Case Study: Out of the Box: Queer Youth in South Africa Today

Describes LGBTI youths' challenges in negotiating being gay in a straight environment, lack of inclusive policy, and effects of homophobia; youths' perspectives on efforts toward change; and ways to build their confidence in youth groups and at school

Innovative Grantmaking: Giving Voice to the Marginalised

In reality, this is the beginning of an ongoing story. MAGI is a relatively new venture but there has been time enough to see its potential and share its learnings. In an increasingly polarised world, where the gap between the haves and have-nots is fast becoming a chasm, there is no time to be lost in providing support to the marginalised so that their voices can be heard in mainstream debates about development and human rights and their lives can take centre stage in understanding the challenges faced

Guns and Roses: Advocacy in an Emerging Democracy

Draws on campaigns for gun control and same-sex marriage in South Africa to offer a framework for effective advocacy. Discusses defining issues and goals, research, strategic partnerships, mobilizing, working with the media, lobbying, and other elements

No Place by the Fire: The Story of South African Ex-Combatants and the National Peace Accord Trust

Describes the experiences of South African ex-combatants in the armed struggle to end apartheid who are now marginalized, and the National Peace Accord Trust's intervention programs and advocacy work to facilitate reintegration into their communities

Gay People Are Living There: Reaching Out Beyond the Cities

Evaluates the 2008 Out In Africa Satellite Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in Mafikeng, South Africa. Describes the challenges and impact of bringing queer films to isolated, mainly black and poor, gay and lesbian communities and strengthening local groups

Hard Choices: Navigating the Economic Shock of Unemployment

During the Great Recession of 2007 to 2009, millions of Americans faced severe economic hardship, forcing difficult decisions about how to stabilize their families' financial well-being and prevent downward economic mobility. Americans with savings were forced to weigh immediate needs against long-term investments, choosing whether to deplete personal assets in order to stay afloat. Those without wealth to fall back on were in an even more precarious position, leading them to turn to family assistance, debt, and other public and private supports when available.This study examines how families weather economic shocks through a close focus on one particular event -- the experience of unemployment, with specific attention to differences by race and family income. The analysis used a nationally representative sample of working-age families from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics or PSID, following the same households from 1999 to 2009. To provide greater insight into the challenges and choices families faced, the report also drew on a unique longitudinal data set of in-depth interviews with 51 families that endured one month or more of unemployment between 1998 and 2012

Simulation modelling of spatial problems

The thesis presents a simulation modelling strategy for spatial problems which uses a data structure based on spatial relationships. Using this network based approach, two domain specific data-driven models are developed in which the movement of people is modelled as a quasi-continuous process. The development of simulation modelling technology is examined to find reasons why there should be a reluctance to use the technique. With particular reference to problems which are spatially related, the established simulation modelling techniques, together with their diagrammatic representations, are evaluated for their helpfulness at the model building stage. Using a specimen example, it is demonstrated that the commonly used approaches for digital discrete event simulation, which use a procedural paradigm, give little help with problems which involve the allocation of a resource and have spatial constraints. Two domain specific generic models are demonstrated which adopt an object-oriented approach, for which the model description, including the logical constraints, are given in the data-file. A method for modelling the movement of people at different levels of congestion as a quasi-continuous process is validated using results from reported surveys of people's movement rates and direct observations, and this is applied in both models. The first models the emergency evacuation of a building, using a graph structure to represent the spatial components. This is implemented using object-oriented code and test runs are compared with evacuation times from a building at the University of North London. The second provides an experimental tool for comparing the effect upon ward function of different layouts and was influenced by a published survey of a nurse activity analysis carried out in fourteen different wards. The nurse activity model uses two graph structures and an object class to model the nurses who move, with reference to, and informed by, the spatial graph structure. The successful application of the method in the two problem domains confirms its potential usefulness for spatial problems