Journal articles on the topic 'Ethiopian civil service'

This paper reviews the experiences with an integrated urban management Masters course, which saw an increase from 20 participants to 400 students in a period of 5 years. After a few years it became clear that it was difficult to absorb this number of Masters students in the government sector and that their skills did not match all the requirements. The paper looks at the external factors determining the success of the integrated urban management Masters course, and the desire of the Ethiopian government to make decentralization a reality. It also analyses the internal factors leading to positive outcomes of the interventions over time. The increasing complexity of urban problems cannot be managed by general urban managers; therefore specialized Masters programmes were launched. The programme evolved over time, reflecting the priorities of the Ethiopian government. Starting as a unified programme, the course was split into a series of specializations, focusing on water-related and environmental issues. The cooperation evolved over the period of the relationship into a partnership with leadership on the Ethiopian side. This contributed to the success in terms of the capacity built, the number of people trained, and their contribution to dealing with water and environmental problems in an urban context.

As the subtitle indicates, this is not a scholarly article based on research but one almost identical to the oral presentation I gave during the workshop “30 Years of Freedom – Farewell to Communism in Hungary, Local and Global Lessons” in Addis Ababa on October 25, 2019, organized jointly by the Embassy of Hungary in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian Civil Service University, the Hungarian National University of Public Service, and the University of Pécs, Hungary. I made every effort to strengthen my arguments with valuable references.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the leadership roles the Ethiopian civil service managers preferably embody in their setting. As such, contextually preferred roles were identified and briefly contrasted with the leadership literature. It also outlined the directions for the future research agenda. Design/methodology/approach Q-methodology, an approach reasonably like “grounded-theory” was used. It is suited to embrace life as lived by the actors themselves. In this specific case, Q-methodology allows the managers to conceptualize their definitions or preferences of leadership roles. The data were obtained from 51 managers working in the federal civil service organizations covering a broad range of public policy and service fields. Findings Based on the Q-sorts of 51 managers, the authors found three distinct yet interrelated archetypes of role preferences, which the authors labeled as the change agents, affective leaders and result-oriented realists. The study, however, demonstrates that although the ostensible echoes of each of these perspectives were professed, there were overlooked functions that are needed to be performed for full practice of each. Practical implications Understanding the contextually preferred leadership roles, if considered in designing the management training and development programs, could prove productive. It also informs the staff recruitment and promotion activities of the civil service organizations. Originality/value Conceptualizations of public leadership roles are abound in the literature. As they mostly emerged in a Western context, their applicability to other settings is questionable. Studying the subject in the context of Ethiopia, this paper contributes to the growing body of African literature on administrative leadership and informs the practice as well as the scholarship in this area.

This study was undertaken to identify the factors affecting social accountability in service providing public sector organizations from beneficiary perspectives in Jimma Zone. Factors hindering social accountability, social accountability mechanisms implemented in public sectors and the role of social accountability were the objectives assessed in this study. Qualitative research approach was employed. Beneficiaries of four public sectors (health, education, agriculture and water) were selected purposively because these are the main focus of the Ethiopian Social Accountability Program (ESAP2). Two administrative towns (Jimma and Agaro) and two woreda/kebele towns (Limu Kosa and Gera districts) were purposively selected for this study. Eight Focus group discussion, sixteen in-depth interviews and four key informant interviews were conducted. The main findings of the study revealed that factors hindering social accountability are the low citizens’ rights awareness and the socio cultural barriers that limit speaking out, absence of access to information guarantees rendering government income and expenditure because beneficiaries lack of their right awareness up to this and service provider’s unwillingness to share information. Community score cards and service providers in face to face meetings are the two commonly implemented social accountability mechanisms respectively. Based on the findings the researchers recommended that long- term institutional reforms to make the public sectors more accountable to citizens, devolutions to local government levels or responsibility and accountability for service provision, community and civil society participation should have to be encouraged by the government.

Business and Management Studies (BMS) would like to acknowledge the following reviewers for their assistance with peer review of manuscripts for this issue. Many authors, regardless of whether BMS publishes their work, appreciate the helpful feedback provided by the reviewers. Their comments and suggestions were of great help to the authors in improving the quality of their papers. Each of the reviewers listed below returned at least one review for this issue.Reviewers for Volume 6, Number 3Andrzej Niemiec, Poznań University of Economics and Business, PolandAnnu Tomar, Indian Institute of Management, IndiaAshford Chea, Benedict College, USADalia Susniene, Kaunas University of Technology, LithuaniaDereje Teklemariam Gebremeskel, Ethiopian Civil Service University, EthiopiaFuLi Zhou, Zhengzhou University of Light Industry, ChinaIulia Cristina Muresan, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, RomaniaJason Caudill, King University, USAJayalakshmy Ramachandran, Multimedia University, MalaysiaJulia Stefanova, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, BulgariaLucie Andreisová, University of Economics in Prague, CzechM Fernando, European Campus of Graduate and Professional , Sri LankaMarica Ion Dumitrasco, Academy of Sciences of Moldova, MoldovaMichael Okoche, University of South Africa, UgandaMike Rayner, University of Portsmouth, UKMythili Kolluru, College of Banking and Financial Studies, OmanRashedul Hasan, International Islamic University Malaysia, MalaysiaSandeep Kumar, Tecnia Institute of Advanced Studies, Affiliated to GGSIP University Delgi, IndiaTetiana Paientko, Kyiv National Economic Univercity, UkraineYang Zhao, Sanofi Genzyme, USAZeki Atıl Bulut, Dokuz Eylul University, TurkeyZoran Mastilo, University of East Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Ellery WillianmsEditorial AssistantOn behalf of,The Editorial Board of Business and Management StudiesRedfame Publishing9450 SW Gemini Dr. #99416Beaverton, OR 97008, USAURL: http://bms.redfame.com

