Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'International aid worker'

This study contributes to the literature on international aid workers, which is still in its infancy. It highlights an area of research that has not hitherto been studied: aid workers’ gendered identities. It had several aims; the broader was to gain insight into the professional category of international aid workers; others were to understand whether the international aid sector is undergoing a process of feminisation, to study if/how the professional experiences of women and men aid workers might differ, and to analyse the professional benefits and/or disadvantages that could arise from one’s gender identity. Data were collected through an online survey (188 respondents) and interviews (69 participants). Participants included women and men of different ages, working for a range of aid organizations (private, government run, UN agencies, INGOs, NGOs) in both development and emergency contexts. Data were analysed with a sequential Membership Categorisation Analysis (Stokoe, 2012), and revealed how aid workers female identity was used by the participants to account for problematic situations as well as for positive ones. Gender resulted to be more relevant for female aid workers than for their male colleagues, and a gender disparity in the number of stressors was confirmed, in line with the literature (Curling & Simmons, 2010). Findings also testify to managers of aid organisations the need to invest more in offering a psychosocial preventative and proactive approach, with the goals of prevention, training, support and mentoring.

Doctor of Philosophy
Security Studies Interdepartmental Program
Emizet F. Kisangani
Attacks against nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in high-risk conflict zones have increased exponentially over the last two decades. However, the few existing empirical studies on NGO insecurity have tended to focus on external factors influencing attacks, with little attention paid to the actions of aid workers themselves. To fill this gap, this dissertation theorizes that aid workers may have contributed to their own insecurity by engaging in greater political action. Both quantitative and qualitative methods are used to assess the impact of political activity by NGOs on the insecurity of aid workers. The quantitative analyses test the theory at two levels. The first is a large-N country-level analysis of 117 nations from 1999 to 2015 using panel corrected standard errors. The second is a subnational-level statistical analysis of four case studies: Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, and Colombia from 2000 to 2014. Both the country- and provincial- level analyses show that the magnitude of aid tends to be a significant determinant of aid worker security. The qualitative methods of “structured-focused comparison” and “process tracing” are used to analyze the four cases. Results show that aid workers are most likely to be victims of politically-motivated attacks while in-transit. Consistent with the quantitative findings, it is speculated that if workers are engaged in a large-scale project over an extended period of time, attackers will be able to monitor their daily activities and routines closely, making it easier to orchestrate a successful ambush. Furthermore, the analysis reveals that political statements made by NGOs—regardless of their sectors of activity—have increased insecurity for the broader aid community. These results dispel the myth that humanitarian activity has historically been independent, impartial, and neutral. Several NGOs have relied on this false assumption for security, believing that adherence to core principles has contributed to “humanitarian space.” The results also dispel the popular NGO assumption that targeted attacks are not official tactics of organized militants, but rather the result of criminality or mistaken identity. In fact, the overwhelming majority of aid workers attacked in high-risk conflict zones have been targeted by political actors.

This dissertation explores the experience of support by international aid workers deploying to, being in and returning from complex emergencies. Seven participants were interviewed using semi structured interviews focusing on the experience of support, and the material was analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis - IPA. Three superordinate themes were identified, the first highlighted the ease with which peer support (colleagues and friends around you, family back home et cetera) was often experienced, the second pertained to the difficulty with which formal support (in-organization counselling support, support from management et cetera) was often experienced, and finally the third superordinate theme detailed the experience of being on mission, where the strongest finding centred on difficulties in the returning home process. Existing literature on international aid workers' experience of support was utilised in order to shed light on the results, and existential migrant themes also proved useful in order to clarify the material. The clinical significance of the study included a recommendation for awareness building on the difficulty of coming home from missions, a focus on peer support and also ensuring that counsellors are familiar or have experience of the international aid workers' situation in the field. The choice of IPA as method was deemed a useful one. Its clear guidelines coupled with a solid methodological grounding informed both the quality of the interviews as well as the sensitivity and depth of the analysis. Further qualitative research on neighbouring areas and also quantitative research on this area was called for.

This thesis analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on relationships between international and local humanitarian actors responding to the 4 August 2020 Beirut Port Explosion. The concepts of “the local”, localization, inequality, and remote management provide a theoretical framework for this analysis. Data collection for this case study research includes a review of published and grey literature, and five video interviews with staff of local and international humanitarian organizations in Beirut. Empirical findings show that local-international inequalities—in the forms of limited access, recognition,and control—have been observed in Beirut and Lebanon for decades, and persisted during the port explosion response. This research further suggests that COVID-19 has contributed to an increase in inequality, most notably by reducing the participation of local actors in humanitarian coordination meetings, and disproportionately transferring risk from international to local actors due to a reliance on remote management. Findings also show that the port explosion caused an influx of funding that was disproportionately directed to international actors, and the economic crisis created a currency devaluation that has exacerbated local-international wage disparities and threatened to limit the reach of local NGO activities. Despite the strength of the civil society—shaped by a strong education system, decades of working through crisis, and government inaction—local actors have often been excluded from humanitarian practice in Beirut and Lebanon. At the same time, findings highlight increases in equality: some local actors adapted more quickly than international actors to COVID-19 and were able to leverage their strengths to receive more funding and greater leadership in the port explosion response. These movements demonstrate adaptability in humanitarian practice that would be critically required in any future reform. This thesis concludes with two recommendations: (1) the use of remote management due to COVID-19 is likely problematic and requires further research to identify best practices; and (2) critical localization provides a useful framework to analyze and mitigate the persistence of local-international inequalities infuture humanitarian responses, and helps to find a meaningful way forward.

