Since the early 1990s, Japan has played an increasingly important and influential role in Africa. A primary mechanism that has furthered its influence has been through its foreign aid policies. Japan's primacy, however, has been challenged by changing global conditions related to aid to Africa, including the consolidation of the poverty reduction agenda and China's growing presence in Africa. This book analyzes contemporary political and economic relations in foreign aid policy between Japan and Africa. Primary questions focus on Japan's influence in the African continent, reasons for spending its limited resources to further African development, and the way Japan's foreign aid is invested in Africa. The context of examining Japan's foreign aid policies highlights the fluctuation between its commitments in contributing to international development and its more narrow-minded pursuit of its national interests. The contributors examine Japan's foreign aid policy within the theme of a globalized economy in which Japan and Africa are inextricably connected. Japan and many African countries have come to realize that both sides can obtain benefits through closely coordinated aid policies. Moreover, Japan sees itself to represent a distinct voice in the international donor community while Africa needs foreign aid from all sources.

While history has identified a need for improved coordination during emergencies, it has also demonstrated that community volunteers positively impact their neighborhoods during times of crisis. Laying out the rationale and process by which emergency managers, community leaders, and non-governmental aid organizations can effectively collaborate and integrate citizen response, Spontaneous Community Volunteers in Disasters explains how to engage, train, and utilize spontaneous unaffiliated community volunteers (SUCV). The book prepares leaders to integrate local volunteers into any scale emergency response. Protocols and flexible management solutions are outlined to ensure safe and effective planning and execution. Work templates provided can be modified to suit the needs of any community. This accessible manual provides the tools to: Assess your agency's role, tasks, and challenges to meet community needs in a disaster Build a plan for managing SUCVs by developing internal and external protocols Develop effective spot screening and selection methods Engage community members in information-sharing and outreach campaigns Consider policies and procedures that create relevant roles for volunteers and community groups to build a resilient team for disaster recovery Provide National Incident Management System (NIMS) compliant answers to address common barriers to using SUCVs Combining field experience and psychosocial research, the book makes a strong case as to why community involvement in disaster response will have a positive impact on a community's resilient recovery. Praise for Spontaneous Community Volunteers in Disasters: All emergency management coordinators can benefit from this book. -Howard Butt, New Jersey State Police, State CERT Coordinator Lisa Orloff has done an excellent job in both identifying a significant opportunity in emergency response and meticulously outlining how that opportunity can best be leveraged. -Dr. Michael Chumer, New Jersey Institute of Technology The Alliance for Nonprofit Management has nominated the book for the Terry McAdam Award. This award is bestowed upon the Committee's choice for the most inspirational and useful new book published for the nonprofit sector.

Paul Collier's contributions to development economics, and in regard to Africa in particular, have marked him out as one of the most influential commentators of recent times. His research has centred upon the causes and consequences of civil war, the effects of aid, and the problems of democracy in low-income and natural-resource-rich societies. His work has also enjoyed substantial policy impact, having seen him sit as a senior adviser to Tony Blair's Commission on Africa and addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations This collection of Collier's major writings, with assistance from Anke Hoeffler and Jan Gunning, and accompanied by a new introduction, provide the definitive account of a wide range of macroeconomic, microeconomic and political economy topics concerned with Africa. Within macroeconomics, there is a focus on external shocks, exchange rate and trade policies, whilst microeconomic topics focus upon labour and financial markets, as well as rural development. Collier's book The Bottom Billion had become a landmark book and this summation of the research underpinning it will be a superb guide for all those concerned with African development.

With COVID-19 comes a heightened sense of everyday risk. How should a society manage, distribute, and conceive of it? As we cope with the lengthening effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic, considerations of everyday risk have been more pressing, and inescapable. In the past, everyone engaged in some degree of risky behaviour, from mundane realities like taking a shower or getting into a car to purposely thrill-seeking activities like rock-climbing or BASE jumping. Many activities that seemed high-risk, such as flying, were claimed basically safe. But risk was, and always has been, a fact of life. With new focus on the risks of even leaving the safety of our homes, it's time for a deeper consideration of risk itself. How do we manage and distribute risks? How do we predict uncertain outcomes? If risk can never be completely eliminated, can it perhaps be controlled? At the heart of these questions-which govern everything from waking up each day to the abstract mathematics of actuarial science-lie philosophical issues of life, death, and danger. Mortality is the event-horizon of daily risk. How should we conceive of it?

