A Framework for Reconstruction of Road Infrastructure after a Disaster

Purpose: This paper aims to identify the main aspects requiring immediate attention in the post-disaster reconstruction of road infrastructure, thereby providing a major synthesis, which advances the understanding in this important area. Design/methodology/approach: Literature and empirical evidence obtained from documents and semi-structured interviews with 28 respondents of three case study districts in Aceh, Indonesia was analysed using NVivo 10. The findings were validated through triangulation with the literature and consultation with the experts in the field of disaster management and road infrastructure. Findings: The authors propose a framework for the reconstruction of road infrastructure, which respond to the peculiarities of road projects in a post-disaster setting. The framework comprises various components requiring detailed attention in the reconstruction process and describes their position in the road project and disaster management cycle. Originality/value: The framework fills the gap in the body of knowledge with regard to road infrastructure reconstruction in a post-disaster context. For the first time, this paper recognises the importance of local government capacity in the Aceh Province with regard to the sustainability of the post-disaster reconstruction assets.</p

Myanmar: The Key Link between South Asia and Southeast Asia

This paper examines the road and railway links in Myanmar connecting northeast India on the one side with the rest of Southeast Asia on the other. It also discusses the importance of new deep-sea ports in creating alternative shipping routes, essential for Myanmar's international links. It also reviews the country's external trade patterns, and analyzes issues related to trade facilitation, exchange rate policy, financial sector reform, and private sector development. The extent to which these gaps can be addressed will depend on the costs and benefits. South Asia-Southeast Asia connectivity can only be accomplished if Myanmar improves the hard and soft infrastructure aspects of connectivity

Policies to Enhance Trade Facilitation in South Asia and Southeast Asia

This paper discusses trade facilitation in the context of enhancing trading links between South and Southeast Asia, in a manner understandable to the non-specialist. Presently, these two Asian regions tend to trade preferentially with distant markets. One of the reasons cited for the limited trade between themselves is that trade facilitation with trade partners in developed countries is more user-friendly and stable. This suggests that enhancing trade facilitation within the two regions could promote intra- and inter-regional trade. The paper identifies the scope of trade facilitation and profiles the current overall situation in the two regions. It highlights the key issues and constraints, often referred to as non-trade barriers, in terms of both "soft" and "hard" infrastructure, and highlights ongoing initiatives designed to promote change, especially through the application of new approaches and procedures. Lastly, the paper concludes by discussing the key regional trade facilitation issues and proposing recommendations to eliminate the non-trade barriers that are adversely impacting on trade within and between the regions

Food Security in the South Pacific Island Countries with Special Reference to the Fiji Islands

This paper analyses the status of food security in selected South Pacific Island countries

Capture-recapture analysis of all-cause mortality data in Bohol, Philippines

Background: Despite the importance of mortality data for effective planning and monitoring of health services, official reporting systems rarely capture every death. The completeness of death reporting and the subsequent effect on mortality estimates were examined in six municipalities of Bohol province in the Philippines using a system review and capture-recapture analysis.Methods: Reports of deaths were collected from records at local civil registration offices, health centers and hospitals, and parish churches. Records were reconciled using a specific set of matching criteria, and both a two-source and a three-source capture-recapture analysis was conducted. For the two-source analysis, civil registry and health data were combined due to dependence between these sources and analyzed against the church data.Results: Significant dependence between civil registration and health reporting systems was identified. There were 8,075 unique deaths recorded in the study area between 2002 and 2007. We found 5% to 10% of all deaths were not reported to any source, while government records captured only 77% of all deaths. Life expectancy at birth (averaged for 2002-2007) was estimated at 65.7 years and 73.0 years for males and females, respectively. This was one to two years lower than life expectancy estimated from reconciled reported deaths from all sources, and four to five years lower than life expectancy estimated from civil registration data alone. Reporting patterns varied by age and municipality, with childhood deaths more underreported than adult deaths. Infant mortality was underreported in civil registration data by 62%.Conclusions: Deaths are underreported in Bohol, with inconsistent reporting procedures contributing to this situation. Uncorrected mortality measures would subsequently be misleading if used for health planning and evaluation purposes. These findings highlight the importance of ensuring that official mortality estimates from the Philippines are derived from data that have been assessed for underreporting and corrected as necessary

Perspectives of energy transitions in East and Southeast Asia

© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Energy transitions are designed to improve the resilience, sustainability, and productivity of a country's energy system, and are the key instruments to mitigating the warming climate. Countries and regions have unique circumstances when projecting energy transition pathways. Nonetheless, East Asian economies have shared opportunities and challenges. From the perspective of fuel mix, East Asia had some initial success in renewable energy development accompanied by energy efficiency improvements. Nuclear energy, although controversial, has been well developed and is continuing its advancement in East Asia. However, the dominance of coal in the energy mix has not been sufficiently addressed, mostly because of legacy issues. The region's renewable energy potential is also underdeveloped due to a mismatch between resources and energy demand. Since the region as whole is well endowed with renewable energy resources, the region's advancement in regional energy connectivity presents a valuable institutional asset to further decarbonize East Asian energy sector beyond individual nation's efforts. This article is categorized under: Energy and Climate > Economics and Policy Energy Policy and Planning > Economics and Policy Energy and Development > Economics and Policy

Services as a New Engine of Growth for ASEAN, the People’s Republic of China, and India

An increasing services orientation is likely to be a key feature of the economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the People's Republic of China, and India (collectively referred to as "ACI") over the medium-term. This paper aims to present a compendium of relevant data on the state of the services sector in the ACI countries, focusing on its contribution to overall economic activity, employment, and growth. To do this, it relies heavily on standard international sources, as well as national statistics in some cases. It also examines to the extent possible - given data restrictions - the services policy environment in the ACI countries, focusing on its implications for regional and international integration of services markets

Rights, Knowledge, and Governance for Improved Health Equity in Urban Settings

All three of the interacting aspects of daily urban life (physical environment, social conditions, and the added pressure of climate change) that affect health inequities are nested within the concept of urban governance, which has the task of understanding and managing the interactions among these different factors so that all three can be improved together and coherently. Governance is defined as: “the process of collective decision making and processes by which decisions are implemented or not implemented”: it is concerned with the distribution, exercise, and consequences of power. Although there appears to be general agreement that the quality of governance is important for development, much less agreement appears to exist on what the concept really implies and how it should be used. Our review of the literature confirmed significant variation in meaning as well as in the practice of urban governance arrangements. The review found that the linkage between governance practices and health equity is under-researched and/or has been neglected. Reconnecting the fields of urban planning, social sciences, and public health are essential “not only for improving local governance, but also for understanding and addressing global political change” for enhanced urban health equity. Social mobilization, empowering governance, and improved knowledge for sustainable and equitable development in urban settings is urgently needed. A set of strategic research questions are suggested