Political rationale, aims, and outcomes of health-related high-level meetings and special sessions at the UN General Assembly: A policy research observational study

Background Recognising the substantial political weight of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), a UN General Assembly special session (UNGASS) and high-level meetings (HLMs) have been pursued and held for 5 health-related topics thus far. They have focused on human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS, 2001), non-communicable diseases (NCDs, 2011), antimicrobial resistance (AMR, 2016), tuberculosis (TB, 2018), and universal health coverage (UHC, 2019). This observational study presents a comprehensive analysis of the political and policy background that prompted the events, as well as an assessment of aims, approaches, and ultimate outcomes. Methods and findings We investigated relevant agencies’ official documents, performed a literature search, and accessed international institutions’ websites for the period 1990–2020. Knowledgeable diplomatic staff and experts provided additional information. Outcomes were evaluated from a United Nations perspective based on national and international commitments, and funding trends. Eliciting an effective governmental response through UNGASSs/HLMs is a challenge. However, increased international commitment was evident after the HIV/AIDS (2001), NCDs (2011), and AMR (2016) meetings. The more recent TB (2018) and UHC (2019) HLMs have received general endorsements internationally, although concrete commitments are not yet documented. Although attribution can only be hypothesized, financial investments for HIV/AIDS following the UNGASS were remarkable, whereas following HLMs for NCDs, AMR, and TB, the financial investments remained insufficient to face the burden of these threats. Thus far, the HIV/AIDS UNGASS was the only one followed by a level of commitment that has likely contributed to the reversal of the previous burden trend. Limitations of this study include its global perspective and aerial view that cannot discern the effects at the country level. Additionally, possible peculiarities that modified the response to the meetings were not looked at in detail. Finally, we assessed a small sample of events; thus, the list of strategic characteristics for success is not exhaustive. Conclusions Overall, UNGASSs and HLMs have the potential to lay better foundations and boldly address key health challenges. However, to succeed, they need to (i) be backed by large consensus; (ii) engage UN authorities and high-level bodies; (iii) emphasise implications for international security and the world economy; (iv) be supported by the civil society, activists, and champions; and (v) produce a political declaration containing specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) targets. Therefore, to ensure impact on health challenges, in addition to working with the World Health Assembly and health ministries, engaging the higher political level represented by the UNGA and heads of state and government is critical.

Volatility Modeling and Dependence Structure of ESG and Conventional Investments

The question of whether environmental, social, and governance investments outperform or underperform other conventional financial investments has been debated in the literature. In this study, we compare the volatility of rates of return of selected ESG indices and conventional ones and investigate dependence between them. Analysis of tail dependence is important to evaluate the diversification benefits between conventional investments and ESG investments, which is necessary in constructing optimal portfolios. It allows investors to diversify the risk of the portfolio and positively impact the environment by investing in environmentally friendly companies. Examples of institutions that are paying attention to ESG issues are banks, which are increasingly including products that support sustainability goals in their offers. This analysis could be also important for policymakers. The European Banking Authority (EBA) has admitted that ESG factors can contribute to risk. Therefore, it is important to model and quantify it. The conditional volatility models from the GARCH family and tail-dependence coefficients from the copula-based approach are applied. The analysis period covered 2007 until 2019. The period of the COVID-19 pandemic has not been analyzed due to the relatively short time series regarding data requirements from models’ perspective. Results of the research confirm the higher dependence of extreme values in the crisis period (e.g., tail-dependence values in 2009–2014 range from 0.4820/0.4933 to 0.7039/0.6083, and from 0.5002/0.5369 to 0.7296/0.6623), and low dependence of extreme values in stabilization periods (e.g., tail-dependence values in 2017–2019 range from 0.1650 until 0.6283/0.4832, and from 0.1357 until 0.6586/0.5002). Diversification benefits vary in time, and there is a need to separately analyze crisis and stabilization periods.

Nuclear Newcomer Countries—The Path of the United Arab Emirates

Embarking on nuclear power requires high-level political decisions and commitments, considerable planning efforts, financial investments and commercial considerations, long-term sustainability for safety; as well as international and legal framework for a nuclear power programme. There are numerous challenges surrounding government decisions to introduce nuclear power into the energy mix of a country. This chapter highlights the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) experience and accomplishments in the development and regulation of its nuclear power programme. In particular, it focuses on the milestones of the UAE path, which might be of interest to nuclear newcomer countries and to a broader international community. This chapter outlines the development of the UAE comprehensive national nuclear law and regulatory framework, which started with the so-called “nuclear policy”. It also includes an overview of a strategy that was developed and set the early path for the UAE peaceful nuclear programme, including timelines for specific targets. The international conventions and UAE’s nuclear cooperation agreements, as well as the cooperation with the IAEA are also mentioned. Particular attention has been paid to the role of the UAE nuclear regulator and its mandate and the development of the UAE regulations and regulatory guides. The licensing of the nuclear power programme, as well as the licensing of other activities and practices involving radiation sources have been also described in the publication. In conclusion, the publication shares some lessons the UAE learnt and on which it will base its efforts towards the continuous enhancement of its legal framework.

