Personal Statement For University Essay

My intended major is Economics. My main interest in Economics lies in the field of macroeconomics and the principles that are involved. Macroeconomics has a way of showing how different policies are intertwined; such has policies in Healthcare regarding retirement benefits to how the world’s interest rate plays a role in our daily banking activities. When I graduated from kindergarten, I lived in Shanghai for a while because of my father’s job. At that time, of course I could not speak Chinese so I faced language barrier. However, I had such as experience so I have been interested in Chinese and other countries’ culture from my parents’ influence. I started to learn English, French (when I was junior high school student) and Chinese (when I was high school student) and I went to classroom which is for studying Japanese for foreigner country children to assist. To be interested in learning foreign languages lead me to be interested in foreign countries’ culture and also I felt strongly interested in economics such as what my country economy is, how economic growth is going on in the world, if America economics situation changed, how it influenced to the world and so on with age. From that I started to be interested in activities of international authorization and it led me to be interested in the United Nations. On 12 May, 2008 Sichuan earthquake made me focus on world economics more than before. The earthquake killed many children. I had strong impact when I watched on TV. Some parents said â€Å"My child died because of school building is an old! Children who are rich could go good quality building school so they could survive! This is not a Natural disaster! This is Man-made disaster! †. Some of children â€Å"I want to say thank you to my school to save my life†. It told the gap between rich people and poor people. I had very big mistake thinking that in China’s economy is growing up very much so I thought the gap between rich and poor is going to disappear. I want to remove this gap so I want to study about world economics and I want to work for United Nation. I am not a greedy or selfish person. I am driven, straightforward and ambitious. I know what I want to be in life and I know how to get what I want. I too have come to love consumerist America and all the creature comforts that it promises to those who can afford them. While I have no intention of becoming a Donald Trump, I do wish for a comfortable life for myself and my family. To be able to provide for my family and to ensure that my children will also have the same opportunities to succeed in life as I have by getting a good education at not only the college level but a Masters degree as well in their chosen professions.

Goffman and Music Education Essay

For my career, I intend to teach music privately. I will own my own business in my home and teach students of all ages. As a part of my business I will serve students also in small group classes and other special events that I will design in my business. A ‘typical performance’ would include being in front of any students. For example, a student arrives for a lesson, and I am waiting for him/her. I greet him, and he comes in and begins to prepare his instrument and materials. I may glance over his materials, checking anything he was assigned to practice or work on in the previous week. I may also chat with him about how his week has been. Then, the lesson will proceed, and we will work on performing on his instrument. He will play and I will critique his performance and have him try things different ways until he improves. I may make use of metronomes, tuning devices, or my own demonstration to help him learn. At the end of the lesson, I will assign him new materials to work on or practice, and see him out the door. This performance related to Goffman’s idea of â€Å"rituals† that occur in the social situation. Regardless of my mood or desires, I will ask the student how he is doing and listen to his answers. The lesson will proceed in roughly the same fashion every week. The student will come to expect when I will interrupt his performance to give criticism, because he will come to know what I consider unacceptable. The lesson becomes a series of rituals that are performed week after week, lesson after lesson. The members of my team will consist of all of my students, as well as their parents, many of whom may sit in on lessons always or from time to time. I could not be a teacher if I did not have students, so they are a necessary part of my team. It is the direct interaction between myself and them that sets the â€Å"stage,† as Goffman puts it in his dramaturgical explanation of social behavior. The parents factor in because they change the dynamics of the lesson situation when they are present. In these cases, I may choose to address parents in addition to or instead of the students in certain situations, and I will certainly be aware of their presence as I am working with the student. With some of the younger students, or students who have problems behaving, the parents may play a strong role in the lesson situation, guiding the student’s behavior and attempting to keep him on task. Outside of the lesson situation, it is possible that my mentors could also be considered supporting players, as I may turn to them for help with difficult students or situations to solve, and they may lend me moral support in making decisions about teaching or lessons. All of the people who play into what happens in the lesson situation could be considered team members in some sense, even if they never meet one another. Discrepant roles are likely limited in this situation, since for the most part, there is no audience. However, the teacher himself (i. e. me) might be a discrepant role, since the teacher is leading everyone’s reactions and ideas, and guiding the â€Å"audience’s† perception of the situation. Parents may function in a discrepant role, and well, since as both observers and participants in the situation, they may guide how they want their children to react, and how I choose to react because of their presence. Beyond this, there are probably not other discrepant roles. Should I be teaching a larger group, one student could serve in a discrepant role by more actively participating in the class and showing the rest of the group how to behave and react to what is going on around them. The rest of the class could serve as an audience in that case, assuming that some of the members of the class were feeling rather passive. The communications that would go on in lesson situations could be in or out of character, depending on the student, whether or not the parent was present, and the mood itself. In a general lesson situation where the parent and child were both present and the child was fairly young (not yet a teenager), communication would generally be entirely in character. That is, the communication would be formal and appropriate for the student and parent. However, should the student leave the room and the parent remain, the communication may lapse into out of character situations, where the teacher and the parent are sharing information or commiserating as two adults. It is also possible that if the student is older, teenage or adult, that the communication may be out of character, because of the teacher being able to identify with this student better on a person-to-person level, and not finding the need to remain aloof and professionally distant. In these situations, the communication would move often between in and out of character as the teacher goes from having a general conversation with the student to actually providing instruction. The impression one makes is difficult to manage at times, but it is also important. As a teacher, I would like to be seen as a professional at all times, someone who does not let emotions or outside situations affect my work. I would also like to be seen as energetic, upbeat, and involved in the work I do. This relates to maintaining what Goffman calls the â€Å"front. † The behavior at the front is the professional impression one makes, while behavior at the â€Å"back† or â€Å"sides† is related off-stage behavior in actors. Since teaching is often related to being onstage, this is not a totally foreign concept. As a teacher, I must forget any concerns I have when I enter the room to teach a student. I must focus on them and their needs, and not anything else that is going on in my life, good or bad. This is not always possible, and when it is not, I must explain as briefly as possible, apologize, and continue to try to focus solely on the student. I must also smile and use happy tones of voice when I am speaking, even if I do not feel that way. One of the hardest things in teaching is remaining optimistic and positive even when students are struggling or, more likely, refusing to work. It is difficult for a teacher to see students come into a lesson every week with homework undone and no practicing having been completed. What can I teach a student who won’t work on skills at home? But in order to keep my impressions positive and my front appropriate, I must broach the subject of needing to practice more carefully, so as not to discourage the student or to allow them to see how unhappy I am with their lack of preparedness. Teachers are constantly striving for diplomacy in even the hardest situations. Goffman’s work allows me to look at my future career with a much different perspective. I consider that I am on stage and that I am an actor in a play I have created and entered into, but I do not control all the variables. I control myself, but I react to how my students choose to be. It is interesting to note the possibilities that arise in every situation when there are so many different things happening at once, as Goffman points out. However, it is good to think about and try to use in work situations.

Arts history Essay

The word art lacks a satisfactorily definition of what it really means but it can be defined as he use of skill and imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects, environments, or experiences that can be shared with others to pass some information. The history of art may be regarded as an attempt to check out art throughout human history, investing through different cultures and their distinguishing features. It may date back to over a thousand years as the word history is not time defined. As the word it blurs in meaning then so is description of what is art and what is not. Art can be grouped into five major categories. This encompasses music, pottery, painting, sculpture and architecture. In ancient times this were done with a view to pass on some vital lessons and for aesthetic reasons. With changing times this has changed as some parties have learned to exploit people’s interest in art by using art commercially. Given the above explanation of the word art then looking at the history of art would mean looking at the history of visual arts of painting sculpture, music, pottery and architecture. Since medieval times representation of ideas perceived as art has played a central role in understanding works of art such as literature. There are many ways of representing art such as n, verbal, visual or musical, as being natural to human beings. . Two Greek grates Aristotle and Plato put their views on representation into perspective. While Aristotle traced representation, original and natural to man, Plato, on the other hand viewed representation with more caution. He recognized that literature is a representation of life, yet also believed that representations create worlds of illusion leading one away from the reality For Plato, representation, like contemporary media, intervenes between the viewer and the real, creating illusions which lead one away from â€Å"real things†. Plato was of the opinion that art representation need some form of control to measure the effect the work of art had on its recipients. (Gallery. 1998) It was Aristotle however who came up with a rather acceptable and definitive description of art representation. He believed that representation was about three main things. The what, the hoe and the means †¢ The object: The symbol being represented. †¢ Manner: The way the symbol is represented. †¢ Means: The material that is used to represent it. Myths are stories that explain why the world is the way it is. All cultures have them. Throughout history, artists have been inspired by myths and legends and have given them visual form. Sometimes these works of art are the only surviving record of what particular cultures believed and valued. But even where written records or oral traditions exist, art adds to our understanding of myths and legends. (Gallery. 1998) In early times, painting was a common way of life. As there was no clear cut way of communicating, painting presented an easy way to pass on into and ideas. In modern days paintings from the past like the Mona Lisa one still hold significant sentimental value. This was done quite a while ago. Simple materials form organic substances were used as the painting medium on walls and any other writing material that presented itself. This were later stored for the write purpose. In ancient Greece, several scribers and writers were known to put down their ideas using ink on scroll books. These were to be stored in porches that were strapped to their backs. Given the modern day description of the word art this practice can be traced as source or art in its own right. (D’Alleva. 2006) Carving can be described as shaping a hard substance to put across some information that the artist wants to put across. Carving was done mostly by the male part of society as much effort was put in. a sharp tool like a carving stone, mattock was instrumental in doing this depending on the malleability of the material. (Frazier, 1999). Carvings of people in war, a king and his subjects and so on used to be examples of how artists harmonized their thoughts into some useful creations. Some works of art done long ago still hold much regard to date. Such include sculptures of icons like leaders. This has been preserved in museums or even in streets in towns. The people who began this practice may have had different regards of doing it. Some may have had an interest in it or maybe just so because an opportunity to engage in the practice. For many though there had been no better means of presenting their ideas. Whatever the reason was for each of those involved, one artifact holds, that none of them did this to start their own line of art. While many may argue their case that these men and women defined art with their efforts, others may be simply dismissing this as another myth. (Gallery. 998) One role of art is to give visible or tangible form to ideas, philosophies, or feelings. This role can be revealing. It can work to heighten our most passionate and intimate yearnings. The Notice, Three Goddesses utilizes an expressive line in the folding layers of the marble cloth. Here, the use of an expressive line functions as an emotional guide for the observer to intuitively follow. (D’Alleva. 2006) The experience of art history, as conveyed by art museums, tends to be organized differently than that of textbooks due to the nature of collections and the institutions themselves. Rather than a full march through time, museums employ curators who assemble objects into exhibitions, often with unique commentary that is later reinterpreted by docents. This may be undertaken with the museum’s archivist. The result is often a strong emphasis on the history of media in conjunction with the history of culture. (D’Alleva. 2006) Such an emphasis on media is a natural outgrowth of the internal classification systems used in art museums, which usually include departments of painting, sculpture, decorative arts, and works on paper. Painting itself includes several media, such as oil painting, Tempera painting, watercolor. Sculpture can be divided into carving and casting. The decorative arts are perhaps the most diverse, as they include: textiles and needlework, which includes weaving and lace. Museums generally cannot collect full buildings, but they may acquire pieces of architectural ornamentation, which also fall under the decorative arts department. Works on paper includes photography and the book arts. (Barbara, 1991) Several myths have been coming up as to what is perceived to have been the right source and origin or even who performed it first. There might not be a perfect conclusive and elaborate explanation to this any time real soon given the uncertainty that even surrounds the meaning of the word on what is art what it is not. Without even knowing this then it proves hard to find out where it came from and what ways were used to represent it. One more reason to this is the fact that a different art can be traced to each different way of life. Given that each of the ancient civilizations had their own way of living then it proves hard going into the past looking for artifacts that were barely recalled. (Adams, 1996)

Letter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 20

Letter - Essay Example In the research paper, I will argue that the increasing fire outbreak cases in America are as a result of poor or lack of effective measures vital in preventing and dealing with fire outbreak cases. Ultimately, the cases of fire have had a detrimental impact on the safety of individuals and the economic growth of the country. The research paper will incorporate issues like fire prevention, the prevention of rapid spread of fire as well as the provision of resources including fighting equipment in the outbreak of fire. Consequently, I will dwell on the safety of individuals in the case of outbreak. To carry out my research, I will utilize various resources including periodicals, books and the internet as well as case studies relevant to the topic to decipher critical and vital information in relation to current statistics and cause for the predicament. I am particularly aware that it is unethical to utilize someone else’s work and ideas as my own as this will be an act of plagiarism, therefore, throughout my research on fire safety issues, I will utilize proper APA citation as per the project

Essay questions Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 8

Questions - Essay Example Moreover, instead of telling children not to speak or keep quiet (negative framing), she says â€Å"we are working quietly† supporting her words with gesture. Kids immediately react to her words and become quiet. 2. Positive framing in use is better to observe on examples. The phrase ‘‘We’re not going to have another day like yesterday, are we, Jason?† is absolutely inappropriate because it only motivates the boy to do the bad thing again makes the teacher look weak and suspicious (Lemov). It is better to say â€Å"It is nice to work with you, Jason†. The phrase â€Å"Just a minute, Jane. Absolutely no one is giving you their full attention except Dyonte and Beth.† shows that teacher is irritated with the class. It is better to say â€Å"Your attention is highly appreciated now. We all like when other people listen to us carefully.† ‘‘I need the tapping to stop.’’ is better to substitute with â€Å"Let’s stop writing for a while and have a little quiet break†. Also it is better to say â€Å"Please, sit up straight, Jasmine† instead of ‘‘I’ve asked you twice to stop slouching, Jasmine!’’ to show positive attitude and good

