Journal articles on the topic 'Government publications – Ghana'

Abstract Even though scholars have written on Ghana-Korea relations over the past forty years, there is a lacuna in the literature because there is no “one-stop shop” from which one could easily access the literature. The problem is that scholarly works on Ghana-Korea relations are scattered in books and journals which has made undertaking research on the relations between the two countries a bit Herculean. The purpose of this article is therefore to fill the lacuna and provide a state-of-the-art on some key themes in Ghana-Korea relations which have emerged and yet scattered in scholarly works. They include culture and society; governance and leadership; economy; bilateral relations (including political, economic and technical cooperation); and science and education. The methodology employed is desktop research through the consultation of government publications, books and articles.

Theoretical basis This case study applies the scanning of marketing environment (i.e. typology of marketing environments); strategic marketing planning process, involving SWOT analysis, growth strategies; and marketing mix (four ps). Research methodology This is modeled as a qualitative study. Primary data were collected through a phone interview with the key informants, and secondary data came from various publications such as government reports, news portals and company websites. Case overview/synopsis Ghacem was the first cement manufacturing company in Ghana and had enjoyed a monopoly for almost 33 years. The company offered a homogeneous product to an undifferentiated market from 1967 until competition began in 2000. New competitors promote the use of cement grade numbers on their product packaging to signal a better value, which intensified the competition. As the Head of Marketing of the company, Benny was asked to develop a marketing strategy for the company’s newly developed product for the company to remain competitive. Complexity academic level Undergraduate students taking Principles of Marketing.

PurposeBusiness continuity and disaster recovery are directly associated frameworks which guarantee the continued operations of organisations after a disaster has occurred. Thus, researchers have continued to investigate best practices in this area. It is in this vein that the authors of this study seek to draw attention to what pertains in Ghana and what role the government can play to improve the situation. The purpose of this study is to explore some of the disasters which have been suffered by businesses in Ghana as well as the causes, effects and lessons learnt. The study will also look at business continuity and disaster recovery measures that could have been implemented in the examples provided.Design/methodology/approachThe study follows a literature review approach by reviewing secondary data on both man-made and natural disasters that have affected Ghana in the past decade through the review of literature.FindingsThe comprehensive study of the selected disasters indicated the presence of business continuity and disaster recovery measures in some formal institutions; however, the informal sector appeared to have minimal provision for handling disasters.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors were limited to the use of the account from the resources used since this study relied on secondary data.Practical implicationsThe study indicates that businesses in Ghana must implement business continuity and disaster recovery plans to protect business operations in the event of a disaster.Originality/valueThe study has not been previously published in any other journal. Secondary data for carrying out the study were obtained from other publications including online media platforms in Ghana.

Corporate bodies have come to the realisation that establishing a strong rapport with surrounding communities is vital for the growth, success and survival of their organisations. This article delves into Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities of business organisations operating in Ghana. Specifically, it looks at how CSR initiatives of sampled companies contribute to community development (CD). To attain this aim, both quantitative and qualitative research approaches were adopted. The purposive sampling technique was used to select companies operating in three main sectors of the economy. Secondary data sources such as companies’ periodicals, annual reports, websites, newspapers and publications by government agencies were used. The findings of the study reveal that the selected companies engaged in various forms of CSR activities that contribute to CD. There general focus of these companies is on education, health and people empowerment. It is recommended that stakeholders’ engagement needs to be fully practised in the course of CSR implementation.
 Keywords: Community, community development, corporate social responsibility.

