In 2000, the United Nations presented the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to the worlds leaders in a collective effort to promote poverty reducing initiatives including universal education. The goal of providing basic social programs such as education has been stressed in human rights initiatives and global development projects since 1948 and has been the focus Kenyas national development programs since its independence. During the Kenyatta and Moi regimes, collective harambee efforts between the local communities, the Kenyan government and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) were established to provide physical infrastructure and feeding programs in the public school sector. The Kenyan government was unable to instate a sufficient free primary education system until recently. In 2003, President Mwai Kibaki issued the Free Primary Education Act, abolishing all primary school fees for public schools in Kenya. Vision 2030 outlines the implementation and enhancement efforts proposed by the Kenya interim government in 2008 to secure the future success of the Free Primary Education (FPE) Act of 2003. The reality of this vision requires the involvement and guidance of supportive Non-Governmental Organizations in the area, especially in the aftermath of the 2008 post-election violence. This study was conducted in an effort to increase the data available on the relationships between the Ministry of Education, primary school educators, the community and NGOS in Kenyas education sector. Through interviews and focus groups with the Ministry of Education, teachers in private and public primary school systems and directors at SNV Netherlands, a Dutch NGO operating in Kenya, it is concluded that the involvement of NGOs in Kenyas education sector is inevitable if the government is to succeed in its promises of providing Universal free primary education.

This study examines the viability of two theories - constructivist theory (where norms interact with preferences to shape policy outcomes) and rational choice theory (where actors make decisions to further their self-interest) as a means to explain the European Unions (EU) implementation of international diamond regulation. The regulation in place, the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), is a multilevel governance initiative designed to stem the flow of conflict diamonds. For decades, the illicit diamond trade has spawned human rights atrocities in countries where diamonds are procured, impacting the development of several diamond-producing nations. Seeing as over 80 percent of international diamond transactions occur within the EUs borders, this governing authority has a large stake in international diamond industry regulation. In recent years, EU scholars have explored the fruitfulness of constructivism in explaining EU policy implementation, in part because it accounts for the way in which the EU exerts its authority in our globalized world. That is, scholars have analyzed how the EU exerts its authority through values, norms and principles (i.e. upholding human rights abroad), as opposed to more traditional forms of power such as military force. My hypothesis states that diamond regulation implementation is a case for constructivist theory, as it best accounts for the underlying forces behind this highly complex and global supply chain. However, the findings in this study indicate that the theoretical explanations behind the EUs KPCS implementation are just as multifaceted as the diamond industry itself.

Using some scientific methods to analyse the development of Kaoshiung area and then plan the future of the Kaoshiung area.

This thesis will investigate the impact of the use of the Phasor Measurement Units (PMU) on the state estimation problem. First, incorporation of the PMU measurements in a conventional state estimation program will be discussed. Then, the effect of adding PMU measurements on the state estimation solution accuracy will be studied. Bad data processing in the presence of PMU measurements will also be presented. Finally, a multiarea state estimation method will be developed. This method involves a two level estimation scheme, where the first level estimation is carried out by each area independently. The second level estimation is required in order to coordinate the solutions obtained by each area and also to detect and identify errors in the boundary measurements. The first objective of this thesis is to formulate the full weighted least square state estimation method using PMUs. The second objective is to derive the linear formulation of the state estimation problem when using only PMUs. The final objective is to formulate a two level multi-area state estimation scheme and illlustrate its performance via simulation examples.

Thesis (B.A.)--Bryn Mawr College, Growth and Structure of Cities Program, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references.

management as a route for solving conflicts. It argues that present approaches used to solve conflicts in protected areas have been ineffective in their aim because they fail to address the very root causes of conflicts as well as to understand their complex, diverse and dynamic nature. The thesis thus calls for a shift away from instrumental forms of participation, that put the control over the participatory process on conservationist and protected area managers, towards collaborative processes that would help to address the underlying issues in dispute. Although seldom acknowledged, conflicts in protected areas generally include struggles over complex issues such as modernity, identity, authority, ownership, knowledge systems and different cultural notions of nature and land use, among others. The long-term transformation of conflicts requires that these issues are adequately understood and addressed. A shift away from the dominant participatory paradigm also requires breaking away from a managerial conflict resolution approach that treats conflicts as static, negative and undifferentiated phenomena. In its place an approach that emphasises the dynamic, differentiated nature of conflicts and their transformative power in forcing necessary social changes in protected area management is advocated. Special attention is paid here to analysing the dynamics of power relations among actors and the history of their interactions in order to determine the factors that limit or offer opportunities for a productive engagement among actors in addressing the root cause of conflicts. In order to demonstrate the complex, dynamic and diverse nature of conflicts in protected areas this thesis studies three different types of conflicts currently taking place in Canaima National Park, Venezuela: conflicts over the use of fire, tourism management and the building of a high voltage power-line. Through this differentiated analysis this thesis concludes with a discussion of the types of collaborative processes that could help address and discuss the core issues in dispute in each case but also the factors that limit and offer opportunities for such engagement