Using narrative research study founded in social constructionism, I explored the lived experiences of thirty Afghan humanitarian aid workers in Kabul, Afghanistan, to discover how they experienced the war on terror. Ten participants were individually interviewed and their stories, personal experiences, perceptions, and voices have been presented in this study. I also facilitated a focus group of twenty Afghan NGO directors, and their views are echoed in the study. The participants represented a diversity of different humanitarian service specialties that cater to Afghan individuals, communities, and government agencies in areas such as education, human rights and good governance, food and shelter, to building bridges and infrastructural development. Based on a critical review of existing literature, the interviews addressed significant issues that affect humanitarian aid workers in complex political emergencies. I investigated the sociocultural contexts and structural conditions that enable and inform the personal narratives. There were six main themes that emerged from the participants’ narratives and each main theme had an average of three sub-themes. The resulting themes were: Security/Insecurity; Funding; Trust; Abandonment; Achievement; and Interventionism. From the analysis of the storied narratives of thirty Afghan humanitarian aid workers in Kabul, Afghanistan, this study was able to create better understanding of how conditions from the war on terror create high-risk environments that expose humanitarian aid workers to kidnappings and violent attacks.

The 1990s saw a rise in the participation of NGOs answering the demands of affected populations caught in between armed conflicts, bouts of natural disasters and diseases. Though their intentions were good, it was from this point onwards NGOs have gained their notoriety, despite the work they do to address the needs of man. With a consistent rise of the number of actively participating NGOs, these humanitarian actors have since gone under scrutiny by the general population, which range from ineffective operations, scandals surrounding aid money, ethics within humanitarianism as well as many aid organizations that still remain independent from each other.

This paper will seek to answer how to improve the role of humanitarian aid in emergency situations, and address its issues and shortcomings. This will be done by analyzing the different criticisms faced by these humanitarian actors, as well as analyzing the different solutions that have since been proposed in order to answer these criticisms and find a new way for these organizations to operate and define themselves. Finally, these analyses will be evaluated and compared among one another.

Interviews have been held with aid workers and members of humanitarian organizations, in order to get a more intimate perspective of the inside workings of an NGO. Recent literature, studies and findings have also been utilized in order to get a clearer picture of the current state of humanitarian aid, notably from writers such as Thomas Weiss, Hugo Slim, David Rieff and Linda Polman.

Humanitarian aid cannot be cured with a simple solution; instead, it is an ongoing, gradual process that requires cooperation from governments and organizations in order to move forward. The non-protit sector can stand to learn a lot from the for-profit sector, especially in terms of professionalism and collaborating amongst one another. This change will not come easily, but humanitarian aid also cannot remain stagnant if they hope to reach out to populations in need with quality aid.

Le Sénégal fait souvent figure d'exception, au point d'être régulièrement salué pour sa stabilité sociopolitiquepar la communauté internationale désemparée devant les troubles qui agitent le continent africain.Cette image d'Épinal est pourtant loin de rendre compte des difficultés qui touchent la population de ce pays.Derrière le visage d'un pays stable se cache en fin de compte une tout autre réalité qui rappelle combien lepoids de la précarité professionnelle occupe une place singulière dans la vie des Sénégalais, y compris deceux qui participent à l'élaboration de l'action publique branchée au système d'aide. Telle est l'impressionpesante qui se glisse dans les discours des professionnels de l'aide sénégalais impliqués dans un projet degestion intégrée du littoral encouragé par la Banque mondiale dans les années 2000. L'étude de la mise enoeuvre de ce projet fournit un cas d'école qui permet de saisir l'incidence que peut avoir la précaritéprofessionnelle de ces personnes sur le fonctionnement de l'aide-projet qui représente encore aujourd'hui laforme d'aide dominante dans le pays. Plus spécifiquement, elle aide à comprendre pourquoi les normes degestion du littoral colportées dans le cadre de ce projet – qui ne sont d'ailleurs que le reflet de l'écologiedominante – sont mobilisées par ces développeurs sénégalais à travers des discours légitimateurs le plussouvent déconnectés du sens même de ces normes. Tout se passe comme si la professionnalisation heurtéede ces personnes les conduisait à prêter plus attention aux moyens du projet qu'à ses objectifs, et de cettemanière à améliorer leurs conditions de travail et plus largement leur situation socio-économique
Senegal is often looked on as an exception, to the point of being regularly hailed for its socio-politicalstability by an international community quite helpless in front of the troubles of African continent. Yet thistraditional view is far from accounting for the difficulties of the population. In fact the image of a stablecountry conceals an altogether different reality which reminds one of how precarity, and more particularlywork precarity, plays an important part in the lives of the Senegalese, including those who take part in thedevelopment of the public action financed by aid agencies. Such is the impression felt in the speeches ofSenegalese aid workers involved in a project of coastal zone management promoted by the World Bank inthe 2000s. To study the working out of this project provides an example which helps to understand theconsequences their precarity at work can have on the working of the aid-project – today the main form of aidin this country. More specifically it helps to understand how the standards of coastal zone managementpromoted by the World Bank agents are interpreted by these Senegalese people, and why they are justapprehended in speeches often disconnected from the very purpose of these standards. It seems that theirwork precarity has led them to pay more attention to the means of the project rather than to its ends, seekingthereby to improve their own work conditions and so their socio-economic situation

Food miles are often the sole criteria by which agricultural sustainability is assessed. Social justice is an alternative measure. Social justice is comprised of a number of component parts of which health is but one. Little appears to be known of the health status of farm workers. This study describes the selfreported health status of farm workers in four countries employed in producing fresh vegetables for UK supermarkets. The study had five objectives: i. To assess the health and well being of farm workers in UK vegetable production. ii. To compare the health of UK farm workers with farm workers from other countries supplying similar products to the UK market. iii. To explore the potential impact of pesticides on farm worker health, both at the policy and farm level. iv. To identify major causes of poor health (where it occurs) and identify its determinants. v. Consider the ethical implications of supplying to the UK horticulture market from production in developing countries. Over 2500 completed questionnaires were collected from farmers and farm workers in the UK, Spain, Kenya, and Uggnda between 2006 and 2007. Pesticide data was collected from a number of farms in the UK, Kenya and Uganda but not from Spain. Workers employed on Kenyan export farms scored significantly higher than both the population norm and workers from the three other participating countries. There was no relationship between the self-reported health of a worker and the environmental impact rating of pesticides used on a given farm. The farm worker health scores have important implications for policy makers as ethical purchasing decisions will need to offset the food miles of a given vegetable by the social benefits such as health that devolve from purchasing vegetables from developing countries. Ethical purchasing decisions might be shaped in the future by the concept of buying from wherever improves the health status of producers rather than wherever is nearest.

