Corporate governance: A review of the fundamental practices worldwide

This paper focused on the concept of corporate governance based on shareholders’ and stakeholders’ perspectives and the development of corporate governance around the world, including the UK, the US, and Australia. The OECD Principles of Corporate Governance were presented, including shareholders’ rights, the equitable treatment of shareholders, disclosure and stakeholders’ rights and transparency practices, and the responsibilities of board of directors. Numerous corporate collapses have highlighted the call for the management and directors of companies to be more accountable, and they have led governments and international organisations such as the OECD to be more active in establishing principles of corporate governance. It was concluded that the system of corporate governance has increased in different countries in relation to the nature of the economy, legal systems, and cultural norms

Sex Education: Need of the Hour

Sex education, despite the everlasting force of modernisation in other regards, has remained a contentious issue, especially in India. This short note attempts to briefly explore the history of sexuality and how societal perspectives and expectations have evolved with time. The importance of sex education and sensitisation cannot go ignored for much longer. This paper makes reference to the recommendations of prominent international organisations and makes recommendations of its own, all with the objective of limiting stigma and precipitating sexual/reproductive welfare.

Network analysis regarding international organisations and donors of humanitarian aid

This study aims to evaluate the status of the partnerships with important international organisations that Korea employs in operating its foreign aid projects from a humanitarian point of view. On the basis of this information, Korea intends to seek ways of effectively supporting underdeveloped countries through future co-operation with these organisations. The main international organisations analysed are the World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the (United Nations) Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). These international organisations support underdeveloped countries through co-operative relationships not only with Korea but also with important donor countries of the OECD. This study focuses on establishing the factors that Korea needs to consider when providing humanitarian aid in the future to underdeveloped countries via such international organisations.

Norm Entrepreneurship at the UN - Dalits and Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent

Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings. However, caste-based discrimination is one of the areas that most human rights mechanisms overlook. As a result of several interventions by Dalit and human rights organisations, the erstwhile United Nations body, in 2000, has termed it ‘discrimination based on work and descent’. The above Dalit and other International organisations have also brought evidence before the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination which has endorsed caste-based discrimination as part of the discrimination based on descent, in Article 1 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD). Further, it was also brought to the notice of various Special Rapporteurs and UN Committees that communities discriminated on work and descent (CDWD) face severe human rights violations and abuses that continue to restrain the socio-economic development of these specific groups of people in several countries globally. Dalit organizations and their solidarity bodies have gone ahead through a process of ‘norm entrepreneurship’ at the UN levels. This article narrates and analyses the challenges and human rights consequences of caste and discrimination based on work and discusses the norm entrepreneurship journey of Dalits and CDWD at the UN level.

An Overview of the State of Electoral Democracy in Africa

Most recent accounts paint a bleak and gloomy picture of the state of global democracy. This is particularly so in Africa where the optimism of a democratic revival in the 1990s is rapidly giving way to narratives of doom and gloom. Using survey data compiled by well-established regional and global international organisations, this paper assesses the state of electoral democracy in Africa, reviews the challenges that have been encountered, and considers the prospects for the future. The trend in the evolution of electoral democracy on the continent in the last three decades points to an authoritarian mobilisation and resurgence. Although elections have become the norm, these elections are increasingly being used to disguise all forms of undemocratic governance. The major lesson to be drawn from the study is that there is no African country where democracy and constitutionalism can be thought of as firmly consolidated and secure. The number of countries which are declining due to failed or flawed electoral processes, or which show signs of stagnation, far exceed those that have improved to one degree or another. Current developments are not random ad hoc efforts to undermine the credibility of elections and democracy but rather, rational and well-calculated responses by ruling African elites who seek to perpetuate their rule. What this points to is the need to rethink strategies for promoting genuinely competitive elections, democracy, and constitutionalism.

The Environmental Implications of the Rohingya Refugee Crisis in Bangladesh

Purpose: The main focus is to find out the environmental challenges that Bangladesh is dealing for the huge influx of Rohingya refugee people to Bangladesh. The research also aims to assess the dynamic situation of the crisis, identify the roles of Bangladesh government, NGOs as well as the International Organisations’ for Rohingya refugee crisis. Methodology: This study is context-dependent on information and an inductive data analysis. The paper uses a descriptive qualitative approach case study design that focuses on primary and secondary data showing the real ground of crisis. Data has been collected from the interviewees and experts. This research sets multiple methods of data collection including documents, policy, and historical analysis. Findings: Environmental imbalance occurred due to allocating 1,000 acres forest land for providing shelters to the refugees. Reserve forest has been destroyed endangering wild elephants. And it is causing landslides in the area, soil erosion, water scarcity, extreme heat wave, extreme rainfall, drought, deforestation, air pollution, and so on. Conclusion: This research leads to identifying the areas which have already been affected. The plans that need to work on to overcome the problems and that could provide necessary and sustainable solutions for Rohingya refugee. This study also could let people know the catastrophe Bangladesh is dealing and the impacts which can cause the ecological imbalance and failure the biodiversity of the areas in a greater way. This paper could bring benefit to society and make people conscious about the environment and also make them raise voices for the conservation of environment.

Contesting Sustainability of Mega-Events in Chinese Metropolises: A Narrative and Practise Review

Since the Rio Summit, sustainability has been enshrined in the official claims of mega-events, and scholars' sustainability concerns over mega-events persist. This research is one of the few contextualising the debates in China where mega-events have become prevalent and contributed to metropolitan boosterism since the 1990s. It argues that the ill-defined, ambiguous meaning of sustainability leaves room for host cities to discursively strike a balance between environment protection, social equity and economic growth, but unavoidably leads to paradoxes of sustainability in actual practises. The argument is supported by a longitudinal study on 12 major mega-events held or to be held in Chinese metropolises. Narratively, Chinese government's articulation of sustainability declared by international organisations of top mega-events has evolved technocratic and inclusive. Practically, amongst the three variants of sustainability, economic sustainability, and environmental sustainability appear to work better than social sustainability. Findings of this research call for clarified narratives and concrete measures to guide mega-event practises.

Visualising policy responses during health emergencies. Learning from the COVID-19 policy trackers

Data visualisations are intimately connected to the emergence of public health as a discipline and policy area. Besides the mapping of cases and deaths, the COVID-19 pandemic has seen an explosion of attempts to track policy responses. They have come from actors sometimes initially unfamiliar with public and global health. In this paper, we analyse seven of the most successful tracker initiatives that have sought to map governments’ reactions to COVID-19 and reflect on our own. When not led by international organisations, the trackers primarily rely on networks of volunteer country expert contributors (who need to be incentivised in the medium term). The vertical crowdsourcing approach means that, despite good intentions, contributors have a relatively limited agency in shaping the trackers. Maps and timelines comparing countries are the most popular visualisations; they suggest that (some) policy solutions can be found abroad and rely on policy taxonomies established by the trackers’ core teams. We contend that such taxonomies, which compete with each other, constitute attempts to frame the complex issue of which policies matter in responding to COVID-19. All the projects are large and complex and often without a well-defined intended audience. We hypothesise that the popularity (in terms of backlinks) of the most successful tracker arises from the fact that it sums up COVID-19 policies in one easily visualisable indicator. We suggest that the trackers are a more helpful emergency policy tool when they provide contextual information, keep policy details or refer to them (rather than only reduce them to categories), and suggest ways to link different elements—including the relationship between health or societal outcomes and policies.