Consumer Behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Consumer Behavior - Essay Example From the discussion it is clear that once the target market has been identified, the next step is to devise an appropriate strategy. Through, Operant conditioning which draws out the link between the behavior and consequence, individuals can be made aware that their behavior of divorce can result in severe consequences for themselves, their counterparts and the children in cases where they have been born. Operant conditioning is the most suitable strategy here mainly because it accentuates the consequences of a broken marriage that can greatly help individuals in understanding that divorce is a major step that should not be undertaken in response to meager issues. As the study stresses advertisements which portray such consequences can be used as a marketing tool. Celebrities who have born such consequences can be interviewed and they can give out a message to these individuals to think before making such a big decision. Furthermore, for busy individuals, it is important that peaceful cafes in central areas are utilized. This way working couples can take time out for lunch and meet up at these cafes. This will allow them to spend more time with each other. Moreover restaurants, cafes cinemas and hotels should be encouraged to introduce couple deals and discounts which will allow more couples to spend some quality time with each other. Since positive reinforcement is necessary to ensure a health marriage, in addition to providing outdoor entertainment to couples, it is important to encourage the use of marriage counselors. ... Celebrities who have born such consequences can be interviewed and they can give out a message to these individuals to think before making such a big decision. Furthermore, for busy individuals, it is important that peaceful cafes in central areas are utilized. This way working couples can take time out for lunch and meet up at these cafes. This will allow them to spend more time with each other. Moreover restaurants, cafes cinemas and hotels should be encouraged to introduce couple deals and discounts which will allow more couples to spend some quality time with each other. Since positive reinforcement is necessary to ensure a health marriage, in addition to providing outdoor entertainment to couples, it is important to encourage the use of marriage counselors. This will allow them to come across each other’s strengths more often making them less reluctant to end their marriage. Sometimes couples fail to communicate with each other properly which results in misunderstandings and intense disagreements. Marriage counselors can help couples in instilling in themselves some qualities and characteristics that are necessary for a successful relationship. Hence in order to reduce the divorce rates, marriage counselors should be advertised and promoted through television, radio and print media (Daft, 2001). Also organizations should be encouraged to conduct events where employees are invited with their counterparts. This way it will allow both individuals to be part of each other’s professional lives as well allowing them to understand each other better. An employee who has a good marriage is less likely to face any personal problems and therefore will fully concentrate on work. This will help organizations in improving their productivity. The

Graphic Design Impact on Fashion Annotated Bibliography

Graphic Design Impact on Fashion - Annotated Bibliography Example The essay "Graphic Design Impact on Fashion" concerns the graphic design and fashion. The Book answers important questions such as whether women create differently as compare to men, how gender debates are taken in the modern work environment and whether women in the modern workplace are judged based on quality of their work. It features sentiments from historians of design as well as biographies and stories of major women designers like Iris Utikal, Sheila Levrant Irma Boom among others. It surely shows how powerful a tool, graphic design can be in shaping fashion and culture as well as values. The authors of this book take a look at the way graphic design has helped shape fashion. It has selections of the world best studios for design, their work and contribution to the to fashion industry’s growth. The book also contains insights from designers and customers about the industries direction. The crucial developments of graphic design in the bigger area of fashion are well art iculated and the reader can really appreciate what design is doing to fashion. It is an appropriate book for upcoming designers, fusionists as well as fashion lovers as has a lot of fascinating and exciting information. The paper examines ceramic designs and their importance particularly to the homes and buildings. It looks at their impact to fashion as well as their commercial usage and communication. A lot of value is attached to artwork which goes beyond monetary value and this is what the designer aims at bringing out.

Security Survey Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Security Survey - Assignment Example This survey also involves interviewing all employees working in the firm, day and night shifts, meeting with security officers and other law enforcing bodies in the urban area where the firm is situated (Davis, 2008). This survey, if done properly, will help the firm identify the risks, threats and plan well to reduce the security-related expenses. It will also help the firm to know areas of weakness in security issues. Since this manufacturing plant is located in the urban environment, it is important to recognize the number of risks that it might experience. These risks include theft, air and noise pollution, traffic congestion near the plant and terrorism, which is a global threat to almost all organizations. In order to reduce these risks, the firm needs to erect a tall stone fence that does not allow passer bys to see the activities carried inside the compound of the firm. In this kind of location (urban), one gate to the firm is more effective to allow easier access control. The gate should be made of a tough steel metal that cannot be destroyed easily by thieves and other employees who might intend to sneak with the company’s property. This should be done in all entrances and exits of the compound. To save time while at the access points, two entrances are more suitable to enable security officers conduct friendly security checks to the employees. This will also help the security officers identify outsiders who pretend to be staff members of the firm. The security check helps to prevent the entrance of illegal weapons such as grenades, firearms and other crude weapons that may create a massive loss to the firm. These entrances should have two security officers, both male and f emale. Disasters like fire and earthquakes are experienced in many parts of the world; therefore, emergency exits should be available in all the small and large firms to allow easier

Asian Americans fighting for their rights Essay

Asian Americans fighting for their rights - Essay Example This essay discusses that the crucial moment in the forming of the model minority myth is the actual productivity of Asian Americans. And it is not the matter of race, but more of the upbringing: there is no belief among Asian American kids that the math is an inborn talent – everything can be learned. They strive harder than Whites do, become better, meet higher social expectations and have to strive harder – it becomes a vicious circle (The Model Minority Is Losing Patience). The issue is not in Asian excellence, but in the racial inequality that artificially creates seemingly equal conditions under the point that the measurement sample is White. This stereotype may sufficiently harm the Asian American students themselves.The model minority is a myth artificially inspired by the post-war times. This myth encompasses the variety of reasons: actual efficiency prescribed by both upbringing and cultural influence, the seemingly long-gone prejudice of the alien nature of A sians, the cultural-social urge to seek the living embodiment of the American dream, the racial bias of the society that allows the permission of not accepting students under their race, disproportional statistics conduction. The historical lesson accepted by American Asians taught them the things that White children have long forgotten –fighting. The actual situation regarding the social state of Asian Americans remains the same: they are the alien nation that strives to preserve the rights that are inherent to each American – but not to each Asian American.

Visual Identity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Visual Identity - Essay Example Honestly, when I have looked at the first Apple logo, it becomes clear why the company decided to replace it right away and turn it into more simple and meaningful visual symbol. Initially, over time the Apple logo in its form of apple has changed beginning with a ‘rainbow apple’, than continuing with an aqua color scheme, and ending with white and raw-aluminum color schemes that is well-known for all users now and still remains recognizable and associated in people’s minds with Apple Inc. Yet, the Apple logo has a very symbolical meaning and tells its customers that an apple, being the ‘fruit of the Tree of Knowledge’ gives people an opportunity to cognize science and leave piece of knowledge in own hearts and minds. Thinking about basic design elements and graphic techniques that were used in the creation of this visual identity we can mention that the last polished chrome logo is an ideal variant for a serious computer company, because it has not any extras, while a silvery chrome finish freshens up the icon in the best

HRM Consultancy Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

HRM Consultancy Report - Essay Example perations of the form are imminent since they will have to be implemented to ensure congruity between the organizations to enable the smooth flow of activities. Ideally, unlike Akbar and Sons, BP is a global company that runs operations in various countries across the world thus it will have to institute workplace diversity by composing organizational teams that have varied characters to enhance a composition of employees from diverse backgrounds to ensure the company has a pool of skills and talent that will improve its overall performance. In light of that fact, the company ought to come up with relevant solutions that will solve the problems identified to ensure Akbar and Sons is efficiently integrated into BP. Some of the proposed solutions include, the human resource department reconstituting the organizational teams responsible for the day to day running of the operations so that they can be constituted with varied individuals from different backgrounds. Additionally, prior to the changes employees were briefed on the expected changes and thus given the option to embrace them or rather leave the company if they find them to be too harsh. That way the probability of resistance to change will be minimal since those who perceive the changes to be inconsistent will have the option of leaving without any form of conflict. Akbar and sons is an oil company based in the United Arab Emirates that has been operating for a significant period. BP oil an international oil company based in the United Kingdom is set to acquire Akbar and Sons and take over its operations. Akbar and Sons is a family owned company that maintains a tradition of social responsibility by always giving back to the society through projects and initiatives aimed at elevating the lives of the immediate communities within its operational environment. All the years the company has been in operation, it has been able to create cohesion among its employees that has culminated in the creation of a

Mini was a little girl, who was unusually fond of conversations Essay Example for Free

Mini was a little girl, who was unusually fond of conversations Essay Mini was a little girl, who was unusually fond of conversations. She had a makeshift mind that moved between various topics within her scope. Although she was young, she could start a conversation with people double or even triple her age. Eventually she became friends with Rahamat, an Afghani money lender, whom she fondly called Kabuliwala. It was a delight to watch the two banter. Rahamat, was a tall, bearded man, who carried a sack on his shoulders while Mini was a tiny little girl who would chatter all the way. Initially Mini, was afraid of interacting with him, because she believed that Rahamat abducted little children in his sack. But Rahamat, because of his obvious fondness for the little girl, broke the ice, by presenting some raisins and apricots from his bag. Mini came from an aristocratic Bengali family and Rahamat was just an ordinary fruit peddler from Kabul yet it seemed like they were close chums. The two friends had a few stock phrases and jokes which were repeated in their conversations. For example, the moment she saw Rahamat, she would ask with a hearty laugh, ‘Kabuliwala, O Kabuliwala, what is in your sack?’ Adding an unnecessary nasal tone to the word, Rahamat would roar, ‘Hanti.’ The essence of the joke was that the man had an elephant in his sack. Not that the joke was very witty, but it caused the two friends to double up in laughter, and the sight of that innocent joy between a little girl and a grown man on autumn mornings used to move Mini’s father deeply. However Mini’s mother wasn’t too pleased with the growing friendship between Rahamat and her daughter and often nagged Mini’s father to keep an eye on him. One fine day, her worries came true; when Rahamat was arrested on charges of stabbing a man because the man had denied the debt he owed Rahamat, in the heat of the argument. Rahamat was in the midst of hurling abuse in an obscene language at the dishonest man when Mini came running out of the house, shouting, ‘Kabuliwala, O Kabuliwala.’ In a flash, Rahamat’s face was filled with expressions of happiness. Innocently Mini asked him, ‘Will you be going to your in-laws’ house?’ ‘That’s exactly where I am going,’ Rahamat replied with a laugh. When he noticed that Mini did not find the answer quite amusing, he pointed to his hands and added in his heavily accented, broken Bengali, ‘I would have beaten up the in-law. But what can I do, my hands are tied up.’ Charged with grievous injury, Rahamat was sent to jail for several years. That was the last time that Mini saw him and quite child-likely forgot all about him as she grew up. Several years passed. Mini’s wedding match had been fixed. On the day of the wedding, her father was busy looking at the wedding accounts when a man appeared before him, he had no bag, nor the long hair, nor the same vigour that he used to have. But he smiled, and Mini’s father knew it was Rahamat. Mini’s father knew what he had come for. But he refused to allow him to meet Mini as he thought that it would be bad omen. Disappointed he put his hand inside his big loose robe, and brought out a small and dirty piece of paper. With great care he unfolded this, and smoothed it out with both hands on my table. It bore the impression of a little band. Not a photograph. Not a drawing. The impression of an ink-smeared hand laid flat on the paper. This touch of his own little daughter had been always on his heart, as he had come year after year to Calcutta, to sell his wares in the streets. Tears came to Minis fathers eyes. He forgot that he was a poor Kabuli fruit-seller, while he was nothing more than he. He also was a father. That impression of the hand of his little daughter in her distant mountain home reminded him of his own little Mini. When Rahamat saw Mini after all these years, he staggered. He could not revive their old friendship. At last he smiled and said: Little one, are you going to your father-in-laws house? But Mini now understood the meaning of the word father-in-law, and she could not reply to him as of old. She flushed up at the question, and stood before him with her bride-like face turned down. Mini’s father deeply touched by what had just happened gave Rahamat, enough money to go back and see his own daughter in Afghanistan. Having done this, he had to cut down on some of the marriage festivity costs, but to him the wedding feast was all the brighter for the thought that in a distant land a long-lost father met again with his only child.

