Malaria, caused by the Plasmodium parasite and transmitted by mosquitoes, kills almost half a million people each year. Drug resistance in both the parasite and its vector make preventative measures increasingly important, and a fully protective vaccine is absolutely necessary to eradicate the disease. However, genetic diversity of the parasite makes vaccine development difficult. One of the best vaccine candidates is MSP2, a surface protein present during the blood stage of P. falciparum infection. Antibodies, which are important for natural immunity, have been shown to bind MSP2 and prevent parasite infection of blood cells. The purpose of this study was to analyze MSP2 sequence diversity in a cohort of patients infected while traveling or living in sub-Saharan Africa, and to investigate patient antibody responses to MSP2 variants infecting other individuals. Parasite isolates from our cohort were made up of 47% 3D7 alleles and 53% FC27 alleles. Protein sequences showed similar levels of conservation within allelic families, and blocks of conserved amino acids between different variants suggest there may be epitopes that can induce antibody production targeting multiple variants. Antibody reactivity tests suggest the variable region of MSP2 is important for antibody binding to variants of the same allelic type, while the conserved region is important for reactivity to different allelic types. This thesis gives evidence to the importance of including epitopes from conserved and variable regions of both MSP2 allelic families in order to induce strain-transcending immunity against P. falciparum malaria. / A genomic surveillance platform for indel-rich genes from Plasmodium spp. using long-read amplicon sequencing

Det har länge pågått diskussioner om hur förhållandet mellan inflation och ekonomisk tillväxt ser ut och vilken påverkan, inflation har på ekonomisk tillväxt. I denna uppsats analyseras relationen mellan inflation och ekonomisk tillväxt inom OECD-länder samt Subsahariska Afrika med hjälp av paneldata från tidperioden 2002–2021. Studien använder BNP per capita tillväxt som beroende variabel samt sju oberoende variabler (inflation, initial BNP per capita, befolkningstillväxt, handel, investeringar, statliga utgifter och finansiellt djup) för att utforma en regressionsmodell.  Regressionsmodellen genomfördes med fixed effects för att kontrollera icke observerade länder med specifika egenskaper och tidsrelaterade chocker. Resultaten i studien visar att det finns ett negativ samband mellan inflation och ekonomisk tillväxt som är statistik signifikant. / There have long been discussions about what the relationship between inflation and economic growth looks like and what impact inflation have on economic growth. In this essay, the relationship between inflation and economic growth is analysed within OECD countries and Sub-saharan Africa in the time period 2002 – 2021 using paneldata. The thesis uses GDP per capita growth as the dependent variable as well as seven independent variables (inflation, initial GDP per capita, population growth, trade, investment, government expenditures and financial depth) to design a regression model. The regression is carried out with fixed effects to control for unobserved countries specifics charactheritstics and time related shocks . The results in the study shows that there exist a negativ relationship between inflation and economic growth which is statistical significant.

Introduktion: Covid-19-pandemin och dess förebyggande åtgärder har fått många länder i subsahariska Afrika att kämpa för att tillhandahålla grundläggande hälso- och sjukvårdstjänster till sina befolkningar i redan ansträngda hälsosystem. På grund av pandemin har störningar i rutinmässiga grundläggande hälso- och sjukvårdstjänster som malariakontroll i subsahariska Afrika rapporterats som utbredda med allvarliga konsekvenser såsom ökad dödlighet. Syfte: Denna studie syftar därför till att undersöka hur Covid-19-pandemin och dess förebyggande åtgärder har påverkat tillhandahållande av viktiga malariahälsovårdstjänster, behandling- och förebyggande insatser i subsahariska Afrika. Metod: En systematisk litteraturstudie där en induktiv tematisk analys var utfört på 22 vetenskapliga artiklar som hade erhållits från databaserna PubMed, CINAHL och SCOPUS. Resultat: Det rapporterades en minskning av konsultationer och totala besök till sjukvårdsinrättningar, förseningar och störningar i snabb diagnos och behandling av malaria, förändrat hälsosökandebeteende, förseningar i genomförandet av nyckelinterventioner mot malaria samt nedläggning av malariaprogram. Det fanns också mindre information till befolkningen om andra sjukdomar och vikten av att söka hälso- och sjukvård snabbt. Slutsats: Det behövs mer innovativa strategier för att utbilda och göra befolkningar medvetna om olika hälsoproblem och vikten av att söka hälso- och sjukvård snabbt. Det behövs mer forskning som fokuserar på att analysera olika länders strategier i hantering av en pandemi samt andra utmanande sjukdomar eftersom detta kan vara användbart i framtiden vid en liknande kris. / Introduction: The Covid-19 pandemic and its mitigation measures has left many countries in sub-Saharan Africa struggling to provide essential health services to their populations in already crippled health systems. Due to the panemic, disruptions of routine essential health services such as malaria control in sub-Saharan Africa have been reported as being widespread with dire consequencies such as increased mortality. Aim: This study therefore aims to investigate how the Covid-19 pandemic and its prevention measures has affected delivery of essential malaria health care services, treatment and prevention in sub-Saharan Africa countries. Method: This is a systematic literature review that involved an inductive thematic analysis of 22 scientific articles obtained from the databases of PubMed, CINAHL and SCOPUS. Results: There was a decrease in consultations and overall visits to health facilities, delays and disruptions in prompt diagnos and treatment of malaria, altered health-seeking behavior, delays in implementing key malaria interventions as well as closure of malaria programs. There was also less information to populations about other diseases and importance of seeking health care. Conclusion: There is need for more innovative strategies to educate and sensitize populations on different health issues and the importance of seeking prompt health care. There is need for more research that focus on analysing different countries’ strategies in dealing with a pandemic as well as other challenging diseases as this could be useful in the future in times of a similar crisis.

