This thesis provides a critical analysis of how Islamic-based Civil Society Organisations (IBCSOs) contribute to poverty reduction in Egypt, through a qualitative study of four Civil Society Organisations (CSOs). The thesis closely examines case study IBCSOs’ organisational structures, their activities and the values that shape their conceptualisation of poverty. It reveals the similarities between IBCSOs’ poverty reduction work and official social protection, and discusses how their approaches to poverty reduction can be understood in terms of the various discourses justifying social protection (risks, rights and needs). The thesis also uses these case studies to examine the validity of Faith-Based Organisations (FBOs) as vehicles for poverty reduction and social protection. Finally, it discusses the relationship between these organisations’ poverty reduction activities and political mobilisation through an examination of the role they played in the recent political rise of the Islamist movement in Egypt, as well as the impact of recent political developments on their operations. A key purpose of this critical investigation of IBCSOs' approaches to poverty reduction is to explore more broadly their wider implications for development theory and practice by assessing whether they can contribute to existing knowledge on the means of civil society’s contribution to poverty reduction and development.

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The Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990) witnessed the prominence of the voluntary sector through the active involvement of existing non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the emergence of new ones as service providers in response to the social, educational and other community needs left unattended to by the public sector. This thesis takes a comparative look at the objectives and practices of faith-based NGOs, or FBOs, currently active in Lebanon, both local and international. It considers the role of the sectarian context, and the influence – if any - of religious identity and values on the founding and mission of an FBO, and the identity of the communities where it chose to operate. It also seeks to explore the relationship between an FBO’s religious identity, the community(ies) it serves, and the expression of its faith in that particular community. The research involved qualitative interviews of a cross-section of FBOs in Lebanon representing different faiths, together with a textual analysis of the communication used by these organizations in addressing their stakeholders. The research shed light on the motivations and the historical events that led to the founding of the sample population. Also, the variance between the mandates of the different faith-based organizations, each according to its religious values, and how that is reflected in determining their programme direction, and hence, the mode of operation in the community. In the process, the interviews highlighted other factors that can equally impact the image of an organization in any particular community; as well as the position of the same-faith communities vis-à-vis the mandate of their same-faith FBO. The textual analysis of the sample population’s communication tools was equally insightful as it drew attention to factors that affect the discourse used in presenting who they are, as well as their vision and mission. Other insights gleaned from this research include the organizations’ view point and/or position with respect to the sectarian context that empowers them as religiously based organizations; an aspect that gives some thought as to the potential role for FBOs as agents of change in such a complex context. The source of the knowledge arrived at through this research is based on input received from the organizations themselves, either through the interviews with their leaders, or through their communication tools. It would be equally insightful, in another research, to consider the view point of the community, also that of secular and other faith-based organizations, of the role of religiously-based development organizations in the community as they compare with their desired role.

Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS) / In a country like South Africa, with a history of racial discrimination and man-made social inequalities, many NGOs and FBOs play a crucial and important role in socio-economic development and in narrowing the gap between the haves and the have-nots. As one of the nongovernmental organisations, The South African National Zakah Fund (SANZAF) development projects/programmes have played an important role in the areas of poverty alleviation, skills development, education and disaster relief. In line with the participatory/people-centred theory of community development and conceptual arguments, this study was used to examine the nature of participatory community development at the South African National Zakah Fund (SANZAF) in Cape Town, South Africa. Qualitative research methodology was applied and measurement of the level of community participation was done using a variety of instruments. This study is focused on the SANZAF's community development project in the Manenberg area in the Cape Flats. The analysis involved examining the nature and level of community participation in the project needs, planning, implementation and decision-making phases. Thereafter, the results of the research prompted general observation and provided some recommendations to SANZAF and other FBOs involved. The research findings show that the SANZAF's development projects/programmes have played an important role in terms of community development. They have been developed in response to the needs of local communities and are implemented to mobilise local resources to support the poor and needy. The study also indicated that SANZAF enjoys a strong linkage with local mosques and other development actors at the community level. However, the results of the study also indicated that the level of community participation in planning, decision making and implementation is low in the case study area. Meanwhile, the beneficiaries did not show a clear understanding of aspects such as participation, empowerment and ownership. Finally, a recommendation is made for genuine community participation at the grassroots level as this will contribute to beneficiary's empowerment, capacity building and the core ingredients for selfreliance and project sustainability in community development activities.

While housing has been recognized as an essential component of refugee resettlement, access to housing is difficult for refugees. This thesis examines the approach to essential services like housing services provided by faith-based organizations (FBOs). In studying how FBOs conceptualize the home and convey their approach to housing for refugees, I aim to put emphasis on the concept of home. Using Foucauldian discourse analysis to examine the narrative FBOs have created of home for refugees I will argue that FBOs conceptualize home as immaterial, meaning that it is an 'affective construct' or an emotional feeling rather than a material reality. The research revealed that while FBOs work in the community is undeniable the focus on creating the emotions associated with the home, the limited attention to a physical place refugees can call home reveals the lack of attention granted to FBO’s websites in their approach to housing for refugees. Therefore, the physical concept of the home needs to receive more attention from FBOs.