Differences Between Economic Growth And Development

Differences Between Economic Growth And Development Introduction From a traditional economic perspective, development may be viewed as economic growth related to the rise in GDP, per capita income and infrastructural adjustments in the economy relative to population changes. However, in a simpler and more refined view, development may be taken to mean the improvement in quality of life of the population through poverty eradication, reduction of inequality, reduction of unemployment and demographic control measures. The traditional view on development focused more on the trickle down effect of wealth to the masses in to influence the real per capita GNP which was assumed to grow at a higher rate than the growth in population. Primarily, the trickle down effect involved creation of employment opportunities and enhancement of distribution of economic and social benefits through planned structures of production and employment. The current view on economic development has been focusing more on poverty eradication through establishment and achievement of development goals that may include reduction in disease, illiteracy, unemployment and social/economic inequality. Moreover, many institutions actively involved in enhancing global economic development, including the World Bank, United Nations, World Food Program, world Health organization and International Monetary Fund among others have come up with development goals whose core values may include ensuring everybody is able to sustain basic needs, enhancing societyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s self esteem and enhancing freedom from servitude. Despite these efforts, the gap between the developed and the developing countries and the issue of inequality in distribution of wealth are still evident. Moreover, a lot is expected to be achieved through the millennium development goals of 2015 which encompass eradication of poverty, enhancing universal education, enhancing gender equality, enhancing child and maternal health, combating HIV/Aids, ensuring total environmental sustainability and enhancing global partnership. However, these efforts are being hampered by the financial crisis, food crisis, political crisis and climate change, all of which have tended to be the mainstay in the contemporary world. This paper will discuss the subject of economic development and its impact to the contemporary society. Historical view of development The classical economic theorists clam that economic development involved the growth in total output relative to the growth in population and changes in per capita income on real GNP of an economy. Although they focused on elimination of poverty as the main goal of economic development, they based such an agenda on the wealth creation and distribution through division of labor and capital concentration in competitive capitalist environment (Cypher and Dietz, 2004, pp. 109-110). Although the difference in economic development between the poor and the rich nations may be attributed to the earlier years of slavery and colonialism, the asymmetrical growth in population as compared to food production may be one undoing factor in decelerating economic development. According to Cypher and Dietz (2009, p. 114), Malthus, a classical economists, posited that population did tend to increase at a geometric progression while food production/output increased at an arithmetic progression which indicated that there was overuse in the fertile land under cultivation and the subsequent surge in population would more than worsen the disreputability of the limited food reserves. In their view, economic development would be achieved through distribution of economic wealth to the people with an aim of enhancing the social well-being since the society was divided into haves and have-nots (Willis, 2005, p. 63). Modern Economic development view Generally, economic development is taken to mean the measure of the level of social-economic welfare of the people in a national economy. The current focus on economic development has been the sustainability of the social welfare through poverty eradication, eliminating unemployment and eliminating inequality. In a more broader sense, there may be a buffer between economic growth and economic development in that, while economic growth will measure the rate at which the GNP and per capita income are changing, the latter may be realized with or without economic growth and it involves social and structural changes such as demographics, environmental sustainability, political relations, literacy levels, social diversity and health. According to Hoff and Stigliz (2001, p. 391), the government ands markets as the determinants of economic development coupled with institutions, wealth distribution and historical ideologies, all of which have affected the developmental patterns in the world economies especially in the developing nations. While the institutions influence the direction of transaction costs in the economy, wealth distribution impacts on the economic efficiency and thus creating influence on the developmental adjustments in the economy. Mookherjee and Ray (2001, p. 118) view that wealth distribution affects saving, investment, and production structures thus influencing occupational choices and institutional adjustments that tend to explain the difference between the developed and developing economies. Measuring economic development As a measure of socio-economic welfare, economic development aims at achieving various objectives which include availing and distributing human basic commodities, improving the standards of living through provision of social amenities and job creation, and aligning the social and economic choices available to the society. In the contemporary economic environment, the gap between the poor and developed nations has remained to widen, despite the developing nations having a higher economic growth rate in the recent years. However, the globalization of trade has enhanced economic development especially through reorganization and reorientation of economic and social systems as well as improvement in household incomes and economic output (Todaro, 2009, p. 68). The attainment of millennium development goals according to United Nations (2009) provides a clear measure of economic development in the world economies. Despite the deadline being 2015, there has been developmental progress especially in areas related to literacy, gender equality, primary health care, global partnership and environmental sustainability. However, the HIV/Aids remains to be one of the stubbing blocks on development especially in Africa where poverty is much higher than in other parts of the world. Barriers to economic development The economic crisis (as experienced recently), the food crisis, adverse climatic changes and political warfare (civil strife and external sanctions) have remained to be the hindrances to the attainment of the economic development (World Bank, 2009). For instance, the globalization effect has led to environmental degradation and pollution resulting to interference with climatic changes that have created threat to food production (Meier and Stiglitz, 2001, 170). In addition, recently witnessed financial meltdown may slow down the realization of developmental goals due to its effect on investment patterns and interference with wealth distribution. Conclusion Economic development may be differentiated from economic growth due to the difference in measures and effects to the society. For a nation to experience economic development there must be structural adjustments that focus on the attainment of human wellbeing. Sound economic policies should be available to ensure that all the fundamentals that influence economic development are addressed fully and comprehensively.

Effects of Price Changes in Customers

Effects of Price Changes in Customers Demand and supply are two very basic and important terms in economics to study and determine the market equilibrium. A market is the process of buyers and sellers exchanging goods and services. Buyers, as a group, determine the demand side of the market, whether it is consumers purchasing goods or firms purchasing inputs. On the other hand, sellers, as a group, determine the supply side of the market, whether it is firms selling their goods or resource owners selling their inputs. It is the interaction of buyers and sellers that determines market prices and output through the forces of supply and demand. Demand simply means the ability and willingness of consumer to buy certain amount of goods and services at a particular price. According to the law of demand, the quantity of a good or service demanded varies inversely with its price, other things equal. A demand curve is a downward sloping curve and it shows negative or inverse relationship between price and quantity demanded. When the price increases, the quantity demanded by consumer decreases, conversely, when the price decreases, the quantity demanded by consumer increases. A change in quantity demanded is a movement along the demand curve, when price increases, point A moves to point B, and point A moves to point C when there is a price drops as figure 1 shown. Movement along the curve occurs only when there is a price change. There are several reasons why the relationship between price and quantity demanded is negative or inverse. Observed behavior tells us that consumers will buy more goods and services at lower prices than higher prices, ceteris paribus. Diminishing marginal utility is also one of the reasons, it means in a given time period, a buyer will receive less satisfaction from each successive unit consumed, therefore, consumers will only buy added units if the price were reduced. Whereas, a change in demand is a shift of the demand curve, demand curve shift rightward when demand increases and shift leftward when there is a drop in demand. A shift on the curve is caused by the other factors than the price of the good such as government regulations and technology change. When there is a price change, there will be two effects on consumers. First, the substitution effect is an effect caused by a rise in price that induces a consumer (whose income has remained the same) to buy more of a relatively lower-priced good and less of a higher-priced one. For instance, when the price of coffee increases, there are many close substitute goods as options to replace coffee, and consumer can replace coffee by tea with the same amount of income that they are holding and the same price of tea. In this case, it brings a result that the quantity demanded for coffee decreases and the demand for tea increases. Generally, the consumption of goods and services is vastly related to the income available to consumers. Income effect suggests that at a lower price, one can afford more of the good without giving up any alternative goods. In other words, a drop in price will increase the purchasing power of an individual, thus, they are able to buy more of the product than before. For instance, initially, the price of a product is RM200 per unit, and the constant income of an individual is RM1200, this individual is able to purchase 6 units. However, when the price of the product increases to RM220 per unit, he or she can only purchase 5 units. Apart from that, the other important term is supply. Supply means the ability and willingness of producer to produce and supply certain amount of goods and services at a particular price. A supply curve is an upward sloping curve and it shows a positive or direct relationship between price and quantity supplied. When price increases, the quantity supplied increases as well, vice versa, the quantity supplied drops when there is a decrease in price. Changes in prices of a good lead to changes in quantity supplied, which are shown as movement along the supply curve in figure 2 from point A to point B to point C. Changes in supply occur for other reasons than changes in the price of the product itself. For instance, natural disaster, expected future price and many more. A change in any other factor can affect supplier behavior results in a shift of the entire supply curve. A leftward shift is a decrease in supply, and a rightward shift is an increase in supply. Market equilibrium is a situation where quantity demanded equals to quantity supplied at a particular price. The market equilibrium is found at the point E at which the market supply and market demand curve intersect as shown in figure 3. The price at the intersection of the market demand curve and market supply curve is called the equilibrium price, P* and the quantity at the intersection of the market demand curve and the market supply curve is called the equilibrium quantity Q*. A shortage exists at when the quantity demanded exceeds the quantity supplied, whereas, a surplus exists at when the quantity supplied exceeds the quantity demanded. For example, when the market equilibrium price is at RM10 and it increased to RM15, then there will be a surplus of 20 units in figure 4. The quantity demanded dropped to 10 units. Hence, the solution is to decrease the price to market equilibrium price, RM10, to achieve market equilibrium. In figure 5, there is a shortage of 20 units. Suppose the market equilibrium price is also RM10 and the price is decreased to RM5, the quantity demanded increased to 30 units. Thus, it brings a result that quantity demanded exceed quantity supplied which means shortage. To resolve this problem, the price has to be increased to the market equilibrium price, RM10. There are various types of government policies to change the market equilibrium. In an open-market, government intervenes to control the market prices to make improvements on the development and economy of the country as well as social well-fare in view of a conflict that consumer always wants lower prices and supplier wants higher prices. Besides, government intervention in the market also with aims to correct the market failure and minimize the income inequality. The motivations for price controls vary with the market under considerations. Government sets a price ceiling for goods deemed important to low-income households such as flour. A price ceiling is a legal maximum on the price at which a good can be sold. Conversely, a price floor is a legal minimum on the price at which a good can be sold, it is often set by government for wages, since wages are the main source of income for households. When government imposes a price ceiling on a product, there are two possibilities, either a binding or a non-binding price ceiling. However, for a price ceiling to be effective it should be a binding price ceiling and the price ceiling must be set below equilibrium. A price ceiling set above the equilibrium is a non-binding price ceiling, and the price will go back to the equilibrium price eventually by the demand and supply forces. In Malaysia, during the festive season, The Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-Operatives and Consumerism will impose price ceilings on the essential goods for various festivals. In a recent year, 2013, the Controlled Price Goods Scheme have imposed price ceilings for 20 essential goods including standard chicken, super chicken, local beef, imported beef and so on. For instance, as figure 6 shown, the market price of chicken per kg was initially RM8.50 and the government fixed the price ceiling at RM7.70 per kg which is 70sen lower than the market price. This price ceiling was in force for 17 days only, from 26th July to 11th August 2013 for the festival, Hari Raya Aidilfitri (Themalaysianinsider.com, 2013). The objective of setting the maximum price for the essential goods is to avoid the sellers raising the prices of the essential goods for Hari Raya Aidilfitri. When a price ceiling is imposed, the quantity demanded will exceed the quantity supplied, and a shortage will occur (Thesundaily.my, 2013). Price ceiling is often applied on rent controls, the objective of controlling the prices of rent is usually to counteract the inequality of bargaining power between landlords and tenant, as part of a minimum set of rights to make the market fair. It is very well-known that there has always been housing shortage in New York City, therefore, to avoid rent hikes caused by housing shortage, New York State legislators defend the War Emergency Tenant Protection Act to protect the tenants from rent hikes. For instance, the equilibrium rent is $1000 per unit per month, and the government imposes a price ceiling below the equilibrium rent at $800 per unit per month as shown in figure 7, thus, the price of rent cannot go any higher when it hits the price ceiling and the maximum price of rent will be $800 per unit per month. Rent ceiling is imposed to protect the low-income households in the short run but the long run impact is to avoid abandon of property out of the reason that the investors a re not willing to purchase or construct new housing with low rents, because it is unprofitable to the investors. Beside the benefit of low rent for tenants, there is also a bad impact on tenants. When the rents are low, the landlords tend to provide improper maintenances, poor repairs and painting in order to minimize the cost of renting to make more profit (Block, 2008). As it was mentioned before, price floor is the same as price ceiling but the opposite, it is a legal minimum on the price at which a good can be sold. The best example would be wages as it is the primary resource of most households’ incomes. For example, the New York government has fixed a minimum wage at $8.75 which is above the equilibrium wage ($8.00) in 2014 as figure 8 shown, the wages cannot go any lower than $8.75 as it hits the price floor. This price floor is effective and is called binding price floor. Therefore, the minimum wage is now fixed at $8.75, and the market wage is equals to the price floor (Labor.ny.gov, 2013). Thus, for a price floor to be effective, it must be fixed above the equilibrium wage which is called a binding price floor, a price floor that is set below equilibrium is a non-binding price floor. When a price floor is imposed, there will be a surplus of low-skilled workers, because it would produce willing workers who will be unable to find jobs, an increase in the minimum wage would create additional unemployment for low-skilled workers. The unemployment impact of the minimum wage falls vastly on the least experienced, least skilled persons, often teenage labour, holding the lowest paying jobs. In the most recent case, the Malaysian government has increased the price floor for the acquisition of property for foreign buyers from RM500000 (2010) to RM1million in Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan, according to a circular issued by Economic Planning Unit (EPU) of the Prime Minister’s Department on 1st March (Thestar.com.my, 2014). The main reason for this implementation is aim to control the ownerships of properties by foreign interests. Refer to figure 9. Beside imposing price floor and price ceiling, the government also intervenes to change market equilibrium through taxes and subsidies. There are two forms of taxes, direct and indirect tax. Direct tax is a fee levied by government on income, whereas, indirect tax is a fee levied by government on the price of goods and services, and indirect tax is the tax that able to make changes on market equilibrium. The objective of collecting taxes is to finance government expenditure, and the government uses the collected taxes for public infrastructure such as streetlamp and so on. Another reason is to discourage of production and consumption. The changes in demand and supply curve vary from the tax levied on sellers or buyers. When government levies taxes on buyers, the consumers tend to buy less. On the other hand, when tax is levied on suppliers, the cost of production will be increased and the suppliers tend to produce less. Just like many other countries do, Malaysian government is imposing Goods and Services Tax (GST) organized by Royal Malaysia Customs Department starting on 1st April 2015 in response to the fiscal deficit that Malaysia is experiencing. GST is an indirect tax based on consumption that applied on all goods and services and it is set at 6%. GST is imposed to provide more revenues to government besides income tax, it is also said to offer a more comprehensive, efficient, transparent and effective tax system (Khoo et al, 2013). As shown in figure 9, when GST is imposed, the supply of goods and services will decrease from SS to SS1 and causes prices rise from P to P1, and the equilibrium quantity will decrease from Q to Q1, thus, the new equilibrium is at E1. Apart from GST, imported motor vehicle tax in Malaysia is very high and it can be taxed up to 100 percent or even more. According to Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA), the excised duty imposed on vehicle ranges from 65 percent to 105 percent on top of the 10 percent sales tax. A Japan-made 2013 Toyota Prius, the price after tax is around RM140000 but a similarly equipped Prius sells for only around RM80,000 in the US and Japan (Hans, 2013). The objective is to reduce the loss of Ringgit Malaysia outflow to foreign country and protect local vehicle manufacturing industry. The local vehicle manufacturers, Proton and Perodua are heavily supported by the Malaysian government through the National Automotive Policy (NAP) (Lee, 2013). This is the reason why the price of vehicle in Malaysia is very expensive as shown in figure 10. Lastly, subsidy can also change the market equilibrium and it may be regarded as a negative tax. Subsidy is a benefit given by the government to groups or individuals usually in the form of a cash payment or tax reduction. The subsidy is usually given to remove some type of burden and is often considered to be in the interest of the public. A subsidy might be given to assist the poor, to help producer and to encourage consumption of goods and services. The Malaysia government has been subsidizing cooking oil since 1992, and more than RM1billion will be given out to stabilize the price of cooking oil every year. Without subsidy, the price of cooking oil was RM3.50 per kg, and the subsidized price is RM2.50. Refer to figure 11, when the cooking oil is subsidized, the supply will shift rightward which is an increase in supply from SS to SS1, then the price of cooking oil drops and the quantity increases from Q to Q1. The government provides subsidy for cooking oil is targeted for household consumers, unfortunately, 30 to 35 percent of subsidized cooking oil are flow to the restaurant operators, hawkers and small-scale food-based industry, it is also said that even 10 percent of them has flowed to foreign countries (Adnan, 2012). On 2nd October 2014, there was a decrease of 20sen on fuel subsidy and the price has increased from RM2.10 per liter to RM2.30 per liter. As shown in figure 12, the supply for fuel decreases from SS to SS1 and the quantity decreases from Q to Q1. The Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Najib Razak who is also the finance minister stated that the reduction in fuel subsidy is due to the reduced revenue for national expenditure. The fuel subsidy was also reduced for other assistance such as education aid and many more (Ahmad and Singh, 2014). Reference List Adnan, H. (2012).  Archives | The Star Online.. [online] Thestar.com.my. Available at: http://www.thestar.com.my/story/?file=/2012/10/2/business/12110226 [Accessed 25 Nov. 2014]. Ahmad, S. and Singh, N. (2014).Najib talks about further subsidy cuts. [online] Free Malaysia Today. Available at: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/10/22/najib-talks-about-further-subsidy-cuts/ [Accessed 25 Nov. 2014]. Block, W. (2008).Rent Control: The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics | Library of Economics and Liberty. [online] Econlib.org. Available at: http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/RentControl.html [Accessed 22 Nov. 2014]. Hans, (2013).Explaining The Mystery Behind High Car Prices in Malaysia Part 1. [online] Livelifedrive.com. Available at: http://www.livelifedrive.com/malaysia/news/view/3802/explaining-the-mystery-behind-high-car-prices-in-malaysiapart-1 [Accessed 23 Nov. 2014]. Khoo, C. (2013).GST in Malaysia. 1st ed. [ebook] Malaysia: KPMG tax Services Sdn Bhd, p.2. Available at: http://www.kpmg.com/MY/en/services/Tax/gst/Documents/tl-gst-malaysia.pdf [Accessed 23 Nov. 2014]. Labor.ny.gov, (2013).Minimum Wages New York State Department of Labor. [online] Available at: http://www.labor.ny.gov/workerprotection/laborstandards/workprot/minwage.shtm [Accessed 22 Nov. 2014]. Lee, I. (2013).What Causes High Car Prices In Malaysia?. [online] iMoney.my. Available at: https://www.imoney.my/articles/high-car-prices-in-malaysia [Accessed 24 Nov. 2014]. Themalaysianinsider.com, (2013).New ceiling price for chicken from July 26 – RM7.70 per kg The Malaysian Insider. [online] Available at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/new-ceiling-price-for-chicken-from-july-26-rm7.70-per-kg [Accessed 20 Nov. 2014]. Thestar.com.my, (2014).Foreigners can only buy properties costing RM1m and above from March 1 Business News | The Star Online. [online] Available at: http://www.thestar.com.my/Business/Business-News/2014/02/28/Foreigners-can-only-buy-properties-costing-RM1m-and-above-from-March-1/?style=biz [Accessed 22 Nov. 2014]. Thesundaily.my, (2013).Ceiling price for chicken fixed at RM7.70 | theSundaily. [online] Available at: http://www.thesundaily.my/news/775160 [Accessed 20 Nov. 2014].

