No description available.

This paper examines the potential causal link between press freedom and the quality of whistleblower-protection, namely the quality of the legislation designed to protect whistleblowers, and it does this with an intensive case study of Botswana and South Africa. In order to isolate the causal chain the paper controls for democracy, economic development, dependence on aid, Internet access, natural resources and state transparency. The results show that there is a correlation between press freedom and protection of whistleblowers, however the causal link could not be isolated thus inviting for further research into the relationship. The paper contributes to the field of political science by providing insights into the largely under-researched relationship between press freedom and protection of whistleblowers.

Social work as an traditional aid is an area that provides welfare services financed from public funds, which is one of the methods of microloans. Microloans have since the mid-1970s has become an increasingly common tool in the fight against poverty. Instead of purely assistance is now offered microloans from more banks and other institutions, as well as NGOs (non governmental organization). This paper aims to study whether and how microcredit can contribute to the empowerment of women in Bangladesh and India. This study is based on a qualitative text analysis, and has hence been based on a number of reports and articles. The paper examines, from a radical feminist perspective how microcredit can fight and eliminate poverty, and how empowerment can help women in developing countries to become independent and liberated. The introduction of micro-loan is considered to have positive effects on women's empowerment in the short term. But it is, however, the longer term effects that are considered to have the greatest positive impact on society's unequal structures. The study shows, however, that in order to achieve the desired result, education is of utmost importance. Future research should focus on how to break down the patriarchal structures of society where this is considered a prerequisite for obtaining a long-lasting and stable change in the status of women in the countries concerned.

With the evolving concept of Infrastructure for Peace as a starting point, and its emphasis on local ownership of peacebuilding initiatives, I analyse the structure and functioning of Local Peace Committees (LPCs) with the focus on one county in Kenya. The thesis explores a gap in the knowledge of these committees by focusing on the friction between a nationally initiated LPC structure and the creation of local ownership of this peacebuilding operation. The case study analysis is conducted by exploring different perspectives regarding the mandate, role, composition and external support of the nationally initiated Nakuru Peace Committees with the aim to contribute to our knowledge of nationally initiated LPCs and their possibilities and challenges.

Globaliseringen av affärsrelationer har lett till att individer och företag med olika kulturell bakgrund möts i en mycket större utsträckning än vad som skedde för några decennier sedan. Svenska och franska företag dras med i den globala strömmen: de gemensamma affärsrelationerna, bilaterala projekten och mötena blir alltmer omfattande och intensivare, vilket också innebär att de kulturella skillnaderna mellan nationaliteterna blir kännbara, och de orsakar både problem och möjligheter. Det aktuella forskningsprojektet syftar till att utreda vad som kännetecknar den svenska respektive den franska affärskulturen, samt att studera vilka skillnader i dessa kulturer som påverkar gemensamma samarbetsprocesser. Studien baseras på flera fall av industriella projekt mellan SAAB Aerospace i Linköping och Dassault Aviation i Paris, där flygingenjörer utvecklar högteknologiska produkter. Två olika världar. Studien visar att svenskar respektive fransmän utvecklas i två olika världar. Även om de studerade företagen och deras ingenjörer delar samma tekniska kultur, driver de sina projekt på olika sätt, och skillnaderna kommer till uttryck ofta i samband med gemensamma beslutsprocesser, med tids- och energislukande missförstånd som följd. Besluten tas på olika nivåer, på olika sätt, vid olika tidpunkter och har olika betydelse och bindningskraft om man är i Sverige eller i Frankrike. Olikheter betyder också möjligheter. Man skall dock inte alltid betrakta dessa skillnader som ett problem. En ökad förståelse för varandras mentalitet kan leda dels till att krockar undviks, och att man kan dra fördel av skillnaderna på ett konstruktivt sätt. Den aktuella studien visar att den franska retoriska seden är väl anpassad för att hantera abstrakta frågor samt för att främja innovation. De mer konsensuella svenskarna i sin tur är svårslagna när det gäller medarbetares involvering, samt för att förverkliga idéer och visioner. Olikheter mellan den franska respektive den svenska kulturen kan då komplettera varandra och leda till synergier som kan gagna båda parterna, för ett framgångsrikt samarbete bortom våra gränser. / <p>I den tryckta versionen är serie och serienummer felaktig. I den elektroniska versionen är detta ändrat till korrekt ISSN 0280-7971 och korrekt serienummer 1633.</p>

