Study on the UNICEF-UNILEVER Partnership for Hygiene Promotion in Primary Schools in Nigeria: final report

This report reviews the main findings of a study on the UNICEF-Unilever Partnership for Hygiene Promotion in Primary Schools in Nigeria conducted by UNICEF Consultant Dr. David F. Murphy from 22 September to 31 October 2008. The report begins with an outline of the study focus, approach and methodology. The report continues with background information on the UNICEF-Unilever partnership, the two partners’ activities in Nigeria and the hygiene promotion project itself. Important historical and contextual information on UNICEF and Unilever’s global efforts and significant contributions by other actors to promote hygiene via handwashing campaigns is also provided. This section of the report also includes some discussion of the meaning and principles of multi-stakeholder, public-private or cross-sector partnerships1 in an international development context. The rest of the report outlines the study findings namely the roles and contributions of the two main partners, key implementation challenges and mutual benefits of the partnership for both UNICEF and Unilever. The report concludes with a set of recommendations for future potential collaboration between UNICEF and Unilever in Nigeria. It is anticipated that the study’s findings and recommendations will also be beneficial for both partners in their efforts to explore new partnership opportunities with other partners

Editorial: Journal of Corporate Citizenship (61)

In the spring of 2001, Greenleaf Published Issue 1 of The Journal of Corporate Citizenship (JCC) with Malcolm McIntosh as General Editor of the first academic journal to focus explicitly on integrating theory about corporate citizenship with management practice. In his welcome to the journal, McIntosh acknowledged the emergent nature of corporate citizenship at the time noting its many starting points and meanings. He emphasized the importance of considering context and bringing together varying perspectives in efforts to develop theories, policies, frameworks, tools and practices of corporate citizenship

Effect of Waste Discharges into a Silt-laden Estuary: A Case Study of Cook Inlet, Alaska

Cook Inlet is not well known. Although its thirty-foot tidal range is widely appreciated, its other characteristics, such as turbulence, horizontal velocities of flow, suspended sediment loads, natural biological productivity, the effects of fresh water inflows, temperature, and wind stresses, are seldom acknowledged. The fact that the Inlet has not been used for recreation nor for significant commercial activity explains why the average person is not more aware of these characteristics. Because of the gray cast created by the suspended sediments in the summer and the ice floes in the winter, the Inlet does not have the aura of a beautiful bay or fjord. The shoreline is inhospitable for parks and development, the currents too strong for recreational activities, and, because of the high silt concentration, there is little fishing. Yet, Cook Inlet, for all its negative attributes, can in no way be considered an unlimited dumping ground for the wastes of man. It may be better suited for this purpose than many bays in North America, but it does have a finite capacity for receiving wastes without unduly disturbing natural conditions. This report was written for the interested layman by engineers and scientists who tried to present some highly technical information in such a manner that it could be understood by environmentalists, concerned citizens, students, decision makers, and lawmakers alike. In attempting to address such a diverse audience, we risked failing to be completely understood by any one group. However, all too often research results are written solely for other researchers, a practice which leads to the advancement of knowledge but not necessarily to its immediate use by practicing engineers nor to its inclusion in social, economic, and political decision-making processes. We hope this report will shorten the usual time lag between the acquisition of new information and its use. Several additional reports will be available for a limited distribution. These will be directed to technicians who wish to know the mathematical derivations, assumptions, and other scientific details used in the study. Technical papers by the individual authors, published in national and international scientific and engineering journals, are also anticipated.The work upon which this report is based was supported in part by funds (Proj. B-015-ALAS) provided by the United States Department of the Interior, Office of Water Resources Research, as authorized under the Water Resources Act of 1964, as amended

Rural innovation ecosystems and leading wellbeing

Innovation ecosystems are an emerging concept to describe place-based clusters of companies and other organisations, interacting for growth, development and sustainability, often focused around an ‘anchor institution’. Most successful examples operate in urban contexts. Literature on rural innovation suggests that the nature and needs of rural businesses can be different. This article reviews some of the key themes, including skill needs, aspirations and motivations of rural professionals, suitability of anchor institutions and leadership. Rural areas are known to have different demographic structures from urban ones. In particular, the tendency to attract highly qualified, but growth-reluctant, professionals, as ‘in-migrants’ is discussed. We hypothesise that a successful rural innovation ecosystem should focus more on sustainability, wellbeing and balance, rather than primarily on ambition and growth. The needs of individuals may also be more important than those of business units and a focus on skills development could be desirable

