Recent orders
One refugee emergency
One refugee emergency from the UNHCR is the attack in West Africa by the extremist group called Boko Haram. “In Nigeria alone, nearly 2.5 million people have been forced from their homes in the last six years of violence caused by Boko Haram’s campaign of terror and more than 20,000 lives have been lost. In 2014, some 170 villages were burnt to the ground and thousands of women and girls were abducted.” The refugees are left with no place to go home because they are so afraid that Boko Haram will recapture them if they return to their village. They also can’t stay in refugee camps because there is not enough food or water for them to survive in these camps.
The current situation of these refugees is especially dangerous because the smugglers that take them across the border into Nigeria pay them a fraction of what it costs to cross legally and then send them back to their homes in Nigeria. When Boko Haram took over all of these refugee’s land, they also took their cattle herds with them, so the refugees almost immediately lost everything. “The NRC says 1.5 million Nigerian children are at risk of malnutrition and 150,000 schools have been destroyed.” These refugees are also hungry because they are being forced to work long hours on jobs that do not pay enough money in order for them to make money for food.
One element I might address
One element I might address is raising awareness of the condition, as well as anxiety and depression. Feelings of mental discomfort, with symptoms similar to anxiety and despair, appear to be widespread during the outset of anorexia in Hong Kong. As Watters (2010) describes, these appear to result in physical sensations, including anxiety and cold, during the onset of anorexia. This “side-effect” appears to be a result of the nervous system being overstimulated by low levels of dopamine, which the body produces to maintain feelings of well-being. Therefore, in similar ways that a migraine headache occurs because one has made their brain’s migraine-fighting neuropeptides too active, people with frequent non-food related cases of anorexia may begin to show signs of an adrenal imbalance because their bodies have produced too much adrenaline in response to anxiety and despair.
The key ethical aspects that I would emphasize in such a proposal are to address the mental impact of “mental imbalances” and suggest helping these people to better cope with these feelings. Specifically, this could be done through counseling or similar services, however it should not be seen as the responsibility of the individual alone and I believe that creating a national campaign to combat anorexia would help to clarify this point. I would clearly describe the role of the caring community in his study of eating disorders, and suggests that social stigma about eating disorders is something that can be helpful in reducing their prevalence.
I tend to think that the ability to collaborate with experts inside that culture is the most important component in preventing macro-social interventions by foreign psychologists from becoming a new type of colonialism. Bridging and exchanging ideas across cultures may give a new outside viewpoint while also providing protection from someone who genuinely understands the culture. It is also quite common in PhD and masters level, programs to examine ones own cultural biases and understanding of the culture. While this is a necessary step in progress, many will repeat what they already know rather than sample and test new ideas.
Reference
Watters E. (2010). The Rise of Anorexia in Hong Kong. In. E. Watters (eds.),The Globalization of The American Psyche – Crazy Like Us (pp. 9-63). New York, NY, US: Free Press – A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Two Systems HKSAR and PRC government Relationship
One Country: Two Systems HKSAR and PRC government Relationship
Slide 1: Introduction
The 1997 handover was momentous in that it marked the beginning of the One Country, Two Systems agreement, which ensured that Hong Kong would be able to maintain its separate political, social, and legal structures under a unified China for at least fifty years without interruption (Tiexun, 2011). A great deal has changed in the interaction between the federal and local governments as well. The dispute over whether or not China remains a unitary state or if it has evolved into a federalist state is thus extremely heated. Ultimately, the One Country, Two Systems is a de facto federal system that describes the relations between HKSAR government and the PRC government, one that has evolved over time with the help of the openness and reforms that have China open up to global ideas, both in economic and political regards.
Slide 2: Central-Local Relationship
There are many interesting questions about how policies decided at the highest levels of the formal system can be implemented by the many intermediary and local actors throughout the system, which is of particular interest to developmental theorists because they illustrate an incredibly interesting puzzle in modern governance, especially in the One Country, Two Systems in HKSAR and PRC governments (Wong & Xiao, 2018). An additional feature in the case of China has been the contradiction between the authoritarian veneer of the Chinese system, which indicates a larger predisposition for central control, and obvious implementation failures in many policy areas. Many implementations have failed, raising questions about China’s ability to deal with domestic governance issues and fulfill its growing international obligations.
Slide 3: De Facto Federalism
A federalist structure of governance is not in place in the People’s Republic of China. Nonetheless, as reform and openness continue to develop, China’s political structure, particularly regarding central–local interactions, is becoming more and more similar to a federal system. Because of its likeness to federalism, there is a close link between the actions of the government and what happens in the local context (Tiexun, 2011). However, in the HKSAR and PRC government relationship, the policy directions from Beijing are not necessarily followed to the latter as with a central system, yet HKSAR is not completely independent to act with zero regard to the PRC government. The resulting formula is a central-local relationship that denotes de facto federalism. China’s central-local interactions are increasingly based on federalist ideas as the country’s reform and openness continue to grow. For example, major policies, officer appointments, executive representation, judicial system, legislative exercises, and other forms of separation of powers have seen major reforms, incorporating a hint of central approval with elements of local participation in the HKSAR and PRC governments.
Slide 4: De Facto Federalism Continued
De facto federalism is a reflection of central-local relations, in part because of characteristics such as the degree of local autonomy and the reciprocity mechanism that exists within such contacts, but also because of other considerations. China’s central-local connection, on the other hand, is distinct in a number of respects. According to current thinking, the Chinese culture must be united in order for anything to change (Zhu, 2012). Because China’s dynamic central-local connection has a long history of non-institutionalized power distribution, the central government makes stronger efforts to adjust the allocation of power to the local level in a dynamic central-local relationship. It is because of these characteristics that de facto federalism has been curtailed. As a result of this dynamic link, the project mechanism has increased in importance, and the central government appears to be taking an increasing amount of initiative in its dealings with local authorities.
Slide 5: Conclusion
Federalism, Chinese style, is very unique. The HKSAR and PRC governments are not described as having a federal system, in the One Country, Two Systems approach, yet de facto federalism is evident. There are forms of administrative, economic, and political decentralization that have left HKSAR and PRC governments in an indescribable relationship, where HKSAR has independence yet with limited control from the PRC government.
Slide 6: References
Tiexun, L. E. N. G. (2011). On the Fundamental Characteristics of the “One Country, Two Systems” Policy. Academic Journal of “One Country, Two Systems, 1, 49-59.
Wong, W., & Xiao, H. (2018). Twenty years of Hong Kong and Macao under Chinese rule: being absorbed under ‘one country, two systems’. Public Money & Management, 38(6), 411-418.
Zhu, G. (2012). The composite state of China under “One Country, Multiple Systems”: Theoretical construction and methodological considerations. International Journal of Constitutional Law, 10(1), 272-297.