Among the classic roles of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) i.e., research, teaching and community service the social engagement of institutions and their impact on civil society should be particularly highlighted. Of which, volunteering and service learning are believed to be an excellent means for accomplishing such goals. However, whether or not HEIs in developing countries like Ethiopia are able to materialize their social responsibility through such activities like student volunteerism, and their role in developing the active society was least explored. As a result, this study was planned to take place with a major objective to explore the integration of Service Learning in HEIs and Services in communities with a special focus to the cases of 2018 Summer Youth Voluntarism in Amhara Region of Ethiopia. For the purpose, a qualitative research methodology was employed. Officers and experts in the Amhara Region Bureau of Youth and Sports, and similar others at Bahir Dar City Zonal administration and in the sub-cities were drawn as informants and drawn data through interviews. In addition, the role of universities in promoting Service learning was examined from the syllabuses point of view, mainly a Course called Civics & Ethical Education using a content analysis technique. The findings reveal that though the service learning in the HEIs was not much visible through the Harmonized curriculum, Youth, especially, students of HEIs in Amhara Region of Ethiopia were found to be fully participated in services of community during the summer season of 2018, which implies the availability of the required motivation from the youth side. However a well-developed integration of service learning and volunteerism was unable to be discovered rather, this study calls for its realization.

Background: Low back pain is one of the most common work-related health problems among office workers. Low back pain has been identified as one of the most costly disorders among the worldwide working population. However, there is a lack of information on associated factors with low back pain which makes people not to work properly. Objectives: This study was aimed to assess the prevalence and factors associated with low back pain among civil service sectors office workers in Southern Ethiopia. Methods: Institution based cross-sectional study was conducted among 625civil service sectors office workers, who work in the sitting position, in Sodo town, Southern Ethiopia from March 10 to June 20, 2017. The sampling frame was obtained from civil service office and simple random sampling technique was used for each stage. Data was collected by using a pretested structured questionnaire adapted from Standardized Nordic musculoskeletal Questionnaires and modified Oswestry through face to face interview and by using checklist for observations, which was measured by diploma nurses. Descriptive statistics like frequency, percentage, mean, median and standard deviation were conducted. Also, binary logistic regression was conducted and variables with p<=0.20 in bivariate analysis were fitted into the multiple logistic regression models to identify factors associated with low back pain. Variables with P value <0.05 were considered as statistically significant predictors of low back pain. Results: Out of the calculated sample size, 625 participants responded making a response rate of 99%. The 12-month prevalence of low back pain among civil service sectors office workers in this study was (38.4%) 95% CI: (0.34, 0.42).This study found that, being obese (AOR [95%CI] =6.3[4.29 - 9.09]), having smoking history (AOR [95%CI] =5.2[2.57 - 10.82]), poor sitting posture (AOR [95%CI] =2.6[1.61-4.30]), having job stress (AOR [95%CI] =5.9[3.44-10.25]), having no rest break during workday (AOR [95%CI]=3.2[1.82-5.62]), sitting >6 hours per day (AOR [95%CI]=16.08[14.4-19.3]) and frequently using computer (AOR [95%CI]=4.3[2.09-5.47]) are significantly associated with low back pain. Conclusion and recommendations: The 12-month prevalence of low back pain in this study is high (38.4%).Therefore, healthy lifestyle habits, good awareness of sitting posture and better ergonomic facilities and psychosocial support to workers were recommended to decrease the effects of predisposing factors of low back pain.

Abstract. Financial resources are crucial to improve existing urban drinking water supply in developing countries typically characterized by low cost recovery rates and high and rapidly growing demand for more reliable services. This study examines the willingness to pay for improved urban drinking water supply employing a choice model (CM) in an urban context in Ethiopia, Hawassa, with a household survey of 170 respondents. The design of the choice model allows the estimation of the values of two attributes of urban drinking water service (extra day water delivery per week and safer water). The findings indicate that households are willing to pay up to 60% extra for improved levels of water supply over and above their current water bill. Especially those households living in the poorest part of the city with the lowest service levels demonstrate that they are willing to pay more despite significant income constraints they are facing. Women value the improvement of water quality most, while a significant effect is found for averting behavior and expenditures. The estimated economic values can be used in policy appraisals of investment decisions.

