Human rights and refugee protection in South Africa (1994-2004)

Student Number : 0413400A - MA research report - School of Social Science - Faculty of HumanitiesRefugees and asylum seekers are vulnerable group that requires both national and international protection in South Africa. It is the duty and responsibility of the South African government and international community to provide adequate protection to individuals who are compelled to flee their countries of origin due to well-founded fears of persecution or other life threatening problems. Such protection must meet internationally recognized and acceptable standards for the protection and treatment of refugees and asylum seekers, as outlined in various international law and conventions. South Africa has pledged through her democratic Constitution and the Refugee Act of 1998 to protect and promote the rights of refugees and asylum seekers in her territory. The research explores how South Africa has responded to the protection of the rights of refugees and asylum seekers in the post-apartheid era. The research also explicates the relationship between human rights and refugee protection and how human rights have been used to facilitate the rights of refugees and asylum seekers in South Africa. The thesis identifies the extent of compliance with the international refugee law, which South Africa has achieved within the first decade of democracy and the roles played by nonstate actors and other stakeholders in refugee protection in South Africa. It also explores the major problems and obstacles militating against the realisation and in pursuit of the rights of refugees and asylum seekers in the post-apartheid South Africa. Finally, the findings of this research are expected to contribute to our understanding of the problems facing refugees, the government and international community, and the range of options and interventions open to policy makers in the field which will help to secure such rights

Shareholder Engagement and Chevron’s Policy 520 on Human Rights: The Role Played by the United States Jesuit Conference’s “National Jesuit Committee on Investment Responsibility”

Purpose To demonstrate how the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in the United States through the “National Jesuit Committee on Investment Responsibility” played a significant role as a socially conscious institutional and religious investor in influencing Chevron’s Human Rights Policy 520 and to analyze the factors that contributed to a successful shareholder engagement with the company. Methodology/approach Case study based on firsthand information. Findings Our conclusion offers support for Allen et al.’s (2012) conclusion of legitimacy (credibility) being the dominant force in a successful engagement. We found that coalition-building is a significant moderating variable in increasing shareholder salience. This finding contradicts the study by Gifford (2010). Originality/value of chapter The chapter is based on the actual process of shareholder engagement with Chevron Corporation that led to the human rights policy and is written mainly based on firsthand information

The relationship of sexual assertiveness to HIV risk avoidance - a cross - national gender study of college student samples in Japan, Thailand, China, and Nigeria

筑波大学University of Tsukuba博士（学術）Doctor of Philosophy2001【要旨】thesi

Conflict Resolution Through Knowledge: The Library Perspective

In every human interaction either at the level of individuals, organizations, national, regional or international, there are usually competitive interests and varying perspectives to every issue at stake. It is dogged pursuance of antagonistic, incompatible and antithetical goals that inevitably result in conflict. The phenomenon is multi-faceted and widespread in society, having destructive tendencies if consensus is not achieved. Obachi (2008) contended that forging diverse relationships and attempts at continuously perfecting same have the propensity to always precipitate conflict. Conflict resolution is the process of defusing antagonism and reaching agreement bet ween conflicting parties especially through some form of negotiation. It can also be conceptualized as a study and practice of solving interpersonal, intergroup and inter-national, conflicts. lfidon and Ahiazu (2005) noted that the potential for conflict is an everyday occurrence which exists virtually everywhere. According to them. interpersonal conflict is caused by personality clashes and failure to communicate effectively as well as distrust between parties with differing perspectives

Library and Information Services for Open and Distance Learning: Assessing the Role of Mobile Technologies and Distance Learning in Higher Education

For Reason of it tested capabilities Open and Distance Learning Education has been widely accepted and adopted in many institutions across the worlds. Knowing that the practice of Library and information service to the ubiquitous distance learners promises to be a clear departure from the traditional library system, Academic libraries have become new actors in the process of distance learning among other factors of education and research. Libraries are reshaping its services and Mobile learning services is now represents exciting new frontiers in education and pedagogy. With the features of ‘wearable' computing and multimedia content delivery via mobile technologies, library services and mobile learning becomes feasible and offers new benefits to instructors and learners. The full cost and complexity of providing quality library services to support open and distance education tend to be underestimate

Variable geographic distribution of Blastocystis subtypes and its potential implications.

Blastocystis is a common intestinal micro-eukaryote found in both humans and non-human hosts and known to be genetically very diverse. It has been divided into numerous subtypes (STs), nine of which have been identified in humans to date. Surveys of ST prevalence have started to emerge over the past few years but to date no data are available for any African country except Egypt and Tanzania. In this study, we determined the prevalence of Blastocystis STs in populations from Libya, Liberia and Nigeria, as well as expanding the dataset available for the UK. A total of 356 Blastocystis STs were identified in this study, 271 from the UK, 38 from Libya, 25 from Liberia and 22 from Nigeria. SSU rRNA gene sequences revealed the presence of eight of the nine STs known from humans but at varying frequencies between countries. ST1 was the most common ST in Libya and Nigeria whereas ST3 showed the highest frequency in the other two countries, as indeed is the case in most populations around the world. ST4 was absent in Libya and ST2 in Nigeria, while no ST5, ST6, ST8 or ST9 infections were detected in any of the three African populations. The picture emerging from this and other surveys suggests that there is significant variation in ST prevalence between populations. Some of the possible reasons for and implications of this diversity are discussed

Inverse association of natural mentoring relationship with distress mental health in children orphaned by AIDS

BackgroundThe magnitude of the AIDS-orphaned children crisis in sub-Saharan Africa has so overstretched the resource of most families that the collapse of fostering in the sub-region seems imminent (UNICEF, 2003), fueling the need for a complementary/alternative care. This paper examines the probability of the natural mentoring care to ameliorate distress mental health in children orphaned by AIDS.Methods952 children, mean age about 14 years, from local community schools and child-care centers in Kampala (Uganda) and Mafikeng/Klerksdorp (South Africa) towns participated in the study. The design has AIDS-orphaned group (n = 373) and two control groups: Other-causes orphaned (n = 287) and non-orphaned (n = 290) children. We use measures of child abuse, depression, social discrimination, anxiety, parental/foster care, self-esteem, and social support to estimate mental health. Natural mentoring care is measured with the Ragins and McFarlin (1990) Mentor Role Instrument as adapted.ResultsAIDS-orphaned children having a natural mentor showed significant decreased distress mental health factors. Similar evidence was not observed in the control groups. Also being in a natural mentoring relationship inversely related to distress mental health factors in the AIDS-orphaned group, in particular. AIDS-orphaned children who scored high mentoring relationship showed significant lowest distress mental health factors that did those who scored moderate and low mentoring relationship.ConclusionsNatural mentoring care seems more beneficial to ameliorate distress mental health in AIDS-orphaned children (many of whom are double-orphans, having no biological parents) than in children in the control groups

Emergence of Hi-Tech Examination Malpractices in Nigeria: Issues and Implications

Examination malpractice is considered as a huge challenge to educational assessment and evaluation. This paper examines the dimensions and trends of examination malpractice, as well as the emergence of hi-tech examination malpractice (otherwise called e-cheating or digital cheating) in various levels of the Nigerian educational system. Causes, implications and strategies towards curbing the emerging phenomenon were discussed. The proliferation of mobile phones and other private digital assistants (PDAs) was identified as the driving factor for e-cheating. The paper also identified inadequate funding, corruption, issues bordering on morality and legality as challenges to curbing hi-tech examination malpractice in Nigeria. The involvement of all stakeholders in curbing this societal evil was recommended as the way forward