IntroductionWith rapid urbanisation in low-income and middle-income countries, health systems are struggling to meet the needs of their growing populations. Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) in Ghana have been effective in improving maternal and child health in rural areas; however, implementation in urban areas has proven challenging. This study aims to engage key stakeholders in urban communities to understand how the CHPS model can be adapted to reach poor urban communities.Methods and analysisA Participatory Action Research (PAR) will be used to develop an urban CHPS model with stakeholders in three selected CHPS zones: (a) Old Fadama (Yam and Onion Market community), (b) Adedenkpo and (c) Adotrom 2, representing three categories of poor urban neighbourhoods in Accra, Ghana. Two phases will be implemented: phase 1 (‘reconnaissance phase) will engage and establish PAR research groups in the selected zones, conduct focus groups and individual interviews with urban residents, households vulnerable to ill-health and CHPS staff and key stakeholders. A desk review of preceding efforts to implement CHPS will be conducted to understand what worked (or not), how and why. Findings from phase 1 will be used to inform and co-create an urban CHPS model in phase 2, where PAR groups will be involved in multiple recurrent stages (cycles) of community-based planning, observation, action and reflection to develop and refine the urban CHPS model. Data will be managed using NVivo software and coded using the domains of community engagement as a framework to understand community assets and potential for engagement.Ethics and disseminationThis study has been approved by the University of York’s Health Sciences Research Governance Committee and the Ghana Health Service Ethics Review Committee. The results of this study will guide the scale-up of CHPS across urban areas in Ghana, which will be disseminated through journal publications, community and government stakeholder workshops, policy briefs and social media content. This study is also funded by the Medical Research Council, UK.

Apart from improving the ranking of the individual and his/her institution, research publications are also known to make important contributions to the advancement of knowledge and formulation of government policies, thus enhancing institutional, sector and/or national and global development. The study explored challenges that College of Education tutors face in line with publishing research papers and other scholarly materials. Utilizing concurrent nested mixed method design, tutors of all Colleges of Education institutions in Ghana were targeted, however, 190 tutors were drawn from the five Colleges of Education zones in Ghana to participate in the study. A checklist of .72 internal consistency reliability was used to gather the quantitative data while interview schedule was used to gather qualitative data about challenges that affect academic staff publishing of research products. Data to answer research question one was analyzed using descriptive statistics, specifically, percentages and frequencies. However, data to answer research question two were analyzed using Braun and Clarke thematic analysis approach. Findings revealed that college tutors used in the study had awareness and knowledge about how research articles and abstracts are produced but not for other research products such as monograph, book chapters and so on. The study findings further showed that, weaker foundational knowledge and skills in research methodology, lack of writing experience, deficient information technology skills and lack of mentorship constituted the challenges that affected frequent publishing of research products among college tutors. Regular workshops of research methodology and production of research papers should be organized for college tutors by college management. The study further recommends that the Ministry of Education in collaboration with Ghana Education Trust Fund (GetFund) as a matter of priority should work on improving and building more infrastructure, specifically, offices for academic staff and technological infrastructure to enhance more research-based activities within the Colleges.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a best practice framework for PPP implementation for construction projects in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach This study adopted a multi-stage critical review and analysis of past studies on the attributes of PPP implementation (i.e. critical success factors/success criteria for PPP, reasons/drivers for adopting PPP, obstacles/implementation constraints in PPP and risks in PPP) with much focus in Ghana. Furthermore, other governments’ and international PPP guidelines were reviewed for cross validation purposes. In addition, questionnaire survey with PPP experts in Ghana was conducted to validate the proposed best practice framework. Findings From the search, 16 publications in leading construction management journals were identified. A thorough content analysis of the identified papers produced 151 best practices for construction PPPs in Ghana. The best practices were then incorporated into the PPP process in Ghana to develop the best practice framework. Research limitations/implications The major limitation lies in the fact that few publications were targeted for analysis; however, the findings are still useful for future reference because the PPP concept is still developing in Ghana, therefore few publications are found in leading construction management journals. Another limitation is that the best practice framework was not validated using real-life cases, thus it is suggested that future research will adopt the framework and test it on real projects to measure its effectiveness. Originality/value The outputs of this study considerably inform local practitioners in developing countries particularly Ghana and other African countries of the strategic measures that need to be carefully considered within the PPP process so as to implement successful construction PPP projects. The best practice framework also helps to standardize the practice of PPP in Ghana.

