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This study aims to determine the pedagogical and socio-emotional impacts of school closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in Guinea.

A descriptive, survey-based methodology was used to collect quantitative and qualitative data directly from parents and caregivers. Between February 24 and March 13, 2022, data was gathered from a study population comprising 2,955 adults residing in five communes and five prefectures of Guinea.

Half of all respondents stated that school closures had no particular impact on children in their household, and 42% stated that no intentional pedagogical activities took place during school closures. Approximately 15% of respondents stated that children experienced boredom, loneliness, sadness, depression, stress and anxiety during the school closures.

The study underscores the significance of school closure readiness and interactive learning while revealing limited emotional impact on children. The findings, while specific to Guinea, provide a foundational understanding, highlighting the complexity of pandemic effects on education and the need for adaptive strategies in vulnerable regions.

This study investigates paradox-responding strategies and enabling mechanisms in humanitarian temporary supply networks (TSNs). Given the high stakes involved in life-saving supply networks, understanding how diverse, often under-resourced, organisations jointly tackle paradoxical tensions under time pressure is crucial.

A qualitative single case study approach is adopted and a TSN deployed to meet shelter needs following the 2015 Nepal earthquake is selected as the case. The authors use diverse secondary data sources to establish how the TSN responded to paradoxical tensions.

Results show that paradox-responding in humanitarian TSNs is ongoing, dynamic and a collective effort. Most strategies entail tackling the paradoxical tensions at the same time, using the same TSN structure, but there are differences in the treatment of the paradoxical elements. Additionally, the authors find that the execution of the responding strategies is enabled by the appropriate types of network-level mechanisms which can vary in novelty, complexity, depth and reach.

This study provides rich explanations of paradox-responding and develops insights into collective action within TSNs. However, further research is needed to extend and refine insights given the single-case setting design.

This study develops a framework of paradox-responding strategies and a corresponding mix of enabling mechanisms that can guide decision-makers in the humanitarian sector when deploying TSNs.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that investigates paradox-responding strategies in humanitarian TSNs in particular and enabling mechanisms in general.

This chapter analyzes the link between the digital divide, infrastructure regulation, and disaster planning and relief through a case study of the flood in San Jose, California triggered by the Anderson dam’s overtopping in February 2017 and an examination of communication failures during the 2018 wildfire in Paradise, California. This chapter theorizes that regulatory decisions construct social and disaster vulnerability. Rooted in the Whole Community approach to disaster planning and relief espoused by the United Nations and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, this chapter calls for leadership to end the digital divide. It highlights the imperative of understanding community information needs and argues for linking strategies to close the digital divide with infrastructure and emergency planning. As the Internet’s integration into society increases, the digital divide diminishes access to societal resources including disaster aid, and exacerbates wildfire, flood, pandemic, and other risks. To mitigate climate change, climate-induced disaster, protect access to social services and the economy, and safeguard democracy, it argues for digital inclusion strategies as a centerpiece of community-centered infrastructure regulation and disaster relief.

Diversity is the wealth of Montenegro. It is a comparative advantage that provides an exceptional opportunity for understanding and tolerance. It encourages citizens to dialogue, get to know each other and get closer and not to misunderstand, confront and divide society. Any attempt to explore and consider the position of the minority national and ethnic groups in a given social reality is a very specific problem. The best indicator of democracy and tolerance achieved by the social system in a country is the attitude towards its minorities. It is reflected in the majority population's ability to exist under the conditions of tolerating and respecting minorities and their rights. In that sense, the question of the actual (not only constitutional) position of the minorities is an issue of the majority community just as it is a specific mirror of its achieved level of tolerance, emancipation and culture of living. It is especially interesting to explore those national and ethnic minorities with no ‘mother country’, that is, ‘no one to stand up for them’. The Roma population is one of these. It should be kept in mind that its position, regardless of the state in question, is complex and faces various problems.

In order to significantly improve the overall position of the Roma population in Montenegro, it is necessary to improve the socio-economic status of this group. The best way to do such a thing is through the acquisition of new knowledge and skills, as well as the promotion of Roma's identity and cultural heritage. The poor socio-economic status of Roma in Montenegro is a consequence of their inability to be employed. They are not employed because they are not formally educated or do not have a significant level of institutional education. So it is a vicious circle in which the Roma are spinning unsuccessfully to resolve, at least somewhat decently, their socio-economic position. The educational situation of the Roma population in Montenegro is significantly better at the end of the second decade of the twenty-first century, but still not nearly satisfactory in the way how that members of this population successfully participate in finding and getting a job. Therefore, through mutual communication between Roma and other social actors in Montenegro, it is necessary to raise awareness and strengthen the capacity of Roma about the importance of education and the connection of this segment of society with their employment. This leads to the improvement of the overall position of the Roma population in Montenegrin society, as well as the building of an inclusive and open society, a society of equality and justice and equal opportunities for all residents to access educational institutions at various levels and other legal and social structures.

This study examines the role of universities in the social entrepreneurship ecosystems (SEEs) in Latin America from the perspective of female academic staff, administrators and outreach workers of universities in the region.

Using a qualitative approach, the study scrutinises in-depth interviews conducted with 24 women from eight Latin American universities.

The findings underscore the pivotal role of universities in promoting social entrepreneurship through knowledge generation, entrepreneur training, network enhancement and the promotion of equity. They also highlight the importance of incorporating a gender perspective into university programmes and practices.

The qualitative nature and small, diverse sample of this research inherently limit its scope. However, these limitations arise from the exploratory approach adopted, which was confined to eight Latin American countries. Further comparative studies in different contexts are needed to deepen the understanding of the dynamics involved.

Universities should offer more tangible support and training in social entrepreneurship with a gender focus. Governments can create incentives for universities to prioritise their contribution in this area.

