Nora and Medea Essay

Medea, in ‘Medea’, and Nora, in ‘A Doll’s House’, are both women who seem to suffer badly at the hands of their husbands in two male-dominated societies; the former in ancient Greece, the latter in nineteenth century Norway. Each does something important for her husband involving personal sacrifice, for which she expects certain treatment in return, but when this is not forthcoming, how do they react? Do they accept the roles of conventional wives, demure and weak? Or do they rebel and behave unconventionally? Medea’s culture dictated that women had almost no rights, and were regarded as little more than possessions: â€Å"we have to buy a husband [and] what we buy is someone to lord it over our body.† Although Nora’s culture allowed women more rights, they were still forbidden certain privileges; for example, â€Å"a wife can’t borrow without her husband’s consent.† This shows the male dominated societies the two women lived in, and the inferior role the wife was expected to play. Medea was not, however, quite the conventional female of her culture for she is described as, â€Å"a lioness, not human, wilder than Tyrrhenian Scylla.† Her use of masculine language – â€Å"I would rather fight three times,† – suggests she is almost male despite being a ‘model’ wife of her time: â€Å"I have borne you sons.† Nora also acts unconventionally for her era, â€Å"[borrowing] without her husband’s consent,† but is still a stereotypical wife in a sense, playing with her children and being her husband’s inferior, a ‘featherbrain’ and ‘skylark’. The sacrifices made by Medea for her husband Jason are considered â€Å"evil arts† in her society, and cause her banishment. It is interesting to note that Medea made those sacrifices because her heart was, â€Å"smitten with love for Jason.† She even lists them to Jason: â€Å"it was I who killed the sleepless serpent . . . . I betrayed my father and my home. . . . I killed King Pelias.† The severity of her sacrifice would be great in any culture, but to be stateless represented a death sentence in the Ancient Greek world. It is discernable from the above that Medea’s sacrifices were to protect Jason’s life and destroy his enemies, which mirrors the society they lived in, as it revolved around war and violence. Nora’s sacrifices seem mediocre in comparison to Medea’s, since they do not involve murder. â€Å"It was I who saved Torvald’s life,† is a simple statement, which gives the audience Nora’s motive for borrowing the money. Throughout the play, it is obvious that Nora loves Torvald, as she says, â€Å"if anything as horrid as that were to happen,† when Torvald jests about his demise. Nora borrowed the money to enable Torvald to go to Italy to recover his health, but she obviously did not wish to worry him: â€Å"[she] told him how nice it would be to have a holiday.† Nora accepted the roll of the ‘skylark’, even though it was demeaning, to hide the truth from Torvald. This reflects her society too, because keeping up middle class appearances was essential. After all the sacrifices made by Medea, and when she has come â€Å"to live . . . with her husband,† Jason refuses to acknowledge anything she has done for him, and claims, â€Å"that [his] only guardian on [his] travels . . . was Aphrodite, she alone.† In this sense, Jason expects Medea to be a ‘sacrificial lamb’ in their marriage, and to do his bidding without a thought of decent treatment or appreciation from him. He also becomes, â€Å"the traitor who has betrayed her bed,† by his marriage to the princess. He twists the facts of their lives to create the illusion that Medea is unjust in her expectations of him, and even goes so far as to say that it is for her own good: † I did it to safeguard you.† Furthermore, after Medea’s heart is broken, she is dealt a cruel blow when Creon tells her, â€Å"take your two sons and go, into exile.† Because of her love for Jason, and the sacrifices she has made for him, she is hated and feared by men; as she says, â€Å"I am alone and stateless.† Medea’s path seems to make her a ‘sacrificial lamb’ for Jason, since her situation is so hopeless: â€Å"plundered from a barbarian land, I have no mother, brother†¦ â€Å" In Nora’s case, when Torvald finds out about the borrowed money, he does not appreciate what she has done for him either, and does not reassure her as she anticipated. He overwhelms her with his reaction, not even allowing her to speak: â€Å"you wretched woman what have you done?† He insults her by saying she has, â€Å"no religion, no morality, no sense of duty.† This is ironic  because it is her love and ‘sense of duty’ that compelled her to break the law and borrow money in order to save his life. He rages at her, forcing her to see the reality that he only cares about himself: â€Å"you wrecked my happiness†¦my future.† He even asks her, â€Å"do you realize what you have done to me?† When Krogstad returns the bond, Torvald displays his selfishness further, and shocks Nora by declaring, â€Å"I’m saved!† But he then insults her and demeans her position by asserting that Nora’s ‘feminine helplessness’ made her, â€Å"twice as attractive to him.† Throughout this whole event Torvald exhibits his true self to Nora, astounding her by being a manifestation of selfishness and cowardice. Nora had expected him to be willing to sacrifice himself for her, as she had been willing to do for him. The harsh reality, however, was that Torvald was fully intending to sacrifice her to save himself. Therefore, Medea and Nora both expect a certain treatment from their husbands, which they do not get. In Medea’s case, Jason knew of her sacrifices, and refused to acknowledge them. Torvald did not know what Nora had done for him, but when the time came, he failed her in his reaction. In this, it is obvious that Torvald and Jason are very similar. Both wish to benefit from their wives’ sacrifices and refuse to commend them for their evident love. Their selfishness reflects the fact that in their respective societies the men expected their wives to do their bidding. Jason is typically male in his reaction, accusing Medea of being sex-crazed. Torvald, likewise, is the typically middle class husband concerned only with his own position, not his wife’s. Both Nora and Medea, after realizing the true characters of their husbands, seem blatantly to refuse to accept their roles as conventional victims of male dominance, and react in their own ways. They behave against what was expected of them. Medea’s reaction is not as astounding for an audience as Nora’s in my opinion, because Medea has a degree of blood lust and vengefulness about her, whereas Nora had been behaving like a ‘good’ wife  throughout the whole play, so her reaction is more powerful. Because of Medea’s character, she is, in my opinion, expected to take revenge on her husband: â€Å"let no one think me weak†¦ I am made of different stuff.† Nora does the exact opposite. She does not leave Torvald as an act of revenge, but does this for herself, as an act of self-discovery. This may again be linked to the societies the two women lived in. Medea’s culture was very violent and warlike, almost primitive, whereas Nora’s culture was not at all violent, and offered more opportunity for her to break free. Medea declares that she will, â€Å"triumph over [her] enemies,† and murders Creon and his daughter. The use of the words ‘triumph’ and ‘enemies’ is rather sinister imagery, which reinforces her vengeful spirit and masculine language. The two murders come as no surprise as that has been Medea’s method of treating her enemies. Her second bout of revenge truly shocks readers, for infanticide is completely against maternal principles. She is willing to sacrifice her own sons to torture Jason, as she coldly decides that, â€Å"Jason will never see alive again the sons he had by me.† Nora’s reaction is more modern and feminist, as she resolves that her most sacred duty is the, â€Å"duty to [herself].† She simply informs Torvald that she is leaving him and her children. Though this may not be so controversial today (at least in the West), in Nora’s culture, the family’s reputation would suffer greatly, and her own reputation would be almost certainly lost. Through the sacrifices the two characters willingly make for their husbands, whom they love, the two women act conventionally. After they see their husbands in their true lights, they each react in their own unconventional ways, and refuse to play the role of victim often given to women. In this, at least, they revolt totally against the stereotypes enforced by their respective patriarchal societies two thousand years apart, and behave similarly to women in more modern egalitarian societies.

Indians vs. Europeans

Shelby Bradley The idea of a brand new world across the ocean sparked interest in many Europeans. They saw it as an opportunity to get rich quick and benefit immensely. The issue they didn’t see was the presence of the Native Americans who were already on the land. The Europeans sailed into North America and immediately started excluding the Indians and taking their land. This caused many conflicts between the two groups, especially in the New England and Spanish Southwest region and during the 1600’s. In 1620, the first New England settlement was founded. It was at a site called Plymouth Rock and was the location of the Mayflower Compact. At first the colonists had lots of trouble figuring out how to grow crops and hunt and basically survive in this new world. The local Native Americans showed them how to farm and hunt and soon the colony prospered. It’s hard to understand why so many conflicts occurred when clearly the Native Americans weren’t fighting our arrival. The colony was doing so well that other people from Europe saw opportunity and starting moving to New England. Soon the colony was overcrowded and the colonists started taking the Indians’ land. They also hunted too much, spread their diseases to the Indians, and also tried to convert them to Christianity. The Indians did not take this lightly. They started to fight back. For example, they killed Anne Hutchinson and her family. The Europeans’ greed was the root of these conflicts and the Native American’s response didn’t help their relationship either. Meanwhile there were also problems in the Spanish Southwest. By the 1600’s most of South and Central America were occupied by Europeans, so the Spanish started heading north. The Spanish immediately killed and enslaved any Indians that they ran into. By the time they reached New Mexico, slavery was in full swing and they were trying to convert the Indians to Christianity as well.

