Tag: Indigenous Languages

Strategies to overcome barriers to the statistical representation of femicide data-a technical note

Latest Results

Abstract

Mortality data systems are upstream determinants of health, providing critical information on causes of death and population health trends and influencing health outcomes by shaping policies, research, and resource allocation. Moreover, the gender-related deaths of women and girls are significantly underrepresented or underrecognized in mortality data across many countries. This paper seeks to identify potential barriers and facilitators to improving the representation of femicide data. The primary barriers affecting data representation of femicide are related to definitions, data collection, coding, comparability, access, and systemic challenges. Key recommendations include establishing a nationwide consensus on the definition of femicide, updating training modules for medicolegal professionals, improving pathology reporting processes, ensuring quality assurance in documentation, refining coding practices, developing new analytic methods, and providing deidentified access to cases still under investigation.

Does far-right populism affect immigrants’ working conditions?

Latest Results

Abstract

Anti-immigrant stances are central in far-right populist propaganda. We investigate whether the electoral success of far-right populist parties affects the labor market conditions of immigrants. Using administrative panel data from Italian manufacturing workers in 1994–2005, we show that higher electoral support for the populist party Lega Nord significantly increases injury risks for foreign workers within job spells. This effect is most pronounced in small firms, which are characterized by lower levels of unionization and employment protection. The increase in injury rates appears driven by task reallocation to overtime and night shifts and to the exploitation of immigrants’ labor supply rigidity. While alternative factors such as import competition and robotization influence injury risk, they fail to explain our core findings.

Ethnobiological survey on medicinal plants used by gaddi and gujjar tribes of riparian region of Beas River of Himachal Pradesh in North Western Himalayas, India

Latest Results

Abstract

Himachal Pradesh is one of the most species-rich regions in the world and a key center for the origin and diversity of numerous plant species. Ethnobotanical research is essential for exploring these diverse biological resources for medicinal uses. This study aimed to record the traditional knowledge of the tribal communities in Himachal Pradesh concerning the use of medicinal plants for treating diseases in humans and livestock. Despite this richness, there is a lack of detailed documentation about the use of therapeutic plants in this area. The indigenous communities in this region rely on traditional knowledge of medicinal plants, making it a valuable resource for further pharmacological and phytochemical research. The ethnobotanical surveys were conducted from August 2022 to July 2023, and our fieldwork took place in four districts (Kullu (1279 m), Mandi (760 m), Hamirpur (780 m) and Kangra (1200–1300 m) under various villages. The ethnobiological data was gathered through field surveys, open interviews, discussions, and semi-structured questionnaires conducted with 193 tribal participants aged 40 to 80 years. Informants were chosen using the randomized household interview and snowball sampling methods. The study documented 64 plants from 39 families, among which 58 species are angiosperms, 5 species are pteridophytes and one species is bryophyte utilized for therapeutic purposes. Rosaceae, Lamiaceae, and Ranunculaceae were the most used medicinal herb families. Rubus ellipticus (0.75) and Trillium govanianum (0.74) demonstrated the highest UV (Use value) values. The ICF (Informant Consensus factor) value revealed that nervous system disorders-related ailments were the most treated. This study explored the ethnobiological information of therapeutic flora from riparian vegetation within tribal communities while also assessing the present state of research and the practical application of their medicinal information. It underscores the potential for additional research to delve deeper into the indigenous properties of their therapeutic floras and emphasizes the importance of preserving their traditional medicinal wisdom.

Monster of the Night: Identifying Pakistani Gender-Based, Religious, and Cultural Influences on Sleep Paralysis Among University Students

Latest Results

Abstract

The present study has explored the folk knowledge about the phenomenon of sleep paralysis in Pakistani society. The research aimed to gain a nuanced glimpse focusing on three major factors, culture, religion, and gender, that influence the lived experiences of those who face sleep paralysis. In this qualitative research, to have a holistic perception of indigenous knowledge about it, we selected both male and female participants who have experienced sleep paralysis. The findings indicate that there is an influence of Pakistani culture and religion regarding the experiences of the people with sleep paralysis, and gender is linked with the folklore on creatures that were linked to fairy tales and Islamic teachings. The study also revealed that Pakistani ethnic diversity has created a pool of versatility for identifying different experiences regarding sleep paralysis. These experiences were not just a part of the medical situation but portrayed the multicultural facets that are embedded in the individuals throughout their lives. Lastly, the study suggests that there is a complexity within the interactions between culture, religion, and gender on sleep paralysis. This needs to be further investigated to create culturally appropriate therapies that may have a favorable effect on both physical and mental health outcomes.

Enhancing food and nutrition security in Himalayan foothills with neglected and underutilized millets

Latest Results

Abstract

Global food production predominantly depends on a limited number of cereal crops; however, numerous other crops have the potential to support the nutrition and economy of many local communities in developing countries. The different crop species characterized as having relatively low perceived economic importance or agricultural significance are known as underutilized crops. Millet is one of the underutilized crops with significant potential to address nutrient and hunger-related challenges in many developing countries like Nepal due to its versatility and climate resilience. Little is known about the determinants of adoption, cultural importance, and nutritional benefits of millet. Therefore, this study uses data from 1988 to 2019 and examines trends in millet production and its climate resilience, employing the Dynamic Ordinary Least Square Method. Results indicate that fertilizer use, cultivated area, and rural population significantly impact millet production in Nepal, while mean temperature has a negative but insignificant effect. The findings suggest that climate change does not significantly impact millet production. Millet is well adapted to challenging environments and offers superior nutritional value, suggesting that integration of millet into modern agriculture could be a valuable tool for creating a more sustainable, equitable, resilient, and healthy agrifood system that benefits both people and the planet. This research provides valuable insights for policymakers to enhance underutilized crops such as millet and implement strategies to integrate them into central agrifood systems. It also has a more considerable socio-economic impact on local communities.

