Women, peace and insecurity: The risks of peacebuilding in everyday life for women in Sri Lanka and Nepal.

Truth telling processes, initiatives to prosecute war-time perpetrators, and ex-combatant reintegration are examples of common peacebuilding practices after war. Yet, little is known of how women are affected by peacebuilding initiatives such as these, or how they perceive these initiatives for peace. For many women, peace after war does not bring peace to everyday life; research shows that domestic violence increases during and after war. In addition, some peacebuilding measures have been found to increase risk and insecurity, not least for women. To better understand the interconnections between gender and post-conflict attitudes to peacebuilding, we asked 2,041 women and men in Sri Lanka and Nepal of their views on post-war peace initiatives. In line with our expectations, we find that women are more skeptical than men towards peacebuilding measures that involve increased risk in everyday life, such as truth-telling and coexisting with former adversaries and warring groups reintegrating in local communities. There are no gender differences pertaining to peacebuilding initiatives that take place far away at the national level, for example, concerning accountability or, in the case of Nepal, the peace agreement. Our findings suggest that international peacebuilding practice is blind to the everyday insecurities of women after war. That a basic gendered lens is missing from most peacebuilding designs is both alarming and deeply troubling, but identifying this critical aspect provides the opportunity for imperative change. By shedding light on the challenges women face after war, we hope this article contributes to finding ways to mitigate unknown and unintended side-effects of peacebuilding efforts, and thereby to the development of better, evidence-based peacebuilding practice-of benefit to both men and women.

Constructing the scale to measure entrepreneurial traits by using the modified delphi method.

Higher entrepreneurial traits significantly increase the likelihood of graduate students venturing into entrepreneurship. This study intended to develop a scale for assessing the entrepreneurial traits of graduate students, recognizing a gap in existing literature and measurement tools predominantly developed for countries with conducive entrepreneurial climates. Aligned with Ajzen's theory of planned behavior, the study employed a modified Delphi method, including prototype development, two Delphi surveys, and subsequent statistical analyses. The robustness of the final items and scale in effectively capturing the entrepreneurial traits of graduate students is supported by descriptive statistical analyses (SD ≤ 1.5, Interquartile Range ≤1, and Level of Agreement ≥70%), content validity analysis (I-CVI≥ 0.8, S-CVI/Ave = 0.92; S-CVI/UA = 0.4), and Kendall's Coefficient of Concordance analysis (X2 (37, N = 30) = 700.504, W = 0.631, p < 0.01). Ultimately, the scale comprises 38 items organized into three overarching thematic areas: life philosophy, creating and utilizing mindset, and supportive and motivating environment. Consistent with existing literature, entrepreneurial traits are intricately linked to individuals' life perspectives, often characterized by a desire for self-autonomy. Additionally, the ability to create or leverage available resources and the presence of a conducive external environment emerge as pivotal dimensions in entrepreneurial traits. Notably, the study highlights the critical influence of a country's environment and policies, mainly through university courses and short-term programs, in shaping the development of entrepreneurial traits.

Measuring multi-dimensional disparity index: A case of Nepal.

This study introduces Multi-dimensional Disparity Index (MDI) to measure multi-form of disparity in different level of governments referencing Nepal. The measurement scale of MDI was developed by adopting Santos and Alkire's (2011) approaches. A wide range of thematic experts was consulted, employing the Semi-Delphi approach to determine its dimensions and indicators. The MDI in this study includes six dimensions and 34 indicators composited with dimension-wise indices like Economy Disparity Index [ECODI], Educational Disparity Index [EDUDI], Health Disparity Index [HDI], Geography and Climatic Vulnerability Index [GCVI], Living Standard Disparity Index [LSDI], and Demography Disparity Index [DDI]. Overall, the study revealed the extent of multi-dimensional disparity across three tiers of government in Nepal. More specifically, Nepal scored 0.388 MDI value. Karnali and Bagmati provinces are accounted as the highest and least deprived. This study contributes essential knowledge, particularly in exploring the dimensions and their indicators and develops an approach to measure multi-dimensional disparities. Most existing approaches for assessing disparities are mono-dimensional and measure the disparities in a single aspect. In this context, MDI provides a broader approach to consider multiple dimensions and measures multiple aspects in a country like Nepal, where disparity manifests at multiple levels.

The quest for leadership qualities in cooperative societies: An exploratory analysis.

Successful leadership is imperative for a cooperative to flourish. However, there is limited literature concerning leadership qualities in the context of cooperatives, most particularly in cooperatives in the global south. This study applied the participatory Delphi research technique to identify effective leadership qualities in the context of community-based cooperative societies in rural Nepal. A survey of 1255 leaders and team members from 210 cooperatives was undertaken and the qualities of leadership were obtained by using explorative factor analysis. The results identified four dimensions of effective leadership: Role Model, Empowering the Team, Performance-based Rewards, and Skills of the Sector. These four dimensions, unified in the 'REPS' Model of leadership, are presented as a contextualized model of cooperative leadership that can serve to inform both further research and cooperative development practice.

