The Hidden Contributions of Local Staff When Hosting International Development Volunteers

2021 ◽  
pp. 089976402199524
Author(s):  
Anthony Fee
Keyword(s):  
International Development ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Interview Data ◽  
Work Role ◽  
Opportunities To Learn ◽  
Work Roles ◽  
Local Staff ◽  
Personal Benefit ◽  
Cultural Conditioning

This exploratory study identifies what additional work-roles local staff take on when their organization hosts a long-term international development volunteer, and explains why they do this. Analyzing interview data from a sample of local employees in Vietnamese organizations, the study identifies five work-roles: two that buttressed “volunteer and organization readiness” (preparing and orienting) and three that facilitated “volunteer performance” (translating, advocating, and mediating). These roles, often outside the formal work-role and expertise of the local employees, added to their cognitive and emotional loads and to a large extent went unrecognized by their employers. They were motivated by a combination of personal benefit (notably, opportunities to learn) and reciprocity norms that appear influenced, in part, by respondents’ cultural conditioning. The implications of this for volunteer-involved organizations, volunteers, and locals are discussed.

scholarly journals Intimate partner violence against women on the Colombia Ecuador border: a mixed-methods analysis of the liminal migrant experience

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Colleen Keating ◽  
Sarah Treves-Kagan ◽  
Ana Maria Buller
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
International Development ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Secondary Analysis ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Psychological Consequences ◽  
Colombian Women ◽  
Restricted Mobility

Abstract Background Intimate partner violence (IPV) has serious long-term health and psychological consequences and is highly prevalent in Latin America and among displaced populations. Liminality - the ambiguous in-between state of individuals completing a migratory journey - represents a state of legal, economic, and physical insecurity. Through the framework of liminality, this analysis seeks to understand the unique challenges faced by displaced Colombian women in Ecuador including their experience of IPV. Methods We performed a secondary analysis of 15 in-depth interviews and 319 longitudinal surveys, conducted on the border of Ecuador and Colombia, following a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design. We analysed interviews thematically and mapped the main themes onto complementary quantitative variables. We conducted logistic regression with identified risk and protective factors (measured at time 1) and recent IPV (measured at time 2), controlling for demographic characteristics and IPV at time 1. Results Our mixed-methods analysis revealed four main mechanisms by which displacement influenced the social and economic realities of Colombian women years after crossing the border, compounding their risk of IPV and limiting their ability to escape it. Lack of legal residence and documentation, violence experienced along life course and migratory continuums which increased their risk for later revictimisation, social isolation including loss of support networks and restricted mobility and lastly, financial stress. Conclusions This research highlights the critical importance of supporting the economic and social integration of migrants and refugees in host communities, as well as the need to carefully consider migration-related vulnerabilities in IPV prevention and response interventions. As the regional refugee crisis grows, policy makers must consider how the long-term marginalisation of refugee women contributes to their victimisation. This research also supports the idea of incorporating gender synchronised, transformative IPV prevention and response programmes into migration-related and poverty alleviation international development efforts.

Evaluation of the inhibitory potential of essential oils and aromatic extracts on SARS-CoV-2 Mpro and PLpro

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Strub ◽  
Michał Talma ◽  
Maria Strub ◽  
Wioletta Rut ◽  
Mikołaj Żmudziński ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Essential Oils ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Therapeutic Strategy ◽  
Plant Materials ◽  
Highly Pathogenic ◽  
Significant Growth ◽  
Volatile Products ◽  
Inhibitory Potential ◽  
Human Coronaviruses

Abstract Essential oils and aromatic extracts (oleoresins, absolutes, concretes, resinoids) are often used as food flavorings and constituents of fragrance compositions. The flavor and fragrance industry observes significant growth in sales of some natural materials during the COVID-19 outbreak. Some companies worldwide are making false claims regarding their essential oils or blends to be effective (or indirectly points towards this conclusion) against coronaviruses even though the available data on the activity of plant materials against highly pathogenic human coronaviruses is very scarce. Our exploratory study aimed to develop pioneering knowledge, and provide the first experimental results on the inhibitory properties of hundreds of flavor & fragrance materials against SARS-CoV-2 main- and papain-like proteases. As essential oils are volatile products, they could provide an interesting subsidiary inhalation therapeutic strategy in the long term.

scholarly journals COUNTRY MATTERS: WELL-BEING AND EMIGRATION PLANS AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN SLOVAKIA AND BULGARIA: THE MEDIATION EFFECT OF ROOTEDNESS

