Local Community Assets to Promote Community Policing in Ethiopia

Ermias Kebede, Wassie Kebede — Fri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Community policing is a recent strategy in Ethiopia that calls for partnership with communities to address crime problems. Few studies in Ethiopia have examined how community assets can support and work in partnership with community policing. This study explored how community assets could be used to strengthen community policing services in the Gorf Aswogaj community in Addis Ababa. We employed a qualitative research method with a case study design. Thirteen participants (11 community members and 2 police officers) participated in interviews. The findings uncovered numerous social assets including community based associations, strong culture of mutual support, and deep rooted habits of attending community based social events. Further, the study revealed existing multiple sources of income such as remittance, small and petty businesses, and renting house, which can be used as economic back-up for community policing. The study also found existing public and private institutions that can be exploited to advance community policing services in the study area. The study concludes that a community strength perspective can be integrated with community policing programs in an effort to build more peaceful and harmonious community as suggested by Asset Based Community Development Model and Normative Sponsorship Theory.

The The Economic Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Market Vendors in Kampala City in Uganda

Fri, 24 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic struck Uganda, much emphasis by the policy makers and researchers were on the health effects of the pandemic at the expense of the economic effects hence creating a research gap. The cardinal aim of this study was to examine the economic effects of the pandemic on the wellbeing of the market vendors in Kampala city. The specific objectives of this study were; examining how the COVID-19 pandemic economically affected the market vendors in Kampala city, and determining if the pandemic was a demand or supply side shock. The study employed the Blinder-Oaxaca (B-O) decomposition technique, which was originally used in labor economics to decompose earnings gaps and to estimate the level of discrimination. This decomposition method analyses changes in a given variable over time. Descriptive statistics such as means, frequencies, and percentages were generated to gain insights into the data. Consumption and Sales were used as proxies for demand whereas the proxy for supply was production. The decomposition results from the Oaxaca estimates show that consumption, sales, and production reduced after the introduction of the COVID-19 restriction. The pandemic affected the market vendors economically through reduced consumption, sales, and disruption of the supply chain. It is recommended that the government provide appropriate support in form of income support, access to low credit and building the digital capacity of market vendors. This study contributes to the understanding of the economic effects of the pandemic on vulnerable groups-the market vendors.

Ethiopian Journal of the Social Sciences and Humanities

Local Community Assets to Promote Community Policing in Ethiopia

The The Economic Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Market Vendors in Kampala City in Uganda