There is a wealth of studies which suggest that manager's positive perceptions/expectations can considerably influence organisational performance; unfortunately, little empirical evidence has been obtained from development studies. This first time research explores how Japanese aid workers' perceptions towards the local staff affects their behaviour and performance in cross-cultural project settings. Moreover, this research focuses on the perceptual and behavioural trait differences of successful and unsuccessful aid workers. With cooperation from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), 244 valid responses were obtained from the aid workers (managers) through a webbased survey. As a result of statistical analysis, positive causal relationships were confirmed between perception related factors and behaviour related factors and the organisational performance variable. These results strongly suggest that aid worker's positive perceptions result in positive behaviour in local colleagues and subsequently higher organisational performance. In addition, it was discovered that the aid workers' positive perception/expectation about work and their local colleagues was related to higher organisational performance, whilst conversely, the negative perception on their part was generally associated with negative behaviour and lower organisational performance.Although the differences in perceptual tendencies suggested by that these findings apply to Japanese aid managers; however, as human nature is universal, positive perception and behaviour should bring out positive output in most organisations. It is recommended that there is a need for people-related and cross-cultural management skills to ensure successful future activities, and stress management competencies to maintain positive managerial perception on the part of aid workers.

This descriptive research used the Health Belief Model (HBM) to assess HIV/AIDS knowledge, perceived severity, perceived susceptibility, and behavioral practices within the population throughout the State of Sonsonate, El Salvador. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) was also utilized to display the results of this population study. The study population was composed of 15-39 year olds consisting of a total sample size of 1,500 (250 participants from each of the six cities). The basis of this study was to evaluate where this population fit within the Health Belief Model (HBM) and also to practically represent the results pictorially. Also, this information was collected so that the government of El Salvador could see and understand where their educational deficits existed so that future programs could be established to alleviate these discrepancies. An instrument consisting of 65 items including demographics, knowledge, perceived severity, perceived susceptibility, and behavioral practices was used for the general population. The analysis of the data was two-fold using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping and statistical analysis. GIS mapping was used to graphically pinpoint areas of knowledge deficit and misinformation about HIV/AIDS. Results were based on a general population of 1,454. Various indices were created to show the level of knowledge or frequency of safe behavioral practices. The Perceived Severity and Perceived Susceptibility sections were not aggregated into an index but rather treated as individual variables. An item analysis of the questionnaire found that on average the general population responded correctly to 78% of the knowledge questions. However, a total of 11 questions in the knowledge section had less 75% (n=385) of the general population answering correctly. Another 3 questions in the behavior section were also found to have less than 75% (n=385) indicating safe behavioral practices. Linear regression analyses were performed to explore correlations between the areas of demographics, knowledge level, perceived severity, and perceived susceptibility to safe behavior. GIS maps were created to pictorially show where this population's deficiencies were in regard to the HBM. This research helped to pinpoint where this population fits within the construct of the Health Belief Model so that future educational efforts can be targeted in geographic areas with the greatest need. This will help to move this sample toward behavioral change.
Ph. D.

Det finns ett stort och konstant behov av sjuksköterskor inom internationellt biståndsarbete. Vad en sjuksköterska gör vid uppdrag skiljer sig från det svenska omvårdnadsarbetet. Arbetet innebär mycket glädje av att göra gott men samtidigt många tragiska upplevelser. Den här studien var empiriskt förankrad med syfte att beskriva sjuksköterskors emotionella upplevelser vid internationellt biståndsarbete för Läkare Utan Gränser. Det empiriska materialet bestod av bloggar, reseberättelser och intervjuer som analyserades och presenterades under kategorierna före, under och efter uppdrag. Under den första kategorin visade det sig att sjuksköterskorna förberedde sig på ett hårt och krävande uppdrag, samtidigt var det svårt att föreställa sig vad som skulle mötas. Under uppdraget upplevdes positiva och negativa känslor relaterade till yrkesrollen. Arbetet var en utmaning och gav en härlig känsla att vara med och påverka. Sjuksköterskorna uttryckte efter uppdraget att det inte gick att förbereda sig på vilka känslor som skulle upplevas. Uppdragen gav energi och känslan av att ha vuxit som människa. Det framkom i studien att det var svårt att vara förberedd inför ett uppdrag, det uttrycktes frustration men ingen stress vilket andra studier visade. Sjuksköterskorna fick lära sig se med nya ögon och interaktionen med patienterna påverkades.
There is a great and constant need for nurses in international aid work. What a nurse does as an aid worker is different compared to the ordinary Swedish nurse. The work involves a lot of pleasure from doing good, but also many tragic experiences. This study is empirically based with a view to highlight nurses emotional perceptions in international aid work for MSF. The empirical data consisted of blogs, travel stories and interviews that were analyzed and presented in categories before, during and after missions. The first category showed that nurses were preparing for a tough and demanding mission, but it was difficult for them to imagine what they were going to meet. During the mission, both positive and negative feelings were related to the professional role. The work was a challenge and it was a great feeling to be able to make a difference. The assignments gave energy and the feeling of having grown as a person. The study revealed that it was difficult to be prepared for a mission, the nurses expressed frustration but no stress, which other studies showed. The nurses had to learn to see with new eyes and the interaction with the patients was affected.

