‘Strong nets catch fish’: promoting pro-poor partnerships in Bangladesh

This article describes the experiences of a small Bangladeshi NGO in using actor-oriented tools to focus on key people and partnerships in project planning, monitoring, and evaluation. The approach has helped to identify interventions that are context-specific, building on key local actors and indigenous networks, and sensitive to the constraints experienced by the poorest. As a result, the NGO has moved away from an externally driven agenda, to become a more thoughtful and responsive organisation. In developing the approach, the NGO encountered some problems due to the political sensitivity concerning the representation of linkages. This underlines the importance of using these tools in a politically aware, positive, and reflective way.     

The food deficits problem in the Arab Maghreb union: present state and future perspectives

This paper investigates the scope of the problem of food deficits within the recently‐established Arab Maghreb Union (U.M.A.). Various agricultural options pursued by the member states have been unequal to the aim of achieving food self‐sufficiency. Thus, the inability of agriculture to meet the basic needs of a growing population has led to increasing reliance on external sources of supply. Natural constraints, inadequate inputs and neglect of rural areas account, to a wider extent, for the poor performance of their agriculture. Limited financial resources and widespread social discontent have left no option to the U.M.A. partners than that of exploring regional potentialities in the short and long terms alike.     

An empirical testing of informational efficiency in Bangladesh capital market

We investigate how efficiently the stock market participants incorporate the information contained in money supply changes into stock prices in an emerging economy like Bangladesh. Of particular interest is to test how the changes in monetary aggregates directly affect the stock prices through asset changes and indirectly through their effects on real economic activity. We have considered the monthly series of the real stock returns (P) and examine the relationship between stock returns and monetary aggregates from 1980 to 2008. We also include the exchange rate of US dollar against Bangladeshi Taka and industrial production index. The presence of cointegration between stock prices and monetary aggregates indicate long-run predictability of the Bangladesh stock market. The short-run dynamics between monetary aggregates and real stock return, relied on theoretically motivated long-run restrictions, are analyzed using an empirical structural VAR model. The dynamic response of the real stock returns to changes in macroeconomic variables (such as broad money supply, exchange rates), particularly its lagged responses to real economic activity generates inefficiency in the Dhaka Stock Exchange. The findings of this article indicate that informational inefficiency exists in the stock market of Bangladesh due to the presence of unidirectional causality. To be efficient, the infrastructure of the SEC should be modernized, revaluation of the net asset value of the companies should be audited by the affiliated firms of the SEC, demutualization should be done as early as possible, private placement, issue of preference share and book building methods must be under rule based. Insider trading should be strictly prohibited.     

The Failure of the Arab Court of Human Rights and the Conflicting Logics of Legitimacy,Sovereignty, Orientalism and Cultural Relativism

Netherlands International Law Review - In 2014 the League of Arab States (LAS) adopted a statute to establish the Arab Court of Human Rights (ACtHR). However, the proposed court has been strongly...     

The Autonomy Rationale for Religious Freedom

Courts and scholars across jurisdictions increasingly identify personal autonomy as the primary rationale for the right to religious freedom. But there are tensions between autonomy on one hand, and religious belief, practice and proselytism on the other. This paper will focus on two tensions which have unappreciated implications for religious freedom jurisprudence, particularly that of the ECHR. The first tension stems from the resistance of some religious beliefs to revision. The second stems from the manipulative nature of some modes of religious proselytism. This paper argues that, given these tensions, the protection currently offered to religious beliefs, practices and proselytism by the right to religious freedom cannot be justified by reference to the value of autonomy. This finding has significant implications for the justification of the right to religious freedom.     

Prevalence of Spousal Violence and Associated Risk Factors: Facts from Pakistan Demographics and Health Survey 2012–13

The current study aims to investigate the risk factors associated with the prevalence of spousal violence among the women from 15 to 49 years of age in Pakistan in their marital relationship. Secondary data collected in Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS) 2012–2013 is used. In the survey, respondents were selected using probability sampling technique from all the four provinces of Pakistan. Modified and shortened version of Conflict Tactics Scale is used to measure physical and psychological spousal violence among the women perpetuated by their ever husbands. Prevalence of physical, psychological, any type of spousal violence and associated risk factors were analyzed by unadjusted odd ratios (OR) and adjusted odd ratios (aOR). Education, profession, ethnicity and wealth index are found significant risk factors associated with spousal violence. Odds of experiencing spousal violence were higher among the poorer (aOR 1.700 CI 1.272–2.271) as compared to their richer counterparts. Moreover, the prevalence of spousal violence was found the highest (aOR 2.730 CI 2.162–3.447) in Pushton ethnic group. The study recommends improving the literacy rate and economic well-being of the poorer to address the problem of spousal violence in Pakistan.