scholarly journals Overview of poverty and social exclusion in the Western Balkans

Stanovnistvo ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordana Matkovic
Keyword(s):  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Subjective Perception ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Entire Region ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Balkan Countries ◽  
Almost All

During the last 15 years the entire Western Balkan region has undergone dramatic changes. With the fall of the Berlin wall and the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, new states were formed and transition started, although in some countries it was quite delayed. Simultaneously, during the nineties, much of the region experienced wars and destruction, waves of refugees, internal displacement of population, devastation of the economy, demolition of institutions and impoverishment of citizens. Absolute poverty, determined through the estimation of household consumption at which families, after paying for essential non-food expenditures just attain minimal nutritional needs, in almost all of the Western Balkans is still relatively high, and is not showing significant tendencies of decreasing. A large concentration of the population and households just above the poverty line additionally demonstrates the challenges faced by the entire region while undergoing the transition process. In some countries extreme poverty, meaning that not even basic food needs can be met, has been registered. On the other hand, relative poverty, defined as the share of those who are excluded from the minimum acceptable way of life in states in which they live, is not particularly high. Due to the relatively high standard of living in the past and high expectations of the population that living standards would increase in a relatively short period of time, the subjective perception of poverty in the entire region is very much present. Groups that stand out as especially vulnerable and excluded are the unemployed, dependents and the less educated. At the level of the household, in some countries households with many children and elderly households are particularly vulnerable. The poorest often live in the rural areas and in the underdeveloped regions. In addition, especially vulnerable groups, who cannot even be completely covered by standard surveys, but are poor and socially excluded by many indices are the Roma, refugees and IDPs and persons with disabilities. Concurrently undergoing transition, post conflict reconciliation and reconstruction and striving to pursue their European Union future, the Western Balkan countries face many challenges. One of the greatest challenges is to focus on programs and activities that will lead to equitable and sustained economic growth that will also benefit the vulnerable groups. Almost all Western Balkan countries, through their national plans and programs, have marked employment growth and job creation as the most important single mechanism for exiting poverty. The second priority may be an increase of education coverage and improving the quality of education, although reduction of poverty and social exclusion presupposes improvement in the areas of developing appropriate social safety nets, health care systems, securing adequate housing, participation in decision making and protection of human rights. Bearing in mind the commitment of the Western Balkan countries to meet the globally agreed goals manifested in the MDGs, their efforts to proceed with anti-poverty strategies and aspirations in terms of EU accession, it is of the utmost importance to explore the synergies between these agendas to ensure that the processes reinforce each other.

scholarly journals Analysis of the alignment of public policies development in the Western Balkan countries with the European Union standards

2021 ◽  
pp. 31-45
Author(s):  
Nevenko Vranješ
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
European Union ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Public Policies ◽  
Business Community ◽  
Adoption Process ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Balkan Countries

The process of creation, development, adoption and enforcement of public policy presents an exceptionally challenging issue for several reasons. First of all, public policies are used to identify and resolve certain social problems and social issues, them being their primary aim. Furthermore, public policy articulates the aims of governing political subject, through which they strive to realize their programs. And finally, public policy satisfies certain needs of citizens and business community. It is therefore very difficult to achieve the full correlation of these three goals while simultaneously fulfill all genuine needs of society and ideological and political goals of governing elites. Something like this presents a challenge in the complex societies of post-conflict and countries of post-socialist transition, as Western Balkans countries are considered to be. Namely, for many decades such environments had a narrowly set and monolithic approach to the projection of public policy, though the concept of their strategic planning was radically revised a decade ago and entered into a completely different qualitative and quantitative phase. The subject of this paper is the Analysis of the alignment of public policies development in the Western Balkan countries with the European Union standards. The paper will envelop a brief review of public policy adoption process in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Albania. The pillar in the presentation of the said countries constitutes the existing criteria and tools which were projected and evaluated by SIGMA-OECD organization, with the aim to converge public administrations of Western Balkans countries with European administrative region. The paper uses the methods of legal exegesis, content analysis, comparative methods, principles and indicators of SIGMA-OECD, and provides an empirical review of the assessment of the situation conducted on the given thematic by the said organization.

scholarly journals Evolution of foreign policy priorities of the Western Balkan countries in the context of their European and Euro-Atlantic

2021 ◽  
pp. 143-157
Author(s):  
Mariana Echimovich ◽  
Vitaliy Alekseevich Danilov ◽  
Zarina Fazlitdinovna Mardonova ◽  
Maxim Kirillovich Karpukhin
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Balkan Countries