Le principal dessein de cette recherche consiste à suggérer une nouvelle hypothèse pour rendre intelligible la fabrique des constitutions en Afrique et partant rouvrir l’instance pendante du « procès en mimétisme » dont elle a longtemps été l’objet. Tout au long de leur histoire, les pays d’Afrique subsaharienne ont été imprégnés de représentations contradictoires du politique, justifiant ainsi le caractère ambivalent des structures politiques actuelles qui d’une certaine façon porte l’empreinte de ce processus de gestation troublée. Le processus de structuration politique de ces États amorcé depuis la période coloniale s’apparente à un « roman à la chaine » dont les chapitres n’ont pas cessé de se faire et de se défaire, à plusieurs « mains », locale et occidentale, à l’épreuve de cultures différentes. L’ordre constitutionnel qui en résulte renferme des références identitaires distinctes voire antinomiques, ayant une configuration protéiforme. Ce faisant, le constitutionnalisme des pays d’Afrique subsaharienne semble s’être installé dans l’hybride à la jonction des orientations inspirées par les États « du Nord » et réinterprétées par ceux qu’on dit « du Sud ». La circulation des modèles constitutionnels ou des « cultures constitutionnelles » en Afrique subsaharienne s’accompagne ainsi d’une réappropriation contextuelle. Tout se passe alors comme si le constitutionnalisme de ces pays était pris dans un tourbillon tissé d’imaginaires imbriqués. Il en résulte une tension entre les « standards constitutionnels » occidentaux et « les localismes constitutionnels ». On est donc loin de l’espace de mimesis, ou de celui de « l’isomorphisme constitutionnel » suggéré par certains auteurs comme paradigme explicatif du constitutionnalisme en Afrique. Nous suggérons plutôt l’idée d’un « polymorphisme constitutionnel » qui résulte d’une ré-imagination constitutionnelle néanmoins inachevée. Cette étude en fera la démonstration. / The main purpose of this research is to suggest a new hypothesis to make intelligible the making of constitutions in Africa and thus reopen the pending instance of the "mimicry trial" of which it has long been the object. Throughout their history, the countries of sub-Saharan Africa have been imbued with contradictory representations of politics, thus justifying the ambivalent nature of current political structures which in a way bears the indelible imprint of this process of troubled gestation. The process of political structuring of the States of sub-Saharan Africa initiated since the colonial period is similar to a "chain novel" whose chapters have not ceased to be made and undone, with several "hands", local and Western, to the test of distinct cultures. The resulting constitutional order contains distinct and even contradictory identity references, with a protean configuration. In doing so, the constitutionalism of the countries of sub-Saharan Africa seems to have settled in the hybrid at the junction of the orientations inspired by the States "of the North" and reinterpreted by those who are said to be "of the South". The circulation of constitutional models or “constitutional cultures” in sub-Saharan Africa is therefore accompanied by a contextual reappropriation. Everything then happens as if the constitutionalism of African countries were caught in a whirlwind woven of intertwined imaginaries. The result is a tension between Western “constitutional standards” and “constitutional localisms”. We are far from the space of mimesis, or that of “constitutional isomorphism” suggested by certain authors as an explanatory paradigm of constitutionalism in Africa. Rather, we suggest the idea of a “constitutional polymorphism” that results from an unfinished constitutional re-imagining. This study will demonstrate this.