Sammanfattning Studien syftar till att ge fördjupad kunskap om svenskt internationellt biståndsarbete samt hur problem formuleras och lösningar konstrueras av biståndsorganisationernas arbetsätt.  Studien är genomförd med en kvalitativ metod och det empiriska materialet har inhämtats genom intervjuer. Intervjuerna genomfördes med tre ledande personer från två svenska biståndsorganisationer som arbetar på internationell nivå. Vidare inryms i studien observationer från dessa två biståndsorganisationer. Studiens teoretiska perspektiv är den postkoloniala teorin, teorin om konstruktion av sociala problem samt begreppen kolonialism och eurocentrisk diffusion. Resultatet i studien visar att de studerade biståndsorganisationerna i stora drag har ett liknande tillvägagångssätt i sitt arbete med internationellt bistånd. De arbetar utifrån att ha en stödjande roll gentemot mottagarna av biståndet så att mottagarna kan definiera sina behov och vara aktiva i lösningarna tillsammans med de svenska biståndsorganisationerna.  Samtidigt agerar de kontrollerande gällande huruvida biståndsorganisationernas egna visioner och värderingar ska vara styrande i utformningen av hjälparbetet.   De svenska biståndsorganisationernas mål är att kunskapsbilda, medvetandegöra och ombilda befintliga lokala organisationer för att förbättra människors levnadsvillkor till det bättre i utsatta länder. För att detta ska vara möjligt är det avgörande att samarbeta med lokala organisationer som är likasinnade med de svenska biståndsorganisationerna.  Studien påvisar att det finns en idé om att påverka mottagarna av biståndet genom eftersträvan av att de ska anamma de svenska biståndsgivarnas egna visioner och värderingar. Detta framkommer tydligt genom de svenska biståndsorganisationernas arbetsätt samt deras delaktighet vid formuleringar av problem och konstruktioner av lösningar hos biståndsmottagarna. Vidare framkommer att biståndsorganisationernas kunskapsgivande och ombildning av lokala organisationer bidrar med att västerländsk kunskapssyn sprids ut i världen.
The study aims to provide profound knowledge of Swedish international aid work and how problems are formulated and solutions designed by aid organizations working methods. The study is conducted using a qualitative approach and the empirical material has been collected through interviews and observations. The interviews took place with three leading figures from two Swedish aid organizations working at international level. Furthermore, are observations from these two aid organizations part of the studies method. The studies theoretical perspective is the post-colonial theory, the theory of constructions of social problems and the concept of colonialism and eurocentrism diffusion. The result of the study shows that the studied organizations have broadly similar procedures in their work with international aid work. The organizations work on a paradoxical basis. On the one hand they have a supporting role to the recipients of aid so that the recipients can define their own needs and be active in the solutions along with swedish aid organizations. On the other hand, the organizations acts controlling where their own vision and values are guiding the relief effort. The swedish aid organizations aim is to educate, raise awareness and transform existing organizations in the countries they operate in order to improve people's lives for the better in vulnerable countries around the world.  For achieving this purpose, it is crucial for them to work with local organizations that are like-minded the swedish aid organizations.  This study shows that there is an idea to affect the recipients of aid in pursuing them to embrace the Swedish donors' own visions and values. This is clearly shown by the Swedish aid organizations working methods as well as their involvement in the formulation of problems and constructions of solutions of aid recipients. Furthermore, it appears that the aid organizations' knowledge rewarding and transformation of local organizations contribute to Western conception of knowledge spread out in the world.

This thesis examines the role and relationship of standardization and advocacy in humanitarian aid planning processes within the emergent field of education and instability. Standardization refers to the aid industry’s increasing emphasis on establishing ‘universal’ principles and normative frameworks. Advocacy refers to transnational-policy-network activities that move forward the global standardization agenda. The study focuses on the purposes and practices of knowledge creation by an education-and-instability ‘epistemic community’: the Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE). Drawing on global-level interviews with key figures, participant observations, and documentary analysis, the research explores how this epistemic community promotes its core tenets: that education is an inherent human right and that educational provision should be a frontline humanitarian response on par with food distribution and shelter construction. The thesis analyzes the consensus-making process that resulted in the publication of the 2004 INEE Minimum Standards handbook, the then-epitome of the epistemic community’s knowledge. Next, the thesis examines the local application and adaptation of such global standardization processes in post-conflict Uganda. The case study presents the relationships among international and local ‘development partner’ institutions concerned with educational planning as a complex and contradictory story of power dynamics and knowledge circulation. These ‘partnerships’ are characterized by a shared quest for adherence to the knowledge encapsulated within standardized global frameworks and their normative principles. For Ugandan institutions, fluency in this discourse is a powerful tool to appropriate for their own ends. For international institutions, the knowledge is at once a technical resource and a means to bring ever more stakeholders into the wider epistemic community concerned with humanitarian aid. I argue that, through judicious use of standardization and advocacy mechanisms, INEE seeks to legitimize the education sector’s existence within the humanitarian aid industry and expand support for (or ‘conversion’ to) the education-and-instability epistemic community’s core beliefs.

Thesis (MComm) -- University of Stellenbosch, 2004.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this study, existing data were used to conduct a descriptive research study into the adherence or lack thereof - in varying degrees - of South African companies to the ten key principles of the International Labour Organisation's Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work with regard to HIV/AIDS workplace policy content. The research showed that most policies prohibit pre-employment testing and make provisions for job security, protection from discrimination, and ensuring confidentiality.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie het ten doel gehad om die mate waartoe ondernemings hulle onderwerp aan die ILO voorskrifte te toets. Resultate toon daarop dat verskeie ondernemings reeds gedeeltelik daaraan voldoen, maar dat daar nog verskeie aspekte van die Kode is wat in Suid-Afrikaanse onderneming in werking gestel moet word.

Cosmopolitanism is widely debated in the literature of business and management and social sciences. It is often seen as a solution to the problem of international employees' maladjustment. The literature has predominantly examined the experiences of labour migrants and expatriates. In recent years, self-initiated foreign work experiences (SFE) have gained more relevance. Demographically, economically, socially and culturally, SFEs are situated in the 'middle' between labour migrants and expatriates. Yet, concomitant discussions of a 'middle' of cosmopolitanism and the exploration of everyday life of this middle cosmopolitanism have been rare. Conceptualising SFE processes is vital for a more holistic and effective understanding of international adjustment and cosmopolitanism. To this end, the study provides an ethnography of SFEs' everyday lives. In particular, it examines the backgrounds and current experiences of international employees (IEs) in India's knowledge process offshoring (KPO) industry at work, at home and outside their homes. At work, IEs displayed and created attachments to their work, India and the local through their colleagues and friends. At home, IEs in different company apartments demonstrated various processes of sharing and learning despite cultural and linguistic differences. Outside their homes, IEs engaged in numerous leisure activities revealing IEs' motivations and ways in which IEs adjusted. The study offers two findings. Throughout their activities at work, homes and in India, IEs balanced emotions and reasons, negotiated the global and local and self-flexibility and externally required flexibility. IEs also engaged in friendships to various degrees. Both findings of IEs' activities reveal complex dynamics of SFE adjustment and cosmopolitanism. The findings built the foundation for a new framework to understand SFE cosmopolitanism and international adjustment.

