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1882. Haiti: Why Funding for Orphanages is Harming the Children it Aims to Help
- Publication Date:
- 01-2017
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Elevate Children Funders Group
- Abstract:
- Private philanthropic support for vulnerable or orphaned children often has a strong focus on the funding of orphanages. Despite powerful evidence of the negative impact of orphanage care, private donors continue to provide large amounts of funding to orphanages through donations, volunteer tourism, mission trips and other forms of fundraising – adding to the pull factors drawing more vulnerable children into institutional care and away from family or community care.
- Topic:
- Children, Youth, Public Policy, and Funding
- Political Geography:
- Haiti
1883. Using technology to improve women’s safety in Pakistan’s urban transit systems
- Author:
- Ammar A. Malik, Yasemin Irvin-Erickson, and Faisal Kamiran
- Publication Date:
- 12-2017
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Urban Institute
- Abstract:
- As cities around the world invest billions in new mass transit systems, people’s experiences and fears of victimization in public spaces cause gender disparities in accessibility. Gendered social norms regarding women’s traditional role in society and control over income further limits women’s access to mass transit systems. Although fear of crime affects all transit users, sexual harassment and victimization is a larger concern for women and girls, and it restricts their mobility and hampers access to economic opportunity. As we learn more about this problem, we are looking for solutions, including technology, that can lower the risk of victimization and help women feel more safe on public transit.
- Topic:
- Crime, Science and Technology, Women, Gender Based Violence, and Urban
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan and South Asia
1884. A tale of two cities: Why there is no “one solution” to combating spousal abuse
- Author:
- Ammar A. Malik and Jared Stolove
- Publication Date:
- 08-2017
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Urban Institute
- Abstract:
- The World Health Organization has identified Southeast Asia as the region of the world with the highest rates of domestic violence, with 37.7 percent of women experiencing spousal abuse. This troubling statistic deserves the attention of policymakers and nongovernmental organizations looking to reduce domestic abuse. But those designing interventions should not treat this region as a monolith. Recent research has highlighted that domestic violence is the result of community- and individual-level factors. Although certain socioeconomic groups, such as the impoverished and the poorly educated, are generally more likely to be the victims of domestic violence, the factors that put individual women at risk of abuse vary across communities. Policymakers aiming to reduce spousal violence must be conscious of local context when designing interventions. Otherwise, policymakers risk using valuable resources on ineffective projects that do not address the root causes of domestic violence. Recent fieldwork by the Urban Institute profiles how different the causes of domestic violence can be, even among similar socioeconomic groups.
- Topic:
- Women, Gender Based Violence, Cities, and Domestic Violence
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, South Asia, and India
1885. Where rents are driven by quality of public services, not proximity to transit
- Author:
- Ammar A. Malik and Harsh Parikh
- Publication Date:
- 08-2017
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Urban Institute
- Abstract:
- Urban residents around the world know that housing close to mass transit commands a price premium. Living near transit stations saves residents time and money, which is reflected in rents. Studies evaluating the impact of bus rapid transit (BRT) services in Beijing, China, and Brisbane, Australia, have found rents of properties near stations to be 10 and 20 percent higher than those farther away. The value of properties within six miles of mass urban transit are known to increase two to three times faster than those outside. But does this relationship hold true everywhere? And what factors complicate it?
- Topic:
- Infrastructure, Transportation, Rent, and Public Service
- Political Geography:
- China, Asia, and Australia
1886. Empowering women through international tourism: What we know and need to know
- Author:
- Fenohasina Rakotondrazaka Maret, Harsh Parikh, and Rachel Wilder
- Publication Date:
- 07-2017
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Urban Institute
- Abstract:
- The United Nations designated 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development, and for good reason. The tourism industry generates 10.2 percent of global GDP and employs 1 in 10 workers. Women make up more than half of the tourism workforce, which makes the industry’s growth a unique opportunity to empower women across the world. But we need additional data to better understand how women intersect with this burgeoning industry.
