Funding the Frontline: How an Oxfam Emergency Response Fund facilitated local humanitarian action

From 2014 to 2020 Oxfam embedded an Emergency Response Fund (ERF) in its multiyear disaster risk reduction programs in Asia-Pacific and Central America. The Oxfam ERF was designed as a flexible funding mechanism to prioritize small-scale, under-the-radar, and forgotten emergencies and help local actors respond to and mitigate the impacts of disasters in their communities. ERF grants totaling US$1.9 million were disbursed and supported 24 small-scale responses led by 15 local organizations in nine countries. The ERF, through the support of a donor who values local leadership, helped local actors shape humanitarian responses, and the simplicity of fund administration unlocked creativity and delivered speed without compromising the quality and accountability of humanitarian aid.

Caught in the war against gambling: A critical analysis of law history and policy making in video games in Greece

The advent of the video game industry brought about new cultural policies in both the national and international levels. In particular, incentives and flexible funding programmes for the production of video games have become a key pillar of support for small, domestic, but also global game companies. In Greece, video game policy history has followed the developments and legal entanglements of gambling regulation, with serious national and international consequences. From the Royal Decree of 1971 to Law 3037/2002 that banned all games in public and private places until the most recent Law 4487/2017, which established a cash rebate scheme for audio-visual productions, this article aims to analyse Greece’s video game policy-making as captured through scattered laws, media articles and personal testimonies.

The Economics of Crowdfunding

An entrepreneur finances her project via crowdfunding. She chooses a funding mechanism ( fixed or flexible), a price, and a funding goal. Under fixed funding, money is refunded if the goal is not met; under flexible funding, there is no refund. Backers observe signals about project value and decide whether to contribute or postpone purchase to the retail stage. Using the linkage principle, we show that the optimal campaign uses fixed funding. Furthermore, we show that an entrepreneur who is not financially constrained can approximately extract full surplus using fixed funding. Therefore, crowdfunding is attractive to both small and large entrepreneurs. (JEL D26, D82, G32, L26)

Telehealth for global emergencies: Implications for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

The current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is again reminding us of the importance of using telehealth to deliver care, especially as means of reducing the risk of cross-contamination caused by close contact. For telehealth to be effective as part of an emergency response it first needs to become a routinely used part of our health system. Hence, it is time to step back and ask why telehealth is not mainstreamed. In this article, we highlight key requirements for this to occur. Strategies to ensure that telehealth is used regularly in acute, post-acute and emergency situations, alongside conventional service delivery methods, include flexible funding arrangements, training and accrediting our health workforce. Telehealth uptake also requires a significant change in management effort and the redesign of existing models of care. Implementing telehealth proactively rather than reactively is more likely to generate greater benefits in the long-term, and help with the everyday (and emergency) challenges in healthcare.

Alternative Research Funding Mechanisms

Funding affects how science is carried out. Over the last 50 years, the core of science funding has become competitive, project based and increasingly oriented towards societal challenges. Recently, alternative, more open and flexible funding mechanisms have emerged, such as crowdfunding, philanthropy and bottom-up mechanisms. This chapter analyses the development and implications of alternative funding mechanisms for science, through an umbrella literature review complemented by case studies. It concludes that alternative funding are an important component of research funding, which provides new opportunities especially for niche and unrecognized research, and require stronger communication skills by researchers. However, they can't and should not substitute traditional mechanisms. Researchers, institutions and funding agencies should redesign their activity accounting for a plurality of funding instruments, and facilitate collaboration between them.

The Importance of Gender Equality and Women’s Inclusion for Resolving Conflict and Sustaining Peace

The meaningful participation of women in peace talks, peacebuilding, and post-conflict reconstruction is critical to lasting and sustainable peace. Women bring new issues, different experience of war, and the views of a wider section of society to the table and have key skills useful for sustaining or resuscitating talks. Yet they encounter barriers, including the dominance of patriarchal views. The global governance system needs to create legal and policy responses to deal with such exclusion. The UN needs to appoint more women to senior mediation and negotiation roles. States and global institutions should consider the use of quotas to increase the number of women in peacekeeping and set aside predicable, accessible and flexible funding for women’s participation. Global institutions and member states should also create judicial mechanisms and rigorous follow-up mechanisms to ensure there is no impunity for peacekeeper sexual abuse and exploitation.