The ultimate desire of any sensitive government is to build responsible citizens who will participate meaningfully in the developmental efforts within and outside society. The current social-political upheavals in Ghana and Nigeria underscored the need for national value orientation and reorientation for effective nation-building. The study adopted a descriptive survey to assess gender differences in pupils’ civic disposition in Ghana and Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select 920 Basic 8 pupils from four educational circuits in Central Region, Ghana and four Local Government Education Authorities in Lagos and Ogun State in South-West, Nigeria. The research tool was tagged: Basic Education Pupils’ Questionnaire (BEPQ). The data were analysed using simple percentages, mean scores and independent t-tests at 0.05 level of significance. The results showed that there is no significant gender difference in the contribution of basic education to pupils’ civic disposition. The main conclusion drawn from this study is that the difference in the level of civic awareness of basic school pupils is due to the quality of basic education and that civic disposition increases the likelihood of a person engaging in civic activities. Government at all levels should encourage publication of relevant textbooks and research findings on basic school pupils especially in value-laden subjects like civic education.

The functioning of society is considerably aided by legal rules and social norms. The extent, scope and complexity of such laws and norms are determined in the final analysis by the level of socio-economic activity, growth and development. Corresponding economic and social institutions of an administrative nature tend to evolve and become intertwined with such developments. In order to cope with increasing responsibilities, a government may establish statutory bodies to deal with certain aspects of governmental activity of a quasi-judicial nature.In developing countries such as Ghana, therefore, one often finds in the Statute books enactments conferring certain powers on quasi-judicial bodies. In Ghana, powers are conferred on such bodies to carry out investigations and make findings of fact concerning such matters as chieftaincy disputes, the determination of boundaries between two communities, the settlement of trade disputes, etc. Perhaps, recognising the limitations of such bodies, the decisions based on the facts found by such bodies do not usually become binding on the persons or the institutions to be affected in die same way as die decisions of the regular courts do. To become binding, the law usually provides that two conditions are satisfied:(i) The findings or decisions must be confirmed by the executive or the minister acting in that behalf; and(ii) they must be published in an official gazette, bulletin or in any such official publication.

The Gold Coast was renamed Ghana by the political leadership on the attainment of Independence. But before 1957, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah had become Prime Minister of the Gold Coast in 1952, and by this arrangement ruled alongside the British Colonial Governor. Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah set out to rebuild the new nation, and by doing so, Education, especially University Education, became a significant tool for the realization of such an objective. He, and the Convention People’s Party (CPP) Government saw education as “the keystone of people’s life and happiness.’’1 Thus, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah wanted the University Colleges in the Gold Coast to train intellectuals capable of combining both theory and practice as well as use their energies to assist in the task of national reconstruction.2 This explains why Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah clearly spelt out the visions of University Education in Ghana. This paper, which is multi-sourced, uses archival documents, newspapers, interviews and scholarly secondary works such as articles, book chapters and books to examine the visions of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah for University Education in the early stages of self-government and independence in Ghana. The paper particularly focuses on measures adopted by the first Prime Minister of Ghana such as establishment of an International Commission on University Education (ICUE), making the existing University Colleges independent, the rationale for setting up the University College of Cape Coast (UCCC), the Africanization of the University staff, establishment of the Institute of African Studies and the formation of the National Council for Higher Education to transform the University Colleges to reflect the needs and aspirations of Ghanaians.
 
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 1 H. O. A. McWilliam, & M. A. Kwamena-Poh, The Development of Education in Ghana. (London: Longman Group Ltd., 1975), 83.
 2 Samuel Obeng, Selected Speeches of Kwame Nkrumah, Vol. 1 (Accra: Aframs Publication Ltd., 1997), 74.