Culture at Thai Temple Essay

Today, I have the opportunity to go to the Thai Temple on North Broadway Street. As we all know that Thai community is not a big population in Wichita, Kansas, and there’s not many temple here as well. I walked into the temple with a beautiful site view, there was only one Buddhist statue inside the building. Walking in the temple there stood three monks with a warm welcome from them to show me around the temple. I turned around with a curious look on my face, and started to asked them how often do they held ceremony for praying time. They told me that it is usually every Saturday and Sunday. One of the monk name was Michael, he told me that usually the people who participate or come visit the temple they would bring food to share with monk, and other people. The food must be vegetarian, and that your spoon or any utensil must not touch any meat at all. Monk Michael told me that monks are vegetarian, they cannot eat fish or any meats at all. They always eat before 11 o’clock and usually once a day before the prayer. It was really fascinating for me to have the opportunity to view the different from my usual culture and belief system. As monk Michael guide me through the temple, he said that when there’s a hug festival there is a lot of people from Thai community gather to celebrate the holiday. He told me that during the New’s Year which is the most important holiday for Thai and Cambodian society. People would come to the temple to pray and lit up incense for the Buddhist statue, and get red envelop under the Ochna tree. The red envelop meant to bring us luck and prosperity for the upcoming year. Monk Michael ask me to come by during the big festival in April 14. It is the most exciting day for Thai and Cambodian which they shared the same New Year day. Attending this Buddhist temple I have engage and learnt the culture difference between Catholic and Buddhism. My belief is Catholic, and I noticed the New Year holiday for Catholic and Buddhist was totally difference from my culture, and my own belief. Catholic biggest holiday is Christmas just like American society. We only celebrate Christmas in church, but we don’t celebrate New Year as Buddhist. As monk Michael asked me to engage in the part of prayer, I felt a little uncomfortable, because I was afraid I might do something wrong, and that we have to knee down through the whole praying time. It is usually lasted about an hour or so. My religious is not the same as Buddhist, but I know the food flavor and the taste are the same. Even though, monk Michael asked me to stay and enjoy the meal with the rest of the monks. The food might be plain without the meat, but it was really delicious. The monk is vegetarian, and they cannot eat meat, if they did people would not respect them as a monk who guard the temple, because if they did they will break the rule of being a monk. That’s what monk Michael tell me about their habit and the protocol the have to follow. Monk Michael also told me that, monks cannot have spouse and kid, also drinking as well, because that’s is against the religious value. Being Catholic I feel that’s our Father or priest we don’t have to fast, even if we do. Catholic only eat fish during Easter month. The majority people who goes to temple are usually Buddhist believer or any people who want to come to pray is always welcome. Our culture and religious are different, but we have the same view of life such as karma. Attending Buddhist temple I can see the different between religious and the different in culture practices. It was worth of my time to spend today to engage in this wonderful heritage of Buddhism. Thai people worship Buddhism is stronger believer. They believe that life is does not end with dead, but it is more base on karma. â€Å"What we sow, is what we reap† it is the concepts in every human being; it doesn’t have to be in your religious. Going to the Thai Temple make me feels like there are a lot of great culture practice not only around world, but also in the community of Thai, and Vietnamese who practices Buddhism it is worth my time to explore this culture. After attending this culture event, I feels closer not only to my heritage, but I have deeply appreciated Thai heritage as well as my own. Thai Temple had taught me more about their background, and their religious, which they provided on this fieldtrip. Michael monk had provided me with real life interaction experience with his culture and exchange different belief. I will come back to Thai Temple during their New Year’s events to gain more knowledge of their culture holiday. This fieldtrip has help me become less ethnocentric and become more open to experience new culture. After this fieldtrip I would like to go and learnt more about other culture that I never have intents to tries. This make me realize that I have missed a lot of this opportunity to seek and learnt other culture belief.

Account for Amartya Sen's Approach to Development as Freedom Essay

Account for Amartya Sen's Approach to Development as Freedom - Essay Example This essay stresses that the connection between development and freedom has been subject to many debates. This is because while some people view freedom as a great partner to progress, while others believe that individual freedom leads to adversity and slows down development. Let us begin by looking at the definitions of both terms. Development is defined by Lawn as â€Å"an evolutionary process involving the qualitative improvement in the human condition over time". Freedom on the other hand is â€Å"the possibility for choosing what is good lying immanent within the plurality of alternatives which appear more or less good†. This paper makes a conclusion that Sen has observed that freedom is not mainly the primary end of development, but rather the main means. There are wide varieties of freedoms and all are remarkably linked through various mechanisms. These freedoms range from political freedoms, which help to promote economic security and provide social opportunities to other forms of freedom. Freedom links economic prosperity and development and can be strengthened by other freedoms. When freedom opportunities prevail, individuals can easily shape their destiny and the end result is prevalence in the free and sustainable agency. Individuals can easily shape their destiny in the presence of adequate social opportunities. For this reason, Sen’s work is applied by economists worldwide. It also holds no threat since it is humane in nature.

Was the Soviet System Reformable Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Was the Soviet System Reformable - Essay Example F. Cohen analyses the case of Soviet Union by looking at it from various angles. He also asks analytical questions as to why the Soviet Union perished and some of the contributing factors. He emphasizes that the prevailing view of changes that occurred under Mikhail Gorbachev’s six-year attempt to transform the Soviet Union along democratic and market lines to some extent proved that the system was unreformable. Cohen asserts that this is from his historical researches and perceptions regarding the non-reformability of the Soviet Union which according to him have been formulated and analyzed from time to time by other scholars too. According to him, the concepts driving the researchers and the ideologies of the reformability of Soviet Union are based on the Communist Party and its dictatorship, monopolistic state economy, and the slow responses of Mikhail Gorbachev’s policies. In his analysis, he emphasizes that it is important for scholars and historians to understand that reform doesn’t just merely refers to change but changes that improve people’s way of lives by widening political and economic freedom. Additionally, reform doesn’t mean a revolution or complete transformation of an existing order, but rather a piecemeal and gradual amendment within a systems broad historical, institutional and cultural dimensions. In the case of Soviet System, â€Å"real reforms† at that time was based on rapid and complete revolutions that would deem it very difficult to make reforms in the Soviet system. Cohen also argues that many studies conducted during the Soviet era however indicate that if certain policies were implemented then systematic change would have been possible in the Soviet system which was all dependent on Mikhail Gorbachev leadership. According to Cohen, other scholars and historians support this position because they are of the opinion that the structural violence which was at the center of Soviet system restrict ed the capabilities of Mikhail Gorbachev’s political, social and economic policies from becoming effective. Asking the question as to whether the Soviet system was reformable thus means asking if all the basic components and policies could be reformed. In fact historians argues that it makes no sense making assumptions that if any components or policies were supplemented by new ones or eliminated, the results would no longer be of the Soviet system. Furthermore, the Soviets of 1917 were generally elected, only turning into something else later. At this time there was no monopolistic control of the economy until the 1930s, and when the Stalinist mass terror which had been fundamental feature for 25 years ended no own would questioned if the system is still soviets. From these proponents historians and scholars argue that the Soviet System was not reformable and thus was doomed to be inherent defects (Kuvaldin, 22). Cohen also attributes the Soviet Union to the five transformat ions of the communist system which was generally advancing towards an economic  policy to be adopted in the Soviet  Union intended to increase central planning and labor efficiency. It however eventually led to the end of central planning in the Russian economy. The transformations were heavily determined by the communist system which included the monopoly of power by the communist party, democratic

Time to Begin and Sustain Progress Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Time to Begin and Sustain Progress - Coursework Example The teachers currently handle many English as second Language (ESL) students; in both the urban and the rural areas. Multicultural education enhances critical thinking and decision making; and also encourages the movement towards the cultural pluralism of the USA society (Banks, 1997). I would like to concur with Richard Rothstein for claiming that the children for the European immigrants performed better than those of the Africans. This was caused by lots of factors which essentially favored them as compared to their black counterparts. However, it does not mean that they were lesser brilliant. There were certain education factors in the USA that prevented or minimized the good academic performance of the immigrant children. Many immigrant children, both from Pulaski County Special School District, Arkansas and the whole country, experienced language barriers in school. These children faced problems when communicating with their teachers or fellow students. They also majorly live in neighborhoods which were isolated linguistically; hence they developed weak command of the English language. The other reason for the disparity in the performance of the children of the European and African children is that they were taken to different schools. As this scholar exclaims, these children were taken to different schools. There was a high level of racial segregation which was manifested in nearly all sectors of life. In such a society, children would be segregated depending on their social status. Whereas the black children were taken to poor schools, their counterparts from the prestigious and ‘superior’ white families were taken to high cost schools in which they would receive high quality education. I would like to point out that this myth might still persist in the contemporary society. Although the government has introduced

Create a crisis action plan Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Create a crisis action plan - Coursework Example It is also important for the management to attempt to create goodwill in the company so that it can have a good image in the eyes of the (Flippo, 1961). There are different steps that can be taken when resolving conflicts in an organization. According to Armstrong (1994), there are mainly four stages that are involved in conflict resolution which involve the following: carry out research about the root cause of the conflict, design an action plan, implement the plan and finally evaluate the effectiveness of the crisis action plan. Some claims of sexual harassment that are reported in the organization are baseless hence the need to conduct some investigations to establish if the case has actually happened. In the event that sexual harassment claims are real, a proper course of action will be required in order to rectify the issue so that the parties involved can work together in harmony again. The action plan ought to involve the parties involved in the case of sexual harassment. This action plan should not only be limited to the people who are directly involved in the case but should be a leading example to the would be offenders in the future. The people involved should be brought to the drawing table where their case is openly discussed. The views of both parties are taken into consideration and a solution that is satisfactory to both parties is found. For the sake of progress and unity in the organization, reconciliation is the way forward when the offender and the victim have understood each other and hav e agreed to forgive each other. Thus, in the case highlighted above, the action plan involves the parties involved burying the hatchet and working together in unity. However, this course of action ought to be implemented by a responsible person like a leader in the organization. In order to implement this course of action, the leader should make sure that the people involved do not revert to the issue again but they should just focus on

Philosophy of Justice in Plato's Republic Essay

Philosophy of Justice in Plato's Republic - Essay Example This phenomenon is reflected in the dialogue between Socrates and Thrasymachus, as the dialogue has been incorporated in a book I of Plato’s Republic. The view of Socrates on justice is in opposition to that of Thrasymachus, as revealed through the arguments developed by each of them. The evaluation of these arguments leads to the assumption that Socrates’ thoughts on justice are based on fairness and equality, a fact that ensures justice, in all its aspects. On the other hand, the view of Thrasymachus on justice follows a different direction, being able to result in social conflicts. It is probably for this reason that, in the end, Thrasymachus recognize the value of Socrates’ view on justice and accept his failure in understanding the actual role of individuals within the society, including their role in the promotion of justice. In accordance with Thrasymachus, ‘justice is nothing else but the interest of the most powerful’ (338c Plato’s Re public I). Thrasymachus defends the above definition by developing a series of arguments, as described below. At the first level, Thrasymachus states that the types of polities globally are many. There are countries based on monarchy, others are based on aristocracy and others are based on democracy (338d). ... Thus, justice, as based on the laws introduced by the most powerful, serves the interests of the latter; the above phenomenon, as Thrasymachus notes is common in all countries, no matter their polity. In regard to the above argument of Thrasymachus, Socrates notes that governors are also likely to introduce laws, which are in opposition with their interests; citizens are obliged to respect these laws, as also the laws serving the interests of governors (339e). In other words, citizens have to deal with two different types of laws: those that serve the interests of governors and those serving the interests of citizens. From this point of view, the view of Thrasymachus that justice is only the interest of the most powerful is proved to be invalid. In regard to the above, Thrasymachus supports that governors cannot introduce laws that are opposed to their interests. Rather they are expected to always promote their interests, making no mistakes in choosing laws that promote those interes ts (340d), exactly like those who are experts in a particular science or art. Those experts do not make mistakes since in this case, they would lose their power, has resulted from their role as experts (340d). In this context, as Thrasymachus notes, a true governor is not expected to make mistakes; therefore he promotes only his interests (341a). Socrates abjures the above argument referring to the example of a doctor, as used previously by Thrasymachus. Socrates notes that a doctor is a therapist; therefore, he has to take care of the health problems of ill people (341c).  

