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Item Study of Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs)and Their Ability to Address Credit Needs of Small Holder Farmers in Southern TanzaniaSharma, Abhishek and Zhao, Hongdi (2017-12)Item China-LAC Energy CooperationLu, Jun (2018-05)This paper conducts research on China's current policy support and Latin American and Caribbean countries' (LAC) energy mix background, as well as the environmental impact of traditional energy. China launched a plan entitled the China-Latin American and Caribbean Countries Cooperation Plan (2015-2019) several years ago, demonstrating its ambition to cooperate with LAC countries, especially in the energy and natural resources sector. Although LAC countries have experienced rapid development in the renewable energy sector in recent years, it still has a relatively large share of traditional non-renewable energy in its energy mix. In the last decades, China invested more and more in LAC in the energy sector. However, cooperation still needs to be enhanced in the renewable energy sector.Item Positioning Dirkosh Crunch for growth in International MarketsQuilligan, Emma (2018-05)This report is designed to assist Dirkosh, an Ethiopian enterprise producing teff-based snacks, in their goal of expanding their business to international markets. The research is comprised of three main sections: desk research conducted during fall 2017 into international markets for healthier snacks; in-country consultation in January 2018 as part of the Student Multidisciplinary Applied Research Teams (SMART) program; and further studies carried out in spring 2018, primarily a proof of concept test conducted at the Vegan Life Live festival in London, UK, in February 2018 and a stated preference choice experiment conducted online during April 2018. The analysis is broken down into seven sections, each of which evaluates a different aspect of the challenges currently being faced by Dirkosh and proposes recommendations on how Dirkosh can move forward in mitigating or overcoming these challenges. A market analysis – based on the political, economic, socio-cultural, and technological (PEST) approach – is used to assess the opportunities and challenges facing Dirkosh in international markets and provides a context for Dirkosh to position its product and brand within these markets. The target demographic is defined so that Dirkosh can better develop their communication and strategy to leverage the enthusiasm of their target audience for the product. The report then addresses Dirkosh's core competencies and how the company can better utilize its strengths to grow the business. A lack of financial modelling and investment is currently hampering Dirkosh's potential to export and attract external investors, thus this report highlights the importance of robust accounting and proposes potential sources of funding. While Dirkosh already manufactures one product, Dirkosh Crunch, the company is still working on developing the product itself, as well as its branding and packaging. This report outlines proper processing procedures that will enable Dirkosh to improve its efficiency, as well as ensure reliable, high-quality product for their distributors and retailers. A branding strategy is also supplied so that Dirkosh can work to build its brand, in online, written and verbal communications, product packaging, and social media. This will assist Dirkosh not only in promoting Dirkosh Crunch but also any other products the company develops in future. Finally, the benefits of nutritional labelling and social certification are discussed. This gives Dirkosh better insights into what their potential consumers value, and what they should focus on when marketing their products.Item Integrating Gender and Human Rights in UNODC EvaluationsMangi, Sarang (2018-05)The main objective of this report is to help UNODC improve the integration of human rights and gender in its evaluations. This report will provide an analysis of best practices in UNODC's evaluations. Further, the report will look for common themes in UNODC evaluations with regards to human rights and gender. After that, the report would provide a section of findings on Human Rights and gender. Based on the findings and based practices, the paper shall propose recommendations for UNODC to help the organization integrate human rights and gender in its evaluation report. A section dedicated to analysis of UNODC Evaluation EQAs is also included. Finally, the report provides an ANNEX on list of human rights instruments and specific articles relevant to the programming of UNODC. The report also includes an ANNEX on EQA criteria directly linked with mandate of UNODC This professional report intends to add value towards UNODC' recent effort to increase visibility and highlight the assessment of human rights and gender considerations in its evaluation reports.Item New York City Externship at the New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE)Palacios, Anlly (2018-05)Item Analyzing the Relationship Between Production and Consumption Diversity in Rural IndiaSharma, Vanisha (2018-05)While much of the current