Romeo and Juliet and Much Ado About Nothing Essay Example for Free

Romeo and Juliet and Much Ado About Nothing Essay Introduction William Shakespeare was noted for his marvellous works in making plays such as Much Ado about Nothing and Romeo and Juliet. It is these two plays that will be analysed, comparing the love scenes, and showing how women, love, power and marriage in the time of Shakespeare, as his plays have a reflection on some aspects of the culture at his time. Romeo and Juliet In Romeo and Juliet, the lovers which were Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, had a secret, albeit forbidden relationship, due to their families in an ongoing feud with each other. Juliet, at the young age of 13, was pressured, and eventually commanded to (or else she would be disowned), marry Count Paris. This shows that around the time of Shakespeare, parents could make their daughter, even at young ages, marry a man even if they didnt want to. When Romeo and Juliet first glanced eyes on one another, fell in love and got married, showed how Juliet, defied her fathers wishes for her to marry someone. That he had chose for whatever reason. This showed that women were, at the time of Shakespeare, moving from a male dominated system, to a system where females were becoming self-dependant on their choices, showed when she chose Romeo over Prince Paris. As Capulet discovered the body of Juliet (when she faked her death) her father calls it as having it deflowered his daughter. Deflowered can be taken in two definitions as dictated in the dictionary: _1._ _To take away the virginity of (a woman)._ _2._ _To destroy the innocence, integrity, or beauty of; ravage._ _The American Heritage ® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition  copyright  ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved._ In this situation, it can be taken as both, but is more directed towards the second meaning, that Juliet had not reached the full age of a person, robbing her innocence of her young age, robbing her of lifes pleasures. When Romeo discovered the body of Juliet in the Crypt, not knowing that she was only in a drug induced coma, killed himself, in an attempt to join her in the afterlife with poison, while the same thought crossed Juliets mind when she awoke and saw the dead body of her love, Romeo; suiciding with his dagger in the process. This suicide was against the beliefs of Catholics, (which they were a both part of) who believed suicide will lead to Hell, and instead of the Religion of Love, and how the belief was instead that the suicide of two lovers with the intention of meeting one another will lead them to paradise. This showed the love that Romeo and Juliet had for each other; it went beyond the levels set by their families religion, and them crossing into another. Much Ado about Nothing In Much Ado about Nothing, the main characters, Claudio, Hero, Benedick and Beatrice, are each in a relationship. Claudio, who had recently returned triumph at war, falls in love with Hero, the beautiful young daughter of Leonato (the governor of Messina) and the cousin of Beatrice. Claudio discusses with his friend Don Pedro, the nobleman from Aragon about marrying Hero, within a few days of seeing her. The speed in which Claudio wanted to marry Hero is a demonstration of Love at First Sight, which could show how some people at around Shakespeares time, if they liked someone, asked in a short duration of time, to marry him/her. Marriages in this play were straight-forward, with the to-be Husbands being given a chance to decline marrying the other, which was what Claudio exactly did, after being shown what he believed to be shown Hero having sex with another man. With the constant arguments between Benedick and Beatrice in the play, they exchanged numerous vows, comments, offenses; to each other. But they were, in reality, in love with each other, as they exchanged comments that could easily be linked to admitting love such as this: _BENEDICK: What, my_ _DEAR_ _Lady Disdain! Are you yet living? BEATRICE: Is it possible disdain should die while she hath such meet food to feed it as Signior Benedick? Courtesy itself must convert to disdain, if you come in her presence._ This extract from the play shows that although Beatrice and Benedick are trading with each other negative comments, they are doing it in a playful manner, in a way that does not do that much damage, and expresses love. If Benedick truly did not like Benedick, he wouldve not used the word dear when he was addressing Beatrice In the above extract. The language of the time was in such a manner that it was possible to mix love and distain in the same sentence, something that has unfortunately not being carried on into modern English. Love was expressed also by writing poems, such as when Benedick was writing a poem for Beatrice and vice-versa. Although at the end of the play they spoke as if they did not love each other, the poems they wrote each other spoke for what they really had in their hearts. Shakespeares many poems also showed that people showed affection to each other in many forms, like writing poems to each other at around his time. Comparison of the Two Plays Romeo and Juliets love scenes are of young people falling in love. In Much  Ado about Nothing, a similar view is held between Claudio and Hero, but not in Benedick and Beatrice. Their love was more of a traditional way of loving, by slowly finding out if someone they loved had any sincerity towards them; whereas in Romeo and Juliet, they skipped that principle and went straight into the relationship parts of things, and agreed to be married in only one night. Women were presented in Romeo and Juliet as under men, whilst in Much Ado about Nothing they appeared like they had more rights and privileges. However, in both plays, intentions to marry were both conducted; the differences being that Romeo did not ask permission from either his father or Juliets father to get married, and instead only asked her to marry, whilst Claudio had to ask Leonato, Heros dad for her hand in marriage. This showed some people around Shakespeares time were moving from the idea that you had to ask permission to get married, and instead only asked the person they intended to marry for permission. Saying that, the actual marriage ceremony was similar, the difference being that Romeo and Juliet held their marriage privately with no witnesses except themselves and the Friar due to the situation, whilst in Much Ado about Nothing, there was a large group of people witnessing the marriages. This showed that people around that time could have their marriage conducted privately or publicly. The way the characters from both expressed love to each other was different. Romeo and Juliet expressed their love for each other in a very passionate, and fiery way, while Benedick and Beatrice had theirs disguised in the way they spoke to each other, and how they felt to one another. Claudio and Hero had a relationship, although they had a different way of expressing it. They did not make out with each other, nor did they use disguised words, they had a more indirect relationship. This ultimately shows how love was in Shakespeares time; it could be  expressed in many ways, as it is today. Conclusion Romeo and Juliet, and Much Ado about Nothing, were a reflection of Shakespeares times, the way love, power, marriage and women were at the time. His plays portrayed how he interpreted the customs were of the time, as well as give an insight into the language of the time (although he did invent many words into it).

