While most of the world has been able to dramatically reduce extreme poverty rates, Sub-Saharan Africa has failed to do so and is the only region in the world with more people living in extreme poverty than thirty years ago. This thesis will develop a policy framework for alleviating poverty by drawing from countries that are performing surprisingly well and poorly in the region. The thesis concludes with an analysis of whether education, health, or agricultural sectors should be receiving more or less funding based on expected rates of return and the feasibility of policy successes.

How a single party and personal dictatorship survive has been a question of much debate among scholars. Geddes (1999, 2003) creates a model to determine which survives the longest. Within her model, she finds that a single party dictatorship – one with a party apparatus – survives longer than a personal dictatorship – one where a single person has sole policymaking ability. She argues that the fundamental difference between the two is how each treats the opposition. The party apparatus allows a single party dictatorship the means to silence the opposition by coopting it into the party structure whereas a personal dictatorship must rely on the wealthy and military to keep any opposition at bay. With a single party dictatorship being able to coalesce the opposition, this dictatorship is more stable and survives longer. I agree with Geddes’ reasoning and seek to clarify how this situation works in Sub-Saharan Africa. I argue that a single party dictatorship can silence and use religious leaders in the opposition to gain support from the religious leaders’ followers. This additional support from the religious leaders and the followers makes single party dictatorships survive longer than personal dictatorships in Sub-Saharan Africa. In this research, I explain the importance of religion as a variable for dictatorship survival research in Sub-Saharan Africa. I show that religious leaders have a certain level of control over followers and if coopted by a dictatorship, religious leaders’ control garners support among followers. I further explain how religious leaders are in the opposition and therefore can only be coopted by a single party dictatorship. I conclude by showing that religious leaders increase a single party dictatorship’s survival likelihood.

Masters of Science / Background: In Africa, traditional medicine (TM) practice has been in existence since time immemorial as the major source of pharmacotherapy. However, unlike orthodox medicines TM policies and regulations are not formalised let alone standardised. African nations have different approaches and regulatory requirements whereas in some states policies are even non-existent. Aim: The aim of the mini thesis was to assess the current policies and guidelines for regulation of TM in five selected sub-Saharan African countries relative to the WHO recommendations on traditional medicine policy. Method: The mini thesis was a desk review of current policy frameworks and guidelines for regulation of traditional medicines relative to WHO recommendations on TM policy in sub- Saharan Africa using five selected countries. Result: The results from the five selected countries showed significant difference in the current policies and guidelines on the regulation of TM, but no significant difference in the actual WHO TM policy indicators that the countries implemented. Discussion: Regularisation of TM practice by integrating it into main health systems could make it more acceptable. The complexity of TM/herbal products needs a different yet integrated approach. Harmonisation of regulatory requirements eliminates the need for redundant testing, ensures consistency across regions and improves implementation of WHO TM policy indicators.

Over the past three decades, the HIV epidemic has gained a stranglehold in sub-Saharan Africa, where 10% of the worlds population comprises more than 60% of all people living with the disease. Recent initiatives to boost prevention and treatment interventions are beginning to yield modest but promising results, as infection rates slowly start to stabilize. However, continued improvement will require aggressive and unrelenting efforts to prepare and equip a workforce for the tremendous challenges that remain. The purpose of this critical ethnography was to explore the impact of an intensive 6-month HIV/AIDS education program on the lives of 24 Ugandan registered nurses and nurse-midwives who worked at a large referral hospital. The study began following completion of the course and involved participant observation and semi-structured interviews for 18 weeks over a 2-year period. The findings are presented in this dissertation, which consists of four published or publishable manuscripts along with introductory and concluding chapters. The first paper describes the impact of education on the personal, professional, and social lives of the participants, and provides an account of their new ways of viewing themselves as nurses, leaders, and advocates. The second paper addresses ethical issues concerning the conduct of research in international settings. The third paper identifies the phenomenon of moral distress as it manifested in the participants, and the effects of education on their ability to transform practice and attitudes. The final paper examines the congruence between the critical qualitative methodology used in the study and the concept of cultural safety in the context of international nursing research. The dissertation concludes with a discussion of the crucial role of continuing professional education for the development of a strong and responsive nursing workforce that is prepared to contribute leadership and vision to addressing the obstacles presented by HIV and AIDS. Dealing effectively with the epidemic requires numerous interventions at various levels; the potential synergies offered by a small investment in education may have far-reaching effects. Finally, implications for nursing practice are presented along with suggestions for further research.