Editorial: Leading wellbeing in rural contexts

“Leading Wellbeing in Rural Contexts” is the theme of this Special Issue of The Journal of Corporate Citizenship (JCC). From the outset, the Special Issue was envisaged by the editors very much as an opening foray into an area of academic inquiry with a relatively unexplored body of literature to date and without a formal disciplinary “home”. It is very much the start of the discussion on this topic and one that we look forward to developing further in the future

Revisiting core issues in dynamic assessment

Dynamic assessment is currently poised at a juncture at which theoretical and practical assessment resolutions are necessitated. Such issues concern theoretical approaches towards  psycho-educational assessment.  In order to partially explore these basic assessment approaches, a questionnaire was delivered via electronic mail to one hundred internationally, currently active dynamic assessment researchers and practitioners. The findings from the responses formed the basis for an informal content analysis, which was conducted utilising themes as primary meaning unit and word counts as secondary meaning unit of analyses. The one common and uniting feature about the current research in this area is the broad range of theoretical approaches towards assessment and the current lack of unanimity across types of approaches. Responses showed that varied theoretical frameworks are employed in dynamic assessments which do not necessarily cohere with other traditional approaches. It is contended that an exploratory revisiting of core assessment approaches would assist in positioning practitioners’ and researchers’ theoretical approaches in future assessments

A review of South African research in the field of dynamic assessment

Dynamic assessment, which is often characterised by the learning potential approach across the world and in South Africa, is receiving more attention from educators and research practitioners alike. When compared to the status of international research, local dynamic assessment research can still be regarded as being in its infancy. A selection of studies conducted within this domain was analysed and the results carefully assessed in terms of positive and negative findings to serve as an indication of the trends that this discipline may face in South Africa. The main findings indicate that although the field is still being researched today, there has been a decrease in the number of studies as well as a concomitant decrease in the implementation of dynamic research efforts. The reasons cited are a lack of time, costs, inefficiencies and also confusion as to what dynamic assessment entails. There is, as yet, no consistent definition of dynamic assessment in South Africa, which makes it all the harder to entrench dynamic assessment as a methodology and implement it on as wide a scale as possible

Final report: Member state and other donor approaches to good governance in development cooperation

This report presents an overview on approaches to governance-related issues and links with poverty reduction objectives of development cooperation among a sample of European Union (EU) Member States and other donors. The report forms part of a study commissioned by the European Community Poverty Reduction Effectiveness Programme (EC-PREP) to contribute to the definition of a consistent and common EU approach to governance related issues within the EC Directorate General Development (EC-DEV) initiative on Institutional Capacity Building. The Development Policy Coherence and Forward Studies unit within EC-DEV/B1 is coordinating this initiative. The report is divided into four main sections: Section 1: provides contextual information including study objectives, core good governance areas covered, study methodology and analytical framework used; Sections 2 & 3: provide summary profiles of both Member State and other donor approaches to good governance; Section 3: offers an analysis of emerging themes and issues arising from the donor profiles in line with the study objectives; Section 4: presents the study's main conclusions and recommendations

Book Reviews

THE SILVERLAKE EXPERIMENT. By Lamar T. Empey and Steven G. Lubeck. Chicago: Aldine Publishing Company, 1971. Pp. x, 354. $12.50. THE FEAR OF CONSPIRACY: IMAGES OF UN-AMERICAN SUBVERSION FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE PRESENT. Edited with commentary by David Brion Davis.Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1971. Pp. xxiv, 362.$10.00. THE INTERNATIONAL LAW OF CIVIL WAR. Edited by Richard A. Falk. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1971. Pp. xix, 452. $15.00. THE DEATH OF THE GREAT SPIRIT: AN ELEGY FOR THE AMERICAN INDIAN. By Earl Shorris. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1971. Pp. 253.$6.95