The Scope and Content of the Sri Lankan Constitution: Perspectives of Opinion Leaders

2021 ◽  

The Scope and Content of the Sri Lankan Constitution: Perspectives of Opinion Leaders comprises a summary of findings that assesses the knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of leaders from the four main ethnic communities (Sinhala, Tamil, Up Country Tamil and Muslim) across the island. These leaders included religious leaders, government officials, office holders of community-based organizations, teachers and school principals. The assessment adapted and applied International IDEA’s constitutional performance assessment methodology to collect these leaders’ perceptions on the constitutional text and realities on current constitution, the Presidency, human rights and the nature of political and economic order.

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Aijaz Ahmed Sohag ◽  
Faraz Ahmed Wajidi

Keenjhar Lake, Pakistan is facing a potentially devastating ecological collapse, threatening the livelihood security of local communities. The purpose of this study was to investigate that how a more sustainable management plan can be forged through the integration of the local experiential knowledge and technocratic conservation values. The analysis gives particular emphasis to gender issues, given the unacknowledged but increasing responsibilities of community based organizations on women issues. Semi-structured interviews with local communities, communitybased organizations and government officials were undertaken to assess the various perceptions of resource use at Keenjhar Lake. The findings illustrate that conflicting understandings of ownership have a detrimental impact on the local perception on environment and prevalence of resource for their livelihood. However, there is an opportunity to foster new vistas of understanding which could be helpful in sustainability of management of resources.


Refuge ◽  
2008 ◽  
pp. 44-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Simich ◽  
Lisa Andermann ◽  
Joanna Anneke Rummens ◽  
Ted Lo

After the 2004 Asian tsunami, a group of concerned scientists, physicians, and community service providers united to form a Local Distress Relief Network (LDRN) to provide information, referral, and care to affected members of the large Sri Lankan Tamil community in Toronto. The LDRN organized a workshop that brought together community-based organizations and international and local experts in mental health and disaster response to review existing knowledge on disaster response and to share community knowledge and experience. This article summarizes the development of the network, the workshop proceedings and joint recommendations for communitybased, culturally appropriate mental distress relief.


2006 ◽  
Vol 22 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 715-729 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla Prater ◽  
Walter G. Peacock ◽  
Sudha Arlikatti ◽  
Himanshu Grover

A field study team interviewed local government officials, community-based organizations, and nongovernmental organizations to assess community capacity and emergency response to the tsunami. In addition, 1,000 households on the Nagapattinam coast were randomly surveyed to assess household capacity and disaster response. The results presented here show that the district government did have an emergency plan in place, but it was modeled on a neighboring district's plan and focused almost exclusively on floods and drought relief. The local governmental response, therefore, was dominated by skilled improvisation, assisted by state, union, and private sector resources. The nongovernmental and community-based organizations' response was massive, and an attempt was made by the local government to organize and structure the voluntary response.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 585-605
Author(s):  
Terrence Thomas ◽  
◽  
Befikadu Legesse ◽  
Cihat Gunden ◽  
◽  
...  

The failure of top-down categorical approaches for generating solutions to many local problems has led to the adoption of alternate approaches. Many scholars believe that a confluence of local and global forces have generated complex problems, which call for new approaches to problem solving. Previously, the top-down approach relied entirely on the knowledgeable elite. Communities were seen as passive study subjects and information flow was one way only- from knowledgeable elites to the less knowledgeable community agents or community-based organization acting on behalf of communities. The objectives of this study are to provide a review of governance as a means of organizing community action to address community problems in the Black Belt Region (BBR) of the Southeastern United States, and an assessment of community problems in the BBR from the perspectives of community-based organizations (CBOs). Data was collected from CBOs via a telephone survey in eleven Southeastern states and via listening sessions conducted with CBOs in 9 Southeastern states. The study provides valuable insight regarding the challenges faced by these organizations and strategies they employ in adapting to serve their communities.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aksheya Sridhar ◽  
Amy Drahota ◽  
Kiersten Walsworth

Abstract Background Evidence-based practices (EBPs) have been shown to improve behavioral and mental health outcomes for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Research suggests that the use of these practices in community-based organizations is varied; however, the utilization of implementation guides may bridge the gap between research and practice. The Autism Community Toolkit: Systems to Measure and Adopt Research-Based Treatments (ACT SMART) Implementation Toolkit is a web-based implementation toolkit developed to guide organization-based implementation teams through EBP identification, adoption, implementation, and sustainment in ASD community-based organizations. Methods This study examined the facilitators and barriers (collectively termed “determinants”) to the utilization of this toolkit, based on the perspectives of implementation teams at six ASD community-based organizations. Two independent coders utilized the adapted EPIS framework and the Technology Acceptance Model 3 to guide qualitative thematic analyses of semi-structured interviews with implementation teams. Results Salient facilitators (e.g., facilitation teams, facilitation meetings, phase-specific activities) and barriers (e.g., website issues, perceived lack of ease of use of the website, perceived lack of resources, inner context factors) were identified, highlighting key determinants to the utilization of this toolkit. Additionally, frequent determinants and determinants that differed across adapted EPIS phases of the toolkit were noted. Finally, analyses highlighted two themes: (a) Inner Context Determinants to use of the toolkit (e.g., funding) and (b) Innovation Determinants (e.g., all website-related factors), indicating an interaction between the two models utilized to guide study analyses. Conclusions Findings highlighted several factors that facilitated the utilization of this implementation guide. Additionally, findings identified key areas for improvement for future iterations of the ACT SMART Implementation Toolkit. Importantly, these results may inform the development, refinement, and utilization of implementation guides with the aim of increasing the uptake of EBPs in community-based organizations providing services to children with ASD and their families. Finally, these findings contribute to the implementation science literature by illustrating the joint use of the EPIS framework and Technology Acceptance Model 3 to evaluate the implementation of a web-based toolkit within community-based organizations.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0160449X2198942
Author(s):  
Jessica Garrick

In response to the growing absence of unions from the private sector, community-based organizations known as worker centers have emerged as a new front in protecting and organizing workers. Scholars generally argue that worker centers have converged on a model of combining service provision with organizing and advocacy, supported primarily by funding from foundations and government agencies. I draw on interviews conducted with worker center staff, a dataset compiled from their public materials, and secondary research to add to the existing literature and to argue that a clear categorization of worker centers can be derived by attention to their primary workplace strategies. First, worker centers can be meaningfully distinguished by whether they attempt to raise standards in specific industries versus responding to problems in individual workplaces. But they can also be distinguished based on the extent to which they view public policy or winning agreements with employers as the primary route to systemic improvements. These divergences in strategy echo Progressive-era debates about the role for the state in redressing workplace ills. Similar to that era, strategic differences among today’s worker centers are driven less by ideology and more by the distinct structural challenges facing workers in particular political and economic contexts.


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