Female lizards (Eremias argus) reverse Bergmann's rule across altitude.

The evolution of body size within and among species is predicted to be influenced by multifarious environmental factors. However, the specific drivers of body size variation have remained difficult to understand because of the wide range of proximate factors that covary with ectotherm body sizes across populations with varying local environmental conditions. Here, we used female Eremias argus lizards collected from different populations across their wide range in China, and constructed linear mixed models to assess how climatic conditions and/or available resources at different altitudes shape the geographical patterns of lizard body size across altitude. Lizard populations showed significant differences in body size across altitudes. Furthermore, we found that climatic and seasonal changes along the altitudinal gradient also explained variations in body size among populations. Specifically, body size decreased with colder and drier environmental conditions at high altitudes, reversing Bergmann's rule. Limited resources at high altitudes, measured by the low vegetative index, may also constrain body size. Therefore, our study demonstrates that multifarious environmental factors could strongly influence the intraspecific variation in organisms' body size.

Civil servants' integrity in public sector: the case of Nepal.

Civil servants' integrity in delivering public service is the heart and soul of public sector governance worldwide, including in Nepal. Ensuring a higher level of integrity for civil servants is complex, as it is affected by several factors. With this consideration, this study aims to examine the factors affecting the integrity of civil servants in the delivery of public services in Nepal. Data on this subject were derived from the Nepal National Governance Survey 2017/18, and analyzed using a logistic regression model. The findings revealed that citizens perceived civil servants' integrity in public service was positively affected by civil servants' compliance with rules, their responsiveness in delivering service, their service on time, their hassle-free service, and their adequate salary, whereas negatively affected by civil servants' prior network/connection with citizens and their asking or receiving a bribe for public service. Therefore, the concerned authorities should focus on these factors to build and maintain civil servants' integrity in delivering public service. Our findings provide empirical evidence for concerned authorities who can contribute to adopting innovative governance approaches and appropriate policies to build and maintain civil servants' integrity in the coming days. The study contributes to the field of integrity and public service by highlighting the factors affecting the integrity of civil servants in the delivery of public services.

Climate-Driven Plant Response and Resilience on the Tibetan Plateau in Space and Time: A Review.

Climate change variation on a small scale may alter the underlying processes determining a pattern operating at large scale and vice versa. Plant response to climate change on individual plant levels on a fine scale tends to change population structure, community composition and ecosystem processes and functioning. Therefore, we reviewed the literature on plant response and resilience to climate change in space and time at different scales on the Tibetan Plateau. We report that spatiotemporal variation in temperature and precipitation dynamics drives the vegetation and ecosystem function on the Tibetan Plateau (TP), following the water-energy dynamics hypothesis. Increasing temperature with respect to time increased the net primary productivity (NPP) on most parts of the Tibetan Plateau, but the productivity dynamics on some parts were constrained by 0.3 °C decade-1 rising temperature. Moreover, we report that accelerating studies on plant community assemblage and their contribution to ecosystem functioning may help to identify the community response and resilience to climate extremes. Furthermore, records on species losses help to build the sustainable management plan for the entire Tibetan Plateau. We recommend that incorporating long-term temporal data with multiple factor analyses will be helpful to formulate the appropriate measures for a healthy ecosystem on the Tibetan Plateau.

Suitability of Habitats in Nepal for Dactylorhiza hatagirea Now and under Predicted Future Changes in Climate.

Dactylorhiza hatagirea is a terrestrial orchid listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and classified as threatened by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It is endemic to the Hindu-Kush Himalayan region, distributed from Pakistan to China. The main threat to its existence is climate change and the associated change in the distribution of its suitable habitats to higher altitudes due to increasing temperature. It is therefore necessary to determine the habitats that are suitable for its survival and their expected distribution after the predicted changes in climate. To do this, we use Maxent modelling of the data for its 208 locations. We predict its distribution in 2050 and 2070 using four climate change models and two greenhouse gas concentration trajectories. This revealed severe losses of suitable habitat in Nepal, in which, under the worst scenario, there will be a 71-81% reduction the number of suitable locations for D. hatagirea by 2050 and 95-98% by 2070. Under the most favorable scenario, this reduction will be 65-85% by 2070. The intermediate greenhouse gas concentration trajectory surprisingly would result in a greater reduction by 2070 than the worst-case scenario. Our results provide important guidelines that local authorities interested in conserving this species could use to select areas that need to be protected now and in the future.