Nursing Students Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Nursing Students - Essay Example The title could do a little revision though to make it appear scholarly. In its abstract, it has identified a total sample population of n=197 whereby only 6% creates the sample size. The sample is too small to reflect the subject population thereby the confidence level is heighten too actively. The chances of error are so remote here. But it has been noted that in determining a sample size for a given level of accuracy, the worst case of 50% should be used. Type of sampling employed and how the respondents were selected among the school's total population of 424 undergraduate students was derived. Such information vital to the methods used in the analysis of data was not identified in the abstract nor in its methodology. Kidder relates that, "a critical portion of a research study is the portion on the instruments used to gather data". Validity of the conclusion derived out of the statistical instruments depends greatly on its characteristics. Therefore the questionnaire used as the main tool in this research should be attached in the bibliography subject to further studies and referencing. Reliability which refers to the extent of an instrument's consistency should be able to elicit the same response when applied to respondents. Since such document is not identified nor presented in this article, its validity and reliability cannot be substantiated and investigated. Over-all evaluation of the instrument cannot be conducted at this moment. The quantitative results of data gathered does not clearly correlate with the problem encountered and stated in the sense that it has focused on the end result of treatment intervention as its instrumentation rather than on the smoking patterns and behavior itself and the possible effects of implementing a certain kind of treatment intervention. Works Cited Kidder, Louise H.1981). "Research Methods in Social Relations.". New York: Hold, Rinehart and Winston. Works Cited Marx,Karl. "Capitalism and Alienation" 2004.Faculty.fostburg. edu. 07 Mar,

