Early identification of hearing loss followed by a timely and effective intervention programme for children with hearing loss is necessary to minimise the negative effects of hearing loss on the development of cognition, psychosocial and verbal communication skills. Such early intervention programmes need to be multidisciplinary, technologically sound and most important, it should take cognisance of the specific context (community, country) in which the child and family function. The main aim of this study is to obtain accurate and reliable baseline information regarding current status of the early intervention process for children with hearing loss in Johannesburg, a Metropolitan City in a developing country. Self-administered questionnaires were handed out to obtain information from 19 hearing impaired childrens’ parents regarding the ages of suspicion of hearing loss, diagnosis and commencement of aural habilitation. The nature of diagnosis and the management of these children are also described. The findings indicate that children in the study were diagnosed and began habilitation late (mean age 24 months and 36months respectively) and that the management process is fragmented. The strengths in the current identification and follow-up process namely, parental involvement and established early intervention service structure are highlighted. Parents’ perceptions of the success and failures of the early intervention services were resolved. Key words: childhood hearing loss, parents/caregivers views, age of diagnosis, age of intervention, developing country

This research addresses the issues affecting e-governance implementation indeveloping countries. Implementing e-governance has always been a challenge eitherit is social, economical or political. Beside this there are many technological problemswhich should be understood and meet so that a user accepted e-governance systememerges.This research provides a quantitative investigation of e-governance implementationproblems with emphasis on analyzing quantitative data gathered in a survey using astructured questionnaires that was generated on the basis of our theoretical study.Furthermore this research will provide a clear conception about those problems whichshould be considered at the time of implementing an e-governance in developingcountries. / Program: Magisterutbildning i informatik

This dissertation examines the relationship between political institutions and development policies across a wide array of policy arenas. It consists of three essays. In the first essay, I examine how corruption in political institutions affects citizens’ attitudes towards proposed policy reforms that should yield long-run benefits. I argue that where corruption in political institutions reduces citizens’ benefits from existing programs, governmental promises to deliver benefits via reforms are less credible. Thus, citizens will cling to inefficient policies not because they are unable to recognize the benefits of reform but because they do not trust political institutions to implement reforms in ways that will benefit them in practice. I use this logic to explain why citizens frequently resist attempts to reform the economically and environmentally costly practice of setting domestic gasoline prices below market prices. To reveal these patterns, I rely on original survey and administrative data from Indonesia. The second essay maintains the focuses on the quality of political institutions and natural resource governance but from a more macro perspective. In this essay, I argue that political regimes and political time horizons shape financial arrangements between governments and multinational oil companies. This essentially asks the reverse of a central question in comparative politics. Rather than asking how oil income affects political institutions, I ask how political institutions motivate politicians to make policy choices that increase or decrease the government’s access to oil income over time. To do so, I utilize an original dataset on financial arrangements between host countries and multinational oil companies, as reflected in historically confidential oil contracts. The final essay travels to a different substantive area of development policy, yet allows for a critical role for political institutions. This essay argues that the relationship between developing country governments and foreign aid donors should be conditional on the quality of political institutions, with aid donors giving countries with institutions better able to commit to selecting policies that promote development wider latitude to direct foreign aid resources towards local priorities. Instead, I find that political and security alliances shape whether donors give developing country governments more “ownership” over aid flows. Overall, the dissertation deepens understanding of the relationship between the quality of political institutions and policies within developing countries, while offering insights into contemporary policy debates about natural resource governance, environmental politics, and development aid.

Families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in developing countries may not have as much access to needed behavioral services as families living in developed countries. Caregivers of children with ASD in developing countries would benefit from an affordable, efficient parent training to teach them behavior techniques to use with their children. Pyramidal training is a cost-efficient method of training individuals through peers and would be a supportive intervention for families in developing countries. This study used a repeated acquisition design across three variables to examine whether a caregiver could train another caregiver on three behavioral interventions. These interventions were appropriately redirecting repetitive behaviors, using praise, and requesting eye contact. The study also examined if the caregivers could acquire the three skills and the extent caregivers were receptive to this training model based on their comments about the training. The participants were six ethnic Macedonians or Albanians between the ages of 38 and 43 who were caregivers of a child with ASD. The results indicate the caregivers were able to train another caregiver on three skills for working with their child with autism, all the caregivers were able to acquire the three skills, and the training model's goals were socially appropriate based on participants' comments. This implicates professionals such as doctors, social workers, behavioral therapists, or school psychologists could use this form of parent training to share information throughout a family in order to benefit children with disabilities and their families.

Although Grenada has an extensive health care infrastructure and cervical cancer screening rates are relatively high, Grenada also has a disproportionate rate of morbidity and mortality from cervical cancer. The aim of this study was to explore factors that contribute to these disproportionate rates in Grenada. Using a phenomenological qualitative approach, Andersen's behavioral model of health care utilization and a systems based model for assessing care were used as a guide to explore Grenadian women's follow-up experiences with Pap test and cervical cancer screening. Purposive sampling was used to recruit 8 women for semi-structured in-depth interviews. Data were collected on enabling, need, process and quality factors and coded using apriori and open strategies. Results showed that communication strategies used by private practitioners and good interpersonal relationships with nurses enabled follow-up whereas inadequate treatment services, delays in the receipt of test results, and lack of trust in the government clinics were hindrances. This research identified gaps in the follow-up system and is, therefore, significant for the Grenada Ministry of Health to inform planning and restructuring in order to increase system effectiveness. Implications of positive social change include broadening the knowledge base and skill sets of nurses, highlighting strengths of the public system, and identifying target areas for resource allocation. These changes can result in increased workforce efficiency, improved accessibility and quality, a more user-friendly follow-up process and, thus, reduced morbidity and mortality from cervical cancer.