literature on nutrition emphasizes consumption diversity of diets, lesser empirical research is available on production side of diversity. This study seeks to explore any potential relationship between the household consumption and production diversity in rural India. While consumption diversity is measured by individual and household diet diversity scores measured using guidelines from the Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN, production diversity is measured by developing a production diversity index with a similar methodology as the diet diversity score. The study finds no significant relationship between the production and consumption diversity indexes, and discusses other possible variables that might affect the two indexes.Item Selected Policy Measures Against the Debt Distress in MongoliaTelmuun Byambaragchaa (2017-05)The objective of this report is to examine the public external debt sustainability of Mongolia, and to propose appropriate regulatory actions for ongoing debates about economic reform. Following sharp external shocks that include a drop in foreign direct investment and a depreciation of the national currency, the country is at a critical moment of determining whether to default on its external debts or correct structural policy failures. Therefore, it is important that Mongolia identify its level of debt distress and determine which structural reforms should take place.Item Attorneys and Counselors for Texas Public Schools and Local GovernmentAdrienne Stonecypher (2017-05)Item The Future of Music Coalition - Moral Rights Docket FilingHarrison Speck (2017-05)Item Nike’s Olympic Villages in Rio de JaneiroMariana Hoffmann de Carvalho (2017-05)This professional report aims to provide details on the pre-baseline study carried out in collaboration with the UNDP’s International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG) in Brazil. The study assesses the NIKE’s project “Olympic Villages”, implemented in partnership with the municipal government of Rio de Janeiro. Based on the study’s recommendations, this report also proposes an end-of-project impact evaluation.Item Innovative Financing Methods for Construction and Maintenance of Infrastructure in ChinaHongwei Xu (2017-08)This report first provides a historical review of the financing methods that the Chinese government has used for infrastructure construction and maintenance and identifies the financial shortage currently faced by many Chinese provincial governments in their local infrastructure financing. The report then introduces some innovative financing methods used by several of the more developed countries with most of them proven to be effective and actionable in addressing the issues created by financial constraints. The report finally gives some suggestions and recommendations for relevant administrative units in local government about how to adopt or adapt these methods by taking into consideration the specific economic and political contexts of China. (As infrastructure is such a broad and complex subject, the methods introduced in this report will mainly focus on transportation infrastructure. There are other domains of infrastructure such as telecommunications, power and energy, which are a bit different in terms of the stakeholders, technology, and dynamics. Accordingly, this analysis and its recommendations can be applied to these other domains only mutatis mutandis.)Item Financial Analysis Report on Transdigm Group Inc.Nan Li (2017-05)Item Community-Directed Intervention and Partnership with Patent Medicine Vendors in Malaria Control Booster Project (MCBP) Implemented by Federal Government of Nigeria and The World BankChen, Yongqiu (2015-05-13)The Malaria Control Booster Project (MCBP) is part of Federal Government of Nigeria efforts to improve the health situation blighted by preventable and treatable diseases. It contains two main components: i) strengthening the capacity of the Federal Government to provide malaria control leadership and coordination over the medium and long-term; and ii) strengthening the health system to improve delivery of an integrated package of interventions in the target states. (The World Bank, 2010) The project has lasted for over 8 years, from 2007 to 2015. During these 8 years, a number of interventions have been executed to increase the quality and utilization of health services for malaria prevention and treatment. This research will mainly focus on two interventions---Community-Directed Interventions (CDIs) and Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs). The paper will include a background introduction, literature reviews, a detailed description of the two interventions, relevant data, a summary of the interview with the program coordinator, M Abul Kalam Azad, and a discussion on whether CDI and PMV interventions contributed to controlling malaria in Nigeria by analyzing the data collected from the project.Item Action Plan 2016-2019 for the Technical Secretary of the Social Cabinet of the National Government of the Republic of PanamaMuschett, Michelle (2016-05)This report has been prepared while performing my duties as Secretary of the Social Cabinet (SC) and