Study of Humanitarian Aid Agencies Service Delivery

Study of Humanitarian Aid Agencies Service Delivery CHRISTINA KHOURY Stuck in no mans land:people of nowhere are people of now here A study of humanitarian aid agencies service delivery to residents in Kara Tepe refugee camp in Lesvos. DR Disaster Relief EASO European Asylum Support Office EU European Union FMO Forced Migration Online HA Humanitarian Assistance HSA Humanitarian Support Agency IDPs Internally displaced persons IOM International Organisation for Migration IOs International Organisations IRC International Rescue Committee MSF Mà ©decins Sans Frontiers NGOs Non-Governmental Organisations RCRC International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement ROs Regional Organisations UN United Nations UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees   Ã‚   Since the twentieth century, the migration of refugees has been a significant and constant feature of the world order. There has been several factors causing its occurrence, including international wars, civil wars, the rise of fascism, decolonization, national liberation struggles and the creation of nation states (Bloch, 2002, p.1). During 1914-1918 World War I, millions of people were left homeless, fleeing their homelands to seek refuge, and the international community and governments responded by providing travel documents to those people who were the first refugees of the twentieth century (1951 UN Convention). However the flow of refugees did not stop there, but the numbers drastically increased after World War II (1939-1945), when millions were forced to resettle, be displaced or were deported (Guterres, 2011). While the refugee crisis is a phenomenon that has been around for many years, the ongoing conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Afghanistan and other troubled countries have resulted in an unprecedented number of 65.3 million people around the world forcibly displaced from their homes. Among them are 21.3 million registered as refugees under UNHCR and UNWRA mandates, over half of whom are children (under 18 years old) (UNHCR, 2016a). Syrians make up, without a doubt, the largest refugee population in the world. The Syria conflict alone, known to be the biggest humanitarian and refugee crisis of our time (UN High Commissioner for Refugees in UNHCR, 2016b), has spawned 4.8 million refugees in neighbouring countries (predominantly Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan), hundreds of thousands in Europe and 6,6 million displaced inside Syria (Mercy Corps, 2016; UNHCR, March 2016). Figure 1: The increase of registered Syrian Refugees from almost zero in 2012 to 4.8 million in 2016 (source: UNHCR, 2016 Which UNHCR article? You need to specify) According to Amnesty Internationals assessment of October 2016, more than half of the worlds 21 million refugees are hosted in just ten low and middle-income countries in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.[1] Europe, however, hosts a share of 6% of the worlds refugee population (Check percentage of refugees in Europe in 2016, add source). In 2015, over a million refugees and migrants made it to Europe by sea, with a majority arriving via the Aegean Sea from Turkey into Greece (UNHCR, 2015). Responding to the massive influx of refugees, several international humanitarian aid agencies established themselves on the Greek Islands to meet the pressing needs of the novel refugee and migrant population. However, it has been widely debated whether these aid agencies are effective in their service delivery and whether they fulfill the tasks they have set out to do. Despite the allocation of millions of dollars of funds to guarantee a decent living standard for the refugees and migrants in the Greek camps, reports reveal dire conditions, with a lack of the most basic livelihoods, such as edible food, basic sanitation services and education (Strickland, 2016; ?). Deeply moved by the horrifying images of human suffering in these camps, I chose to travel to Greece to volunteer in Kara Tepe Camp in Lesvos in the summer of 2016 to i nvestigate the topic further. It is of great importance to examine the efficiency of these humanitarian aid agencies service delivery on the ground in order to build future humanitarian aid programs which adequately meet the needs of the vulnerable refugees and migrants in Lesvos. 1.1 Question and Motivation of Study This dissertation sets out to answer the following research questions: Primary question: To what extent are humanitarian service providing agencies operating in Kara Tepe camp managing to live up to their stated aims and guidelines? Secondary question: What are the obstacles to effective service delivery? This dissertation is a reflective research based on my time spent volunteering with a humanitarian aid organisation, Humanitarian Support Agency (HSA)[2], in a refugee camp in Lesvos, Greece over the course of summer from June to September 2016. However, the area of research of humanitarian assistance to refugees, sparked my interest already in 2011, when the flow of thousands of Syrian refugees began to Jordan, my home country, following Syrias descent into civil war. Jordan, a small yet strong Kingdom, surrounded by countries undergoing conflict, is a host of over 656,000 Syrian refugees (Amnesty International, 2016). Seeing the difficult suffering faced by the Syrian refugee population in my own region (Middle East) as well as in Europe strongly motivated me to gain a hands on experience of humanitarian aid work with refugees. Following, for my applied field experience[3], I chose to travel to Greece and join HSA as a volunteer in Kara Tepe camp in Lesvos; a refugee camp in the la rgest transit point in the East Mediterranean route, which is the first assistance site for refugees and migrants departing from Turkey to Europe (HSA, 2016). During my time volunteering in Kara Tepe, I had the opportunity to work closely with humanitarian aid agencies operating in the camp, gaining insights into their day-to-day provision of services to the residents. It also allowed me to speak to and get to know several of the camp residents refugees and migrants predominantly from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq who often expressed their concerns and hardships of life in Kara Tepe. In this dissertation, I aim to draw on this experience to investigate the humanitarian aid agencies services to refugees and migrants in Kara Tepe camp. More specifically, by comparing these aid agencies stated aims and guidelines to the real situation of refugees and migrants on the ground, I wish to examine where the agencies are failing at fulfilling their promises in providing adequate assistance to the camp residents. Furthermore, I aim to identify some of the apparent obstacles hindering these agencies effective service delivery. I do not intend to generalise my results regarding humanitarian aid agencies service delivery in refugee camps as it would require a more comprehensive material than what my study is based upon. My ambition is rather to attempt to highlight the humanitarian aid situation in Kara Tepe and voice out the concerns and needs of the residents, drawing on their living situation in the refugee camp. This study will be structured into five chapters. In chapter 2, I will give an overview of the living conditions of refugees and migrants in Greek camps. Here, I will also provide a set of definitions of the key terms adopted in this dissertation. In chapter 3, I will give a review of the existing literature on the humanitarian aid system. In this section, I will outline the theoretical foundations used in this study, including the UNHCR, IRC, Save the Children and HSAs stated aims and guidelines in relation to the factors of water, sanitation, education, food and health care. In chapter 4, I will draw on my first-hand experience in Kara Tepe in order to spot the gaps between the stated aims and guidelines of the aid agencies and the real situation on the ground, based on the stories and interviews with the residents. Furthermore, the analysis will identify some of the apparent obstacles hindering these agencies effective service delivery. Finally, I will conclude by giving a summary of the main findings and their implications, and the possibility of suggesting further research on the topic. 