community

CBD Communiqué: Engaging the Canadian Business Community in Support of the Nagoya Biodiversity Compact. Convention on Biological Diversity Secretariat co-hosts Biodiversity Workshop for Quebec-Based Companies.




community

CBD Communiqué: Hyderabad ready to host the world biodiversity community




community

CBD News: Under the theme, 10 Years of Promoting Safety in the Use of Biotechnology, the international community is marking the tenth anniversary of the entry into force of the international agreement governing the movement of living modified organisms (L




community

CBD News: As the world community works to address the growing need for water and energy, and develops an integrated framework of Sustainable Development Goals, let us work together and ensure that water, biodiversity and energy are used sustainably, to he




community

CBD News: The Law and Environment Ontology (LEO), a new knowledge tool for MEAs and the environmental community




community

CBD News: With traditional blessings by the Elders of the local Mohawk Community of Kahnawake setting the scene, governments, indigenous peoples and local communities from around the world will meet in Montreal, Canada, next week to develop guidelines tha




community

CBD News: First, I would like to extend my deep appreciation to Mr. Kenneth Deer and Mr. Charles Patton, Elders of the Mohawk Community from Kahnawake, Canada, for providing a traditional blessing and for sharing with us their rich cultural heritage, whic




community

CBD News: The Secretariat of the Convention on Biodiversity (SCBD) and WWF International have signed an MoU to collaborate in implementing CBD's Global Communications Strategy together with CBD Parties, partners and the broader conservation community




community

CBD News: The international community has long recognized the interdependence of all countries with regard to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture and their relevance to FAO as well as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its Nagoy




community

CBD News: Following traditional blessings by Elders of the local Mohawk Community of Kahnawake, delegates to the tenth meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Article 8(j) and Related Provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity will beg




community

CBD News: Opening with a traditional greeting from Charles Patton, a respected elder in the Mohawk Community of Kahnawa:ke, the 25th anniversary of the entry into force of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was celebrated yesterday in Montreal a




community

CBD News: Statement by Cristiana Pasca Palmer, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, on the occasion of the CARICOM Workshop for the Development of a Regional Biodiversity Strategy for the Caribbean Community, Georgetown, Guyana,




community

CBD News: The global community will lay the groundwork for action over the next few decades to protect biodiversity and nature at the 2018 UN Biodiversity Conference, scheduled to take place in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt from 17 to 29 November 2018.




community

CBD News: In 1992, at the landmark Rio Earth Summit, the international community, in its wisdom, created three interrelated conventions to safeguard the future of the planet, all peoples, and indeed all life on earth: the United Nations Framework Conventi




community

CBD News: Following a summer of dramatic heat waves and forest fires, and close on the heels of a landmark scientific report charting an unprecedented decline in nature, the global community came together from 27-30 August in Nairobi to deliberate over an




community

Deformed skulls in an ancient cemetery reveal a multicultural community in transition

(PLOS) The ancient cemetery of Mözs-Icsei d?l? in present-day Hungary holds clues to a unique community formation during the beginnings of Europe's Migration Period, according to a study published April 29, 2020 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Corina Knipper from the Curt-Engelhorn-Center for Archaeometry, Germany, István Koncz, Tivadar Vida from the Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary and colleagues.




community

A Model of Community-Based Behavioral Intervention for Depression in Diabetes: Program ACTIVE

Mary de Groot
Jan 1, 2010; 23:18-25
From Research to Practice




community

Self-Management Goal Setting in a Community Health Center: The Impact of Goal Attainment on Diabetes Outcomes

Daren R. Anderson
Apr 1, 2010; 23:97-105
Feature Articles




community

A New Type of Learning Community

Setting high standards is expected from all educators. Yet, I think I may have taken this to an extreme in my 2019 spring senior seminar course in algebraic combinatorics. Students walked in to class, got a copy of the syllabus … Continue reading




community

POSTPONED: The Development of Libyan Armed Groups since 2014: Community Dynamics and Economic Interests

Invitation Only Research Event

18 March 2020 - 9:00am to 10:30am

Chatham House | 10 St James's Square | London | SW1Y 4LE

Event participants

Abdul Rahman Alageli, Associate Fellow, MENA Programme, Chatham House
Emaddedin Badi, Non-Resident Scholar, Middle East Institute
Tim Eaton, Senior Research Fellow, MENA Programme Chatham House
Valerie Stocker, Independent Researcher

Since the overthrow of the regime of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya’s multitude of armed groups have followed a range of paths. While many of these have gradually demobilized, others have remained active, and others have expanded their influence. In the west and south of the country,  armed groups have used their state affiliation to co-opt the state and professionals from the state security apparatus into their ranks.

