Integrated Civil Society Organizations System

The integrated Civil Society Organizations(iCSO)System,developed by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs(DESA),facilitates interactions between civil society organizations and DESA.The system

BRICS POLITICAL PARTIES, THINK TANKS AND CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS TO CEMENT COOPERATION

The BRICS political parties,think tanks and civil society organizations Forum was held in Fuzhou,capital of southeast China’s Fujian Province,June 11-12,2017.The forum drew over 400 participants from BRICS and other developing countries.Heads of political parties,think tanks and civil society organiza-

Assessing Barriers to Mental Healthcare Interventions for Deaf People in Ghana

While mental health issues are increasingly gaining attention in Ghana, little is known about the situation among deaf people. This study assessed the mental health care needs of deaf people in Ghana. A descriptive design, consisting of interviews and focus group discussions, was used to collect data from 97 participants. Findings indicated that participants had limited knowledge on mental health issues. Mental health stigma, inaccessible mental health information and exclusion from mental health programmes were the major barriers hindering access to mental health care services. This study bridges the knowledge gap and provides evidence for the implementation of deaf-friendly services.

Design of an Interactive Geo-Location Mobile Application for Civil Societies in East Africa

This paper reports the developed mobile application through the use of advanced technologies such as mobile computing, cloud computing and Global Positioning System (GPS) in order to solve the challenges. The purpose of this study is to find out how the recent advances and mass adoption of ICT by the public can best be leveraged to enhance the performance of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in East Africa. The data collection techniques used are through questionnaires, observations and conducting interviews with different stakeholders in the civil society arena i.e., the donors, the CSOs and the people in society that are given a voice by civil societies. In the system development phase, agile development methodology was used. Analysis of the data collected showed that there is a gap in the availability of a single or a centralized platform which can be easily accessed, user-friendly and reliable where different actors can readily get reliable and up-to-date information about the available CSOs they are interested in. To address this problem, an interactive online directory of CSOs has been developed. The platform is mobile based and enables CSOs to register and fill up their current details, thus ensuring that there is always correct and updated information. The platform is equipped with, among other features, a geo-mapping facility which enables users of the system to correctly geo-locate their civil societies of interest on a map view. The results of system evaluation showed that 88.125% of users were satisfied with the system basing on the evaluation criteria.

Participation of Users in Traditional and Modern Turkish Settlements

When the development level of a city is determined, its residents＇ level of participation and support to social organizations, especially the voluntarily participation to civil organizations, are taken into account, as well as, their level of utilization from city services. It is beneficial to organize civil groups who are sensitive to urban and environmental issues. In traditional Turkish settlements, it can be talked about the existence of such an organization as a natural process in social organizations including moral and humanistic values. The feeling of belonging had raised the environmental quality both physically and socially. Respect to the nature and human was the main principle of these settlements. Such organizations has displaced with the written rules and official or civil organizations in modern urban settlements. In these organizations, participation of the users to urban planning decisions is not directly, but indirectly. As people who live in modern settlements do not participate to the planning and building process, they have not felt themselves belong to the place. The environmental quality and respect to the nature and human have been lessened in these modern settlements. This study focuses on the participation of users on planning and building housing environments in traditional and modern Turkish settlements and the comparison of them with their positive and negative results with the examples given.

Trust and Structural Response to Natural Disaster： Some Implications to Government Reform

The Philippine government is a representative democracy. It has three co-equal branches of government namely the executive, legislative, and judicial, operating on the principle of check and balance. Issues that had riddled top officials of government remained unresolved hitherto; and, the local government units had their own lingering issues. The government structure therefore did not seem to have the mechanism to correct itself. This paper argues that responses to, as well as the ensuing conditions of the survivors of natural disasters, are affected by how much trust the incumbents of relevant government structures have of each other and that actors outside of the government hierarchy can offer avenues for reform. Tropical Storm Washi that hit Cagayan de Oro City could be a case in point. It left thousands of people dead or missing, millions of dollars in damages, and thousands of internally displaced persons （IDPs）. The local government, tasked by the local government code to handle matters related to social welfare, did not seem to have performed as expected. In an apparent lack of trust, donor agencies preferred to course cash and relief items through conduits others than the local government. While the system remained unable to correct itself, the victims of the disaster continued to suffer. Civil society organizations and non-government organizations were trying to re-establish people’s trust in the system through legal measures, and hope that electoral reforms could be instituted.