Social Work in Kosovo, Development, Challenges and Achievements in Mitigating Negative Social Phenomena

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the importance and impact of Social Work in mitigating negative social phenomena in Kosovo. Kosovo is a country in transition, a country with a high level of education, low economic development, high unemployment rate, high poverty rate, political instability, where we conclude that the increase of negative social phenomena such as: violence in the family, trafficking in human beings, abused children, dysfunctional families, divorce, abuse with psychoactive substances by young people, determine the inevitable need for social work in Kosovo. The thesis of this study is: What is the impact of Social Work in Kosovo in preventing negative phenomena such as domestic violence, violence against women and children? The main focus of this study is the analysis on the necessity and need for strengthening Social Work in Kosovo, the efforts, challenges, confrontations and clashes between time periods and political changes and systems that have already led to a new understanding of Social Work in Kosovo. Within the paper, the main areas taken for study are related to the principles of social work, aspects of social work, the need for social work, professional opportunities in the field of social work and the role of the Social Worker, which are the main axis of this paper. The summary with conclusions and recommendations will be at the end of this.

Poverty Alleviation Through Potential Zakat Collection

Morocco, is one of the many countries that still suffer from inequality and a high poverty index despite the economic growth over the last few years. Indeed, This paper aims to demonstrate the effect of Zakat on poverty alleviation and redistribution of wealth by estimating potential Zakat collection in Morocco. The results of this study indicate that potential zakat collection can fill the resources shortfall for the poverty alleviation under 1.9$ and 3.2$ a day. The total of all zakat potential in Morocco are not only sufficient to provide for the shortfall and eliminate the extreme poverty but also can generate surplus.

Evolution of COVID-19 Health Disparities in Arizona

Objective: COVID-19 burdens are disproportionally high in underserved and vulnerable groups in Arizona. As the pandemic progresses, it is unclear if the disparities have evolved. In this study, we aim to elicit the dynamic landscape of COVID-19 disparities at the community level and identify newly emerged vulnerable subpopulations. Materials and Methods: We compiled biweekly COVID-19 case counts of 274 zip code tabulation areas (ZCTAs) in Arizona from October 21, 2020, to November 25, 2021, during which the COVID-19 growth rate has changed significantly. Within each growth period, we detected health disparities by testing associations between the growth rate of COVID-19 cases in a ZCTA and the population composition of race/ethnicity, income, employment, and age. We then compared the associations between periods to discover temporal patterns of health disparities. Results: High percentage of Latinx or Black residents, high poverty rate, and young median age were risk factors of high cumulative COVID-19 case counts in a ZCTA. However, the impact of these factors on the growth rate of new COVID-19 cases varied. While high percentage of Black residents and young median age remained as risk factors of fast COVID-19 growth rate, high poverty rate became a protective factor. The association between the percentage of Latinx residents and the COVID-19 growth rate converted from positive to negative during summer 2021. The unemployment rate emerged as a new risk factor of fast COVID-19 growth rate after September 2021. Based on these findings, we identified 37 ZCTAs that are highly vulnerable to fast escalation of COVID-19 cases. Discussion and Conclusion: As the pandemic progresses, disadvantaged communities continue suffering from escalated risk of COVID-19 infection. But the vulnerabilities have evolved. While the disparities related to Latinx ethnicity improved gradually, those related to Black ethnicity and young communities aggravated. The struggle of financially disadvantaged communities continued, although the burden had shifted from those living under the poverty line to those with a high unemployment rate. It is necessary to adjust current resource allocations and design and deploy new interventions to address emerging needs.

Виклики та можливості розвитку прав людини і бізнес-сфери в Бразилії та Латинській Америці: теорія спільного конституційного проєкту для Латинської Америки (А Ius Constitutionale Commune)

In her article, Brazilian professor Daniela Ann Pamplona describes the role of the JointConstitutional Project for Latin America (ICCAL) in strengthening the investment potential of LatinAmerican countries, strengthening the capacity of Latin American countries and businesses to respectand protect human rights. ICCAL is the latest theory developed by Armin von Bogdandi, MarielaMorales Antoniazzi and Flavia Piovesan at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law andInternational Law, which seeks to promote the transformation of social and political realities in LatinAmerica to create the necessary democratic conditions. and human rights. The current situation in theregion is characterized by a number of multifaceted challenges: high poverty rates, deep social gapsthat limit access to opportunities, especially for the most vulnerable; Ethnic groups and indigenouspeoples are not protected and respected in the implementation of macro-projects, such as mining,the lack of norms and practices on the obligation of companies to consult widely with indigenous andtribal peoples and to ensure their participation in any decision to intervene affects their territories.ICCAL’s approach to business and human rights is based on various Inter-American Court rulingsthat recognize the role of companies in adversely affecting human rights, but at the same time clearlyarticulate the human rights obligations of governments and businesses in terms of the HumanRights Guidelines. As the author explains, the potential role of ICCAL is that it can be a practicalguide for interpreting different national norms and helping to strengthen weaker states. It can alsostrengthen dialogue between countries in the region and with the Inter-American Human RightsSystem. Cohesion around the meaning and content of human rights will allow states and companiesto more effectively coordinate and coordinate actions to promote human rights.

