Thesis (Dr.P.H.)--University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public Health, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 114-126).

Thesis (M.S.)--Miami University, Dept. of Family and Studies and Social Work, 2009. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 33-38-Xx).

In 2013, 2 million people were newly infected with HIV, and 11% of those new infections were infants that obtained the disease from their mother. In resource poor settings, like Sub-Saharan Africa, infection rates from mother to child can range from 15-45%. With proper prevention of mother to child transmission (MTCT), these rates can drop to 5%. Proper prevention includes the use of antiretroviral treatment (ART) during pregnancy, delivery, and post-partum and breastfeeding. In 2010, WHO proposed a model that required all HIV positive mothers to receive ART. The model successfully increased the amount of women on treatment, and many countries also saw a decrease in the rate of MTCT, however barriers still exist. In my thesis, I explain how HIV attacks an individual’s immune system, and why it has been such a difficult epidemic to control in regards to mother to child transmission. I also examine how different models of prevention are successful, and why Option B+, proposed by WHO in 2010, has been the most successful. Lastly, I propose new additions to the model in an attempt to circumvent the barriers.

This research investigates what rural villagers perceive as important and develops recommendations for improved electrification project implementation centring on user-perceived values (UPVs). UPVs capture more than the basic definition of value in the sense that they include benefits, concerns, feelings and underlying drivers that vary in importance and act as the main motivators in the lives of project beneficiaries as perceived at a given time. Low access to energy continues in rural sub-Saharan Africa despite significant investment by the development community. One fundamental reason is that energy infrastructure adoption remains low, as evidenced by the lack of project sustainability. To counter this, the challenge for energy project developers is to achieve sustainable long-term interventions through the creation of value for beneficiaries, rather than the traditional approach of focusing on short-term project outputs. The question of what is valuable to people in rural communities has historically not played into the design and diffusion of energy infrastructure development projects. This research drew on design and marketing approaches from the commercial sector to investigate the UPVs of rural Ugandans. To better understand the UPVs of rural villagers a new method, consisting of a UPV game and UPV framework, was developed. This method is suitable for capturing, understanding and mapping what rural populations perceive as important. Case study analyses were carried out in seven villages across rural Uganda. The case studies included the UPV game supplemented by non-energy-specific and energy-specific interviews with villagers. Additionally, interviews with experts were conducted to verify the UPV framework and to identify the gap between experts’ opinion and villagers’ perception of what is important. The research demonstrates the effectiveness of the UPV game in deducing the values of rural villagers. The findings demonstrate a disconnect in the ability to accurately capture and design projects which resonate with and respond to the UPVs of recipients of rural electrification projects. A comparison between the villagers’ statements and experts’ opinion regarding what is most valuable to rural communities reveals striking differences that point to a fundamental misunderstanding of rural community UPVs which are likely to be contributing to widespread electrification project failure.