1.2 Methodology Material The choice of method for this dissertation is a mixed study between an autoethnography approach which is a form of qualitative research[4], based on primary qualitative data collection, and a case study using Kara Tepe Camp as the case, in addition to secondary research on academic articles in relation to the humanitarian aid system, UN reports and newspaper articles on the topic. Moreover, I will look at the guidelines, aims and goals of three main agencies operating in camp, namely UNHCR, IRC and Save the Children. The material I have used for my analysis is predominantly based on material gathered through the interviews I have conducted with different refugees from the camp. For their safety and integrity, I have decided to keep their names anonymous and have given them pseudonyms/alias. These interviews that I have conducted are valuable and have provided me with the useful information and insights that are necessary to establish an adequate answer to the question. Moreover, the analysis is also based on my own lived experience through working in Kara Tepe camp. 1.3 Limitations of study When researching the above questions a few limitations had to be considered. First, due to time and space restrains, I had to limit my data collection to the period of my stay in Greece between June and September 2016. The humanitarian assistance keeps developing in camp so there may be new improved services that did not exist back then, which would have been valuable to include in my research. Second, it has to be taken into consideration that the refugees interviewed are in a vulnerable position; hence they may not be able to fully reveal all truths for a public audience, and this is why for some questions, unfortunately, the answers were either very broad or unclearly answered, due to the sensitivity of the matter. Third, there are several possible factors to take into consideration when researching humanitarian assistance provided to refugees living in camps. However, due to space and time restraints, I have chosen to focus on three key humanitarian aid agencies and their service s in Kara Tepe camp, namely UNHCR, IRC and Save the Children. To be called a refugee is the opposite of an insult; it is a badge of strength, courage, and victoryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Tennessee Office for Refugees) 2.1 Definitions of keywords In our current era, more than 65 million people worldwide are displaced by force as refugees, asylum seekers, or internally displaced persons. According to the 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, to be recognized legitimately as a refugee, a person must be fleeing persecution on the basis of religion, race, political opinion, nationalityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦etc. However, the present factors around displacement are complex and multi-layered which in turn makes the protection based on a strict definition of persecution increasingly problematic and very challenging to implement (Zetter, 2015). Between asylum seekers, refugees and economic migrants there is an overlap and this can cause confusion; therefore, it is very important to distinguish the difference between the terms, and which term applies on the people in the camps in Greece specifically in Kara Tepe Camp. Asylum seeker is: a person who has applied for asylum under the 1951 Refugee Convention on the Status of Refugees on the ground that if he is returned to his country of origin he has a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political belief or membership of a particular social group. He remains an asylum seeker for so long as his application or an appeal against refusal of his application is pending (Mitchell, 2006). Principally, asylum seekers flee in fear of persecution because of the reasons stated in the definition, so they seek refuge in another country looking for safety, and until their asylum process is ongoing they are called asylum seekers, but once it is processed and the approval is given then they are given a refugee status. In the literature on refugees, there have been many definitions of the term, but I found the following by the UNHCR to be the most inclusive. A refugee is someone who: owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that countryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Article 1, UN Convention, 1951). They also added that the term refugee can be defined as: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ people fleeing conflict or persecution. They are defined and protected in international law, and must not be expelled or returned to situations where their life and freedom are at risk (UNHCR, 2016). But according to migration watch UK, they define a refugee as an asylum seeker whose application has been successful, i.e. that person fleeing war and conflict as defined by the 1951 Refugee Convention. The difference between asylum seeker and a refugee is very difficult to state as they are very similar. Basically, an asylum seeker is someone who is seeking international protection and is waiting for his refugee status, but a refugee is someone who is recognised under the 1951 Convention relating to the status of refugees to be eligible to be a refugee (Phillips, 2011, p.2). Last but not least, migrant, as defined by the UN Convention on the Rights of Migrants is a : person who is to be engaged, is engaged or has been engaged in a remunerated activity in a State of which he or she is not a national. Article 1.1 (a) states that migrants decision to move to these States is taken freely, because of personal convenience and without any external factor that might affect the decision (UNESCO, 2016).Thus, there has been a gap along the lines with the usage of the terminology, especially between the term refugee and asylum seeker. People who have crossed the Mediterranean by paying organised criminals (smugglers) to get them across the borders are known as irregular migrants, because they have not entered the EU legally (European Commission, 2016). Humanitarian aid system (add definition) Humanitarian aid system or humanitarian assistance is intended to save lives, alleviate suffering and maintain human dignity during and after manmade crises and disasters caused by natural hazards as well as to prevent and strengthen preparedness for when such situations occur (Global Humanitarian Assistance, 2016). Humanitarian assistance should be administered by the four key humanitarian principles which are: humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence; these key principles are the fundamental principles of many NGOs including the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (RCRC) (Global Humanitarian Assistance, 2016). Therefore, in the immediate area of conflict, the main goal is preventing human causalities but at the same time assisting displaced people and making sure they have access to the basic needs of survival which are water, sanitation, food, shelter, and health care (Branczik, 2004). 