This issue of the journal “History of Science and Technology” has been prepared in difficult conditions. In difficult conditions for authors… In difficult conditions for reviewers ... In difficult conditions for the editorial board… In difficult conditions for the whole world in general!!! This issue contains ten articles. The first of these articles came in late 2019, when the world did not know yet these terrible words: Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19); severe acute respiratory syndrome Corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)… COVID-19 was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, and has since spread worldwide, resulting in an ongoing pandemic. As on May 29, 2020, when these lines were written, more than 5 800 000 cases were recorded in 188 countries, killing more than 359 000 people. We hope that humanity will invent a vaccine as soon as possible, and these horrific death statistics will first stop growing and then stop altogether. For this, many events and activities are important, as history shows. Including the history of the development of science and technology, that is the subject area of our publication. In many sources on the history of electric power production the evolution of electric power production was studied both in developed and developing countries and its impact on economy. The growing demand for electric power became the most problem that stood before the power sector of Ghana. This issue begins with an article examining activities that in many ways helped to create a sustainable electricity supply for households and industries in Ghana, especially in the cities of Accra and Kumasi, between 1900 and 1960. Scientific-technical borrowings are one of those types of scientific support for the work of industrial sectors, whose role in the conditions of exiting the crisis to acquiring the particular importance. Since the mid-1920s, they have become the main way of scientific support for the organization of the development of Ukrainian electric machine-building industry in the context of large-scale electrification of the country. That was due to the need for a quick withdrawal of this industry from the previous crisis in the absence in the Ukrainian SSR of its own scientific support system for the electric machine engineering. An example of this measure, which was considered in the study, was an attempt to achieve the fastest possible increase in productivity of the Kharkiv Electromechanical Plant at minimal financial cost. The next article analyzes the activities of the mining industry in the south of the Russian Empire, of which Ukraine was a part of that time. An analysis of the so-called “coal crisis” and the role of large miners in collusion has been made. Market monopolization has been considered. Emphasis is made on the customs policy of the tsarist government, speculation on temporary fuel difficulties. The study shows that in the last quarter of the nineteenth century there was a consolidation and monopolization of the mining industry in the south of the Russian Empire. In the 21st century, every reputable journal also has an online version, which makes the dissemination of scientific information almost instantaneous. We are so accustomed to the conveniences of the information age that it is difficult for us to imagine the difficulties that scientists faced a little over 150 years ago. The genesis of science launched the process of forming branch of scientific communities and demanded stable ways of communication for productive and effective development of the branch. Scientific journals have become an ideal means of disseminating information, and a scientific article has been transformed from an ordinary letter into a modern form and has taken on an ideal form. The importance of international communication between scientists, on the example of consideration of the activities of Valerian Mykolaiovych Lihin, is discussed in the following study. He became the first Russian-speaking member of one of the oldest Mathematical Societies in Europe - the French. V. Lihin broke the tradition of “isolated” science when discoveries in the Russian Empire (and later in the USSR) were made separately from the rest of the world. In the next article an attempt to investigate in a chronological order the historical circumstances on the formation and development of the mainline electric locomotives engineering at the Luhansk diesel locomotives engineering plant (1957–2014) has been made. Historical and biographical research is continued by the article, which considers the factors shaping the scientific worldview of Mykola Pavlovych Petrov - an outstanding scientist and engineer against the background of his initiative and organizational efforts to develop the domestic scientific and technical space of the late nineteenth - early twentieth The article devoted to highlighting the contribution of academician Mariia Vasylivna Pavlova (Gortynska) in the development of palaeozoology science at the end of the XIX – the first third of the XX centuries continues the cycle of historical and biographical researches. We hope that our readers will be interested in scientific work, examining the research of Russian women in the field of human genetics in 1920-1930. The main task of the article was to determine the contribution of women scientists to the development of different fields of human genetics. Particular attention was given to reconstructing women’s geneticists’ research work, reviewing the content of their publications, and analyzing the theoretical and methodological approaches they employed in solving various scientific problems. In the history of Ukrainian archeology, there are many names of outstanding researchers who have devoted their lives to the study of our antiquity. Among them is Yulian Kulakovskyi, a well-known domestic historian and archeologist. In 1883 Yu. A. Kulakovskyi joined the Nestor Chronicler Historical Society. Since that time, his life and career have been closely linked to this scientific union. The analysis of the results of researches in the field of late antique archeology of the Crimea, published on the pages of “Readings of the Historical Society of Nestor the Chronicler”, is discussed in the next article. The development of the spread of COVID-19 shows that in the fight against it in the first place are such measures and actions as unrestricted access to information on methods of combating the spread of the virus; exchange of data at the international level on treatment methods of the disease; communication between scientists from different countries; timely quarantine measures, etc. In this sense, it is important to study the historical experience of mankind in the fight against pandemics. This issue of the journal History of Science and Technology concludes with an article on a critical analysis of nineteenth-century military interventions as the main cause of the spread of infectious diseases internationally. Emerging problems and solutions obtained as a result of a critical analysis of the materials of the International Sanitary Conferences reveal the history of the spread of infectious diseases and the methods of early statistics used for epidemiological purposes. Concluding this Preface, we emphasize once again the importance of a comprehensive study of international historical experience in the development of science and technology. Not limited to any one field or field of science, we are ready to provide the pages of our journal for the opportunity to exchange views with the international scientific community. Let peace and health be with everyone in these hard times!

BackgroundIn sub-Saharan Africa, there is a growing awareness of the burden of paediatric surgical diseases. This has highlighted the large discrepancy between the capacity to treat and the ability to afford treatment, and the effect of this problem on access to care. This review focuses on the sources and challenges of funding paediatric surgical procedures in sub-Saharan Africa. MethodsWe undertook a search for studies published between January 2007 and November 2016 that reported the specific funding of paediatric surgical procedures and were conducted in sub-Saharan Africa. Abstract screening, full-text review and data abstraction were completed and resulting data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. ResultsThirty-five studies met our inclusion criteria and were reviewed. The countries that were predominantly emphasized in the publications reviewed were Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana and Uganda. The paediatric surgical procedures involved general paediatric surgery/urology, cardiac surgery, neurosurgery, oncology, plastics, ophthalmology, orthopaedics and otorhinolaryngology. The mean cost of these procedures ranged from 60 to 21,140 United States Dollars (USD). The source of funding for these procedures was mostly out-of-pocket payments (OOPs) by the patient’s family in 32 studies, (91.4%) and medical mission/non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in 21 (60%) studies. This pattern did not differ appreciably between the articles published in the initial and latter 5 years of the study period, although there was a trend towards a reduction in OOP funding. Improvements in healthcare funding by individual countries supported by international organizations and charities were the predominant suggested solutions to challenges in funding.ConclusionWhile considering the potential limitations created by diversity in study design, the reviewed publications indicate that funding for paediatric surgical procedures in sub-Saharan Africa is mostly by OOPs made by families of the patients. This may result in limited access to some procedures. Coordinated efforts, and collaboration between individual countries and international agencies, may help to reduce OOP funding and thus improve access to critical procedures.

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the global community in ways unimaginable. The Ghanaian COVID-19 response has been touted as effective to a large extent from the viewpoint that the government provided leadership based on scientific data with collaboration from traditional leaders, faith based, civil societies etc. This article discusses inadvertent “omissions and commissions'' on the part of the government and the people of Ghana defined as “missed preventive health and behavioural opportunities'' that would possibly have reduced the current morbidities and mortalities. Important lessons are drawn and recommendations made for future national responses to epi-and pandemics. Using secondary data, extant relevant publications (peer – reviewed articles, online blogs etc.) on the subject were retrieved, critically appraised to complement the authors’ ideas in this special article. The study found among others, some missed preventive opportunities included delayed mandatory quarantine, border closures, too flexible partial lockdown, facemasks wearing as an afterthought of COVID-19 protocol, and non-enforcement of executive instruments on the part of government. Moreover, a significant proportion of the citizenry has remained non-compliant with the President’s instituted protocols to date. The study recommends that Governments should strengthen their nations’ disease surveillance systems, be willing to initiate stringent, unpopular but effective and uncompromising public protection protocols to mitigate such outbreaks. These may include closing borders and entry ports promptly (or a more regulated one), imposing lockdowns, instituting aggressive public education in collaboration with relevant bodies. On the part of the citizenry, executive instruments must be enforced to the latter with commensurate understandable education. Finally, traditional leaders, faith based and civil societies, should embark on mass education, national drives for necessary PPE’s and food for the poor and vulnerable as they collaborate with the authorities on other relevant fronts.