A challenge when reforming public management is the potential risk of side effects as policy intentions often come with unintended consequences in practice. For the field of International Relations (IR), management reforms affecting the foreign service are particularly relevant as they go beyond the domestic context with potential implications also for state relations with foreign publics. However, little academic attention has been directed towards visa management, which serves not only as a consular function of the diplomatic missions but also plays a key role in facilitating their diplomatic functions as stated in the Vienna Convention. Employing the theoretical perspectives of New Public Management (NPM) and The Visa Dimension of Public Diplomacy, this thesis investigates the intentions and outcomes of Sweden's decision to regionalise its Schengen visa management in Sub-Saharan Africa. The inquiry is based on 15 semi-structured interviews with public officials currently or formerly working at the Swedish Migration Agency, the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Swedish embassies in Abuja, Addis Abeba, Dar es Salaam, Lusaka, Nairobi and Pretoria. The thesis finds the regionalisation of Sweden's Schengen visa management to be an NPM-inspired reform intended to establish economies of scale in visa management. While the reform was motivated to improve cost efficiency and quality in terms of increased uniformity and legal certainty in visa processing, it was meantime anticipated to come with challenges related to resource allocation, transfer of local competence and service delivery to applicants. In practice, the reform has led to permanent side effects on applicants by making the visa process more time-consuming and expensive from a user perspective. Thus, the thesis concludes the regionalisation of the Schengen visa management to be an NPM-inspired reform that focused too narrowly on internal efficiency gains that it overlooked the negative effects on applicants to the detriment of Swedish diplomatic functions in Sub-Saharan Africa.

In  Kenya, lack of clean cooking services affect around 80 % of the population. A range of improved cookstoves (ICS) have been produced to address this. This study aims to investigate the long-term usage of an improved stove, the biochar producing gasifier. The stove was distributed to 150 rural households divided between three regions in Kenya, in a research project in 2016. This follow-up study looked at areas of stove satisfaction and dissatisfaction among participants, as well as identifying key factors which separate users from non-users. All 150 were asked a few questions over the phone and 30 were visited for in-depth, survey-based interviews. Most households used the traditional three stone open fire stove for everyday purposes, sometimes complemented by the gasifier or other ICSs[CS1] [CS2] . 60 % of households used the gasifier at least monthly. Users and non-users rated the gasifier stove similarly. They varied in terms of stove ownership with users owning on average half a stove more than non-users. User households were generally larger. The gasifier was a fuel efficient stove and created little smoke, but was considered too small and required tiresome fuel preparation. The reported problems cannot be fixed unless thoroughly changing the stove design and possibly the gasification process itself, and without addressing them the gasifier is unlikely to replace the three stone stove. The study recognizes the potential of the gasifier as an improved stove, but calls for creative redesign in order to achieve mass adoption. / I Kenya påverkar bristen på matlagningsutrustning som är säker ur hälso- och miljösynpunkt runt 80 % av befolkningen. Traditionellt lagas mat över öppen  eld. En mängd spisar har producerats i syfte att förändra detta. I denna studie undersöktes långtidsanvändningen av en spis, en biokolsproducerande förgasningsspis. Spisen delades ut till 150 hushåll på landsbygden, jämnt fördelade på tre regioner i landet i ett forskningsprojekt år 2016-7. Denna uppföljningsstudie tittar på vilka aspekter hos spisen som forskningsdeltagarna tyckt om respektive funnit utmanande, samt vad som skiljde användare från de som slutat använda spisen. En kort telefonintervju gjordes med alla, och med 30 gjordes djupgående, enkätbaserade intervjuer. Resultaten visade att de flesta hushåll lagade mat över öppen eld till vardags, ibland kompletterat med förgasningsspisen eller andra spisar. 60 % av hushållen använde förgasningsspisen  minst en gång i månaden. Användare och icke-användare hade liknande åsikter om förgasningsspisen. Användare ägde i genomsnitt en halv spis mer än icke-användare. Hushåll som använde förgasningsspisen var generellt sett större. Förgasningsspisen ansågs vara en bränslesnål spis och bara skapa en liten mängd rök, men ansågs vara för liten. Den krävde också mer ansträngande bränsleförberedning. De rapporterade problemen går inte att åtgärda utan att ändra förgasningsspisens design i grunden och eventuellt själva förgasningprocessen, och utan att åtgärda dem kommer förgasningsspisen sannolikt inte att ersätta matlagning över öppen eld. Studien understryker förgasningsspisen potential, men kräver kreativ omdesign för att uppnå massanvändning.

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Human trafficking is an ever-growing crime in this century. It is estimated that there are 29.8 million slaves around the world today - 16.36% of which are located in sub-Saharan Africa. The sub-Saharan region is a region in which human trafficking is combatted ineffectively due to a lack of food, lack of access to education, lack of post-education opportunities and lack of proper legislation. This thesis explores the environment in which human trafficking is taking place in sub-Saharan Africa, and proposes potential changes that will theoretically disallow human trafficking to take place in the region. The only way in which an environment conducive to trafficking in persons will ever change is through establishing partnerships amongst governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and other international organizations. Through the analysis of case law from the United Nations Human Trafficking Case Law Database, data from the World Bank, the United States State Department Trafficking in Persons Reports, the United Nations Global Reports on Human Trafficking, and various reports from NGOs, this thesis evaluates the approaches taken by various governments in sub-Saharan Africa to change the environment in which human trafficking thrives. Through raising awareness of the environment of sub-Saharan Africa, and by describing three ways in which human trafficking can be combatted effectively, such as the use of food, education, and the law, this thesis contributes not only to the legal discipline, but also to helping combat trafficking in persons effectively throughout the world.

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