From social exclusion to social inclusion : theory and practice over two continents

The article concerns research in the normative social science and is aimed at making a contentious argument that the conceptual frameworks which underpinned much of the literature and research on social exclusion are rooted in European and Anglo Saxon traditions. As such they ignore the contributions made by people of Africa, Asia and Latin America. The discourse regarding social exclusion and social inclusion could therefore not be only with a Western perspective, but should note that the reality of global exclusion is felt most in the developing world. A second challenge is the marked absence of any discussion on power imbedded in social relations and the disruption of bonds between individuals and society. The third challenge to the discourse is the tepid acknowledgement of racism, sexism and other forms of socially constructed exclusions. The fourth challenge relates to the role of the state. It is argued that the discourse should be adapted to country specific situations and contacts to have policy relevance. The European/Western model should be rearticulated with a more developmental focus that puts global inequalities up front and centre and draws from the global South. The future of the social inclusion debate will depend on the ability to develop a global social inclusion drawing on the intellectual capacities of both the global North and the global South

Leadership, governance and public administration training in countries emerging from conflict : a case study Burundi, Rwanda and Southern Sudan

Our research (2009)2 with public servants in Rwanda, Burundi and Southern Sudan points to the importance of training both leaders and managers for both democracy and socio-economic development. Public sector education and training rooted in constitutional and administrative law, sensitive to the history and culture of a specific country can enhance public sector leadership and management and enhance governance. A 2010 study by the United Nations also points to “ineffective leadership, weak governance institutions, inappropriate human resources, lack of mechanisms to engage citizens in public policy-making decisions and lack of or ineffective delivery of public services as some of the central causes of violent conflict”. The corollary therefore is equally important – that leadership steeped in the principles of democracy, accountability and transparency, secure in outreach to the community and respectful of the rule of law and the constitution are essential to avoiding a return to violence, avoiding stalled peace and ensuring effective post conflict reconstruction of the nation state. Essential to successful peace building, political and economic stability is a continuous, sustained and targeted approach to training and development of professional public servants in the public service. The latter in particular requires the immediate and effective transformation and training of conflict driven institutions into democratic institutions that are inclusive, responsive and representative. These in turn require leadership and vision steeped in a democratic ethos that promotes better governance, national integrity systems, respect for the rule of law including administrative law and the Constitution. Conventional debates about the leadership/management dichotomy are rooted in the more traditional literature and reflect the false dichotomies embedded in the argument that separates public administration and politics. At the heart of this debate is the argument that managers have subordinates and leaders have followers and at another level public administration is the preserve of managers who are appointed and politics is the preserve of leaders who are elected

Towards a developmental state : implications for local government globally

Local government is one critical component of governments globally, charged with the responsibility of discharging services to the citizens. The significance of local government lies in power concentration within a state. The article will focus on the assessment of the local government level/tiers/spheres towards the achievement of a developmental state, in various countries. The article highlights a discourse on the centralisation and decentralisation in developmental states. Thus, the debate focuses on the importance of using local government as the immediate agents for achieving a developmental state

From peacekeeping to post conflict reconstruction and development : positing a new praxis for discussion

Often, those who theorise about conflict resolution and post conflict reconstruction and development are not necessarily the ones engaging in modes of practice; while those who engage in practice do not always have the luxury of informing their practice with new and innovative theory. The best of all possible worlds therefore is to bring communities of scholars together with practitioners in order that theory informs practice and practice can test, illuminate, and build on theory

Survival of low-birth-weight infants at Baragwanath Hospital - 1950 - 1996

Objectives. To examine changes in survival rates among lowbirth- weight (LBW) infants between the years 1950 and 1996:Methods. Survival figures were analysed for LBW infants managed at Baragwanath Hospital, a tertiary care centre in Soweto, Johannesburg, over four periods spanning five decades.Results. The overall mortality rates of LBW infants decreased markedly between the early 1950s and the period 1995/96. By the mid-1990s approximately four times the number of infants with birth weight less than 1 500 g were surviving compared with the early 1950s. The reduction in mortality rates occurred in all LBW groups during the first three decades. However, since 1981 infants who weighed less than 1 500 g at birth were the major contributors to the overall reduction in mortality. Between the years 1981/82 and 1995/96, survival increased significantly from 64% to 79% for infants with birth weight 1 000 - 1 499 g, and from 14% to 32% for those with birth weight less than 1 000 g. Since infants in the latter group were seldom offered mechanical ventilation or artificial surfactant, a large part of these increases in survival can be attributed. to improvement in the general level of care.Conclusion. There have been dramatic improvements in the survival of LBW infants over this time period at Baragwanath Hospital. Although newer interventions such as mechanical ventilation and artificial surfactant have played a significant role, improvement in care at primary and secondary levels has been of major importance

