An analysis of donor engagement with education policy development in Lao PDR from 1991 to 2000

This paper describes the relationship between donor agencies and government during the development of Lao basic education policy in the post‐Cold War period, 1991‐2000. We argue that Laos had only recently been ‘re‐ born’ from colonial regimes, and was thus unable to resist or mediate donor policy agendas and donors who acted on behalf of economically developed nations. The nature of the power relationship between donor and government is explored through an analysis of policy developed at that time as well as the perceptions of aid conditionalities, as recalled by government officials and those working in the aid sector at that time. These perceptions were gathered through interviews conducted by one of the authors.     

Organising for Donor Effectiveness: An Analytical Framework for Improving Aid Effectiveness

Donors have lagged behind aid recipients in adhering to the principles of aid effectiveness. Explaining the reasons for this demands greater awareness of organisational attributes within donor entities. To date, there have been only limited attempts to relate donor organisational factors to aid‐effectiveness goals. This article elaborates on a number of such relationships based on an empirical examination of donor dynamics in Norway, the UK and Canada. Donor effectiveness provides an important lens through which to build a robust post‐Busan global partnership.     

Bilateral Donors' Efforts to Assess and Manage UN Agencies' Effectiveness: Seeking a Balance between Paris Principles and Domestic Accountability

Since the turn of the century, results orientation and performance measurement have become buzzwords in development aid. Bilateral donors are increasingly concerned about the effectiveness of core‐funded UN specialised agencies, funds and programmes, through which they channel a substantial part of their funds. While the logic for increased monitoring is clear, it is less evident how to assess this information for purposes of accountability, performance‐based funding and governance. This article describes the general evolution in this area and discusses two major initiatives to harmonise and align bilateral assessments, using case‐study material from three bilateral donors (Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK) with clearly diverging performance‐management cultures, and exploring the extent to which they rely upon joint and aligned initiatives.     

Gendered Leadership: The Effects of Female Development Agency Leaders on Foreign Aid Spending

This article examines the effects of gender on the leadership of bilateral development aid agencies, particularly their official development assistance (ODA) allocations toward gender‐related programming. Drawing on earlier research on gendered leadership, the article tests the hypothesis that female director generals (DGs) and ministers responsible for aid agencies will allocate more ODA than their male counterparts toward gender programming. This existing literature on gendered leadership is divided: some scholars argue that women and men have distinct leadership styles on account of their gender, while others argue that the only distinguishing factor is the institutional context in which they lead. Drawing on data collected on aid flows and agency leadership within the major Western aid donors of the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) over the period from 1995 through 2009, we use pooled time series analysis to examine the effects of gendered leadership on aid allocation. Our analysis reveals a tendency for female DGs and ministers to focus ODA on gender‐mainstreaming programs, while male DGs focus ODA on gender‐focused programs. We argue that these divergent priorities reflect the women's desire to reform gendered power structures within their respective aid agencies, and the men's desire to maintain existing gender power structures from which they benefit.     

Adolescents Conceived through Donor Insemination in Mother‐Headed Families: A Qualitative Study of Motivations and Experiences of Contacting and Meeting Same‐donor Offspring

This study interviewed adolescents conceived using sperm donation to examine their experiences of contacting and meeting ‘same‐donor offspring’ (i.e. donor‐conceived offspring raised in different families who share the same donor), their motivations for this contact, and how they make meaning of these relationships. This in‐depth qualitative study involved semi‐structured interviews with 23 young people aged 12–19 years (mean = 14 years). Interviewees were motivated by curiosity about their biological relations and by wanting to extend their family. Contact with same‐donor offspring was described as being either normal/neutral or as a unique experience that was integrated into their identity. This study highlights the importance of contact between same donor offspring, particularly during adolescence, a developmental stage associated with identity formation. The findings have important policy implications as they suggest that donor‐conceived individuals may benefit from contact with others conceived using the same donor prior to the age of 18 years.     

量子线中施主杂质的光致电离截面

本文就几种不同的线宽计算了准一维GaAs量子线中施主杂质的光致电离截面,同时也研究了磁场对光谱的影响。     

Selecting a Computer-Based System to Assist Fund-Raising and Development Operations

Abstract

Increasingly, non-profit organizations and agencies must turn to the private sector to raise money to finance their work, and to increase the scope of their services. Computer software is available to assist and enhance organizational development efforts involving direct mail, “events,” and broadcast appeals. Social Work professionals may be responsible for selecting software systems for their agencies. What functions should such software perform? What criteria should it meet? The software should contain features that support each stage of a development cycle, manage mailing lists, provide financial and fund-accounting functions, produce letters and other communications, and generate statistics and reports for management control. Each of these functions is examined in some detail, as considerations to bear in mind when evaluating systems are discussed.     

Follow the leader! The peer effect in aid supply decisions

This study assesses the existence of imitative behaviour among donors in terms of their aid supply. The urgency in addressing this subject is motivated by an increasing degree of aid volatility and unpredictability which may be linked to this imitative behaviour. Our results highlight that while any connection among donor peers is a potential channel for the transmission of aid volatility, the extent of such volatility decreases significantly in the presence of established imitative behaviour. This result suggests that the promotion of donor imitative behaviour would contribute to containing the current and growing trend of volatility in aid supply.     

Families and donor insemination: the views of semen donors

One of the consequences of donor insemination for the semen donor is that he becomes a member of two families: his own family in which he has a genetic and social connection with his offspring; and the family of the recipient couple, in which he has a genetic connection to the offspring, but usually no social connection with either the offspring or the recipient couple. This article challenges the dominant view that donor insemination as a practice of mainly medical or legal importance by looking at the attitudes of donors to both their own family and the family to which they have contributed their genetic material. Results are presented concerning who donors have told about their donation, who they think should be told, whether they think recipient couples should tell their donor insemination offspring about their conception, and concerning their opinions about factors that are considered in matching donors with recipient fathers.     

一种新的内插算法的研究

有效的插值算法是现代医学三维成像中的一个焦点。针对ＣＴ断层图像的特点，文中提出了一种新的分区域位置映射插值算法，阐明了算法的基本思路及实施步骤，最后给出实验结果。