special ed :: essays research papers fc

Page 1 of 3 3803 The Treaty of Versailles. (buy this paper) This eleven-page undergraduate paper discusses the Treaty of Versailles which ended the First World War in terms of the Allies' desire for vengeance, the treaty's punishing territorial provisions, the unrealistic war reparations payments demanded of Germany, and the dire consequences these had upon chances for future peace. 11 pgs. Bibliography lists 5 sources. Filename: 3803 Treaty of Versailles.doc Price: $98.45 3922 The Causes of World War One. (buy this paper) This paper evaluates the causes of the First World War. It shows how scholars have pointed to the forces of nationalism, militarism and imperialism to explain the origins of the conflict. The war was certainly caused by the collision of interests between imperial powers. Overall, the paper reveals that the historiographical debate surrounds the issue of whether it was individual events or underlying forces that caused the war. 6 pgs. Bibliography lists 3 sources. Filename: 3922 World War One.doc Price: $ 53.70 6815 "In viewing the possible impact of the United States towards the War effort "over there", did the United States turn the tide of battle, that is, in all facets, economically, and militarily, did the impact of the United States entry into World War I enable the allies to achieve victory---YES OR NO?" (buy this paper) This is a 6-page paper in MLA style that states that World War I was won on the basis of the entrance of the Americans who through their military and economic help changed the tide of the war. 6 pgs. Bibliography lists 7 sources. Filename: 6815 US War Efforts.doc Price: $53.70 10247 Influence on Public Opinion in World War One. (buy this paper) This 4-pages undergraduate paper examines the role played by intellectuals and of propaganda in the World War I era. 4 pgs. Bibliography list 3 sources. Filename: 10247 Public Opinion War.doc Price: $35.80 2228 The Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. (buy this paper) This paper looks at the bombing by the Americans on Hiroshima and Nagasaki as an inevitable decision to avoid a long drawn out war with Japan. Essentially, the decision to bomb was the lesser of two evils. 10.5 pgs. 21 f/c. 10b. Filename: 2228 Bombing Hiroshima Nagasaki.doc Price: $89.50 2079 The American Decision to Use a Nuclear Weapon on Hiroshima. (buy this paper) 13 pgs. 17 f/c. 12b. Filename: 2079 American Decision Nuclear.

The Poetry of A. E. Housman Essay -- essays research papers

The Poetry of A. E. Housman Housman was born in Burton-On-Trent, England, in 1865, just as the US Civil War was ending. As a young child, he was disturbed by the news of slaughter from the former British colonies, and was affected deeply. This turned him into a brooding, introverted teenager and a misanthropic, pessimistic adult. This outlook on life shows clearly in his poetry. Housman believed that people were generally evil, and that life conspired against mankind. This is evident not only in his poetry, but also in his short stories. For example, his story, "The Child of Lancashire," published in 1893 in The London Gazette, is about an child who travels to London, where his parents die, and he becomes a street urchin. There are veiled implications that the child is a homosexual (as was Housman, most probably), and he becomes mixed up with a gang of similar youths, attacking affluent pedestrians and stealing their watches and gold coins. Eventually he leaves the gang and becomes wealthy, but is attacked by t he same gang (who don't recognize him) and is thrown off London Bridge into the Thames, which is unfortunately frozen over, and is killed on the hard ice below. Housman's poetry is similarly pessimistic. In fully half the poems the speaker is dead. In others, he is about to die or wants to die, or his girlfriend is dead. Death is a really important stage of life to Housman; without death, Housman would probably not have been able to be a poet. (Housman, himself, died ...

