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422. MIT X TAU Series: Africa's Information Technologies
- Publication Date:
- 03-2022
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- MIT Center for International Studies
- Abstract:
- The second webinar in a seven-part series focused on various aspects of sustainable development in Africa.
- Topic:
- Development, Infrastructure, Governance, and Sustainability
- Political Geography:
- Africa
423. MIT X TAU Series: Africa’s Innovation in Education
- Publication Date:
- 03-2022
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- MIT Center for International Studies
- Abstract:
- The first webinar in a seven-part series focused on various aspects of sustainable development in Africa.
- Topic:
- Development, Education, Governance, Innovation, and Sustainability
- Political Geography:
- Africa
424. Access to Housing: A Right Not an Investment
- Author:
- Nizar Aouad
- Publication Date:
- 06-2022
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Over the past two years, the housing situation in Lebanon has deteriorated so drastically that it has been nearly impossible for many population groups to secure adequate and sustainable housing options, given the sharp increase in rental prices, weak tenure rights, and rising socio-economic inequalities. This policy brief looks into the housing situation in Lebanon and its impact on members of the LGBTQIA+ community. It highlights that the LGBTQIA+ community is among the most affected by Lebanon’s housing crisis due to their historic exclusion by the government and society; the lack of protective policies affecting access to housing rights and alienating LGBTQIA+ individuals and their needs; arbitrary eviction threats, discrimination based on physical appearance, and physical and emotional violence; and no recourse to justice in cases of violations due to state-sponsored violence against queer bodies. The paper makes recommendations on how the Government of Lebanon, donors and the international community, and civil society organizations can help ensure that members of the LGBTQIA+ community are able to live without fear of violence and exercise their right to housing in an equitable way.
- Topic:
- Governance, Discrimination, Violence, LGBT+, and Housing
- Political Geography:
- Middle East and Lebanon
425. Dangerous Delay 2: The cost of inaction
- Author:
- Emily Farr, Leah Finnegan, Joanna Grace, and Mathew Truscott
- Publication Date:
- 05-2022
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- In 2011, Somalia experienced a devastating famine that killed over a quarter of a million people. Afterwards, leaders in the region made a commitment to end drought emergencies by 2022. The international community sought to ensure that there would be no repeat of the failures that led to famine. Next time, the world would heed the warnings and act early to avoid the crisis. But despite various warnings and alarms over the past two years, the commitment to anticipatory action has proven half-hearted. We are once again responding too late and with too little to avert the crisis. In this follow-up to their 2012 briefing A Dangerous Delay, Oxfam and Save the Children, supported by the Jameel Observatory, examine what has changed and what has not in the humanitarian system since 2011. They explain how it must evolve in order to enable and fully fund anticipatory action. With the climate crisis set to deepen, the current system must change quickly in order to meet the challenges we face in the years ahead.
- Topic:
- Security, Famine, Governance, and Humanitarian Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Somalia
426. Turning Point: A three year update on US supermarkets’ progress and pitfalls
- Author:
- Hana Ivanhoe and Art Prapha
- Publication Date:
- 04-2022
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the global landscape of the food retail industry has dramatically shifted. There is now greater awareness of how wealth and gender inequalities have been exacerbated; the power of workers in the United States (US) has been awakened; the vulnerability of global supply chains has been exposed; big retailers are competing in technology adoption; investors are demanding environmental, social and governance (ESG) information; and there has been legislative advancement towards mandatory human rights due diligence (HRDD) law. Amidst these increasing pressures, major US supermarkets have continued to delay urgent actions needed to end exploitation of workers, women and farmers in their supply chains and retail operations. Key gaps include the lack of commitment to adopt a robust HRDD approach, lack of policies on workers’ rights at home and abroad, and the non-existence of gender policy in their business model. Failure to act now will result in irreversible impacts on workers, farmers and women – impacts that pose major risks to business continuity and supply chain resilience.
- Topic:
- Labor Issues, Governance, Business, Private Sector, and COVID-19
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America
427. Rising to the Challenge: The case for permanent progressive policies to tackle Asia’s coronavirus and inequality crisis
- Author:
- Emma Seery
- Publication Date:
- 01-2022
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Asia remains in the grip of a coronavirus crisis that is supercharging already high levels of inequality. While the richest and most privileged can protect their health and increase their wealth further, the pandemic is putting the lives and livelihoods of the region's poorest and most vulnerable people at risk. Women, poor and low-skilled workers, migrants and other marginalized groups are being hit hardest. But it is not too late to turn the tide. Governments must make this the moment to implement permanent progressive policies that put the needs of the many before the profit and extreme wealth of the few.