2.2 International and legal framework/ Humanitarian assistance and relief efforts add more info Humanitarian assistance is and has always been an extremely political activity. It always influenced the political economy of the recipient countries, and is influenced by the political considerations of donor governments (Curtis, 2001, p.3). The effect of conflict on civilians can be directly or indirectly through the so called complex emergencies. The primary aim in any immediate area of conflict is preventing causalities and making sure that everyone has access to the basic rights for surviving, which are water sanitation, food, shelter, and health care. In addition, the priority is usually to assist displaced people and try to prevent the spread of conflict, support relief work and create a space for rehabilitation (Branczik, 2004). Complex humanitarian emergencies are defined by five collective characteristics: first, the deterioration or complete collapse of central government authority; second, ethnic or religious conflict leading to human abuse; third, episodic food insecurity that leads to mass starvation; fourth, macroeconomic collapse that involves unemployment and decrease in GDP per capita; last and the most important focal characteristic is having mass population movements of displaced people and refugees that have escaped a conflict or in search for a better life (Natsios, 1995, p.405). Natsios stated that there are three sets of institutional actors that respond to the above emergencies in a so called complex response system that evolved over the years. These institutional actors are NGOs, UN organisations and the International Red Cross movement (Natsios, 1995, p.406). These sets of actors were reckoned in the 1990s; however in the 20th century, the academics understanding and the literature on the main actors have widened, and have included more detailed actors. For example, according to Branczik (2004), there are four main actors that represent the humanitarian aid sector: International (IOs) and Regional Organisations (ROs); the most important actor in the provision of humanitarian aid is the UN. Unilateral assistance, as well as multilateral, i.e. the countries provide direct aid unilaterally through their own foreign-aid or part of their foreign policy. Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), which play a key role in the provision of humanitarian aid, either directly or as being a UN partner. The Military and its main role is to make sure to create a safe environment where other agencies can operate from, they can also directly provide aid when necessary in cases where the IOs and NGOs are unable to perform or deal with security issues, and it can act as a managing body for the humanitarian relief process. It is important to stress that in order to have a successful humanitarian relief effort, effective leadership and coordination should be present to avoid conflicting activities and duplications of projects and so forth. The UN is the agency that acts as the coordinator in most cases (Branczik, 2004). In addition to the UN, there are other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that also respond to complex humanitarian emergencies and work together with the UN. The humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts (HA/DR) had faced a major challenge in terms of that the diverse information and knowledge are distributed and owned by different organisations, and are not efficiently organised and utilized during HA and DR operations (Zhang et. Al, 2002). Obstacle to the humanitarian aid agencies Moreover, there have been other factors that are defined as great challenges that have affected the performance of the humanitarian aid agencies, and two of those are efficiency and effectiveness. For example and according to Branczik (2004), if the assistance is needed in a conflict zone that is located in a poor area of infrastructure then it would be impossible and dangerous for the humanitarian agencies to deliver aid, this leads to some beneficiaries being neglected due to that (Branczik, 2004). Another important point is the increasing number of agencies operating on the ground, this causes the struggle to obtain accurate intelligence, and when it is difficult to obtain accurate intelligence, the unpredictability of humanitarian crises causes effective management and coordination within the agencies to become difficult, therefore, and in order to solve this difficulty, agencies should improve gathering and sharing the information by improving the management and coordination wit hin them (Branczik, 2004). Furthermore, political dilemmas play an important part in influencing the performance of humanitarian agencies. As Branczik (2004) and Stockton (2006) call it, humanitarian alibi, which refers to the fact that most humanitarian crises are caused by bad governance and the bad performance of the humanitarian agencies is also affected by deliberate acts by governments to frustrate humanitarian access to, and deny the existence of the people that are in need of protection. It is therefore defined as: the misuse of the humanitarian idea and humanitarian workers by governments eager to do as little as possible in economically unpromising regions (Branczik, 2004; Stockton, 2006). 2.3 Aims and guidelines of humanitarian aid agencies in Kara Tepe camp UNHCR Legal Framework The Universal Declaration of Human Rights that was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly was published in 1948 and is still used and relevant today as it was back then. The main reason for issuing it was to declare the rights and freedoms to which every human being is equally and inalienably entitled (UDHR, 1948, p. iii). UDHR is a promise to everyone and not country-specific or for a certain era or social group, it is a promise to all the economic, social, political, cultural and civic rights whatever colour, race, ethnicity they are, gender, whether they are disabled or not, citizens or migrants, and no matter what creed, age or sexual orientation (UDHR, 1948, p. v + vi). Abuse of Human Rights did not diminish when the UDHR was adopted, but at least more people have gained more freedom, and violations were not permitted. According to part 1 of article 14 of UDHR: 1. Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution, onwards the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees was adopted and entered into force on 22 April 1954, and is now called the centrepiece of international refugee protection, and its amendment the 1967 Protocol which removed all geographic limitations to include everyone and make it universal (UN Convention, 1951, p. 2). Refugees are considered part of the most vulnerable people in the world; and for that reason, the UN has issued the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol to help protect them (Guterres, 2011). The UNHCR works under the United Nations General Assembly and its goal is to seek international protection and permanent solutions for refugees. It was established in 1950 with a core mandate to protect the refugees. However, nowadays it is responsible for a slightly larger group that does not only include refugees but also asylum seekers, internally displaced persons (IDPs), stateless persons or migrants (UNHCR, 2014). Although the protection of refugees is the primarily the responsibility of States, however the main partner that works closely with the governments is the UNHCR and has been doing so throughout