Integrated and Collaborative Working Essay

What is integrated and collaborative working and why is it so important in childhood practice? The numerous well-publicised child protection cases such as Baby P and Daniel Pelka have emphasized just what can happen when services fail to work collaboratively and this shows why integrated working and collaborative practice is vital and imperative. The outcomes of fatal accident enquiries, like the cases of the children mentioned, continually conclude that a lack of communication between agencies with regards to sharing of relevant information and concerns regarding vulnerable children are one factor which requires to be addressed. The idea behind multi-agency working is that children and families who may require additional assistance are supported effectively and efficiently, therefore minimising or even preventing any difficulties from arising. Children develop in different ways and achieve developmental stages at different rates therefore a diversity of skills and support from a ran ge of different professionals is required in order to successfully meet these needs. On 10th December 2008, the Scottish Government launched The Early Years Framework to highlight the importance of working in professional partnership to give children the best possible start in life. The Scottish Executive’s concern for social inclusion and desire to promote ‘joined up’ policies, an increased demand on services from service users and not to mention the focus on child-centeredness are just a few justifications for such a focus on and drive towards collaborative practice. The benefits of integrated working are enormous as all professionals implement a holistic approach, and working in partnership creates better quality services. Integrated working ensures early identification of any difficulties by efficient sharing of relevant information, thus ensuring that appropriate intervention can be delivered timely. Families also develop closer relationships with a variety of agencies throughout the stages of assessment/intervention resulting in better support and engagement of families, and subsequently the needs of the child are more likely to be met. Another benefit is that the more collaborative working that is carried out between agencies, the more knowledge is transferred between professionals allowing for a more well-informed and proficient team around the child. This could also potentially reduce the need for more specialised services. By working in a collaborative way it also allows for critical reflection allowing all agencies to participate in decision-making while refining their  knowledge. With that being said, we are faced with a number of barriers that can often make integrated working less than simple. These can include poor communication both within and between agencies, and to some degree a lack of uncertainties in roles and responsibilities, inconsistencies regarding legisla tion, confidentiality and the sharing of information. Funding streams are often a barrier to collaborative working. One which I can relate to in my workplace is little to no access to IT equipment and/or compatible systems which would facilitate sharing of information. Some research has been carried out in relation to personality traits within teams and Belbin’s team roles theory shows the importance of recognising the strengths and weaknesses of individuals utilizing the strengths of each person in order to create a productive and efficient team, a clearly beneficial factor in collaborative working. While utilizing the strengths, it is important to manage the weaknesses suggesting that an unbalanced team could just as likely become a barrier. The importance of collaborative working can be seen in the example of a Speech and Language Therapist (SLT). This professional works in close partnership with children and their families, not to mention other professionals. Their job is to assess children with speech, language and communica tion difficulties or those with difficulties eating, drinking or swallowing. Communication is an important part of child development which affects every other area of progression. SLT are an invaluable link between education and health as they are skilled at identifying potential underlying difficulties/disorders. There are many factors an SLT has to consider including the impact these difficulties have on the child’s life and the urgency of such a referral. Integrated working is crucial as professionals gain a full family history, thorough assessment of every aspect of the child’s life, and pull this together into a formulation about the child’s difficulties and how they are being maintained. If such a comprehensive assessment was not available then an SLT could potentially arrive at an inaccurate formulation of a child’s difficulties due to incomplete information which other agencies may hold. The significance of effective integrated working is clear in this case, as the barriers previously discussed can make the job of Speech and Language Therapists very difficult as an inaccurate formulation may result in serious implications for a child’s intervention. An Educational Psychologist is another professional  that heavily relies on effective integrated working. The purpose of these professionals is to work with children and young people who are having difficulties with achieving their learning potential. Gone are the days where the only rationale for such issues was innate condition of the child which required treating. Instead psychologists are considering the need for adjustments in certain external influences such as environment, curriculum and peers as well as internal factors like child resilience as possible solutions to such difficulties. This does not undermine the possibility of organic causes such as autism etc. Their role is vital in supporting children, families, and educators whereby children are not achieving their maximum level of educational attainment for whatever reason (be it social, emotional, familial, or academically) and educational psychologists must work with many different agencies in order to gain a full and clear assessment of all potential factors and causes. Urie Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory explains how lives are affected by people and events around us, further evidence that psychologists have good reason to believe that certain difficulties children face are in fact to do with these external influences. Bronfenbrenner’s theory is based on five levels of social interaction and its effects. The first level, Microsystem is based on the most direct interactions. Family, peers, school, work or the area in which an individual lives. Mesosystem follows and includes the relationships between microsystems. Next is Exosystem which involves the connections with a social environment in which the individual doesn’t have direct interaction. Macrosystem is the influence of culture, religion, traditions and media. These differ and conflict in different countries. The fifth level Chronosystem consists of the significant events that occur in an individual’s life, such as getting married or divorced etc. Bronfenbrenner believed that the influence of environmental factors was paramount in shaping the development of children from childhood to adulthood. The Scottish Executive published ‘It’s everyone’s job to make sure I’m alright’ (2002). The focus of this child protection review was an audit of the practice of police, medical, nursing, social work, children’s reporter, and education staff concluding that everyone has a duty and role in safeguarding and ensuring the welfare of children. The audit was based on a sample of 188 cases which covered the range of possible concerns about children from early  identification of vulnerability to substantiated abuse or neglect (both of which are significantly detrimental to childhood development). Neglect and abuse can be deemed as the environmental influences suggested by Bronfenbrenner that manipulate a child’s progression. In many cases the audit found that children were not receiving the services they required and many could not access services such as health care if their parents/carers did not cooperate. This highlights the importance of integrated and collaborative practice and the need for sharing of information across agencies regarding concerns with vulnerable children. Good practice included the provision of help to parents and children as and when was needed, timely responses, early thought and preparation, and accurately assessing the source of the risk. In order to properly assess a childs risk, a multiagency approach is required in order to gain a comprehensive assessment of the child’s needs. Every professional involved in providing a service to children has a duty to ensure their safety and promote psychological wellbeing. In order to do so profe ssionals must share information when there are concerns about a child’s presentation in order to gain a comprehensive assessment of a child’s needs. Every Child Matters is a UK Government initiative for England and Wales launched in 2003, partly in response to the death of Victoria Climbie. It is one of the most important policy initiatives and development programmes in relation to children and children’s services. It has been the title of 3 Government papers, which lead to the Children Act 2004. The main aims of Every Child Matters are for every child, whatever their background or circumstances, to have the support they need to: stay safe, healthy, enjoy and achieve, economic wellbeing, and positive contribution. Each of these themes have a detailed framework attached whose outcomes require multiagency partnerships working together to achieve. Every Child Matters advocates that it is essential that all professionals working with children are aware of the contribution that could be made by their own and each other’s service and plan and deliver their work accordingly (Baker R 2009). Every Child Matters has been infl uential throughout the UK-Getting it Right for Every Child is the equivalent approach in Scotland. The Scottish Government recently published Getting It Right for Every Child  (GIRFEC), which was designed to create a consistent, child-centred approach within and across the agencies who are involved with children and young people. Getting it right for every child is being threaded through all existing policy, practice, strategy and legislation affecting children, young people and their families. GIRFEC uses the Wellbeing Wheel (Appendix 1) or the SHANARRI indicators as they’re often referred to, in order to create a consistent way for professionals in multi-agencies to assess a child’s development and general wellbeing. SHANARRI is an acronym for the eight indicators (Safe, Healthy, Achieving, Nurtured, Active, Respected, Responsible, Included) used to make the evaluation of a child’s welfare in order to help them develop their full potential. It is important that everyone is assessing the same aspects of a child’s wellbeing using their own unique professional training and skills by using these indicators as guidance. This allows all agencies involved to have the same shared understanding of a child’s needs and the support they require. The Scottish Government values the purpose of collaborative working and in order to do so effectively, there must be certain legislation inaugurated. The Children (Scotland) Act 1995 is a child-centred piece of legislation that outlines the provisions offered to children and families and the duties of the local authorities to children’s wellbeing regarding support, safeguarding and intervention. The act emphasizes the importance of the child’s welfare and gives the child the right to have their views considered, when key decisions are being made about their life, incorporating UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is law that all agencies must adhere to th is act when working with children and families requiring additional needs, ensuing successful multi-agency working. The Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 was established to create regulations to which all social care services must adhere to in order to improve and maintain a high quality of care, otherwise they are no longer permitted to provide a service. With Care Inspectorate, the regulatory body ensuring that all care services are following the National Care Standards set by the Scottish Government, it’s easy to see how encouraging everyone to offer the same high quality of care can support collaborative working by sharing knowledge, skills and practice. â€Å"A well-qualified, professional workforce is the most important factor in delivering the quality of services that will give children the best possible  start in life.† (QAA Scotland) The Benchmark Statements for Childhood Practice outlines the expectations from SSSC and ensures that lead practitioners in childcare settings are qualified to high standard and competent in working collaboratively with parents, families a nd other agencies. As previously discussed, when agencies do not work collaboratively there can be devasting impacts which in extreme cases can contribute to fatality which is highlighted by the Victoria Climbie Inquiry Report, 2002-3. Victoria Climbie died in the intensive care unit of St Mary’s Hospital Paddington in February 2000, aged 8 years old. Her death was caused by multiple injuries arising from months of ill-treatment and abuse by her great-aunt and her partner. Victoria’s death led to a public enquiry and produced major changes in child protection policies. One of the recommendations from the fatal accident enquiry was that society should be aiming to ensure that there are systems in place which detect what is happening at an early stage so as to be able to intervene successfully to protect the child. This tragically did not happen for Victoria. She was failed comprehensively by all the services she was known to and who should have ultimately protected her. Despite repeated contacts with different services, no proper assessment was ever undertaken, and no more was known about Victoria when she died than was known about her the day after she arrived in the country. The very fact that her case was closed by Haringey Social Services the day she died points to the scale of failure. So too does the fact that the authorities charged with her care almost without exception failed to talk to Victoria directly, instead addressing their concerns to those responsible ultimately for her death. Peter Connelly (also known as the case of baby P) was a 17month old baby who died in London after suffering over 50 injuries in an 8month time period, during which time he was repeatedly seen by Haringey Children’s Services and NHS health professionals. The case caused shock and concern partly because of the magnitude of Peter’s injuries, and partly because Peter had lived in the borough of Haringey, under the same child care authorities that had already failed 10 years earlier in the case of Victoria Climbe which had, as previously stated, led to a public enquiry resulting in measures being put in place in an effort to prevent similar cases happening. The child protection services of Haringey and other agencies were widely criticised. Following the conviction, 3 enquiries and a nationwide review of social service care were launched. Over the course of months, Peter was admitted to hospital with a range of injuries including bruising, scratches and swelling to the head. The serious case review concluded that there were instances of mishandling by officials, missed and delayed meetings, miscommunication among officials, and a failure to follow through with decisions related to the child’s safety. Parental involvement is high on the Scottish Government’s expectations and working within a community nursery run by a committee of parents requires a great deal of collaborative working in order for the nursery to run efficiently and effectively. Finding a balance of what parents want, what children need, while embracing the Curriculum for Excellence requires a great deal of expedient communication. It requires successful sharing of knowledge and skills between experienced parents and qualified practitioners. The most productive committee would ideally be influenced by Belbin’s team role theory, however finding volunteers to be on such a committee can be difficult. Working collaboratively with agencies such a Visual Screening and Oral Health can have tremendous benefits to children’s wellbeing, is essential in promoting a healthy lifestyle and can offer preventative interventions. Working with other agencies such as Speech and Language Therapists and Educational Psychologists requires a great deal of integrated and collaborative working also and with the introduction of standardised referral forms has helped to establish consistency in information gathering which is a step towards more collaborative working, however working in such a small nursery, communications with these agencies can be infrequent and having such little experience dealing with these agencies, st aff can sometimes lack confidence and knowledge how to fill out paperwork and follow procedures. A suggestion would be to offer more in-house training regarding these procedures to ensure that when issues do arise staff feel competent in dealing with these situations. The importance of transitions for children going to school seems to be high on the local authorities’ agenda. There are many initiatives that would be highly beneficial to children but trying to obtain the involvement of other nurseries can sometimes be difficult. Poor communication and incapability to participate can be an obstacle often hard to overcome due to  other establishments’ finances, staffing issues and in some cases the unwillingness to take part. Attending liaison meetings with other nurseries to share knowledge, ideas and information is a great source of collaborative practice, but again this requires the willingness to be involved. One of the biggest barriers in collaborative working is poor communication. It is everyone’s role to ensure that as much information is shared with all agencies involved, the importance of this cannot be stressed enough. How little knowledge some professionals have regarding the roles of others can also be a hindrance. In order to improve collaborative working an increased awareness of the roles and responsibilities of other agencies is imperative. Reference List A Guide to GIRFEC, Scottish Government, 2013 Baker R, 2009, Making Sense of Every Child Matters – Multi-professional Practice Guidance, Policy Press Early Years Framework, Scottish government, Edinburgh, 2008 Every Child Matters, Sept 2003. www.everychildmatters.gov.uk House of Commons Health Committee: The Victoria Climbie Inquiry Report, 2002-3 It’s everyone’s job to make sure I’m alright, Report of the child protection audit and review. Scottish Government, 2002 The Case of Child A. Haringey council, 2008, 11-12 The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, The Standard for Childhood Practice, 2007, Linney Direct, Mansfield The Structure of Belbin’s Team Roles. Fisher et al, 1998, Journal of Occupational and Organisational psychology, 71, 283-288