The dissertation set out to explore whether privatization led to the concentration of shares of privatized public enterprises in the hands of a few. To reach this objective three indicators were developed. The three indicators were: (1) the prominence of the stock market; (2) the prominence of the employees’ ownership shares of the privatized Public Enterprises (PEs); and (3) the prominence of the state’s ownership after privatization. Although, the researcher found that there was a concentration of PEs’ shares in the hands of a mutual fund and holding company, the presence of the state remained strong. The researcher also found that it was extremely difficult to conduct research regarding the concentration of economic resources in developing countries. In effect the systemic, methodological, and contextual difficulties that the researcher encountered in field work, data collection, data review and data analysis revealed that it was difficult to find out the organization or individual behind the transactions that have been undertaken during the privatization process. This limited greatly the significance of the study. The result is the dissertation was re-oriented to the theoretical and to the researcher’s normative discourse on equity and development in privatization.

This study examined the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on the economies of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). The study was based on the premise that the implementation of NAFTA would have negative consequences for the CARICOM economies. This was the prediction advanced mainly by political theorists, government officials and economic analysts primarily from the Caribbean region, who suggested that it would be in the best interest of both the economies in the subregion and of the United States, if NAFTA parity were granted to the former in order to alleviate or offset the problems they were likely to experience as a result of NAFTA. A case study analysis was used to analyze the textile/apparel industry in Jamaica, the sector which was most vulnerable to the consequences of NAFTA. A number of indicators/variables were utilized to evaluate the pre- and post-NAFTA impact on the industry. Evaluations of these variables were made based on data collected primarily from government sources in Jamaica and the U.S.. and from interviews conducted with Jamaican government and industry officials. The researcher found that there were existing problems within the industry in Jamaica prior to the implementation of NAFTA, that in some cases escalated after the passage of the Agreement. The conclusions drawn from the findings suggest that NAFTA could not be held accountable for the decline in performance of the industry, although it could have contributed to the worsening of the preexisting problems. The results of the study suggest areas that the CARICOM nations need to pay particular attention to in their efforts to survive in an environment where trade liberalization and globalization will increasingly play an important role in global trade.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations between chemical threats in the physical environment and adverse health conditions among the residents of Soweto, South Africa. The chemical threats that were used in the analysis included lead, nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (S02), and a chemical compound composed of silicon, oxygen, hydrogen, and various metal cations (asbestos). The adverse health outcomes and symptoms included heart attack or angina, stroke, emphysema/bronchitis, asthma, tuberculosis, cancer, less breath, short of breath, wheezing or tightness of chest, wheezing only with a cold, sleep interrupted by coughing, sleep interrupted by wheezing with cough and phlegm, and phlegm everyday for three months. The study demonstrated that, based on the available data, there are no statistically significant associations between exposure to chemical threats in the physical environment and adverse health outcomes in Soweto, South Africa. The study also demonstrated the importance of contributing factors and how limitations of the data on exposure to chemical threats and human health outcomes impacted statistical analysis. Further areas for investigation include analyzing exposure to agrichemicals and other chemicals; the role of the social environment and its impact on human health conditions; and the availability of data on chemical threats in the physical environment and adverse health conditions among the residents of Soweto, South Africa.

Most daily transmissions of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in sub-Saharan Africa occur among couples. Current interventions targeting women and men, separately, do not effectively address issues of power imbalance and couple communication that contribute to couples' VIlinerability to HIV. The purpose of this research is to determine the existing level of couple communication in sub-Saharan Africa and to establish the feasibility of applying a couple-based HIV prevention approach in this region. A meta-analysis revealed that a couple-based approach has a medium effect on couples' sexual behavior. Interviews with couples and key informants in Niger suggested that couple communication and power dynamics are influenced by socio-cultural factors. Recommendations included: further research into partner communication among various population groups in multiple sub-Saharan African contexts; targeting couple-based interventions at youth in order to achieve sustainable results; and influencing policy to promote sexual dialogue in schools and through national initiatives focused on HIV. the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs).