“We Were Not Merely Participating; We Were Leading the Discussions”: Participation and Self-Representation of Refugee Young People in International Advocacy

Abstract

There is increased commitment to the participation and self-representation of people with lived experiences as refugees and asylum seekers in advocacy, especially at international, high-level events. However, we know very little about what opportunities and challenges such processes present. This paper reports on findings from a research project on youth participation and self-representation at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in collaboration with two young women and two young men from refugee backgrounds who live in Australia. We contribute new perspectives to contemporary debates on the potential for participation and self-representation in high-level consultations to effect policy change.     

Organizational Structure,Work Involvement,and Job Performance of Public Servants

The purpose of this study is to understand the predicting role of organizational structure on job performance. Work involvement is tested as a mediator in the hypothesized link. The study presents the results of a cross-sectional survey of 256 public servants in public service departments and agencies in Malaysia. The research results have provided marginal support for the key theoretical propositions. The significant and positive impact of job codification indicates the importance of this factor in predicting job performance of public servants. The empirical link is mediated by work involvement, which suggests that there is an indirect influence of job codification on job performance. This study aims to provide additional empirical evidence on the influence of organizational structure and job performance in the public sector.     

Polio vaccines--"no thank you!" barriers to polio eradication in Northern Nigeria

This article is an analysis of the boycott of the polio vaccinationcampaign in northern Nigeria, which has indefinitely stalledglobal polio eradication targets. The polio immunization drivewas brought to a standstill in July 2003 as religious and politicalleaders in northern Nigeria responded to fears that the vaccineswere deliberately contaminated with anti-fertility agents andthe HIV virus. The article explores the political and culturalangles of this controversy, revealing deeper dimensions thathave contributed to the rejection of polio vaccines in northernNigeria. In doing so, it argues that there is an underlyinglogic to public anxieties often dismissed as ‘anti-vaccinationrumours’. Although the polio vaccine boycott has provedcostly in both economic and human terms, it has opened importantlines of communication at global and national levels, potentiallydeepening dialogue, participation and sensitivity necessaryfor global health campaigns. Although immunization comes withcountless benefits, it is a complex and difficult health strategyto enforce. Decisions on broader health as well as immunizationgoals are often made at a global level to be incorporated andadapted into national health plans and budgets. Evidently forimmunization campaigns, the journey from the global to the localis a vulnerable and unpredictable one.