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the global community in ways unimaginable. The Ghanaian COVID-19 response has been touted as effective to a large extent from the viewpoint that the government provided leadership based on scientific data with collaboration from traditional leaders, faith based, civil societies etc. This article discusses inadvertent “omissions and commissions'' on the part of the government and the people of Ghana defined as “missed preventive health and behavioural opportunities'' that would possibly have reduced the current morbidities and mortalities. Important lessons are drawn and recommendations made for future national responses to epi-and pandemics. Using secondary data, extant relevant publications (peer – reviewed articles, online blogs etc.) on the subject were retrieved, critically appraised to complement the authors’ ideas in this special article. The study found among others, some missed preventive opportunities included delayed mandatory quarantine, border closures, too flexible partial lockdown, facemasks wearing as an afterthought of COVID-19 protocol, and non-enforcement of executive instruments on the part of government. Moreover, a significant proportion of the citizenry has remained non-compliant with the President’s instituted protocols to date. The study recommends that Governments should strengthen their nations’ disease surveillance systems, be willing to initiate stringent, unpopular but effective and uncompromising public protection protocols to mitigate such outbreaks. These may include closing borders and entry ports promptly (or a more regulated one), imposing lockdowns, instituting aggressive public education in collaboration with relevant bodies. On the part of the citizenry, executive instruments must be enforced to the latter with commensurate understandable education. Finally, traditional leaders, faith based and civil societies, should embark on mass education, national drives for necessary PPE’s and food for the poor and vulnerable as they collaborate with the authorities on other relevant fronts.

Ghana as a developing nation located in the sub-Saharan Africa is characterised by its favourable political atmosphere and stable economy to do business. The country needs infrastructure development in order to satisfy both the economic and social development requirements of its economy. The construction industry, however, is a vital sector of the economy that addresses the socio-economic development needs of every country. This paper, therefore, seeks to assess the strength and weakness of the industry. The study as solely qualitative supported by an extensive review of literature via a desk-top study was embarked which captured the use of existing journal publications, government white papers, and gazette among others. The study revealed that the construction industry in Ghana is an important sector which creates employment which tends to reduce poverty to a larger extent. Also, the collaboration of the construction industry with other sectors do as well increases the gross domestic product of the economy and brings about entire growth in the economy. Similarly, the study revealed that the industry is posed with constraints which are categorised as weakness. These include access to credit facilities, a long span of control, employee management and corruption among others. The study, therefore, recommends the establishment of a construction industry development board that in Ghana to supersede all the activities of the industry in order to promote, maintain a high standard construction industry to the Ghanaian economy and society.

