Background: Women's empowerment is hypothesized as a predictor of reproductive health outcomes. It is believed that empowered girls and women are more likely to delay marriage, plan their pregnancies, receive prenatal care, and have their childbirth attended by a skilled health provider. The objective of this study was to assess the association between women's empowerment and use of modern contraception among a representative sample of Nigerian women. Methods: This study used the 2003, 2008, and 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey data. The analytic sample was restricted to 35,633 women who expressed no desire to have children within 2 years following each survey, were undecided about timing for children, and who reported no desire for more children. Measures of women's empowerment included their ability to partake in decisions pertaining to their healthcare, large household purchases, and visit to their family or relatives. Multivariable regression models adjusting for respondent's age at first birth, religion, education, wealth status, number of children, and geopolitical region were used to measure the association between empowerment and use of modern contraceptives. Results: The proportion of women who participated in decisions to visit their relatives increased from 42.5% in 2003 to 50.6% in 2013. The prevalence of women involved in decision-making related to large household purchases increased from 24.3% in 2003 to 41.1% in 2013, while the proportion of those who partook in decision related to their health care increased from 28.4% in 2003 to 41.9% in 2013. Use of modern contraception was positively associated with women's participation in decisions related to large household purchases [2008: adjusted OR (aOR) = 1.15; 95% CI = 1.01-1.31] and (2013; aOR = 1.60; 1.40-1.83), health care [2008: (aOR = 1.20; 1.04-1.39) and (2013; aOR = 1.39; 1.22-1.59)], and visiting family or relatives [2013; aOR = 1.58; 1.36-1.83]. The prevalence of modern contraceptive use among women with need for contraception increased marginally from 11.1% in 2003 to 12.8% in 2013.

<p> This case study was designed to explore policies that were in place to attract, recruit, and retain qualified faculty for 4 community colleges in Sierra Leone. The research was necessitated by the apparent inability of Sierra Leone educators to train and retain faculty possessing the required academic credentials. The research questions were designed to address the policies and strategies used to attract and recruit faculty, better prepare faculty, improve the quality of classroom instruction, and retain qualified faculty at community colleges. The literature review yielded results about the benefits of community colleges in developing countries, thus reinforcing the need for qualified faculty. Case study methodology and open-ended interviews with 12 purposely selected participants were used to ensure trustworthiness and reveal the essential characteristics of how community colleges in Sierra Leone may succeed in faculty attraction, recruitment, and retention. Participants reported that word of mouth solicitation was the primary method for faculty recruitment, and that the top challenge faced by these institutions was fiscal constraints. Although findings from this study are specific to 4 institutions, they may serve as a guide for qualified faculty retention at all community colleges in Sierra Leone, and hopefully bring about social change by improving academic excellence throughout the country.</p><p>

No abstract available. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

Magister Public Health - MPH / The study utilized a qualitative case study design to explore the problem of poor access to ART in Benue State. PLWHAs, policy makers, program managers and health workers were involved in an effort to describe the factors influencing access to ART in the State. Semi structured interviews, exit interviews and focus group discussions were used. To analyse the findings, categorization was done into facilitators and barriers to access, in addition to the ways respondents believe these barriers can be overcome. Other sub-themes were also identified and sorted. Themes were linked to direct quotes from the respondents. Additional literature review was done to review available information on the themes identified. Facilitators of access included free cost and increased number of sites; beneficial effects of ART; disclosure, membership in a support group and having a treatment partner. Barriers included stigma and discrimination; hunger, poverty, transportation and opportunity costs; hospital factors; non-disclosure; inaccurate knowledge and perceptions about HIV and ART; certain religious beliefs and advice; coverage, capping of services and fear of non-availability of ART. In addition to stigma, patients bypass closer ART access points to further away hospitals because of business opportunities; financial assistance; perceived better standard of care and hope that a cure, when found, will be more accessible to patients in bigger hospitals. / South Africa

Magister Public Health - MPH / At the end of 2008, Nigeria had the third largest number of people living with HIV/AIDS(PLWHA) in the world, with an estimated 2.95 million people and an average prevalence rate of 4.6%. According to the 2008 prevalence survey, prevalence rates in Nigeria’s 36 states and capital ranges between 1.0% in Ekiti State, to 10.6% in Benue.In Benue State, as at December 2008, only 12% of those requiring treatment were enrolled in an ART programme and only about half of the 23 Local Government Areas (LGAs) had a health centre providing ART services. There are several possible causes for poor coverage of ART services. This study explores some of the barriers preventing PLWHAs from accessing treatment in Benue State.The study utilized a qualitative case study design to explore the problem of poor access to ART in Benue State. PLWHAs, policy makers, program managers and health workers were involved in an effort to describe the factors influencing access to ART in the State. Semi structured interviews, exit interviews and focus group discussions were used.To analyse the findings, categorization was done into facilitators and barriers to access, in addition to the ways respondents believe these barriers can be overcome. Other sub-themes were also identified and sorted. Themes were linked to direct quotes from the respondents. Additional literature review was done to review available information on the themes identified. Facilitators of access included free cost and increased number of sites; beneficial effects of ART;disclosure, membership in a support group and having a treatment partner. Barriers included stigma and discrimination; hunger, poverty, transportation and opportunity costs; hospital factors; non-disclosure; inaccurate knowledge and perceptions about HIV and ART; certain religious beliefs and advice; coverage, capping of services and fear of non-availability of ART.In addition to stigma, patients bypass closer ART access points to further away hospitals because of business opportunities; financial assistance; perceived better standard of care and hope that a cure, when found, will be more accessible to patients in bigger hospitals.In conclusion, improving health worker attitudes through training; reselection of non-ARV drugs used in HIV management to ensure an uninterrupted supply; highlighting the importance of membership in a support group through patient enlightenment; working with religious leaders to reduce stigma and improve access; income-generating programs for patients; decentralization of ART services and upgrading of primary healthcare centres are important strategies to improve ART access in the state.

