Energy poverty amidst abundance in Malaysia: placing energy in multidimensional poverty

In developing countries the analysis of energy poverty has been framed in terms of a nexus; linking poverty, gender, and energy as obstacles to sustainable development. This article considers the dual challenges of energy and fuel poverty in Malaysia, a middle-income country boasting high levels of grid penetration, suggesting that there are limitations to this approach in relation to articulating the relationship between energy and poverty, specifying the dynamics of energy poverty, and informing policies to address this. Locating energy deprivation in the context of multidimensional poverty offers a basis for addressing energy poverty in a wider range of spatial and temporal contexts.     

NGO–researcher partnerships in global health research: benefits,challenges, and approaches that promote success

Partnerships involving NGOs and academic researchers (NGO–R partnerships) are increasing in global health research. Such collaborations present opportunities for knowledge translation in global health, yet are also associated with challenges for establishing and sustaining effective and respectful partnerships. We conducted a narrative review of the literature to identify benefits and challenges associated with NGO–R partnerships, as well as approaches that promote successful partnerships. We illustrate this analysis with examples from our own experiences. The results suggest that collaborations characterised by trust, transparency, respect, solidarity, and mutuality contribute to the development of successful and sustainable NGO–R partnerships.     

廉洁文化视域中社会组织的社会治理作用

社会组织是加强和创新社会治理的重要力量,要充分发挥社会组织的社会治理作用,必须加强廉洁文化建设。廉洁文化建设能够促使社会组织增强社会责任感和社会公信力,营造社会组织参与社会治理服务的氛围;能够促使社会组织成员提升思想道德素质,增强社会组织成员参与社会治理服务的自觉意识;能够为社会组织汇聚高素质人才队伍、提升社会服务水平、增强社会组织核心竞争力,推进社会组织健康发展和社会治理作用的发挥。     

善治理论视角下的和谐警民关系构建

警民关系是公安机关在社会管理中要处理的最重要的一项公共关系,其和谐与否直接关系到国家与社会的稳定。近年来警民冲突事件屡见报端,原因主要在于社会、政府、群众与公安队伍自身四个方面。从善治理论的视角分析,构建和谐警民关系有三路径选择,应提倡由公安机关主导的群众参与式社会治理模式。     

“超行政治理”:党建引领的基层治理逻辑与工作路径

当前,行政化治理导致基层社会陷入“行政有效,治理无效”的治理危机,表现为治理碎片化、治理封闭化和治理等级化。需要打破行政科层组织的结构性壁垒,破解行政化治理造成的基层治理困境。执政党通过发挥政党的组织和政治优势,依托政党的政治整合功能和社会整合功能,促进治理与服务的有效融合,在基层治理场域形成了一种强调政党引领的“超行政治理”模式。与政府主导的行政化治理相比较,政党引领下的“超行政治理”以基础性权力为基础,依托政党权威,实现治理效能提升。具体而言,“超行政治理”通过三种治理机制展开运作。第一,运用党建的空间塑造功能推动组织整合,建构基层共治平台;第二,依靠政治引领功能促进价值整合,实现话语转换;第三,通过社会动员功能助推社会建构,再造社区团结。“超行政治理”以其政治整合和社会建构的工作逻辑,在基层治理场域推动了治理主体的跨组织协同、治理价值的共识维护以及治理权威的社会化建构。     

Land restitution and income generation in protected areas in Mpumalanga,South Africa

In many cases protected areas in South Africa have been established with little or no regard for communities living in or adjacent to them. The new challenge to protection of biodiversity is to find an equitable balance between conservation, beneficiation of the new land owners, and “balancing the books”. This article discusses the Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve as a case study to illustrate some of the potential outcomes that co-management of protected areas can offer towards income generation, and highlights challenges towards success: it asks, can co-management be financially sustainable for both the conservation agency and the land claimants?     

Donors and exogenous versus endogenous development

Economic and social development has occurred through the millennia. The post-World War II and post-colonial periods have ushered in a new era of donor-led development assistance policies and of professional development practice. Since the 1950s, development has been conceived of as rich and technologically advanced countries helping poor countries develop – a delivery system of development. The dominant development priority has been economic growth as opposed to livelihoods and social/human development. With some interesting exceptions, development, seen as development assistance, has been largely top down, or exogenously driven. In recent decades, scholars, practitioners, and even donors have called for participatory approaches, building on local institutions, culture, capacity, and local ownership. There remains a gap between the rhetoric and the practice of development. If we want to move from top-down, exogenous development to development that encompasses endogenous approaches, we must understand the barriers posed by practices in both donor and recipient country development organisations. This paper explores the barriers and possible remedies open to practitioners, policymakers, and academics at different levels.     

Towards formulating effective research and development national strategies in Arab countries

Extremely weak R&D has a negative impact on growth and development in Arab countries. Developing a better R&D strategy could enhance capacity and effectiveness of R&D. The failure of the previously developed strategies in Arab countries was due to lack of vision, incorrect identification of R&D priorities, and disregard consulting stakeholders. This article discusses the challenges of developing R&D national strategies in Arab countries including identifying R&D priorities, managing stakeholders, assessing the current situation of R&D, and defining objectives of the strategies.     

Managing rural landscapes in the context of a changing climate

Global competition for natural resources is intense and the supply of those resources is increasingly more constrained by climate variability and change. Governments and international development agencies have the dual responsibility to meet the socio-economic needs of the poorest and most vulnerable people while preserving and enhancing their natural capital. These responsibilities often are at odds with each other and different stakeholder groups have prioritised one over the other. This paper suggests that the landscape approach provides a solution for stakeholders to achieve climate change mitigation, adaptation, and poverty reduction goals, though not without some trade-offs.     

Shifts in perceptions of NGOs with the creation of the Palestinian National Authority

This article explores perceived shifts in roles for NGOs and religious actors after the creation of the Palestinian National Authority with the 1993 Oslo Accords, using original data from a survey of more than 1,000 community members in the West Bank and Gaza. The survey data show a centralisation of requests for assistance from the Palestinian National Authority, with a decrease in requests from local government, NGOs, and religious actors after the creation of the Palestinian National Authority. The support the empirical findings lend to theories of government and voluntary failure is discussed.