Problem setting. The article analyzes the status of the main normative legal acts in force, both domestic and international legislation. Some aspects of the legal regulation of forest fire protection are revealed. It is noted that Improvement of the forestry regulatory framework is a key and essential aspect for the development of an advanced state. Analysis of recent researches and publications. Commitment to reforestation after logging, sanitary felling after forest fires, diseases or as a result of winds and sailboats is a sustainable practice in European societies and an important aspect in the relationship between forest owners and society. At one time, this issue was paid attention to scientists: E.M. Gulid, O.V. Gulak, V.V. Deca, D.S. Chris, O.I. Lozynsky and so on. Target of research. The purpose of the article is to analyze the aspects of legal regulation of forest protection against fires. Special attention will be paid to comparative legal research on forest protection in Ukraine and European countries. Article’s main body. According to Art. 13 of the Constitution of Ukraine forest, like other natural resources of Ukraine (land, water, subsoil), is a national property that is the object of property rights of the Ukrainian people. Currently, the total land area of the forest fund of Ukraine is 10.8 million hectares, of which 9.5 million hectares is covered with forest vegetation, that is 15.7% of the territory of our country. According to V.P. Pechulyuk, legal regulation in the field of forestry in Ukraine cannot be called optimal and in line with international standards. In this context, scientists should agree that the important step in ensuring the fire safety of domestic forests is the full functioning of such monitoring system at the central, regional, local and local levels, its appropriate informational implementation, taking into account the specific features of individual regions regarding the level of fire safety. Forests at one time or another and the coordination and interaction of joint efforts by designated authorities, local governments and the public to minimize fire safety or mitigation. In view of the above, international instruments covering aspects of cooperation in the field of forest fires are few international agreements and acts of the European Community. Such as: 1. Ghana / Province of British Columbia (Canada). Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the Government of British Columbia, 1999 (On fire fighting training and advice). 2. Finland / Burkina Faso. Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Finland and the Government of Burkina Faso on Finland’s support in the fight against landscape fires, 1998 3. Indonesia and Malaysia. Standard Procedures for a Memorandum of Understanding on Disasters between Indonesia and Malaysia. This is the document that sets out the procedure for implementing the Memorandum of Understanding and so on. Conclusions and prospects for the development. Therefore, based on the above, on the basis of international regulations, the FAO’s recommendations regarding future actions on the legal aspects of forest fires management in Ukraine should be taken into account: regularly update information on international agreements and national legislation; further develop a plan for the development of international agreements and develop new contours of relevant operational guidelines and operational plans; including fire logistics; further review and evaluation of national forest fire legislation; to develop guidelines for the formulation of national legislation on forest fires.

Abstract: Nowadays, Vietnamese women are participating actively in parts of the economy that were previously deemed male domain. Women are involved in business activities at all levels in Vietnam, making significant contributions to the economic development of the country. By December 2011, there were 81,226 small and medium enterprises headed by women, accounting for 25% of the total number of enterprises in the country (GSO, 2013). In Vietnam, despite recent economic development, socio-cultural and legal barriers are still very difficult for women since the general perception in society is that a woman’s main duty is to be a good housewife and mother and they are also often perceived as weak, passive and irrational (VWEC, 2007). Even though the studies related to women entrepreneurship development are quite extensive, amongst them only a limited number of researches on the role of legal and socio - cultural barriers on women entrepreneurs in the context of Vietnam have been investigated. Thus, supported by the World Trade Institute (WTI) in Bern, Switzerland, the researchers have chosen this as the subject of this study. Based on a quantitative survey of 110 companies in Hanoi and adjacent areas, the research has taken legal and socio - cultural barriers and explored their effect on the development of women entrepreneurship in the context of Vietnam in order to indicate how women entrepreneurs perceive the impact of socio-cultural factors, economic impacts, and policy reforms on their entrepreneurial situations and initiatives, and to then provide policy implications for promoting women’s entrepreneurship and gender equality in Vietnam.
 Keywords
 Entrepreneurship, female entrepreneurs, gender equality, Vietnam
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 lity in Vietnam.

Abstract Background: In May 2020, the African Journal of Primary Health Care and Family Medicine invited submissions on lessons learnt from responses to the COVID-19 pandemic from primary care providers in Africa. This included descriptions of innovations and good practices, the management of COVID-19 in district health services and responses of communities to the outbreak. Aim: To synthesise the lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic in the Africa region. Methods: A thematic document analysis was conducted on twenty-seven short report publications from Botswana, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Findings: Eight major themes were derived from the data: community-based activities; screening and testing; reorganisation of health services; emergency care for COVID-19; maintenance of essential non-COVID-19 health services; caring for the vulnerable; use of information technology; and reframing training opportunities. Community health workers were a vital community resource, delivering medications and other supplies to homes, as well as following up on patients with chronic conditions. More investment in community partnerships and social mobilisation was proposed. Difficulties with procurement of test kits and turn-around times were constraints for most countries. Authors described how services were reorganised for focused COVID-19 activities, sometimes to the detriment of essential services and training of junior doctors. Innovations in use of internet technology for communication and remote consultations were explored. The contribution of family medicine principles in upholding the humanity of patients and their families, clear leadership and planning, multidisciplinary teamwork and continuity of care was emphasised even in the context of providing critical care. Conclusions: The community-orientated primary care approach was emphasised as well as long-term benefits of technological innovations. The pandemic exposed the need to deliver on governmental commitments to strengthening primary health care and universal health coverage.

