1,564 research outputs found
Recommended from our members
The UN firearms protocol: considerations for the UN 2001 conference.
yesSince April 1998, the Vienna-based UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Commission
on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice has been negotiating the draft Protocol Against the
Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition
(hereafter referred to as the Firearms Protocol). This Protocol will be the first global measure
regulating international transfers of small arms and light weapons, and should have a tremendous
impact on both the legal and the illicit manufacture and trade in firearms.
The draft agreement seeks to combat and criminalise trafficking in firearms, through the
development of harmonised international standards governing the manufacture, possession
and transfer of commercial shipments of these weapons. While the final outcome of the
Protocol relies on the outcome of negotiations in February 2001, the draft agreement contains
provisions which commit states, among other things, to:
l Adopt legislative measures to criminalise the illicit manufacture, trafficking, possession
and use of firearms;
l Maintain detailed records on the import, export and in-transit movements of firearms;
l Adopt an international system for marking firearms at the time of manufacture and each
time they are imported;
l Establish a harmonised licensing system governing the import, export, in-transit
movement and re-export of firearms;
l Exchange information regarding authorised producers, dealers, importers and exporters,
the routes used by illicit traffickers, best practice in combating trafficking in order to
enhance states ability to prevent, detect and investigate illicit trafficking;
l Co-operate at the bilateral, regional and international level to prevent, combat and
eradicate the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms; and
l Consider developing systems to require arms brokers, traders and forwarders
to register and obtain licences for their transactions.
The Protocol places a premium on international co-operation, information exchange and
transparency. The provisions in the Firearms Protocol are an important complement to those
being developed for the UN 2001 Conference. Issues such as improving the ability to trace
small arms and light weapons through effective marking systems, regulating the activities
of arms brokers and building international norms on the responsible disposal of surplus small
arms are common to both initiatives
Differences in the epidemiology of theileriosis on smallholder dairy farms in contrasting agro-ecological and grazing strata of highland Kenya
A prospective cohort study was conducted in five purposively-sampled agro-ecological zone (AEZ)-grazing system strata in Murang’a District, Kenya, between March 1995 and June 1996. The study strata were selected based on a preliminary characterization study to represent the widest range of risks to East Coast fever (ECF) in the District and included zero-grazing and open-grazing farms. In total, 225 calves from 188 smallholder farms were examined from birth to 6 months of age and visited within the first 2 weeks of life and thereafter at bi-weekly intervals for up to 14 visits.
The purpose of the study was to characterize the differences in epidemiology (risks of infection, morbidity and mortality) and potential control of ECF between the selected strata. Evidence of Theileria parva infection was assessed by increased antibody levels as measured in an indirect ELISA assay by the percent positivity (PP) of serum samples relative to a strong positive reference serum.
Sero-conversion risks of T. parva were highest in the open-grazing strata. Antibody prevalence in adult cattle and ECF morbidity and mortality risks were also highest in open-grazing strata. While different, all five AEZ-grazing strata were considered to be endemically unstable for ECF. East Coast fever challenge was low in all zero-grazing strata and this challenge is likely to remain low due to continuing intensification of smallholder farming in the central highlands. In the open-grazing strata, there was higher challenge and a greater impact of ECF.
ILRI publication no.: 99017
Recommended from our members
Regional initiatives and the UN 2001 Conference: Building Mutual Support and Complementarity.
yesAs the agenda for the United Nations (UN) 2001 Conference on The Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects takes shape, governments should begin to identify a set
of standards, mechanisms and specific agreements that will help consolidate, reinforce and
co-ordinate regional and national measures to address the problem of the proliferation and
misuse of small arms. An important element of this approach will be to build upon the wealth
of regional and national experiences and perspectives that illustrate the different contexts
in which efforts to combat the proliferation and misuse of small arms and light weapons have
occurred. At the same time, agreements reached at the UN 2001 Conference should be
substantial, establishing an agreed comprehensive `international action programme¿ f o r
sustained global effort on this complex problem. However there remain issues and concerns
that are common to all regions: these should be identified and addressed internationally
within the context of the UN 2001 Conference.
This briefing, the second in the Biting the Bullet series, reviews some of the current regional
e fforts on small arms and light weapons. It identifies common approaches that have been used
in different regions to counter the proliferation and misuse of small arms and light weapons,
these include: law enforcement and crime control; supplier restraint and transparency; national
legislation and regulation of arms; and arms reduction and control. The briefing analyses
initiatives using these approaches that are moving forward in West Africa, Eastern and
Southern Africa, the European Union (EU), and the development of cooperation between
EU Member States and other countries and regional organizations, including Cambodia
and the Southern African Development Community. The briefing identifies the impact and
priorities of these initiatives, suggesting ways in which the UN 2001 Conference is both
relevant to the region and what the region can contribute to the outcomes of the Conference.