the past 50+ years (Jastram Achiron, 2001, p.5). UNHCR aims Specify here what these conventions say about humanitarian assistance to refugees. And specify what they should do in Greece/kara tepe (Provide legal advice, information about asylum processes, housing tents, medical care). IRC aims and guidelines in lesvos The IRC is the only international aid organization working on all fronts of the crisis. In Europe: The IRC was one of the first aid organizations to assist the thousands of refugees arriving each day on the Greek island, Lesbos. IRC aid workers continue to work around the clock in Greece and in Serbia to provide essential services, including clean water and sanitation, to families living in terrible conditions. And we are helping new arrivals navigate the confusing transit process and understand their legal rights. https://www.rescue.org/topic/refugee-crisis-europe-middle-east http://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/policy_research/the_truth_about_asylum?gclid=CjwKEAiA4dPCBRCM4dqhlv2R1R8SJABom9pH4MUi49WtBBRwl558uk2TDFLSaBVM4B54KIi7rfFL0xoCr1bw_wcB Education is the most powerful tool for children, their families and communities in order to survive and recover from a crisis or a conflict; it enables people to drive their own health, safety and prosperity (IRC, 2016). According to the IRC goals that they have published, they state that poor access to education can affect peoples chance to improve their lives, which is why they provide children, youth and adults with educational opportunities which therefore keeps them safe and learn the skills they need to survive and succeed (IRC, 2016). Moreover, the IRCs main goals in regards to education are the following: Ensure that children aged 0 to 5 develop cognitive and social-emotional skills Ensure that school-aged children develop literacy, numeracy and social-emotional skills Ensure that youth and adults have high levels of livelihood, literacy, numeracy and social-emotional skills Ensure that children, youth and adults have regular access to safe and functional education services (IRC, 2016). Save the children aims and guidelines Save the childrens main priority in Greece and especially in Lesvos is to protect the children that are in refugee camps, and to ensure that most importantly they are physically safe and have enough food and good shelter. Apart from distributing the basics, they claim to have started providing items such as sanitary pads, soap, shampoo, toilet paper and simple food items such as crackers and tea (save the children, 2015). However, since their priority is protecting children, they have also met with national charities in Greece to identify child protection needs, and have worked on transporting the new arrivals to the island to different registration points, to make sure that families and unaccompanied children to do not have to walk 70km to register (save the children, 2015). Food Asylum Process Language Give me the money to pay a smuggler and Ill go back to Syria right now. There the death is quick. Here we are dying slowly. In this chapter, the theoretical foundations of humanitarian aid discussed above will be applied to the case of aid agencies operating in Kara Tepe camp. First I I will give a brief overview of the situation in Kara Tepe according to my own lived experience and reflection there during summer. Second, I will compare and contrast the agencies stated aims and guidelines to the real situation on the ground in Kara Tepe in order to clarify to what extent they manage to live up to their words. I will then underline some of the key obstacles currently hindering the organisations effective service delivery to the residents. Before arriving to Lesvos, I had no expectations of how the situation would be there. All I had in mind was the image often portrayed to us by the media about the refugee camps, which is one an image of violence and chaos, and I thought our task as volunteers would solely be to only distribute food and clothes as it was mentioned on the organisations website. However, when I arrived to the island, nothing was as I imagined it to be. In fact, Kara Tepe was a well-organised camp, and our job as HSA volunteers with HSA was to distribute food and clothes to families in camp, but it was done through a well thought out system. We had the meals delivered to the resident families door- to-door to their housing units in teams. The residents themselves were also part of the distribution teams, depending on what area they lived in as they were more familiar with the people of the camp than the volunteers residents. Moreover, we also distributed clothes by giving the residents tickets for monthly appointments. This system has indeed created a harmony in the camp, and a sense of belonging to a community. A very important factor that played a huge role for me while in Kara Tepe was the language. Arabic is my mother tongue, so it was easy for me to communicate with most of the refugees which had come to Lesvos from Syria and Iraq. Consequently, I therefore created a special bond with them and they turned to me to translate when misunderstandings or problems occurred in the camp. Being the only staff speaking their language, I felt that it became my duty to voice their feelings and opinions in everyday situations, being the only staff speaking their language, and I believe this was why I allocated a leading role in the team from the outset. My boss saw how the refugees turned to me for help as I could voice their concerns, and assigned me as a team leader shortly after I arrived. As I gained an understanding of the familys needs, my duties did not just involve the clothing distribution part, but also comprised on the task of improving the existing system to avoid stress and queues. This project was successful and it led the UNHCR to ask to publish our standard of procedures to the benefit of other organisations operating in the camp, and we got praised by the camp management for increasing the safety and dignity of the refugees residing in there which are referred to as residents of Kara Tepe. It is important to stress that the refugees living in camps are human beings just like everyone else. Fleeing wars and conflicts, being homeless, does not make them any different from anyone. They had normal lives in their home countries when the war forced them to leave everything and flee, and they are often well educated and skilled. Unfortunately, the way the refugees are forced to live in camps portray them in a very bad way, that everyone including myself had our own assumptions towards them due to the situation. It has been my privilege to have known and live among the refugees that I call my friends and family now for three months in Kara Tepe, and therefore I had to give this background of my time spent in camp as a tribute to

Challenges ASEAN Will Face In Establishing A Community