Nortel Case Report Essay Example for Free

Nortel Case Report Essay The company also used to be affiliated with ATamp;T/Western Electric until Western was forced to sell its stake in 1949. In 1976, the company changed its name from Northern Electric to Northern Telecom Limited, and shifted its concentration on digital technology. In 1977, Nortel introduced its DMS line of digital central office telephone switches. Nortel ended its long relationship with ATamp;T in 1984, a year after deregulation named. Bell Canada Enterprises the parent company to Northern Telecom. In 1998, the company acquired Bay Networks and changed its name to Nortel Networks. In the late 90’s, Nortel’s sales of fiber optic network gear was predicted to help their sales, but the market became saturated very quickly. At the height of Nortel’s first 100 years the company amassed for more than a third of the total valuation of all companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), but once the Internet bubble passed, the company fell into ethical debacle. Nortel Networks Corporation, or formally known as Northern Telecom Limited was one of the largest telecommunications equipment companies in the world prior to its filing for bankruptcy protection on January 14th, 2009. During times of functionality, they specialized in multinational telecommunications equipment manufacturing. The company is based in Canada out of Mississiauga, Ontario, Canada. Their biggest rival always was Global System Mobile (GSM). Through the early 1990s, the company invested heavily in Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) in attempt to grow in European and Asian markets. This did not pan out so well as Nortel’s losses amounted to $27. 3 billion by 2001—causing them to lay off two-thirds of the workforce. From 2000 through 2003 there was a period of fiscal irresponsibility resulting from the work of the company’s administrators. Initially in 2000, they falsified their fourth-quarter earnings by $1 billion to meet market expectations and selectively reversing certain revenue entries. In 2002, administrators discovered $300 million in excess reserves being carried over and swept it under the rug for future benefit in addition to establishing another $151 million in unnecessary reserves. In 2003, administrators directed the release of at least $490 million of excess reserves to boost earning, fabricate profits, and pay bonuses. Losses turned to profits during this year thanks to the shifty methods taking place. Later in that year, administrators mislead investors as to why Nortel was conducting a purportedly â€Å"comprehensive review† of its assets—attributed by restatement $948 million in liabilities. They said restatement was caused solely by internal control mistakes instead of the truth that there was intentional improper handling of reserves which needed to remain hidden. 2 On October 23rd, 2003, the company announced that Nortel would restate its financials for fiscal years 2000, 2001, and 2002. Shortly after this restatement, the major players of Nortel’s administration that were responsible for all of this were exposed through an independent investigation. In March 2004, The CFO and controller were suspended, in addition to the announcement of further restatements and revisions; they were terminated a month later in April 2004. A restatement in early 2005 showed approximately $3. 4 billion in misstated revenues and another $746 in liabilities. In late 2005, Nortel admitted that restatements were the result of management fraud—beginning the downturn of their stock. The company ended up restating financials four times over four years, replacing senior management, and instituting a comprehensives remediation program designed to ensure proper accounting and reporting practices. Eventually on October 15th, 2007, Nortel agreed to settle by paying a $35 million civil penalty and admitting to violations of the antifraud, reporting, books and records, and internal control provisions of the federal securities laws. 2 On June 25th, 2009, Nortel’s price dropped to 18. 5 cents a share down from a high of $124. 0 in 2000. The company decided that month that they would discontinue operations and sell off all of its business units. Nortel’s CDMA wireless business and LTE access technology were sold to Ericsson, and Avaya purchased Nortels Enterprise business unit. Major Players in the Scandal: The major players in this scandal were the four members of the senior management: CEO Frank Dunn, CFO Douglas Beatty, controller Michael Gollogly, and ass istant controller Maryanne Pahapill. CEO Frank Dunn, who is also a certified management accountant. Dunn was mainly involved in the improper use of reserves from 2000 to 2003. CFO Douglas Beatty, controller Michael Gollogly, and assistant controller Maryanne Pahapill were also involved in this management fraud. 2 The Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Toronto arrested ex-CEO Frank Dunn, ex-CFO Douglas Beatty, and former corporate controller Michael Gollogly on seven counts of fraud. Including charges â€Å"fraud affecting public market; falsification of books and documents; false prospectus, pertaining to allegations of criminal activity within Nortel Networks during 2002 and 2003. Magnitude of the financial issue: Nortel at its peak was one of the best companies that Canada had ever seen. Just like ENRON and other financial frauds at the time, Nortel appeared to be a shining example of success in the corporate world. Again like ENRON, Nortel grew through a strategy of aggressive expansion and purchasing of smaller companies in order to create a massive conglomerate. During the good times Nortel was the largest technology company and the most valuable company in Canada. Nortel accounted for over one third of the entire aluation of the Toronto Stock Exchange. The Toronto Stock Exchange is the Canadian equivalent of the New York Stock Exchange and holds the most influential stock market in Canada. Nortel employed about 95,000 employees worldwide. About 26,000 of those workers based in Canada alone. Nortel at one point had a market capitalization of almost C$400 billion. Nortel had set up pensions and healthcare protection for its employees. All of these were lost to either the restructuring under Frank Dunne which left about 60,000 employees without jobs or the bankruptcy that followed in 2009. Canadian government officials and regulators identified how destructive a full failure of Nortel would be on the Canadian economy. The Canadian government through the Export Development Canada project tried to lend money to the falling giant. However the Canadian government could not cover all of Nortel’s debt obligations. Nortel owed about $107 million and the EDC (Export Development Canada) could only supply about $30 million in short term loans. This $107 million interest payment accounted for about 4% of Nortel’s cash and put the company into bankruptcy. The world financial crisis of 2008 had put too much strain on Nortel and they were forced to begin liquidation. Public auditor: The auditors involved with this case were Deloitte and Touche. In documents from the fraud case, which is still being heard by the Royal court in Canada, Deloitte claims that they were not given proper documentation by Nortel. Deloitte claims that they did not have pertinent information which should have been provided by administrators at Nortel. Deloitte raised concerns to the audit board of Nortel in 2003 when Nortel turned a profit after Frank Dunne’s restructuring of the company. Deloitte raised awareness of potential fraud and did their duty in that respect. However further investigation conducted has implicated Deloitte in the financial reporting irregularities in Nortel which some have claimed dates back to the time of CEO Roth who held office before Dunne. Information coming out of the case states that even if transactions were deemed suspicious, they still signed off on the verity of the financial reports. Frank Dunne and some of his officers are now charged with fraud by both the SEC and the OSC which regulate the American and Canadian markets respectively. The case is currently still under review in the Royal court of Canada and civil charges have been brought in the United States. Fraud Triangle Nortel had experienced tremendous growth throughout the 1990s, allowing it to expand operations worldwide. Nortel’s expansion came during the telecommunication and technology bubble of the 1990s that inflated stock prices of companies in those sectors. Frank Dunn had taken over for the previous CEO, John Roth, in November 2001 during the telecommunication bubble bust. Dunn felt pressured to maintain the high stock price because it accounted for over one third of Nortel’s value2. Nortel management was also incentivized to post profits that produced executive bonuses with over $7. 8million going to Dunn alone. The primary members of the Nortel fraud were able to commit the fraud because, as executive officers and controllers, they were able to go around the internal controls of the company. That allowed them to implement many accounting practices that did not comply with GAAP. Nortel management’s rationalization for these fraudulent practices must have been that they needed to maintain the high stock price in order for the company to continue operating. Moral Breach and Ethical Issues As a publicly traded company, Nortel had the responsibility of fairly reporting the company’s true financial data to stockholders and potential investors. Dunn, Beatty, Gollogly and Pahapill breached this responsibility by establishing earnings management accounting strategies to manipulate Nortel’s revenues. Nortel management also actively sought to inflate earnings to trigger very large bonuses for key members of management. Perhaps, if these incentives did not exist then there would be less motivation to commit the fraud. Finally, Nortel’s auditor for over a century, Deloitte and Touche, has come under scrutiny by the defense lawyers in Dunn, Gollogly and Beatty’s civil trial in Canada this year. The defense claims that Deloitte approved of all major accounting adjustments that Dunn and his team had engaged in. Summary of Legal Actions On April 28th, 2004, Dunn and his fraud partners were fired for financial mismanagement2. On March 12th, 2007 the SEC filed civil charges against Dunn, Beatty, Gollogly and Pahapill for repeatedly engaging in accounting fraud to bridge gaps between Nortel’s true performance, its internal targets, and market expectations. Dunn and Beatty were charged with violating the officer certification agreement that was established by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Nortel settled with SEC on October 15, 2007 by consenting to be prescribed from violating the antifraud, reporting, books and records, and internal control provisions of the federal securities laws. Nortel paid $35million to the SEC, and $1million to the Ontario Securities Commission to establish a Fair Fund for affected shareholders. Finally, Canadian authorities arrested and charge Dunn, Beatty and Gollogly with seven counts of fraud. Their trial began on January 16th, 2012. Current Status: Nortel, once known as the largest telecommunications manufacturer in the world, filed for bankruptcy in 2009. Now three years later, the period of bankruptcy continues as the company discloses their every operating report highlighting each cash receipt and disbursement. When Nortel went bankrupt, executives believed that selling all business assets would be the best and easiest way to fight debt. Recently, Nortel has netted $7. 7 billion from selling its patents and businesses. As stated on their website, â€Å"Nortel remains focused on maximizing value for its stakeholders, including the sale of its remaining assets, resolution of claims, the wind-down of its global operations and entities, resolution of allocation matters with respect to the sale proceeds, and other significant restructuring activities toward the conclusion of the creditor protection proceedings. † The case for Nortel executives Dunn (ex CEO), Beatty (ex CFO) and Gollogy (ex controller), who were charged with fraud for affecting the public market and falsifying books and documents to earn larger bonuses, is still in trial. In February, a former Vice President of Nortel testified in court against executives stating that they had asked him to use questionable accounting methods to manipulate the company’s earnings. Although those who committed the crime have been charged, thousands of employees will still be left without pension plans and jobs. Nortel has spent over $20 million on retirement package these past two year, but unfortunately the company will stop the pension plan and disability program payments as it continues to sell away its businesses. By the end of 2011, Nortel was split into regional entities – Nortel Networks Limited in Canada and Nortel Networks Inc in the United States, causing disagreements over how to split $7. 5 billion that was earned by selling many assets and patents other corporations such as Apple and Microsoft Corp. The following charts, graphs and financial statements analyze Nortel’s current status. Case Study Questions and Solutions: 1. Dunn is a certified management accountant. Based on the facts of the case, which provisions of the IMA’s Statement of Ethical Professional Practice that was discussed in chapter 1 have been violated? Dunn violates many of the provisions of the IMA’s statement of Ethical Professional Practice they are as follows: 1. Perform professional duties in accordance with law, regulations and technical standards. 2. Provide decision information that is accurate, clear, concise and timely 3. Retain from engaging in any conduct that would prejudice carrying out any duties ethically. 4. Abstain from engaging in or supporting any activity that might discredit the profession. 5. Communicate information fairly and objectively. 6. Disclose all relevant information, that could reasonably be expected to influence an intended users understanding of the reports analyses or recommendations. 7. Disclose delays or deficiencies in information timeliness processing or internal controls in conformance with organization policy and/or applicable law. He violated these by selective reversal of revenue entries in 2000. Followed by concealing the reserves in 2002, which violated GAAP, and then avoided posting a profit so the company wouldn’t have to pay out bonuses. In 2003 Dunn released the reserves to falsely report a profit, which allowed them to eports a profit a quarter earlier than expected, and to pay out more bonuses to senior management. Also in 2003 he misled the investors about why Nortel had restated its financials in order to avoid uncovering the unethical management techniques him and his team had been using. All of these actions take away Dunn’s integrity and credibility in the field of manageria l accounting, which are two of the standards the IMA sets out. Dunn failed to meet his professional code of conduct and his company suffered because of it. 2. What are the responsibilities of an auditor to detect fraud? How were those responsibilities compromised by the actions of Nortel’s management? It is the auditors responsibility to report fraud if they find it, however in this case the actions of Nortel’s management made it difficult for the auditors to do their job. The false financial statements and hiding of money veiled the problems of the company from the auditors. Once there was a hint of the fraud the auditors found it and perused the trail, taking the ethical route and also following the code of conduct. It was their investigation that brought down the fraudulent executives and forced the company to restate its financials properly. This would eventually lead to the failure of Nortel. Nortel made materially false and misleading statements and omissions in connection with the quarterly reviews and materially misstated annual audits of financial statements. This caused the auditors to not be able to properly do their job, and review the statements. 3. Describe the incentives that created pressure on Nortel to manage earnings. Considering the role of Nortel’s management in this regard, discuss whether it met its corporate governance obligations as discussed in previous chapters. The incentives that drove Nortel to manage its earning where greed of the management team, the pressure to deliver bonuses, the pressure to survive an economic downturn, and the pressure to make the company seem like a good investment to both current and potential investors. In an economic climate of intense competition and corporate greed the management at Nortel fell victim to their vices and allowed the pressure to perform to overwhelm their priorities. This caused them to put their own greed and personal ambition before the well being of the company. Nortel did not meet its corporate governance obligations. It did not follow any internal rules of how to run the business. It ignored any corporate ethics they might have. It lied to stakeholders several times by misstating the financials. They did not follow the professional code of conduct of their careers and also did not follow industry standards. They broke the law. No one inside the company caught the fraud therefore their internal controls where not effective. Each of these immoral acts is a case where corporate governance has failed. 4. The final quote in the case characterizes Nortel’s failure as â€Å"just another casualty of capitalism. Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not? How would you characterize the cause of the failure at Nortel? I would argue that Nortel is not just another casualty of capitalism. Nortel did not function in a system of free market capitalism where the government had absolutely no regulation and let the markets function however they wanted. The capitalism system of North America is more of a mixed economy, which combines public and private ownership of companies, and also provides government regulation and intervention to prevent and deal with fraud. Even in a free market the system is meant to come to an equal balance of supply and demand, which cannot be reached if there is fraud involved since the supply has been inaccurately disclosed by the senior management at Nortel. I would characterize this failure as one of humanity. It was not the economic system that allowed this fraud to take place, but the greed of the people and a social environment that ties success so strongly to wealth. It was the social pressure and the effect of human nature that led to Nortel’s demise. . The case discusses how Nortel’s managers prioritized themselves over the shareholders, which, in part, lead to the company’s failure. What should be a company’s first priority? A company’s first priority should be following their code of ethics. The second priority should be the shareholders, followed by the management and other employees. This hierarchy ensures that all the business that is done with be both moral and legal , meaning there is no room to commit fraud and damage the company. In this way you are putting the shareholders first, because by providing a stable and healthy company the shareholders will see an investment that will be able to reach its highest potential. 6. Was Nortel’s settlement a fair penalty? Should the SEC have imposed harsher or more lenient sanctions? Should these sanctions have been on the managers, on Nortel as a whole, or both? A fair settlement would offer compensation to all those who were hurt by this fraud. Groups that may have been hurt could be shareholders, employees and customers. Deciding what is a fair compensation is a little more difficult, however as much of what these people lost as possible should be returned to them. As for the managers who created the problems and took part in the fraud should face a sentence of termination from their company, loss of license (if applicable) and jail time. The company and the individual managers have both failed stakeholders and should both be held accountable. In the case of Nortel specifically the stockholder settlement goes with these guidelines, as for the managers their trial is still ongoing and therefore no sentenced has been given to them yet.

Children The Silent Majority Social Work Essay

Children The Silent Majority Social Work Essay The purpose of this assignment is to highlight the position of children involved in parental separation disputes. Within this essay, I will include the rationale for this project, with a background of my experience gained as a Court Childrens Officer. I will also identify aims which will seek to critically analyse the role of the child during parental separation, and compare and contrast their role in both public and private legal proceedings. I will attempt to provide an analytical literature review of Northern Ireland, UK and International literature, which will demonstrate historical, psychological, sociological, legislative and policy perspectives of including or excluding the child during parental separation. I will then proceed to provide service user and service provider perspectives, with a critical basis for recommendations for future practice. Throughout my assignment I will endeavour to incorporate my learning to demonstrate anti-discriminative and anti-oppressive practice , and how these can be challenged to enhance the service further. Introduction: Evidence based practice (EBP) refers to using evidence from research to indicate the effectiveness of an outcome (Davies, 2008). It is a controversial topic which notes that professionals should only intervene in peoples lives when they can bring about change, without causing adverse consequences. EBP indicates an approach to decision-making which is accountable and based on best evidence (Davies, 2008). Within my own experience, EBP was important for refining my knowledge and practice so that the service user was provided with appropriate support for their individual needs. I used EBP to carry out research to determine what evidence supported or rejected the inclusion of children during family break down. My experience for this Evidenced Based Project was gained as a Court Childrens Officer (CCO), based at the Belfast Family Proceedings Court. This is a relatively new service provided by the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust to help courts resolve family issues, such as residence and contact for the child. There are currently seven small Court Childrens Teams working throughout Northern Ireland. As a CCO, my role was to deal with cases where assistance was needed to help parties agree on the needs of their children, as opposed to continuing the incriminations as to who was responsible for the breakdown of their relationship, through private law proceedings. I was only permitted to be involved with a case, and ascertain the wishes and feelings of the child, if a court direction was issued. Background and Rationale: It is estimated that over one half (53%) of children in the UK will experience parental divorce before they are aged 16, with two thirds of them under age 11 (Office of National Statistics, 2007). In 2005, Northern Irelands rate of divorce was 2,363 (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, 2006). Of these 2005 divorce statistics, there were 2,052 children involved, under the age of 16. However, these statistics mask many more children who go through parental separation each year, and these are not formally recorded (www.rcpsych.ac.uk). It is well documented, within research, that some children can experience a range of complex problems socially, emotionally and economically before, during and after the breakdown of their parents relationship (Timms, 2003), and it is important to note that divorce and separation of parents can be a confusing and stressful time for children making them more vulnerable to psychological, emotional or financial short or long term difficulties (Ti mms, 2003). Numerous studies have reported on the consequences for children going through parental divorce or separation, yet the voice of the child has remained predominantly silent (Butler et al. 2003). The Children (NI) Order 1995 brought together both public and private law proceedings relating to children in Northern Ireland, into an amalgamated order, but the processes for hearing the voice of the child still remain entirely contradictory. Article 3 (3) suggests that â€Å"the wishes and feelings of the child should be taken into account, with consideration of age and level of understanding†. To address this requirement children in public proceedings have separate legal representation, in the form of a solicitor, and guardian to ascertain their wishes and feelings, and present them in court. However, children involved in private law proceedings regarding residence and contact are not included in the proceedings. In private cases the emphasis of the court is to help the parties reach agreement; therefore, the child is reliant on the parents considering and protecting their interests. This is a debatable process which will be discussed below. It is the childs lack of ‘voice throughout parental separation and private law proceedings that has provided the rationale for this project. Aims: This project will seek to examine a childs needs through family breakdown. It will seek to critically examine the childsright to participate in private law proceedings, and compare these with concerns. I will aim to address the debate of including or excluding children during private law proceedings. It will also seek to examine current gaps in support provision for children and young people involved in parental separation, and make recommendations to how these can be addressed. The project will consider the literature, which includes policy and legislation from Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom and Internationally. The literature review below will aim to critically evaluate the perspectives of including or excluding the child in the processes of parental separation. I will use historical, psychological, sociological, legislative and policy perspectives to evaluate the need to include or exclude children. I will compare and contrast the pros and cons, including an analysis of the methods of child participation, with a summary of the findings. Literature Review: With the continuing rise of children experiencing parental separation in Northern Ireland, The United Kingdom and Internationally, it has facilitated the awareness of the childs right to be heard and for their wishes and feelings to be considered. Promoting the childs participation in decision-making during parental separation is a relatively recent event. Historically, children were viewed as needing protection from parental conflict, and lacked the capability to actively participate in family matters (Graham and Fitzgerald, 2005, cited in Birnbaum, 2009). It was assumed that, if children were not informed, they would be sheltered from the major emotional impact separation brought (Smart, 2002). I was also assumed that parents knew what was in their childs best interests (Timms, 2003), and, therefore childrens views were represented by their parents. Through child psychology and social science research, the importance of the childs right to have their wishes and feelings considered has gained a greater significance (Lansdown, 2005), and more importantly, perspectives on the inclusion of children in parental separation disputes have been changing (Williams, 2006). Children are now being seen as having their own rights, rather than parental property (Lansdown, 2005). Psychological research has also increasingly indicated that not listening to children may be more detrimental to their well-being (Kelly, 2002), and that the meaningful participation of children in contact and residence disputes can actually shelter them from emotional hurt during a time when they are most vulnerable (Butler et al., 2003). Social science research also validates that the childs participation in the processes of family breakdown can draw a parallel with their ability to adapt to a new family structure in the future (Butler et al., 2003), as well as gain power and control in a confusing and stressful time (Butler et al., 2003). Research also indicates that young people themselves want to be heard through the legal process, as the outcome has a major effect on their lives (Cashmore and Parkinson, 2008). Adolescents, in particular, have expressed that they want to be involved in major decisions, and be able to make choices (Neale, 2002). A childs participation in the decision-making processes of parental divorce and separation can be largely diverse; direct or indirect. Children can voice their opinion and be involved in contact or residence arrangements that affect them, they can provide input into the development of services, or participate in the development of broader policy issues (Birnbaum, 2009). Legislative and Policy Perspective: It is evident in legislation within Northern Ireland, the UK and Internationally that children have theright to be heard. Article 12 of The United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (1989) stipulates â€Å"children have the right to express their opinions and have their opinions considered†. The Convention encourages adults to listen to the voice of children and involve them in decision-making. The Children (NI) Order 1995 (Article 3: 3), and The Children Act 2004 (Article 54) both stipulate the need for the â€Å"childs wishes and feelings to be ascertained, and taken account of according to the childs age and understanding† (http://www.opsi.gov.uk). Yet, despite legislation, research and social trends in Northern Ireland specifically, no single government policy or strategy has been developed to indicate how best to support the needs of children experiencing parental separation (Weatherall and Duffy, 2008). Certain apprehension, within legislation and polic y, remains in respect of allowing children to participate in the decision-making process of parental separation. This apprehension is created by â€Å"attempts to balance the vulnerability of children, given their age and development, with their rights as individuals† (Smart, Wade and Neale, 1999: 152). There is also much debate about how children should be included in which circumstances and in what way. Argumentsfor the inclusion of children during parental separation: Those who are in support of including children during times of parental separation claim a number of rights-based reasons. The most significant being that the child has a right to be included, according to theConvention on the Rights of the Child (1989), and a right to have their wishes and feelings ascertained (Children (NI) Order 1995). In addition to this, theory suggests that children should be seen as active participants in decision making and not as parental property to be controlled (Atwood, 2003). The United Nations Convention also suggests that children have the right to be respected and heard, and also indicates that they have a right to full access of social, economic, and civil rights that are given to everyone else (Birnbaum, 2009). Secondly, and perhaps most significantly, those in support of including children explain that children want to be involved in decision-making during parental separation, as it affects their lives (Cashmore and Parkinson, 2008). Children understand the difference of providing input and reaching the final decision (Kelly, 2002). Smith (2007) states that by being open and honest with children, and allowing them to participate in separation processes translates into better communication and respectful listening. Research also suggests that children themselves rate their participation as important when it comes to family issues (Taylor, Smith and Nairn, 2001). Thirdly, from a policy perspective, childrens participation is linked with a wider form of social inclusion. Namely, policies, services and programs are more effective if children are included in their design, planning, delivery and implementation (Lansdown, 2005). Smart, Neale and Wade (2001: 269) suggest that â€Å"family policy issues must include childrens viewpoints if children are to be treated ethically† and respectfully. Jameson and Gilbert (2000) claim that childrens views should be incorporated into policy development, as it impacts directly on them. Without doing this decision-makers cannot benefit from childrens perspectives or suggestions about how to resolve the problem. The same argument can be made about the inclusion or exclusion of the child during parental separation. Through a legal and legislative point of view, some have argued that the inclusion of children during private law proceedings can help parents to focus on their children, as opposed to the adversarial ‘blame role. â€Å"Focusing on the needs of children early in the process of parental law proceedings can reduce both the intensity and duration of conflict† (McIntosh, 2003: 232). Goldson (2006) also suggests that focusing on the needs of the children may enhance communication between parents, as it helps them identify common ground. Gray (2002) has also indicated that the childs participation in private law proceedings can facilitate understanding their own wants and needs, and can help develop advocacy skills regarding communication and negotiation within the family. Williams (2006: 158) also suggests that â€Å"by including the child in decisions about parental separation can enhance their sense of self-esteem and control, thereby enhancing their resiliency†. Argumentsagainst the inclusion of children during parental separation: As mentioned above, there are firmly held viewpoints about children being involved in the decision-making process of their parents separation, however, there are a similar number of arguments against the inclusion of children. Firstly, from a rights-based understanding, researchers mention some concerns when adhering to childrens rights. Atwood (2003) argues that a balance needs to be found between protecting children from emotional harm and protecting their rights and Guggenheim (2003) expresses that there is a certain price associated with providing children with rights; he indicates that rights are relational. He claims that â€Å"if children have a right then someone else has a duty and childrens legal rights are always in the hands of adults† (Birnbaum, 2009). Secondly, concerns have been expressed by those who ascertain the wishes and feelings of children. Mediators suggest that children can often be manipulated by a parent, and can take sides accordingly during contact and residence disputes, creating stress and worry for children (Saposnek, 2004). Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) is becoming increasingly significant also this is described as the child expressing unjustified hatred for one parent due to the influence (direct or indirect) of the other parent, which does not benefit the child. Garrity and Baris (1994) argue that involving children in parental disputes can also lead the child to tell each parent what they want to hear, which has no benefit to the child. The child is then seen as wanting to please both parties, rather that choose between them, which again has no benefit. Another concern in the debate of including children in disputes is that the child may not want to become involved for fear of feeling responsible for the outcome, and causing hurt to their parent. Furthermore, some children withhold theirtrue feelings as they fear their parents may get upset with what they say, and therefore should not be placed in such a position (Brown, 1996),. Thirdly, research conducted by Kelly (2003) and Saposnek (2004) indicates that not all children essentially want or need their voice to be heard. They point out that unless a child specifically makes a request to voice their opinion, there is no reason to do so. Research reported from McIntosh (2007) also claims that children would not benefit from being included in the separation process in certain circumstances where there is high conflict between the parents, including previous allegations of domestic violence, or mental health issues. This is due to the power and control issues one parent may have over the other, or the child. Involving the child; Mediation: Mediation has been used for decades as an alternative to court processes, in separation and divorce proceedings (Folberg, Milne and Salem, 2004). Mediation provides parties with an alternative to the traditional adversarial approach, by introducing a neutral third-party to assist in reaching agreement about the child(ren) (Birnbaum, 2009). Children are therefore more likely to benefit emotionally and socially from parental cooperation. However, childrens involvement in the mediation process is relatively new (Austin, Jaffe, and Hurley, 1991). A childs participation in mediation varies from country to country. Saposnek (2004) indicates that childrens direct participation in mediation only occurred in 4%-47% of cases across public and private sectors, in the United Kingdom, the US and Australia. This illustrates that despite adults finding an advantage to mediation, children continue to remain the silent majority, with their parents making decisions. It can therefore be understood that this may leave the child feeling powerless, and disempowered by the process (Birnbaum, 2009). The differing attitudes over whether to incorporate children in mediation are similar to those who debate on the overall process of including children in divorce and separation decisions the child rights versus shielding them from emotional harm (Elrod, 2007). The Child and Legal Proceedings: As mentioned above, within Northern Ireland there are contradictory principles on the inclusion of children in the public and private legal systems. Children within public law proceedings have a guardian and a separate legal representative to advocate on their behalf in court, but children within private law proceedings are not contributors to the process and have no direct involvement (Timms, 2003). â€Å"Northern Ireland stands apart from the United Kingdom for having no legislative provision for the separate representation of children in specific private law proceedings† (COAC, 2005b cited in Weatherall and Duffy, 2008: 279). According to Weatherall and Duffy (2008: 279) this is interesting considering there were â€Å"2,186 Children Order applications brought to Court between January and June 2007, of which 1,925 were private law cases and only 261 were public law cases† and public law children were represented separately. The concerns about children becoming involved in private law proceedings originate from the Human Rights Act 1998 (Article 8) which states that an adherence is needed in respect for private and family life, with minimal state intervention, unless deemednecessary for the protection of others. However, Timms (2003) argues that due to the number of children involved in private law proceedings, compared to public law proceedings, there needs to be a balance found between minimal state intervention and the protection of vulnerable children. Some researchers suggest that childrens voices are being silenced by traditional reluctance to interfere in private and family life, causing concern that some children are being forced to remain quiet in situations of violence, neglect or child abuse, due to a lack of appropriate representation (Radford et al, 1999 cited in Weatherall and Duffy, 2008). The differentiation between public and private law proceedings is not recognised in other countries, such as Scotland, Canada, and Australia with children being seen as having independent rights with an important emphasis placed on having their wishes and feelings ascertained, in legal separation disputes (Timms et al., 2007). This is worth considering in order to examine the effectiveness of our court processes compared to other systems. Child and Parental Perspective: As a Court Childrens Officer (social worker) based in Belfast Family Proceedings Court I had a range of experience working with parents and children during private law proceedings. My role was to adhere to the Children (NI) Order 1995 to provide Article 4 reports to the court, when directed to do so. This was to provide the court with any welfare concerns for the child and/or the childs wishes and feelings having contact or residing with a parent. To provide Article 4 reports the Court Childrens Team first had to receive a court direction to do so, and not all cases requested the CCO to ascertain the childs wishes and feelings separately from the parents. Other roles, through a court direction, included parental conciliation, mediation, and contact observation for the welfare of the child. In cases where there had been previous social services involvement, the article 4 request was transferred to the appropriate social work team in Belfast for further involvement. Through working with children and parents through the court process I was able to ascertain their perspectives on separation disputes and court processes. Child E (14), who had recently moved in with his father, following the separation of his parents, stipulated that he did not understand the court process and would like someone to explain how it would affect him. He continually requested that he wanted limited contact with his mother (maximum two days per week), due to frequent arguments, yet the court continually directed more contact with his mother, and he could not understand why. I feel through this case and others that children are not being listened to, despite their wishes and feelings being ascertained. Child G (12) expressed that he was told â€Å"not to interfere† by his parents, as they had already came to an agreement about contact arrangements. The child articulated that he was concerned about the arrangements, as he wanted to take part in other activities on the same days, with his friends. This is cause for concern as contact arrangements in this case suited the interests of the parents, as opposed to the child. This created anxiety for the child, and as a result the child refused to attend contact, so the case returned to court. The above cases represent just two of the children I had the privilege of working with during my practice placement, but both represent, the need for the child to be involved in court proceedings and listened to when they express their wishes. Parents, however, display relief and satisfaction with the court childrens team involvement in private law disputes. This is due to a neutral third party mediating between parties to discuss unresolved issues. Many parents have expressed thankfulness for the service, as it helped them to focus on their children, as opposed to â€Å"hear say† about one another, from other people. Thankfully, then, many parents do begin to work together to consider their childs needs, without the continual intervention of a CCO, or constant court proceedings. When asking parents how they would improve the service, most claimed they would like continuous mediation, and the opportunity to discuss issues of separation as an ongoing process, with a neutral third party. When gaining child feedback about speaking with me as a CCO, Child G expressed that it was nice to have someone to listen to whathe wanted. Service Provider Perspective: Through the help of my manager and research conducted for this project, I have identified criticisms and gaps in the court childrens service, and provided recommendations on how these can be addressed, to better facilitate service users; 1.Time restraints for involvement due to the court process In my experience, the CCO service had limited time to gather appropriate information about the families involved. Weatherall and Duffy (2008: 287) explain that â€Å"the danger for Article 4 work is that the meaningful engagement that promotes cooperation for full assessment and therapeutic potential is encroached by time pressures.† This then provides difficulties in building a relationship with a child and gaining their trust, to be able to express their wishes and feelings about contact or residence issues. Limited assessment of the child and family may also pose risks and potential significant oversights. However, due to the â€Å"no delay† principle applied to the courts through the Children (NI) Order 1995, it may not be feasible to carry out lengthy assessments that may delay proceedings. Recommendation 1: What is necessary is that decisions for children are reached through appropriate information gathering and careful consideration. A child should be assessed appropriately, but if support services are needed, CCOs should be permitted to make referrals to other organisations. 2.The majority of the court childrens officers time is spent with parents In my experience, the central role of the CCO was to mediate and conciliate between parties to help reach agreement about the child. It is assumed that by helping the parties agree, will therefore benefit the child as less conflict will occur, through better cooperation for contact arrangements. However, this leaves a critique to be made in respect of â€Å"acting in the childs best interests†, or on the agenda of the parents (Weatherall and Duffy, 2008). Child oppression can therefore be implied, if the childs feelings are assumed on the basis of their parents point of view. Recommendation 2: Children should be given the opportunity to take part in mediation. All children involved in private law proceedings should be given the opportunity to have a third party involved to represent their wishes and feelings. 3.The consideration of the welfare of all children involved in private legal proceedings Only a minority of children are involved with the court welfare service, as it is directed by the court. This indicates that the majority of children are not involved, and remain silent through their parents decisions. This poses two significant risks to these children; a) Social service safeguards are not implemented to assess child welfare i.e. to indicate previous instances of domestic violence, child abuse or neglect, in order to protect the child. â€Å"Domestic violence is present in 50% of cases whichrequire Article 4 reports† (Timms, 2003: 165) and safety needs to be addressed for children during contact. b) The child remains powerless and oppressed by not being involved in decisions made about them. Recommendation 3: Children through private legal proceedings should have the right to separate legal representation by a third party, to ensure their needs, wishes and feelings are being met, and welfare is protected. Recommendation 4: Social services should carry out checks to ensure no previous cases of child abuse or domestic violence have occurred, when the welfare of the child is questioned. 4.Lack of support services available to children following parental separation Through my own experience it is evident that any work completed with the child is for the production of an Article 4 report. This lack of time provision and nature of involvement does not supply the child with any level of intervention or understanding of parental separation. Weatherall and Duffy (2008: 288) express that â€Å"in light of research findings indicating the short-term and long-term effects of parental separation on children, it is concerning that the need for therapeutic services is seldom considered† in private law proceedings. Recommendation 5: Provide children and families with the opportunity to seek therapeutic support services, further mediation, and person centred work for parental separation. The Court Childrens Team could have the opportunity to provide these provisions with a further expansion of the service. 5.Public Law versus Private Law:As highlighted above, the Children (NI) Order 1995 amalgamated public and private legislation in relation to children, yet the processes for listening to the child still remain entirely contradictory. Children are separately represented in public law cases, despite fewer children being involved; therefore, children involved in private proceedings do not have the same rights as their counterparts, in terms of representation or service provision (Weatherall and Duffy, 2008). Recommendation 6: The conflicting rights of the child through public and private law should be addressed. Children should have equal rights to represent their views. In Northern Ireland specifically, I would recommend government policy development, and further social service provision to protect vulnerable children in private law proceedings. Recommendation 7: Involve children as participants in private law proceedings, as opposed to them remaining silent in the majority of cases. This would promote ethical practice, partnership and anti-oppressive procedures. Conclusion What I have tried to identify within this Evidence Based Project is to highlight that childrens voices are an important aspect in the separation process between parents. This is evidenced from practitioners and experts through legislation, policy, and research. Regardless ofhow childrens wishes and feelings are ascertained, what remains important is that childrenare acknowledged and listened to. This is not only good, ethical practice, but also helps to promote anti-oppressive practice and partnership with the child. The debate between researchers regarding childrens inclusion continues, but what should remain important is that parents are further encouraged to have better relationships, and helped to focus on what is important the needs of their children throughout the process of separation. The Children (NI) Order 1995 merged public and private law, but what seems to remain is its conflicting views of children. In Northern Ireland there are approximately two thousand children every year who are unrepresented through private law proceedings. To provide them with separate representation, from that of their parents, would offer an independent person to represent their feelings, not only acting in the childs best interests, but addressing some of theConventions rights of the child.The differentiation between public and private law only seems to be evident in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, so perhaps conducting research into international successes is what is needed to gain consistency locally. Throughout this project I have identified that not only does research, policy and legislation support the inclusion of children, children themselves express to be involved in the processes. In Northern Ireland there seems to be a lack of consistency in childrens law, and there is no current policy that seems to be addressing the needs of children suffering family breakdown. This needs to be tackled multi-disciplinarily if we are to protect and support children. The Court Childrens Service could address some of the childrens needs, if the service was expanded, and provided with new policy and legislation