"Attacking the bureaucratic Elephant" - the State of selected public administration, political and policy reforms in new democracies: From decentralisation and partnership to the responsive citizen in the governance of the state

This article argues that there are several assumptions that guide and shape the issues of decentralisation and partnership in creating a responsible and citizen-focused public service in South Africa, in developed countries and in other developing countries. The first assumption is that decentralisation as a normative ideal ought to be pursued everywhere. The second assumption is that public administrators simply need to make decentralisation work for the citizenry and not question it at all. The third assumption is that decentralisation can work because centralisation has not. The fourth assumption is that if decentralisation is not working in the interests of the citizenry the fault lies elsewhere than with decentralisation itself – the corollary of this is to be found in the assumption where two public administrators simply need to find ways of making it work in the interests of the citizenry. And the fifth assumption is that centralisation equals bad and decentralisation equals good and the corollary of this is that states ought to pursue decentralisation both as an end and as a means to an end.am2016School of Public Management and Administration (SPMA

Child health, infant formula funding and South African health professionals: Eliminating conflict of interest

Despite clear evidence of the benefits of exclusive and continued breastfeeding for children, women and society, far too few children in South Africa (SA) are breastfed. One of the major impediments to improving this situation is the continued and aggressive marketing of breastmilk substitutes (BMSs) and infiltration of the BMS industry into contexts with exposure to health professionals. In this article we, as academics, practitioners and child health advocates, describe contraventions of the regulations that protect breastfeeding in SA and argue that bold, proactive leadership to eliminate conflict of interest in respect of the BMS industry is urgently required, together with far greater investments in proven interventions to promote and support breastfeeding

Child health, infant formula funding and South African health professionals: Eliminating conflict of interest

Letters by Van Niekerk and Khan on article by Lake et al. (Lake L, Kroon M, Sanders D, et al. Child health, infant formula funding and South African health professionals: Eliminating conflict of interest. S Afr Med J 2019;109(12):902-906. https://doi.org/10.7196/SAMJ.2019.v109i12.14336); and response by Lake et al

Analysis of the corporate political activity of major food industry actors in Fiji

BACKGROUND: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading cause of mortality in Fiji, a middle-income country in the Pacific. Some food products processed sold and marketed by the food industry are major contributors to the NCD epidemic, and the food industry is widely identified as having strong economic and political power. However, little research has been undertaken on the attempts by the food industry to influence public health-related policies and programs in its favour. The "corporate political activity" (CPA) of the food industry includes six strategies (information and messaging; financial incentives; constituency building; legal strategies; policy substitution; opposition fragmentation and destabilisation). For this study, we aimed to gain a detailed understanding of the CPA strategies and practices of major food industry actors in Fiji, interpreted through a public health lens. METHODS AND RESULTS: We implemented a systematic approach to monitor the CPA of the food industry in Fiji for three months. It consisted of document analysis of relevant publicly available information. In parallel, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 10 stakeholders involved in diet- and/or public health-related issues in Fiji. Both components of the study were thematically analysed. We found evidence that the food industry adopted a diverse range of strategies in an attempt to influence public policy in Fiji, with all six CPA strategies identified. Participants identified that there is a substantial risk that the widespread CPA of the food industry could undermine efforts to address NCDs in Fiji. CONCLUSIONS: Despite limited public disclosure of information, such as data related to food industry donations to political parties and lobbying, we were able to identify many CPA practices used by the food industry in Fiji. Greater transparency from the food industry and the government would help strengthen efforts to increase their accountability and support NCD prevention. In other low- and middle-income countries, it is likely that a systematic document analysis approach would also need to be supplemented with key informant interviews to gain insight into this important influence on NCD prevention