Financial inclusion and green economic performance for energy efficiency finance

Economic Change and Restructuring - Financial inclusion is fundamental for increasing the nation’s performance and green economy has emerged as one of the dominant factors to ecological...     

Empirical Research and the Development and Assessment of Transitional Justice Mechanisms

In this paper, we demonstrate different methods of empiricalresearch available to transitional justice practitioners andscholars. Guidelines on how to conduct research in the fieldof transitional justice are outlined on the basis of the principlesof monitoring and evaluation for decision making, program developmentand policy development. We argue that such methods offer policymakers a systematic way to consult a population and constructa comprehensive view of what this population has experienced(e.g., violations), what they know (e.g., knowledge of varioustransitional justice mechanisms), what they believe in (e.g.,definition of justice) or what they need (e.g., accountability).Such knowledge is essential for developing effective evidence-basedtransitional justice programs.     

The First Successful Use of a Low Stringency Familial Match in a French Criminal Investigation

We describe how a very simple application of familial searching resolved a decade‐old, high‐profile rape/murder in France. This was the first use of familial searching in a criminal case using the French STR DNA database, which contains approximately 1,800,000 profiles. When an unknown forensic profile (18 loci) was searched against the French arrestee/offender database using CODIS configured for a low stringency search, a single low stringency match was identified. This profile was attributed to the father of the man suspected to be the source of the semen recovered from the murder victim Elodie Kulik. The identification was confirmed using Y‐chromosome DNA from the putative father, an STR profile from the mother, and finally a tissue sample from the exhumed body of the man who left the semen. Because of this identification, the investigators are now pursuing possible co‐conspirators.     

Fighting fake news in the COVID-19 era: policy insights from an equilibrium model

Policy Sciences - The COVID-19 crisis has revealed structural failures in governance and coordination on a global scale. With related policy interventions dependent on verifiable evidence,...     

Africa Isn’t an Island: An Emerging Continent and the Geopolitics of the 21st Century

Long treated as marginal to United States strategic interests, political, economic, and security, developments on the African continent have forced a reconsideration of Africa's geopolitical (and geoeconomics) significance in the twenty-first century. Moreover, the success of efforts to lower carbon emissions and other measures to combat the effects of climate change are highly dependent on access to Africa's mineral reserves—another factor driving both global and regional powers increasingly to become engaged on the continent. Criticism of former President Donald Trump's reported statements about African countries notwithstanding, the significant shift towards analytical realism under that administration—including not treating Africa in isolation from global trends—should be a lasting legacy.     

Violence risk profile of medium- and high-security NGRI offenders in Belgium

Under Belgian law, offenders not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) are committed by the courts to forensic mental health treatment. The use of violence risk assessment tools has become routine in these settings. However, there are no national statistics regarding violence risk assessment in the Belgian forensic population. A study was undertaken to collect risk assessment data (PCL-R, VRAG, HCR-20) on a large cohort of forensic patients committed to Medium Security units in the Flanders region and in High-Security units in the Walloon region. Flemish patients were expected to present a lower risk compared with their Walloon counterparts. Instead, data yielded by a structured risk assessment method demonstrate the opposite. Moreover, the majority of patients in Flemish facilities had committed violent offenses and were institutionalized for shorter periods whereas the majority of Walloon patients had committed sexual offenses and were institutionalized for markedly longer periods.     

云南瓷器在越南北部传播初探

随着考古遗址的不断发掘,在越南发现越来越多的云南古代瓷器。与此同时,经过对越南瓷器和云南瓷器的比对,发现越南瓷器深受云南瓷器的影响。本文从考古学入手,介绍和分析了云南瓷器在越南北部地区的传播过程及相关情况。     

Poverty Reduction in Vietnam and the Role of Public Administration

Vietnam has attained impressive results in poverty reduction. The poverty rate has decreased from about 58% in 1993 to 3% in 2015. This article examines Vietnam’s poverty reduction achievement and several of the factors that have underpinned it. It also examines the contemporary difficulties faced by the Vietnam government in further reducing poverty. In particular, this commentary assesses the role of public administration in poverty reduction, considering the role of administrative reform, decentralisation and ensuring good governance for poverty reduction. In assessing the present situation, the article discusses some of the limitations of poverty reduction strategy and emerging challenges for public administration.