Social entrepreneurship is an evolving field of research, and the individual social entrepreneur has gained a lot of attention in recent decades. The empirical studies of this field are still limited, therefore, the importance of investigating this phenomenon in practice and to gain a greater understanding of the subject. The purpose of this Minor Field Study is to identify the key characteristics and motivations of the social entrepreneur, for the initiation of the social venture. In addition, contribute to the research regarding the social entrepreneurial process and the influencing factors. To accomplish the purpose of this study, a qualitative research method has been conducted in a developing country context, Nepal. Furthermore, the data has been collected from multiple cases, through conducting eight semi-structured interviews. The outcome of the study indicates the significant motivations and key characteristics that impact the social entrepreneur’s decision to establish a business with a social mission. The entrepreneurs imply the importance to achieve a balance between the social and business aspects, thus, to sustain the social business. Additionally, the findings demonstrate the factors of the entrepreneurial process and its effect on the social venture initiation.

This study analyses income inequality and poverty in the rural and urban sectors in Iran during the post Islamic revolution period, 1983-1993. It has been based on household level data relating to the Household Income and Expenditure Surveys conducted by the Statistical Centre of Iran for 1983, 1988 and 1993. The study starts with a brief review of the main features of the Iranian economy. This is followed by a brief discussion of the data. An analysis of temporal changes in income distribution and welfare, the contributions of factor income components on per capita income inequality, a detailed analysis of absolute poverty, earnings behaviour of full time urban male workers. The final chapter summarises and brings together the main conclusions. By and large, the finding of this study are quite rich and provide a very clean picture in the levels of income inequality, welfare and absolute poverty. Most of the changes in income inequality and poverty observed in this study seem to be, to some extent, the reflections, if not the outcomes, of government policies, strategies and war related activities and shortages etc. Based on the Iranian experience, we can say that political stability, accompanied by consistent and sustainable macroeconomic policies can ensure a reduction in income inequality and absolute poverty in a developing country. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>The objective of this thesis is to investigate how of the concepts of adaptation and vulnerability are defined in IPCC’s third assessment report (TAR) with specific focus on IPCC’s response to the critique from South. I have achieved this by doing a text analysis of the content in TAR. My point of departure was in the position of South and there critiques on the climate change policy. I have divided the objective into different research question where I focus on the definition of vulnerability, the determining factors of adaptive capacity, if there is a difference in vulnerability between and within regions and whether focus is on adaptation or mitigation in TAR. There are two definitions of vulnerability in TAR. One is by Brooks (2003) referred as biophysical and the other as social vulnerability. Which one the authors in the report refer to is not put out which cause confusion. In earlier assessments are the biophysical approach more common than the social. In TAR is the use of vulnerability in terms of social conditions more common than the biophysical. This is an improvement since this definition is necessary to get a greater focus on the need for immediate adaptation, in South particularly. It was somewhat problematic to determine whether the adaptive capacity only on the level of the system was considered in TAR or also exogenous factors, which affect the capacity of the system, was included in the definition. In some sense exogenous factors have been considered however it is not much reflection over this. In the report there is a consensus that the vulnerability differs between regions. However there is not much research conducted in developing countries. Also in the issue of concentration on adaptation or mitigation the problem is that there is not enough research from developing countries. Despite this, this assessment report has more focus on adaptation than the other ones. </p>

<p>In the international climate change negotiations it has been hard to find a sustainable agreement about how to address the anthropogenic impacts on the climate. This is because the issue is very complicated and comprises many social and economic aspects. Because of the struggling in the international negotiations is it necessary to analyze how the climate change issue is understood in different regions and countries of the world. The purpose of this thesis is to analyse how actors within the climate policy sphere in China frame the climate change issue. In the near future, China will become the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide and with a population of 1.3 billion people; China is one of the key countries in the international climate negations. The thesis analyses how two key actor groups - decision makers and scientists connected to the Chinese climate change administration - frame the climate change issue in semi-structured interviews. The respondents frame the climate change issue as a large obstacle for a future Chinese development, both economically and socially. To address climate change in China the respondents think that technology innovations and transfer of technology from the developed countries will be very important. Therefore the respondents think it is vitally important to continue with the international climate negotiations in the future.</p>

In the international climate change negotiations it has been hard to find a sustainable agreement about how to address the anthropogenic impacts on the climate. This is because the issue is very complicated and comprises many social and economic aspects. Because of the struggling in the international negotiations is it necessary to analyze how the climate change issue is understood in different regions and countries of the world. The purpose of this thesis is to analyse how actors within the climate policy sphere in China frame the climate change issue. In the near future, China will become the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide and with a population of 1.3 billion people; China is one of the key countries in the international climate negations. The thesis analyses how two key actor groups - decision makers and scientists connected to the Chinese climate change administration - frame the climate change issue in semi-structured interviews. The respondents frame the climate change issue as a large obstacle for a future Chinese development, both economically and socially. To address climate change in China the respondents think that technology innovations and transfer of technology from the developed countries will be very important. Therefore the respondents think it is vitally important to continue with the international climate negotiations in the future.