Are cash transfers the panacea to local involvement in humanitarian decision-making? Evidence from World Vision projects in Umzingwane

AbstractDespite the growth of cash transfers to reduce poverty, promote child and family well-being and women's empowerment, the gender dynamics and impact of social protection remains poorly understood. We hypothesise that poor female care-givers receiving a cash transfer for their children are better able to contribute to the material and social well-being of their children than female care-givers who do not receive a cash transfer. This paper reports results of a household survey in one of the poorest wards in Johannesburg, South Africa. Structural equation modelling is used to analyse the data. We found that cash transfers increase women's individual income, which is in turn positively associated with increased financial independence, decision-making power over financial resources and decisions about children's well-being. Beneficiaries were more actively engaged in care activities with their children. There are two implications for the insertion of gender and care into social protection policies. First that it is not necessary to attach behavioural change conditions to social protection policies in order to stimulate female care-givers to be more engaged in developmental activities with their children. Second, there is no risk of promoting a maternalistic model of care or ‘maternalism’ in the South African context as the transfer contributes to both women's individual incomes and their financial decision-making power.

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Internal Environment and Organizational Performance of World Vision in Nairobi City County, Kenya

International Journal of Business Management, Entrepreneurship and Innovation ◽

10.35942/jbmed.v3i3.220 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 3 (3) ◽

pp. 123-138

Author(s):

Sally Wairimu Ndungi ◽

Joyce Gacobo

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Organizational Culture ◽

Pilot Study ◽

Organizational Structure ◽

Organizational Performance ◽

Leadership Style ◽

Sampling Method ◽

Primary Data ◽

Internal Environment ◽

World Vision

World vision in Nairobi operates in a very dynamic environment. These changes that keep happening in the environment whether anticipated or not determine the strategic objectives that World vision in Nairobi adopts in order to remain relevant in relation to its mission and vision. The general objective of this study was to investigate the influence of internal environment on organizational performance of World Vision in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The study specifically sought to examine the influence of organizational culture, employee competence, organizational structure and leadership style on the organizational performance. The study was guided by resource based view theory, Durkheim’s theory of culture, contingency theory and expectancy theory. This study used descriptive survey research design. The unit of analysis was World Vision in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The accessible population was 95 respondents comprising of 10 managers and 85 support staff. The study conducted a stratified sampling method to sample the accessible population so as to ensure that all the cases are well represented. Simple random sampling method was used to select the respondents. Primary data was collected using questionnaires. The pilot study was conducted to 10 respondents who did not participate in the actual study to assess the face and content validity of the research instruments. The pilot study will also measure the characteristic of the reliability of the research instruments over the period of the research. Content analysis technique was used to analyse information obtained from the open-ended questions and reported in narrative form. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation and presented in form of tables and figures. Inferential statistics such as correlation analysis and multiple regressions were used to determine the relationship between variables. The study found that organizational culture, employee competence, organizational structure and leadership styles had a positive and significant relationship with the organizational performance. This study concludes that a work environment that possesses organizational culture is driven by purpose and clear expectations. Competence among employees ensures that organization-funded training and professional development activities are cost-effective, goal-oriented and productive. The flow of information with an organizational structure can be used to promote faster decision-making. Leadership style develops structured and organised pathway for decision making which makes target more visible and clear. The study recommends that the organization’s leaders must communicate not only the values, but also the expected behaviors associated with each value to help the employees understand what is expected, which reduces uncertainty and ensures everyone is aligned on how things should be done at the organisation. In order to improve competencies, the organization should provide enough resources and motivate its employees. The organization should look at the current organizational structure and analyze whether its employees know their exact duties, who they supervise and whether they are being used to their maximum potential. The organizational leaders should take time throughout the day to reflect to improve leadership style and skills and the managers should improve their leadership style by setting examples.

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Confronting Complex Accountability in Conservation With Communities

Frontiers in Marine Science ◽

10.3389/fmars.2021.709423 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

Author(s):

Katherine M. Crosman ◽

Gerald G. Singh ◽

Sabine Lang

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Local Community ◽

Community Partnerships ◽

Community Level ◽

Negative Consequences ◽

Community Members ◽

Local Decision ◽

Local Involvement ◽

Local Decision Making ◽

Conservation Organizations

Increasingly, conservation organizations are conducting conservation activities with local communities. Many conservation organizations now position their work as contributing to sustainable development initiatives, and local involvement in conservation is understood to increase conservation and sustainability success. Aside from communities, however, conservation organizations are accountable to funders and partners, and values and priorities vary across actor type. Mismatched goals combine with power imbalances between conservation actors, and create decision-making conflict throughout conservation processes, from objective setting through implementation and evaluation. As a result, communities may lose local decision-making power or face new negative consequences, trust in organizational/community partnerships may be undermined, and conservation organizations’ reputations (and the reputation of the sector as whole) may suffer. In this commentary we point out processes and conditions that can lead conservation organizations to privilege accountability to funders and others over accountability to communities, thereby undermining community-level success. We follow with suggestions for how funders, conservation organizations and others may improve community engagement and community-level outcomes, and improve their reputations in general and in their work with communities, by actively leveraging accountability to the community and involving local community members in decision-making.

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Conceptualization of Empowerment and Pathways Through Which Cash Transfers Work to Empower Young Women to Reduce HIV Risk: A Qualitative Study in Tanzania

AIDS and Behavior ◽

10.1007/s10461-020-02850-0 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 24 (11) ◽

pp. 3024-3032

Author(s):

Joyce Wamoyi ◽

Peter Balvanz ◽

Kaitlyn Atkins ◽

Margaret Gichane ◽

Esther Majani ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Hiv Risk ◽

Partner Violence ◽

Cash Transfers ◽

Group Discussions ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Sexual Decision Making ◽

Access To Knowledge ◽

The Impact ◽

Depth Interviews

AbstractAlthough cash transfers (CT) are hypothesized to reduce AGYW’s HIV risk, little is known about the mechanisms through which CT empower AGYW. We explored the impact of a CT intervention on AGYW’s sexual decision-making in order to describe the pathways through which the cash may influence risk behavior. The study employed qualitative methods involving: 20 longitudinal in-depth interviews (IDIs), 40 cross-sectional IDIs, 20 narrative IDIs, and two focus group discussions with AGYW ages 15–23 participating in a CT intervention. AGYW’s conceptualized empowerment as: “independence”, “hope and aspiration”. Potential pathways through which CT empowered AGYW were: economic, hope and aspiration for a better future, and access to knowledge. As a result of this empowerment, AGYW reported reductions in transactional sex, experiences of intimate partner violence, and risky-sexual behaviour. A sense of responsibility developed through economic empowerment, enhanced participants’ self-esteem and confidence in decision-making leading to changes in AGYW’s sexual risk behaviors.

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Intimate Partner Relationships and Gender Norms in Mali: The Scope of Cash Transfers Targeted to Men to Reduce Intimate Partner Violence

Violence Against Women ◽

10.1177/1077801219897853 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 107780121989785

Author(s):

Shelley Lees ◽

Nambusi Kyegombe ◽

Ampa Diatta ◽

Amanda Zogrone ◽

Shalini Roy ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Sexual Violence ◽

Partner Violence ◽

Physical Violence ◽

Intimate Partner ◽

Cash Transfers ◽

Men And Women ◽

Intimate Partner Relationships ◽

Partner Relationships ◽

Male Authority

Mali has implemented the Filets Sociaux (Jigisémèjiri) program that aims to reduce poverty through cash transfers (CTs) to predominantly male heads of household with accompanying measures. This paper reports on a qualitative study of the effects of the program on intimate partner relationships. In-depth interviews were conducted with men and women in monogamous and polygamous households. Findings revealed that the positive aspects of intimate partner relationships were communication and shared values. However, discussions around decision-making revealed male authority with limited influence by women. Physical violence was reported to be caused by tensions and disputes. Whereas sexual violence was contested, some women described sexual force as violence but men and women asserted that compliance in sexual matters by women was expected. Men also asserted control through preventing women from working outside the home. The CTs were managed by the husband, with some involvement of wives in decision-making about the use of CTs. CTs were reported to reduce household poverty and improve wellbeing, especially for men. There were reports of the effects of the program on IPV, especially in the reduction of physical violence, its effects on sexual violence and controlling behaviour were reported to be limited. Since women are not the primary recipients of the CT, there is limited effect on women’s agency to challenge male authority and control around sexual and financial matters. CTs may be more effective if targeted to women, alongside skill and knowledge strengthening to utilize cash transfers to assert their rights to equality and prevent violence

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How cash transfers activate beneficiaries’ decision-making in livelihood activities: A case of Soweto, South Africa

Development Southern Africa ◽

10.1080/0376835x.2020.1834352 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-15

Author(s):

Chibuikem C. Nnaeme

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Decision Making ◽

Cash Transfers

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Discarding optimality: Throwing out the baby with the bathwater?

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x18001401 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 41 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Patrick Simen ◽

Fuat Balcı

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Perceptual Decision Making ◽

Reward Rate ◽

Perceptual Decision ◽

Standard Observer ◽

Rate Maximization ◽

Reward Rate Maximization ◽

Descriptive Standard ◽

Observer Model

AbstractRahnev & Denison (R&D) argue against normative theories and in favor of a more descriptive “standard observer model” of perceptual decision making. We agree with the authors in many respects, but we argue that optimality (specifically, reward-rate maximization) has proved demonstrably useful as a hypothesis, contrary to the authors’ claims.

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