Azerbaijan Poverty Rate

Approved by the decree 3043 of the President of the accede of Azerbaijan date of kinfolk 15, 2008 vault of heaven design on beggary dec arguing of credit and Sustainable instruction in the responsibility of Azerbaijan for 2008-2015 Chapter 1 Introduction In straddle to tackle meagreness on a trans field aim, the whirls of 147 world countries get together together at the United Nations (UN) millennium Summit in New York in September 2000 to sign the millennium contract bridge reflecting Millennium phylogenesis Goals (MDGs) and committed themselves to achieving exiguity decrement by 2015.In golf-club to fit away the ch entirelyenges set out in the promulgation, a set of 8 global goals were formulated, with 18 targets and 48 indicators. The eldest of these goals is to halve the way out of the worlds heap briskness in extreme mendi bumcy and hunger. case leader Heydar Aliyev sign-langu mature(a) the Millennium Declaration on behalf of the Re unrestri cted of Azerbaijan.In antitheticiate to recognise this commitment in line with the topical anaesthetic anesthetic conditions in the Re unrestricted of Azerbaijan which is signatory to the Millennium Declaration, the President of the Re overt of Azerbaijan sanctioned by his formula 854 of February 20, 2003 the secernate of matter of matter computer program on indigence Reduction and Economic evolution (SPPRED) in the Re universe of Azerbaijan for 2003-2005. Implementation of that bailiwick-style theatre of operations Program in 2003-2005 coreed in brinytaining general macro sparing stability, ensuring dynamic frugal instruction and upholding inflation and home(a) exchange baffle at appropriate lays.In its turn these achevements set aheadd to carrying out of certain activities aimed at solution lively friendly probelms as hale up as tackling indigence. So the mendicancy level wherefore came down from 46. 7% in 2002 to 29. 3% in 2005. In outrank t o concern the positive act in alter the assures welf be the extract Program on Poerty Reduction and Sustainable Development (SPPRSD) in the Re semi unexclusive of Azerbaijan for 2008-2015 was prep ard.Chapter 2 Poerty in Azerbaijan 2. 1. P everywherety Profile, Levels and Indicators circuit card 2. 1 summarizes the scantiness levels in the unsophisticated on the basis of statistics and info derived from the Ho wonthold Budget Survey (HBS) for 2002-2007. put back 2. 1. Poverty levels for the republic of Azerbaijan 2002 Poverty line, in AZN Poverty level, in % 35 46. 7 2003 35. 8 44. 7 2004 38. 8 40. 2 2005 42. 6 29. 3 2006 58 20. 8 2007 64 15. 8As it is seen from the Table in 2007 the distress level dropped to 15. 8%. Analysis of the HBS culture suggests that the following particularors atomic expect 18 associated with exiguity encounter in the rude in that localisation of function is a sm entirely difference in the indigence paces for urban and rural parts, precisely the leanness incidence in the urban sphere of influence has been declining at a accele set outd set up than that in the rural ara 2 the lowest periodic income per capta by stinting regions is reported in top(pre titular) Karabakh, Aran and Highland Shirvan. except the main difference is betwixt Baku and the regions of the field (Difference in income send mingled with Baku and Upper Karabakh with Aran atomic number 18as was correspondingly AZN25. 9 and 19. 7) the poverty take chances festerings the flavour-sizer the firm size ( compute of family companionable unit members) the monthly income appreciate per capita in class with 4 chel atomic number 18n 1. 5 clock lower compared to household without tykeren and 1. 3 propagation lower compared to household with 1 child.Income per capita for people actual altogether is 2 times gameer(prenominal) than that unitary for households with children the poverty risk for the household decreases the la vishlyer(prenominal) the pro installation level of the head of the household, oddly when the head of household has higher victimisation plot of ground the monthly income station for households where the head of household is in the 30-39, 4049 and 60+ be on groups is lower, it for households where the head of household is in the 18-29 and 50-59 board groups is higher than aver mature one Income is a means to amend alive standards, save it is non the only situationor change to poverty reduction.Raising income levels without achieving parallel progresss in the rescue of br some some raw(a)(prenominal)ly religious operates bequeath not solve the poverty problem in the soundbox politic. It is in that locationfore too Copernican to reminder much(prenominal) indicators as infant and child death rate, maternal mortality, viands security measure and child nutrition, incidence of familial diseases, school attendance and enrolment pass judgment, and school l bring ining execution extends.There is still a number cadence challenges in the monitor of the aspects listed above, save the procurable info suggest summarizing the following points present(a) ozon layer depletion, climate changes, abrupt reduction of biodiversity, continous cancel disasters, befoulment of the surround obliviousen spreading of various diseases. Respiratory track, infectious, parasitic, dividing line circulation diseases and indigestion are mainly far-flung among nation of the unpolished the incidence of communicable diseases which can be easily vetoed, such as TB, malaria, is going down, yet take up soundy to be kept at a lower place control.This requires germane(predicate) public enthronization in encumbrance measures in the public health run, and for children, ensuring mount cover shape up with immunization weapons platforms thither are still at a lower place-nutrition and malnutrition problems amongst indefensible groups, particul arly unless not only the Internally Displaced hoi polloi (IDPs). There is a study to intervene with extra political programs for these groups school enrolment rates are high, but there are concerns well-nigh festering antitheticalials in reference of bringing up stomachd at schools. domain coronation in commandment is necessary to outgrowth for addressing these differentials, and fix that all children are issued with the tally opportunities trapping conditions for endangered sections of the commonwealth are un o.k., and alter the health status of household members. Overcrowding, alter with non-clean terminate, privation of continuous electrical nil supplement, and lack of get to to piped pissing allow are problems face up by a large section of the IDP nation, and opposite undefendable groups. Public investment has to prioritize rectifyments in hearty infrastructure for these groups. . 2. Significant Points for polity face Based on HBS resul ts the following points should be taken into comity when formulating indemnity constitution priorities 1. Income extension has been much easier in Baku than in different urban and rural areas. The regions out of doors of Baku form lower animated standards, suggesting less commerce opportunities. From this prospective there is a indigence to invoke sustainable economic reading including that one across different sphere of influences in the regions considering local anaesthetic peculiarities. 2. The fact that there is a high poverty risk for those in workings age (higher than for retired age) suggests that function does not necessarily hold dear households and man-to-mans from poverty. From this absorbpoint there is a need to manipulate that booking is high- enlist and productivity i. e. there is a need to ready proletariat intensive orbits, and to replace to a lower place calling with meshing in productive notes. 3. Children gather in the highest poverty risk, as do households with many children.As children comp rise up supererogatory disbursal for households some of the poverty risk for children can be reduced by astir(p) the income-generating activities of fully grown household members. stave accessible shield measures also need to ensure that vulnerable households with children are provided with set up. The fact that children consider a higher poverty risk than the elderly suggests the need to focalization to a greater extent(prenominal)(prenominal) tender expenditure on the younger age groups and families with children. . Recent ever-growing ecumenic need in provender, drastic rebel in prices of zipper re stocks as salubrious as use of arable lands for bioenergetic nude materials cultivation cause rise in price of provenderstuffs. In its turn it tinges nixly on food add together to low-income groups of cosmos, and on b crude coverersuit living standards in the realm. substantiality food security ho mecomings accept to be reconsidered in the light of actual worldwide and local situation. Chapter 3 SPPRSD Over calculate 3. 1. strategicalal Goals The following 9 strategicalal goals for the SPPRSD for 2008-2015 were identified I. ensuring sustainable economic breeding done honouring macroeconomic stability and equilibrize ontogeny of the non-oil heavens II. summation income-generating opportunities and achieving substantial reduction in the measlyest sections of the universe of discourse III. decrease affectionate risks for old age groups, low-income families and vulnerable groups of tribe by break out strong favorable aegis establishment IV. ontinuing unionized effectuation of activities aimed at upward(a) the living conditions of refugees and IDPs V. up(p) the eccentric of and ensuring equal admission charge to affordable basic health and preparation services VI. maturation social infrastructure, modify public utilities form VII. astir(p) mi lieual situation and ensuring sustainable oversight of environs VIII. promoting and protecting sexual urge equality IX. go on institutional reforms and astir(p) thoroughly presidential term activity. . 2. particularized Features The specific features of the SPPRSD can be summarized as follows it is fully line uped with the MDGs and sets applicable country indemnity goals and specific targets meantime these goals represent logical follow-up of the SPPRED fleck adhering principles of full methodological succession it is aligned with otherwise current affirm programs it is ground on a participatory and observe mathematical process involving the government and world-wide organizations and civil society.In differentiate to achieve the strategic goals set out above measures to be employ over 2008-2015 are classified chthonian(a) the 4 functional groups and set forth in the SPPRSD Chapters 4-7 1. macroeconomic stability and economic festering (Chapter 4) 2. job polity and social safeguard of the population (Chapter 5) 3. charitable victimisation and social progress (Chapter 6) 4. institutional policy and salutary governance (Chapter 7). 4Participatory process involving joint activities of the government, civil society and worldwide organizations as an pregnant doer in instruction execution of the program as well as other switch offs relating to the monitoring appliances over activities to be implemented and over outcomes to be achieved within the program are stipulate in the last, eighth Chapter of the SPPRSD (participation and monitoring). This suppose Program sets priorities and targets for 8-year extent (2008-2015) and implys a list of policy measures for the first 3-year period (2008-2010) (Attachment ?1). retardation base on the results of these activities approval of the spic-and-span action invent for 2011-2015 is provided. The main sources for pay the state of matter Program are notes to be allocated for these purposes from the postulate Budget, the posit oil color Fund (SOFAR) and the suppose well-disposed Protection Fund (SSPF) as well as other sources not conflicting with economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Sources and meats of funds required for implementation of the activities within the SPPRSD bequeath be identified while considering fetchment the State Budget, off- compute funds and MTEF on one-year basis.In addition amounts of funds allocated for implementation of the SPPRSD policy measures and activities give be aligned with the financing sources of other strategy and concept papers, state programs, work and action plans (Attachment ?2) as well as go down the stairsed with loan agreements subscribe with worldwide monetary institutions. 3. 3. Summary of Goals, Targets and Indicators The Table 3. 1 at a lower place summarizes generalized arrangement of relevant targets and indicators on 9 strategic goals of the State Program. Table 3. 1. Overview of the strateg ic goals, targets and indicators of the SPPRSD strategic Goals 1.Ensuring sustainable economic learning with maintaining macroeconomic stability and equilibrize outgrowth of the non-oil domain Targets 1. asseverate genius trope figure inflation rate since 2011 by its annual step-down without 2008-2010 and maintaining at the manageable level 2. ontogenesis gross house servant product per capita by 2 times in 2008- 2015 3. Increase real non-oil GDP by 2 times by 2008-2015 4. primary(prenominal)tain non-oil GDP real stripped-down suppuration rate at 7-8% level in 2008-2015 2. Increasing incomegenerating opportunities and achieving substantial reduction in the poorest sections of the population 3.Reducing social risks for old age groups, low-income families and vulnerable groups of population by develop stiff social protection administration 5. pass 2 times poverty rate reduction by 2015 6. sicken un troth rate to 34% by 2015 7. condition that nominal pursue and ba sic allowances level are make up on perpetual basis and exceed the case minimum subsistence level since 2011 8. Gradually bring the eligibility bill for receipt of social care up to the level of the supervise indicators and baselines Inflation rate 16. 7% (2007) GDP per capita 3168. AZN (2007) Non-oil GDP 9. 5 bln. AZN (2007) Non-oil GDP real minimum offset rate 11. 3% (2007) Poverty rate 15. 8% (2007) Un meshing rate 6. 5% (2007) minimum subsistence level 70 AZN (2008) Minimum earnings 60 AZN (by early 2008) Basic pensions 60 AZN (by early 2008) Eligibility criterion for social assistance 45 AZN (by early 2008) 5 Strategic Goals Targets national subsistence minimum 4. Continuing dictatorial implementation of activities aimed at modify the living conditions of refugees and IDPs 9. Improve the living conditions of refugees and IDPs 10.Increase the level of employment among refugees and IDPs to the norm national employment level 11. fit that all school age children nai l a full demarcation of general pedagogics (I-XI grades) by 2015 12. Increase by 2 times the grapple of children in pre-school age completing pre-school fostering by 2015 13. Ensure complete attack of all schoolchildren to computers and internet by 2015 persona of refugees and IDPs sett direct in dainty houses 46% (2007) usage rate among refugees and IDPs 31. 7% (2007) loot enrollment rate at primary quill education 94. 9% (2007) basic education 79. % (2007) petty(a) education 48. 8% (2007) Pre-school education coverage rate 17. 2% (2007) Monitoring indicators and baselines 5. improving the quality of and ensuring equal doorway to affordable basic health and education services 14. give the European countries average under-one mortality rate by 2015 15. Achieve the European countries average maternal mortality by three quarters by 2015 16. Halt the spread of tuberculosis, malaria, brucellosis by 2015 17. Halt the spread of HIV/ aid by 2010 18. Increase life prediction a t birth to 76, of which 74. 5 old age for men and 77. for women by 2015 6. growth social infrastructure, improving public utilities frame 19. construct a reliable urine cater supply remains in the regional towns and villages by using local springs and ground water sources and supply all the population with water by dint of a centralize water supply dust by 2015 20. extend complete aeration and sanitation services in towns and settlements of the country by 2015 21. Improve households boast supply through a change muck up supply governing body snatch of pupils per computer in general hourary schools in congeries 47 (2007) V-XI grades 29 (2007). divide of schools with internet feeler 3% (2007) Under-one mortality rate 12. 1 per 1,000 (2007) 35. 5 per carbon,000 (2007) tebibyte 7,783 cases (2007) Malaria 106 cases (2007) Brucellosis 475 cases (2007) HIV/AIDS infections 1,379 registered cases (2007) life-time expectancy at birth 72. 4 (2007) of which male 69. 7 years (2007) young-bearing(prenominal) 75. 1 years (2007) Share of population with reliable water supply ashes in the regional towns and villages 46. 5% (2007) Share of population provided by the centralized sanitation services 33. 7% (2006) Households with gas supply 81. 2% (2007) 6 Strategic Goals Targets 22.Supply of heat to residential and non-residential buildings by 2015 23. Ensure complete satisfaction of the countrys muscle demands through internal resources and uninterrupted electricity government agency supply for all households by 2015 24. Provide complete domestic household wastes related services 2015 25. Increase the number of telephones to 50 per 100 persons in cities and regional towns and to 30 per 100 persons in rural areas by 2015 26. Increase the number of internet users to 50 per 100 by 2015 27. retrace 2,800 km of the countrys roadstead in line with supranational standards by 2015 7. mproving environmental situation and ensuring sustainable counsellin g of environment 28. Increase the proportion of woods areas in amount of money land area to 12. 5% by 2015 29. Increase the sell of protected land area in the derive surface area to 12% by 2015 30. Decrease by 20% the conditional fuel utilise for 1 kw of energy for reducing green-house emissions in the energy empyrean by 2015 31. Achieve complete se earnings treatment in the country by 2015 32. Achieve 80% recycling and neutralizaiton of solid household wastes in the large cities by 2015 8. promoting and protecting gender equality 33.Ensure make up participation level of women in decision-making by 2015 Monitoring indicators and baselines residential buildings heating supply 22. 7% (2006) electrical energy power achievement in the country 21. 4bln kvh (2007) 700,000 subscribers in Baku are provided by services in this vault of heaven (2006) yell lines per 100 person in get even 14. 6 (2007) in urban areas 33 (2007), In rural areas 9. 4 (2007) net users 12 per 100 (2 007) pith space of the roads reconstructed in line with internationalist standards 1,020 km (2007) Proportion of timberland areas in perfect land area 11. % (2007) Share of protected land area in the total surface area 8. 1% (2007) Quantity of conditional fuel used for 1 kw of energy 386 gr (2006) Se net income treatment in large cities 57. 9% (2006) Share of recycled and neutralized solid household wastes in the large cities 10. 9% (2006) Share of women among Central executive berth chairpersons 4 % (2007), Members of Parliament 11. 2% (2005) Municipalities 4. 08% (2004) adjudicate 16% (2007) 9. continuing institutional reforms and improving good governance 34. Improve good governance and the quality of public field charge so as to align with EU standards by 2015.Chapter 4 macroeconomic stableness and Economic Growth 7 4. 1. Links to Poverty Poverty is a multidimensional problem that goes beyond economic science to include social and institutional issues. Although pov erty reduction cannot be based only if on economic policies, economic offset and macroeconomic stability remain a requirement for poverty reduction, and are inhering in fix up to achieve broad-based and sustainable rates of growth. whiz of the principle prerequisite ensuring sustainable economic growth includes territorial and geographical diversification of the economic growth.In this interpret non-oil arena development and regions balanced development are of utmost brilliance. Thus, sustainable economic growth is the basis of macroeconomic stability. To protect macroeconomic stability, all public expenditures of the country must be managed in a sustainable, non- inflationary manner. Researches show that rapid cast ups in inflation tend to hurt the poor most, and step-up the likelihood of people who live just above the poverty line falling back into poverty. Thus macroeconomic stability, ensured sustainable economic growth, and careful care of government gross and exp enditure come key importance. . 2. menses Situation and chief(prenominal) Challenges As a result of the successful economic policies implemented last year, overall macroeconomic stability has been maintained, sustainable economic growth ensured, development of entrepreneurship broadened, and job world, peculiarly in the regions has extendd. These keep back all led to an increase in income generating opportunities, and a satisfying amendment in the well-being of the people. As Table 4. 1 shows, Azerbaijans high rate of GDP growth in 2003-2005, has make it one of the fastest growing countries not only in the region, but in the world.Table 4. 