This article explores how some potential migrants in the Horn of Africa incorporate the prospects of extreme danger into their journeys. It draws on evidence from qualitative interviews and focus group discussions with over 400 respondents, mainly from Ethiopian and Somali communities. It shows that the risks of migration within the Horn of Africa are often well known, thanks to strong migrant networks and improved mobile communications. Indeed, migrants may be better informed of the risks of the journey than they are about their prospects of securing a good living upon arrival. However, rather than discouraging people’s migration, high risk may open up new possibilities. This article supports this argument with two examples. First, as Yemen descended into civil war, the breakdown of state control created new opportunities to move undetected, notwithstanding the threat of injury and death. This helps explain why the number of Ethiopians passing through Yemen increased with the conflict, contrary to expectations. Second, some young Somalis are soliciting the services of smugglers to help them move towards Europe, knowing that they are likely to be abused and held for ransom en route. They gamble on their captors’ demands being met by family members, who would not otherwise have endorsed or paid for their journey. These findings challenge common assumptions about risk and decision-making, and suggests that some migrants may move because of, rather than in spite of, the risks involved. It also calls into question initiatives that seek to deter migration by raising awareness about the risks of the journey.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to consider recent field evidence to analyse what online public services citizens need, explores potential citizen subsidy of these specific services and investigates where resources should be invested in terms of media accessibility. The authors explore these from a citizen-centric affordability perspective within three exemplar developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The World Bank and United Nations in particular promote initiatives under the “Information and Communication Technologies for Development” (ICT4D) to stress the relevance of e-Government as a way to ensure development and reduce poverty. The authors adopt a contingency value approach to determine directly reported citizens willingness to pay for digital public services. Hence, our focus is mainly upon an empirical investigation through extensive fieldwork in the context of sub-Sahara Africa. A substantive survey was conducted in the respective cities of Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Lagos (Nigeria) and Johannesburg (South Africa). The sample of citizens was drawn from each respective Chamber of Commerce database for Ethiopia and South Africa, and for Nigeria a purchased database of businesses, based on stratified random sampling. These were randomly identified from both sectors ensuring all locations were covered with a total sample size of 1,297 respondents. It was found, in particular, that citizens were willing to pay to be able to access digital public services and that amounts of fees they were willing to pay varied depending on what services they wish to access and what devices they use (PCs or mobile phones). Design/methodology/approach The authors adopt a contingency value approach to determine directly reported citizens willingness to pay for digital public services. A survey was conducted in the respective cities of Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Lagos (Nigeria) and Johannesburg (South Africa). The sample of citizens was drawn from each respective Chamber of Commerce database for Ethiopia and South Africa, and for Nigeria a purchased database of businesses, based on stratified random sampling. These were randomly identified from both sectors ensuring all locations were covered with a total sample size of 1,297 respondents. Findings The findings suggest that by understanding citizen needs, demands and how they can benefit from online public services could drive decisions related to what public services need to be prioritised for economically active citizens, potentially explore citizen subsidy of these specific public services which will have a trickle-down benefit to poorer citizens by reducing the pressures on traditional channels of public service delivery and investigate where resources should be invested in terms of media to access online services. Willingness to pay between the top online public services showed no statistically significant difference among all respondents. Research limitations/implications The research focused on economically active digitally savvy citizens in the major capital cities in each of our selected countries. While these are not representative of the population at large, our intention was to understand what citizen-led government services would look like from the perspective of this group, with an insight into the value they place on these online services and their ability to access them. Technology diffusion starts with the early adopters (Rogers, 2010), and here the authors have focused on those that are likely to be early adopters. Practical implications Poor fiscal capacity, namely, the amount and type of resources a state has at its disposal, not only has an impact on economic wellbeing, but particularly relevant in this case, also has an impact on the quality of government (Baskaran and Bigsten, 2013). Thus, e-government is one way in which developing countries can focus on developing good governance and strengthening civil society to improve the quality of government and motivate citizens to participate in the political process. Social implications The economic performance of African countries has been viewed with pessimism, consistently considered to be the poorest continent (Harrison et al., 2014). Recent studies have empirically shown that new information technologies have contributed to longer term economic growth in African countries and stress the need for government to further invest in developing telecommunications infrastructures and internet access (Donou-Adonsou et al., 2016). However one of the major constraints and challenges for developing countries is the limited fiscal capacity and ability to mobilise fiscal resources to finance the provision of public services, which is essential for economic development (Ali et al., 2015). Originality/value The authors contribute to the World Bank and United Nations initiatives to promote ICT for Development’ (ICT4D) the relevance of e-government as a way to ensure development and reduce poverty. If online services are of no benefit, even if they are more convenient and lower cost, they are unlikely to be used. Accessing digital public services directly addresses the needs of economically active citizens and can also facilitate the steps towards an improved quality of government and interaction with civil society. The study has contributed to an insightful understanding of the value, cost and benefits of citizen-led e-Government in this respect.

This study considers the challenges and contribution of Amhara Development Association (ADA) to the development of Enemay community, Ethiopia. Drawing up on the findings of a qualitative research study, this article argue that despite local civil society organizations contribute to community development, the development could not be effective and less recognized by the targeted community unless participatory. ADA has made some contributions for the community in its intervention areas of education and health though the community did not recognize the contributions. This is due to the challenges that faced ADA which include lack of adequate and permanent employees, lack of community awareness, ADA affiliation to political organization of a nation, lack of finance, top down approach of service delivery, and lack of trust and accountability. Due to these challenges, ADA was less successful to bring community development.

