Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Community work at the University of Zululand in the Department of Social Work, 2010. / The advent of the democratic transformation in South Africa during 1994, brought with it high hope that income , poverty and inequity would soon be significantly reduced from the high levels that existed during the Apartheid era. Though the development approach was adopted by the Department of Social Development in 1997, it has, however, not yet achieved its purpose. The poverty alleviation programme came as a ubstitut4 of maintenance grants. The grants were phased out in the period of three years whilst the Department of Social Development ws introducing the new approach of funding community projects. The study is about the impact of income generating projects by women in Utrecht area. The study was conducted on poverty alleviation projects funded by the Department of Social Development. An evaluative research method was followed in wwhich data was gathered through semi-structured interviews. A sample of twenty projects was drawn and respondents were interviewed where two were from each project. Related literature has been reviewed that focuses on poverty alleviation and income generating projects. .Various recommendations have been made on the findings of the study. The findings of the study indicated the need for training project members in capacity building. Project members also need to be motivated in one way or another so that they can develop a sense of ownership and work hard for the success of their own projects. Progress in poverty alleviation has been very slow and uneven. Community projects have failed poverty-stricken communities to improve their socio-economic standards. The research findings indicated clearly that the strategies and policies were not effective enough in achieving the desired goals of poverty alleviation. It has been noted that what actually made programmes for poverty alleviation to be disabled ea its implementation in the community.

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Community Work in the Department of Social Work at the University of Zululand, 2010. / Culturally determined gender roles restricted women’s freedom, choice and rights and as such, it is not surprising that women have long been neglected in development. It is only recently that attention was given to women and particularly rural women who are actively engaged in productive labor. At the Beijing plan of action conference in 1995, it was highlighted that though poverty affects men and women, but because of gender role and responsibility women bear a greater burden and it was recommended that: • Polices and programs for women be developed in order to alleviate poverty, with their full participation and respect for cultural diversity. • Mobilization to improve the effectiveness of anti-poverty programs directed at disadvantaged people. Several programs have been developed by the government in order to empower women. This study therefore is aimed at assessing the impact of social development programs on participating women at Amajuba district Municipality in KwaZulu Natal. These programs are developed by women and required their full participation. They are funded by the government for sustainability. The researcher’s respondents were selected from members who are participating. An evaluative research method was utilized as it assesses the implementation and usefulness of social interventions. Higson –Smith (1995:47) stated that evaluation research is aimed at testing interventions, to see how effective they are, and therefore, represents an important means of linking action and research in a constructive manner. Evaluation research can furnish evidence of the usefulness of a program. Findings revealed that women benefited through participation in these programs, as they were also capacitated on activities they were engaged in. They were not successful to generate enough income to sustain their families. Implementation of recommendations made on chapter 6 will develop projects to small businesses so that participants can maintain their families and, contribute to the economy of the country.

Collaborative products are created when physical components from two or more products are temporarily recombined to form another product capable of performing entirely new tasks. The method for designing collaborative products is useful in developing products with reduced cost, weight, and size. These reductions are valued in the developing world because collaborative products have a favorable task-per-cost ratio. In this paper, a method for designing collaborative products is introduced. The method identifies a set of products capable of being recombined into a collaborative product. These products are then designed to allow for this recombination. Three examples are provided to illustrate the method. These examples show that a collaborative block plane, apple peeler, and brick press, each created from a set of products, can increase the task-per-cost ratio of these products by 42%, 20%, and 30%, respectively. The author concludes that the method introduced herein provides a new and useful tool to design collaborative products and to engineer products that are valued in the developing world.