Deputy Minister of Social Development of the Republic of Panama, to which I was appointed from the beginings of May, 2016. The end user of this report is the SC, whose technical coordinator is the Minister of Social Development. The report consists of four main parts: 1) The Action Plan 2016-2019 for the Technical Secretary of the SC (TSSC); 2) Logical Framework; 3) Action Plan Presentation, and 4) Video. These parts were submitted for approval of the members of the Social Cabinet on March 31st, 2016, as recorded in the Minute of the SC First Ordinary Meeting, which is attached as Annex 1 of the report. The present report originates as a response to the Panamanian Government’s necessity to activate the SC “in order to become, from the highest level, a mechanism of coordination and interaction of processes which shall promote the development of far-reaching joint proposals adopted by the Cabinet Council” (MIDES, 2015, p.3). The SC was created by Decree 477 of 1992, which was modified in several occasions; being the last of these modifications made by the Executive Decree Number 335 of 2014. The role of the SC is “to act as an advisory organism of the Executive Branch and the Cabinet Council on social development matters; to serve as a debate application in the Social Agenda; to create, coordinate operatively and strategically evaluate the government’s social policy and to act as the government’s representative before international, national, governmental and non-governmental organisms and organizations on multi-sector social development matters” (Executive Decree Number 335, article 2). The SC has a Multisectoral Committee (MC) consisting of high-level technical personnel of the institutions which constitute it, and of a TSSC under the Ministry of Social Development, responsible for the coordination, preparation and execution of related matters, in order to provide standards at an organization level, and to follow up the agreements and guidelines arising from it. The SC Cabinet and its TSSC are also responsible for the compliance of the roles, which were attributed to them by Decree Number 393 of September 17th, 2015, which adopts the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and dictates other regulations. The TSSC Action Plan was developed considering all the roles assigned by law, aligned with the goals of the Government’s 2015-2019 Strategic Plan. It was also considered the call made by the President of the Republic in his Report to the Nation of January 2nd, 2016 to “open a dialogue for the adoption of a National Strategy Plan with a State Vision ‘Panama 2030’, which shall allow us to make the 17 SDGs a reality”. These goals were approved during the United Nations General Assembly in October 2015 (Report to the Nation, 2016). The present report was prepared in March 2016 by means of a logical and organized process, and with the active participation of all the TSSC technical crew. In addition, significant actors were interviewed, such as the Vice President of the Republic, as President of the SC, Ministerial Authorities, National Directors, the Office of the First Lady, the Secretary of Presidential Goals, the Executive Secretary of the National Coalition for Development, the Multisectoral Committee of the SC, and representatives of the civic and business sector, in order to identify where we are and where we should go. The goals of the Action Plan are aimed to “accomplish an effective interaction and coordination among institutions to elaborate and execute social policies which shall grant human development from a multidimensional point of view. It considers development as the continuous expansion of human and social capital, and the access to opportunities that that promotes an improvement of the quality of life of all Panamanians” (TSSC, 2016). This Plan emphasizes on how important it is to develop and introduce tools, which allow to accurately identifying the country’s necessities, to measure the impact of policies and social programs, to facilitate the efficient allocation of the State resources, and to secure transparency. The Plan’s main outcomes are: 1) the adoption of the SDGs in line with the Panama 2030 Plan; 2) the implementation of the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), as part of an action strategy against poverty; 3) the development and implementation of a social map; 4) the reinstatement of the Demographic Technical Council; 5) the strengthening of the TSSC; 6) the articulation of critical social matters (i.e. maternal mortality; the integral system for childhood and adolescence protection; youth programs; BioCommunity; conditional cash transfer programs, and the Colon urban renovation plan); 7) SC and TSSC positioning. This Action Plan shall be executed by establishing a contributory board; public-private partnerships; agreements among institutions; South-South cooperation; exchange of best practices and alliances with the media. The knowledge acquired in the courses, which are part of the Master in Public Administration, was essential for the elaboration of this report. Leadership for Non-Public Organizations provided powerful insights about the theory of