- Topic:
- Labor Issues, Governance, Pandemic, and COVID-19
- Political Geography:
- Asia
428. The failure of global public health governance: a forensic analysis
- Author:
- Jean Pisani-Ferry, Anne Bucher, and George Papaconstantinou
- Publication Date:
- 02-2022
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Bruegel
- Abstract:
- COVID-19 has underlined that in a context of recurring pandemics, public health is a basic global public good, the provision of which presupposes effective and timely collective action at global level. It has exposed the limitations of the prevailing framework. This Policy Contribution positions global public health governance in the wider debate on the reform of international governance arrangements. It distinguishes between the ‘before’ phase of pandemic preparedness, characterised by ‘denial and neglect’; the first phase (‘addressing the outbreak’), with scientific cooperation and an uncoordinated response to the outbreak; the second phase (‘responding and containing’), with a scaling up of testing, but also competition for scarce equipment and slow development of tests; the third ‘protecting’ phase, with the exceptional development of new vaccines but also rival vaccine diplomacy; and the final ‘exit’ phase, with ramping up of vaccine distribution, but also a glaring failure to vaccinate poor countries. In the evolution of global governance arrangements in different policy areas, six ingredients have been important, and two were clearly present in public health: joint identification of the problem, and shared expertise, as demonstrated especially in the scientific and institutional response. This was much less the case with two others: common action principles, and transparent reporting mechanisms. Finally, there have been significant problems with the last two ingredients: there is no accepted outcome-evaluation process to assess results and adapt instruments, while trust issues continue to hamper the work of the World Health Organisation. The decision to work towards a new pandemic treaty should be assessed against the reform agenda of global health security governance. Four proposals can be made. The WHO should be turned it into a strong and independent standard-setting and surveillance authority for preparedness, prevention, and response, while existing institutions and initiatives should be streamlined and consolidated to better provide essential medical supplies globally. Meanwhile, a G20-type body should be established to provide leadership and ensure a whole-of-government approach that repositions global health governance in the world order and puts it on par with economic interdependence or financial stability in terms of governance, institutional backing and resources. Adequate funding should be provided through a self-standing fund to address the shortfalls COVID-19 has revealed in preparedness of national health systems, detection and containment, and shortages and misallocations of critical medical supplies.
- Topic:
- Governance, Public Health, COVID-19, and Forensic Science
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
429. The Regulatory Costs of Being Public
- Author:
- Michael Ewens, Kairong Xiao, and Ting Xu
- Publication Date:
- 05-2022
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- An important explanation for the significant decline in the number of publicly listed companies in the United States is the increased burden of disclosure and governance regulations. Indeed, practitioners often point to heightened regulatory costs as the culprit of the disappearing public firms, while major deregulations such as the 2012 Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act were directly motivated by perceived costs of being public. Thus, understanding the role of regulations in the cost of being public and the decline in the number of public firms can address concerns about possible capital market dysfunction.
- Topic:
- Markets, Governance, Regulation, and Business
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America
430. Water Governance and Sustainable Service Delivery in Rural Tajikistan: How regulations and accountability measures improve water supply service deliver
- Author:
- Orkhan Ali
- Publication Date:
- 05-2022
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Ensuring equitable and sustainable access to safe water continues to be one of the most pressing issues in Tajikistan, despite the country having abundant water resources. The still low coverage of the population with access to drinking water has been attributed to cross-cutting governance problems such as the relationship between the state and other social actors, poor water management and coordination, and systemic challenges such as low capacity. In the past decade, a demand-driven approach has become a widespread policy trend in Tajikistan and community-led management is seen as the main attribute for achieving effective water governance. The transfer of responsibility to local government and users is intended to promote local governance as a means of ensuring equitable access and sustainable use of water through users’ participation in water-related decision making and service delivery. Under a demand-driven model applied by the TajWSS project, users take more responsibility before, during and after WS system installation. The model assumes that water users have the necessary information and capacity to carry out the delegated duties and obligations and this automatically translates into equitable access and sustainable use of safe water. Yet despite improvements in access to safe water in rural Tajikistan, O&M and lack of governmental support are still great challenges.
- Topic:
- Water, Infrastructure, Governance, and Accountability
- Political Geography:
- Central Asia, Asia, and Tajikistan