The Mauritian Economy Defied Predictions Of James Meade

The Mauritian Economy Defied Predictions Of James Meade Few Sub-Saharan African countries have managed to achieve high standards of living over the past two decades. Mauritius has been a notable exception. With no natural resources, a small domestic market and vulnerability to external shocks, Mauritius exhibited a series of characteristics very typical to the rest of Africa namely a mono-crop economy, exposure to terms of trade shocks, high population growth rate, ethnic tensions exacerbated by high income and wealth inequality. Defying the predictions of Nobel Prize recipient James Meade, who famously predicted poor development prospects for Mauritius back in 1961 due to its vulnerabilities to both weather and price shocks and lack of job opportunities outside the sugar sector, Mauritius has transformed itself from a poor sugar economy into a country with one of the highest per capita incomes among African countries. Today, the small island nation is one of Africas most prosperous and stable economies and is considered an economic success story. For arguments sake, between 1977 and 2009, real GDP in Mauritius grew on average by 5.1 percent annually, compared with 3.2 percent for sub-Saharan Africa. 3.1 The Mauritian Economy Mauritius is a small island developing state with limited resources and a remote geographical location considered unfavourable. Since its independence in 1968, Mauritius has developed from a low-income mono crop economy to a middle-income relatively diversified export-oriented economy. In the early 1960s, Mauritius embarked on a program of diversification and adopted import substitution policies with the initial emphasis on tax exemptions, long-term loans at favorable rates and protective import duties and quotas. The aim was mainly to combat unemployment, raise standard of living and alleviate poverty. However, import substitution did not bring the benefits expected owing to the small size of the domestic market, limited resource endowments and technical know-how. The enterprises were unable to benefit from economies of scale given the small size of the local market. Furthermore, import substitution policies failed to address unemployment, which reached 20% in the late 60s. In the early 1970s, Mauritius switched to an outward-looking export-oriented strategy. The establishment of the Export Processing Zone scheme, designed to encourage the setting up of labour intensive export oriented manufacturing enterprises, aimed at helping to dampen the growing problem of unemployment, as well as to open up further the economy and benefit from the preferential access to the European markets under the different Lomà © Conventions (and now the Cotonou Agreement). The authorities prudent management of the economy and their outward-oriented policies placed Mauritius on a sustained growth path. Launched with the start-up capital of the sugar sector, the EPZ sector has concentrated mostly on textile and textile-related products. Mauritius seeks to serve as a bridge from Asia to Africa, Europe and the United States: in the 1980s, companies from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore settled in the countrys economic processing zones (EPZs), and were joined in 2007 and 2008 by companies from mainland China. For the past three decades, the industry have attracted FDI from various countries, created new employment opportunities and strengthened the manufacturing base of the economy. The tourism sector also emerged as a serious economic pillar by contributing to foreign exchange earnings of the country and by being an important generator of employment. A range of investment incentives were provided to boost the development of the tourism sector in terms of fiscal incentives and financial support for hotel development and management services. The labour-intensive export-oriented growth strategy was therefore powered by three main economic sectors, namely sugar, textile products and tourism. The diversification strategy was further expanded in the 1990s with the consolidation of the financial services sector into commercial banking, insurance and global business. In recent years, information and communication technology (ICT), in particular business process outsourcing, and the seafood hub have emerged as important sectors of the economy. From 1991 to 2010, the economy enjoyed an average annual real growth of 4.9%. To further diversify the economic base of the island, the government is actively encouraging development in the following sectors: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ the land-based oceanic industry; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ hospitality and property development; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ the healthcare and biomedical industry; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ agro-processing and biotechnology; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ the knowledge industry; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ renewable energy. Figure 1: Sectorial Breakdown of the Mauritian economy, 2009 Mauritius is a fairly well diversified export oriented economy with agriculture, textile, tourism and financial services as leading sectors. However, a gradual shift from agriculture to the service sectors has been observed. Today, the services sector makes the largest contribution towards GDP and towards total employment. The share of the agricultural, hunting, forestry and fishing sector in GDP which was 6.1% in 1999 went down to 4.3% in 2009. The manufacturing sector also experienced a fall, from 23.9% in 1999 to 19.5% in 2009. On the other hand, Hotels and restaurants, a major component of the Tourism sector, witnessed a rise from 6.9% to 7.3% during the same period. Albeit the successful growth records, there is growing concerns as regards competitiveness and sustainability of growth. The traditional Mauritian labor-intensive exports is being challenged by new competitors. Productivity is not increasing fast enough to keep pace with wages that have been rising as a result of near full employment, thus eroding competitiveness. Government policies are aiming at diversifying towards more capital-intensive production and higher value added goods. The acceleration of the growth rate in the 1980s is the result of the macroeconomic reforms in response to protracted balance of payments and fiscal troubles. Following the reforms, Mauritius experienced steady growth, low inflation, and increased employment. GDP per capita, meanwhile, increased approximately seven-fold between 1976 and 2008, from less than $1,000 to nearly $7,000 (figure 2). At the same time, consumer price inflation in Mauritius has remained in the low single digits through the 1990s and 2000s (figure 3). The steady growth path of the early years of the period under review was due to the sugar boom of the early 1970s and the newly established EPZ attracting foreign investment. During that period, GDP grew at an average of 9% per year. However, the boom was short lived with sugar prices falling by 50% and the first oil shock of 1973-74 starting to impact on isolated Mauritian exporters and the small but promising tourism industry. Year 1979 saw the devaluation of the exchange rate by 30%, a rise in interest rate, reduction in food subsidies and wage increases held below inflation. Between 1979 and March 1980, the island was hit by cyclones, sugar production tumbled and GDP fell by 9%. The only encouraging factor during that period was a fall in inflation. The highest rate of inflation Mauritius witnessed since its independence was in October 1980 at 42%. This was due to the deteriorating economic situation following increasing oil prices in the late 1970s coupled with adverse weather conditions damaging food crops. In the same period, the island adopted its first Structural Adjustment Programme and the rupee was devalued by 22.9 % in October 1979. The direct impact of the devaluation was seen on import prices which sky rocketed. Macroeconomic policies have contributed to containing inflation. On a calendar-year basis, inflation (measured by changes in consumer prices) was maintained at under 6.5% per year till 2006, when it rose to 8.9%. The main contributors to this increase include higher oil prices (resulting from increase in world prices and the introduction of the Automatic Pricing Mechanism, higher prices of alcoholic beverages and cigarettes (resulting from the increase in excise duties) and of some other products (resulting from the reduction of subsidies for rice, flour, and bread), increase in freight costs and depreciation of the Mauritian rupee. During 2007, inflation increased further to reach 10.7% in June (on a yearly basis), the highest in over a decade. According to the BOM, this was due to the second-round effects of high oil and commodity prices, the depreciation of the Rupee, and the increase in excise duties. 3.2 Trade Performance Trade remains an important feature of the Mauritian economy in light of the fact that it has a small domestic market and limited natural resources namely land. The island is known to have been running merchandise trade deficit which has been offset at times by surpluses on the services account. The bulk of Mauritian merchandise exports (namely 70% of the total value) is accountable to manufacturing products. Though decreasing in share, clothing remains the main manufactured export (from 57% in 2001 to 36% in recent years). Sugar has remained the main agricultural export, contributing around 16% to total merchandise trade. Imports as well continued to be dominated by manufactured goods. Leading imports include machinery and transport equipment, radio/television transmission apparatus, textile and chemicals. The share of textiles has decreased from 20% in 2001 to 7% in recent years. Nevertheless, textiles remain an important import item. The European Union is the major destination for most of the Mauritian export. The bulk of Mauritian sugar and a large share of its textiles and clothing are destined to the EU. The UK remains the major single destination followed by France and the US. On import grounds, the EU supplies around one third of the total value of Mauritius merchandise imports. Other major suppliers include China, South Africa, France, India and Germany. The share of Middle East countries (Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates) has considerably increased, reflecting mainly the increase of oil prices. 3.3 Trade Openness Mauritius is an active participant of the multilateral trading system and member of various economic groupings and trade agreements. Participation in regional agreements is crucial for a small island country like Mauritius for the following reasons: Allows the exploitation of its comparative advantages and economies of scale. Improves the islands competitive edge. Allows the diversification of its range of exports. Facilitates its integration into the world economy. However, challenges remains for Mauritius has to ensure consistency between the national reform agenda and participation in a multitude of trade agreements, with different geographical coverage, liberalization agenda, provisions and goals. To Sachs and Warner, the key determinants to a countrys long-run growth is its trade policies. In effect, in the 1970s and 1980s, Mauritius had a fairly protected economy; the average rate of protection being high and dispersed. This is depicted by the rather poor openness ration of the early years of the period under review. When the country started to open to the world, a net amelioration of the ratio was noted. 3.4 Exposure to external shocks and policy responses An integral part of economic policies in Mauritius, trade policies are aimed at improving the living standards of the population and seeking to achieve full employment. This objective is projected to be achieved through the implementation of sound macroeconomic policies, investment in public infrastructures, easing the doing business environment and further opening up the economy. Trade policies have, for over two decades, shaped the countrys industrial development and contributed towards sustained growth. Mauritius was able to join in the ranks of the newly industrialised economies. 