Following the demise of the Derg regime in 1991, the most important reform agenda of Ethiopia was to restructure the country and its civil administration along ethnic lines, and to establish ethnicity as the defining principle of political, social and economic discourse. Consequently the country’s political map was redrawn along ethnic lines, which gave way to “Regional states”. The regional states secured administrative and legislative power within a federal framework. . Success stories of decentralization encouraged policy makers to launch fiscal decentralization which extended the regions’ planning and resource allocation powers to each district (wereda)level. This apparently enabled them to improve service expansion and development.Despite this general perception this study seeks to critically review the impacts of decentralization (both fiscal and administrative) on districts considering four weredas of Tigrai regional state (northern part of Ethiopia). To conduct this study both primary and secondary data sources was and analyzed using simple descriptive, and statistical method of analysis. Results obtained based on the three variables (measures effect of decentralization on community participation good governance, and minimizing revenue expenditure gap) reveals positive progress. Indeed, there are promising changes related to administrative matters and of community participation in designing and implementation of development plans. These changes also are enhanced individuals’ participation in productivity, which expedited poverty reduction as well, as indicated by the growing improvements in local livelihoods. However, the gains of decentralization on governance and minimizing revenue expenditure gap are far from satisfactory. As long as the real participation of locals and problems of local capacity remains at stake but is still suffered more from resource limitations. This study recommends some adjustments with the decentralization approach, and appropriate implementation modalities so as to solve the procedural and skill related problems, and to minimize misuse of resource in a way that assists to be more effectively.

Background: Even though HIV/AIDS is the worst health crisis in recorded history in the world, it has clearly moved beyond being primarily a health issue, to developmental crisis. More than 83% of all new infections in many African countries are among young and productive people in which females are outnumbering males. Higher learning institutions such as the Ethiopian Civil Service College (ECSC), as knowledge generation sources, and with perceived skills contributing to the generation of business leaders, need to seriously address HIV/AIDS as a cross-cutting issue in their mandate. There is lack of adequate documentation on HIV/AIDS related knowledge and behaviors among the university community. The study sought to assess HIV/AIDS related knowledge, attitude and behaviors of ECSC community, and contribute to the literature in the field. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted between January-June 2011 by using mixed methods where structured questionnaire was administered for 250 systematically selected respondents while purposively selected key informants were interviewed. Results: Out of 250 respondents, 238( with 95% response rate ) returned the questionnaire. Eight key informants and observations were used for triangulating data. The study found that the majority of (students and staff) respondents know about HIV&amp;AIDS. The study found no correlation between being postgraduate and undergraduate student; being married or no. It was found that all respondents (married or unmarried, those who use or not use condoms) never perceive they are at risk for HIV. Unsafe sex, multiple concurrent sexual partnerships were found among all religious groups, married staff and students. However, compared to female respondents, males were found more exposed to unsafe sex. Qualitative data supports this finding. Significant number of respondents was willing to take and few actually took HIV counseling and testing to know their status. Conclusions: There were positive changes on awareness and attitudes towards HIV/AIDS, yet comprehensive knowledge is lacking, even those who have knowledge did not practically apply it in using HIV prevention services like consistent condom use. There is a need for improved strategies of promoting comprehensive knowledge and behavioral change interventions of the college, which could also be scaled up to other institutions.

Abstract Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has emerged as a global health and economic security threat with staggering cumulative incidence worldwide. Given the severity of projections, hospitals across the globe are creating additional critical care surge capacity and limiting patient routine access to care for other diseases like tuberculosis (TB). The outbreak fuels panic in sub-Saharan Africa where the healthcare system is fragile in withstanding the disease. Here, we looked over the COVID-19 containment measures in Ethiopia in context from reliable sources and put forth recommendations that leverage the health system response to COVID-19 and TB. Main text Ethiopia shares a major proportion of the global burden of infectious diseases, while the patterns of COVID-19 are still at an earlier stage of the epidemiology curve. The Ethiopian government exerted tremendous efforts to curb the disease. It limited public gatherings, ordered school closures, directed high-risk civil servants to work from home, and closed borders. It suspended flights to 120 countries and restricted mass transports. It declared a five-month national state of emergency and granted a pardon for 20 402 prisoners. It officially postponed parliamentary and presidential elections. It launched the ‘PM Abiy-Jack Ma initiative’, which supports African countries with COVID-19 diagnostics and infection prevention and control commodities. It expanded its COVID-19 testing capacity to 38 countrywide laboratories. Many institutions are made available to provide clinical care and quarantine. However, the outbreak still has the potential for greater loss of life in Ethiopia if the community is unable to shape the regular behavioral and sociocultural norms that would facilitate the spread of the disease. The government needs to keep cautious that irregular migrants would fuel the disease. A robust testing capacity is needed to figure out the actual status of the disease. The pandemic has reduced TB care and research activities significantly and these need due attention. Conclusions Ethiopia took several steps to detect, manage, and control COVID-19. More efforts are needed to increase testing capacity and bring about behavioral changes in the community. The country needs to put in place alternative options to mitigate interruptions of essential healthcare services and scientific researches of significant impact.

There is global consensus on the need for information and communication technology (ICT) to support digital transformation in public administration. This is specifically true in decentralized public administration, where the stakeholders need a modern technology that integrates them. This study examines the emerging challenges and prospects of digital transformation and the stakeholders’ integration in urban land administration in Mekelle City, Ethiopia. An interpretive paradigm, qualitative analytical method, and case study strategy were adopted for this study. A total of 78 interviewees comprising 30 auctioneers, 20 experts, 20 officials, 4 judges, and 4 prosecutors participated based on the data saturation principle. The study revealed that digitalized land administration offers opportunities to reduce civil servants’ workload, improve cost-effective service delivery, and enhance trust between the municipal government and its clients. However, the system of urban land administration in the city is not digitalized due to financial limitations and leadership challenges. Furthermore, this study revealed a low level of stakeholders’ integration in Mekelle due to the lack of proper implementation of e-government, e-service, and e-participation, including lack of commitment by the stakeholders. Thus, a non-digitalized land administration system, insufficient capacity, and weak monitoring and evaluation systems impeded the client’s pursuit of enhanced municipal government services.

Abstract We researched how CSO s working in the area of sustainable development responded to regulatory restrictions on advocacy work using Ethiopia as a case study. We found that the restrictive laws had a severe impact: many CSO s had to shut down or limit their operational capacity to service delivery only. Those that survived continued to do advocacy work, disguised as service delivery. This shows that northern stakeholders should not adhere to a strict division between advocacy and service delivery in their funding policy. They also should focus on long-term CSO engagement and long-term CSO funding. In 2019, regulatory reform reopened political space to some extent. The new law envisions a greater role for self-regulation in the civil society sector while still maintaining some degree of State oversight through registration, reporting and funding allocation requirements. Despite these improvements, the sector is still in need of international support and consistent and reliable funding.

Preventable maternal death as a human rights concern is gaining greater momentum. This article examines the normative framework applying to maternal mortality, and highlights the important link that exists between women’s right to health and several other rights. It then discusses the differing, yet complementary, aspects of the nature of women’s right to health as a right relevant to shaping a human rights approach to maternal mortality, namely: achieving health-care services that are available, accessible, acceptable, and of high quality; engagement of civil society organisations in the promotion and protection of women’s health rights; and ensuring functioning accountability mechanisms. Even though the country recognises the right to health and other complementary rights in its current constitution, and also subscribes to numerous human rights instruments that incorporate the right to health, which equally apply to women, the article finds that there is a selective approach to women’s access to health goods and services; the room for mobilising civil society is restrictive; and an inefficient accountability system exits. Relying on the requirements of human rights norms and standards, the article argues for the potential role of operationalisation of the rights-based model to further reducing or eliminating maternal mortality in the Sustainable Development Goals period. Key words: human rights, maternal health, maternal mortality, rights-based approach to health

PurposeIt is well recognized that the construction industry is characterised by inefficient and ineffective service delivery due to various causative factors. Thus this study aims to examine the influential factors affecting public construction project performance in Ethiopia to improve the industry's service delivery.Design/methodology/approachFrom the extensive literature reviewed, 58 potential factors affecting construction project performance have been compiled. Based on the evidence accumulated, the conceptual model of this paper has been developed. By using survey questionnaires, valuable data were collected from the construction industry professionals in Ethiopia; analysed and interpreted with the use of both SPSS and AMOS software.FindingsIt is concluded that failure factors related to the “performance” of the contractor, the “capability” of the owner, the “project design-procurement process,” and project contract management can significantly contribute to the poor performance of public construction projects in Ethiopia. Ten key factors include inadequate contractor capacity, weak project site management and supervision, weak project management skills and capabilities of the owner, additional work orders, delayed payment, lack of comprehensive project plans between parties and incomplete project design, rising material prices, ineffective project schedules, and cost management, rising market prices and devaluation of the currency.Research limitations/implicationsThe scope of this study confined to public projects in Ethiopia. It suggests that further research needs to consider public and private construction from a comprehensive perspective in the developing countries.Practical implicationsIt provides practitioners with information and guidance on the factors that affect the performance of construction projects.Originality/valueIt provides inclusive evidence related to many factors that affect the performance of public construction projects.

Workplace violence is a serious public problem affecting millions of women employees each year throughout the world. Researchers have established the prevalence, nature, and the degree of this violence; however, less is known about the effect of workplace violence on women’s psychosocial functioning. This research addresses this knowledge gap by examining (a) the relationship between sociodemographic variables and workplace violence, (b) the association between sociodemographic variable and emotional labor, and (c) the effects of workplace violence on emotional demand and social relation. This research draws on a sample of women ( n = 201) from Dabat district’s civil service sectors, derived using systematic and proportionally stratified simple random sampling techniques. Data were analyzed using univariate analysis, post hoc Dunnett test, and binary logistic regression. Results show that workplace violence affected women employees without the discrimination of baseline variables. However, single women (16.43 [±2.91]) who have bachelor degree and above (16.88 [±2.19]) experienced more workplace violence by managers and colleagues when compared to other sociodemographic variables. Workplace violence mostly made women employees show their emotions to customers match with what they truly feel. From respondents, unmarried women and above degree holders had more likely to show their emotions to the customers directly (unadjusted odds ratio [UOR] = 5.44, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [5.29, 6.25]; adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 4.88, 95% CI = [4.67, 5.23]), arguably engaging in less emotional dissonance and high emotional labor. Sixty-one percent of respondents were also forced to accept others’ points: ideas, concern, and feeling without believing in those views. From these findings, we argue that the workplace violence that women employees experience enables a wave of visible conflict and tension as they had reflected their internal feelings to the clients, coworkers, and managers, and if the women workers have had miscommunication with managers at workplace, it will endanger the institutions to accomplish day-to-day activities.

AbstractGlobally erosion has been considered as an environmental and agricultural problem since the first agricultural revolution. In Ethiopia gully erosion has been recorded as a very serious and common socio-economic and environmental problem of several watersheds. Therefore, the objective of this research was to assess the drivers, dynamics and impacts of gully erosion in case of Tabota Koromo and Koromo Danshe watersheds, South-Central Ethiopia. The intended objectives were achieved by triangulating the image analysis with the data obtained from GPS, group discussion, interview, house hold survey, field observation and field measurement. The result of the study indicated that gully erosion was initiated in the steep slope following the 1970s and 1980s land cover change and other anthropogenic factors. In addition, the soil properties and steep slope (gravity) of the land have contributed in exacerbating the problems. Gully erosion caused physical, social and economic impacts in the area. According to the participants on group discussion and interview, the socio-economic impacts of gully erosion were loss of life for a 12 year boy, injuries of five live stocks, and decline of yields throughout the year. Result from field measurement and observation depicted that loss of soil (1,080,782.6m3) and loss of biodiversity are the major physical impacts of gully erosion. Yet there are promising conditions to rehabilitate the gullied area for sustainable ecosystem services in the watersheds. These promising conditions are the availability of high labour forces, access of transportation, civic societies working on natural resource conservation and the green economy development policy of the country. Therefore, concerned government bodies and the local communities at different level need to set plan and work for implementation in a way to use the existing opportunities.

“Human beings are not born once and for all on the day their mothers give birth to them [...] life obliges them over and over again to give birth to themselves.” (Garcia Marquez 165) Introduction The refugee experience is, at heart, one of rebirth. Just as becoming a new, distinctive being—biological birth—necessarily involves the physical separation of mother and infant, so becoming a refugee entails separation from a "mother country." This mother country may or may not be a recognised nation state; the point is that the refugee transitions from physical connectedness to separation, from insider to outsider, from endemic to alien. Like babies, refugees may have little control over the timing and conditions of their expulsion. Successful resettlement requires not one rebirth but multiple rebirths—resettlement is a lifelong process (Layton)—which in turn require hope, imagination, and energy. In rebirthing themselves over and over again, people who have fled or been forced from their homelands become both mother and child. They do not go through this rebirthing alone. A range of agencies and individuals may be there to assist, including immigration officials, settlement services, schools and teachers, employment agencies and employers, English as a Second Language (ESL) resources and instructors, health-care providers, counsellors, diasporic networks, neighbours, church groups, and other community organisations. The nature, intensity, and duration of these “midwives’” interventions—and when they occur and in what combinations—vary hugely from place to place and from person to person, but there is clear evidence that post-migration experiences have a significant impact on settlement outcomes (Fozdar and Hartley). This paper draws on qualitative research I did in 2012 in a regional town in New South Wales to illuminate some of the ways in which settlement aides ease, or impede, refugees’ rebirth as fully recognised and participating Australians. I begin by considering what it means to be resilient before tracing some of the dimensions of the resettlement process. In doing so, I draw on data from interviews and focus groups with former refugees, service providers, and other residents of the town I shall call Easthaven. First, though, a word about Easthaven. As is the case in many rural and regional parts of Australia, Easthaven’s population is strongly dominated by Anglo Celtic and Saxon ancestries: 2011 Census data show that more than 80 per cent of residents were born in Australia (compared with a national figure of 69.8 per cent) and about 90 per cent speak only English at home (76.8 per cent). Almost twice as many people identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander as the national figure of 2.5 per cent (Australian Bureau of Statistics). For several years Easthaven has been an official “Refugee Welcome Zone”, welcoming hundreds of refugees from diverse countries in Africa and the Middle East as well as from Myanmar. This reflects the Department of Immigration and Citizenship’s drive to settle a fifth of Australia’s 13,750 humanitarian entrants a year directly in regional areas. In Easthaven’s schools—which is where I focused my research—almost all of the ESL students are from refugee backgrounds. Defining Resilience Much of the research on human resilience is grounded in psychology, with a capacity to “bounce back” from adverse experiences cited in many definitions of resilience (e.g. American Psychological Association). Bouncing back implies a relatively quick process, and a return to a state or form similar to that which existed before the encounter with adversity. Yet resilience often requires sustained effort and significant changes in identity. As Jerome Rugaruza, a former UNHCR refugee, says of his journey from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Australia: All the steps begin in the burning village: you run with nothing to eat, no clothes. You just go. Then you get to the refugee camp […] You have a little bread and you thank god you are safe. Then after a few years in the camp, you think about a future for your children. You arrive in Australia and then you learn a new language, you learn to drive. There are so many steps and not everyone can do it. (Milsom) Not everyone can do it, but a large majority do. Research by Graeme Hugo, for example, shows that although humanitarian settlers in Australia face substantial barriers to employment and initially have much higher unemployment rates than other immigrants, for most nationality groups this difference has disappeared by the second generation: “This is consistent with the sacrifice (or investment) of the first generation and the efforts extended to attain higher levels of education and English proficiency, thereby reducing the barriers over time.” (Hugo 35). Ingrid Poulson writes that “resilience is not just about bouncing. Bouncing […] is only a reaction. Resilience is about rising—you rise above it, you rise to the occasion, you rise to the challenge. Rising is an active choice” (47; my emphasis) I see resilience as involving mental and physical grit, coupled with creativity, aspiration and, crucially, agency. Dimensions of Resettlement To return to the story of 41-year-old Jerome Rugaruza, as related in a recent newspaper article: He [Mr Rugaruza] describes the experience of being a newly arrived refugee as being like that of a newborn baby. “You need special care; you have to learn to speak [English], eat the different food, create relationships, connections”. (Milsom) This is a key dimension of resettlement: the adult becomes like an infant again, shifting from someone who knows how things work and how to get by to someone who is likely to be, for a while, dependent on others for even the most basic things—communication, food, shelter, clothing, and social contact. The “special care” that most refugee arrivals need initially (and sometimes for a long time) often results in their being seen as deficient—in knowledge, skills, dispositions, and capacities as well as material goods (Keddie; Uptin, Wright and Harwood). As Fozdar and Hartley note: “The tendency to use a deficit model in refugee resettlement devalues people and reinforces the view of the mainstream population that refugees are a liability” (27). Yet unlike newborns, humanitarian settlers come to their new countries with rich social networks and extensive histories of experience and learning—resources that are in fact vital to their rebirth. Sisay (all names are pseudonyms), a year 11 student of Ethiopian heritage who was born in Kenya, told me with feeling: I had a life back in Africa [her emphasis]. It was good. Well, I would go back there if there’s no problems, which—is a fact. And I came here for a better life—yeah, I have a better life, there’s good health care, free school, and good environment and all that. But what’s that without friends? A fellow student, Celine, who came to Australia five years ago from Burundi via Uganda, told me in a focus group: Some teachers are really good but I think some other teachers could be a little bit more encouraging and understanding of what we’ve gone through, because [they] just look at you like “You’re year 11 now, you should know this” […] It’s really discouraging when [the teachers say] in front of the class, “Oh, you shouldn’t do this subject because you haven’t done this this this this” […] It’s like they’re on purpose to tell you “you don’t have what it takes; just give up and do something else.” As Uptin, Wright and Harwood note, “schools not only have the power to position who is included in schooling (in culture and pedagogy) but also have the power to determine whether there is room and appreciation for diversity” (126). Both Sisay and Celine were disheartened by the fact they felt some of their teachers, and many of their peers, had little interest in or understanding of their lives before they came to Australia. The teachers’ low expectations of refugee-background students (Keddie, Uptin, Wright and Harwood) contrasted with the students’ and their families’ high expectations of themselves (Brown, Miller and Mitchell; Harris and Marlowe). When I asked Sisay about her post-school ambitions, she said: “I have a good idea of my future […] write a documentary. And I’m working on it.” Celine’s response was: “I know I’m gonna do medicine, be a doctor.” A third girl, Lily, who came to Australia from Myanmar three years ago, told me she wanted to be an accountant and had studied accounting at the local TAFE last year. Joseph, a father of three who resettled from South Sudan seven years ago, stressed how important getting a job was to successful settlement: [But] you have to get a certificate first to get a job. Even the job of cleaning—when I came here I was told that somebody has to go to have training in cleaning, to use the different chemicals to clean the ground and all that. But that is just sweeping and cleaning with water—you don’t need the [higher-level] skills. Simple jobs like this, we are not able to get them. In regional Australia, employment opportunities tend to be limited (Fozdar and Hartley); the unemployment rate in Easthaven is twice the national