The study emphasises the potential of women-led social entrepreneurship initiatives to generate positive impact, underscoring the need for inclusive supportive environments.

By providing insights on the role of Latin American universities in SEEs from a gender perspective, this study contributes to limited literature on the intersection of social entrepreneurship, gender, higher education and geographic context in the region. The research underscores the need to further explore how gender and regional dynamics influence social entrepreneurial ecosystems.

The purpose of this paper is to test if activism by civil society organisations (CSOs hereafter) in successfully mobilising resistance to the Government of Ghana “collateralization” of gold resources and other mineral royalties in 2020 (dubbed the “Agyapa deal”) espouse tenets of Foucault’s (2009) “governmentality” and “counter conduct” dispositions.

This paper draws on Dean’s (1999) discussion of government analytics to highlight how CSO activism can simultaneously challenge government practice and share in it. This paper uses an evidence-based and interpretive qualitative content analysis approach. This paper relied on secondary data sources from 1 January 2020 to 21 August 2021. Data collection involved an extensive review of secondary materials concerning the Agyapa deal, relying on the author's local knowledge to identify the likely sources of information.

This paper exposes how the counteractions of CSOs, underpinned by the desire for so-called “good governance”, invariably extend governmentality and other neo-liberal ideals. In this case, CSOs' actions espoused the ideals of marketisation, extended governable spaces, engrained subjectivation and treated citizens as incapable of formulating and advancing their desires without overt help. Secondly, it provides evidence that massive deployment of accountability and other calculable practices, however wilful, complement efforts at shaping public opinion.

CSO counter-conduct is merely symbolic rather than substantive. Substantive counter-conduct requires the citizenry to actively lead the problematisation process, holding CSOs accountable for acting on their behalf. The current trajectory where CSO accountability is primarily to their international financiers, predominantly neo-liberal advocates, raises questions about “in whose interest they seek another form of governance?” Practically, the splinter of interests that may emanate from citizenry directly led counter-conduct can affect garnering the critical mass needed to force a policy change. That said, however, there is a case for citizenry “making themselves” rather than “being made” within the governmentality process.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first application of the Foucauldian and Dean framework to a data set from Ghana.

This paper draws on the results of telephone surveys conducted to assess the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the young people of two longitudinal cohorts (aged 19 and 26 years old at the time) of the four countries that participate in the Young Lives research programme: Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam. We first review the pandemic experiences of these four countries, which differed significantly, and report on the responses of the individual young people to the pandemic and the measures taken by governments. Our main focus is on how the pandemic and policy responses impacted on the education, work and food security experiences of the young people. Unsurprisingly the results show significant adverse effects in each of these areas, though again with differences by country. The effects are mostly more severe for poorer individuals. We stress the challenges that COVID-19 is creating for meeting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, in particular in making it more difficult to ensure that no one is left behind.

The authors investigated cocoa farmers' access to subsidized fertilizer in Ghana and implications on productivity.

Primary data were sourced from 435 cocoa farmers. Cragg hurdle and two-step Tobit model with continuous endogenous regressors/covariates were applied for the drivers of cocoa farmers' participation in fertilizer subsidy programme and productivity. Propensity score matching (PSM), inverse-probability weights (IPW) and augmented inverse-probability weights (AIPW) were applied for productivity impact assessment of fertilizer subsidy.

All the farmers were aware of fertilizer subsidy for cocoa production in Ghana. Farmers became aware of fertilizer subsidy through extension officers, media and other farmers. Half of cocoa farmers benefitted from fertilizer subsidy. Averagely, cocoa farmers purchased 292 kg of subsidized fertilizer. Many socio-economic, farm-level characteristics and institutional factors determine cocoa farmers' participation in fertilizer subsidy programme, quantity of subsidized fertilizer obtained and productivity. Beneficiaries of fertilizer subsidy recorded higher cocoa productivity than non-beneficiaries. Hence, fertilizer subsidy for cocoa production in Ghana leads to a gain in productivity.

There should be more investments in fertilizer subsidy so that all cocoa farmers benefit and obtain the required quantities.

The authors provide new evidence on cocoa productivity gain or loss emanating from fertilizer subsidy by combining different impact assessment techniques for deeper analysis: PSM, IPW and AIPW.

Farmers in rural areas are generally not well empowered with knowledge and innovations to solve their agricultural problems in spite of the growing presence of such knowledge resulting from research and innovation activities across the globe. This study aims to document approaches, impact and impediments of using village knowledge centers (VKCs) to transfer agricultural knowledge and innovations.

To achieve the objective of the study, a case study research design was used to investigate the impact of a selected VKC as institutional innovation in agricultural technology outreach and extension in rural Tanzania. Primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and observation methods. Besides, secondary sources such as reports were used to complement primary data during fieldwork.

The study reveals that various approaches are used by the VKC to transfer knowledge and innovation to farmers. The use of the multi-actor platform (MAP) to run the VKC ensures inclusive knowledge production and sharing among different actors. The findings also suggest that knowledge and innovation co-creation is constructed with various knowledge systems actors to enhance the use of research generated. Accordingly, the findings show that the university efforts are an important catalyst for integrated knowledge, technology and innovation systems in rural settings.

The present study reveals different limitations associated with the use of a single case study design. The single-case design provided researchers with little basis for generalisation of the study findings and conclusions. Aside from that, the use of a cross-sectional design did not help the researchers to validate the findings and conclusions. To address these limitations, the study recommends similar studies that will adopt different types of longitudinal design such as cohort and diary methods. Apart from this, a future study to investigate the tangible impact of VKC on knowledge and innovation transfer is recommended.

Considering the novelty of the MAP approach in Tanzania and the dearth of studies reporting on how the village knowledge center works and how effective it is, the present study provides insights on the approaches, impact and impediments.