In the east, the Libyan Arab Armed Forces projects a nationalist narrative yet is ultimately subservient to its leader, Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar. Prevailing policy narratives presuppose that the interests of armed actors are distinct from those of the communities they claim to represent. Given the degree to which most armed groups are embedded in local society, however, successful engagement will need to address the fears, grievances and desires of the surrounding communities, even while the development of armed groups’ capacities dilutes their accountability to those communities.

This roundtable will discuss the findings of a forthcoming Chatham House research paper, ‘The Development of Libyan Armed Groups Since 2014: Community Dynamics and Economic Interests’, which presents insights from over 200 interviews of armed actors and members of local communities and posits how international policymakers might seek to curtail the continued expansion of the conflict economy.

PLEASE NOTE THIS EVENT IS POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

Event attributes

Chatham House Rule

Georgia Cooke

Project Manager, Middle East and North Africa Programme
+44 (0)20 7957 5740




community

The Development of Libyan Armed Groups Since 2014: Community Dynamics and Economic Interests

17 March 2020

This paper explores armed group–community relations in Libya and the sources of revenue that have allowed armed groups to grow in power and influence. It draws out the implications for policy and identifies options for mitigating conflict dynamics.

Tim Eaton

Senior Research Fellow, Middle East and North Africa Programme

Abdul Rahman Alageli

Associate Fellow, Middle East and North Africa Programme

Emadeddin Badi

Policy Leader Fellow, School of Transnational Governance, European University Institute

Mohamed Eljarh

Co-founder and CEO, Libya Outlook

Valerie Stocker

Researcher

Amru_24-2_13.jpg

Fighters of the UN-backed Government of National Accord patrol in Ain Zara suburb in Tripoli, February 2020. Photo: Amru Salahuddien

Summary

  • Libya’s multitude of armed groups have followed a range of paths since the emergence of a national governance split in 2014. Many have gradually demobilized, others have remained active, and others have expanded their influence. However, the evolution of the Libyan security sector in this period remains relatively understudied. Prior to 2011, Libya’s internal sovereignty – including the monopoly on force and sole agency in international relations – had been personally vested in the figure of Muammar Gaddafi. After his death, these elements of sovereignty reverted to local communities, which created armed organizations to fill that central gap. National military and intelligence institutions that were intended to protect the Libyan state have remained weak, with their coherence undermined further by the post-2014 governance crisis and ongoing conflict. As a result, the most effective armed groups have remained localized in nature; the exception is the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF), which has combined and amalgamated locally legitimate forces under a central command.
  • In the west and south of the country, the result of these trends resembles a kind of inversion of security sector reform (SSR) and disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR): the armed groups have used their state affiliation to co-opt the state and professionals from the state security apparatus into their ranks; and have continued to arm, mobilize and integrate themselves into the state’s security apparatus without becoming subservient to it. In the eastern region, the LAAF projects a nationalist narrative yet is ultimately subservient to its leader, Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar. The LAAF has co-opted social organizations to dominate political and economic decision-making.
  • The LAAF has established a monopoly over the control of heavy weapons and the flow of arms in eastern Libya, and has built alliances with armed groups in the east. Armed groups in the south have been persuaded to join the LAAF’s newly established command structure. The LAAF’s offensive on the capital, which started in April 2019, represents a serious challenge to armed groups aligned with the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA). The fallout from the war will be a challenge to the GNA or any future government, as groups taking part in the war will expect to be rewarded. SSR is thus crucial in the short term: if the GNA offers financial and technical expertise and resources, plus legal cover, to armed groups under its leadership, it will increase the incentive for armed groups to be receptive to its plans for reform.
  • Prevailing policy narratives presuppose that the interests of armed actors are distinct from those of the communities they claim to represent. Given the degree to which most armed groups are embedded in local society, however, successful engagement will necessarily rely on addressing the fears, grievances and desires of the surrounding communities. Yet the development of armed groups’ capacities, along with their increasing access to autonomous means of generating revenue, has steadily diluted their accountability to local communities. This process is likely to be accelerated by the ongoing violence around Tripoli.
  • Communities’ relationship to armed groups varies across different areas of the country, reflecting the social, political, economic and security environment:
  • Despite their clear preference for a more formal, state-controlled security sector, Tripoli’s residents broadly accept the need for    the presence of armed groups to provide security. The known engagement of the capital’s four main armed groups in criminal activity is a trade-off that many residents seem able to tolerate, providing that overt violence remains low. Nonetheless, there is a widespread view that the greed of Tripoli’s armed groups has played a role in stoking the current conflict.
  • In the east, many residents appear to accept (or even welcome) the LAAF’s expansion beyond the security realm, provided that it undertakes these roles effectively. That said, such is the extent of LAAF control that opposition to the alliance comes at a high price.
  • In the south, armed groups draw heavily on social legitimacy, acting as guardians of tribal zones of influence and defenders of their respective communities against outside threats, while also at times stoking local conflicts. Social protections continue to hold sway, meaning that accountability within communities is also limited.
  • To varying extents since 2014, Libya’s armed groups have developed networks that enmesh political and business stakeholders in revenue-generation models:
  • Armed groups in Tripoli have compensated for reduced financial receipts from state budgets by cultivating unofficial and illicit sources of income. They have also focused on infiltrating state institutions to ensure access to state budgets and contracts dispersed in the capital.
  • In the east of the country, the LAAF has developed a long-term strategy to dominate the security, political and economic spheres through the establishment of a quasi-legal basis for receiving funds from Libya’s rival state authorities. It has supplemented this with extensive intervention in the private sector. External patronage supports military operations, but also helps to keep this financial system, based on unsecured debt, afloat.
  • In the south, limited access to funds from the central state has spurred armed groups to become actively involved in the economy. This has translated into the taxation of movement and the imposition of protection fees, particularly on informal (and often illicit) activity.
  • Without real commitment from international policymakers to enforcing the arms embargo and protecting the economy from being weaponized, Libya will be consigned to sustained conflict, further fragmentation and potential economic collapse. Given the likely absence of a political settlement in the short term, international policymakers should seek to curtail the continued expansion of the conflict economy by reducing armed groups’ engagement in economic life.
  • In order to reduce illicit activities, international policymakers should develop their capacity to identify and target chokepoints along illicit supply chains, with a focus on restraining activities and actors in closest proximity to violence. Targeted sanctions against rent maximizers (both armed and unarmed) is likely to be the most effective strategy. More effective investigation and restraint of conflict economy actors will require systemic efforts to improve transparency and enhance the institutional capacity of anti-corruption authorities. International policymakers should also support the development of tailored alternative livelihoods that render conflict economy activities less attractive.