average. Opportunities to study are also more limited than in urban centres, and would-be students are not always eligible for financial assistance to gain or upgrade qualifications. Even when people do have appropriate qualifications, work experience, and language proficiency, the colour of their skin may still mean they miss out on a job. Tilbury and Colic-Peisker have documented the various ways in which employers deflect responsibility for racial discrimination, including the “common” strategy (658) of arguing that while the employer or organisation is not prejudiced, they have to discriminate because of their clients’ needs or expectations. I heard this strategy deployed in an interview with a local businesswoman, Catriona: We were advertising for a new technician. And one of the African refugees came to us and he’d had a lot of IT experience. And this is awful, but we felt we couldn't give him the job, because we send our technicians into people's houses, and we knew that if a black African guy rocked up at someone’s house to try and fix their computer, they would not always be welcomed in all—look, it would not be something that [Easthaven] was ready for yet. Colic-Peisker and Tilbury (Refugees and Employment) note that while Australia has strict anti-discrimination legislation, this legislation may be of little use to the people who, because of the way they look and sound (skin colour, dress, accent), are most likely to face prejudice and discrimination. The researchers found that perceived discrimination in the labour market affected humanitarian settlers’ sense of satisfaction with their new lives far more than, for example, racist remarks, which were generally shrugged off; the students I interviewed spoke of racism as “expected,” but “quite rare.” Most of the people Colic-Peisker and Tilbury surveyed reported finding Australians “friendly and accepting” (33). Even if there is no active discrimination on the basis of skin colour in employment, education, or housing, or overt racism in social situations, visible difference can still affect a person’s sense of belonging, as Joseph recounts: I think of myself as Australian, but my colour doesn’t [laughs] […] Unfortunately many, many Australians are expecting that Australia is a country of Europeans … There is no need for somebody to ask “Where do you come from?” and “Do you find Australia here safe?” and “Do you enjoy it?” Those kind of questions doesn’t encourage that we are together. This highlights another dimension of resettlement: the journey from feeling “at home” to feeling “foreign” to, eventually, feeling at home again in the host country (Colic-Peisker and Tilbury, Refugees and Employment). In the case of visibly different settlers, however, this last stage may never be completed. Whether the questions asked of Joseph are well intentioned or not, their effect may be the same: they position him as a “forever foreigner” (Park). A further dimension of resettlement—one already touched on—is the degree to which humanitarian settlers actively manage their “rebirth,” and are allowed and encouraged to do so. A key factor will be their mastery of English, and Easthaven’s ESL teachers are thus pivotal in the resettlement process. There is little doubt that many of these teachers have gone to great lengths to help this cohort of students, not only in terms of language acquisition but also social inclusion. However, in some cases what is initially supportive can, with time, begin to undermine refugees’ maturity into independent citizens. Sharon, an ESL teacher at one of the schools, told me how she and her colleagues would give their refugee-background students lifts to social events: But then maybe three years down the track they have a car and their dad can drive, but they still won’t take them […] We arrive to pick them up and they’re not ready, or there’s five fantastic cars in the driveway, and you pick up the student and they say “My dad’s car’s much bigger and better than yours” [laughs]. So there’s an expectation that we’ll do stuff for them, but we’ve created that [my emphasis]. Other support services may have more complex interests in keeping refugee settlers dependent. The more clients an agency has, the more services it provides, and the longer clients stay on its books, the more lucrative the contract for the agency. Thus financial and employment imperatives promote competition rather than collaboration between service providers (Fozdar and Hartley; Sidhu and Taylor) and may encourage assumptions about what sorts of services different individuals and groups want and need. Colic-Peisker and Tilbury (“‘Active’ and ‘Passive’ Resettlement”) have developed a typology of resettlement styles—“achievers,” “consumers,” “endurers,” and “victims”—but stress that a person’s style, while influenced by personality and pre-migration factors, is also shaped by the institutions and individuals they come into contact with: “The structure of settlement and welfare services may produce a victim mentality, leaving members of refugee communities inert and unable to see themselves as agents of change” (76). The prevailing narrative of “the traumatised refugee” is a key aspect of this dynamic (Colic-Peisker and Tilbury, “‘Active’ and ‘Passive’ Resettlement”; Fozdar and Hartley; Keddie). Service providers may make assumptions about what humanitarian settlers have gone through before arriving in Australia, how they have been affected by their experiences, and what must be done to “fix” them. Norah, a long-time caseworker, told me: I think you get some [providers] who go, “How could you have gone through something like that and not suffered? There must be—you must have to talk about this stuff” […] Where some [refugees] just come with the [attitude] “We’re all born into a situation; that was my situation, but I’m here now and now my focus is this.” She cited failure to consider cultural sensitivities around mental illness and to recognise that stress and anxiety during early resettlement are normal (Tilbury) as other problems in the sector: [Newly arrived refugees] go through the “happy to be here” [phase] and now “hang on, I’ve thumped to the bottom and I’m missing my own foods and smells and cultures and experiences”. I think sometimes we’re just too quick to try and slot people into a box. One factor that appears to be vital in fostering and sustaining resilience is social connection. Norah said her clients were “very good on the mobile phone” and had links “everywhere,” including to family and friends in their countries of birth, transition countries, and other parts of Australia. A 2011 report for DIAC, Settlement Outcomes of New Arrivals, found that humanitarian entrants to Australia were significantly more likely to be members of cultural and/or religious groups than other categories of immigrants (Australian Survey Research). I found many examples of efforts to build both bonding and bridging capital (Putnam) in Easthaven, and I offer two examples below. Several people told me about a dinner-dance that had been held a few weeks before one of my visits. The event was organised by an African women’s group, which had been formed—with funding assistance—several years before. The dinner-dance was advertised in the local newspaper and attracted strong interest from a broad cross-section of Easthaveners. To Debbie, a counsellor, the response signified a “real turnaround” in community relations and was a big boon to the women’s sense of belonging. Erica, a teacher, told me about a cultural exchange day she had organised between her bush school—where almost all of the children are Anglo Australian—and ESL students from one of the town schools: At the start of the day, my kids were looking at [the refugee-background students] and they were scared, they were saying to me, "I feel scared." And we shoved them all into this tiny little room […] and they had no choice but to sit practically on top of each other. And by the end of the day, they were hugging each other and braiding their hair and jumping and playing together. Like Uptin, Wright and Harwood, I found that the refugee-background students placed great importance on the social aspects of school. Sisay, the girl I introduced earlier in this paper, said: “It’s just all about friendship and someone to be there for you […] We try to be friends with them [the non-refugee students] sometimes but sometimes it just seems they don’t want it.” Conclusion A 2012 report on refugee settlement services in NSW concludes that the state “is not meeting its responsibility to humanitarian entrants as well as it could” (Audit Office of New South Wales 2); moreover, humanitarian settlers in NSW are doing less well on indicators such as housing and health than humanitarian settlers in other states (3). Evaluating the effectiveness of formal refugee-centred programs was not part of my research and is beyond the scope of this paper. Rather, I have sought to reveal some of the ways in which the attitudes, assumptions, and everyday practices of service providers and members of the broader community impact on refugees' settlement experience. 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