The briefing concludes with recommendations on the ways in which regional processes can be
reinforced and further developed by the international community, focusing especially on the
contribution of the UN 2001 Conference. Experience is showing that much of what happens
nationally and regionally needs reinforcement and further development with assistance from
the international community. The UN 2001 Conference comes at an important time for providing
the framework ¿ through the international action programme ¿ to develop, reinforce and
c o-ordinate these national and regional processes, through developing appropriate international
norms, standards, programmes and mechanisms. Using the illustration of combating illicit arms
trafficking, this briefing outlines some of the processes that could be taken forward through
the UN 2001 Conference which would build upon and strengthen national and regional eff o r t s .
The briefing contains an annex, which provides background information on many current
regional and international initiatives, including those in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe
and inter-regionally, such as the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and
the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
Cohort Profile: The Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy (MUSP)
How did the study come about? At the initiative of three hospital-based obstetricians one of the authors (JMN) and another sociologist attended a 1978 meeting to explore the potential for collaborative research. No specific project was proposed by the obstetricians. Two of the obstetricians had been trained in Scotland; one in Aberdeen where he had had some familiarity with the work of obstetrician Dugald Baird and sociologist Raymond Illsely. The obstetricians argued for an agenda which was clinically oriented. The two sociologists were more focussed on understanding how some social constructs (e.g. social class) might be relevant to explaining health outcomes. The initial year of the study was characterised by frequent (at least weekly) meetings at which the aims and substance of the proposed study were debated vigorously. As an initial decision the team focused on factors associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. The first major project was to be a 3-5 year longitudinal study of pregnant women which would include a 6-month child post-natal follow-up as the main outcome of interest
Early overweight and pubertal maturation—pathways of association with young adults' overweight: A longitudinal study
Objective: Objectives of this study were to examine the prospective association of childhood body mass index (BMI) and overweight and pubertal stages with BMI and overweight in early adulthood independent of each other
Intrauterine Growth and Intelligence Within Sibling Pairs: Findings From the Mater-University Study of Pregnancy and its Outcomes
Objective: To examine the association between intrauterine growth and intelligence. Design: Population based birth cohort study of sibling pairs born within a maximum of three years of each other. Setting: Mater-University women and children's hospital, Brisbane, Australia. Participants: 235 (470 children) sibling pairs. Results: Among one randomly selected sibling from each pair verbal comprehension at age 5, general intelligence at age 14, and reading ability at age 14 increased linearly with increasing gestational age and sex standardised birth weight z scores. With adjustment for maternal age, race, and smoking during pregnancy, birth order, family income, and parental education the associations with verbal comprehension at age 5 and general intelligence at age 14 remained, whereas the association with reading ability at age 14 was attenuated to the null. Within sibling pairs, differences in intrauterine growth were positively associated with differences in verbal comprehension at age 5 (test score difference per one unit difference in birth weight z score = 1.52 (0.11 to 3.26)) and general intelligence at age 14 (1.09 (0.01 to 2.18)), but not with reading ability at age 14. Conclusions: Socioeconomic position or other fixed maternal characteristics do not seem to explain the positive association between intrauterine growth and childhood intelligence
Postnatal Depression - Myth and Reality: Maternal Depression Before and After the Birth of a Child
Background Much has been written about postnatal depression as a clinical condition. There is some evidence to suggest that a substantial proportion of women who give birth experience a depression in the postnatal period. This paper reports the results of a longitudinal study of the mental health of a large sample of women who were in the early stages of pregnancy at entry to the study. Methods Each participant was assessed for symptoms of depression at the first clinic visit (entry to the study), and reassessed at various intervals - at 3-5 days, at 6 months, and again at 5 years after the birth of the child - using the DSSI-D (Delusions-Symptoms-States Inventory). Results Retrospective recall questions indicate that shortly after the birth the majority of women experienced some depressed mood. Of those who experienced depressed mood, the data suggest that the symptoms were not severe, nor did these symptoms generally continue beyond a few weeks. The longitudinal data indicate that levels of depression in our sample are highest either at the firrst clinic visit or at the 5-year follow-up. Rates of depression at the 6-month follow-up are relatively low by comparison. Conclusion While most mothers experience periods of depressed mood after the birth of their baby, these periods are generally of short duration and of lesser intensity than a major depression. Mothers appear to experience increasing levels of symptoms of depression as their child grows up. Many of the "cases" of depression experienced at the 5-year follow-up represent a recurrence of a previous experience of depression
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