Challenges ASEAN Will Face In Establishing A Community ASEAN nations have signed the Cebu Declaration on the Acceleration of the Establishment of an ASEAN community by 2015 on the 12th ASEAN Summit in Cebu. This ASEAN community comprises of 3 main pillars, the ASEAN economic community, ASEAN political security community and ASEAN socio-cultural community. It is aimed at being a concert of Southeast Asian nations, displaying the outward looking nations that are living in peace, stability and prosperity as a whole region which is bonded strongly together in a dynamic and wide development and in a community of caring societies. However, it seems that due to the many differences between the countries, there would be many challenges in fulfilling its 2015 vision of establishing an ASEAN community by 2015. Background of ASEAN ASEAN was established on 8th of August 1967 when the Bangkok declaration was signed by Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia , Singapore and Indonesia. Brunei Darussalam joined the ASEAN community on January 1984 and Myanmar joined in 1997. Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia became members in 1995, 1997 and 2004 respectively. ASEAN was established to strengthen self-reliance and regional cohesion, while emphasizing social, cultural and economic cooperation and developmentà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Another reason why ASEAN was formed was because back then, countries like China were getting too powerful and the only way the smaller countries could prosper was to group together. Thus, ASEAN was established. Now the main purpose of ASEAN is to help its members increase its economic growth and social development, and to establish peace between the ASEAN countries. Map of ASEAN countries Overview of challenges In this project we will study the ASEAN community and their commitment towards their goals, the problems they might face, and find the possible impact of it. The security and religious issues continue to be a barrier for ASEAN, with the many ethno-religious movements that will likely affect the coherence and stability within a nation and possibly ASEAN as a whole. The issue of more transparent boundaries that will be established will also cause the security to be less tight and will affect the peace of all. The different rate of economic development between the ASEAN nations is a huge challenge for ASEAN members in establishing a stable ASEAN economic community as the economy is a very important area and it will affect everyone in the ASEAN community. The differences in political systems of ASEAN members also poses a challenge as it would be difficult for so many different countries to work together cohesively with the nations operating differently. Challenge 1:Religious and security issues One of ASEANs greatest challenges in creating an ASEAN community is the security issues caused by ethno-religious movements and the more transparent boundaries that might greatly disrupt the peaceful coexistence that the ASEAN nations have tried established with one another. The ASEAN community will create more transparent boundaries so that it is more accessible for the people but that will also lead into a security that is not that tight and making it more unsafe for the people. The ASEAN countries remain vulnerable to threats from ethno-religious movements of the people who are hungry for self-governance. Ethno-religious movements have been a huge block for ASEAN in establishing a fully fledged ASEAN Community as there would be issues arising regarding the coherence of the country or the entire region. Southeast Asia has housed Islamic militant groups for the past few decades. After the World War II, Southeast Asian countries mostly became independent as the colonial powers that once ruled then departed. The countries were governed by undemocratic and brutal governments and affected the Muslim identities and values. This stirred up a sense of antagonism and animosity towards their various central governments, causing a great impact on the stability and security of ASEAN as a whole. Take for example, the Abu Sayyaf and Moro Islamic Liberation Front, both guerrilla organisations in the Philippines, are using political violence in attempt to pursue an autonomous Islamic state in Mindanao in the midst of the mostly Christian country and is said to have links to Malaysian and Indonesian jihadist forces. They have kidnapped foreign tourists from Malaysia, bombed a Philippines Airlines plane, assassinated and kidnapped priests and businessmen. Abu Sayyaf is said to have received arms and munitions from Afghanistan. It aims to evict Christians. As stated in the 2003 Declaration of Asean Concord II, Asean shall urgently and effectively address the challenge of translating Asean cultural diversities and different economic levels into equitable development opportunity and prosperity, in an environment of solidarity, regional resilience and harmony. Also, as ASEAN builds up its ASEAN Community, it also makes boundaries between the countries more transparent and this will result in a simpler way for terrorists groups to gather more members with the same beliefs as there is a larger number of people and the influence coming from so many areas will cause one to be daring enough to stand up for what they think that it is unfair to them as there are others backing them. This also makes it easier for terrorists movements to move about within the region as there is a widespread of members throughout the whole ASEAN and resources will be easier to get and access resources within the region. Even though ASEAN recognises that the region is divided into many ethno-cultural groups, efforts can only be taken to try to preserve the diversity in cultural heritage and to promote regional identity and it will be very challenging for ASEAN to overcome such issues to achieve a harmonious community. Along with the issue of more transparent borders, ASEAN can try their best to understand and accommodate the different religions and the reasons being such movement, however, ASEAN must also remember that even though the boundaries are more transparent, security must always remain tight and must always be alert and looking out for terrorist threats that will be constantly heading towards every country. Challenge 2: Differences in each countries development rates Different rates of development between ASEAN countries makes it difficult for all of them to work together cohesively on the large scale. Many ASEAN countries have widely different economic states, making fulfilling the goal of establishing the ASEAN community by 2015 rather challenging. GDP per capita of ASEAN countries as of 2005 in USD One example of counties with vastly and Cambodia. Although Cambodia is more than 250 times the size of Singapore and has 30 times the population, Singapore has a much better economy. In Cambodia, as of 2004, the percentage of the population below poverty line is a whopping 31%, while comparatively, in Singapore, the amount of citizens below poverty line is almost 0%. The currency and GDP per capita of Singapore is also much higher than that of Cambodia, at 1.4 per USD and $50,300 compared to 4221 per USD and $1,900 respectively. Singapore also has a lot of well developed infrastructure while Cambodia has barely any infrastructure in the rural areas. With the huge differences in these statistics, it is easy to tell that the Singapore economy is doing much better than the Cambodia economy. Another pair of countries with different development rates is Cambodia and Thailand, these two countries are right next to each other and both are relatively unstable. Both countries have gone through many economic and political troubles, but the economic situation in Thailand has generally been better than that in Cambodia, and the GDP of Thailand has constantly remained above that of Cambodia. In the countryside, Cambodia does not really have even the more basic infrastructure and the majority of Cambodias population is in fact younger than 21 years old and many of these youths lack the skill and education required to help push forward Cambodias economy. While on the other hand, Thailand has relatively well developed infrastructure and the countries people generally better educated. The GDP per capita of Thailand and Cambodia as of 2009 