Plus du tiers des enfants non scolarisés dans le monde vit actuellement dans des pays considérés comme fragiles. Principalement localisés en Afrique subsaharienne, ces pays, pour la plupart, ne seront pas en mesure de réaliser les objectifs de l’Éducation Pour Tous d’ici 2015. Se situant à la croisée de l’éducation comparée, des sciences politiques et de la sociologie des organisations, cette thèse explore empiriquement les conditions d’achèvement de l’EPT dans les contextes de fragilités.Malgré les ambigüités qui l’entourent, la notion d’État fragile a été adoptée en 2005 en tant que concept opérationnel par la plupart des organismes d’aide. Si les définitions de l’État fragile convergent sur un ensemble de critères spécifiques (institutions dysfonctionnelles, instabilité sociopolitique chronique, accès limité aux services sociaux), la fragilité revêt des dimensions variées et connexes dont la sévérité rend la réalisation de la scolarisation primaire universelle singulièrement aléatoire. Dès lors, l’injonction faite aux États de fournir une édu-cation de base homogène aux populations, notamment aux plus pauvres, peut rencontrer des difficultés d’adaptation dans les contextes particuliers des États fragiles (chapitre 1). Les conflits armés constituent certainement la plus évidente origine de la fragilité des États et des pays. Les effets de ces conflits mettent à mal le développement éducatif et anéantissent toute perspective d’éducation pour une proportion d’enfants difficilement mesurable, parti-culièrement ceux issus de milieux pauvres et isolés. Les périodes d’instabilité signalent égale-ment l’impact des politiques des finances publiques ainsi que l’échec d’un gouvernement à investir dans des domaines sociaux tels que l’éducation, élément contribuant à l’émergence des valeurs d’un système politique à tendances démocratiques (chapitre 2). Dans la mesure où l’investissement éducatif est perçu comme une condition nécessaire, sinon suffisante, de sortie de la pauvreté, l’option d’impulser et d’accélérer le développement éducatif s’impose comme un critère d’opportunité pour la communauté internationale, quitte à exercer des formes d’ingérence. Les conclusions de notre analyse empirique montrent, dans la problématique des États fragiles, l’émergence d’une contradiction actuelle entre le caractère inclusif des objectifs de l’EPT et la nature excluante des paradigmes sur lesquels se fondent l’aide extérieure (efficacité et résultats). Cette situation conduit alors à s’interroger sur une approche de l’aide liée à une analyse morale écartelée entre les conséquences des actions individuelles ou communes et dont les critères et instruments financiers ne sont visiblement pas adaptés aux situations de fragilité (chapitre 3). / Currently, over a third of children not in school live in countries considered being as fragile. These countries, which are mainly located in sub-Saharan Africa, will not reach the objectives of Education For All for 2015. This thesis covers approaches across comparative education, political science and sociology of organizations. It explores empirically the condi¬tions of achievement of EFA within the contexts of fragility. Despite its ambiguities, the notion of fragile states was adopted in 2005 as an operational concept by most of aid agencies. Definitions of fragile state converge on a set of specific criteria (dysfunctional institutions, chronic socio-political instability, limited access to social services). Nevertheless, the former also cover various and related dimensions, whose severity makes universal primary education achievement particularly hazardous. Therefore, the in¬junction made to states to provide homogenous basic education for their population, espe¬cially in the poorest ones, may indeed encounter difficulties in the particular contexts of fragile states (chapter 1). Armed conflicts are certainly the most obvious cause of the fragility of states and countries. The effects of these conflicts undermine the educational system and destroy any prospect of education for a difficulty measurable proportion of children, especially those in poor and isolated environments. Periods of instability can also be seen in the impact of public finances policies and the failure of governments to invest in social areas such as education. The latter being an element that contributes to the emergence of values of a democratic political system (chapter 2). Insofar as investment in education is perceived as a necessary, if not sufficient, to vanquish poverty, the option to stimulate and accelerate the development of education constitutes an opportunity for the international community. Even if it means that the latter also has to ex¬ercise some forms of interference. The findings of our empirical analysis show, that within fragile states, the emergence of a current contradiction between the inclusive nature of the EFA goals and the exclusionary nature of the paradigms on which foreign aid is based (effec¬tiveness and results). This situation leads us to question the approach of aid which is torn morally between the consequences of individual actions or common actions where the finan¬cial criteria and instruments are clearly not adapted to situations of fragility (chapter 3).