The spate of disaster events ranging from major to catastrophic that have occurred in recent years raises a lot of questions about where and why they happened. Understanding the history of emergency management policies and practice is important to an understanding of current and future policies and practice. Continuing in the footsteps of its popular predecessors, the new edition of Emergency Management: The American Experience provides the background to understand the key political and policy underpinnings of emergency management, exploring how major "focusing events" have shaped the field of emergency management. This edition builds on the original theoretical framework and chronological approach of previous editions, while enhancing the discussions through the addition of fresh information about the effects and outcomes of older events, such as Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill. The final chapters offer insightful discussion of the public administration concepts of emergency management in the U.S. and of the evolving federal role in emergency management. Like its predecessors, the third edition of Emergency Management is a trusted and required text to understand the formation and continuing improvement of the American national emergency management system.

Hunger and Health explores the multiple relationships between hunger and poor health, and how they affect the growth of individuals, physiologically and psychologically, constraining the development of nations both socially and economically. Examining the profound effect that hunger has on health, including disease prevention and treatment, it gives special attention to access to quality food and healthcare, in particular for the marginalized and poor. It also identifies critical junctures in the human life cycle when the benefits of reducing hunger and improving poor health have a profound impact.It demonstrates how aligning of hunger and health interventions can offer proven solutions that reach those most in need, and contains compelling evidence which confirms that hunger and poor health are solvable problems today. It encourages those involved in policy, programming and advocacy to take action to address some of the most urgent hunger and health problems. This is an essential reading for anyone concerned about eliminating hunger.It is written by the UN's World Food Programme, the world's most important food agency, supplying food to 90 million people in 78 countries in 2006 alone. It sheds light on a vital, hitherto neglected area of the hunger debate - the multiple relationships between hunger and poor health. It offers essential actions and affordable solutions for leaders to reach those most in need, make access to food and healthcare more equitable, and ultimately eliminate hunger. It contains compelling evidence on the profound impact that reducing hunger and improving health has at critical junctures in life as well as the benefits to national economies.

Includes Case Studies from a Range of Event Sites Introduction to Crowd Science examines the growing rate of crowd-related accidents and incidents around the world. Using tools, methods, and worked examples gleaned from over 20 years of experience, this text provides an understanding of crowd safety. It establishes how crowd accidents and incidents (specifically mass fatalities in crowded spaces) can occur. The author explores the underlying causes and implements techniques for crowd risk analysis and crowd safety engineering that can help minimize and even eliminate occurrences altogether. Understand Overall Crowd Dynamics and Levels of Complex Structure The book outlines a simple modeling approach to crowd risk analysis and crowds safety in places of public assembly. With consideration for major events, and large-scale urban environments, the material focuses on the practical elements of developing the crowd risk analysis and crowd safety aspects of an event plan. It outlines a range of modeling techniques, including line diagrams that represent crowd flow, calculations of the speed at which a space can fill, and the time it takes for that space to reach critical and crush density. It also determines what to consider during the event planning and approval (licensing/permitting) phases of the event process. Introduction to Crowd Science addresses key questions and presents a systematic approach to managing crowd risks in complex sites. It provides an understanding of the complexity of a site, that helps you plan for crowds in public places.

This book is a collection of 15 case studies on China's foreign aid and economic cooperation with developing countries. Each case introduces the general information of a China's project, analyzes its features and impacts, and especially focuses on analysis of the characteristics of China's foreign aid under South-South Cooperation framework, which shows the differences of foreign aid by emerging economies from that by traditional donors in aid ideology, principles, practices, and effects. This book is one of the research projects by China International Development Research Network (CIDRN), as part of its contribution to the activities under the Network of Southern Think-tanks (NeST).

How do cities plan for the unplanned? Do cities plan for recovery from every possible sudden shock? How does one prepare a plan for the recovery after a tragedy, like the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York? The book discovers the systematic features that contribute to the success of planning institutions. In cities filled with uncertainty and complexity, planning institutions effectively tackle unexpected and sudden change by relying on the old and the familiar, rather than the new and the innovative.
The author argues that planning programs institutions were successful because they were bureaucratic, and relied on standardized routines, rigorous sets of established regimes, familiar programs, and institutionalized hierarchies. Also contrary to popular perception, neither the leaders at the top of the institutions nor those workers at the grassroots level were the most important in the implementation of such routines. The key actors were middle managers, because they knew the institutionalstructures inside out, what the routines were and how to use them, and were successful go-betweens between national governments and grassroots community groups.
Case studies from Mexico City, Los Angeles and New York provide a deeper understanding of urban planning processes. The case studies reveal that systematic institutional analysis helps us understand what works in planning, and why. They also demonstrate the manner in which institutional routines serve as powerful and effective tools for addressing novel situations.

* Argues that, to be successful, development must be understood and approached as a "complex system"* Presents case studies that demonstrate the power that all actors have to make a difference* Essential reading for all aid and development practitioners, scholars, policymakers, and donorsRapid and profound changes are taking place in international development. The past two decades have seen a rise in the ideals of participation and partnership and attempts to enable the voices of the poor to be heard. Yet embedded traditions, vested interests, and bureaucratic inertia mean that old behaviors persist and planning continues as though free of chaotic interactions among stakeholders. "Inclusive Aid" exposes the need to recognize the complex, nonlinear nature of development assistance and how bureaucratic procedures and power relations hinder poverty reduction in the new aid environment. A host of academics, policymakers, and practitioners, expose the challenges and opportunities facing the aid community today and argue for greater attention to issues of accountability and the adoption of rights-based approaches. They reveal the highly politicized and dynamic aid environment in which they work, and challenge existing political, institutional, and personal ways of working. Crucially, the book shows how translating rhetoric into practice relies on changing the attitudes and behaviors of individual actors.

Another Day in Paradise is an anthology of first-person stories by international aid workers. Written by active aid workers and spanning the hot spots of the globe from Afghanistan to Cambodia, Rwanda to Vietnam and Ecuador to Bosnia, these stories tell it like it really is on the ground. Covering natural disaster, war and all-too-fragile peace, these stories open an uncensored window onto the lives of aid workers and the triumphs and tragedies of the people they are trying to help.

Worldwide, the number of poor people increased during the past decade, despite technological improvements, more open trade, and improved policy frameworks in developing countries. Regional conflicts, adverse shifts in terms of trade, and marginalization of poor countries in the new global economy explain this outcome. This highlights the need to reform development assistance and improve its effectiveness.
"Making Development Work" examines the four key principles of the Comprehensive-Development Framework, a World Bank initiative currently being piloted in twelve developing counties. The initiative promotes a holistic long-term vision of development, domestic ownership of development programs, and focus on results; and stronger partnership between government, the private sector, and the civil society. The first section of the volume describes the evolution in development thinking that culminated in this new consensus. The second focuses on country ownership of development policies and programs. Based on empirical evidence, it proposes a new view of the aid relationship as a mutual-learning process. The third section focuses on results and on the ways aid agencies might enhance development impact of their operations. It concludes with a preliminary assessment of strategies for scaling up from specific projects to sector and programmatic approaches, and suggests ways to adapt them to counter conditions. The experience of a bilateral aid agency, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is examined in this context. The fourth section focuses on partnership, emphasizing that aid agencies must be explicit about the kinds of partnerships they seek with countries and the kinds of strategic selectivity they will exercise. The final chapter pulls together the lessons of development experience at various levels of operation. It outlines key tensions between comprehensiveness and selectivity, ownership and conditionality, speed and broad-based ownership, focus on results and poor local evaluation capacity, and enhanced country focus and globalization. Promising approaches to manage these tensions are put forward to replace one-size-fits-all prescriptions with client empowerment and social learning.
"Making Development Work" offers rich lessons on improving the effectiveness of aid. It will be of particular interest to development practitioners, students and professors of development economics studies.
Nagy Hanna is a lead corporate strategist and evaluation officer at the World Bank. He has published extensively on development, management, and knowledge.
Robert Picciotto is director-general of Operations Evaluation at the World Bank.

The end of the Cold War forced Western donors to rethink their aid relations with Africa. This book looks at two of these donors, France and Britain, and asks whether the development programmes of these former colonial powers have undergone radical changes since the end of the Old World Order. It focuses on the introduction of a controversial new 'regime' trend - political conditionality - and uses policy models to illustrate the driving forces behind this new development strategy and explain substantial differences in France and Britain's practice of political conditionality in Togo and Kenya. Overall, this volume - the first comparative study of French and British aid in the post-Cold War period - offers fresh insights into the evolution of the political assistance agenda and into deeper forces at work within the French and UK policy processes.