The Impact of Investment on Sustainable Competitiveness Aspects

The European Union (EU) consists of 27 economies characterized by different economic structures, living standards, demographic dynamics, technology development, and other factors shaping their sustainable development patterns. This chapter aims to examine the impact of total investments and R&D investments on the sustainable development of EU economies and determine how these financial investments impact sustainable competitiveness in the global market. The assessment of the sustainable development performances was performed for the period from 2008 to 2019 using the linear regression model. The key findings pointed out that total investments and R&D investments had different impacts on sustainable competitiveness aspects in old member states (OMS) and new member states (NMS). The results could help policymakers understand, adjust, and optimize sustainable competitiveness to secure economic growth in all regions and reduce the differences between OMS and NMS.

ОЦІНЮВАННЯ ДОЦІЛЬНОСТІ ІМПОРТНОГО ЗАБЕЗПЕЧЕННЯ НАСІННЯМИ ТОВАРОВИРОБНИКІВ ОВОЧНОЇ ПРОДУКЦІЇ В БІЛОРУСІЇ

The high level of import of vegetable seeds negatively affects the indicators of resource self-sufficiency of agricultural sectors. At the same time, the development of the vegetable seeds market requires significant financial investments in this segment and analysis of their further payback based on scientific approaches. The purpose of the article. To develop methodological approaches to assessing the effectiveness of import flows in relation to vegetable seeds. The object of research is vegetable seeds, the value chain in vegetable growing. Methods used in research. The theoretical and methodological basis for the study was the works of domestic and foreign scientists on import and import-substituting production. The following methods were used in the research process: monographic, abstract-logical, normative, synthesis and system analysis, etc. The hypothesis of the study. Import flows of vegetable seeds take place in the Republic of Belarus in the presence of a certain list of conditions, which requires justification of their expediency. Presentation of the main material. The article presents the author's position regarding the development of scientific and methodological approaches to assessing the feasibility of implementing import flows of vegetable seeds. Originality and practical value. The scientific novelty of the study consists in the development of a comprehensive assessment of the feasibility of zoning a certain variety of vegetables of Belarusian selection for individual management entities or its import on the basis of a number of factors and criteria. Conclusions. The development of the Belarusian market of vegetable seeds involves a comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of seed zoning, which includes the costs of conducting scientific research and ending with the effectiveness of vegetable cultivation and their subsequent processing.

The System of Indicators of Budgetary and Commercial Efficiency in Evaluating Projects for the Creation of Innovative Scientific and Technological Centers in Russia

Innovative scientific and technological centers make it possible to achieve accelerated rates of development of the country’s economy, provide preconditions for accelerating growth of the country’s GDP, retain highly qualified personnel in the country and ensure the introduction of new technologies created on the territory of the ISTC. The article uses a generalization of a significant number of normative, empirical and theoretical sources. The closest in terms of the form of organization of technological and innovative infrastructure abroad are territorial clusters («Silicon Valley»), science cities («Tsukuba») and technology parks («Biopolis»). Analyzing the innovative territorial clusters and science cities, the authors identified their main structural components also used when creating an ISTC in Russia. Regulatory documents for the creation of the ISTC in Russia are at the stage of the preparation since 2017, the process of establishing ISTC in Russia began in 2019. As for 2021 – three ISTC are being created in Russia and eleven are at the stage of creation. Achieving budgetary and commercial efficiency is an urgent task when creating an ISTC in Russia. The purpose of the article is to determine the indicators of budgetary and commercial efficiency when creating an ISTC in Russia. The authors proposed the composition and qualitative characteristics of indicators of the commercial and budgetary efficiency of projects for the creation of the ISTC, the sequence of the accounting and analytical process and the range values. The composition of indicators of the commercial and budgetary efficiency of ISTC projects is reduced to the characteristics of economic turnover, expenditure obligations, absolute and relative economic benefits of financial investments. Among the main indicators of the efficiency of investments in the ISTC are highlighted: revenue, profit, cash flow and payback period of investments, net present value and internal rate of return. The measurement of budgetary efficiency is proposed as a result of comparing budgetary funds for the creation of the ISTC and tax funds received by the state excluding the amount of shortfalls of the Russian Federation.

