Empowerment of intergroup harmony and equity

The impact of empowerment interventions is often short-lived because they are not anchored in changes in the wider social and structural context. This chapter draws its inspiration from social representation theory and social identity theory. Several theoretical propositions are derived from these theories that bear on the effectiveness of empowerment interventions. Drawing on field experiences with Roma communities and young unemployed people in Hungary and Italy, we demonstrate how a focus on intergroup interactions, between minority and majority group members, is central to the empowerment process. In addition, we address the role of power and the means by which power can be dissembled and more equitably shared. Finally, we discuss the importance of placing contextual factors at the center of our analysis and enacting changes in context in order to arrive at empowerment interventions that produce sustainable changes in intergroup harmony and equity

Increasing female participation in municipal elections via the use of local radio in conflict-affected settings: The case of the West Bank municipal elections 2017

The 2017 West Bank Municipal elections were framed by locally-based non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the Palestinian Authorities – albeit to a lesser extent – in terms of the desirability of increasing female participation in them in two particular ways: participation as representatives and participation as voters. Both aspects of participation were supported by extensive radio campaigns conducted by locally-based NGOs. The effectiveness of these campaigns and the approaches used form the basis of this article. Using a mixed methods approach consisting of both quantitative and qualitative data, it concludes that radio has endemic socio-technical advantages for reaching women, particularly in conflict-affected areas, and that broadcasting content aimed at women by women is essential in terms of increasing their representation and voting

Circulating microRNAs in sera correlate with soluble biomarkers of immune activation but do not predict mortality in ART treated individuals with HIV-1 infection: A case control study

Introduction: The use of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) has dramatically reduced HIV-1 associated morbidity and mortality. However, HIV-1 infected individuals have increased rates of morbidity and mortality compared to the non-HIV-1 infected population and this appears to be related to end-organ diseases collectively referred to as Serious Non-AIDS Events (SNAEs). Circulating miRNAs are reported as promising biomarkers for a number of human disease conditions including those that constitute SNAEs. Our study sought to investigate the potential of selected miRNAs in predicting mortality in HIV-1 infected ART treated individuals. Materials and Methods: A set of miRNAs was chosen based on published associations with human disease conditions that constitute SNAEs. This case: control study compared 126 cases (individuals who died whilst on therapy), and 247 matched controls (individuals who remained alive). Cases and controls were ART treated participants of two pivotal HIV-1 trials. The relative abundance of each miRNA in serum was measured, by RTqPCR. Associations with mortality (all-cause, cardiovascular and malignancy) were assessed by logistic regression analysis. Correlations between miRNAs and CD4+ T cell count, hs-CRP, IL-6 and D-dimer were also assessed. Results: None of the selected miRNAs was associated with all-cause, cardiovascular or malignancy mortality. The levels of three miRNAs (miRs -21, -122 and -200a) correlated with IL-6 while miR-21 also correlated with D-dimer. Additionally, the abundance of miRs -31, -150 and -223, correlated with baseline CD4+ T cell count while the same three miRNAs plus miR- 145 correlated with nadir CD4+ T cell count. Discussion: No associations with mortality were found with any circulating miRNA studied. These results cast doubt onto the effectiveness of circulating miRNA as early predictors of mortality or the major underlying diseases that contribute to mortality in participants treated for HIV-1 infection

Engendering (in)security and conflict in African international relations

Lettere En WysbegeertePolitieke WetenskapPlease help us populate SUNScholar with the post print version of this article. It can be e-mailed to: [email protected]

A Transformative Approach to Gender Mainstreaming: Changing the Deep Structure of Organizations

Please help us populate SUNScholar with the post print version of this article. It can be e-mailed to: [email protected] En WysbegeertePolitieke Wetenska