Experiential and emotional encounters of women planners in Africa

Women planners in Africa do not constitute a critical mass: their numbers remain negligible and their output unrecognised, while mentors and role models still tend to be male. Women's experiences are undervalued, and their knowledge is often excluded in policy, project planning, and implementation. This article arises not from systematic academic research but from confessional, reflective, pilot research based on personal experience and the experiences reported by 25 women planners between 1999 and 2004. It deliberately seeks to break the monotony of drawing from survey results which are often detached from experiential and emotional encounters. Using anecdotal material from Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe, it examines the training and professional environment of the ‘planneress’; and discusses the emotions, expectations, and experiences of female planners in everyday encounters.     

Agencification of Public Service Delivery in Nigeria： An Empirical Study of Selected Public Agencies in Lagos State

There have been efforts to establish agencies as part of a strategy to improve service delivery world-wide. In Nigeria, agencies have also been established at both the national and state levels. The Lagos State Government has also established various agencies to fulfill different government functions in the state. After many years, the activities of these agencies have improved the delivery of services to the people in Lagos State, but there is still much to be done. This is why this study examines agencification of public service delivery in Nigeria with reference to Lagos State. The study uses mixed methods and triangulated data to achieve the research objectives. Questionnaire was used to collect data from service users and departmental officials. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with key officials of the selected agencies. Key documents were also reviewed. The findings reveal： lack of human resources capacity, inadequate financial management skills, and poor management of service providers, and the environment of the people of Lagos State are not considered in the conception and the implementation of the service-delivery-driven agencies. The study therefore recommends that agencification of public service in Lagos State as conceived if properly implemented can contribute to effective public service delivery.     

Income, assets, and health insurance: economic resources for meeting acute health care needs of the aged.

In this article, the authors use data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) to examine the relationship between economic resources and acute health care needs among the aged. The circumstances of individuals who rely on Medicare as their only form of health insurance are considered in detail because they are potentially more vulnerable when faced with health care expenses. Particular attention is given to the amount of family income and personal contingency assets held by this group and the level of out-of-pocket liability for acute care they might have been expected to face in 1984. The authors point out that their research findings would be strengthened by linkage of a more current SIPP data set to Medicare program records and the development of Medicaid eligibility simulation capability in the SIPP context.     

Neither New nor Right

Vu de Droite. By A. de Benoist. Paris: Copernic, 1977. Pp. 626.

Les idées à l'endroit. By A. de Benoist. Paris: Editions libres, Hallier. 1979. Pp. 298.

La Nouvelle Droite. Edited by J. Brunn. Paris: Oswald. 1979. Pp. 391.