljedomar och doktrin. Syftet och funktionen av begreppet reparation och adaptation analyseras gemensamt i beaktande av de diskussioner som förts i tidigare delare av uppsatsen. Enligt den slutliga analysen har begreppen adaptation och reparation liknande syften. Vidare gör den utveckling av internationell miljörätt, som fokuserar på preventiva åtgärder istället för enbart reparativa skyldigheter, att begreppen adaptation och reparation är förenliga i vissa avseenden. Dock visar staters agerande i frågor som rör adaptation och ovilja att finansiera adaptation att det varken finns internationell konsensus, opinio juris eller det enhetliga agerande som krävs för att internationell sedvanerätt skall finnas. Det är därmed tydligt att finansiera adaptation i idag är långt ifrån en skyldighet under internationell sedvanerätt.The concept of adaptation to the adverse effects of climate change is relatively recent in international environmental law. Adaptation is not defined in the UNFCCC. This paper attempts to address adaptation in the UNFCCC from the perspective of reparation under customary international law. It investigates what the concepts of adaptation and reparation have in common. Could adaptation in the UNFCCC be seen as a potential extension of the notion of reparation under customary law? This paper investigates the relationship between adaptation in the UNFCCC and reparation as of the ILC draft articles on Responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts. It does so by conceptualizing adaptation through international environmental law principles, the GEF funding policy and the UNFCCC. The paper analyses reparation as of the ILC draft articles by considering cases, awards, and scholarly opinion. The objective and function of adaptation and reparation are analysed collectively in light of the preceding findings. The concept of adaptation and reparation under customary international law are found to have similar objectives. Furthermore, developments under international environmental law, such as the emergence of a preventive, rather than simply reparative obligation, are found to reconcile adaptation and reparation in certain aspects. However, state's policies on funding for adaptation to the adverse effects of climate change, as seen through the GEF funding policy and UNFCCC, indicate that there is still not enough state practice on funding for adaptation to argue that there is international consensus on the legal implications of adaptation. In light of this it is clear that today funding for adaptation is far from an obligation under customary international law

Shifting Preferences and Time-Varying Parameters in Demand Analysis: A Monte Carlo Study

Using Monte Carlo experiments, I address two issues in demand analysis. The first relates to the performance of local flexible functional forms in recovering the time-varying elasticities of a true model, and in correctly identifying goods as complements, substitutes, normal or inferior. The problem is illustrated with the nonlinear almost ideal demand system (NLAI) and the Rotterdam model (RM). For the AIDS, I also consider two versions of its linear approximation: one with simple formulas (LAISF) and the other with corrected formulas (LAICF). The second issue concerns the ability of the flexible functional structures to satisfy theoretical regularity in terms of the Slutsky matrix being negative semi-definite at each time period of time. I tackle these issues in the framework of structural time series models, computing the relevant time-varying elasticities by means of Kalman filtered and smoothed coefficients. The estimated time-varying coefficients are obtained under the pure random walk and the local trend hypotheses. I find that both the NLAI and the RM qualitatively perform well in approximating the signs of the time-varying income and substitution elasticities. Quantitatively, the RM tends to produce values of the time-varying elasticity of substitution close to the true ones within separable utility branches while the NLAI tends to produce overestimating values. On the other hand, the RM produces time-varying income elasticities with values close to the true ones while the NLAI tends to produce constant values over time. The LAISF model qualitatively performs similarly to the NLAI, but the LAICF does not. Finally, the NLAI achieves higher levels of the regularity index under the local trend specification while the RM achieves higher regularity levels under the random walk specification. In contrast, the LAISF and the LAICF models achieve lower levels of regularity under both specifications of the time-varying coefficients. Globally, the LAICF which widely adopted in applied work performs poorly compared to the RM and the NLAI. These findings are robust to different values of the time-varying parameters in the utility function. Two implications emerge from this research. First, the LAICF model should be considered as a model on its own rather than as an approximation of the NLAI. Second, the choice between an AIDS-type model and the RM should be motivated by their performance with respect to the properties a hypothesized true model for the data at hand, especially when working with real data

Investigating teachers’ pedagogic practices of argumentative essay: a qualitative case study of two Grade 11 classrooms in the Oshikoto Region, Namibia

Argumentative writing in Namibian schools has been a challenge over the years as Grade 11-12 English Second Language (ESL) learners perform poorly when compared to other writing that is stipulated in the curriculum. In most instances learners do not satisfy the structural and rhetorical features of this genre. English teachers are, therefore, expected to ensure that argumentative writing is adequately developed in order for the learners’ writing to be up to the required standard. Studies carried out in Namibia by Nghikembua (2013) and Nyathi (2009) indicated that learners perform poorly in writing. The examiners’ reports of 2011-2014 pointed to lack of teachers’ guidance as one of the factors contributing to poor performance. It was for this reason that this study aimed to investigate teachers’ pedagogic approaches when teaching argumentative essay both on Higher and Ordinary Level in Oshikoto region, Namibia. An interpretive qualitative case study was used in order to gain an in-depth understanding of the teachers’ pedagogic approaches and how it affects their learners’ argumentative essay writing. The theoretical framework was informed by the Genre theorist, Gibbons (2002), who focuses on the Curriculum Cycle and Hyland’s (1990) model. Two Grade 11 English teachers were purposefully and conveniently sampled. One of the teachers is from a government school while the other from a private school. Data were collected from interviews, videoed writing lessons (3 per teacher), and learners’ written essays. Data analysis revealed that both teachers have a sound understanding about argumentative writing, but their classroom practices did not sufficiently assist the learners to grasp the argumentative writing conventions. Their classroom practices were not adaptive enough when giving feedback to the learners, and they did not adhere to the four steps of Gibbons’ (2002) Curriculum Cycle. Also, the process to writing (brainstorming, drafting, and revising) was also not incorporated into their teaching. These meant that the Namibian curriculum specifications are not met which deprives the learners of the needed practice scaffolding and explicit teaching into competent independent writers. A recommendation of this study is that there is a need for the teachers to be exposed to a mixed process/genre approach as advocated by the Namibian curriculum