Purpose Designated non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBPs) are important actors both in the formal and informal sectors owing to the nature of services they offer. The DNFBPs are key players in financial and economic development and thus are highly vulnerable to money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF) risks. Globally, and indeed, within the West African region, typologies studies have indicated several instances of misuse of DNFBPs for the laundering of proceeds of crime and to a lesser extent, TF. Factors that make DNFBPs vulnerable to ML and TF in the region, include limited understanding of ML/TF risk and anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) obligations, and poor implementation of AML/CFT measures by the sector. As reporting institutions, DNFBPs are required to implement appropriate measures to mitigate the ML/TF risk facing them. Mutual evaluation reports (MERs) of countries in the region noted weak implementation of AML/CFT measures by DNFBPs compares to financial institutions. These coupled with the general poor monitoring and supervision of DNFBPs for compliance, make them a weak link in member states’ AML/CFT regime. This study examined how Economic Community of West African States member states can plug the loopholes in the DNFBPs to strengthen their AML/CFT regime and thus improve their performance during mutual evaluation. This study reviewed data from the publications of Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and other credible sources. Design/methodology/approach This study is more of desk-review based on secondary data, including information obtained from GIABA, and FATF publications, and websites as well as information obtained from reliable sources on the internet. The authors reviewed the MERs of GIABA member states that have been assessed under the second round, especially that of Ghana, Senegal, Cape Verde, Mali and Burkina Faso, with particular focus on sections of the reports relating to preventive measures and supervision. In general, this paper adopts a policy approach with a view to explaining the importance and benefits of implementing AML/CFT preventive measures by reporting entities, especially the DNFBPs. Findings This study found that there is a general lack of information on the exact size of DNFBPs across member states, the risk of ML/TF associated with DNFBPs is generally identified as high across member states (albeit at different levels), the extent and level of monitoring/supervision of DNFBPs for AML/CFT compliance trails what is obtainable in financial institutions; the institutional and operational frameworks for regulating, supervising and monitoring DNFBPs are either weak or poorly defined in many member states; and the focus of AML/CFT technical assistance has been more on financial institutions than DNFBPs. Although the number of MERs reviewed for this work may be few, the findings and conclusions in the concluded MERs reflect regional peculiarities, including high informality of the economies, preponderance use of cash in transactions, diversity of DNFBPs and the general weak application of AML/CFT preventive measures by these entities, and the weak AML/CFT supervision or monitoring of DNFBPs which cut across all GIABA member states. Although efforts to address the weaknesses in the DNFBPs, including training and supervision, have commenced, in most member states, these are still at rudimentary levels. Research limitations/implications However, this study is limited by the fact that it was desk-based review without direct inputs of industry players (DNFBPs and their supervisors). Practical implications In general, this paper adopts a policy approach with a view to explaining the importance and benefits of implementing AML/CFT preventive measures by reporting entities, especially the DNFBPs. It aims to bring to the fore the weaknesses of the DNFBPs in the implementation of AML/CFT preventive measures and therefore will be useful to national authorities who are striving toward strengthening their national AML/CT regimes and to DNFBPs who wish to protect the integrity and stability of their system. Originality/value It is imperative to mention that the weak compliance by DNFBPs, and indeed other challenges inhibiting effective implementation of preventive measures, is not peculiar to West Africa. A review of MERs of 17 African countries (eight countries in the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti Money Laundering Group region, five in GIABA region and three in the Middle East and North Africa region assessed under the current round as on October 2020, show a similar pattern of weak ratings under Immediate Outcome 4.