1. Main indicators of the GDP for 2004-2007 2004 Total amount of GDP, in bln. AZN of which non-oil sector Per capita GDP, in AZN Real growth rate of GDP, in % Deflator index of GDP, in % Share of non-government sector in GDP, in % 8. 5 5. 24 1,042 10. 2 108. 4 73. 5 2005 12. 5 6. 1 1,513. 9 26. 4 116. 1 77. 8 2006 18. 7 7. 6 2,241. 1 34 . 5 111. 3 81. 0 2007 26. 8 9. 5 3,168. 5 25. 0 114. 4 84. 0 In this period oil revenue go on to be salt away in SOFAR and additional work out revenue due to the increase in global oil prices, was accumulated in a special account.The theme Bank (NB) of the Republic of Azerbaijan made limited purchase interventions in the silver foodstuff and continued to issue of its short-term notes as part of the sterilisation policy to neutralize surplus liquid in the relying ashes. In addition in rescript to limit the expected negative partake of the huge oil and gas revenues on the thriftiness and to the presidential decree dated September 27, 2004 canonic the long-run Strategy on Management of Oil and Gas Revenues which has the objective of channeling the energy sector revenues into the development of non-oil sector, poverty reduction, and the development of human capital.This strategy is a basis to throw out to the non-oil sector desegregation to the world thriftiness enhancing its international competitivness. Control over the nominal exchange rate of the national gold has ensured a long-run favorable trend in the real exchange rate index and friended to promote the international hawkishness of the country. Although the real effective exchange rate of the national notes appreciated by 12. 2% in the non-oil sector during 2007, it depreciated by 11% in December, 2007 compared with the relevant period of 2000. Thus though the real effective exchange rate was intoneed for short term it changed in scales promoting to protection of the international militantness of the country. The amount of currency reserves has increased significantly. The amount of official currency reserves of the NB for January 1, 2008 exceeded 4 bln. USD. At the uniform time, the amount of internal currency reserve equivalent to exported goods and services excluding the oil sector exceeds 5 times the international standards on funding terms. The share of opposed debts under stat e guarantee in GDP decreased to 18. % in 2004 and 8. 2% in 2007. The total amount of investment in the national economy from all sources increased at 1. 5 times in 2007 compared with 2004, and amounted to 7. 5 bln. AZN (8. 7 bln. USD), 3. 3 bln. USD of which was FDI (90. 5% in oil sector). At the aforesaid(prenominal) time the amount of investment from domestic financial sources in the same period also increased by 3. 5 times, and its share in total investment increased from 26. 9% in 2004 to 61. 9% in 2007. The total trade operations amounted to 27 bln. USD in 2005, of which exports accounted for 21 bln.USD and imports 6 bln. USD, with the positive saldo on all export-import operations amounting 15 bln. USD. As a result of measures to improve the legal restrictive model of the securities food trade, to protect the rights of investors, to kindle action of integrated oversight standards, to ensure comme il faut selective information by issuers and to stool an create l oan grocery, the number and amount of shares issued energise been increased. So if in 2004, 50 issuers issued 62 shares with a total repute of 91. 9 mln. AZN, 108 shares were issued by 84 issuers with a total value of 225. mln. AZN in 2005 in 2006, 100 issuers issued 135 shares with a total value of 340. 8 mln. AZN and 137 shares were issued by 113 issuers with a total value of 795. 4 mln. AZN in 2007. In order to promote further improvement in the investment climate, entrepreneurship development and later on insane asylum of rude(a) job places corporate tax was decreased from 27% to 25% in 2003, 24% in 2004 and 22% on January 1, 2006. Compulsory social damages contributions from employers were also reduced from 29% to 27% in 2003 and 22% in 2005.Agricultural producers fool been exempted from all taxes, except for the land tax, for a five year period (2004-2008). In order to plump the use of the simplify tax scheme, from 2003 the simplified tax dollar volume has been in creased from 300 times of non-taxable monthly income (6,000 AZN) to 22,500 times of the conditional monetary unit (24,750 AZN). In order to promote development of the enterpreneurial activities Presidential Decree 2458 on Measures to Ensure Arranging One-stop-shop Principle Based Activities of the Enterpreneurship Subjects was signed on October 25, 2007.In order to promote entrepreneurial activities and increase state support to entrepreneurs, the total amount of soft state loans provided through the National Fund for Entrepreneurial plunk for has increased annually 40 mln. AZN in 2005, 80 mln. AZN in 2006 and 90. 7 mln. AZN. Meantime the organization of regular line of work forums in the same period has also had a positive impact, and has helped to bring together local entrepreneurs to officials and businessmen from different countries, thus poke outing their approach to information, while also helping to promote further opposed investment.In order to develop the banking dust , to strengthen snobby banks and to increase the populations confidence in them, requirements to the minimum amount of the banks charter capital check been increased, limits on the maximum share of overseas bank capital were eliminated and a centralized credit register preceded. With a view of increasing admission price of the population, curiously in the regions, to banking services, a total of 40 fresh branches (21 in the regions) were throwd by 19 banks in 2005 only.In total, by late 2007, 485 bank branches were surgery in the country. 9 According to the results of 2007, the amount of credits provided by banks to the national economy was equal to 4. 7 bln. AZN, the share of bank assets and credits in the GDP were 20. 9% and 18. 7%, respectively. Credits provided by banks to the snobby sector increased by 97. 7% in 2007 compared to the previous years, and its share in the total amount of credit was 57. 3%.As a result of the privatization of state proportion, more than 30 ,000 small enterprises and facilities have been privatized, about 1,500 joint-stock ventures completed and more than 400,000 people have acquired shares and property. The main challenges now are to accelerate the second stage through privatization of social facilities, while keeping their orginal work profile and continuing to provide quliaty services to the population, and also of large enterprises to promote more dynamic economic development.With a view to improving hydrofoil, efficiency and targeting in the calculate process, relevant additions and amendments have been made to the law on the cipherary System and the Tax Code, the Programme on Introduction National Accounting Standards has been approved by the Cabinet Decree of July 18, 2005, and computerization of the treasury schema continued during the implementation period of the SPPRED.In order to improve the infrastructure, curiously in the regions, large public investments havd been made in social and economic in frastructure, including transport, water and se lease, amelioration, irrigation, power as well as health and education facilities.The construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Arzurum gas pipeline, the redevelopment of the Great Silk Way (TRACECA), the implementation of North-South transport projects and the Baku-TbilisiKars railway project (agreement in prinsiple on the construction has been reached) go out not only increase regional importance of the country, but also improve the nark of the population in these regions to infrastructure and grocery storeplaces and create a solid foundaton for entrepreneurship development. 4. 3. SPPRSD and Economic insurance 4. 3. 1.General Objectives and Targets The antecedency directions for economic development are as follows ensuring macroeconomic stability ensuring balanced and pro-poor economic development through creation of enabling conditions for development of the non-oil sector and expanding upon of income- propagation opportunities, esp ecially in the regions and rural areas. many a(prenominal) of the policy actions and measures in this sector are closely connected with other strategic objectives of the SPPRSD, namely improving good governance and institutional reforms.Apart from governance, there are other cross-cutting issues which are relevant to this sector, for example, gender issues (it is classic that both men and women have equal opportunities to participate in the economic life of the country) and environment (economic development has to be based on sound prudence of the countrys essential resources, in order to preserve them for future generations, and to ensure that the current generation do not start out from health and other problems related to over-exploitation of vivid resources and lack of consideration or pollution effects).The policy measures in the Macroeconomic Stability and Economic Growth section have been grouped as follows fiscal policy monetary and exchange rate policy development of financial markets investment policy constancy and energy development development of kitchen-gardening and ensuring food security tourism policy. 4. 3. 2. Fiscal Policy 10 The followings are the main priority directions envisaged under the SPPRSD to improve fiscal policy improving calculate-related jurisprudence increasing budget revenue increasing the efficiency of budget expenditure improving the mechanism for managing state debt.In line with the economic policy to be implemented, and in order to increase the efficiency of budget forecasting, the live legislative role model bequeath be reviewed, relevant changes made to the Tax and customs duty Codes, and conformment of the Customs Code to international conventions and standards completed. With regard to increasing budget revenue, the number of tax exemptions provide be reduced, excess customs and tax privileges removed, the registration of tax evasion by legal and personal entities strengthen.At the same time, the rat es for taxes and duties and social contributions get out be revised, their optimal level identified, the mechanism for implementing the simplified tax regime and dominions on the application of VAT better, and the VAT exemptions in import reduced to the minimum. In addition, public awareness pull up stakes be raised to improve tax culture in the society. Increasing the efficiency of budget expenditure envisages implementation of activities in the following sub-areas rationalizing budget expenditure change control over budget expenditure increasing the transparency of the budget process.In order to rationalize state budget expenditure the structure of amalgamate budget expenditure testament be change, the severe increase of consolidated non-oil budget deficit in the GDP prevented, budget expenditure forecasted and planned taking into consideration approved targeted programs. In addition the legislative simulation for introduction of per capita funding in budget expenditure g ive be conventional.With regard to strengthening control over the use of budget funds, the legislative theoretical account depart be improved, the role of long-term planning in the budget process increased, and financial control over budget funds enhanced through regular routine revisions and analyses. In order to increase the transparency of the budget process, the state procural legislative framework leave behind be improved, the monitoring system rein military groupd, electronic procurance introduced, and the formulas and standards used in the calculation of budget expenditure improved.At the same time, the institutional framework of state procurement impart be strengthened, and lord capacity of the relevant lag increased through dressing. The state debt management mechanism go out be improved, the opposed debt, especially commercial credits trustworthy under state guarantee pass on be regularly reflected in the state budget. to a fault, the mechanism for monitoring the financial activity of organizations which have trustworthy credit under state guarantee go forth be improved. . 3. 3. Monetary and Exchange Rate Policy Considering the importance of projected oil revenues for the countrys development, ensuring macroeconomic effectivness of the monetary policy result be prioritized. For this purpose strengthen sterilization capacity of the monetary policy, maintain the optimal trajectory for the non-oil deficit, regular and able design and implementation of MTEF, prevention of longterm rigidness of the real effective exchange rate provide be envisaged.As a result targetting of inflation at a satisfactory level go forth be ensured. 11 At the same time, the institutional framework of the monetary policy go forth be unquestionable to allow more adequate decisions in monetary policy, and the system of management of monetary policy tools, banking system liquidity and currency reserves improved. Also, the real sector monitoring system depart be established and bank statistics correct to international standards to increase automatic access to statistical reports. 4. 3. 4.Financial marketplaces Development The following priority areas have been identified under the SPPRSD to develop financial markets development the banking sector developing the securities market developing the insurance market. With regard to developing the banking sector, the capitalization of the banking system through the increase of chartered capital of the banks allow be continued, Basel II standards introduced, the electronic allowance system developed and the system of deposit insurance established in order to adjust the banking system to international standards and to improve the system of banking supervision.The banking, micro-finance institution and credit union networks exit be spread out in the regions, a postal deposit system established as well as narrow down banks, including construction-deposit banks in order to provide the popul ation, and in particular entrepreneurs, with broader access to banking services, especially in the regions. Also, the system of owe crediting leave behind be developed and the access of people, especially vulnerable groups, to mortgage loans forget be increased to help people improve their house conditions.The establishment of an equal and competitive environment in the banking services market pass on be support through enlargement of the latent of hugger-mugger banks, more lively attraction of hostile investment into the banking system and use of administrative anti-monopoly measures. With regard to developing the securities market, the current legislative framework ordain be improved and a system aimed at protecting the rights of fixed-rate securities investors pass on be established. The system for making settlements impart be improved and new ranches of regional professional representatives of the securities market, including the National Deposit Center, go forth b e established in order to expand and develop the securities market. The establishment of selfgoverning (non-government) bodies of professional stakeholders of the securities market will be encouraged, a system for monitoring of joint-stock companies created, the use of securities in the mortgage market expanded and a security operations database created to improve market order.In order to integrate with the international securities market and to more participatingly attract immaterial investment, the issue of Eurobonds and creation of investment funds will be back up. As for developing the insurance market, legislation relating to insurance will be improved, insurance and re-insurance activity encouraged and a single register on foreign re-insurers and foreign insurance brokers created to adjust the insurance market to international standards and to increase its efficiency.In order to develop insurance activities research and specialized organizations, insurance associations wil l be established, state contro over insurance activities will be improved. 4. 3. 5. enthronization Policy The SPPRSD includes the following priority directions for improving investment policy improving investment management promoting fair controversy supporting development of entrepreneurship, especially in the regions strengthening the competitiveness of domestic production and increasing the export potential of the country 12 expanding access to information and colloquy technologies (ICT).With regard to improving investment management, the brisk legislative framework will be improved to protect hidden property and improve corporate management and create a free competition environment for all investors, and a new Law on Direct Private enthronement and other necessary legislative acts will be developed and adopted. Regular (mid-term) 4-year (covering the close year and the subsequent three years) public investment programs will be developed to finance SPPRSD priority investm ent projects in order to increase the prioritization of public investments in infrastructure.At the same time, all-around(prenominal) long-term sustainable development plans for the cities and regions will be designed and implemented in partnership with international organizations in order to ensure a sustainable and integrated approach in development of the regions, and to increase the efficiency of public investments to the regions. It is also planned to finalize the passage to international accounting standards in enterprises and organizations in order to adjust the activity of national businesses to international standards.With regard to promoting fair competition, a Competition Code will be adopted, regular monitoring conducted to prevent percentage of markets and application of agreed prices in the usance market, and relevant financial sanctions utilize when such cases are detected. Also, regular monitoring will be conducted and financial sanctions applied to increase sta te protection of consumer rights and to ensure form with regulatory acts for the manufacture, import, export and sale (wholesale and retail) of consumer goods.In relation back to supporting entrepreneurship development the cooperation between relevant entities will be promoted, the establishment and development of public associations of entrepreneurs, including professional associations will be supported. Industrial zones (industrial townships and business incubators) will be established for the introduction of know-how and best radiation diagram in the development of entrepreneurship the businesses will be better supplied with information and advice, and regular business forums will be organized to improve relations between local and foreign businessmen.Increase of amount of soft loans allocated from the state budget for entrepreneurial development and expansion of access of entrepreneurs in the regions to these loans will be ensured, activities will be enhanced to improve credit ing effectivness. Also actions will be taken under the SPPRSD to encourage the business activity among youth and vulnerable groups.With regard to improving privatization and management of state enterprises, the privatization process will be continued in sectors open for privatization in conformation with the approved state privatization programmes and transparency and efficiency in the privatization process will be ensured. Also, the process of privatization of state shares of worldwide Bank of Azerbaijan will be finalized under the SPPRSD. With regard to strengthening the competitiveness of domestic production and increasing the export potential of the country, it is planned to continue WTO admission talks in rder to work toward fuller integration of the national economy to the global economy, and to adjust national legislation on foreign trade to the requirements of the global trade system. At the same time, anti-dumping and other preventive measures will be carried out to pro tect the domestic market from unfair competition, the production of export-oriented goods and goods that can replace imported goods will be encouraged, national quality control standards will be developed, the certification system will be improved, and the system of state order of prices of goods (services) will also be improved.Local and international transportation management will be improved to expand access to international markets and the integration of national transport system into the global transport system will be strengthened through the TRASECA and North-South projects under the SPPRSD. 