An empirical analysis of the influence of financialization on investment in Russia

This paper tries to estimate the impact of financialization on fixed investment in Russia. The work is carried out by using panel data based on reports of non-financial publicly listed companies for 1999–2019. The study finds that financial expenses aimed at paying interest on external financing and paying dividends — that is, focusing on shareholder value, and hence decreasing the internal funds of companies, reduce real investments. Financial incomes have shown the crowding-out effect for large companies. Financial incomes as additional “free” funds in large companies are not perceived as an opportunity to accumulate fixed assets. Managers prefer to increase ­financial investments instead of real ones. In small and medium-sized companies, financial incomes, however, drive the growth of physical investment. This is because small firms, at a particular stage in their lives, find it more profitable to invest in their own growth. The results from the general sample, without dividing by size, indicate that financialization in Russia clearly reduces real investment.

Moving the Needle on Outcome Measurement: A Longitudinal Analysis of Frailty Among Home-Delivered Meal Recipients

Frailty is a complex condition highly associated with malnutrition and can lead to the devastating loss of independence among older adults. Home-delivered meals (HDMs) aim to combat frailty and malnutrition and provide nutritional support to nearly 10 million older adults each year. Though self-reported metrics indicate that HDMs help older adults maintain their independence, few studies have systematically collected longitudinal data that objectively represent the health benefits of HDMs. The present study implemented two evidence-based instruments designed to measure frailty levels of HDM recipients (age 60 to 99 years) at two time points. HDM staff at one organization underwent multifaceted training to implement The Home Care Frailty Scale and the Clinical Frailty Scale with HDM recipients at the start of HDM enrollment and at three-month follow-up. Activity of daily living impairments (B = .46, p < .001) and instrumental activity of daily living impairments (B = .28, p < .001) were significant predictors of higher frailty levels at baseline (N = 245). Sixty-two recipients were analyzed at 3-month follow-up. Clinical Frailty Scale scores indicated stable frailty levels from baseline to follow-up (4.08 vs. 4.08). Home Care Frailty Scale scores indicated a slight increase in frailty levels (7.4 vs 7.63) though not statistically significant, t(61) = -.34, p = .74. These stable frailty metrics suggest that HDMs contribute to older adults’ ability to remain living in their own homes and communities and can support the importance of increased financial investments in HDM programs at the state and national levels.

Affective life of financial loss: Detaching from lost investments in the wake of the gig economy

How people detach from financial relations is a critical but overlooked dimension of economic life. This paper offers a response by exploring how financial loss is reckoned with in the wake of disruptive digital technological change. It examines the experiences of people who have lost significant financial investments owing to the rise of gig economy rideshare platforms to evaluate how a loss of investment is reckoned with as both a financial and existential challenge. Through fieldwork with owners of taxi licences in Melbourne, Australia, the paper contributes to debates on affective investments within geography and beyond to argue that financial and affective investments are inextricably linked. For these investors, their financial loss precipitates the loss of affective investments expressed in terms of a loss of faith in institutions; a loss of face in terms of public respect; and a loss of conviction in terms of an inability to move forward with their lives. The paper argues that reckoning with these losses involves working on one's active and passive affections—capacities to act and sense. The paper concludes that this work of divestment is difficult and acceptance is not guaranteed.

Evaluation of the Apple iPhone 12 Pro LiDAR for an Application in Geosciences

Traditionally, topographic surveying in earth sciences requires high financial investments, elaborate logistics, complicated training of staff and extensive data processing. Recently, off-the-shelf drones with optical sensors already reduced the costs for obtaining a high-resolution dataset of an Earth surface considerably. Nevertheless, costs and complexity associated with topographic surveying are still high. In 2020, Apple Inc. released the iPad Pro 2020 and the iPhone 12 Pro with novel build-in LiDAR sensors. Here we investigate the basic technical capabilities of the LiDAR sensors and we test the application at a coastal cliff in Denmark. The results are compared to state-of-the-art Structure from Motion Multi-View Stereo (SfM MVS) point clouds. The LiDAR sensors create accurate high-resolution models of small objects with a side length > 10 cm with an absolute accuracy of ± 1 cm. 3D models with the dimensions of up to 130 × 15 × 10 m of a coastal cliff with an absolute accuracy of ± 10 cm are compiled. Overall, the versatility in handling outweighs the range limitations, making the Apple LiDAR devices cost-effective alternatives to established techniques in remote sensing with possible fields of application for a wide range of geo-scientific areas and teaching.