- Topic:
- Gender Issues, Tourism, Women, Partnerships, and International Development
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Botswana, and Global Focus
1887. Three strategies for empowering women in informal economies
- Author:
- Ammar A. Malik and Hadia Majid
- Publication Date:
- 06-2017
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Urban Institute
- Abstract:
- Pakistan is the sixth most populated country in the world, and at least two in five Pakistanis will live in urban areas by 2020. But, as in the rest of South Asia, rapid urbanization in Pakistan is “messy” and hidden. A large-scale informal economy and poor public service delivery is dampening the potential productivity benefits of agglomeration. Seventy-eight percent of nationwide nonagricultural jobs are in the informal economy, and some 22 million people are in such roles, most of them women. Most of an estimated 8.5 million mostly unregulated domestic workers are also women. Underdeveloped and unenforced work regulations make women disproportionately more susceptible to exploitive working conditions. They are poorly compensated and forced to work in hazardous circumstances without proper social or legal protections. Beyond the ambit of taxation, they are seldom considered productive economic agents and are relegated as secondary contributors to the economy. These issues with urbanization and informal economies are not unique to Pakistan. All South Asian countries have similar problems. But overall gender disparities in Pakistan are considerably higher than the regional average, and the fact that more women are poor than men poses a particular challenge for women in Pakistan’s urban informal sector.
- Topic:
- Gender Issues, Urbanization, Women, Economy, and Informal Economy
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan and South Asia
1888. Are international women’s issues being devalued in US foreign policy?
- Author:
- Fenohasina Rakotondrazaka Maret and Sarra Souid
- Publication Date:
- 05-2017
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Urban Institute
- Abstract:
- Last month, a leaked US State Department budget document raised concerns around whether the Trump administration plans to eliminate funding for the State Department’s Office of Global Women’s Issues. These concerns were allayed by the budget released this week that maintains the office and gives it more funding. This reprieve from the general cuts in the foreign assistance budget is welcome, but the fact that the office still lacks an appointed leader from the new administration raises questions about what—if any—strategy the United States will implement in this important area.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Government, Women, and International Development
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America
1889. Turning Africa’s digital divide into digital dividends
- Author:
- Fenohasina Rakotondrazaka Maret and Daiki Akiyoshi
- Publication Date:
- 05-2017
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Urban Institute
- Abstract:
- In Nairobi, Kenya, technological advances like Uber have brought positive disruption and significant benefits to consumers. The country has been called the Silicon Savannah for having hatched various technological innovations. But in some parts of Kenya, it’s not uncommon to wait for hours to get a stable Internet connection. In the capitals of Madagascar and Burkina Faso, where smartphone and computer ownership is still low, people have to go to cybercafés to access the Internet, usually on run-down computers with old software, and even then, connection speeds may be painfully slow. Slow connection speeds and lack of Internet access aren’t just a hassle though, they’re signs of the digital divide that sets many African countries behind. The World Bank’s World Development Report 2016 provides an in-depth analysis of countries’ access to and use of the Internet, mobile phones, and tools to collect, store, analyze, and share information digitally. We revisited the latest data and observed a persistent digital divide, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
- Topic:
- Development, Science and Technology, and Digital Policy
- Political Geography:
- Kenya, Africa, Madagascar, and Burkina Faso
1890. Global development demands a data revolution that will make change happen, not just track it
- Author:
- G. Thomas Kingsley
- Publication Date:
- 05-2017
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Urban Institute
- Abstract:
- Cities in developing countries are growing massively and at a pace that would not have been thought possible a few decades ago. Accommodating the new, largely poor, urban dwellers may be one of the greatest challenges of human history. A data revolution could support new ways of addressing this challenge. But United Nations agencies are so far just thinking about using data to track progress. In 2015, the United Nations adopted an ambitious new agenda for global development, and its proponents called for a data revolution to help achieve its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The challenge of rapid urbanization is a priority in the SDGs, as it is in the companion New Urban Agenda adopted by the United Nations’ Habitat III conference in late 2016. But to achieve the aims of these agendas, we need to use data in ways that will make change happen, not just track it. We need to get the data, tools, and training to the programs, people, and community leaders responsible for achieving the new goals. They are the ones whose work will decide whether the world’s urban future will be a story of inclusion and prosperity or a tragedy (over a billion people living in abject poverty in urban slums with scant water supply, sanitation, or other services—and highly at risk of environmental disaster).
- Topic:
- Development, Science and Technology, United Nations, and Sustainable Development Goals
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus