Academic literature on the topic 'Public welfare – canada – history'

ABSTRACTWhilst quantitive and ‘positivist’ modes of comparative social policy can reveal significant structural factors involved in the making of welfare states, they too often ignore the role of human agency, intention and political processes. A critical-historical comparative case study of the introduction of ‘child endowment’ and of ‘family allowances’ respectively in Australia (1941) and in Canada (1944) reminds us of the interplay between structural constraints and human agency in the history of welfare states. Detailed analysis suggests that institutionalised arrangements in Australia after 1905 to resolve capital-labour conflict via arbitral and wage fixation mechanisms put the question of the adequacy of wages in meeting family needs and with it proposals for child endowment onto the public agenda as early as 1920. In Canada the absence of such mechanisms, and alternative welfare arrangements to deal with family welfare, combined to keep such proposals off the public agenda. After 1939 the development of ‘war economies’ in Australia and Canada created common contradictions for governments, trying to maintain both industrial peace and anti-inflation policies, which the introduction of family allowances in both countries were attempts to resolve. Consideration is also given to a range of political problems and contexts in both countries which this particular policy measure attempted to deal with.

Pain scales classify the severity of pain inflicted on laboratory animals from little or none up to severe. A pain scale as part of public policy serves beneficial purposes that promote animal welfare. It can be used to educate people about the two alternatives of refinement and replacement, and the need to reduce animal pain. Furthermore, a pain scale has practical applications: 1) in review procedures for animal welfare concerns; 2) in developing policies on the use of animals in education; and 3) as a basis for collecting national data on animal experimentation, so that meaningful data can be collected on trends in reduction and control in animal pain. So far, only a few countries (including Sweden, the Netherlands, Canada and New Zealand) have adopted pain scales as part of their public policy. Most countries, including the United States, have not yet done so. The history of the development and adoption of pain scales by various countries is described and the case is presented for wider adoption of a pain scale in countries not currently using one.

This article examines the legacy of American and Canadian welfare state development to explain surprisingly comparable levels of child care provision. It highlights the ironies of policy history while demonstrating the importance of ideas as independent causal factors in the development of public policies and the effect of their institutionalization on future policy development. Maternalist, nativist, and eugencist imperatives led U.S. governments to intrude in areas normally considered part of the private sphere and led to the adoption of policies to respond to a perceived decline primarily of the White population. These policies provided a normative and institutional basis for future government involvement in child care funding and programs, even after the conditions that led to the original policies changed. In Canada, the lack of large-scale entrenchment of similar ideas constrained an otherwise more interventionist government and made it more difficult for child care policies to find governmental and societal acceptance.

This article reviews the history of principles, concepts, and applications that fall under Health Promotion (HP), an important component of the field of Public Health. It begins with the proposals and hygiene concepts of the Greeks to promote healthier populations, extending the review through various centuries to the Declaration known as the Ottawa Charter, from 1986. This charter resulted from the first International Conference on Health Promotion held in Ottawa, Canada, with the participation of the World Health Organization (WHO), the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare of Canada, and the Canadian Public Health Association. This declaration is considered of utmost importance as it defined the terms, concepts, and strategies for the application and development of the “new Health Promotion.” Health Promotion requires Healthy Public Policies and intersectoral collaboration.

From a Canadian perspective, this article provides a comparative historical and contemporary overview of foundations in Canada, in relation to the United States and Germany. For the purposes of this analysis, the study was limited to public or private foundations in Canada, as defined by the Income Tax Act. As the Canadian foundation milieu straddles the welfare partnership model that characterizes German civil society and the Anglo-Saxon model of the United States, Canadian foundations as a whole have much in common with the foundation sector in both countries. Similarities include the number of foundations per capita, a similar range in size and influence, a comparable diversity of foundation types, and an explosion in the number of foundations in recent decades (although the United States has a much longer history of large foundations making high-impact interventions). This analysis also highlights some key differences among larger foundations in the three jurisdictions: German foundations are generally more apt to have a change-orientation and are more vigorous in their disbursement of income and assets. U.S. foundations are more likely to play a welfare-replacement role in lieu of inaction by the state. Canadian foundations play a complementary role, particularly in the areas of education and research, health, and social services. At the same time, there is a segment of Canadian foundations that are fostering innovation, social and policy change, and are embarking on meaningful partnerships and acts of reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples in Canada.

The depression of the 1930s forced private and public charities across Canada to adapt to new circumstances. The crisis was particularly acute for the Montreal Council of Social Agencies, a minority English Protestant organization in a city reluctant to accept any responsibility for public services. The Council was forced to assume the burden of relief services for its community. The abrupt and long term disruptions in the operations of the Council caused by the Depression forced it to reevaluate and reassess its role in social services. Consequently, the Montreal Council of Social Agencies tried to compel municipal, provincial and federal governments to play larger roles in welfare work to relieve immediate and future problems. Most importantly, the Montreal Council of Social Agencies was guided through the 1930s by the principles of the Charity Organization Society, which were retained and reinforced rather than weakened by this crisis.

The government’s perceptions and attitudes of their ethnic minorities are in close relation with the ethnic minorities’ welfare policies, and also affect the public’s perception of ethnic minorities. Therefore a government’s definition and attitudes are crucial to maintaining national stability. For instance, Canada is a multi-nation state, comprising multiple ethnic groups in one country, with the two most influential as the French-Canadians and the English-Canadians. French and English Canadians are majority ethnic groups while there are many other minority ethnic groups such as the First Nations. The People’s Republic of China is also a multi-nation state, although the biggest ethnic group, the Hans, comprise 98% of the entire population.11 Although all nations have their own cultural cognition - common descent, history, culture, and language - both Canada and China have their own unique definition for their minority nations: Canada’s minority nations are the Aboriginal People of Canada 22, and China’s minority nations are the 55 officially recognized ethnic groups other than the Han people. This essay aims to compare the official perceptions and attitudes of ethnic minorities in China and Canada, hoping to clarify the relationship between ethnic minorities and mainstream ethnic groups, and help the general public to understand them, hence promoting harmonious societal development.

This article seeks to contribute to an understanding of questions regarding on-the-job vocational learning, power, and technological change in the context of dynamic notions of knowledge economy and contemporary public sector austerity in the West based on a “mind in political economy” approach inspired by the Cultural Historical Activity Theory tradition. It draws on recently completed analysis of public sector human services work (welfare benefits delivery work in Ontario, Canada) based on a seven year mixed-methods study (learning life-history interviews n=75; survey n=339). It seeks to explain the emergence of difference between the on-the-job vocational learning of newcomers and veteran workers. The conclusion suggests that structural changes to economies, sectors and organizations, often revolving around new forms of advanced technology, may initiate a process of contestation, appropriation, accommodation and consent that must be actively accomplished by inter-generational dynamics amongst workers within activity.

First Nations children are over 17 times more likely to be removed from their families and placed in the child welfare system (CWS) than non-Indigenous children in Canada. The high rates of parent-child separation have been linked to discriminatory public services and the Indian Residential School (IRS) system, which instigated a multi-generational cycle of family disruption. However, limited empirical evidence exists linking the IRS to subsequent parent-child separations, the CWS, and mental health outcomes among First Nations, Inuit, and Métis populations in Canada. The current studies examine these relationships using a nationally representative sample of First Nations youth (ages 12–17 years) living in communities across Canada (Study 1), and among First Nations and Métis adults (ages 18+ years) in Canada (Study 2). Study 1 revealed that First Nations youth with a parent who attended IRS had increased odds of not living with either of their biological parents, and both IRS and not living with biological parents independently predicted greater psychological distress. Similarly, Study 2 revealed that First Nations and Métis adults with familial IRS history displayed greater odds of spending time in the CWS, and both IRS and CWS predicted elevated depressive symptoms. The increased distress and depressive symptoms associated with parent-child separations calls for First Nations-led interventions to address the inequities in the practices of removing Indigenous children and youth from their families.

Important Islamic principles and values in governance are identified from the Qur’an, Sunna and the essential Shariah objectives (Maqasid al-Shari’ah). The principles (vicegerency, rule of law, justice, social welfare, separation of powers, accountability, consultation, obedience, public participation, inclusiveness, equality, dignity, hisbah or enjoining the good and forbidding the evil, limiting money politics, and ensuring a free, independent media, and peace and security) have considerable bearing on the structure of government institutions and in ensuring good governance, while the values (trustworthiness, transparency, cooperation towards good, moderation, eagerness for knowledge, frugality and valuing time, and good neighbourliness) relate more to the moral qualities required by rulers, leaders and government officers alike. The proposed process of integrating these into governance is based on a systems thinking approach which acknowledges that governance works in a systemic framework. It also stresses the modern discipline of change management but points out that both it and a systems approach were already applied most successfully by Prophet Muhammad [pbuh]. Working examples, which can be adapted for use in Muslim countries for government departments and civic society have been identified from Canada and Malaysia, respectively.

Objective. To examine changes in neighbourhood income-related differences in 'avoidable', and other cause, mortality in urban Canada from 1971 to 1996. Data source. Canadian Mortality Database and population censuses for 1971, 1986, 1991 and 1996. The deaths were coded to census tract and grouped into neighbourhood income quintiles. Methods. Deaths were classified as amenable to medical or public health interventions according to seven selected classification lists. Age-standardized period expected years of life lost (SEYLL) were calculated. Quintile differentials were determined using rate ratios and rate differences. Results. From 1971 to 1996, the avoidable SEYLL differences between the richest and poorest quintiles diminished 58.5--72.1% for men and 56.4--82.2% for women, depending on the classification list considered. The SEYLL differences relating to other causes increased 8.0% in men and decreased 0.5% in women. Conclusion. Deaths amenable to medical and public health interventions contributed to reducing socioeconomic mortality disparities in urban Canada.

The Liberal welfare reforms were a series of bills passed in the British Parliament in the early twentieth-century. Initiated in response to a number of pressing economic and social issues, the Liberal welfare reforms were legislated with the purpose of combating poverty and improving the livelihood of the British working-class citizen. This thesis in economics outlines and examines critically the economic design behind the Liberal welfare reforms between 1906 and 1914.

This study assessed the predictors of the decline in physical activity levels observed over the course of a 5 year longitudinal cohort of adults aged 18--65 living in two low-income, inner-city neighbourhoods in Montreal. The current study made use of data collected as part of Coeur en Sante St. Henri, an intervention program designed to decrease cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. A two-stage cluster telephone survey of a representative sample of residents was used to collect information on a variety of lifestyle behaviours. Multiple logistic regression was used to assess the independent predictors of decline in leisure time physical activity in 626 subjects. Significant predictors of the decrease in physical activity include age (OR = 1.0 (1.0, 1.1) and BMI (OR = 2.0 (1.1, 3.6), and a composite index assessing self-efficacy pertaining to physical activity (OR = 2.0 (1.2, 3.2), in males. In females, significant predictors include lack of energy (OR = 2.4 (1.2, 4.6), perceived lack of athletic ability (OR = 2.4 (1.1, 5.2), not using a neighbourhood facility for physical activity (OR = 2.8 (1.6, 4.7), BMI (OR = 2.1 (1.2, 3.7), and a composite index assessing self-efficacy pertaining to physical activity (OR = 2.1 (1.3, 3.5).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2000.
Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 253-266). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Objectives. To compare HIV risk behaviours of female street youth involved and not involved in prostitution and to identify predictors of initiation into prostitution.
Methods. Female street youth aged 14--25 years were recruited into a prospective cohort study between January 1995 and March 2000. Parametric and non-parametric methods were used to compare risk factors for HIV infection. Girls with no history of prostitution at baseline were followed prospectively to estimate the incidence of prostitution. Cox regression analysis was used to determine predictors of prostitution.
Results. Significantly higher proportions of girls with a history of prostitution reported engaging in behaviours that put them at risk of HIV infection. Such behaviours included non-injection and injection drug use, unprotected sex and risky sexual partnerships. The incidence rate of prostitution among girls not engaged in prostitution at baseline was 11.5/100 person-years. Independent predictors of initiation into prostitution were being 18 years or younger (Hazard Ratio (HR): 2.2; 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.0--4.8), using alcohol everyday (HR: 1.3; 95% CI: 1.1--1.5) and using at least three types of drugs (HR: 5.4; 95% CI: 1.6--18.4).
Conclusions. Girls involved in prostitution exhibited more behaviours that may place them at increased risk of HIV infection compared with female street youth. Young age and substance use characterised by the overuse of alcohol and multi-drug use were found to be independent predictors of initiation into prostitution for female street youth.

This thesis examines relations between charities and the state in Britain and Canada: it challenges a common view that government responsibility for welfare provision in this century has rendered charities relatively insignificant and isolated from the political process in both countries. By focusing specifically on medical research charities, evidence is presented to show that lobbying has become an increasingly important aspect of their activity, in spite of legal limitations restricting much of their involvement in the policy process. It is concluded that the law restricting charities from engaging in political activities has had limited success both because of its 'vagueness' and poor enforcement. The only countervailing force keeping medical research charities 'out of politics' to any significant degree has come from volunteers and the donating public, but, even they have had only a limited impact. The degree of political involvement by a charity is now contingent on the policy area in which it operates, the degree of 'hostility' of government policy towards the organisation and its objectives as well as the charity's financial resources. In light of cut-backs in government expenditure to medical research in the 1980s, of the need to co-ordinate scientific investigations, and of pressures from some volunteers to represent the interests of disease sufferers, as well as a number of other factors, British and Canadian medical research charities have been drawn increasingly into the political process. This evidence suggests that charity-state relations have changed dramatically since the 19th century when charities not only resisted state encroachment into many areas of social welfare, but devoted much of their resources towards encouraging state withdrawal from areas where tax revenues were already being applied. Now charities frequently criticize government policies aimed at cutting-back state funding for programmes in policy areas where charities are operating and also propose new legislation to ensure minimum levels and quality of state-funded services. Given this, the nature of charity-state relations has changed dramatically and has created difficulties for legislators who have had to reconcile the non-political qualities of philanthropy- including altruism, and community participation - with the reality that much charitable activity is devoted to participating in the policy process. In conclusion the blurring of the distinction between philanthropy and politics has meant that charities have begun to resemble more traditional forms of interest groups while at the same time maintaining their privileged 'tax exempt status'. This is a particularly interesting development given that many British and Canadian medical research charities have been co-opted by pharmaceutical companies to participate in a number of that industry's lobbying campaigns in return for corporate donations.

AbstractIn this chapter I analyze how the ideals of the Finnish welfare state are experienced in the 2020s by people who live in weak social and economic situations. Charitable food aid and public social services are often seen to epitomize the unreconciled ideals of the charitable ethos versus welfare universalism. This chapter voices grassroots experiences of people who use services from both charitable and public social service institutions. By exploring people’s everyday encounters with these services, the demonstrations of agency within these services, navigations of social hierarchy, and expressions of gratitude in the welfare state context, the chapter highlights both contrasts and connections between food aid and the welfare state institutions. It shows how experienced social rights of people in weak positions are entangled with their individual agency.

AbstractThis chapter studies the polarisation of 1970s’ British farm animal welfare politics and Ruth Harrison’s career as a full-time public campaigner on the RSPCA Council and as head of her own welfare Trust. Polarised conflicts triggered a professionalisation of RSPCA campaigning. The Society adopted new public pressure tactics, established expert committees, and started commissioning behavioural research. Internal tensions over elite “field sports” also led to the formation of the RSPCA Reform Group. Reform Group members oversaw a streamlining of RSPCA management and leadership. They also popularised animal rights thinking. Ruth Harrison supported opposition to “field sports” and helped trigger the internal crisis that led to the Reform Group’s formation. However, tensions over her role on FAWAC and her focus on gradualist reforms isolated Harrison. Forced to declare bankruptcy after a libel suit against another Council member, Harrison focused on developing her own Farm Animal Care Trust (FACT).

AbstractMedia systems form an integral part of Nordic welfare states. In this chapter, I contribute to this scholarship by analyzing how children’s experiences of the welfare state were mediated when journalists reported on the International Year of the Child (1979). The case study shows how children’s experiences of the welfare state were embedded in the wider societal discussion. Additionally, they were defined by an adult understanding of what consists of a good childhood. My sources consist of a sample of newspaper articles collected both manually and from the National Library of Finland’s digital interface. Additionally, I use metadata from television and radio programs of the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE). The analysis is based on contextual close reading of the texts.

AbstractThis chapter reconstructs the events following the publication of Animal Machines. Skilful media promotion and Animal Machines’ fusion of contemporary animal welfare, health, and environmental concerns turned it into a bestseller. Critics tried to downplay Harrison’s allegations by drawing on sexist stereotypes and characterising her as a misguided and overemotional female. However, the public outrage triggered by Animal Machines soon forced officials to convene the so-called Brambell committee to review welfare on intensive farms. The committee’s 1965 report acknowledged the importance of animals’ affective states and proposed concrete welfare improvements alongside basic animal freedoms. Officials subsequently committed to installing a dedicated Farm Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (FAWAC) but only implemented some of the other Brambell proposals. Concerned about stalling momentum, Harrison successfully used her status as a charismatic but “moderate” public figure to gain access to FAWAC and the political backstage of British welfare consultation.

AbstractThis chapter examines the evolution of British farm animal welfare politics during the last two decades of Harrison’s campaigning. In 1979, the RSPCA boycotted the Thatcher government’s new Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC). The short-lived protest triggered a membership revolt and moderation of RSPCA policies. It also coincided with a weakening of agricultural corporatism in Westminster. FAWC was granted relative independence from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food and explicitly acknowledged an updated version of the five freedoms. Ensuing British welfare reforms were also driven by the increasing involvement of European bodies in animal welfare. Now in her 60s, Ruth Harrison joined FAWC as a welfare member. Her increasing public recognition as a senior welfare campaigner enabled her to proactively push for reforms, expand her fundraising activities, and sponsor additional welfare research. By the late 1990s, most of her welfare positions had become part of mainstream politics.

AbstractThis chapter analyses Harrison’s work on FAWAC and the committee’s wider impact. Agricultural officials had weighted FAWAC membership in favour of producer interests. Within the committee, there were significant tensions over how to define welfare and the status of ethological expertise. Officials, veterinary scientists, and agricultural interests favoured productivity-focused definitions of welfare and prioritised physiological measurements of stress and metabolic conversion. Harrison and other mostly female welfare representatives successfully resisted the passage of weak new welfare codes and called for an inclusion of ethological expertise and wider ethical considerations in FAWAC deliberations. The resulting stalemate between “scientific” and “ethical” factions soon led to a breakdown of FAWAC decision-making, a stagnation of British welfare reforms, and a polarisation of public welfare campaigning.

AbstractThe conclusion reflects on Harrison’s achievements as a campaigner and analyses the wider changes of animal welfare politics, science, and activism that occurred during her life. Between 1920 and 2000, synthesist Edwardian campaigning gave rise to professionalised activism and new concepts of animal cognition, affective states, and welfare. The “backstage” of British corporatist welfare politics was similarly transformed by polarising “frontstage” public protest and animal rights thinking. Aided by the rise of a new “mandated” animal welfare science and European integration, the turbulent 1970s eventually resulted in a new world of British welfare politics characterised by transnational decision-making and market-driven assurance schemes, which relied on consumer citizens rather than citizen campaigners to drive change. Determined to bear witness to animal welfare, Harrison shaped and witnessed most of these changes even though the economic drivers of welfare were becoming divorced from the universalist moral framework she believed in.

AbstractThe 1980s has been described as a time when there was a ‘neoliberal turn’ in public and political debate. In Sweden, many of these new ideas focused on the size and organisation of the welfare state. Although the government implemented a few reforms in the 1980s, activists mobilised many welfare-state-related protests. In this chapter, we describe the trends of these actions and investigate which actors were behind these protests. Our findings show that trade unions and client groups of the welfare state were particularly active, and this aligns well with research on the retrenchment of the welfare state that has shown unions’ and client groups’ opposition to cutbacks everywhere. The third group that we expected to mobilise concerning welfare state issues comprised the proponents of neoliberal reforms, such as pro-business groups. Similar to other studies on the rich people’s movement, we show how these groups seldom choose visible actions, but when they do, they have the resources to organise significant and spectacular events. For example, the Fourth of October demonstration in 1983 was one of the largest demonstrations organised in Sweden. We also note that the mobilisation in the 1980s could not stop the significant welfare retrenchment that followed during the 1990s.

AbstractWhat is well-being? Well-being has become synonymous with the multi-billion-dollar wellness industry, whilst also being rooted in ancient philosophy and religious practices. It has no universal definition across time, place or scientific discipline, yet the very term ‘statistics’ was invented to measure human happiness.This chapter contextualises the history of well-being data and development as one which is tied to political and technological change, firstly, in the desire to monitor human welfare, and secondly, for policy. Public management strategies embraced economic approaches to auditing, as a means to define value and efficiency in social policy choices. The chapter considers how well-being data became co-opted into an ostensibly rational process of decision-making and evaluation, becoming a tool of policy—for good and bad.

The prerequisite for the study was the spread of views in the academic literature that the category of public welfare, without accounting for concretising factors, was a void abstraction, and that in Russia, public welfare was seen as the dominant principle over the individual. The main purpose of the study is to analyse the content of the term ‘the welfare of each and everyone’ in Russian legal theory. The author uses the methods of conceptual history and intellectual history to analyse the concept of ‘the welfare of each and everyone’ in the works of pre-revolutionary authors and the relationship between the concepts of ‘the welfare of each and everyone’ and ‘the common good’. The author determined that: ‘public welfare’ can be classified as fiction, purpose, method, interest and balance, depending on the context of use and semantic scope. The term ‘the welfare of each and every one’ became theoretically meaningful (as an objective, method, and interest), and was enshrined in law in Russian Empire in the XVIII -early XX centuries. The term was understood as achieving the common good, preserving the good of everyone and the reduction of public harm. Twentyfirst century Russian legal theory uses the related notion of ‘public welfare’, understood as a fiction, a goal, a method, an interest, a balance. The main findings of the study suggest that today the ‘public welfare’ is reduced to bringing benefits to anyone and everyone (D. I. Dedov), which is close to the historical understanding of ‘the welfare of each and every one’. The public welfare theory incorporates progressive elements such as the veil of ignorance, the win-win principle, and shapes institutions, resources, practices and formulates the issue of the emergence of a new generation of human rights.

ABSTRACT Background: The increasing prevalence rate of mental illness due to demographic changes became the burden of disease in primary health care. Effective interprofessional collaboration strategies are required to improve professional welfare and quality of care. Interdisciplinary teamwork plays an important role in the treatment of chronic care, including mental illness. This scoping review aimed to investigate the benefit and barrier of interprofessional collaboration approach to mental health care. Subjects and Method: A scoping review method was conducted in eight stages including (1) Identification of study problems; (2) Determining priority problem and study question; (3) Determining framework; (4) Literature searching; (5) Article selection; (6) Critical appraisal; (7) Data extraction; and (8) Mapping. The search included PubMed, Science­Direct, and Willey Online library databases. The inclusion criteria were English-language, full-text, and free access articles published between 2010 and 2020. The data were reported by the PRISMA flow chart. Results: A total of 316 articles obtained from the search databases, in which 263 articles unmet the inclusion criteria and 53 duplicates were excluded. Based on the selected seven articles, one article from a developed country (Malaysia), and six articles from developing countries (Australia, Canada, Belgium, Norway) with quantitative (cross-sectional, surveil­lance) and qualitative study designs. The reviewed findings were benefit and barrier of interprofessional collaboration on mental health. Benefits included improve quality of care, increase job satisfaction, improve patient health status, increase staff satisfaction, increase performance motivation among employees, as well as shorter duration of treat­ment and lower cost. Barriers included hierarchy culture, lack of resources, lack of time, poor communication, and inadequate training. Conclusion: Interprofessional teamwork and collaboration have been considered an essential solution for effective mental health care. Keywords: interprofessional collaboration, benefit, barrier, mental health Correspondence: Arista Kusuma Wardani. Universitas ‘Aisyiyah Yogyakarta. Jl. Siliwangi (Ring Road Barat) No. 63 Mlangi, Nogotirto, Gamping, Sleman, Yogyakarta, 55292. Email: wardanikusuma­1313@gmail.com. Mobile: +6281805204773 DOI: https://doi.org/10.26911/the7thicph.04.26

Background: Wars are always accompanied by various forms of violence. Gender-based violence occupies a special place. Currently, for the first time since the Second World War, the civilian population of Ukraine is facing widespread sexual violence, including rape, by the occupying forces. This situation requires a sociological study of sexual violence that takes into account the Ukrainian experience. Purpose: To identify the goals, as well as general and specific features of sexual violence committed against women during the Russian-Ukrainian war. Methods: Analysis of the memoirs of a victim of gender-based violence during the war; analysis of interviews with experts on sexual violence; method of comparison. Results: The particularity of sexual violence during the Russian-Ukrainian war is the "era of social media", when the relevant information technologies can turn an act of sexual violence into a public event. The primary purpose of various types of sexual violence is to add new "weapons" to the arsenal of war that will help to win. Conclusion: The recent history of Ukraine related to the Russian-Ukrainian war contains a significant amount of empirical data for further research on gender-based sexual violence during wars. Only after the full liberation of the temporarily occupied territories, the scale of sexual crimes committed by the Russian army can be determined, and their goals, forms of manifestation, consequences for the physical and mental health of victims and, accordingly, social consequences can be fully investigated. Keywords: gender-based sexual violence, sexual violence against women, rape culture.

While much of contemporary architectural discourse around plants tends to focus on their aesthetic aspects, origins, and potential uses—such as to provide ornament, drought- resistance and/or cooling, etc.—self-seeded plants, weeds and other undesirables tend to be less of a direct subject of interest and object of study within the discipline.This paper proposes an alternative relationship between architecture and plants, in which urban and self-seeded flora are used as forensic material and studied as evidence of urban change, spatial politics and movements of people, ideas, and construction materials. For example, it looks at seeds traveling with construction materials, or under trains, as well as plants resurfacing as a consequence of bulldozed or demolished sites. The research argues that plants, rather than simply a soft landscape material counterpoint to the concrete reality of building, can be used to study the resilience of landscapes and uncover site-specific histories. Specifically, the paper introduces a series of case studies by describing participatory workshops hosted in Canada, the United States, and Germany developing a methodology for fieldwork, community engagement, and oral history through carefully investigating a chosen site and its weeds. The methodology also serves to question the so-called“vacant” and “abandoned” nature of the chosen site within the larger context & discourse about public revitalization and other gentrification endeavors. By reframing weeds as valid and worthy of interest, this paper contests the devitalized or under-vitalized nature of chosen sites by opening conversations around social, public, and environmental interactions at large. Ultimately, this presentation also explores a range of discursive models to complexify revitalization discourse, articulating a nascent model for public engagement with architecture and site-specific histories through urban botany.

When Terasen Pipelines (later Kinder Morgan Canada) sought to loop its Trans Mountain pipeline through Canada’s Jasper National Park and British Columbia’s Mount Robson Provincial Park, both being components of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks UNESCO World Heritage site, the company faced formidable regulatory and public interest obstacles. However, the company and several environmental groups agreed not to test the strength of their respective uncertain legal positions, but to work co-operatively with each other and with park managers. The motivating goal was to design into the looping project some aspect of environmental improvement that would result in a net benefit to the ecological conditions of the two parks, more than compensating for the residual disturbance which would be caused by the looping after mitigation. The central concept was that of a “conservation offset” (also known as “biodiversity offset”), which has been defined as: “conservation actions intended to compensate for the residual, unavoidable harm to biodiversity caused by development projects, so as to ensure no net loss of biodiversity.” This paper reviews the history of the discussions and planning which took place, considers the adequacy of the outcomes, and suggest lessons for using conservation offsets as a means to align proponent and stakeholder interests and improve environmental outcomes for linear projects beyond the prospects offered by mitigation alone.

In recent years, factors including limited landfill capacity, increasing costs of fossil fuels, and increased pressure to actively recover value from waste in the form of materials and energy have encouraged municipalities throughout North America to advance waste management strategies that utilize waste-to-energy (WTE) technologies as an alternative to landfilling. Currently, utilization of alternative conversion technologies, including gasification, is limited to small-scale or pilot municipal solid waste (MSW) to energy facilities in North America. Though limited history of environmental performance when using MSW as a primary feedstock has delayed public acceptance of facility proposals, municipalities are now moving forward with alternative conversion technology applications. In Florida, two entities have received permits from the Department of Environmental Protection to proceed with construction of gasification facilities — Geoplasma, Inc. in St. Lucie County, and INEOS New Planet BioEnergy in Vero Beach. In Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Enerkem GreenField Alberta Biofuels has received a permit from Alberta Environment to begin construction of a gasification facility that will produce bioethanol from post-recycled MSW. Since 1996, no new greenfield MSW-processing mass burn facility has been constructed in the U.S., though facilities in Hillsborough County, FL; Lee County, FL; and Olmstead County, MN have undergone expansions, and in Honolulu, FL, a 900 TPD unit is currently under construction. In recent years, two municipalities have received permits to proceed with construction of mass burn WTE facilities and have made significant progress toward implementation: The municipalities of Durham and York, Ontario, Canada and The Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County, Florida. This paper will provide a direct comparison of the expected environmental performance of the recently permitted gasification facilities to the expected environmental performance of the recently permitted mass burn WTE facilities, as established by permit applications and emissions modeling studies. Comparison of emissions of particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, and hydrogen chloride will be performed on the basis of one ton of feedstock processed. Emission of these pollutants at the recently permitted facilities discussed above will be contrasted with emissions experienced at currently operating WTE facilities within North America.

The large-scale COVID-19 pandemic is a severe public health emergency which poses distressing social and economic challenges to the international community as a whole. In order to provide immediate and effective support to affected welfare and healthcare systems as well as to build their lasting, inclusive and sustainable recovery, both the European Union and the United Nations have introduced a number of urgent measures aiming to help and protect citizens and economies. This paper looks into the specificities of urgent procedures launched and carried out by the two most influential international organisations with a view to rapidly respond to the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis. More specifically, it focuses on the involved institutions and steps of urgent procedures as well as on their most remarkable outcomes. In the case of the European Union, the emphasis is put primarily on two Coronavirus Response Investment Initiatives (CRIIs), adopted during the Croatian Presidency of the Council in one of the fastest legal procedures in the history of the European Union, and the Recovery Assistance for Cohesion and the Territories of Europe (REACT-EU) as an extension of the CRIIs’ crisis repair measures. The overarching United Nations’ response is assessed through an analysis of its urgent policy agenda developed on the premise that the COVID-19 pandemic is not only a health and socio-economic emergency but also a global humanitarian, security and human rights crisis. This particularly includes procedures foreseen by the Global Humanitarian Response Plan (GHRP) and the Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SPRP). In addition, the aim of the paper is to provide a critical overview of the subject by highlighting three pivotal elements. First, the paper sheds light on the financial aspects of the urgent fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, necessary for turning words into action. Notably, this refers to funds secured by the Multiannual Financial Frameworks 2014-2020 and 2021-2027, and the Next Generation EU recovery instrument, on the one hand, and the UN COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund, the UN Central Emergency Response Fund and the Solidarity Response Fund, on the other hand. Second, it offers a comparative evaluation of the end results of the European and global emergency procedures in mitigating the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, it summarises the underlying elements of measures governing the aftermath of the ongoing crisis, i.e. those promoting a human-centred, green, sustainable, inclusive and digital approach to future life.

When individuals decide to retire from the labour force, different sources of income can help to maintain consumption and welfare. One of those is public pensions. Their importance as an income source varies greatly according to socio-economic status (SES). This paper analyzes how replacement rates (RR) of public pensions (OAS and GIS) and mandatory public pension benefits (C/QPP) vary across SES by using the Longitudinal and International Study of Adults dataset (LISA). Using the longitudinal nature of this survey, we compute and compare average RRs by SES. We specifically consider the role of education and health, and we study how living arrangements can explain RRs variations. To give an idea the average RR of public pensions for individuals in bad health is 32%, while it is 21% for those who report being in good health. Including public pensions and C/QPP benefits, these numbers become 54% for those in bad health and 41% for those in good health. When estimating a multivariate regression model and controlling for past income, we find for couples, that past income does not eliminate differences in replacement ratio by individuals’ characteristics. We argue that assortative mating plays a role in explaining the variation of replacement rates across individuals’ characteristics.

When individuals decide to retire from the labour force, different sources of income can help to maintain consumption and welfare. One of those is public pensions. Their importance as an income source varies greatly according to socio-economic status (SES). This paper analyzes how replacement rates (RR) of public pensions (OAS and GIS) and mandatory public pension benefits (C/QPP) vary across SES by using the Longitudinal and International Study of Adults dataset (LISA). Using the longitudinal nature of this survey, we compute and compare average RRs by SES. We specifically consider the role of education and health, and we study how living arrangements can explain RRs variations. To give an idea the average RR of public pensions for individuals in bad health is 32%, while it is 21% for those who report being in good health. Including public pensions and C/QPP benefits, these numbers become 54% for those in bad health and 41% for those in good health. When estimating a multivariate regression model and controlling for past income, we find for couples, that past income does not eliminate differences in replacement ratio by individuals’ characteristics. We argue that assortative mating plays a role in explaining the variation of replacement rates across individuals’ characteristics.

Discussions of migration and urbanization in Canada and many other nations typically focus on the experiences of individuals. By doing so, the importance of their family relationships and circumstances may be overlooked. A failure to account for broader family networks has wellbeing consequences for both the people who migrate and/or move to urban locations and their family members who have stayed behind. Beyond the individual-level focus, policies related to migration are usually developed as population-level initiatives. This means that families that are considered vulnerable or at-risk due to certain health and/or demographic factors can remain unnoticed and their special needs unaccounted for. The experiences of these families during migration and urbanization merit greater attention so that policy makers and support services can ensure more equitable opportunities and better family wellbeing outcomes. This paper explores migration and urbanization in Canada in relation to family wellbeing with attention to two at-risk population groups: families with a member who has a disability and families that identify as Indigenous. Both groups experience exclusion, that is, systematic actions resulting in being overlooked, ignored, and at-risk. Indigenous families have endured a long history of colonialism, racism, and oppression (Saul, 2014), resulting in a legacy of grievous harm to families and the chronic underfunding of support services such as healthcare, housing, and child welfare (Government of Canada, 2018a; Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015). Families in which there is a member with a disability1 require ready access to affordable healthcare and related services to ensure appropriate support, which is linked to the wellbeing of all family members.

Reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions are two cornerstones of the fight against climate change. Signaling negative externalities of individual consumption on the environment is at the heart of public policies, and usually materializes through an increase in the price of polluting good and services. However, social resistance typically arises when such policies are implemented. In this experiment, we are interested in testing the context in which individuals would be willing to pay more for electricity. We use the situation of Québec (Canada), where low-cost hydropower sold below market value, akin to a consumption subsidy, leads to high residential consumption. Increasing regulated prices closer to their market value would result in a direct welfare gain and free some green energy, reducing greenhouse gases (GHG) in other sectors. The choice to pay more is a prisoner’s dilemma, and we find in this framework that giving clear and transparent information on the consequences of the price increase induces a majority of people to choose to pay more. In addition to the economic benefit of the public good, the presence of the environmental benefit increases contributions. Participants with a more severe budget constraint tend to contribute less. These results are encouraging for the development of efficient energy policies reducing GHG emissions.

This technical note analyzes international experiences and practices of public technology extension service programs. Technology extension services comprise varied forms of assistance provided directly to enterprises to foster technological modernization and improvement, with a focus on established small and mid-sized enterprises. The note discusses the definitions, rationales, and characteristics of selected technology extension service programs, drawing on examples from Europe, North America, and other regions. It presents four detailed case studies: the U.S. Manufacturing Extension Partnership; the National Research Council-Industrial Research Assistance Program in Canada; England's Manufacturing Advisory Service; and Tecnalia, an applied technology organization in Spain. The case studies address several program elements including the history and evolution of the program, structure, program scale, financing structure, services and clients, governance, personnel, monitoring, and evaluation. The analysis highlights common and distinctive characteristics as well as program strengths, weaknesses, and key practices. The note provides a framework for positioning technology extension services within the broader mix of policies for technology transfer, business upgrading, and innovation, and offers conclusions and insights to support efforts to strengthen technology extension services in Latin America.

Banco de la República is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2023. This is a very significant anniversary and one that provides an opportunity to highlight the contribution the Bank has made to the country’s development. Its track record as guarantor of monetary stability has established it as the one independent state institution that generates the greatest confidence among Colombians due to its transparency, management capabilities, and effective compliance with the central banking and cultural responsibilities entrusted to it by the Constitution and the Law. On a date as important as this, the Board of Directors of Banco de la República (BDBR) pays tribute to the generations of governors and officers whose commitment and dedication have contributed to the growth of this institution.1 Banco de la República’s mandate was confirmed in the National Constitutional Assembly of 1991 where the citizens had the opportunity to elect the seventy people who would have the task of drafting a new constitution. The leaders of the three political movements with the most votes were elected as chairs to the Assembly, and this tripartite presidency reflected the plurality and the need for consensus among the different political groups to move the reform forward. Among the issues considered, the National Constitutional Assembly gave special importance to monetary stability. That is why they decided to include central banking and to provide Banco de la República with the necessary autonomy to use the instruments for which they are responsible without interference from other authorities. The constituent members understood that ensuring price stability is a state duty and that the entity responsible for this task must be enshrined in the Constitution and have the technical capability and institutional autonomy necessary to adopt the decisions they deem appropriate to achieve this fundamental objective in coordination with the general economic policy. In particular, Article 373 established that “the State, through Banco de la República, shall ensure the maintenance of the purchasing power of the currency,” a provision that coincided with the central banking system adopted by countries that have been successful in controlling inflation. In 1999, in Ruling 481, the Constitutional Court stated that “the duty to maintain the purchasing power of the currency applies to not only the monetary, credit, and exchange authority, i.e., the Board of Banco de la República, but also those who have responsibilities in the formulation and implementation of the general economic policy of the country” and that “the basic constitutional purpose of Banco de la República is the protection of a sound currency. However, this authority must take the other economic objectives of state intervention such as full employment into consideration in their decisions since these functions must be coordinated with the general economic policy.” The reforms to Banco de la República agreed upon in the Constitutional Assembly of 1991 and in Act 31/1992 can be summarized in the following aspects: i) the Bank was assigned a specific mandate: to maintain the purchasing power of the currency in coordination with the general economic policy; ii) the BDBR was designatedas the monetary, foreign exchange, and credit authority; iii) the Bank and its Board of Directors were granted a significant degree of independence from the government; iv) the Bank was prohibited from granting credit to the private sector except in the case of the financial sector; v) established that in order to grant credit to the government, the unanimous vote of its Board of Directors was required except in the case of open market transactions; vi) determined that the legislature may, in no case, order credit quotas in favor of the State or individuals; vii) Congress was appointed, on behalf of society, as the main addressee of the Bank’s reporting exercise; and viii) the responsibility for inspection, surveillance, and control over Banco de la República was delegated to the President of the Republic. The members of the National Constitutional Assembly clearly understood that the benefits of low and stable inflation extend to the whole of society and contribute mto the smooth functioning of the economic system. Among the most important of these is that low inflation promotes the efficient use of productive resources by allowing relative prices to better guide the allocation of resources since this promotes economic growth and increases the welfare of the population. Likewise, low inflation reduces uncertainty about the expected return on investment and future asset prices. This increases the confidence of economic agents, facilitates long-term financing, and stimulates investment. Since the low-income population is unable to protect itself from inflation by diversifying its assets, and a high proportion of its income is concentrated in the purchase of food and other basic goods that are generally the most affected by inflationary shocks, low inflation avoids arbitrary redistribution of income and wealth.2 Moreover, low inflation facilitates wage negotiations, creates a good labor climate, and reduces the volatility of employment levels. Finally, low inflation helps to make the tax system more transparent and equitable by avoiding the distortions that inflation introduces into the value of assets and income that make up the tax base. From the monetary authority’s point of view, one of the most relevant benefits of low inflation is the credibility that economic agents acquire in inflation targeting, which turns it into an effective nominal anchor on price levels. Upon receiving its mandate, and using its autonomy, Banco de la República began to announce specific annual inflation targets as of 1992. Although the proposed inflation targets were not met precisely during this first stage, a downward trend in inflation was achieved that took it from 32.4% in 1990 to 16.7% in 1998. At that time, the exchange rate was kept within a band. This limited the effectiveness of monetary policy, which simultaneously sought to meet an inflation target and an exchange rate target. The Asian crisis spread to emerging economies and significantly affected the Colombian economy. The exchange rate came under strong pressure to depreciate as access to foreign financing was cut off under conditions of a high foreign imbalance. This, together with the lack of exchange rate flexibility, prevented a countercyclical monetary policy and led to a 4.2% contraction in GDP that year. In this context of economic slowdown, annual inflation fell to 9.2% at the end of 1999, thus falling below the 15% target set for that year. This episode fully revealed how costly it could be, in terms of economic activity, to have inflation and exchange rate targets simultaneously. Towards the end of 1999, Banco de la República announced the adoption of a new monetary policy regime called the Inflation Targeting Plan. This regime, known internationally as ‘Inflation Targeting,’ has been gaining increasing acceptance in developed countries, having been adopted in 1991 by New Zealand, Canada, and England, among others, and has achieved significant advances in the management of inflation without incurring costs in terms of economic activity. In Latin America, Brazil and Chile also adopted it in 1999. In the case of Colombia, the last remaining requirement to be fulfilled in order to adopt said policy was exchange rate flexibility. This was realized around September 1999, when the BDBR decided to abandon the exchange-rate bands to allow the exchange rate to be freely determined in the market.Consistent with the constitutional mandate, the fundamental objective of this new policy approach was “the achievement of an inflation target that contributes to maintaining output growth around its potential.”3 This potential capacity was understood as the GDP growth that the economy can obtain if it fully utilizes its productive resources. To meet this objective, monetary policy must of necessity play a countercyclical role in the economy. This is because when economic activity is below its potential and there are idle resources, the monetary authority can reduce the interest rate in the absence of inflationary pressure to stimulate the economy and, when output exceeds its potential capacity, raise it. This policy principle, which is immersed in the models for guiding the monetary policy stance, makes the following two objectives fully compatible in the medium term: meeting the inflation target and achieving a level of economic activity that is consistent with its productive capacity. To achieve this purpose, the inflation targeting system uses the money market interest rate (at which the central bank supplies primary liquidity to commercial banks) as the primary policy instrument. This replaced the quantity of money as an intermediate monetary policy target that Banco de la República, like several other central banks, had used for a long time. In the case of Colombia, the objective of the new monetary policy approach implied, in practical terms, that the recovery of the economy after the 1999 contraction should be achieved while complying with the decreasing inflation targets established by the BDBR. The accomplishment of this purpose was remarkable. In the first half of the first decade of the 2000s, economic activity recovered significantly and reached a growth rate of 6.8% in 2006. Meanwhile, inflation gradually declined in line with inflation targets. That was how the inflation rate went from 9.2% in 1999 to 4.5% in 2006, thus meeting the inflation target established for that year while GDP reached its potential level. After this balance was achieved in 2006, inflation rebounded to 5.7% in 2007, above the 4.0% target for that year due to the fact that the 7.5% GDP growth exceeded the potential capacity of the economy.4 After proving the effectiveness of the inflation targeting system in its first years of operation, this policy regime continued to consolidate as the BDBR and the technical staff gained experience in its management and state-of-the-art economic models were incorporated to diagnose the present and future state of the economy and to assess the persistence of inflation deviations and expectations with respect to the inflation target. Beginning in 2010, the BDBR established the long-term 3.0% annual inflation target, which remains in effect today. Lower inflation has contributed to making the macroeconomic environment more stable, and this has favored sustained economic growth, financial stability, capital market development, and the functioning of payment systems. As a result, reductions in the inflationary risk premia and lower TES and credit interest rates were achieved. At the same time, the duration of public domestic debt increased significantly going from 2.27 years in December 2002 to 5.86 years in December 2022, and financial deepening, measured as the level of the portfolio as a percentage of GDP, went from around 20% in the mid-1990s to values above 45% in recent years in a healthy context for credit institutions.Having been granted autonomy by the Constitution to fulfill the mandate of preserving the purchasing power of the currency, the tangible achievements made by Banco de la República in managing inflation together with the significant benefits derived from the process of bringing inflation to its long-term target, make the BDBR’s current challenge to return inflation to the 3.0% target even more demanding and pressing. As is well known, starting in 2021, and especially in 2022, inflation in Colombia once again became a serious economic problem with high welfare costs. The inflationary phenomenon has not been exclusive to Colombia and many other developed and emerging countries have seen their inflation rates move away from the targets proposed by their central banks.5 The reasons for this phenomenon have been analyzed in recent Reports to Congress, and this new edition delves deeper into the subject with updated information. The solid institutional and technical base that supports the inflation targeting approach under which the monetary policy strategy operates gives the BDBR the necessary elements to face this difficult challenge with confidence. In this regard, the BDBR reiterated its commitment to the 3.0% inflation target in its November 25 communiqué and expects it to be reached by the end of 2024.6 Monetary policy will continue to focus on meeting this objective while ensuring the sustainability of economic activity, as mandated by the Constitution. Analyst surveys done in March showed a significant increase (from 32.3% in January to 48.5% in March) in the percentage of responses placing inflation expectations two years or more ahead in a range between 3.0% and 4.0%. This is a clear indication of the recovery of credibility in the medium-term inflation target and is consistent with the BDBR’s announcement made in November 2022. The moderation of the upward trend in inflation seen in January, and especially in February, will help to reinforce this revision of inflation expectations and will help to meet the proposed targets. After reaching 5.6% at the end of 2021, inflation maintained an upward trend throughout 2022 due to inflationary pressures from both external sources, associated with the aftermath of the pandemic and the consequences of the war in Ukraine, and domestic sources, resulting from: strengthening of local demand; price indexation processes stimulated by the increase in inflation expectations; the impact on food production caused by the mid-2021 strike; and the pass-through of depreciation to prices. The 10% increase in the minimum wage in 2021 and the 16% increase in 2022, both of which exceeded the actual inflation and the increase in productivity, accentuated the indexation processes by establishing a high nominal adjustment benchmark. Thus, total inflation went to 13.1% by the end of 2022. The annual change in food prices, which went from 17.2% to 27.8% between those two years, was the most influential factor in the surge in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Another segment that contributed significantly to price increases was regulated products, which saw the annual change go from 7.1% in December 2021 to 11.8% by the end of 2022. The measure of core inflation excluding food and regulated items, in turn, went from 2.5% to 9.5% between the end of 2021 and the end of 2022. The substantial increase in core inflation shows that inflationary pressure has spread to most of the items in the household basket, which is characteristic of inflationary processes with generalized price indexation as is the case in Colombia. Monetary policy began to react early to this inflationary pressure. Thus, starting with its September 2021 session, the BDBR began a progressive change in the monetary policy stance moving away from the historical low of a 1.75% policy rate that had intended to stimulate the recovery of the economy. This adjustment process continued without interruption throughout 2022 and into the beginning of 2023 when the monetary policy rate reached 12.75% last January, thus accumulating an increase of 11 percentage points (pp). The public and the markets have been surprised that inflation continued to rise despite significant interest rate increases. However, as the BDBR has explained in its various communiqués, monetary policy works with a lag. Just as in 2022 economic activity recovered to a level above the pre-pandemic level, driven, along with other factors, by the monetary stimulus granted during the pandemic period and subsequent months, so too the effects of the current restrictive monetary policy will gradually take effect. This will allow us to expect the inflation rate to converge to 3.0% by the end of 2024 as is the BDBR’s purpose.Inflation results for January and February of this year showed declining marginal increases (13 bp and 3 bp respectively) compared to the change seen in December (59 bp). This suggests that a turning point in the inflation trend is approaching. In other Latin American countries such as Chile, Brazil, Perú, and Mexico, inflation has peaked and has begun to decline slowly, albeit with some ups and downs. It is to be expected that a similar process will take place in Colombia in the coming months. The expected decline in inflation in 2023 will be due, along with other factors, to lower cost pressure from abroad as a result of the gradual normalization of supply chains, the overcoming of supply shocks caused by the weather, and road blockades in previous years. This will be reflected in lower adjustments in food prices, as has already been seen in the first two months of the year and, of course, the lagged effect of monetary policy. The process of inflation convergence to the target will be gradual and will extend beyond 2023. This process will be facilitated if devaluation pressure is reversed. To this end, it is essential to continue consolidating fiscal sustainability and avoid messages on different public policy fronts that generate uncertainty and distrust. 1 This Report to Congress includes Box 1, which summarizes the trajectory of Banco de la República over the past 100 years. In addition, under the Bank’s auspices, several books that delve into various aspects of the history of this institution have been published in recent years. See, for example: Historia del Banco de la República 1923-2015; Tres banqueros centrales; Junta Directiva del Banco de la República: grandes episodios en 30 años de historia; Banco de la República: 90 años de la banca central en Colombia. 2 This is why lower inflation has been reflected in a reduction of income inequality as measured by the Gini coefficient that went from 58.7 in 1998 to 51.3 in the year prior to the pandemic. 3 See Gómez Javier, Uribe José Darío, Vargas Hernando (2002). “The Implementation of Inflation Targeting in Colombia”. Borradores de Economía, No. 202, March, available at: https://repositorio.banrep.gov.co/handle/20.500.12134/5220 4 See López-Enciso Enrique A.; Vargas-Herrera Hernando and Rodríguez-Niño Norberto (2016). “The inflation targeting strategy in Colombia. An historical view.” Borradores de Economía, No. 952. https://repositorio.banrep.gov.co/handle/20.500.12134/6263 5 According to the IMF, the percentage change in consumer prices between 2021 and 2022 went from 3.1% to 7.3% for advanced economies, and from 5.9% to 9.9% for emerging market and developing economies. 6 https://www.banrep.gov.co/es/noticias/junta-directiva-banco-republica-reitera-meta-inflacion-3

Kenya’s Nakuru Municipal Council (NMC) operates five clinics located primarily in residential areas with high concentrations of people. The clinics provide basic antenatal, child welfare, STI, and other curative services, and family planning services are available at four of the clinics. One provincial referral hospital operated by the Ministry of Health also provides MCH-FP and HIV/STI services in a special STI treatment clinic. The seven public health facilities in Nakuru Municipality are participating in a collaborative project with the Department of Community Health at the University of Nairobi, the University of Manitoba in Canada, and the Nairobi Municipal City Council. The goal is to reduce the incidence of STD's, including HIV/AIDS in Kenya, through strengthening management of STDs and AIDS at the health facilities and establishing sustainable community-based STD/AIDS control activities with an emphasis on women's participation. This report describes a case study of the integration activities being undertaken by the NMC. NMC clinics have adequate basic infrastructure to provide MCH-FP and STI/HlV/AlDS services using an integrated approach, however they lack basic equipment and supplies to support the integration of these services.