A República Democrática do Congo tem sofrido, no período pós-Guerra Fria, os momentos mais trágicos de sua história. O país foi palco da Primeira Guerra do Congo e da Segunda Guerra do Congo – esta também chamada de "Guerra Mundial Africana", por ser o conflito armado que mais matou desde a Segunda Guerra Mundial (3,8 milhões de pessoas). Contudo, mesmo após o fim formal das conflagrações em 2003, o país vive um "estado de violência", no qual mais de 1,6 milhão de pessoas morreram e outras centenas de milhares estão deslocadas internamente, refugiadas ou têm sido vítimas de violência sexual. Destarte, a pergunta que a pesquisa procura responder é “por que, mesmo após a paz formal, o estado de violência permanece na República Democrática do Congo (RDC)?” O argumento aqui sugerido é que a guerra continua na RDC, pois não houve a definição militar do conflito, primeiro passo no processo de construção do Estado. Há a permanência de grupos armados que atuam contra as populações civis e o governo central, e em locais onde o aparelho coercitivo do Estado é ineficiente ou mesmo inexistente. Esta realidade se relaciona com o processo histórico de construção do Estado do Congo, bem como com a forma de resolução da Guerra Mundial Africana mediante mecanismos de paz negociada, ou power-sharing. O primeiro capítulo do trabalho trata de problemas teórico-conceituais sobre a relação entre guerra e Estado na África Subsaariana e no Congo. Os capítulos subseqüentes tratam sobre a relação entre guerra e construção do Estado no Congo pós-independência, estudando três guerras principais ocorridas no país e as suas relações com o processo de construção do Estado. A pesquisa sugere que a adoção de uma Reforma do Setor de Segurança voltada à construção do exército nacional pode trazer os benefícios da definição militar do conflito para os mecanismos de paz negociada. Como contribuição adicional o exército nacional pode gerar meios não-militares de definir o conflito, incentivando a formação da burocracia e da economia nacionais. / The Democratic Republic of Congo has suffered, in the post-Cold War era, the most tragic moments in its history. The country was the place of the First Congo War and Second Congo War – this one also called "African World War" because it is the armed conflict that killed more since the Second World War (3.8 million people). However, even after the formal end of the conflagrations in 2003, the country is experiencing a "state violence", in which more than 1.6 million people died and hundreds of thousands are internally displaced, refugees or have been victims of sexual violence . Thus, the question that the research seeks to answer is "why, even after the formal peace, the state of violence remains in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)?" The argument suggested here is that the war continues in the DRC, since there was the definition of military conflict, the first step in the process of nation building. There is the persistence of armed groups against civilians and the central government, and in places where the coercive apparatus of the state is inefficient or nonexistent. This reality relates to the historical process of state building of the Congo, as well as the resolution of the African World War through mechanisms of negotiated peace, or power-sharing. The first chapter of this dissertation deals with theoretical and conceptual issues about the relationship between war and state in sub-Saharan Africa and the Congo. Subsequent chapters deal with the relationship between war and state building in post-independence Congo, studying three major wars occurred in the country and its relations with the process of state-building. The research suggests that the adoption of a Security Sector Reform focused on building the national army can bring the benefits of military conflict resolution mechanisms for negotiated peace. As an additional contribution, the national army can generate non-military means of defining the conflict, encouraging the formation of the bureaucracy and the national economy.

Submitted by Daniele Santos (danielesantos.htl@gmail.com) on 2017-06-06T18:33:40Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Thesis_Tania Ngo_Revised.pdf: 2343388 bytes, checksum: 712a5c30f8c6b9eddacef1040388043a (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Janete de Oliveira Feitosa (janete.feitosa@fgv.br) on 2017-06-06T20:10:30Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Thesis_Tania Ngo_Revised.pdf: 2343388 bytes, checksum: 712a5c30f8c6b9eddacef1040388043a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-21T13:08:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Thesis_Tania Ngo_Revised.pdf: 2343388 bytes, checksum: 712a5c30f8c6b9eddacef1040388043a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-05-02 / Affordability is a key concern of international donors who finance antiretroviral drugs to treat AIDS in Sub-Saharan African countries. The ability of Sub-Saharan Africa to reduce their prices below large-scale manufacturers in India is challenging. Additionally, these medicines must meet The World Health Organization prequalification standards. While the cost of second-line ARVs remains a concern, donors should also focus resources on other factors of ARV access, such as the supply of human resources for health, infrastructure and issues of sustainable financing. This research specifically aims to determine if the domestic production of
antiretroviral drugs can be a successful and viable option to increase access to ARVs in sub-Saharan Africa by using three case studies of Uganda, Kenya and The democratic Republic of Congo. The research is intended to explore a potentially economical way to provide ARVs to populations with HIV/AIDS in order to move away from a dependence on foreign aid, which does not guarantee continued long-term access to the medications. Since ARVs must be taken daily for the duration of the patient's life, it is important to develop ways to increase access to the medications in a manner that facilitates the long-term drug procurement. The success of local manufacturers then relies on the capacity of the firm to achieve two necessary elements of donor-financed requirements: international quality standards and economies of scale to lower price. I recommend that more countries in Africa should produce ARVs locally in order to lower to cost and increase accessibility, especially in small villages. Even though the current operation of local production has not led to a significant increase in access primarily due to market entry restrictions, this endeavor have the ability to amplify long-term access to affordable ARV drugs