This article traces the evolution of foreign policy priorities of the Western Balkan countries in the context of their European and Euro-Atlantic integration over the period from the mid-1990s to 2020. The key goal lies in the analysis of formation and development of the European and Euro-Atlantic vectors in foreign policy of the Western Balkans. The relevance of the selected topic is defined by fact that all Western Balkan countries are somehow involved in the European and Euro-Atlantic integration processes, which prompts transformations in their home and foreign policy. In post-Cold War era, the Western Balkans depart from their foreign policy course, which they have followed since the end of the World War II. The conflicts that were related to dissolution of Yugoslavia underline the expansion of influence of the North Atlantic Alliance as the major “peacekeeper”, and the European Union, which took on the role of post-conflict settlement. In the under their influence. Tracing the evolution of foreign policy priorities of the Western Balkans within the framework of their European and Euro-Atlantic integration defines the scientific novelty of this research. The acquired conclusions can be implemented in theoretical and practical activity. The article explores the regional initiatives of NATO and EU, which were aimed at stabilization of the Western Balkan region through transformation of state and social institutions, development of interstate cooperation, and involvement in regional integration processes. For determination of the role of the European Union and NATO in foreign policy of the Western Balkans, the author analyzed the doctrinal documents of the Western Balkan countries, which highlighted the priority of European and Euro-Atlantic vector.

Sex difference in the cytosolic and nuclear distribution of androgen receptor in mouse submandibular gland

1986 ◽  
Vol 108 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Kyakumoto ◽  
R. Kurokawa ◽  
Y. Ohara-Nemoto ◽  
M. Ota
Keyword(s):  
Androgen Receptor ◽  
Nuclear Receptors ◽  
Binding Sites ◽  
Androgen Receptors ◽  
Dissociation Constants ◽  
Scatchard Analysis ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Androgen Binding

ABSTRACT Cytosol and nuclear androgen receptors in submandibular glands of male and female mice were measured by an exchange assay at 0 °C. The binding of [3H]methyltrienolone to cytosol receptors in females was mostly saturated within a short period of incubation (3 h), whereas the saturation was much slower in males; suggesting that almost all of the cytosol receptors were unoccupied in females and the receptors were partially occupied in males. Nuclear receptors were extracted with pyridoxal 5′-phosphate (5 mmol/l) from nuclear fractions with 93–95% efficiency. The exchange of the bound steroids occurred by 24–48 h at 0 °C, suggesting that most of the nuclear androgen receptor was occupied. The binding was low at higher temperatures, probably due to inactivation of the receptor. Scatchard analysis showed that the apparent dissociation constants of cytosol and nuclear receptors were similar (0·8 and 0·9 nmol/l respectively) in both sexes. On the other hand, the number of androgen-binding sites in the nucleus was much higher in males than in females (1052 fmol/mg DNA and 32 fmol/mg DNA respectively), while the number in the cytosol was higher in females than in males (512 fmol/mg DNA and 368 fmol/mg DNA respectively). These observations show that androgen receptors exist mainly (74%) in the nuclei of males, while they exist mostly (94%) in the cytosol of females. J. Endocr. (1986) 108, 267–273

Effects of ova transfer on the birthcoats of lambs

1972 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marca Burns
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Meat Production ◽  
Transfer Experiment ◽  
Primary Follicle ◽  
Skin Expansion ◽  
Foetal Growth ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Size At Birth

SUMMARYBirthcoat samples from Lincoln and Welsh Mountain lambs born in an ova transfer experiment (Weiner & Slee, 1965) were examined to determine the fibre type arrays and any effect of ova transfer on manifestation of the prenatal check or the base (Dry, 1965).In the Lincoln breed arrays were Truncated Ravine or Truncated Valley thus showing central checking. Pre-curly tip fibres were mainly confined to central primary follicles. Post-natal medullation was plentiful, especially in peak curly-tips, but kemp was absent. In the Welsh lambs all identifiable arrays were either Plateau or Saddle, with the lateral primary fibres more checked than the centrals. Pre-curly tip fibres occupied almost all the primary follicles, with only a few curly-tips in primary laterals. Post-natal medullation was strongest in pre-curly tips and their successors.The effect of ova transfer was to decrease the manifestation of check in Lincoln-in-Welsh and increase it in Welsh-in-Lincoln, without affecting the base. Although this, in each case, changed the check of the lamb in the direction of that of the foster breed, it is suggested that this may not be due to any influence of maternal check on foetal check. The effect on pre-natal check may be due to foetal size, and in particular skin expansion, during a short period immediately following completion of primary follicle initiation. As compared to their respective controls, the Welsh transfer lambs had a higher S/P ratio at birth, whilst that of the transferred Lincolns was reduced.If increased prenatal fibre check is associated with increased foetal growth rate at the relevant period, it may also be correlated with increased lamb size at birth and therefore have been favoured in selection for meat production, at least in some breeds.