Adaptive Leadership, used as a guide in the process of identifying the major adaptive challenges and developing strategies to mobilize the personnel of the TSSC to address them. Public Administration provided the technics to address inter-governmental relations; to manage personnel and diversity in public organizations; to adopt strategic planning, and to design an action plan. Evaluation of International Programs offered the ‘logical framework’ as a methodology for designing a plan in order to be able to monitor and evaluate it according to its goals. Systems Thinking has been critical as a tool to organize mental models by applying the rules of distinctions, systems, relationships, and perspectives, known as DSRP (Cabrera & Cabrera, 2015). Socially Responsible Businesses helped to open the strategy´s compass in order to include the private sector as an ally through public-private partnerships and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Politics, Policy and Public Management was useful for understanding “the complexity and dynamics of how the national agenda is set” (Kingdon, 2011) in order to frame and present the ideas to the decision-makers in a way that is relevant for them. In addition to this, the experience as an intern in Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement and Grassroots Research and Advocacy Movement in Mysore, India was critical for the understanding of the relevance of the expansion of human and social capital as mechanisms to ensure sustainable human development.Item Institutional Capacity Development: FAO Contributions to the Capacity Strengthening of the Guatemalan Government for Food Security, Nutrition and Rural DevelopmentDe La Rosa Albritton, Victoria (2016-05-10)Guatemala has one of the highest levels of chronic malnutrition in Latin America, since 15.6% (2,554,121 individuals) of the population are undernourished1, as opposed to the 5.5%2 in the region. For improvement in food security, nutrition (FSN) and rural development (RD) to occur, an enabling environment must be developed and preserved. This includes the institutional set-up of a country, its implicit and explicit rules, its power structures and the policy and legal environment in which individuals and organizations function, and the context in which individuals and organizations put their capabilities into action. Therefore, individual and organizational capabilities must be developed first for the FSN and RD enabling environment to be established. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), has been present in Guatemala since 1962, and has supported the Government in the areas of agriculture, FSN and RD, in conjunction with the development of its capacity to deliver results. As a base framework for cooperation, the Guatemalan Government and the FAO established a Country Programming Framework (CPF) for the period of 2013 to 2016. The framework has four priority areas of intervention. As part of the efforts to improve the FSN and RD of the Country, significant work was towards the institutional capacities development. As an intern at the FAO Office of Evaluation, I provided work support in the preparation of the Guatemala CPF Evaluation. I also contributed to the Institutional Capacity Development Study by gathering relevant information on results and impacts from the projects by the FAO in the Guatemala. This paper aims to assess the achievements of the government of Guatemala with support from FAO in the work towards strengthening the institutional capacities in the nation through the analysis of eight projects that were developed during the CPF period of work. Relevant progress has occurred in this context, as the Ministry of Agriculture has initiated several programs to improve management capacities and rural extension services. Furthermore, policies that aim to promote FSN and RD have been enacted, displaying progress in the institutional capacity of Guatemala.Item Update of the Quality System of International Maritime University of PanamaAguilar Miranda, Gustavo (2016-03-23)The International Maritime University of Panama is the most recent public university in the Republic of Panama. This higher education institution specializes in the maritime and marine sector, and also has a Quality System based on the norm ISO 9001:2008 which establishes academic, administrative, research and extracurricular procedures. In addition, this organization holds national and international accreditation such as the Panamanian Maritime Authority, the Belgian Maritime Inspectorate, and the International Maritime Organization. This Institution is heavily regulated and accredited by maritime organizations and entities at the national and international levels; the International Maritime University of Panama must comply a Quality Management System. The current version of the Quality Management System is based on the ISO 9001: 2008, however currently the International Organization for Standardization release the new version in 2015. This version allows the transition of the Organization´s Quality Systems that are accredited to be completed within a period of 3 years, however it is advisable to make the transition