community

Covid-19: Lack of capacity led to halting of community testing in March, admits deputy chief medical officer




community

UTech community in mourning over passing of lecturer

The University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) fraternity has been plunged into mourning following the death of lecturer Jamar Thelwell. The 34-year-old passed away yesterday from cancer. His colleague Jerome Shepherd said Thelwell’s death has...




community

An acutely disturbed person in the community

It can be difficult to know what to do when a person in severe psychological distress presents to a general practice or community clinic, particularly if they are behaving aggressively, or if they are refusing help. Most patients who are acutely disturbed present no danger to others, however situations can evolve rapidly. Frontline staff need to...




community

Bread-and-butter issues surface under St Mary community restrictions

DOVER, St Mary: Residents of Epsom and Dover in St Mary are on edge, but have accepted quarantine measures imposed by the Government to curtail the spread of the dreaded coronavirus in that parish. Security checkpoints at both ends of the parish...




community

Downswell reaches out to Central Village - Carry Me singer delivers care packages to community

The wet weather last Saturday (May 2) could not dampen the spirits of award-winning gospel artiste and ordained evangelist Kevin Downswell as he ventured into the St Catherine community of Central Village, where he spent some of his formative years...




community

Covid-19: Lack of capacity led to halting of community testing in March, admits deputy chief medical officer




community

Achieving Skill Mobility in the ASEAN Economic Community: Challenges, Opportunities, and Policy Implications

This report by MPI and the Asian Development Bank lays out a realistic roadmap toward freer movement among skilled professionals within the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), encouraging cooperation among ASEAN Member States in recognizing foreign qualifications and making government investments in training and educations systems that prepare workers in accordance with common standards.




community

Firing Up Regional Brain Networks: The Promise of Brain Circulation in the ASEAN Economic Community

Given diverging demographics, rising educational attainment and wide variation in economic opportunities, countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are poised to see an expansion of both the demand for and supply of skilled migrants willing and able to move. The convergence of these megatrends represents unique opportunities for human-capital development and brain circulation, as this report explores.




community

Anniversary of community water fluoridation arrives

The ADA National Fluoridation Advisory Committee is inviting dentists and others who promote the adoption and continuation of adding an optimal amount of fluoride to water to celebrate this year.




community

ADA asks Congress to help dental community in next COVID-19 legislation

As Congress works on the next COVID-19 relief package, the ADA is asking lawmakers to include a number of provisions to assist the dental profession in recovery efforts.




community

'Community' cast reuniting for COVID-19 benefit live read

"Community" creator Dan Harmon and cast members Joel McHale, Donald Glover, Alison Brie, Yvette Nicole Brown, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Jim Rash and Ken Jeong will perform a table read and Q&A for charity.




community

Rebuilding Community after Crisis: Striking a New Social Contract for Diverse Societies (Transatlantic Council Statement)