scholarly journals Unia Europejska wobec Bałkanów Zachodnich w kontekście kryzysu migracyjnego w latach 2015‑2019

Politeja ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3(66)) ◽  
pp. 157-169
Author(s):  
Wawrzyniec Banach
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Regional Security ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Balkan Countries ◽  
Research Goal ◽  
Accession Process ◽  
Migration Crisis ◽  
The Eu

European Union towards Western Balkans in the Context of Migration Crisis 2015‑2019 The aim of the article is to analyse the actions taken by the European Union towards the Western Balkans in the context of the migration crisis. The study assumes that the migration crisis was an important factor accelerating the accession process of the Western Balkan countries to the European Union. In order to fulfil the research goal, an analysis of sources (European Union documents) was conducted. The paper uses elements of the theory of the regional security complex as a theoretical framework. Firstly, the activities of the European Union before the migration crisis are discussed. Next, the paper focuses on presenting the course of the crisis on the Western Balkan route. The further part of the study discusses the actions taken by the EU towards the countries of the Western Balkans in response to the migration crisis.

scholarly journals Co-exploring the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the livelihood of persons with disabilities in Bangladesh

2021 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adity Shayontony Das ◽  
Fatema Akter Bonny ◽  
Arifa Bente Mohosin ◽  
Sabina Faiz Rashid ◽  
Md Tanvir Hasan
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
World Health ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Formal Sector ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Household Level ◽  
The Government ◽  
Health Organization

Background: According to World Health Organization (WHO), vulnerable groups such as persons with disabilities are facing severe impacts of the pandemic. There has always been significant challenges and hurdles in terms of achieving adequate and equitable inclusivity of persons with disabilities in all sections of social life. Education and employment of persons with disabilities were least focused which created more marginalization for the community. The long term impact of these marginalization has also led to the lack of jobs and social security of persons with disabilities, which is very clear now given the crisis in place. In low and middle income countries like Bangladesh the situation is even worse. To better understand the conditions of persons with disabilities in this crisis situation, the present study was initiated to explore the dimensions of livelihood with respect to income and wellbeing of persons with disabilities and to generate evidence for developing policies around these issues.Methods: A qualitative study was undertaken among 30 persons with disabilities from 8 different geographical divisions of Bangladesh. The interviews were conducted through telephone calls due to the existing COVID-19 crisis and mobility restrictions. The respondents were purposively selected based on gender, type of disability, area of resident (urban, rural) and their ability to communicate, therefore most (25/30) respondents were persons with physical disability. Thematic analysis was conducted to generate the findings of the study.Findings: Study findings revealed that majority of the respondents were involved in informal jobs. Predominantly males were daily wage-earners and often the sole breadwinner of the families, very few females were involved in economic activities. Since they had no stable income, the economic shock from the COVID-19 pandemic had affected them badly even leading to household level famine. The study identifies low level of education and informal job security as the primary causes of socio-economic insecurity among persons with disabilities, resulting in challenges in ensuring a stable livelihood during crisis situations, such as COVID-19.Conclusion: Constant alienation of persons of disabilities from the formal sector results in the deterioration of their livelihood standards which even worsen during any emergency crisis such as COVID-19. The study pinpoints that only aided services are not adequate to ensure persons with disabilities' rights rather there is an urgent need of disability inclusion in formal job sector and livelihood training for persons with disabilities. To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and to irradiate the inequality towards persons with disabilities in the society it is important for the Government and concern bodies to focus on the inclusiveness with better implementation and monitoring strategies.

scholarly journals Social position of persons with disabilities in and out of residential institution

Stanovnistvo ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-111
Author(s):  
Milan Markovic
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
General Population ◽  
Economic Activity ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Equality Of Opportunity ◽  
Access To Education ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Residential Settings ◽  
Almost All