Poor people living in regions affected by fluctuating temperatures and rainfall, sea level rise, flooding and drought bear the brunt of climate change. These communities have no choice but to continue to use the resources at their disposal to adapt and survive. Yet in order to adapt people need to appreciate that potentially profound changes are in store and that future impacts are deeply uncertain."Understanding Adaptation to Climate Change" addresses these issues and provides responses to important questions for the international aid community as it seeks to address the impact of climate change. How can agencies assist local communities adapting to change? By what mechanisms can communities make the most of emerging information? Can effective community-based approaches be scaled up?By combining eight case studies from South Asia, Africa and Latin America with an overall analytical framework, the authors demonstrate that although communities adaptation strategies vary and depend upon local context, social networks play a pivotal role in accessing useful knowledge and resources. Through such networks, the key activities of reducing vulnerability, fostering resilience, and developing the capacity to experiment and learn are combined and communicated to other communities.This book is essential reading for NGO practitioners, students, and government and NGO policy makers who wish to gain an understanding of what adaptation means in theory and practice."

Outside the Asylum is Lynne Jones's personal exploration of the evolution of humanitarian psychiatry and the changing world of international relief. Her memoir graphically describes her experiences as a practising psychiatrist in war zones and disasters around the world, from the Balkans and 'mission-accomplished' Iraq, to tsunami-affected Indonesia, post-earthquake Haiti and 'the Jungle' in Calais. The book poses and attempts to address awkward questions. What happens if the psychiatric hospital in which you have lived for ten years is bombed and all the staff run away? What is it like to see all your family killed in front of you when you are 12 years old? Is it true that almost everyone caught up in a disaster is likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder? What can mental health professionals do to help? How does one stay neutral and impartial in the face of genocide? Why would a doctor support military intervention? From her training in one of Britain's last asylums, to treating traumatised soldiers in Gorazde after the Bosnian war, and learning from traditional healers in Sierra Leone, Lynne has worked with extraordinary people in extraordinary situations. But this book is not only about psychiatry. It also shines a light on humanitarian aid and all its glories and problems. She shows how ill-thought-out interventions do more harm than good and that mental well-being is deeply connected to human rights and the social and political worlds in which people live. It also reveals the courage and resilience of people who have to survive and endure some of the most frightening situations in the world.

This book offers an original analysis of the long-term impact of western and Chinese economic and development cooperation policies in Africa. It argues that western Official Development Assistance (ODA) has failed to create viable and autonomous economies in beneficiary countries not (only) because of corruption, inefficiencies and cultural differences, but because it was never meant to do so. Raudino demonstrates, rather, that it was always designed to provide relief measures and nurture political relations rather than create genuinely industrialized and self-reliant economies. Similarly, by analyzing the nature of Chinese economic investments in Africa the author shows that China's governmental policies hardly represent a revolutionary departure from the cooperation standards set by the West. In making these observations he also taps into the broader question of why wealth continues to be generated unequally across the world. Based on extensive fieldwork, quantitative economic analysis and historical qualitative research, this thought-provoking work will appeal to students and scholars of politics, economics and development studies, as well as to those involved more directly in the aid process.

Inondations, pandemies, pollution, les catastrophes naturelles et sanitaires recentes ont fait croitre un sentiment d'insecurite et des attentes importantes de la population a l'egard des experts et des professionnels du risque. Dans les regions transfrontalieres la cooperation internationale semble une evidence. Celle-ci represente cependant un veritable defi . Elle se heurte aux obstacles de la langue, bien sur, mais aussi aux modes d'organisation differents, aux approches et aux representations culturelles qui determinent des pratiques qu'il convient d'harmoniser. L'ouvrage rassemble les contributions de chercheurs et de praticiens des domaines concernes - justice, medecine, incendie, police, etc. - et de specialistes de la communication sur le risque. Elles nous livrent des informations precieuses pour comprendre la realite du defi et les perspectives pour y repondre. Cet ouvrage s'adresse aussi bien aux professionnels de la gestion des risques, chercheurs, responsables politiques qu'aux citoyens curieux de decouvrir l'actualite et le futur du traitement des risques en contexte international.