No / Faith-based organisations (FBOs) have delivered services to vulnerable people for many years. They are frequently characterised by values also to be found within social work, notably a commitment to social justice. In the context of recent attempts by governments, notably in the USA, United Kingdom and Australia, to ‘roll-back’ the state, to ‘marketise’ and ‘privatise’ welfare services, FBOs are increasingly called-upon to tender for and volunteer to provide public services, including ‘social work’. In the United Kingdom, as elsewhere, religious beliefs are central to how many people conduct themselves, especially in response to personal crises and challenges. The authors’ previous research indicates that religious beliefs and traditions may have a profound impact (for good or ill or for both) on the actions of both individual service users and practitioners, but that social workers and agencies (whether faith-based or not) are often ill equipped to respond appropriately. They acknowledge both the positive contributions to public welfare of many faith-based organisations and the potential dangers inherent in relying on such agencies for services to vulnerable people. The authors argue that evaluations need to consider the effectiveness, appropriateness, ‘costs’ and ‘benefits’ of individual faith-based services in their particular contexts, and that their contribution needs to be analysed in relation to the varied nature and variable impact of such services. Social work has often struggled in its aim of challenging and addressing the structural causes of inequality as its efforts have been channelled towards meeting the needs of the individual. Current policy proposals provide potential opportunities to review and assess the contribution of neo-liberal approaches to welfare and to promote alliances amongst those members of different FBOs and other welfare providers to agree more collective, community-based approaches with an agreed agenda of creating a fairer society.

<p>Since the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) that causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was discovered in the 1980s, the condom has scientifically proven to be the only technological device that can prevent transmission of the virus during sexual intercourse. This technical approach to the HIV has strongly emphasized that prevention is only possible if the condom is properly used. However, as a technological artifact the condom has shown that its use is laden with values. The question of values on condoms has brought in a heated debate on the moral justifications of its use. In Malawi, just as in other African countries, the Faith Community has rejected the Governmentsplea to promote condoms as the preventive measure against the virus.The Faith Community has emphasized on abstinence and mutual faithfulness as the only reliable means to the prevention of HIV/AIDS. The main argument from the Faith Community is that condoms promote promiscuity. Nevertheless, the Government agrees with the Faith Community on abstinence and mutual faithfulness, but still insists on condom use as a preventive measure against the virus. The Government argues that the condom is the only proven technical approach to the HIV prevention and therefore it should be promoted. T</p><p>he main purpose of this study is to attempt an ethical analysis of the arguments for and againstcondom use as the preventive measure against HIV. In this case, the study tries to analyse the Government and Faith Community stands on condoms. In relation to the arguments for and againstcondom use, the study also touches such areas as: the concept of rights and condom use, ethics of condom advertisement, African cultural values versus condom use and the implications of condom use on behaviour change. From the study, it has been argued that condoms should be promoted. The argument comes from that understanding that AIDS has plundered Africa than any war or disease in human history, and therefore, it needs to be stopped. In this case, such theories as, Utility, Love, Autonomy, Rights and umunthu moral conscience have been used to support the argument.</p>

Since the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) that causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was discovered in the 1980s, the condom has scientifically proven to be the only technological device that can prevent transmission of the virus during sexual intercourse. This technical approach to the HIV has strongly emphasized that prevention is only possible if the condom is properly used. However, as a technological artifact the condom has shown that its use is laden with values. The question of values on condoms has brought in a heated debate on the moral justifications of its use. In Malawi, just as in other African countries, the Faith Community has rejected the Governmentsplea to promote condoms as the preventive measure against the virus.The Faith Community has emphasized on abstinence and mutual faithfulness as the only reliable means to the prevention of HIV/AIDS. The main argument from the Faith Community is that condoms promote promiscuity. Nevertheless, the Government agrees with the Faith Community on abstinence and mutual faithfulness, but still insists on condom use as a preventive measure against the virus. The Government argues that the condom is the only proven technical approach to the HIV prevention and therefore it should be promoted. T he main purpose of this study is to attempt an ethical analysis of the arguments for and againstcondom use as the preventive measure against HIV. In this case, the study tries to analyse the Government and Faith Community stands on condoms. In relation to the arguments for and againstcondom use, the study also touches such areas as: the concept of rights and condom use, ethics of condom advertisement, African cultural values versus condom use and the implications of condom use on behaviour change. From the study, it has been argued that condoms should be promoted. The argument comes from that understanding that AIDS has plundered Africa than any war or disease in human history, and therefore, it needs to be stopped. In this case, such theories as, Utility, Love, Autonomy, Rights and umunthu moral conscience have been used to support the argument.

