Bearers of change: the field workers of NGOs in Bangladesh

The importance of NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisations) m development to most 'aid' agencies is said to have been generated by the failure of the state in reaching and providing certain basic services to the poor and the disadvantaged Although many NGOs in Bangladesh have shown some success in reaching the poor, organising them to raise awareness of education and providing microcredit, the vast majority of the poorest in Bangladesh have remamed beyond their reach The dependency of the NGOs on donors, lack of accountability and loss of quality in service provision during scaling up are the major problems for the NGOs in Bangladesh Except for missionary NGOs like MCC most NGOs m Bangladesh are preoccupied with microcredit which is mainly driven by NGOs search for self-reliance and for good performance indicators Field workers could be the movers and shakers of NGOs They implement the policies of NGOs but unfortunately they are rarely consulted during the making of these policies Above all their problems and opinions remain unheard and unaccounted for Very little research has been conducted on them in both North and South and even less m Bangladesh The research has a multiple methodology which includes questionnaire survey semi structured interviews, securing life histories in order to address the interfaces between the field worker with his/her clients and superiors Most field workers come from the rural middle or lower middle class Most wanted government jobs and fell back on NGO work when they failed to obtain them Most of those who by the time they reach the age of 40 have failed to get promoted either leave voluntarily or are made redundant Field workers of small NGOs try to switch over to large and international NGOs in search of higher job security and salary and benefits Due to high unemployment in the country instead of creating a stable and more skilled workforce NGOs often abandon then: long service field workers in order to recruit cheaper younger field workers The personal problems of field workers include job insecurity financial difficulties and risks associated with accommodation, child-care and children s education These problems are more severe for women field workers and are associated with issues related to their gender The professional problems of these field workers include poor or incorrect training heavy workloads, corrupt and limited promotion opportunities, irregular and undesirable transfers, low status at work, difficult external relationships, etc Again there are gender differences in these problems Yet with all these personal and professional problems, field workers are central to NGO performance It is the strengths of the field workers which make this possible This study calls for better utilisation of these strengths by the NGOs The poor relationship between field workers and their superiors can be tackled by better management in the NGOs A major challenge for the NGOs in Bangladesh is to become less bureaucratic, this supposed to be one of their comparative advantages over the state I also found that there is a big gap between what NGOs do and what then- field workers think ought to be done This underscores the necessity of more discussion with fieldworkers in policy making implementation and evaluation of the activities of NGO

Religious Moderation Education: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis on Identity Reconstruction in Polite Islamic Literacy Ambassadors

Purpose – Literasi Islam Santun’s or LISAN’s program stresses the necessity for religious moderation education around State Universities. Millennials are the main target of this program. It is clearly seen that intolerant values on social media considerably affect their personal and social identity so it further requires an understanding of how to establish identity reconstruction in millennials who become the ambassadors of LISAN. The purpose of this research is to find out how self-and social identity reconstruction in students who become LISAN Ambassadors. Design/methods/approach – The research is qualitative research with an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach. The data source of this study is millennials who participated in the ambassadors of LISAN. Data collection techniques were conducted through interviews and collection of essay writings by research subjects. Findings – The results of this study showed that according to the analysis of two main superordinates and the five subordinate themes presented by seven informants, it can be concluded that the reconstruction of the informants’ identity as the ambassador of LISAN involves important aspects in the process of individual development, namely cognitive, emotional and behavioral. Thus, this gives rise to a new identity that makes them become individuals as the LISAN’s ambassadors who have new behaviors that are more moderate and tolerant. Research limitation – The study has limitations as it covers only a small number of respondents in one locus. Future research is suggested to investigate a wide range of respondents. Originality/value – The research contributes to motivating academics for promoting moderation in practicing faith and religion in the milieu of State University

The size of national delegations and the need for attendance regulation at climate conferences

With the growing significance of the United Nations climate conferences the number of attendees has grown considerably over the last years. But more participants do not necessarily ensure better decisions. And sometimes attending a United Nations climate conference is only a way to raise the profile of the attendee

Vulnerability of Fishing Communities from Sea-Level Change: A Study of Laemsing District in Chanthaburi Province, Thailand

Continuous increases in global mean sea level is affecting coastal communities worldwide. In Thailand, the rising sea level exacerbates the vulnerability of coastal communities to changes in geographic conditions seriously affecting communities with low adaptive capacity and mostly dependent on natural resources. This paper identifies the potential vulnerability of coastal fishing communities which are prone to severe sea-level rises, like in the case of Laemsing District in Chanthaburi Province, Thailand. Climate simulation, Geographic Information System (GIS) and remote sensing techniques were applied to quantify potential sea-level change (exposure), inundated areas and affected households (sensitivity). Adaptive capacity was analyzed in terms of social, human, institutional, economic, and natural conditions. Based on A1F1 (the worst case of future greenhouse gas emissions) and the Goddard Institute for Space Studies model EH (GISS-EH) best estimate for 2050, relative sea-level increase from 2000 would be 0.50 m, resulting in a loss of about 87.77 km2 of land and inundation of 2060 households. Opinions on alleviating vulnerability suggested that each condition of vulnerability is associated with two stages of development, urgent and medium. Laemsing District can face the serious effects of seawater inundation in the future. The results of this paper could be appropriately used as a reference for mainstreaming climate change adaptation into development policies and raising the awareness of stakeholders on how to cope with sea-level change and its impacts

The size of national delegations and the need for attendance regulation at climate conferences

With the growing significance of the United Nations climate conferences the number of attendees has grown considerably over the last years. But more participants do not necessarily ensure better decisions. And sometimes attending a United Nations climate conference is only a way to raise the profile of the attendee

Mapping displaced populations with reference to social vulnerabilities for post-disaster public health management

Millions of people are currently displaced from their homes because of local and international conflicts. In the last two decades, a substantial increase in the number of displaced people has been recorded. We measured the social vulnerabilities of displaced populations using a mathematical approach in combination with application of geographical information systems (GIS) tools and techniques to visualise movement and draw attention to the location of significant concentration of vulnerabilities. A retrospective study approach based on datasets collected from governmental and non-governmental organisations working with refugees and internally displaced persons in Pakistan was used. We applied simple mathematical formulas to calculate and map various types of vulnerability, such as refugee population, absorption capacity, unmet needs and overall vulnerability. This approach displays risks and vulnerabilities of displaced populations in an easily understood and straightforward manner that can be replicated in other parts of the world

IMPLICATIONS OF SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS ON FOOD SECURITY IN SELECTED ECONOMIES: AN EMPIRICAL ASSESSMENT

The present study creates global food security index (GFSI) using Composite Z-Index method for 31 country. Thereafter, it assess the influence of socio-economic variables on per capita depth of food-deficit (PCDFD) using linear, log-linear and non-linear regression models. It shows that high income countries are food secure due to high cereal productivity, per capita land under cereal and food-grain production. Low and lower income countries are more food insecure and there is desirable to increase the cereal and food-grain production to achieve food security in these countries. It argues that rapid population growth, cereal imports dependency ratio, food production variability, high food prices and poverty are significant reasons to increase food insecurity in most countries. It suggests that poverty eradication policies, food-grain price stability, irrigation facilities, infrastructural development, creation of employment opportunities in non-agriculture sector and adoption of modern technology would be useful to sustain food security at global level