学位プログラム名: 京都大学大学院思修館 / 京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(総合学術) / 甲第24948号 / 総総博第30号 / 新制||総総||5(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院総合生存学館総合生存学専攻 / (主査)教授 IALNAZOV Dimiter Savov, 教授 長山 浩章, 准教授 関山 健 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Philosophy / Kyoto University / DGAM

Poverty is one of the most urgent problems on the international stage today. Although many strategies have been used to fight the escalation of poverty, each plan seems to ultimately fail. Micro-credit, an innovative and progressive idea, can be utilized as a successful and sustainable tool that works to empower people, by providing a means of improving one’s own economic situation. This research seeks to show that micro-credit is a useful way in which poverty can be alleviated in the developing world by fixing the root of the problem. Both Bolivia and Morocco are used as case studies to show that micro-credit is neither region nor context specific, and that ultimately this is the best tool to fight poverty in the developing world. Additionally, this research sheds light on the idea that supporting micro-credit institutions is ultimately in the best interest for all involved in the international community.

No description available.

This study sought to analyse the role of foreign aid in poverty alleviation and economic development of Ghana from 1957 to 2008. Literature related to the study on foreign aid and economic development was reviewed to get an insight into the views of other writers on the topic under study. The study adopted both primary and secondary sources of data to examine the concept of foreign aid, poverty reduction and economic development in Ghana. The study collected data using qualitative interviews consisting of open- and close-ended questions from the field. Content analysis involving the use of existing materials by researchers and the analyses of data originally collected by others was also relied on as a complement to the primary sources in the study. The study found that donor aid is not well coordinated in Ghana because of the proliferation of donor agencies in the country. Though aid is provided to the Ghanaian economy to address poverty and economic development challenges, the study found that foreign aid did not achieve the set objectives because of poor management of donor resources. This study, therefore, recommends that the informal economy should be promoted with funding from microfinance as an alternative to donor-driven development to effectively harness the natural resources in the country for development. / Development Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Development Studies)

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 20-23, 2003 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / During certain hypersonic flight regimes, shock heating of air creates a plasma sheath resulting in telemetry attenuation or blackout. The severity of the signal attenuation is dependent on vehicle configuration, flight trajectory, and transmission frequency. This phenomenon is investigated with a focus placed on the nonequilibrium plasma sheath properties (electron concentration, plasma frequency, collision frequency, and temperature) for a range of flight conditions and vehicle design considerations. Trajectory and transmission frequency requirements for air-breathing hypersonic vehicle design are then addressed, with comparisons made to both shuttle orbiter and RAM-C II reentry flights.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 21, 2002 / Town & Country Hotel and Conference Center, San Diego, California / Problems associated with telemetry blackout caused by the plasma sheath surrounding a hypersonic vehicle are addressed. In particular, the critical nature of overcoming this limitation for test and evaluation purposes is detailed. Since the telemetry blackout causes great concern for atmospheric cruise vehicles, ballistic missiles, and reentry vehicles, there have been many proposed approaches to solving the problem. This paper overviews aerodynamic design methodologies, for which the required technologies are only now being realized, which may allow for uninterrupted transmission through a plasma sheath. The severity of the signal attenuation is dependent on vehicle configuration, trajectory, flightpath, and mission.

This thesis analyses the dynamics, complexities and numerous obstacles that serve to constrain rural development within the ‡Khomani Community of the Northern Cape Province, South Africa. Following the end of Apartheid, given the disparity in wealth evident among the country’s population, in 1994, the South African Government embarked on a process to address inequality. In regard to the rural poor, who constitute the majority of the country’s poor, the Government envisioned that a more equitable distribution of land would result in economic development and poverty alleviation for land reform beneficiaries. Consequently, a Land Reform Policy was introduced, which was used by the ‡Khomani Bushmen to reclaim ancestral land in South Africa’s rural Northern Cape in 1999. More than ten years on, however, the living conditions of the ‡Khomani have not improved, and the Community continues to live in poverty. Despite the award of land and financial input from government and development agencies, the ‡Khomani have no basic services and are unable to significantly diversify or increase livelihood strategies. Multiple factors including a lack of Community cohesion and capacity, limited opportunities due to remote rural location, and the inability of government and development actors to successfully apply effective interventions, serve to constrain development, and maintain ‡Khomani disempowerment. The thesis argues that governments, development institutions and actors must recognise the need for a multidimensional approach to development to alleviate poverty, while recognising the limits of external actors and the role of communities in this regard. Essentially, sustainable rural development will only ensue when communities are able to make effective decisions based on meaningful choices.