The HIV and Aids pandemic and its impact on socio-economic development in South Africa led to the development of the broad National Strategic Plan (NSP 2007-2011) with the aim to guide the country’s response to the pandemic. This document was the second plan post 1994, to deal with the pandemic, the first one being the NSP 2000-2005. However, despite addressing the HIV and Aids pandemic since the 1990s, national statistics indicate that the country still grapples with curbing the spread of new HIV infections. The goal of the study was to investigate the alignment of the FBOs HIV and Aids service delivery with the NSP 2007-2011 in Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM). To achieve this goal, the study conceptualised and analysed the NSP 2007-2011 with regards to its implications for partnerships in addressing the HIV and Aids pandemic within the context of the social development approach. The study investigated the Faith-Based Organisations (FBOs) HIV and Aids service delivery, the main partners in the field and policy implementation, to establish the extent of their service alignment with the NSP 2007-2011 and to identify and describe elements required for service delivery necessary for alignment to the policy. A qualitative research approach, using a collective case study design was utilised for the study. Data was gathered by means of two focus group interviews with the HIV and Aids Projects’ managers/coordinators in the employment of the Christian-based FBOs in Ekurhuleni. Findings showed that most FBOs HIV and Aids service delivery focus on the management of the disease, and as a result neglect the grassroots and fundamental integrative prevention services. Some difficulties in the partnership between FBOs and government were found by the study, coupled with poor communication between government and FBOs leading to the isolation of FBOs in rendering HIV and Aids services. Research findings further revealed poor application of the NSP 2007-2011 elements of effective communications, partnerships, service coordination, monitoring and evaluation including provision of support through financial resources by government to enhance FBOs HIV and Aids service delivery. The study concluded that the FBOs service delivery in the field of HIV and Aids in EMM is not in full alignment with the NSP 2007-2011. Furthermore, it was established that without an application of the developmental approach to facilitate the implementation of the NSP elements, FBOs HIV and Aids service delivery in alignment with the NSP 2007-2011, will be difficult to achieve. The study recommended that the NSP implementation must be based on the social development model to facilitate HIV and Aids service delivery linkages amongst government departments on a broad range of the interrelated development issues caused by the pandemic. It was also recommended that future National Strategic Plans should include social developmental themes, to ensure improved alignment of FBOs HIV and Aids service delivery, namely, a rights-based approach; partnerships; economic and social development; participation and a macro and micro focus. In particular, it was noted that government needs to strengthen its partnership with the FBOs and to provide intensified funding towards HIV and Aids service delivery. Further research should be conducted to establish how the NSP 2012-2016 (RSA, 2012) has incorporated these recommendations in order to fill the gaps identified in this study. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lk2014 / Social Work and Criminology / MA / Unrestricted

This study explores and critically analyses the lived experiences of female inmates in six selected prisons in Cameroon. The study contributes to the available knowledge regarding prison conditions from the perspectives of female inmates– a subject which has been under researched globally and has received little attention from researchers in Cameroon. The Cameroon Penitentiary Regulation (CPR) professes to be gender neutral and, therefore, it ignores the special needs of female inmates. The central research question is: How do the national policies and laws on prison conditions in Cameroon relate to the lived and narrated experiences of female inmates? The study is informed by two major frameworks, namely, Foucault’s analytical framework from his seminal work Discipline and Punish (1977) and a feminist analytical framework, standpoint feminism, which fills the gap in Foucault’s thesis that is largely devoid of gender analysis. The study is qualitative, using in-depth interviews and observations. It involved a sample of 38 research participants, comprising 18 female inmates, 18 prison staff members and two NGO representatives. The findings reveal that both international and national ratified policies are merely “paperwork”, lacking effective implementation in the prisons selected for this study. There is a general lack of infrastructural facilities in prisons and this prevents classification as suggested by the CPR 1992 and ratified international instruments. In general, there was a lack of educational and other training facilities in all the prisons visited. The few educational facilities available were those supported by NGOs and FBOs, suggesting that, without their presence in prisons, prison conditions would have been even more appalling than the findings revealed. Torture and corporal punishment were meted out to female inmates, regardless of the regular visits by human rights organisations to prisons. There are no provisions made for conjugal visits in the prisons. Same-sex relationships exist in Cameroonian prisons, either because of sexual preference or as a substitute for heterosexual relationships. The reform of the dated CPR 1992 and the Cameroon Penal Code 1967 is essential. Such reform should take into consideration both the specific needs of female inmates and current debates on the imprisonment of women. / Sociology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Sociology)