Addressing the deep-rooted integration challenges unearthed by large-scale migration and rapid social change will require a combination of strategies. Governments in Europe and North America must create a new social contract for increasingly diverse societies that are confronting cycles of disruption. This report sketches a blueprint for an adaptive process oriented by skill needs rather than national origins.




community

Persistence of Continuous Glucose Monitoring Use in a Community Setting 1 Year After Purchase

James Chamberlain
Jul 1, 2013; 31:106-109
Feature Articles




community

Diabetes Self-Management in a Community Health Center: Improving Health Behaviors and Clinical Outcomes for Underserved Patients

Daren Anderson
Jan 1, 2008; 26:22-27
Bridges to Excellence




community

'I've Had a Lot of Survivor's Guilt': Columbine High's Former Principal on Healing His Community

Frank DeAngelis, who was the principal of Columbine High School from 1996-2014, talks about the steps he took to heal students and staff in the wake of the school shooting.




community

New Jersey Solicits Community Input on Later Middle, High School Start Times

State education officials are responding to a state law passed last year requiring them to solicit feedback from the community on the impact of implementing later school start times for middle and high school students.




community

Straight Up Conversation: A Community College and a University Rolled Into One

Utah Valley University offers career and technical education, associate degrees, bachelor's degrees, and master's degrees under one roof, all for the average out-of-pocket tuition of $1,700.




community

Restorative justice : an adjunct to the current punitive justice system / presented by Leigh Garrett, CEO OARS Community Transitions, including the Centre for Restorative Justice.




community

Australian government response to the Senate Finance and Public Administration References Committee inquiry report : the appropriateness and effectiveness of the objectives, design, implementation and evaluation of the Community Development Program (CDP)




community

The community development programme : evaluation of participation and employment outcomes / Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.




community

Realising the Potential : a review of the Army Aboriginal Community Assistance Programme : a collaborative report researched and prepared by the Australian Government Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Australian Army / written by

In 2017 the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and Australian Defence Force (Australian Army) undertook a joint review of the Army Aboriginal Community Assistance Programme (AACAP) to assess its efficiency and effectiveness. The review found AACAP is a highly regarded and effective means of achieving positive environmental and primary health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities while providing valuable training outcomes for Army. AACAP's objectives align with the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) 'Closing the Gap' targets in Indigenous disadvantage and with the Australian Government's Indigenous Advancement Strategy (IAS). The report identified areas for potential improvement, recommending greater support for the sustainability of infrastructure and project investment, enhanced employment and training opportunities and strengthening of project governance.




community

The German-speaking community of Victoria between 1850 and 1930 : origins, progress and decline / Volkhard Wehner.

Germans -- Victoria -- History.




community

Consultation with community: planning the next phases of the project

The Rediscovering Indigenous Languages project is entering its second phase, which will focus on community consultation




community

Call for Racial Equity Training Leads to Threats to Superintendent, Resistance from Community

Controversy over an intiative aimed a reducing inequities in Lee's Summit, Mo., schools led the police department to provide security protection for the district's first African-American superintendent. Now the school board has reversed course.




community

The therapeutic community : study of effectiveness : social and psychological adjustment of 400 dropouts and 100 graduates from the Phoenix House Therapeutic Community / by George De Leon.

Rockville, Maryland : National Institute on Drug Abuse, 1984.




community

Rate optimal Chernoff bound and application to community detection in the stochastic block models

Zhixin Zhou, Ping Li.

Source: Electronic Journal of Statistics, Volume 14, Number 1, 1302--1347.

Abstract:
The Chernoff coefficient is known to be an upper bound of Bayes error probability in classification problem. In this paper, we will develop a rate optimal Chernoff bound on the Bayes error probability. The new bound is not only an upper bound but also a lower bound of Bayes error probability up to a constant factor. Moreover, we will apply this result to community detection in the stochastic block models. As a clustering problem, the optimal misclassification rate of community detection problem can be characterized by our rate optimal Chernoff bound. This can be formalized by deriving a minimax error rate over certain parameter space of stochastic block models, then achieving such an error rate by a feasible algorithm employing multiple steps of EM type updates.




community

Community-Based Group Graphical Lasso

A new strategy for probabilistic graphical modeling is developed that draws parallels to community detection analysis. The method jointly estimates an undirected graph and homogeneous communities of nodes. The structure of the communities is taken into account when estimating the graph and at the same time, the structure of the graph is accounted for when estimating communities of nodes. The procedure uses a joint group graphical lasso approach with community detection-based grouping, such that some groups of edges co-occur in the estimated graph. The grouping structure is unknown and is estimated based on community detection algorithms. Theoretical derivations regarding graph convergence and sparsistency, as well as accuracy of community recovery are included, while the method's empirical performance is illustrated in an fMRI context, as well as with simulated examples.




community

Youth & Community Initiatives Funding available




community

Town launches new Community Support Hotline