The PrEP Up Pharmacies Study: Protocol for integrating and disseminating pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) screening and dispensing in community pharmacies for Black men who have sex with men in Atlanta, Georgia (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Black men who have sex with men (BMSM) suffer from alarmingly high rates of HIV in the United States. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) can reduce risk of HIV infection by 99% among MSM, yet profound racial disparities in the uptake of PrEP persist. Low PrEP uptake in BMSM is driven by poor access to PrEP including inconvenient locations of PrEP-prescribing physicians and distrust of physicians and stigma, which limit communication about PrEP and its side effects. Previous work indicates that offering HIV prevention services in pharmacies located in high poverty, racial minority neighborhoods is feasible and can reduce stigma because pharmacies offer a host of less stigmatized health services (e.g. vaccinations). We present a protocol for a pharmacy PrEP model that seeks to address challenges and barriers to pharmacy-based PrEP specifically for BMSM. OBJECTIVE To develop a sustainable pharmacy PrEP delivery model that can be implemented to increase PrEP access in high poverty, racial minority neighborhoods for BMSM. METHODS This study design is a pilot intervention to test a pharmacy PrEP delivery model among pharmacy staff and BMSM. We will examine the PrEP delivery model’s feasibility, acceptability and safety, and gather early evidence of its impact and cost with respect to PrEP uptake. A mixed methods approach will be performed including three study phases: 1) a completed formative phase with qualitative interviews from key stakeholders; 2) a completed transitional pilot phase to assess customer eligibility and willingness to receive PrEP in pharmacies during COVID-19; and 3) a planned pilot intervention phase which will test the delivery model in two Atlanta pharmacies in high poverty, racial minority neighborhoods. RESULTS Data from the formative phase showed strong support of pharmacy-based PrEP delivery among BMSM, pharmacists and pharmacy staff. Important factors were identified to facilitate implementation of PrEP screening and dissemination in pharmacies. During the transitional pilot phase, we identified 81 individuals who would have been eligible for the pilot phase. CONCLUSIONS Pharmacies have proven to be a feasible source for offering PrEP for White MSM, but have failed to reach the most at-risk, vulnerable population – BMSM. Increasing PrEP access and uptake will reduce HIV incidence and racial inequities in HIV. Translational studies are required to build further evidence and scale pharmacy-based PrEP services specifically for populations that are disconnected from HIV prevention resources.

When Spatial Dimension Matters: Comparing Personal Network Characteristics in Different Segregated Areas

Living in segregated areas with concentrated neighbourhood poverty negatively affects the quality of life, including the availability of local jobs, access to services, and supportive social relationships. However, even with similar neighbourhood poverty levels, the degree and structure of spatial separation vary markedly between such areas. We expected that the level of spatial segregation aggravates the social exclusion of its inhabitants by negatively affecting their social capital. To test this hypothesis, we identified three low‐income neighbourhoods with high poverty rates (78%) in a medium‐sized town in Hungary, with different levels of integration in the city (based on characteristics such as the degree of spatial separation, infrastructure, and availability of services). The three neighbourhoods were located in two areas of differing degrees of integration in the fabric of the city: fully integrated, semi‐integrated (integrated into the surrounding residential area but isolated from the city), and non‐integrated. 69% of the 394 households in these areas were represented in our sample (one respondent per household). We interviewed respondents regarding the size and composition of their personal networks. Our results, which also distinguished between Roma and non‐Roma inhabitants, showed that those living in the spatially more integrated area not only have the largest and most diverse networks but seem to have a strong, “bonding‐based” cohesive community network as well. Even the non‐Roma who live there have ethnically heterogeneous—in other words—Roma network members. The disintegrated area, on the other hand, is characterised by both spatial and social isolation.

Poverty Attributions and Emotions Associated With Willingness to Help and Government Aid

This study aims to understand how willingness to help people in poverty and the agreement with providing government aid are connected to emotions and attributional processes, in a country with a high poverty rate such as Argentina. Differences in poverty attributions and emotions among self-reported social class are also analysed. A total sample of 331 secondary-school students completed self-administered questionnaires. Correlations and regression analyses showed that, whereas emotions such as compassion, empathy and pity seem to motivate helping behaviours, explanations as to the cause of poverty, rather than emotions, are closely associated with an agreement to providing government aid. However, low levels of anger seem to be required to endorse both helping behaviours and agreement to providing government aid. On the other hand, respondents who self-identify as belonging to upper classes report more anger and use fewer structural explanations to understand poverty than lower-classes respondents. We propose that future research analyse a greater variety of helping behaviours towards people in poverty and types of government intervention in the global south.