Presently, any development initiatives without considering sustainability can barely be imagined. There has been a paradigm shift in the focus of the development partners from the mere development to sustainable development. However, the role of development partners in bringing sustainability in livelihood assets of the rural community has long been questioned. Hence, this study aims to explore the sustainability in the form of changes in livelihood assets of a local community in Bangladesh. This study considers the changes in livelihood assets of the community over the three-time frames - before, during, and after a project implemented by a national NGO called ‘UST’ and subsequently identifies the community’s capacity to sustain the project outcomes after the completion of the project. ‘Sustainable Livelihood Framework (SLF)’ developed by Department for International Development (DFID) was utilized in this study to analyse the vulnerability and livelihood issues of the community members. Data has been collected through focus group discussions, household survey and key informants’ interviews from three distinct villages of ‘Khutamara’ union in the ‘Nilphamari’ district of Bangladesh. The finding of the study states that all the livelihood assets such as the social capital, human capital, natural capital, financial capital, physical capital have positively changed due to the interference of the development partners. This study further finds that even after the completion of project tenure, such positive trends continue to exist among the community members indicating sustainable development. Moreover, political capital- a new type of livelihood has also emerged because of the project implementation which was not quite evident before the inception of the project. In addition, this study explored the unique phenomenon of the Shabolombee Gram, where the transformation altering farmers’, livelihoods does not come from the government or the private sector but originates from a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). Therefore, the government and its development partners may adopt and incorporate the Modified Sustainable Livelihood Framework (MSLF) to ensure the sustainable development.
The aim of the study is to identify the requirements for qualifying administrative leaders and the challenges they face at King Khalid University, in light of the general framework of the Human Capacities Development Program, which includes four dimensions (values and behaviours-basic skills-future skills-knowledge). A descriptive approach was used, and the study population consisted of academic leaders at King Khalid University, totalling (107). A questionnaire was used as a research tool, comprising three axes and (53) statements to collect data after ensuring their validity and reliability. The results showed the agreement of the study population on the axis of requirements for qualifying administrative leaders at King Khalid University to a very high degree, with an average score of (4.44), and their agreement on the challenges facing the qualification of administrative leaders at King Khalid University to a very high degree, with an average score of (4.11), and their agreement on the mechanisms for qualifying administrative leaders at King Khalid University to a very high degree, with an average score of (4.29). The results also showed no statistically significant differences at the significance level (0.05) between the means of responses of the study population on the requirements, challenges, and mechanisms for qualifying administrative leaders according to variables (gender-academic qualification—experience in the current job). In light of the study results, a proposed strategy was developed, and recommendations were made, including adopting the proposed strategy and governing the programs for qualifying administrative leaders at King Khalid University to ensure transparency, fairness, and accountability at all stages from nomination, preparation, and evaluation, in addition to considering the university’s strategic plan when designing programs for qualifying administrative leaders to adopt the values embraced by the administration and build leaders who contribute to achieving its vision and mission in the long term.
A smart city focuses on enhancing and interconnecting facilities and services through digital technology to offer convenient services for both people and businesses. The basic infrastructure of smart cities consists of modern technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing and artificial intelligence. These urban areas utilize different networks, such as the Internet and IoT, to share real-time information, improving convenience for the inhabitants. However, the reliance of smart cities on modern technologies exposes them to a range of organized, diverse, and sophisticated cyber threats. Therefore, prioritizing cybersecurity awareness and implementing appropriate measures and solutions are essential to protect the privacy and security of citizens. This study aims to identify cyber threats and their impact on smart cities, as well as the methods and measures required for key areas such as smart government, smart healthcare, smart mobility, smart environment, smart economy, smart living, and smart people. Furthermore, this study seeks to evaluate previous research in this field, establish necessary policies to mitigate these threats, and propose an appropriate model for the infrastructure associated with IT networks in smart cities.
This paper examines the relationship between renewable energy (RE) generation, economic factors, infrastructure, and governance quality in ASEAN countries. Based on the Fixed Effects regression model on panel data spanning the years 2002–2021, results demonstrate that domestic capital investment, foreign direct investment, governance effectiveness, and crude oil price exhibit an inverse yet significant relationship with RE generation. An increase in those factors will lead to a decline in RE generation. Meanwhile, economic growth and infrastructure have a positive relationship, which implies that these factors act as stimulants for RE generation in the region. Hence, it is advisable to prioritise policies that foster economic growth, including offering tax breaks specifically for RE projects. Additionally, it’s crucial to streamline governance processes to facilitate infrastructure conducive to RE generation, along with investing in RE infrastructure. This could be achieved by establishing one-stop centres for consolidating permitting processes, which would streamline the often-bureaucratic process. However, given the extensive time period covered, future research should examine the short-term relationship between the variables to address any potential temporal trends between the factors and RE generation.
Families are the central nucleus of society; however, they face internal challenges that affect their functioning and stability, often manifesting in incidents of domestic and gender-based violence. The World Health Organization has classified this violence as a severe public health problem and a violation of human rights. To address this issue, the Congress of the Republic of Colombia enacted Law 2126 of 2021, introducing significant changes to the responsibilities of authorities in preventing, restoring, protecting, and repairing the rights of victims. This law provided a three-year implementation period for territorial entities, which concluded on 4 August 2023. In 2023, 119,483 cases were reported, and by June 2024, the number had reached 63,528—the highest recorded to date. This situation continued to escalate uncontrollably throughout 2024, overwhelming functional capacity and resulting in a crisis. Therefore, the objective of this study is to analyze the guarantee of rights for victims of violence in the family context, within the competencies of Family Commissariats, as outlined in Law 2126 of 2021. The methodology focuses on analyzing academic and scientific databases, including studies and articles published in indexed journals, to evaluate government measures and describe the challenges in service provision by Family Commissariats to propose conclusions. The approach is qualitative, with a hermeneutic, documentary, legal-dogmatic orientation and anthropological contributions. The results reveal that the law’s implementation has been gradual, surpassing the established deadline. Administrative, political, and financial factors identified over the three years remain unresolved in 2024. The situation for victims of physical, psychological, economic, and sexual violence within the family context has worsened due to multicausal obstacles to accessing justice in a timely, efficient, and effective manner. Consequently, there is evidence of an exponential increase in violence, underreporting, impunity, setbacks, procedural delays, normalization of violence, and re-victimization, among other issues.
Communication is considered to be significant to universities: provide students updated information to make appropriate choices and decisions during their learning process; and promptly feedback to contribute to building a better educational and training environment; improve institutional governance efficiency. Communication tools used in universities are diverse in forms and contents. This study focuses on two popular forms, which are policy communication (communication of policies and laws on higher education) and internal communication (communication about professional activities and community activities of the university). The theoretical framework has been developed and a survey was conducted to collect opinions of 450 students from many universities representing 3 regions of Vietnam, including: Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU) (Northern region); The University of Danang (UD) (Central region); Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM) (Southern region). The results show that the policy communications of these universities are not effectively implemented. The findings suggest innovations for managers to improve communication effectiveness and governance efficiency in these higher education institutions.
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