was $8,100 and $1,900 respectively. Although Thailand has slightly over four times the population of Cambodia, it has around twenty times the GDP. The death rate and infant mortality rate is also higher in Cambodia, and the life expectancy in Thailand is 73 years while in Cambodia it is 62 years. All these information shows that Thailand is a more economically developed country than Cambodia. All these information shows that the countries in ASEAN all have vastly different economic development rates, this would pose a problem when attempting to fulfil the 2015 vision. Statistics on ASEAN countries Challenge 3: differences in each countries political system Differences in government systems between ASEAN countries make it rather difficult for the countries to cooperate, as actions taken by different countries to tackle a similar issue may vary and there might be conflicts between the countries. The type of government greatly affects the domestic stability of a country and many other aspects, such as the economy, security and welfare of the citizens. Differences in government system in ASEAN can be seen through the case study of Myanmar and Thailand. Myanmar has a military government, in which military officers took up the majority of the ministries and cabinet posts which control the country. Though major political parties, such as the National League for Democracy and the Shan Nationalities league for Democracy and parties representing other ethnic groups are present in the country, their activities are greatly suppressed and controlled by the military government. Little room is given for the political organisations while many parties and underground student organisations are prohibited by the military. Despite pressure from ASEAN nations to release all the political prisoners and the request for greater progress towards democracy and a harmonious country, human rights in Myanmar remained poor. ASEAN nations had failed to come to an agreement on Myanmars lack of political reform during the 12th ASEAN summit, as each country has their own opinions and concerns. While some countries do not wish to interfere with Myanmars internal issues, others regard democracy and human rights issues as a possible obstacle for ASEAN to be integrated in terms of politics, which is part of the 2015 vision. Furthermore, Myanmar ranks 178 positions out of 180 countries for the level of corruption in the country, according to the Corruption Perceptions Index. This also affects the militarys efficiency and their practice of good governance in the country. On the other hand, Thailand is under a constitutional monarchy government, led by a king, a Prime Minister and has a parliamentary democratic system with multiple political parties. In Thailand,their King is more of a symbol of national identity and unity rather than having direct power under Thailands constitution. Thailand was similar to Myanmar in the way that Thailand was under the rule of a succession of military leaders with relatively weak democratic system. In the recent years, Thailands political landscape has been constantly plagued with issues such as persisting and significant difference between the urban and rural political orientation and focus, and democratically elected leaders abusing their power and their conflict of interest. Currently, the ongoing political unrest in Thailand began due to a coup dà ©tat staged by the military in 2006 that overthrown Thaksin, the former Prime Minister, for corruption and abuse of power. Thaksin supporters, who are mostly working class constituency and people from poor rural areas, accuse Thailands urban elites for coordinating the coup. These poorer citizens liked his ideas of more affordable medical care and debt relief, which can greatly improve their living standard. This is one of the key reasons for the overwhelming support from the red-shirt protestors even when he was on self-imposed exile. Not only was Thailands national economy crippled by its political instability. Thaksins supporters had disrupted the 14th ASEAN summit that was held in Thailand last year, and brought embarrassment to the ASEAN community. All of these issues makes it difficult for the ASEAN countries to work together, and much things need to be done to dampen these problems. Conclusion ASEAN countries face quite a number of challenges towards achieving their goal of setting up an ASEAN community as there are always some problems in cooperation faced by the member countries. Security issues, political and government issues make it hard for countries to cooperate together to form the community. These problems faced will not allow the member countries to make decisions and agree with one another easily. To fulfil its dream of the 2015 ASEAN community, ASEAN has to put in much effort into rectifying these problems, even though much has already been done towards establishing the ASEAN community.

Thomas Kuhns Structure of Scientific Revolutions Essays -- Book Revie

The aim of this essay is to provide a summary and critique of Thomas S. Kuhn’s groundbreaking thesis ‘The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.’ This will be done by analyzing his concepts of ‘paradigm’, ‘normal science’ and ‘scientific revolutions.’ Following the overview I will present the example of ‘The Copernican Revolution’ to empirically show a paradigm shift. The rest of the essay is concerned specifically with critically examining Kuhn’s notion of a paradigm and the incommensurability between them. I will show that to define paradigm is a never ending task however this should not hinder the usefulness of the concept itself. Before Kuhn’s book was written, the commonly held position by scientists and philosophers of science, such as Mach and Otswald , about the structure of science; was that it involved linear progression as a result of an incremental accumulation of knowledge from the activities undertaken by members of the scientific community. They thought that as generations of scientists observed more and more, their understanding of a particular scientific fact would become better refined through an ever growing stockpile of facts, theories and methods. The aim of the historian of science would be to pin point the man and the moment in time a further discovery was made; whilst also describing the obstacles that inhibited scientific progression. Then in 1962, Kuhn’s revolutionary book challenged the prevailing model of the history of science and argued for an episodic structure in which periods of conceptual continuity in normal science are interrupted by periods of revolutionary science. I will begin by outlining the core concepts that Kuhn presents at the beginning of his thesis. The backbone of Kuh... ... with its easy and friendly applicability means that it fulfils the aims of which Kuhn wanted. To tell the story of how science was structured. Bibliography Bonini, C. P. (1963). Simulation of information and decision systems in the firm. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall. Kuhn, T. S. (1962. Second Edition, enlarged, 1970). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: The University of Chicago. Masterman, M. (1970). The Nature of a Paradigm. In I. Lakatos, & A. Musgrave (Eds.), Criticism and The Growth of Knowledge (pp. 59-90). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Shapere, D. (1964). Review: The structure of Scientific Revolutions. The Philosophical Review , 73 (3), 383-394. Shapere, D. (1971, May). The Paradigm Concept. Science , 172 (3984), pp. 706-709. Weinberg, S. (1998). Scientific Revolutions. New York Review of Books , XLV (15).