3.4.1 Agricultural sector Today, agriculture remains an important sector given its share in exports and revolves mainly around sugar. However, the ever decreasing sugar prices have seen the implementation of actions to restructure the sector and ensure its long-term viability. Those actions seek to promote alternative goods relating to cane production. In fact, much of the sugar cane production in Mauritius has been exported to the EU under the preferential terms of the ACP-EU Sugar Protocol. ACP sugar-producing countries were granted preferred access to the EU market, with annual quotas and guaranteed prices. As part of the transition to the new regime defined by the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), ACP countries experienced a decline in their guaranteed minimum price for sugar to the EU. Over four years to 2009, the price fell by 36 per cent. Mauritius is the most affected by the falling price paid by the EU for sugar. At 507 000 tonnes, Mauritius enjoyed the largest quota under the Sugar Protocol. Sugar exports to the EU alone contributed 17 per cent of the countrys foreign exchange earnings and up to 4.5 per cent of gross domestic product. The losses associated with the new regime are expected to have a significant impact on Mauritius, particularly given that the revenue that had been procured from the Sugar Protocol was important for stimulating economic development, promoting diversification and supporting services throughout the country. It is likely that the economy will go through structural change as the agricultural sector moves away from its almost exclusive dependence on sugar and becomes more diversified. The Multi-Annual Adaptation Strategy (2006-2015) is the Government of Mauritiuss response to the changes in the Sugar Protocol, to aid in the adaptation process and take advantage of the package of accompanying measures offered by the EU to ease the transition to the new trading regime. It seeks to protect the long-term viability and sustainability of the sugar industry and ensure that it can continue to make an important economic and social contribution to Mauritius. There are several elements associated with the MAAS designed to help the industry and its workers adapt to the new trading reality and safeguard a future for the sector. Key among these are a focus on ways to (i) reduce costs of production (through factory closures, centralization, and restructuring of the workforce), (ii) generate additional revenue (such as through increasing value added), (iii) efficiently use by-products (such as for producing renewable energy) and (iv) contribute to poverty alleviation (by establishing voluntary retirement and re-training programmes). By pursuing these policies, the Government hopes to transform the sugar industry into an industry that moves away from producing raw sugar towards producing several types of sugar (raw, special, industrial and white), and also produces electricity from bagasse and ethanol from molasses. Once implemented, the policy should result in higher-value products, sufficient production to meet all of Mauritiuss trade commitments, and reduced dependence on imported fossil fuels by increasing the contribution from sugar cane to national electricity production and increasing the production of ethanol. 3.4.2 Manufacturing sector The development of textile and clothing, the main industry, was favoured in the past by preferences under the Multifibre Arrangement (MFA), and preferential access to key markets such as the EC and the United States. Mauritius textiles and clothing industry has been facing many challenges, such as multilateral liberalization, which has resulted in erosion of trade preferences; rising production costs in Mauritius; and the emergence of low-cost producing countries. In anticipation of the multilateral liberalization of the industry in January 2005, most of the major Hong-Kong-owned enterprises (which dominated the industry in Mauritius) ceased operation: between 2001-06, employment in the industry was reduced by 27,000 jobs. This explains the poor performance of both exports and growth of the EPZ subsector. Several steps have been taken to sustain development of the textile and clothing including restructuring of enterprises; promotion of vertical integration to increase value added, as well as high value products; upgrading skills; improving access to finance; and facilitating business operations. With the phase out of the Multi Fibre Arrangement, Mauritius has to compete with major textiles producers like China. The new LDC scheme proposed by the US to extend the AGOA type benefits to all LDCs pose a major threat to Mauritian exports to the US, particularly for garments. With the application of a coefficient of 8 in a Swiss formula to reduce tariffs in the context of the Doha Development Agenda, the preference margin for garments will fall from an average of 12% on the EU and US markets to below 5%. For canned tuna, which Mauritius exports, the preference margin will drop to around 6% from a high of 24%. 3.4.3 Tourism The Tourism Industry has contribution extensively towards foreign exchange earnings, GDP growth and employment creation. With the impact of the turmoil experienced in the international financial markets in 2008, the sector recorded an increase of only 2.6% in tourist arrival as opposed to a 15.1% growth in arrival in 2007, followed by a negative growth of 6.4% in 2009. As at 2009, the tourism sector contributed to 8.9% of GDP; created 26,922 direct jobs and generated Rs. 35,693 million ($1190 million USD) as tourism receipts. Mauritius has performed well in developing a distinctive form of relatively high-end tourism. Growth in tourist arrivals has outpaced that of many of our competitors. Currently, the aim is to continue that growth with a visitorsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ target of two million tourists a year by 2015. To achieve the set target, the number of hotels and room capacity has evolved considerably over the years to cater for the ever-increasing tourist arrivals. Mauritius has been taking measures since early May 2008 to cushion the economy from the risks of deterioration in the world economy. The main policy measures taken since May 2008 are as summarised in the table below. Date POLICY MEASURES ADOPTED AND IMPLEMENTED May 2008 Allocation of Rs. 6 billion [$200 M] for investment in airport expansion creation of 6 funds to realize the Maurice Ile Durable vision, build food security, boost education and knowledge, eradicate poverty and widen the circle of opportunities, improve local infrastructure, carry social housing commitment and sharpen the competitiveness of domestic oriented industries and SMEs. June 2008 The 2008/2009 Budget voted an amount of Rs. 1.8 billion [$430 M] for contingencies to cater for any additional injection required to support public spending and demand. July 2008 Full implementation of the recommendations of the Pay Research Bureau on review of salaries and conditions of employment in the civil service thus injecting an additional amount of Rs 1.5 billion [$50 M] in the economy. October 2008 Reduction in Repo Rate by 50 basis points from 8.25 to 7.75 Reduction in Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) from 5% to 4.5 % Reduction in the minimum CRR on any particular day from 4% to 3% Introduction of a Special Foreign Currency Line of Credit by the Bank of Mauritius aggregating $125 M so as to assist banks encountering difficulties due to non-availability or inadequacy of foreign exchange facilities from usual sources. Review of the Automatic Price Mechanism (APM) to enable monthly, instead of quarterly, review of petroleum prices so that local retail price aligned with international prices of petroleum products. December 2008 Presentation of Additional Stimulus Package (ASP) amounting to Rs 10.4 billion [$350 M] to be spent through 2009 and 2010, basically on major capital projects with focus on fast-tracking and frontloading of existing public infrastructure projects, new investments in public infrastructure, accelerating private sector investment, improving business climate, building human resource capacity, and supporting vulnerable sectors such as the SMEs, export oriented manufacturing and tourism. Setting up of Special Committees to fast track implementation of the Additional Stimulus Package and to unlock private investment. Reduction of the Repo Rate by 100 basis points from 7.75 to 6.75 March 2009 Reduction in the Repo Rate by 100 basis points from 6.75 to 5.75 May 2009 Presentation of new budget built on the Additional Stimulus Package to ride out the global crisis. Some measures to enhance competitiveness and focusing on saving jobs, protecting people, and preparing for recovery are as follows: Injecting an additional Rs 2 billion in the Saving Jobs and Recovery Fund (SJR FUND), to provide for a new micro-enterprise financing scheme for women to be operated by the National Empowerment Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of Women and the Mauritius Post and Cooperative Bank. Rescheduling of loans by the Development Bank of Mauritius for SMEs which were servicing their loans prior to the crisis in September 2008 but then faced cash flow problems. Setting up an Emergency Export Credit Insurance scheme for SMEs as well as large enterprises in all sectors until December 2010. Operating a scheme to assist small hotels and restaurants to improve, and enhance productivity and competitiveness under the SJR Fund. Setting up of the Mauritius Business Growth Scheme (MBGS) to promote business growth in SMEs. Eligible firms will receive financing to support their business growth on a cost-sharing basis Introducing a mentoring service by National Empowerment Foundation to ensure sustainability of small businesses initiated mostly by women Under the Food Security Fund, introduction of a Food Crop Insurance Scheme for small food crop planters, a Seed Potato Purchase Scheme to encourage the production of potatoes by small planters and an Onion Seed Purchase Scheme. Reduction of Ministers salary by Rs 10, 000 per month (July 2009 to Dec 2010) Earmarking Rs 100 million from the MID Fund to co-finance a Rs 280 million programme with the CEB, CWA and WMA (utility agencies) to clean up the social housing estates and rehabilitate the water, electricity and waste-water infrastructure Increase old age, non-contributory pensions and social aid benefits by 5.1 % Payment of compensation of 5.1% for the lowest income band while at the time broadening the band. September 2009 The key Repo Rate was maintained at 5.75 per cent per annum November 2009 The Budget 2010 presented on 18 November 2010 provides for policies for shaping recover, consolidating social progress and sustaining green Mauritius. The measures, inter-alia, include, intensifying efforts to consolidate the traditional and emerging economic pillars, so as to open business opportunities and further stimulate job creation, in particular for women, continue improving the doing business environment to increase investment; investing in human resource development, science, technology and innovation to build the competitive competence that Mauritius needs to be among the fast globalisers; accelerating plan to build the infrastructure of tomorrow. On the social front, the 2010 budget provides for additional effort towards eradication of absolute poverty, provision for every family with a decent dwelling, delivering more and better health care, giving more social protection to our children and women, preparing for the challenges of an ageing population and ramping up support for our seniors and consolidating the progress made in giving greater access to education, from pre-primary to tertiary levels. In regard to the Additional Stimulus Package (ASP), Government policies have been instrumental in dealing with the crisis in terms of saving jobs, preventing closures of firms and protecting people. However, given the current international economic context, the exit strategy needs to be carefully managed. Accordingly government has decided to maintain the Additional Stimulus Measures until December 2010 including the funds committed for a stimulus package for Rodrigues. December 2009 The key Repo Rate was maintained at 5.75 per cent per annum Source: Mauritius Strategy for Implementation National Assessment Report 2010 3.5 Conclusion Trade liberalization has proven to be beneficial to the economy through consistent amelioration of the growth rate over the years. However, increased openness has undermined the economic vulnerability of the island.