The widespread diffusion of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and its integration in our day-to-day activities, has transformed our societies in different ways (Cachia, 2007).  The potential and current application of technology devices and computing applications for improving peoples’ quality life has become an important area of study for different think tanks; and subject of constant regulation and policies by governments and multilateral organizations. Thus, Benton and Glennie (2016) and Cachia et al. (2007) stress on the necessity of conducting studies on the performance of computing applications for improving people`s quality life, and for facilitating integration and inclusion of refugees and asylum seekers, in order to assess the use of ICT technologies for tackling social issues.  Due to the lack of studies oriented to assess the performance and impact of social computing applications on the integration processes of refugees in Europe; and the current importance of ICT platforms for addressing social issues, this research is designed for contributing on the debate upon the viability of implementing ICT solutions seeking to support integration processes in the region of kronoberg in Sweden.  The gap identified in the literature upon Information and Communication Technologies for Refugees (ICT4R) and social computing applications for integration, represent an opportunity for contributing with a deeper understanding about the viability and effectivity of these ICT solutions for supporting the integration process of refuges and asylum seekers in Europe. Hence, one of the most important experiences is currently implemented in Sweden, where the Migration Agency and Refugee Tech; “a non-profit organization that works to help new arrivals to orientate themselves in Swedish society” (Swedish Migration Agency, 2016), have jointed efforts to support and to give visibility to all computing applications designed for helping refugees and asylum seekers in the country.

No description available.

Well-being and human development are two concepts within the development debate that are often used as different but defined and operationalised in very similar ways. This has led to a diffuse differentiation between them, where it is unclear what we include in either concept, which can cause validity problems in e.g. research, as it is not clear what we are really studying. This is the motivation for my thesis, to examine how similar these concepts are in practice to determine if they can be conceptualised as they have been previously, or if more effort must be made to differentiate between them. I do this by examining three dimensions which are central to both concepts (Health, Education, and Material standard of living) to see how the concepts correlate within each dimension. These correlations I then control for both GDP per capita and level of democracy. My results show that there is no significant correlation between well-being and human development when controlling for GDP per capita and level of democracy, showing that the concepts are in fact not as similar as they are treated in the literature thus far. In conclusion, this means that the concepts cannot be conceptualised as similarly as they have been before, but instead, more effort must be made to sufficiently differentiate between them.

The process of integration has been shown to be intricate and particularly detrimental to immigrant women. In examining the Swedish labour market more closely, it is evident that immigrant women are disproportionately affected by unemployment. The aim of this study was to critically assess the various obstacles identified by immigrant women themselves, as well as professionals involved in integration, with a specific focus on the local context of Jönköping municipality through semi-structured interviews. Additionally, the study sought to explore the initiatives undertaken by the municipality and the local region to address these challenges. Prior research has acknowledged the lack of accessibility of assistance sources for immigrant women, the non-recognition of their educational credentials from their home countries, the potential hindrance of domestic gender traditions in job applications, the difficulty of language proficiency, and the prevalence of discrimination as barriers for women in obtaining employment. These findings align with the results obtained from the interviews conducted. Additionally, the interviews mentioned lack of fundings to integrate women, women not receiving important information, gender stereotypes and systematic factors as factors that hinders immigrant women’s labour integration. The study emphasizes how the implementation of intersectionality theory can offer policy makers and municipality workers a deeper understanding of immigrant women.

Proceeding from the security concept and the importance of broadening and deepening security studies, where human security issues today go beyond international conflicts and military operations. This thesis examines how social and economic globalization affects the rate of child labour in developing countries and what are the most influential factors in this phenomenon, especially the role of social globalization, the importance of free education and the impact of GDP, family income and poverty. Taking into account the security consequences of this phenomenon in the future. Where this study reached the conclusion that social globalization helps reduce child labour. And that economic globalization does not directly affect child labour, but there are sub-dimensions of economic globalization that may affect directly, such as per capita GDP or the "income effect" which is one of the most important factors in determining the rate of child labour. and free education is an incentive in reducing of child labour.