as soon as possible. This recommendation is due to the transition process being easier to accommodate for both Institutions and Accreditation entities, and also promote learning for both organizations. The recognition of Quality Systems based on ISO's standards has a period of three years, during this period organizations execute annual audit processes. At the end of these 3 years the Institution needs to complete a re-certification process, which is a rigorous and comprehensive review of the system and all its controlled documents. The more the re-certification process a company has, the greater the respect for the organization and for its Quality System. At the International Maritime University of Panama, the re-certification process will be in 2017 - and would be the fourth re-certification for the University. This action means that either the institution has 3 years to migrate its Quality System to the new version, given the fact that the recertification should be done in 2017, it is vital for the University does this migration this year. I decided to choose as my professional report the updating of the Quality Management System of UMIP based on version 9001: 2015. In addition to the need of having the Quality System updated and migrated before 2017, I have a passion for the quality and more focused quality on the government sector. The project's objective is "to ensure that the International Maritime University of Panama meets the requirements of version 2015 of the ISO 9001, through analysis, evaluation, restructuring and updating of the controlled documents that are part of the Quality Management System of UMIP. The process of updating the Quality Management System of the UMIP, includes the following phases: ❖ Industry Analysis: This part seeks to assess the strategic universe of the institution, and to determine strategic elements from other organization; which interact with us, including them on our System. ❖ Analysis of the Organization: Evaluate the strategy of UMIP - strategic plan, operational plan, mission, vision, values and strategic documents. ❖ Human Resource Analysis - Identify staff competence´s gap and make recommendation throughout action plans. ❖ Quality Management System Analysis – Evaluate the universe of the system, make recommendation of changes; and establish a plan to migrate all the controlled documents. ❖ Training Sessions: Inform UMIP Family about the norm´s changes and all the incoming actions to complete the updating process. ❖ Additional meetings. Meeting with UMIP´s managers about the Quality System and their interactions with it. The population of the International Maritime University of Panama is more than 1000 people, form by 900 students and 366 employees (faculty and staff). The documents that I have been updating are: Quality Policy, Quality Manual, Strategic Objectives, Processes Map, key procedures, among others. Recommendations and actions to follow: ❖ Identify training needs (familiarization with the norm ISO9001: 2015, internal and lead auditor based on the new norm, risk management and others). ❖ Training session about the updated procedures. ❖ Identify and train the auditor’s team with the new requirements. ❖ Organize meetings with all managers about their process.Item The Improvement of Quality of Primary and Secondary Education in KazakhstanBokayev, Baurzhan (2016)One of the Sustainable Development Goals of The United Nations is “Quality Education”, of which a major objective is to “ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning.” According to this goal, “obtaining a quality education is the foundation to improving people’s lives and sustainable development” (UNDP, 2012) Most countries understand that education should be a high priority in national policy and spend a lot of effort to improve its quality, and Kazakhstan is not an exception. The Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan has demonstrated a commitment to develop its education system by reforming existing policy, adopting new laws, identifying best practices, and implementing them in Kazakhstani society (Appendixes A, B). As a result, education performance in Kazakhstan has consistently improved in recent years. For example, in 2012, Kazakhstan moved upward ten positions, from 59th place to 49th place, in the ranking of the OECD countries participating in the Program for International Student assessment (PISA) (National Report of MES, 2013). In 2010 and 2011, Kazakhstan was ranked first on UNESCO’s "Education for All" Index, reaching 99% attendance for primary education, 92% attendance for secondary education, 99.6% for general adult literacy, and 99.3% for gender equality (NCESA, 2013). However, according to the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), the scores of Kazakh students are below average scores for OECD countries. Moreover, a cross-regional comparison of educational achievement in the PISA 2012 reveals low scores in rural schools. The percentage of completion of test on math scores and reading literacy in rural areas in 2012 was 8-10% below the national average (OECD Report, 2012). Additionally, our multilinear regression analysis provided