A República Democrática do Congo tem sofrido, no período pós-Guerra Fria, os momentos mais trágicos de sua história. O país foi palco da Primeira Guerra do Congo e da Segunda Guerra do Congo – esta também chamada de "Guerra Mundial Africana", por ser o conflito armado que mais matou desde a Segunda Guerra Mundial (3,8 milhões de pessoas). Contudo, mesmo após o fim formal das conflagrações em 2003, o país vive um "estado de violência", no qual mais de 1,6 milhão de pessoas morreram e outras centenas de milhares estão deslocadas internamente, refugiadas ou têm sido vítimas de violência sexual. Destarte, a pergunta que a pesquisa procura responder é “por que, mesmo após a paz formal, o estado de violência permanece na República Democrática do Congo (RDC)?” O argumento aqui sugerido é que a guerra continua na RDC, pois não houve a definição militar do conflito, primeiro passo no processo de construção do Estado. Há a permanência de grupos armados que atuam contra as populações civis e o governo central, e em locais onde o aparelho coercitivo do Estado é ineficiente ou mesmo inexistente. Esta realidade se relaciona com o processo histórico de construção do Estado do Congo, bem como com a forma de resolução da Guerra Mundial Africana mediante mecanismos de paz negociada, ou power-sharing. O primeiro capítulo do trabalho trata de problemas teórico-conceituais sobre a relação entre guerra e Estado na África Subsaariana e no Congo. Os capítulos subseqüentes tratam sobre a relação entre guerra e construção do Estado no Congo pós-independência, estudando três guerras principais ocorridas no país e as suas relações com o processo de construção do Estado. A pesquisa sugere que a adoção de uma Reforma do Setor de Segurança voltada à construção do exército nacional pode trazer os benefícios da definição militar do conflito para os mecanismos de paz negociada. Como contribuição adicional o exército nacional pode gerar meios não-militares de definir o conflito, incentivando a formação da burocracia e da economia nacionais. / The Democratic Republic of Congo has suffered, in the post-Cold War era, the most tragic moments in its history. The country was the place of the First Congo War and Second Congo War – this one also called "African World War" because it is the armed conflict that killed more since the Second World War (3.8 million people). However, even after the formal end of the conflagrations in 2003, the country is experiencing a "state violence", in which more than 1.6 million people died and hundreds of thousands are internally displaced, refugees or have been victims of sexual violence . Thus, the question that the research seeks to answer is "why, even after the formal peace, the state of violence remains in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)?" The argument suggested here is that the war continues in the DRC, since there was the definition of military conflict, the first step in the process of nation building. There is the persistence of armed groups against civilians and the central government, and in places where the coercive apparatus of the state is inefficient or nonexistent. This reality relates to the historical process of state building of the Congo, as well as the resolution of the African World War through mechanisms of negotiated peace, or power-sharing. The first chapter of this dissertation deals with theoretical and conceptual issues about the relationship between war and state in sub-Saharan Africa and the Congo. Subsequent chapters deal with the relationship between war and state building in post-independence Congo, studying three major wars occurred in the country and its relations with the process of state-building. The research suggests that the adoption of a Security Sector Reform focused on building the national army can bring the benefits of military conflict resolution mechanisms for negotiated peace. As an additional contribution, the national army can generate non-military means of defining the conflict, encouraging the formation of the bureaucracy and the national economy.

Master of Science / Computing and Information Sciences / Eugene Vasserman / The increase in penetration of Internet technology throughout the world is bringing an increasing volume of user information online, and developing countries such as those of East Africa are included as contributors and consumers of this voluminous information. While we have seen concerns from other parts of the world regarding user privacy and security, very little is known of East African Internet users’ concern with their online information exposure. The aim of this study is to compare Internet user awareness and concerns regarding online privacy and security between East Africa (EA) and the United States (U.S.) and to determine any common attitudes and differences. The study followed a quantitative research approach, with the EA population sampled from the Open University of Tanzania, an open and distance-learning university in East Africa, and the U.S. population sampled from Kansas State University, a public university in the U.S. Online questionnaires were used as survey instruments. The results show no significant difference in awareness of online privacy between Internet users from East Africa and the U.S. There is however, significant difference in concerns about online privacy, which differ with the type of information shared. Moreover, the results have shown that the U.S. Internet users are more aware of online privacy concerns, and more likely to have taken measure to protect their online privacy and conceal their online presence, than the East African Internet users. This study has also shown that East Africans Internet users are more likely to be victims of online identity theft, security issues and reputation damage.

No description available.