Pursuing More Sustainable Consumption by Analyzing Household Metabolism in European Countries and Cities

Bringing about more sustainable consumption patterns is an important challenge for society and science. In this article the concept of household metabolism is applied to analyzing consumption patterns and to identifying possibilities for the development of sustainable household consumption patterns. Household metabolism is determined in terms of total energy requirements, including both direct and indirect energy requirements, using a hybrid method. This method enables us to evaluate various determinants of the environmental load of consumption consistently at several levels—the national level, the local level, and the household level. The average annual energy requirement of households varies considerably between the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Norway, and Sweden, as well as within these countries. The average expenditure level per household explains a large part of the observed variations. Differences between these countries are also related to the efficiency of the production sectors and to the energy supply system. The consumption categories of food, transport, and recreation show the largest contributions to the environmental load. A comparison of consumer groups with different household characteristics shows remarkable differences in the division of spending over the consumption categories. Thus, analyses of different types of households are important for providing a basis for options to induce decreases of the environmental load of household consumption. At the city level, options for change are provided by an analysis of the city infrastructure, which determines a large part of the direct energy use by households (for transport and heating). At the national level, energy efficiency in production and in electricity generation is an important trigger for decreasing household energy requirements.

An exploration of the psychosocial factors affecting the development and delivery of school-based sex and relationships education in Tanzania

Employing a mixed methods research design, in which both quantitative and qualitative research approaches were used, the research in this thesis has explored the feasibility for the development and implementation of school-based sex and relationships education (SRE) in Tanzania by (a) assessing the attitudes of parents, teachers and students towards the provision of SRE in schools and (b) analysing national school policy and curriculum frameworks with a view to identifying the status and place of SRE in the national school curriculum.The results show that a majority of parents (more than 70%), teachers (more than 90%) and students (more than 80%) supported the provision of SRE in schools and, despite resistance to a few controversial topics, the inclusion of a wide range of SRE topics in a school-based SRE curriculum. These results suggest that, contrary to popular belief that, particularly among policy makers, parents and other stakeholders are opposed to the provision of SRE in schools, it is not the opposition itself, but the unfounded fear of opposition that has thwarted the provision of school-based SRE in Tanzania.The results of the content analysis of the national school curriculum revealed a limited and somewhat disorganised representation of SRE, with more focus on the biological facts and information about HIV transmission and prevention than other aspects of sexual health, such as attitudes, skills and relationships. It has been argued, however, that putting HIV/AIDS in the national school curriculum provides the possibility of opening the way for a wider provision of SRE in schools in future (Harrison, 2000). In light of the results of this research, the author has recommended several steps to be considered in introducing SRE in schools, as well as future research directions in the field of sexual health, and SRE in particular, in Tanzania

Evaluating the Local Climate Impacts Profile tool for assessing local impacts of extreme weather events

The climate change adaptation tool Local Climate Impacts Profile (LCLIP), developed and previously widely usedin the UK, was systematically evaluated in terms of its transferability to Sweden and its usefulness as a catalyst forawareness-raising and action with respect to climate change adaptation. The tool includes scoping, media trawl,interviews and reporting and was applied in three Swedish municipalities. It was found that after some adjustment,the tool can be applied successfully under Swedish conditions. The municipalities involved found the results useful forstimulating local adaptation work. However, the municipalities concluded that LCLIP is primarily a beginner's tool thatcan be applied at a low cost and that other, more costly investigations on vulnerability to extreme weather typically needto be conducted for successful adaptation to climate change at municipal level. An advantage of the LCLIP tool is thatit involves civil servants from all departments in the municipality and thus the resulting vulnerability discussions alsoinvolve departments dealing with ‘soft' issues, such as administration and care

Challenges of Addressing Environmental Problems due to Quarrying Operation in Uwandani Ward, Pemba

This paper examines the challenges of addressing environmental challenges arising from aggregates quarrying at Uwandani Ward in Pemba, Zanzibar. Specifically, the study examines i) the socio-economic importance of quarrying, ii) the environmental impacts, iii) the interventions done to address environmental problems, and iv) the constraints over interventions. Data collection methods included household questionnaire survey, key informants interviews and participant observations. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and content analysis techniques were used in the analysis and processing of quantitative and qualitative data. The findings showed that although the revenue generated from quarrying operation is crucial for the livelihood of the local people, persistent environmental problems have been difficult to address due to lack of education, poverty, rapid increase of quarrying operations, drought and climate change variability, apathy in the community and inferior technology used in the quarrying operations. Furthermore, the challenges of tackling environmental problems are contributed by unsuccessful piecemeal interventions of the government because of the lack of clear recognition and appreciation of the artisanal quarrying operation contribution in the livelihood of local people. This paper recommends that the government recognizes and appreciates informal quarrying operations in order to put effective policies to develop the sector and address its environmental problems. This should be accompanied by the participation of all stakeholders in planning and implementation to address environmental problems through bottom-up approaches