Substantiality of Low Carbohydrate Diets :: Health Nutrition Diet Exercise Essays

Substantiality of Low Carbohydrate Diets Being able to eat as much butter, cheese and meat as you want but not be allowed even a single slice of whole grain bread just doesn’t make sense. But, it is backed up in scientific fact. There are four types of molecules that the body processes for energy – alcohol, sugar, boy fat, and protein, in that order. Alcohol from hard liquor, wine, and beer is processed first and very quickly. To successfully be on a low carbohydrate diet, it is best to avoid alcohol. Sugar is a class of molecules that includes, but is not limited to, table sugar and are derived from carbohydrates. As long as there is very little alcohol and next to no carbohydrates in your system, your body will preferentially process body fat for energy. It is important to note that body fat and the fat in food are two different entities. Body fat is stored energy. Fat from food is not processed for energy – the body uses it for other things. Body fat is made up of a type of molecule called a lipid. When lipids are broken down to make carbohydrates, an energy molecule and a type of molecule called a ketone is released. The name of this ketone is ?-hydroxybutyrate. Other instances of fat being broken down and releasing this ketone are during fasting, starvation, and during certain eating disorders such as anorexia. The presence of this ketone causes the body to think that it is starving even though it is getting plenty of food. Glycogen, the body’s natural fuel, is stored all bound up in water. Glycogen is made up of carbohydrates. When the body does not consume carbohydrates, it dips into its reserve supply as a survival mechanism. But, in accessing reserve glycogen, all the water that it is stored in is also released. And, as the reserves don’t get restocked, the excess water stays gone. Water is reasonably heavy. So, what appears to be fat loss is actually just water weight being lost. There are a limited number of food options on a low carbohydrate diet. The dullness and lack of variety tends to reduce appetite and intake.

Rutherford B. Hayes Essays -- essays research papers

Rutherford B. Hayes (19th president)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rutherford Bichard Hayes was not a well know president. He was not president that had the opportunity to lead us through a war. He was not a president that would draw much attention to the public eye. He was however one of the presidents that had a great triumph over a major U.S. problem, economics and civil rights following a war. The United States was just coming out of the Civil War and was in need of a new president. They were in need of one that could lead them into a booming economic system, start the process of paying off the national debt, and show them the benefits of a nation-wide unification of the North and the South.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On October 4th 1822, Sophie Bichard Hayes gave birth to Rutherford Bichard Hayes. His father Rutherford Hayes passed away two months prior to Rutherford Jr. being born. Along with his 4 other siblings, Rutherford was raised in Ohio by his mother for most of his life. Rutherford went to school in Norwalk, Ohio and Middletown, Connecticut. In 1842 he graduated from Kenyon College, in Gambier, Ohio, valedictorian of his class. After a year of study in a Columbus law office, he entered Harvard Law School and received his degree in 1845. Hayes began his practice in a small town called Lower Sandusky. Not finding many opportunities here, he left for Cincinnati in 1849 where he became a successful lawyer.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1952, Hayes married L...

Obama Health Care Legislation Essay

The Obama health care legislation known as the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare) has received mixed reviews over the last couple years. On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law, putting in place comprehensive reforms that improve access to affordable health coverage for everyone and protect consumers from abusive insurance company. Obamacare is beneficial despite its downfalls, being that it provides healthcare, promote health, and control cost. Many people believe Obamacare can cause problems with quality of service provided and many other issues, because of misinformation obtained from the press. The new health reform law provides security to the hardworking citizens of the United States. Concerning those who have health care, the process shall be a lot smoother, meaning a lower premium. According, to the bill’s regulations, health care holders will not be discriminated against base on pre-existed condition. For instance, now when my grandma is sick, she will not have to be drop, because insurance companies will fear the fact of having to spend to much money. Knowing that insurance providers are only interested in making profits, the bill will target them the most. Advantage of the Obama health care plan in this situation is the elimination of out of pocket expenses, which are due to unexpected sickness, so people don’t go broke after a serious illness. Obamacare holds insurance companies accountable, gives access to healthcare for everyone and lowers health care costs. It gives Americans more freedom and control in their health care choices and improves the quality of care. With Obamacare, insurance agencies cannot create limits on care and the yearly limits will no longer exist in a couple of years. More than 5.1 million people on Medicare have saved over $3.1 billion on prescription drugs. In every state and for the first time ever, insurance companies must justify their action s if they want to raise rates by 10% or more. Also more states have the authority to reject unreasonable  premium increases. President Obama has stated on several occasions that the new health legislation would start out slow but should pick up over time to compensate for the initial loss. Obamacare is aimed primarily at decreasing the number of uninsured Americans and reducing the overall costs of health care. The law is a great advantage for the people of the country, the cost preventives care because now health-care has become more affordable. The success is achieved due to numerous reforms and mechanisms, like subsidies, and tax credits. And as I stated before the law is very important, because the sphere of medical care is extremely expensive in the whole world, and exists like a privilege of rich people. Obamacare gives a possibility to achieve proper medical care for everyone. The law is a good example for other countries of the world, which should strive to support their citizens and care of their health.