Bakgrund: Internationellt humanitärt arbete är ett område där sjuksköterskor är aktiva. Att delta i internationella humanitära insatser innebär emellertid att arbeta i miljöer annorlunda från de normala med andra förutsättningar. Miljön där sjuksköterskan arbetar påverkar också omvårdnaden och det ingår tillika i sjuksköterskans yrkeskunskap att ha kunskap om den miljön där arbetet äger rum. Tidigare forskning visar att sjuksköterskor inte känner sig tillräckligt förberedda inför arbetet i dessa sammanhang. Syfte: Studiens syfte var att undersöka hur sjuksköterskors erfarenheter av miljön i internationella humanitära insatser samt hur upplevelser av arbetet i denna miljö, kommer till uttryck i egna berättelser. Metod: Kvalitativ textanalys, enligt Holme och Solvang, av 18 narrativa artiklar skrivna av sjuksköterskor, eller i enstaka fall intervjuer med sjuksköterskor, som deltagit i internationella humanitära insatser. Resultat: Genom analys av de narrativa artiklarna framkom fyra huvudteman: Bristande resurser, Utsatthet, Emotionella möten, samt Coping. I temat Bristande resurser beskrivs miljön. Miljön präglades av resurssvaghet, något som påverkade sjuksköterskornas arbete. Utsatthet skildrar hur sjuksköterskorna utsattes för risker och faror under uppdragen. Under temat Emotionella möten återfinns sjuksköterskornas beskrivningar av betydelsefulla möten med lokalbefolkningen. Coping berör sjuksköterskornas beskrivningar av strategier för att hantera svårigheter, teamets betydelse samt hur uppdragen upplevdes som givande. Slutsats: Resursbristen i arbetet upplevdes som svår. Arbetet i de internationella uppdragen hade stora variationer. Kreativitet, flexibilitet och förståelse var viktiga för att hantera svårigheter i arbetet under uppdragen. Genom att sätta in resultatet av studien i en klassificeringsmodell av omvårdnadsvetenskapens områden kan internationellt humanitärt arbete konceptualiseras utifrån ett omvårdnadsvetenskapligt perspektiv. Klinisk betydelse: Resultatet från denna studie kan användas för att förbättra utbildningen för sjuksköterskor i internationella humanitära insatser.
Background: International humanitarian aid work is a field where nurses are active. Yet, to participate in international humanitarian action is to work in an environment different from what is normal with unlike circumstances. The environment where nurses work also has an effect on the nursing care and it is a part of the nurses’ professional knowledge to have insight of the environment in which the work takes place. Earlier research suggests that nurses feel inadequately prepared for the work in this context. Aim: The aim of the study was to explore in which way nurses’ experiences of the environment in international humanitarian aid work and how experiences of the work in such environment, are expressed in their own narrated texts. Methodology: Qualitative textual analysis, according to the way of Holme and Solvang, of 18 narrated articles written by nurses, or in a few cases interviews with nurses, whom have all participated in international humanitarian aid work. Result: Four main themes emerged from the analysis of the material: Lack of resources, Vulnerability, Emotional meetings, and Coping. The theme Lack of resources describes the environment. The environment was characterized by resource weakness, which affected the nurses' work. Exposure depicts how nurses were exposed to hazards and dangers during the missions. In the theme Emotional meeting the nurses descriptions of meaningful encounters with the locals is to be found. Coping relates to the nurses descriptions of strategies to address difficulties, the importance of the team and how the missions were experienced as meaningful. Conclusions: Lack of resources was perceived as difficult. The work of the international commissions had wide variations. Creativity, flexibility and understanding were important to address difficulties during the missions. By inserting the results of the study in a classification model of nursing science areas, international humanitarian aid work can be conceptualized from a nursing science perspective. Clinical impact: The results of this study can be used to improve education for nurses in international humanitarian aid work.

This diploma thesis is focused on position of women on the labour market in the Czech Republic. By descriptive analysis of data relating to employment, unemployment, specific form of work and other indicators, character of Czech labour market is described. There is also a part devoted to State aid for parents with small children, facilities providing childcare and job opportunity for mothers on the labour market. The thesis also includes comparison of selected indicators, which describe situation on the labour market and family policy in chosen countries of western and northern Europe. Possibility to ensure work-life balance is considered to be the main aspect of this topic. The issue of women's position on the labour market is not examined only from gender point of view.

A new form of foreign travel called “voluntourism” has emerged in Sweden. In advertisements that invite to “make a difference”, travel agencies promote short- term aid opportunities at for example orphanages or schools in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. International volunteer work is nothing new. Rather, the volunteer agencies have entered an old and established organizational field. Using theories of new institutionalism and the analytical phrase “the story about”, this thesis investigates the way international aid work originated and evolved, and how commercial volunteer agencies entered the field. The thesis is partly based on historical data from organizational reports, biographies of aid work icons, and interviews with volunteers active during the 1960s and 1970s. Additionally, it makes use of contemporary data from interviews with representatives from volunteer travel agencies and volunteers. It also includes an analysis of how the travel agencies present their business operations on their websites. The thesis concludes that travel agencies apply the common perception of international aid work’s characteristics when marketing volunteer travels. This common perception can be traced through the evolution of international aid work. Travel agencies attract volunteers by offering access to this exclusive field. The volunteers are well-educated young women from middle class families. They are looking for experiences from international aid work, perspective on their own lives, and first-hand knowledge of local and traditional societies in poor countries. Nevertheless, due to the esteem in which the organizational field is viewed, a brief period spent as an aid worker is considered a desirable qualification for a job applicant. I interpret volunteer travel as a “grand tour”.

Molnlagring, kommunikationsplattformar med interaktiva funktioner, virtuella modeller som sammanfogas med fysiska omgivningar, datorsimuleringar, livscykelperspektiv. Så diskuteras det i BIM-världens korridorer. Men om detta nu är framtiden: varför går implementeringen så långsamt, och vad är det egentligen som ska implementeras?   Processen att hantera och förstå vad BIM är har blivit för komplex, och med denna rapport vill vi hitta åtgärder för att göra arbetssättet begripligt och användbart för fler. Vi har i samarbete med Vianova Systems undersökt hur användningen av BIM ser ut idag och vilka förbättringsåtgärder som behövs för en bredare framtida implementering i samhällsbyggnadsbranschen.   Våra undersökningar visar att nästan 80 % tror att ett arbete som drar nytta av en digital modell skulle vara effektivare: samtidigt är osäkerheten kring mjukvaror och oklarhet kring implementeringen av arbetsmetoderna begränsande faktorer. Som lösning på detta har ett användarinterface för projektsamordning och kommunikation arbetats fram.   Dessa undersökningar har genomförts med hjälp av en enkätstudie samt intervjuer och sammanställts i två delar: dels denna rapport, samt en slutprodukt av visionär karaktär kallad ”7 visions for the future of BIM”.
Cloud storage, communication platforms with interactive functions, virtual models that are merged with physical surroundings, computer simulations, life cycle perspective. This is what is being discussed in the corridors of the BIM-world. But if this is the future: why is the implementation so slow, and what exactly is to be implemented?   The process of handling and understanding what BIM is has become too complex, and in this report we want to find solutions for making the way of working intelligible and useful for a wider audience. In collaboration with Vianova Systems, we have investigated what the use of BIM looks like today and what improvements are needed for a wider future implementation in the AEC industry.   Our investigations show that almost 80 % believe that work which utilizes a digital model would be more effective: at the same time the insecurity concerning software and uncertainties regarding the implementation of the work methodologies are limiting factors. As a solution for this a user interface for project management and communication has been developed.   These investigations have been carried out with the aid of a questionnaire and interviews and compiled into two parts: partly this report, as well as an end product of visionairy nature called ”7 visions for the future of BIM”.

This dissertation offers an in-depth descriptive account of how women manage daily risks associated with sex work, criminalization, and HIV/AIDS. Primary data collection took place within two slums in Kampala, Uganda over the course of fourteen months. The emphasis was on ethnographic methodologies involving participant observation and informal and unstructured interviewing. Insights then informed document analysis of international and national policies concerning HIV prevention and treatment strategies in the context of Uganda. The dissertation finds social networks and social capital provide the basis for community formation in the sex trade. It holds that these interpersonal processes are necessary components for how women manage daily risks associated with sex work and criminalization. However, the dissertation also finds that women’s social connections can undermine the strategies they need to manage their HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. This is because current HIV/AIDS policies prioritize individual behavioral change practices that undermine the complex interpersonal activities developed by women to stay alive. In response, this dissertation concludes that social networks are fundamental to the formation of sex work communities and to the survival of women in the sex trade and should be considered in future HIV policies and programs intending to intervene in the HIV epidemic of female commercial sex workers in Kampala, Uganda.

Denna kvalitativa studie om internationellt utvecklingsbistånd undersöker effekterna av gender mainstreaming i sociala trygghetssystem i Afrika, söder om Sahara, med särskilt fokus på jämställdhet, kvinnors empowerment och biståndets effekter på familjeförhållanden. Studien lyfter fram en historisk bakgrund av gender mainstreaming i politiken, men även dagens internationella engagemang för att bekämpa den extrema fattigdomen. Studien belyser det svenska internationella biståndets initiativ för att minska fattigdomen i Afrika, söder om Sahara.  Totalt genomfördes fyra semistrukturerade intervjuer med högkvalificerade tjänstemän som representerar det internationella biståndet, med bakgrund från Utrikesdepartementet, Styrelsen för internationellt utvecklingssamarbete (Sida), Latinamerikainstitutet på Stockholms universitet och UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti. Resultatet visade att ett genderintegrerat bistånd i form av sociala kontantöverföringar som främjar jämställdhet i samhällen som biståndet verkar i, bidrar till att minska den extrema fattigdomen. Men resultaten visade även att det krävs ytterligare forskning för att kunna se direkta kausala effekter av biståndet som riktas till kvinnor jämfört med bistånd som riktas till män, samt den effekt som biståndet har på kvinnors empowerment och på biståndsmottagarnas familjeförhållanden. Slutsatsen av undersökningen är att uppbyggnaden av genderintegrerade sociala trygghetssystem i Afrika, söder om Sahara, är av särskild betydelse då man genom ökad jämställdhet och ett övergripande socialt skyddsnät minskar den extrema fattigdomen och främjar regionens välmående i sin helhet.
This qualitative study on international development aid explores the effects of gender mainstreaming in social protection systems in sub-Saharan Africa, with a focus on gender equality, women's empowerment and family structures. The study features a historical background of gender mainstreaming in politics, but also today's international commitment to combat extreme poverty. The study highlights the initiative of the Swedish international aid to reduce poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. A total of four semi-structured interviews were conducted with highly qualified public servants representing the international foreign aid, representing The Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), The Institute of Latin American Studies at Stockholm University and UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti. The results showed that a gender-based foreign aid in the form of social cash transfers that aims to promote gender equality, helps to reduce extreme poverty. In addition, the results showed that further research is required to see the direct effects of aid directed at women as compared with aid directed at men, as well as the impact of aid on women's empowerment and the family structures of aid recipients. The conclusion of this study is that the development of gender-based social protection systems in sub-Saharan Africa is of particular importance as, through increased gender equality and overall social protection systems, the region's prosperity increases, and levels of extreme poverty reduces.