Abstract The main objective of our paper is to investigate whether expansion in exports can lead to improve economic growth of Sub-Saharan African countries for the period 1970-2006. Four macro economic indicators (real GDP, Trade balance, Government expenditure and Investment) are used in our model to carry out our analysis concerning Sub Saharan African countries. Time series techniques such as unit root test (Augmented Dickey Fuller test) and co integration test (Johansen’s procedure) are used to find out whether there is a long run relationship between economic growth and trade balance. The results of the unit root test indicate that all series are stationary after first difference, with I (1). Johansen’s co integration test showed that co integration (long run relationship) exists between GDP and Trade balance, as we got significant eigenvalues and found co integration between all of the four variables which shows that they are co integrated with each other and indicates a long run relationship. Our results indicate that for the time period of 1970 to 2006, Sub Saharan African countries experienced a simultaneous increase in economic growth and trade balance as well as in investment and Govt expenditure.   Key words: exports, economic growth, unit root, co integration, Sub-Saharan Africa

By investigating the business environment in Sub-Saharan Africa from an institutional theory perspective, the purpose of this thesis is to explain organizational response to the forces of this particular institutional environment. Coercive, normative and mimetic pressures serve as the basis for explaining the institutional environment. The organizations respond to these pressures by seeking legitimacy from the environment. The study is based on a qualitative research method relying on qualitative secondary data. Additionally a questionnaire was sent out to a limited number of experts to validate the findings. The main conclusion of this thesis is that networks are formed on the basis of norms and cultural processes working upon organizations in order to counter balance malfunctioning regulatory institutions. It has been revealed that organizations cannot rely solely on their response to coercive pressures for legitimacy. Normative aspects in networks are formed through repeated transactions that create trust and reputation between business partners that lead to legitimacy. Moreover, it is difficult for organizations to construct a proper response to cultural pressures since they stem primarily from heritage and ethnicity.

Becoming an effective agent of development in the challenging and complex context of the development NGO in Sub-Saharan Africa necessitates prioritizing learning and adaptation. But NGOs are often not characterized by such a strong learning culture and commitment; and Christian NGOs are no exception. Reforming both the commitment to learning and the structures that support it is a pressing challenge facing Christian NGOs committed to being effective agents of development. Such reform requires careful analysis of the context of Sub-Saharan Africa, special consideration of the complex broader socio-political structure of the NGO world, and systematic research into understanding organizational dynamics that facilitate learning. Data from this research contributes to building an integrated learning model. Applying this model through a case study of specific Christian NGO—World Vision Burundi—leads to both identifying factors that undermine learning and proposing a set of recommendations that will help this NGO become a more effective learning organization.

This Bachelors thesis has been written with the goal to learn how five Namibian newspapers are portraying ethnic minorities. A secondary goal has been to earn knowledge in how Namibian journalists think when writing about ethnic minorities. The analysed newspaper, Informanté, Namibian Sun, New Era, The Namibian and Windhoek Observer, are all written in English and has their head offices in the capital of Namibia, Windhoek. Both editors and reporters have been interviewed from these five newspapers.Two methods have been used in this thesis. Quantitative content analysis of articles found in newspapers during three weeks in November, 2011, a total of 55 articles were found containing the names of minorities. A qualitative method of interviews was then conducted with reporters and editors at the newspapers that were part of the research.The main theories of the thesis are Denis McQuail‟s version of agenda-setting, McQuail‟s theory on communicator-audience relations and Teun A. van Dijk‟s theory about the media‟s role as a reproductive part in the construction of stereotypes.The results show that 12.3 % of the analysed articles are mentioning ethnic minorities. In these, persons from the minorities seldom play an active part. The most featured minority was the Herero. Politics is the dominant subject in articles mentioning ethnic minorities, followed by racism/tribalism and tribal culture.In the interviews with the Namibian journalists, it is evident that there is a great will to emphasize the issues of the ethnic minorities. Most journalists regard their role as important in influencing people and therefore have a responsibility towards their readers.

Sub-Saharan Africa is a region plagued by the spread of HIV/AIDS. While many individuals have devoted their careers to preventing new diagnoses of the disease, one crucial population is often neglected. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the degree to which the psychological needs of those orphaned by HIV/AIDS are addressed in three prominent interventions. After evaluating institutionalization, foster care, and community-based care in Sub-Saharan Africa, a model for effective intervention is proposed.

Becoming an effective agent of development in the challenging and complex context of the development NGO in Sub-Saharan Africa necessitates prioritizing learning and adaptation. But NGOs are often not characterized by such a strong learning culture and commitment; and Christian NGOs are no exception. Reforming both the commitment to learning and the structures that support it is a pressing challenge facing Christian NGOs committed to being effective agents of development. Such reform requires careful analysis of the context of Sub-Saharan Africa, special consideration of the complex broader socio-political structure of the NGO world, and systematic research into understanding organizational dynamics that facilitate learning. Data from this research contributes to building an integrated learning model. Applying this model through a case study of specific Christian NGO—World Vision Burundi—leads to both identifying factors that undermine learning and proposing a set of recommendations that will help this NGO become a more effective learning organization.