2020 ◽  
pp. 107-119
Author(s):  
Frederika Lučanská ◽  
◽  
Oľga Orosová ◽  
Vihra Naydenova ◽  
Jozef Benka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Mediation Effect ◽  
One Dimension ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
The Relationship

The objective of this exploratory study was to examine the relationship between well-being, rootedness and emigration plans (EP) among university students in Slovakia and Bulgaria. It also explored the mediation effect of rootedness in the relationship between well-being and EP. The data were collected throughan online survey (SLiCE 2016). The research sample consisted of 361 university students (M=22.4 years, SD=3.8) from Slovakia (141, 86.5% female) and Bulgaria (220, 69.1% female). Based on their emigration plans, the respondentswere dividedinto two groups;those who do not plan to leave (n=218, 60.4%) and those who plan to leave in the long term (n=143, 39.6%) after they finish university. ForSlovakia, all factors were significantly related toEP. Furthermore, the association between well-being and EP was fully mediated by two dimensions of rootedness with different psychological mechanisms. For Bulgaria, only well-being and onedimension of rootedness,desire for change,were significantly related to EP. It was also found that the association between well-being and EP was partially mediated by only one dimension of rootedness –desire for change. This study highlightsthat rootedness hasa different relationship with other examined factorsin different countries and also that it is necessary to respect the cultural and socio-economic featuresof acountry.

scholarly journals The dyad is not enough

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Torbjörn Bildtgård ◽  
Marianne Winqvist ◽  
Peter Öberg
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Older Parents ◽  
Biological Children ◽  
Over Time

The increasing prevalence of ageing stepfamilies and the potential of stepchildren to act as a source of support for older parents have increased the interest in long-term intergenerational step relationships. Applying a life-course perspective combined with Simmel’s theorizing on social dynamics, this exploratory study aims to investigate the preconditions for cohesion in long-term intergenerational step relationships. The study is based on interviews with 13 older parents, aged 66–79, who have raised both biological children and stepchildren. Retrospective life-course interviews were used to capture the development of step relationships over time. Interviews were analysed following the principles of analytical induction. The results reveal four central third-party relationships that are important for cohesion in intergenerational step relationships over time, involving: (1) the intimate partner; (2) the non-residential parent; (3) the bridge child; and (4) the stepchild-in-law. The findings have led to the conclusion that if we are to understand the unique conditions for cohesion in long-term intergenerational step relationships, we cannot simply compare biological parent–child dyads with step dyads, because the step relationship is essentially a mediated relationship.

scholarly journals Church Networks and Localisation Practice in the Pacific

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Belinda Lauria ◽  
Aloysius Canete ◽  
Rebekah Cochrane
Keyword(s):  
International Development ◽  
Religious Faith ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Local Staff ◽  
The Road ◽  
Humanitarian Action ◽  
Faith Based ◽  
Humanitarian Response ◽  
Faith Leaders ◽  
The Pacific

The localisation agenda is the largest humanitarian reform in decades. Global research, advocacy and adaptations of localised approaches continue to mature following the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016. The Summit produced The Charter for Faith-based Humanitarian Action, recognising the unique position and comparative advantage of local faith actors (LFAs) in humanitarian settings, owing to their presence in communities before, during, and after crises. More than 80% of the world’s population professes a religious faith, and international development and humanitarian work takes place within communities deeply influenced by faith, with local staff often themselves people of faith (cited in Fletcher 2018, p. 4). LFAs have consistently been among the top implementing partners of UN Agencies in undertaking humanitarian response (UNHCR Partnership Note on faith-based organizations, local faith communities and faith leaders 2014, p.8). Despite this recognition, little has promulgated on the role of LFAs in the localisation agenda and the primacy of LFAs' voices in contextualising the agenda for their communities. Accordingly, CAN DO (Church Agencies Network Disaster Operations) a network of Australian churchbased agencies with established relationships in the Pacific, is building an evidence base to inform international actors and affirm the significance of LFAs in localised humanitarian response within the Pacific region, thereby contributing towards the Charter for Faith-Based Humanitarian Action commitments. This paper is a critical reflection of the 2017-2018 localised response to the Monaro Volcano eruption in Vanuatu. Key learnings frame future collaborations with Pacific churches and pave the road ahead in shifting power differentials, including the advancement of LFAs' role within policy and decision-making at all levels of humanitarian response (Charter for Faith-Based Humanitarian Action 2016, p.2).

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