This master's thesis deals with the topic of poverty in developing countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. The goal of the thesis is to identify the factors of poverty in this region and suggest possible solutions to the problem. The main causes of deprivation in the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa are deemed to be the governance system, war conflicts, dependence on natural resources and an insufficiently diversified economy. All these factors are applied to the example of Nigeria, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Gabon. In order to make aid from more advanced countries more effective, it is proposed to participate more in the resolution of conflicts as a mediator in the negotiation, rather than trying to reform the developing countries politically.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is a significant source of capital for economic growth in developing countries. The increasing financial links across countries, especially between industrial and developing countries have been associated with the liberalization of international financial markets. Moreover, globalization in production, due to technological innovations in communications and transport coupled with better policies in developing countries, are often considered to be the primary forces that drove globalization and foreign direct investment in the 1990s and recent times. The literature on FDI can be categorised into three main groups: the first group investigates the effect of FDI on macroeconomic indicators, such as economic growth, exchange rate, rate of inflation, balance of payments, and rate of unemployment. The second group examines the impact of FDI on different factors such as technology transfer to recipient countries, management practices by national firms, and labour skill and productivities in hosting countries. The third group focuses on the characteristics of FDI and the driving forces for its inflows and outflows to different countries. This research focuses on the latter strand thereby enabling an investigation of the location characteristics of MNEs location decision in the banking sector. The main aim of this thesis is to examine and analyse FDI location characteristics in the Ghanaian banking sector. This has been achieved by making use of both qualitative and quantitative data series’ to ascertain whether the major location factors are the characteristics/determinants of MNEs location decision in relation to a specific industry (banking) and a specific country (Ghana). Using a multimethod approach, the findings of this thesis reveal that political and legal factors are very significant, followed by macroeconomic policy factors and infrastructure factors. Market factors and labour market factors which have been found in previous studies (Lall 2001; Asiedu; 2003; Dunning 2004; Helpman; 2006 and Felbermayr et al. 2011) to be important determinants of FDI inflows have been found in this thesis to be the least important factors for MNEs’ location decision in relation to FDI inflows to Ghana.

A model of development aid, which has been known for more than 50 years is clearly ineffective in Sub-Saharan Africa. This is because such assistance demonstrably negatively affects local governments and strongly contributes to the proliferation of corruption and deterioration of the elements od democracy. The theory of the vicious circle of poverty as one of the main arguments of the proponents of this aid is refuted in the thesis and replaced by the theory of the vicious circle of political instability, which is associated with that governments and their policies. It is necessary tu support a citizens' initiative, which will seek the establishment of democratic institutions, not governments, which are responsible for poverty of their country. Development aid is not the only thing that harms poor countries. Less visible, but with a strong negative effect there are protectionist measures in the form of non-tariff barriers, the Common Agricultural Policy of the EU and its export subsidies, or debt relief of bad governemtns. The failure of these policies are so fundamental that the best advice would probably be to end the government subsidies for poor countries and a focus on small development projects helping specific people, instead of grand plans and aid volumes sounding into space.

The main goal of master thesis is to proof that investment into renewable energy may have a positive impact on standard of living for local community and the region of Sub-Saharan Africa. The thesis is divided into three main chapters, while the first one is dedicated to detailed analysis of renewable energies, demographic and geographical indicators, the second one is focused on investment and financing of energy projects. The last chapter leads readers through case study of small hydropower plant into findings that are essential in proving the main idea of whole thesis.

The aim of the theses is to identify long-term consequences of the clash of African and European cultures and its current political, economic and social consequences on the contemporary Sub-Saharan Africa. In the methodological part the terms of socio-cultural complex, socio-cultural structure, clash of civilizations and culture gap are explained, followed by the basic characteristics of African culture and a brief outline of the local history with a special emphasis put on the historical influences of Europe. The application part is divided into three sections according to the areas in which the effects of culture gap are analysed - namely political, economic and social spheres. Each area is further divided into four parts that using specific examples describe consequences of the clash of European and African cultures in contemporary Sub-Saharan Africa.