further evidence that quality of education in rural schools is a major weakness of the Kazakh education system. The main objective of this project is to identify key factors that are associated with the quality of primary and secondary education in Kazakhstan and offer a set of recommendations for how to improve the quality of education. The main policy question of this study is whether thenational government of Kazakhstan can design and implement to strengthen the outcomes of primary and secondary education. This project analyzes the root causes of existing low performance of primary and secondary education students in rural areas of Kazakhstan. Primary and secondary school is an important channel through which young people acquire skills that improve opportunities for better jobs and quality of life. Rural youth in Kazakhstan are performing significantly lower than other youth in the country, which decreases their opportunities for social and economic development. Thus, the quality of education in Kazakhstan – particularly in rural areas - is an important topic for consideration. Based on our analysis of international case studies and the Kazakhstani national education system, the authors propose some recommendations for improving the quality of education in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Recommendations for improving the quality of primary and secondary education in Kazakhstan include: a) Focusing on improving teacher quality and ensuring that every child benefits from high-quality instruction; b) Improving mechanisms for teacher recruitment; c) Engaging coaches to support teachers and enable teachers to learn from each other; d) Introducing a rotational system for teachers; e) Creating excellent primary and secondary schools in rural areas with involvement from the private sector; f) Establishing high-quality curricula and extra-curricular activities; g) Adopting more effective ways of learning through technology. Consultancy group believes that implementation of these recommendations will improve the quality of primary and secondary education in Kazakhstan.Item Evaluation and Strategic Plan Proposal 2017-2019Cherebín Pinzón, Areli Z. (2016-04)Tribunal de Cuentas de Panamá is a government agency within the Panamanian Judiciary charged with hearing cases in which administrative officials in the Panamanian government have mismanaged funds. This institution has existed since the founding of the Republic, but its responsibilities and structure have evolved significantly, implying the current agency is a convergence of modern and vintage legislation. As a very new organization (founded in January, 2009 but with a previous similar office, called “Dirección de Responsabilidad Patrimonial” that exists since 1989), it seems necessary to focus efforts on improvement, excellence, and accountability, in order to fulfill the legislative objectives that led to the form of Panama’s Constitution in 2004 and creation of the new Tribunal de Cuentas. Tribunal de Cuentas’s vision is to be a transparent, independent and impartial Court, exercising the jurisdiction efficiently, with integrity, safeguarding public funds against irregularities. On the other hand, the mission of Tribunal de Cuentas is to have jurisdiction throughout the Republic and decide objectively, with strict abidance of relevant legal provisions, on the responsibility that applies to officers and employees for mismanagement of funds. (Law 67, November 14th, 2008). This report is divided in three sections: first, a brief introduction of the historical background, legal framework, structure and legal procedures of Tribunal de Cuentas. Then, a second section with a proposal of a strategic evaluation plan for Magistrate Álvaro Visuetti Zevallos’; team, which wishes to excel in the efficiency of judicial decision-making procedure. And finally, to perform a management analysis with stakeholder points of view and focusing in maximizing capacity to effectively recover Government money, rapidly and according Panamanian law. The general objective of this report is to propose a strategic-evaluation plan to Tribunal de Cuentas de Panamá, specifically Magistrate Álvaro Visuetti’s team, in order to improve the organization’s internal efficiency. The specific objectives are: Introducing general aspects of Tribunal de Cuentas Determine laws, regulations and internal norms, applicable to Tribunal de Cuentas improvement Present a strategic-evaluation plan for Tribunal de Cuentas, specifically Magistrate Alvaro Visuetti’s teamItem How Do the Academia and Donor Community Address Food Insecurity in Sub-Saharan Africa?Li, Yufei (2016)Sub-Saharan Africa has remained the world’s most food insecure region for decades. Therefore, the paper first identified the key drivers of the current food insecurity in the region, followed by an analysis of how academia and donor community address the problem. At last, whether donor community’s policies and approaches match what proposed by the academia were discussed. The paper found in general the two sectors’ solutions correspond to each other, with both of them paid attention to the environmental sustainability in their work.