A comprehensive approach to providing services to survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in Democratic Republic of Congo: addressing more than physical trauma

ABSTRACT

The eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is impacted by a prolonged conflict and humanitarian crisis. Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) affects an estimated 39.7% of women and 23.6% of men in the region, and is associated with serious medical, psychological, and socio-economic outcomes for survivors and communities. IMA World Health, a faith-based non-profit organisation, implements a USAID-funded project, Ushindi, which is a collaborative effort with three national NGOs and one technical partner in response to SGBV in eastern DRC. The consortium provides a comprehensive package of services to SGBV survivors, focusing on medical, emotional, psychological, legal, and socio-economic needs.     

Whole-person health and development: two South Indian initiatives

ABSTRACT

In responding to the 2016 reformulation of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, the development community’s efforts are focused on a sweep of initiatives aiming to promote whole-society, sustainable development. The ambition of the SDGs is inspiring, but also daunting, and does not always sit easily within national models of economic development. This viewpoint profiles two organisations in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, that have decades of experience in whole-person development among scheduled tribes and disability communities. Both organisations serve as timely examples of ongoing holistic, whole-person health and development in the context of new ideals and economic realities.     

Developing urban space: the changing role of NGOs in Bangladesh

Rapid urbanisation has been an emerging issue in recent decades, particularly for developing countries such as Bangladesh. As one of world’s largest international NGOs, BRAC, based in Bangladesh, is transiting towards a more integrated approach for alleviating urban poverty. This article presents BRAC’s current journey for eradicating urban poverty and outlines the characteristics of urban poverty, key issues faced by the urban poor, and learning that BRAC has accumulated through its urban interventions. Introducing the concept of “coproduction”, the article identifies BRAC’s priorities to eradicate urban poverty within the context of an overall urban strategy.     

Meeting development goals: evidence from the Civil Society Education Fund

In recent years, the Civil Society Education Fund has supported national education civil society coalitions (NECs) in low-income countries so that they put pressure on governments and donors to implement the Education for All agenda and the Millennium Development Goal on education. This article draws on literature on global governance as well as on an extensive evaluation of the CSEF to explore the actual contribution of this initiative to the activity of NECs. The article highlights the achievements and shortcomings of the CSEF and includes a set of practical recommendations on the role of global civil society in international development processes.     

促进社会公正构建社会和谐

促进社会公正、构建社会和谐对我国社会主义物质文明、政治文明和精神文明的建设起着至关重要的作用,对落实科学发展观、全面建设小康社会具有非常重要的意义。当前我国社会中存在的各种不公现象,是我国经济社会快速发展过程中产生的问题,有其客观、主观两方面的原因;应在正确分析和理解原因的基础上,采取针对性措施,坚持正确的思想观念与具体行动措施相结合,治标措施与治本措施相结合,减少甚至消除社会不公现象,促进构建和谐社会的伟大事业。     

中国传统社会基层治理的法律机制与经验

基层社会治理对于整体社会治理起着重要的基础和支撑作用.在中国传统社会的基层治理中,形成了一套圆融自洽、顺利运行的法律机制,其中蕴含了我国在基层社会治理方面的宝贵经验.传统儒家法与道德相混成,一直将道德教化作为重要的社会治理手段,德治与法治相结合;而基层的自治制度,不论在立法还是司法上,都为国家法律体系的有机组成部分.中...     

养老社会保险制度的反贫困分析——美国的实践及对我国的启示

在不同的社会保障制度模式下,养老社会保险的反贫困功能不一样。不同的养老社会保险制度设计会影响其反贫困功能的发挥。美国的公共养老保险制度——"老年人、遗属和残疾人保险(OASDI)"在计发办法上的累退倾向,在受益对象上不限于退休者本人还包括配偶、遗属和残疾人,在实际给付时关于受益类型、课税、最低和最高收益、随生活成本进行调整等政策规定,对于低收入者保护倾向非常明显。与美国相比,我国目前的养老社会保险存在覆盖面窄、水平偏高,受益水平差异偏大,缺乏不同的受益类型设计等问题。为推动多层次养老保障体系建设,我国养老社会保险制度改革的政策取向应该是降低现有受益水平,扩大覆盖面,并通过覆盖更多的低收入者来增强制度的反贫困效果。同时评估和改革个人账户,以防止养老金差异过大。     

中国食品安全规制政策的社会学习——以“馒头国标”为例

以"馒头国标"事件在我国引起的公众和媒体的热议为出发点,结合了政策学习和社会建构的理论,从政策学习的地方性即承认不同的行动者由于其不同的传统和利益对相同的政策学习范本有着不同的认知的角度,对我国传统食品行业通过标准化的形式进行食品安全规制的过程进行了分析。认为行动者对于标准的异质的地方性认知,导致了标准在形成之前、之中和之后所承载的社会功能发生了显著的变化;而这种偏离也最终背离了实现保护消费者食品安全的初衷,在标准的执行中也注定面临着一定的困难。结合行动者产生地方性认知的背景,认为,社会对于标准的片面认同来源于通过规制获得资源的计划经济的遗毒,以及"超一流企业做标准"口号下标准相关知识匮乏的延伸;结合案例进一步反思了对于政策学习的地方性的"忽略",以及对于标准的社会功能的"夸大"所可能造成的危险。     

企业与利益相关者关系的重新定位——基于哈贝马斯对话伦理的研究

企业与利益相关者关系的理论分析主要集于工具性视角与规范性视角.工具性视角以经济绩效为追求,由于未更好地嵌入规范的社会理论当中,其目的虽明确但方向却不然.规范性视角以阐明企业经营中利益相关者参与的应然内涵为己任,其超然的独白角色难免冷落的际遇.利益相关者的实践模式亦须超越.藉由对话伦理的分析,为重新定位和探索企业与利益相关者的关系提供了新机遇,无论是对利益相关者理论的理路承接,还是对既有命题的逻辑阐释,都显示较强的逻辑自洽性.进一步,由此构建的对话实现框架,为企业经营实践提供了新参照.这些都为进一步反思当前企业社会责任的若干问题给予了深刻警醒.     

Resistance and Creativity in Social Interaction: For and Against Memory in Poland, Israel–Palestine, and the United States

In this paper, I present an analysis of Adam Michnik’s notion of “Amnesty without Amnesia”. His was a wise political judgment presented at a critical moment in the struggle to constitute a democratic polity in Poland. Mine is an appreciation of his political position, along with a sociological analysis that highlights the empirical difficulties of its realization in practical action. I will show how at critical moments of social change creative political action works to erase memories of the relevant past, which act as a repressive force, while “re-remembering” (to use Toni Morrison’s formulation). Three cases will be compared, Michnik’s, after the fall of the communist regime in east central Europe, and cases drawn from the Palestinian–Israeli conflict and the American presidential campaign. A paper prepared for presentation at Cerisy, France, Summer, 2008.