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2019-02-06
Carsey School of Public Policy at The University of New Hampshire;
This brief examines demographic trends in rural America, a region often overlooked in a nation dominated by urban interests. Yet, 46 million people live in rural areas that encompass 72 percent of the land area of the United States. "Rural America" is a simple term that describes a remarkably diverse collection of people and places. It encompasses vast agricultural regions that are among the most productive in the world; sprawling exurban areas just beyond the urban fringe; successful ultra-modern industrial, energy, and warehousing complexes strung along rural interstates; regions where coal, ore, oil, gas, and timber are extracted, processed, and shipped; struggling factory towns facing intense global competition; and fast-growing recreational areas situated near scenic mountains and lakes.
2019-04-01
Center for Economic and Policy Research;
This paper looks at some of the most important impacts of the economic sanctions imposed on Venezuela by the US government since August of 2017. It finds that most of the impact of these sanctions has not been on the government but on the civilian population.The sanctions reduced the public's caloric intake, increased disease and mortality (for both adults and infants), and displaced millions of Venezuelans who fled the country as a result of the worsening economic depression and hyperinflation. They exacerbated Venezuela's economic crisis and made it nearly impossible to stabilize the economy, contributing further to excess deaths. All of these impacts disproportionately harmed the poorest and most vulnerable Venezuelans.Even more severe and destructive than the broad economic sanctions of August 2017 were the sanctions imposed by executive order on January 28, 2019 and subsequent executive orders this year; and the recognition of a parallel government, which as shown below, created a whole new set of financial and trade sanctions that are even more constricting than the executive orders themselves.We find that the sanctions have inflicted, and increasingly inflict, very serious harm to human life and health, including an estimated more than 40,000 deaths from 2017–2018; and that these sanctions would fit the definition of collective punishment of the civilian population as described in both the Geneva and Hague international conventions, to which the US is a signatory. They are also illegal under international law and treaties which the US has signed, and would appear to violate US law as well.
2019-04-29
Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning;
The current study explores the relationship between participation in college service-learning (SL) experiences, in both academic courses and co-curricular programs, and post-college civic engagement. Using data from a purposeful sample of 1,066 alumni from 30 campuses who participated in the 20th Anniversary Bonner Scholars Study, we explored the extent to which SL experiences during the college years were related to civic outcomes post-graduation, particularly in terms of civic-minded orientations, volunteering, and civic action. When evaluating various attributes of SL programs (e.g., curricular, co-curricular programming, types of reflection, dialogue across difference, interactions with others), two components were particularly salient. Dialogue with others across difference was the strongest predictor of cultivating civic outcomes after college. In addition, both structured and informal reflection independently contributed to civic outcomes (i.e., civic-mindedness, voluntary action, civic action). The results suggested the Pathways to Adult Civic Engagement (PACE) model, which can be used to examine SL programming in higher education and to guide future research to understand how variations in SL program attributes influence civic outcomes years after graduation.
2020-07-09
Bipartisan Policy Center;
This report documents the results of a nationwide study that the Bipartisan Policy Center and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology conducted in 3,119 individual polling places across the country to measure wait times at the polls during the 2018 midterms. It provides the type of fine-grained analysis of voters' reality as they waited to cast ballots that survey data cannot replicate.
2019-09-01
Fund for Global Human Rights;
The West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI) and the Fund for Global Human Rights (FGHR) recognised that it is imperative for networks of influence within civil society (organised and organic) to be harnessed and supported to respond effectively to growing threats to civic freedoms.Observably, despite the growing numbers and influence of activists and social movements in West Africa on the one hand, coupled with a high number of existing social justice organisations on the other hand, the collaboration between these two groups is weak. This results to a significantly low level of pressure on the perpetrators of injustice (most often the government), and this often weakens the possibility of realising successful social justice campaigns. It is within this context that WACSI and the Fund for Global Human Rights (FGHR) have conceptualised an initiative to explore whether the existing types of promoters of social justice see the need to join forces in their efforts to push for social justice in West Africa. They seek to promote a shared learning space for activists' social movements and social justice organisations to explore ways of effectively responding to the crackdown on civic freedoms and restrictions to civic engagements in West Africa.
2020-05-01
West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI);
Nigeria on 27 February 2020 became the first Sub-Saharan African country to record the coronavirus. Today, all the 15 ECOWAS Member States have now recorded over 30,000 cumulative cases of COVID-19, several deaths, and an encouraging number of recoveries. Nonetheless, the confirmed cases continue to rise rapidly across the region with potentially devasting public health challenges, underscoring earlier observation by ECOWAS that the region is a high-risk for COVID-19.
2019-03-22
Hidden Tribes;
This report lays out the findings of a large-scale national survey of Americans about the current state of civic life in the United States. It provides substantial evidence of deep polarization and growing tribalism. It shows that this polarization is rooted in something deeper than political opinions and disagreements over policy. But it also provides some evidence for optimism, showing that 77 percent of Americans believe our differences are not so great that we cannot come together.
2020-01-01
Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA);
The second edition of Social Accountability Guidebook for CSOs is a learning resource that is intended to support the building of a community of practice of social accountability practitioners, advocates, and champions in West Africa. This guidebook is an updated version of the first edition which was published in 2018. The Guidebook presents case studies of social accountability initiatives from the West African region, interspersed with definitions of terminologies related to the concept. It is intended to deepen understanding and foster appreciation of the concept of social accountability, its potential for strengthening accountability in the region, and the challenges that may be encountered in implementing social accountability initiatives in the West African Context. It is hoped that the Guidebook will serve as a catalyst for further development and tailoring of the concept of social accountability in West Africa, by CSOs, development practitioners, local and central government agencies, the donor community, and all others who are interested in advancing accountability in West Africa.
2020-04-14
West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI);
The phrase 'back to the basics' is a stark reminder of the importance of enhancing capacity. Capacity strengthening is the basic foundational pillar that ensures the viability of an organisation. Interestingly, we often must be reminded of the importance of building our organisation's capacity.Just like in the business sphere, CSOs are formed with the intention of operating successfully and sustainably. The only difference is that the formation of CSOs is often driven by a social need or a community problem instead of a profit motive. Therefore, capacity development is essential to ensure that CSOs do not only survive but also thrive.
2019-03-25
West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI);
Citizen's voices are increasingly being shut down. Their rights are equally being violated and worst so, by representatives of institutions created by the state to protect the rights of citizens. However, the presence of social media and its increased use by citizens as a tool to demand social justice is helping citizens gain grounds in making their voices heard and demand accountability.
2019-05-31
West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI);
In the last two decades, civil society has made significant strides in giving communities a voice to challenge governments and be involved in governance processes. The 2011 Arab-Spring, a by-product of such process proved effective and sustainable in toppling tyranny in North Africa. The observable trend has been that the contribution and participation of civil society both in the implementation of their mandate and in the digital space is heavily restricted as a result of government interference, persecution and retaliation. This has resulted in the forced suspension of civil society organisations, unwarranted raids, shut down and the arrest of human rights activists such as Bobi Wine of Uganda and members of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions of Zimbabwe.
2019-05-30
West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI);
Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) are two separate but complementary functions, that together form part of an emerging development practice within the civil society sector. M&E is defined as "a process that helps improve performance and achieve results. It is mainly used to assess the performance of projects, institutions and programmes set up by governments, international organisations and NGOs. It establishes links between the past, present and future actions." In other words, it is a process or approach that is meant to help an organisation grow and achieve greater results. It must therefore mobilise more attention and dedication for its adoption and implementation in every organisation.