The use of multiple evidence base methods to enrich climate change research and knowledge in the Arctic

Latest Results

Abstract

Indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) is increasingly used along with scientific knowledge (SK) to understand climate change. The multi evidence base (MEB) offers ways of combining knowledge systems together. Nonetheless, there is little guidance on how to use MEB approaches in research. Our aim is to systematically evaluate empirical cases using MEB approaches in Arctic climate change research; and explore ILK inclusion in research stages. The mapping followed the ROSES protocol, which provides a checklist of details to be included in the review. The literature search identified 1483 records referring to MEB approaches. We identified seven papers applying the cross-fertilization and nine applying the coproduction approach to combine ILK with SK. The theory of change framework was used to evaluate participation, revealing a distinct difference between the approaches in participant involvement in the research stages. Regardless of MEB approach, the output and outcome of the cases were less clear.

Central American panethnic identities and the politics of solidarity in Los Angeles

Latest Results

Abstract

Pan-ethnic groups are political-cultural collectivities made up of groups from different national origins, but which are nevertheless perceived as homogeneous. The pan-ethnic label Central American is often used to identify peoples from the isthmus despite their deep ethnic, racial, linguistic, regional, national, and cultural differences. This article examines the social construction of pan-ethnicity among Central Americans as they campaign for Little Central America, a renaming project in the heart of Los Angeles. I draw on twenty-one interviews with longtime community leaders, and participant observation with prominent Central American coalitions, to examine how they construct pan-ethnic group boundaries while negotiating group differences. Despite their vast differences, leaders draw on histories of resistance and political struggle, transnationalism, and shared experiences of invisibility and marginalization within dominant constructions of US Latinidad to call for pan-ethnic unity, while negotiating differences in gender and political ideologies, as well as racial differences. By examining these negotiations within the context of the Little Central America campaign, I show how community leaders manage the construction of group boundaries to mobilize claims for representation.

Untapping the potential of Indigenous water jurisdiction: perspectives from Whanganui and Aotearoa New Zealand

Latest Results

Abstract

Indigenous peoples have maintained sustainable, longstanding relationships with water and have valuable knowledge to contribute to water management. Still, legal and policy frameworks routinely include only tokenistic acknowledgements of Indigenous water ‘values’, while ongoing injustices related to the allocation and governance of water resources remain unresolved. Those concerned about the recognition of Indigenous water rights and relationships often point to the case of Aotearoa New Zealand, and specifically the Treaty of Waitangi settlement legislation recognising the Whanganui River as a ‘legal person’, as a replicable model for improved water governance and Indigenous water rights. In this article we use a sociolegal method to draw out globally relevant lessons from the groundbreaking Whanganui River model about the potential for Western or settler-state law to support and uphold Indigenous rights and relationships in water. Our analysis confirms that enabling Indigenous water jurisdiction could hold the key to more sustainable and equitable futures, but it requires a long-term commitment from states and local communities to relationship brokering, power sharing, and trust building with Indigenous peoples.

AfriSign: African sign languages machine translation

Latest Results

Abstract

Research on sign language translation is ongoing with a high social inclusive goal of crossing the bridge between people with hearing disability using sign language as their basic way to communicate to others who do not understand sign language. Hundreds of different sign languages exist instead of a single universal sign language. Research on translating sign languages from high-income nations has grown significantly, but little is known about translating sign languages from Africa. In this paper, we curate a novel video-to-text African sign languages translation dataset containing sign language videos of Bible verses from six (6) different African countries. We experimented with competitive machine translation and sign language translation techniques on our dataset, including the application of transformers to sign language translation, multilingual training, and cross-transfer learning. We evaluated them in terms of accuracy and precision. The results from our experiments prove that having one Multilingual model for all the languages tends to be a better choice when deployed in real system in terms of memory usage with an accuracy of 94.6% and precision of 97.3%. These results give headway for more multilingual models to be developed to enhance inclusion for the deaf community and bridge the gap between the hearing and the deaf in Africa.

NGO’s religious affiliation and donation intent: the role of missionary alarm and manipulative intent

Latest Results

Abstract

An individual’s religious orientation is known to predict their donantion intent. But does an aid organizations religious affiliation impact donations? This research investigates the relationship between an NGO’s religious affiliation and donation intent. Missionary alarm (concerns about proselytization) and manipulative intent are tested as accounts for the negative effects of religious affiliation on donation intent. Two experiments compare missionary alarm, manipulative intent and donation intent across three types of NGO: (a) non-faith-based organizations (N-FBO), (b) single-faith-based organizations (one organization representing a single faith; S-FBO), and (c) multi-faith-based organizations (a single organization, representing multiple faiths; M-FBO). The results suggests that religious affiliation reduces donation intent (N-FBO > S-FBO). However, presenting an organization as multi-faith may counteract the negative effects of religious affiliation (M-FBO = N-FBO > S-FBO). The results appear to hold in different charitable contexts (natural disaster aid in Southeast Asia and education aid in Africa). Novel findings include the deleterious effects of missionary alarm, and the positive effects of presenting an NGO as multi- vs. single-faith. Practitioners representing S-FBOs are advised to collaborate with other religions in order to enhance their appeal.