13 As regards expanding the ICT access, in order to create a national information security system and to protect the information rights of citizens, the ICT access will be improved, and higher quality radio-TV broadcasting and satellite colloquy services will be improved on the basis of new equipment and technology.At the same time regional information centers will be established to pro vide state, public and sectoral information resources and to create information systems and networks, and dark and apllied scientific researches will be supported to ensure building of the information society. In order to improve state regulation of ICT, and standardization, certification and regulation of radiofrequency and numbering resources will be organized in unanimity with international standards.Also, it is envisaged to wage increase the postal service and to introduce new forms of postal service in order to expand access of the people, especially rural residents, to ICT. 4. 3. 6. Industry and nil Policy A state programme on the development of this sector, outlining the governments medium-term activities, will be adopted under the SPPRSD in order to ensure comprehensive development of the industrial sector, including the non-oil sector. Also, in accordance with the State Programme on Development of the Fuel-Energy Sector of the Republic of Azerbaijan (2005-2015) approved by the Presidential decree 635 on February 14, 2005 or the purpose of development of the fuel-power complex, implementation of activities will be enhanced to establish a sound competitive environment in this sector, to improve the structure of the sector, to attract big investment to the sector, to provide environmental refuge, and to ensure that full payment is received for the expending of fuel and energy resources. The prep of meters to the population will be finalized to ensure good use of power and to strengthen financial discipline in the sector, and relevant public awareness activities conducted to promote the thrifty and economic use of power resources.In order to increase efficiency in the power sector and to create a more competitive environment, the increase of the closed-door sector troth in the area will be supported, and the activity of the newly established Azerbaijan Investment Company will be strengthened to meet the investment needs of the non-oil sector, to introduce new technology and knowledge in the area, and to promote strategic cooperation with foreign investors.The potential use of alternative and renewable energy will be increased through creation of new capacity relying on alternative and renewable energy sources (small hydro power place, wind farms), and regular monitoring will be conducted and relevant financial sanctions applied to minimize any negative impact on the environment from the development of the fuel-energy complex. 4. 3. 7.Agricultural Development and pabulum Security Since over 48% of the population lives in rural areas, the unsophisticated sector is still an of the essence(p) source providing relevant employment and income generation opportunities for households. It is important to improve the access of unsophisticated producers to credit, equipment and other vital inputs and services, while ensuring that land is used in an environmentally sustainable way. graduation exercise of all, institutional refo rms aimed at improving management efficiency will be continued in the sector to help develop agriculture under the SPPRSD.The policy of exempting plain producers from taxes will be reviewed to promote decent employment and self-employment in rural areas, and the access of people involved in agriculture to finance-credit sources improved. Also, the insurance mechanism will be improved to reduce damage to agrarian employers as a result of natural disasters. The Agroservice network will be expanded to improve access of farmers to verdant machinery and different subsidies and incentive mechanisms designed and introduced to increase 14 the production of needed agricultural products.The use of up to date technology and provision of the agricultural sector with the necessary market infrastructure through the involvement of the private sector will be supported to encourage the expansion of the network of agro-processing enterprises, and to increase the competitiveness of agricultural prod ucts. In order to ensure intensive development of crops, the supply of fertilizers to farmers will be improved, the standards applied to agricultural products upgraded, and the fumigation (disinfection) of exported and imported agricultural products strengthened.Private veterinary services will be expanded, and the somatogenetic-technical foul infrastructure of regional veterinary departments, phytosanitary services, sic protection stations and quarantine stations strengthened in order to improve veterinary and plant protection services. The restoration of fertility of pastures, their protection from erosion and their use will be improved to protect the lands, increase their quality and regulate the pasture load. The physical and technical resources of seed-growing, seedling and pedigree facilities will be strengthened to ensure their efficient operation.In order to provide the agriculture with high-quality specialists, the system of agricultural round training will be improved, the physical and technical resources of agricultural science strengthened, and trainings, run into sharing and scientific researches done to increase managerial skills and knowledge of farmers. Development of the agricultural sector does not only enhance employment oppurtunities and expand income generation sources for population groups working for this sector but also plays a key role in strengthening food security.Recent price rise at the world and local food markets did not pass over and affect population of the country, especially its poor groups, food supplying and living standards. From this prospective, reducing of the local food market dependence from importing and food supply to local population due to local production development has special improtance. In order to increase agricultural production and to improve food supply of the country population the State Program on Secure Food Supply to the world in the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2008-2015 was approved by the Presi dential Decree on August 25, 2008.With a view of food supply improvement first of all systematic activities will be implemented to develop agrarian business, more effectively use households production capacities, and upgrade consumption customs for advancement of the local foods consumption and production. 4. 3. 8. tourism Development In order to expand the opportunity to profit from the tourism potential in the country, to develop employment and self-employment in the regions and to better orchestrate activity in this sector, a State Programme on the Development of the touristry Sector for 2008-2016 was drafted.The legal and regulatory framework will be improved to promote tourism activity. Considering the importance of infrastructure in the development of tourism, the PIP envisages activities related to restoration of roads, communucations, and electricity and gas supply in the regions. In addition, ecotourism, rural tourism and other alternative types of tourism will be devel oped and tourist routes established to provide access to the countrys national, historicalcultural, socio-economical and natural features.The capacity of the newly established Tourism Institute and Mingachevir Tourism College will be developed under the SPPRSD to improve the ply training system for tourism and to supply it with high-quality specialists. In order to strengthen awareness-building and forwarding activites in the tourism sector, the performance of existing information centers will be improved and new 15 tourism information centers established in the Airport named afterwards H. Aliyev, the Gala village and Imishli, Ismayilly, Gabala and Masalli regions. Chapter 5 Employment Policy and Social Protection of the commonwealth 5. . Employment Policy and Labor Market Regulation 5. 1. 1. Link to Poverty Maintaining macroeconomic stability and ensuring economic growth, development of the non-oil sector lead to an increase in monetry income of the population. But in order to achieve poverty reduction, macroeconomic stability and economic growth need to be accompanied by policies which improve access of the poor population to work income and production assets. From this prospective system measures aimed at supporting business and promoting employment create favorable conditions for increased income generation opportunities.Employment related issues are outlined in the section above. These issues are also specified in relevant sections of the SPPRSD. This chapter focuses at reducing unemployment, improving social protection of the indolent, developing poke market as well as promoting employment for vulnerable groups of population. 5. 1. 2. Current Situation and Main Challenges It is well cognise that unemployment is a main factor which is associated with greater poverty risk. According to calculations made under the ILO methodology there were more than 281,100 unemployed people in 2007 or 6. 5% of the officious population.Considering the importance o f increasing employment opportunities in order to improve the populations welfare, under the State Program on Socio-Economic Development of Regions for 2004-2008 and other relevant programs about 672,000 new jobs were created. Business development and creation of job places in this period have contributed to implementation of the well thought employment strategy and social policy. Last 5 years nominal cash incomes of the population increased 2. 5 and reached to 14. 3 bln. AZN in 2005 or 1,690. 3 AZN per capita. Cash incomes of population included wages (31. %), business mesh (50. 4%), received current and grand remittances (17. 2%) and income from property (0. 5%). The government employment policy provides support to the unemployed through a combination of active voice and passive measures. The passive measures mainly include the provision of unemployment get aheads. In 2007, 2,523 unemployed received unemployment benefits minimum amount of which is 24 AZN. The active measures in clude organization of training courses and job fairs and many other activities aimed at creating and improving labor market and adjusting labor force to the economy needs.One of the main challenges is to further expand productive employment opportunities for population, especially in the non-oil sector. While share of the extractive industry in overall industrial production was 68% in 2007, it only employs 1. 1% of the labor force of the country. While employment creation will be achieved mainly through private sector development in the sectors outlined above, it will be important to continue to undertake measures to help match the skills of jobseekers with those in demand on the ram market.It is also important to ensure that employees rights are protected, and that there is reliable and regular data to allow monitoring of the labor market and employment situation. The improvement of wage regulation is another challenge. As was shown in the poverty results reported in Chapter 2, em ployment does not always protect individuals from poverty, due to the high number of low-paid and low-productive jobs. In recent years, a policy of increasing a 16 minimum wage to minimize the poverty risk among the employed has been pursued. Thus, the minimum wage has been increased, by stages, from 5. 5 AZN up to 60 AZN since 2003.Another problem relates to significant discrepancies between wage levels of those occupying the same positions in the public and private sectors. Thus in 2007 the average monthly wage in public sector was 171. 9 AZN and 296. 5 AZN, i. e. 1. 7 times higher in private sector. upbringing Health and social services winding Mining industry Generation and dispersion of electricity, gas and water supply 2006 86. 4 67. 2 198. 1 349. 4 134. 3 2007 144. 9 92. 5 298. 7 515. 5 210. 3 2006 128. 8 150. 7 403. 8 1,183. 2 272. 9 2007 186. 0 160. 7 454. 2 1,414. 8 198. 4 As Table 4. 1 shows, wages of people working in private health facilities are 1. , education 1. 3 times, construction 1. 5 times and mining industry 2. 8 times higher than those working in public ones. This leads to the flow of more hot staff from public facilities to private ones and has a negative impact on quality of services. 5. 1. 3. SPPRSD and Employment Policy The SPPRSD envisages activities in the following priority directions under the employment policy and labor market regulation developing the employment system and strengthening the social protection of the unemployed adjusting the training of specialists to labor market needs improving the regulation f labor relations strengthening labor market monitoring expanding employment opportunities of the vulnerable groups. As regards developing the employment system and strengthening the social protection of the unemployed, State Programme on Implementation Employment Strategy for 2007-2010 was approved on May 15, 2007 under the Presidential Decree 2167.Within the framework of activities envisaged by this State Programme the management system of the State Employment Service will be improved, and the legal and regulatory framework for employment and work safety upgraded. Also, a single information database will be created to expand regular access of jobseekers and unemployed to vanity information, and related awareness-building measures carried out among the people. At the same time, new consulting services and labor exchanges will be established.More official attention will be given to the vocational trainings aimed at providing job for the unemployed. The minimum amount of unemployment benefit will be gradually adjusted to the national subsistence minimum in order to further strengthen the social protection of the unemployed. Meantime in order to prevent inactivity and dependency of job seekers caused by growth of benefit it is envisaged to hold monitoring and to align gradual adjustment with efforts on retraining of job-seekers.As for adjusting the training of specialists to labor market needs b y his Decree 2282 dated of July 3, 2007 the President of the country approved the State Program on Development of vocational Education in the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2007-2012. It is important to implement following measures in the vocational education section under SPPRSD establishing direct relations between vocational education system and employers and training of specialists required by employers 7 launching creation of the National Specialities Structure (NSS) based on the European system of specialities, comparable internationally and with national context shaped by the development of local economy and social sphere. NSS is a locally and internationally accepted multistage system used for measuring the training results (both dinner gown and informal) which are interrelated and where ratio between all education and training diploma/certificates is established, i. e. nterrelated achievements made by trainees and graduates are mensural through certificates and diplomas. In this sector a forecasting system will be established and marketing services organized in the educational institutions training skilled workers. Also, in order to develop the handsome education system, the appropriate legislative framework will be prepared, a body of boastful educators formed, new curricula developed, and resource centers organized for career-guidance and awareness-building purposes.The adult education system will cover the following directions educating the adult unemployed, upgrading their skills, providing social and psychological adjustments, preparing for employment in new sectors updating knowledge and skills of the adult employees, conducting diversion and retraining courses for them in order to increase their intellectual and scholar level placement study and social adaptation of the adult IDPs and refugees delivering training to the adult disabled that will promote to their re-integration.At the same time, a database will be created and the existing stat istics improved in order to ensure efficiency and sustainablity of adult education measures. Effective arrangements within this system will help citizens to participate in economic and social life especifically to those moved(p) by economic restructuring to acquire new skills which will make them more competitive on the labor market. As regards improving the regulation of labor relations, an Action program will be developed and implemented for legalization of informal labor relations, as well as, control over finis of collective agreements and contracts strengthened.Such issues as provision of employment and social protection of workers will be further focussed in the above mentioned agreements and contracts. Minimum wages will be gradually increased up to the national subsistence minimum and since 2011 it will exceed that minimum. It will become a substantial factor in elimination of the poverty riskis. The wage system for staff of budget-funded organizations will be improved wi th consideration of enhancment their financial familiarity and responsibilities as well as promotion of final outcome of this system in order to eliminate disbalance between wage levels aimed at improving overall wage policy.Measures related hereto will be aligned with those one in Chapter 4 of the SPPRSD that cover introducing normative (per capita) financing in fiscal policy. Also, wage supplements for geographic location and other difficult working conditions will be introduced, and principles identified for unification and payment of wage supplements and bonuses to staff in the public sector. As for strengthening the labor market its regular monitoring will be carried out, and a national information system on the labor market, employment, labor safety regulations and standards established in order to help flexible policy making in this area.Furthermore, labor migration management system will be improved. 18 As concerns expanding employment opportunities of the particularly vuln erable groups, an Action excogitation will be prepared for the development of entrepreneurship and self-employment among women and their retraining, also business training programs will be arranged, and measures introduced to improve labor conditions and social protection of those employed in the private sector, especially women.At the same time, an Action excogitation will be prepared to improve gender equality in those sectors where there is a clear gender imbalance, and new jobs created for the population groups in urgent need of social protection. For this purpose, the ILO Convention on employees with family responsibilities will be ratified and the national legislation adjusted to the Convention. 5. 2. Social Protection of the Population 5. 2. 1.Link to Poverty International discover suggests, while long term poverty reduction will be achieved through economic growth coupled with increasing employment and income generating opportunities in all regions of the country and diff erent sectors of the economy, there will always be vulnerable members of society who will depend on the state system of social protection to help protect them from poverty. The state has a duty to allow these vulnerable groups effective social protection.Social protection is one, but not the only, mechanism for ensuring that some of the countrys wealth is redistributed from the richest to the poorest sections of society. It should be noted that social protection cannot offer any long term solutions to help vulnerable to exit from poverty. International experience suggests that disproportional oversaturation of the social protection sector generate dependency syndrome among people. As a result it affects economic activity and impedes development. In the wide sense there are 3 main elements of social protection. One is a social insurance element, which is designed to elp citizens prepare for times in their lives when they will not be able to earn their own living, e. g old age, sickn ess, and unemployment. Social insurance pensions or benefits are based on payments/contributions made by individual citizens during their working years, with some contribution from employers. The other element of the social protection is a social assistance system which consists of targeted state aid and social allowances and is material support paid from the state budget for those who have no insurance, other sources of income or their income is below the established rates.The third element of the social protection is a social assitance and special social measures system addressed to the especially (socially) vulnerable population groups, i. e. IDPs and refugess, children deprived of maternal(p) care, disabled and children with limited health, old and alone citizens, etc. 5. 2. 2. Current Situation and Main Challenges Important measures have recently been undertaken in Azerbaijan to bring the social protections system in line with modern requirements.As a result of these purposefu l measures the separation of the insurance and pension system from