The 2011 Census in the Republic of Serbia introduced, for the first time questions about difficulties in functioning, following the Recommendations from the Washington Group on Disability Statistics. Since there are no stable and continuous sources on the position of persons with disabilities in Serbia, the Census results may be used as a relevant source on disability measurement. Of course, due to the main goal of census disability measurement, and that is a general identification of disability in population, these results should be employed with certain reservations and carefully, especially because of some methodological specification in approaching disability. The main use of census data on disability should be found in evaluating the "equality of opportunity" in relevant areas, such as economic activity (labour and employment), education, living sources, etc. and this is to be achieved mainly through comparison between the values in the general population and population with disabilities. Having done that, we were able to conclude on visible inequality of opportunities between the general and population with disabilities. These discrapancies are indeed evident first in the area of education-especially in accessing elementary education, where the percentage of persons with disabilities that never attended school is extremely high (12.2% v. 2.68% in general population). The unfavourable status of persons with disabilities in the context of education continues in almost all levels of education. An even more obvious inequality of opportunity is present in the area of economic activity, where the prevalence of inactive persons with disability is very high - almost 90%. Having gone through all the age categories, what becomes abvious is a significantly lower activity among all age groups in comparison to the same groups in general population. However, the main goal of this article was to detect the discrapancies existing between the position of persons with disabilities that live in the community and those living in institutional settings - institutions for collective housing. In both areas of education and economic activity, the results tell us very much about a much more problematic status of those living in residential settings. Overall, the access to education is much lower with residents, making an even more negative picture about this smaller group of persons with disabilities in Serbia. In the area of economic activity, the percentage of economically active persons with disabilities in residential settings does not climb to one percent (0.30% excluding the homes for adults and the elderly), which is indeed a worrying situation. Having in mind well known facts on the effects of institutionalization of persons with disabilities in terms of almost all their rights and freedoms, the results that we have encountered are to confirm a negative status of those living in residential settings. Experiences of discrimination, marginalization, segregation and exclusion are evident in the census results. Even if one tries to focus only on analyzing the equality of opportunity in the given context, in comparison with the general population, or even only with the contingent of persons with disabilities out of the residential settings, those living in institutions in Serbia are seriously suffering from lack of access to education, training, labour market and other important areas of life and social functioning. In addition, a potentially relevant insight has been made into the correlation of the type of problem and the status within economic activity and education of persons with disabilities in Serbia. The results confirm that those persons identified through census questions that aim at detecting problems of mental health (intellectual and psycho-social disability) are in the least favourable position in both of the observed areas. Such conclusions should also be connected to a specifically problematic social inclusion and acceptance of those with mental health problems and the extremely high burden of social stigma towards them, combined with the long-going practice of exclusion and discrimination (legal capacity, education, employability, etc.).

scholarly journals Euroisation in the Western Balkans: The Evidence for Macedonian Economy

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 307-315
Author(s):  
Tatjana Boshkov ◽  
Zoran Temelkov ◽  
Aleksandra Zezova
Keyword(s):  
Exchange Rate ◽  
Foreign Currency ◽  
Exchange Rate Regime ◽  
Extended Period ◽  
Emerging Countries ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Balkan Countries ◽  
High Level ◽  
Benefits And Costs ◽  
Prudential Policy

Abstract Euroisation is a problem with a long history and usually persistent phenomena. The high level of euroisation is common in emerging countries in Europe as in the countries with fixed exchange rate regime. In Western Balkan countries have been identified a strong presence of foreign currency. The fact is that transactions could take a place outside of the banking channels, which is not a case for FX-loan and FX-deposit ratios. It’s difficult to measure how much foreign money is in the economy. This is the reason to use data for currency substitution index. This index is high for Macedonia indicating high level of real euroisation. After the crisis, the levels are reduced (lower remittances from abroad). Considering the exchange rate experience of Macedonia, it’s likely to remain significantly euroised country for an extended period. IMF considers appropriate strategy which provides support for the gradual de-euroisation in maintaining macro-prudential policy and development of the domestic market. Another important strategy is the maintenance of prudent policies that mitigate foreign currency risks. The paper shows the persistence of FX mainly in Macedonian economy and discusses about benefits and costs, in light of the recent economic crisis.

scholarly journals Unemployment, Social Exclusion and Emerging Social Vices in Nigeria

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Oluranti Samuel
Keyword(s):  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Economic Resources ◽  
Survival Strategies ◽  
Subjective Perception ◽  
Social Goal ◽  
Political Situation ◽  
National Productivity ◽  
Physical Distress ◽  
The Unemployed

Unemployment in Nigeria is alarming, and the active workforce is lamenting. The oversaturation of the Nigerian labour market, the socio-economic and political policies seem to make employment a mirage, causing emotional and physical distress, and subjective feelings of social exclusion. This paper assesses the effects of unemployment and social exclusion on the emerging social vices in Nigeria. The paper uses secondary data from the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Annual Report on unemployment, and the various reported crimes and social vices attributed to unemployment and the survival strategies of the unemployed. The results show that unemployment has very damaging effects on the subjective perception of social integration, access to economic resources, mental health, life or psycho-social goal fulfilment and higher self-efficacy of the unemployed. It was discovered that social vices like fraud, drug trafficking, kidnapping, ritual killing, armed robbery, banditry, fuel-pipe vandalism, prostitution, and desperation for offshore migration among others are the survival strategies of many of the unemployed. The paper suggests social inclusive policies that will improve the socio-economic and political situation of the country, which will reduce unemployment and the emerging social vices, enhance talent re-orientation, and utilization of the youth for individual fulfilment and national productivity.

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