This dissertation explores the changing organization of work in the transnational humanitarian aid sector. I specifically examine aid localization: a sector-wide strategy to increase the role of local labor in humanitarian aid projects. What does the aid sector’s localization look like in practice? What are the effects of localization on local labor? To answer these questions, I conducted a qualitative study of aid operations in Jordan, a major global aid hub. I find that localization creates a particular structure of work in which tasks, resources, and expectations are formally and informally organized and premised upon particular meanings associated with ‘the local’ as a category. This structure subsequently creates new forms of precarious labor and challenging work conditions for national employees under the framing of humanitarian aid, and also shapes how workers make sense of their own positions within the aid labor hierarchy. These effects are indicative of the tensions and contradictions embedded in conceptualizations of ‘the local’ in the aid sector. It is these tensions and ambiguities that subsequently become sources of productivity for aid employers: a space to generate new forms and relations of work that ensure successful project outcomes. I subsequently contend that localization ruptures and reinscribes Global North-Global South inequalities through ambivalent constructions of who local workers are, and how they should and can provide value to their organizations.

In recent years, South Africa has attracted migrants from other African countries, many of whom find work in the informal sector of the economy. At the same time, African migrants elsewhere in Europe and the US have been shown to have higher rates of HIV infection than the general population. In South Africa, however, little is known about the vulnerability of international migrants to HIV infection. This study explored HIV/AIDS risks among informal economy migrants in the broader context of migration. The objective is to explore HIV/AIDS risk among migrants and to understand how migration experiences shape vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. This is a case study of ten Nigerian migrant traders in the Church Walk flea market in Durban. Ethnographic methods such as participant observation, individual and key informant interviews, as well as informal group discussion were used to collect in-depth data on migrants' motivations for migrating, challenges faced upon arriving in South Africa and sexual risk behaviours. It was found that migrants become vulnerable to HIV/AIDS both during the process of migration and once settled in the informal economy. Migrants found it difficult to secure jobs once in South Africa. Consequently, they had to deal with disillusionment, hunger, homelessness and hopelessness. During this period of hardship, migrants indulged in risky sexual practices such as having unprotected sex with casual partners as a means of dealing with their precarious situation. Migrants also had unprotected sex with many regular and casual partners once in the flea market where, as a last resort, they had found self-employment but had no access to HIV/AIDS intervention programmes. Reasons cited for risky sexual behaviour included separation from regular partners, loneliness, sexual pressures and the lack of social sanctions, which regulated sexual behaviour in their home country. The findings show that international migrants in the informal economy are a potential high-risk group for HIV infection and could transmit HIV to local partners as well as regular partners in their home country. This study highlights the need for interventions to reach this population.
Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2007.

Dissertação de Mestrado em Serviço Social apresentada à Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação
Os atuais métodos de ajuda ao desenvolvimento implementados pelas ONGs demonstraram gerar conseqüências negativas, como por exemplo enfraquecer o papel do Estado, criar dependência e reproduzir as relações de poder imperialistas. Além disso, apesar dos grandes esforços, boa vontade e muito dinheiro gasto por ONGs e agências internacionais para projetos de ajuda ao desenvolvimento no Haiti ao longo das últimas décadas, pouco ou nenhum resultado foi alcançado em uma perspectiva de longo prazo. O objetivo deste trabalho é, portanto, apresentar e avaliar uma nova estratégia para o campo da ajuda ao desenvolvimento, que se baseia neste caso nos princípios da economia circular e que se destina a produzir uma mudança duradoura. A economia circular é um método relativamente novo de pensar sobre a produção que levará a economia do futuro, no entanto, seus efeitos positivos foram analisados apenas em relação ao paises industrializados e naqueles em processo de industrialização, enquanto que, no momento, nenhum estudo foi produzido para entender a sua aplicabilidade aos países menos desenvolvidos do mundo. Em seguida, esta tese é de natureza exploratória e tem como objetivo o de iniciar uma discussão sobre este assunto e contribuir para a compreensão dos benefícios que os projetos baseados na economia circular podem gerar em estados frágeis e falidos como o Haiti. Além disso, a necessidade de uma participação mais ampla nesses projetos de trabalhadores sociais profissionais com um currículo internacional é sustentada nesta dissertação. O método utilizado tem sido o de pesquisa bibliográfica e um estudo de caso, para descrever profundamente uma empresa sócio-ecológica que trabalha no Haiti aplicando os princípios de economia circular, é fornecido. Os resultados confirmaram a nossa hipótese e sustentaram a ideia de que, para gerar mudanças duradouras e melhorar a justiça social no Haiti, esses tipos de projetos são mais do que necessários. Embora o principal limite do nosso método se deva ao fato de termos sido capazes de apresentar apenas um único estudo de caso. Sugerimos portanto, na conclusão, que novos estudos nessa direção e a disponibilização de mais estudos de caso por outros pesquisadores poderiam contribuir para a resolução das questões geradas por esta pesquisa e fornecer mais dados em apoio de nossas suposições.
Current development aid methods implemented by NGOs have demonstrated to generate negative consequences as for example to weaken the role of state, create dependency and reproduce imperialistic power relations. Furthermore, despite great efforts, good wills and a lot of money spent by NGOs and international agencies for development aid projects in Haiti all along the last few decades, little to no results have been reached in a long-term perspective. The purpose of this work is therefore to present and evaluate a new strategy for the field of developmental aid, which is based in this case, on the circular economy principles and that is intended to produce a long-lasting change. Circular economy is a relatively new method of thinking about production which will lead the economy of the future, however, its positive effects have been analyzed only in relation to the industrialized and industrializing world, while for the moment no studies have been produced to understand its applicability in the least developed countries of the world. Therefore, this thesis is of exploratory nature and aims to start a discussion on this subject and to contribute to the understanding of the benefits that circular economy based projects could generates in fragile and failed states like Haiti. Moreover, the need of a broader participation in these projects of professional social workers with an international curriculum is sustained in this paper. The method utilized has been the one of bibliographic research and a case study, which deeply describe a social-eco enterprise that works in Haiti applying circular economy principles to its projects, is provided. The results confirmed our hypothesis and sustained the idea that to generate long lasting changes and to improve social justice in Haiti, these kind of projects are more than necessary. While the main limit of our method is due to the fact that we have been able to presents a single case study only, to conclude, we suggest that further studies in this direction and the provision of more case studies by other researchers could better contribute to the solving of the questions generated by this research and could provide more data in support of our assumptions.

La présente thèse porte sur les acteurs au sein des organisations non gouvernementales locales (ONG) qui, dans la configuration actuelle de l’aide internationale au développement, jouent un rôle de relais ou d’intermédiaires entre donateurs internationaux et populations bénéficiaires en Afrique subsaharienne. En analysant les trajectoires professionnelles de 32 femmes et hommes « leaders » dans des ONG de Cotonou (Bénin) et de Lomé (Togo), la thèse se propose d’appréhender les processus sociaux à travers lesquels ces individus deviennent intermédiaires dans les activités de développement. La recherche s’inscrit dans une approche théorique construite à la rencontre entre la perspective orientée vers l’acteur en socioanthropologie du développement, la sociologie de l’individuation et le paradigme des parcours de vie. La thèse prend également une posture comparative en contrastant, d’une part, les trajectoires professionnelles des intermédiaires du Bénin et du Togo, deux pays ayant connu entre les années 1990 et début 2000 des « destinées » opposées en ce qui a trait à leurs rapports avec les bailleurs de fonds étrangers. D’autre part, l’analyse compare deux générations d’intermédiaires et contraste l’expérience des intermédiaires féminins et masculins. L’analyse montre qu’en premier lieu, les conférences nationales en 1990 au Bénin et en 1991 au Togo ont constitué un tournant important dans les trajectoires professionnelles des intermédiaires dans les deux pays, créant subséquemment, d’un côté, un contexte favorable aux intermédiaires du Bénin, et de l’autre, un environnement délétère pour ceux du Togo. Toutefois, au cours des dix dernières années, ces différences de conditions de travail se sont beaucoup atténuées et les défis relevés par les intermédiaires dans les deux pays sont à nouveau similaires; les contextes actuels sont caractérisés par un soutien étatique au minima, un champ d’activités très concurrentiel et politisé, une professionnalisation du champ, et une forte dépendance vis-à-vis des bailleurs de fonds extérieurs. En second lieu, l’analyse des récits de vie a permis de ressortir quatre types de profils des intermédiaires au moment où ils intègrent le champ des ONG : les « reconvertis », les « nouveaux diplômés des années 1990 », les « carriéristes », et les « activistes ». La comparaison générationnelle suggère en outre que les deux premiers types décrivent mieux les intermédiaires ayant commencé leurs activités avant les années 2000, alors que les « carriéristes » sont pour l’essentiel des intermédiaires de la jeune génération qui intègre le domaine de l’intermédiation après 2000. Aussi, la recherche montre que pour entrer, mais surtout « durer », dans le champ des ONG ces individus utilisent divers réseaux politiques et associatifs et savent « manœuvrer », notamment en choisissant une « thématique porteuse », en veillant à maintenir une constante « visibilité » ou en ayant recours à des formations continues pour acquérir ou consolider des compétences recherchées par les bailleurs de fonds. Par ailleurs, l’analyse des trajectoires professionnelles féminines a révélé qu’alors que le poids des responsabilités familiales a fait que les « pionnières » de l’intermédiation sont entrées de façon tardive dans une profession dominée par les hommes, et se sont toutes focalisées sur des thématiques liées directement aux droits des femmes, les parcours de leurs cadettes sont bien différents. Ces dernières ne travaillent pas dans le traditionnel domaine du « genre », et même si elles reconnaissent aussi leurs difficultés à concilier responsabilités professionnelles et devoir familial, elles ne sont pas prêtes à mettre de côté leur carrière et ont une perception très différente de leurs aînées des rôles genrés au sein de la famille.
This dissertation focuses on individuals in local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who, in the current configuration of international development, act as relays or intermediaries between international donors and recipient populations in sub-Saharan Africa. By analyzing the careers of 32 female and male "leaders" in NGOs in Cotonou (Benin) and Lomé (Togo), the dissertation aims to understand the social processes through which these individuals become intermediaries in the development arena. The research mobilizes a theoretical approach that combines the actor-oriented perspective in socio-anthropology of development, the sociology of individuation and the life course paradigm. This thesis also takes a comparative approach, first, by contrasting the careers of development intermediaries from Benin with those from Togo, two countries that experienced in the 1990s and early 2000s opposite fates in terms of their relations with international donors. Also, the analysis compares two generations of intermediaries and contrast the experiences of male and female intermediaries. The analysis shows that, first, the Benin National conference of 1990 and the one in Togo in 1991 were turning points in the careers of intermediaries in both countries, by creating a supportive working environment for intermediaries in Benin, and, on the opposite, a deleterious context for those in Togo. However, over the past decade, these differences in working conditions have dwindled, and the challenges faced by intermediaries in both countries are once again similar; the current contexts are characterized by a limited state support, a very competitive and politicized working environment, a professionalization of the field, and a strong dependence toward external donors. Second, four types of intermediaries’ profiles at the time they enter the NGO sector emerged from the life history analysis: the "converted", the "new graduates of the 1990s," the "careerists" and the "activists". Generational comparison shows that the first two types best describe the intermediaries that started their activities before 2000, while "careerists" are mostly intermediaries from the younger post-2000 generation. The research also shows that in order to enter, and more importantly to "last", in the NGO sector these individuals use various political and associative networks and develop various strategies such as choosing a “fashionable” field of interest, remaining “visible”, and constantly seeking trainings in order to acquire “marketable” expertise. In addition, the analysis of women's professional trajectories revealed that while “pioneers” female intermediaries entered the male dominated NGO sector late in their life due to their familial obligations and all worked in the area of women's rights, the experience of their younger counterparts are quite different. The latter work outside the traditional “gender” arena; and, although they also have difficulties reconciling work and family duties, they are not ready to give up their career, and they have very different perceptions of gender roles within the family than their older counterparts.