News from the Fafo frontpage April-June 2009

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Labour relations in Norway

29 June 2009
Labour relations constitute an important part of the Norwegian social model and in the new Fafo-report, Labour relations in Norway, Espen Løken and Torgeir Aarvaag Stokke give an up to date inter-disciplinary picture by describing the main institutional frameworks and social actors, at both national and enterprise level, within Norwegian working life. Read more and download the report

Decent work – tools to counter the crisis at ILO's Labour Conference

11 June 2009
Gudmund Hernes and Jon Erik Dølvik have written the Fafo-report From Financial Crisis towards a Coherent Agenda for Decent Work and Sustainable Globalization as a background policy brief for Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre when he speaks at ILO International Labour Conference in Geneva today. Topics at this year's conference are, in addition to equal status and HIV/AIDS, the financial crisis and the agenda on decent work as a strategy to fight unemployment and promote social protection. Fafo research director Dølvik will give the speech One Agenda – Fragmented World. What are the basic obstacles to coherence? Read more and download the report

Scientific articles published

May 2009
Morten Bøås: "'New' nationalism and autochthony – tales of origin as political cleavage" in African Spectrum 1/2009: 19-38. Read article

Morten Bøås: "'”Pirates of Somalia' – ny vekstnæring i et land uten stat", (Pirates of Somalia - a growing industry in a country without a state) in Internasjonal Politikk nr 1, 2009

Morten Bøås, Anne Hatløy and Ingunn Bjørkhaug: "Alcohol and drugs in post-war Sierra Leone" in African Journal of Drug and Alcohol Studies, 7(1), 2008.

Kristine Nergaard with Jon Erik Dølvik, Paul Marginson, Juan Arasanz Díaz and Barbara Bechter: "Engaging with Variable Pay: A Comparative Study of the Metal Industry" in European Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 15, No. 2, 125-146 (2009) Abstract

ICT and employment

5 May 2009
In a new working paper ICT and employment Fafo and AFI present a comparative study of disabled persons’ accessibility to ICT for the purpose of labour market inclusion. The paper is based on empirical studies of the diffusion systems in Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Fafos research director Inger Lise Skog Hansen has been the editor of the working paper. Download the paper ICT and employment

Articles

24 april 2009
Gudmund Hernes have recently published the article “Education and Health Prevention”, in Altern in Deutschland (Vol 2), Nova Acta Leopoldina NF Nr. 364, pp 177-188. Read more

Arne Backer Grønningsæter with Riina Kiik, have recently published the article "'My work is exciting' - social workers in Estonia compared to Norway" in European Journal of Social Work Vol. 12, nr 1 pp 25-40 Read more

New report on health and conflict

16 April 2009
Are more civilians than soldiers killed in war? Are women especially targeted? Will health effects of war linger on after the war has ended? Can health be used as a bridge to peace? In the report Health and Conflict Fafo research dirwector Jon Pedersen reviews the state of knowledge on these and many other issues related to the interrelations between health and conflict. Read more and download the report

Life in the Gaza Strip 6 weeks after Israel’s attack

8 April 2009

The Gaza Strip is characterized by widespread physical damages, but six weeks after Israel’s attack ended, renovation of houses in need of repair had barely started due to dire economic circumstances and the lack of building materials. Pessimism toward the future is rampant. Three in ten families said they would be able to secure basic needs in the coming months, and only one in ten anticipated an improved household economy.

Fafo has conducted a multi-topic household sample survey that was implemented to collect data to document the living conditions in the Gaza Strip in the wake of Israel’s assault on 27 December and the ensuing armed conflict. The survey, which is based on interviews with more than 2,000 households, showed that the population displayed symptoms suggesting considerable post-war trauma. The fieldwork was implemented from 3 to 12 March 2009, and face-to-face interviews were carried out at 132 fieldwork locations spanning the entire Gaza Strip.

Read more and download the summaries and the tabulation reports

Fafo breakfast seminar: Gender-based violence in war and peacekeeping

April 2009
Fafo invites to a breakfast seminar April 28th, which will examine the issues of gender-based and sexual violence in war and peacekeeping. There will be contributions by State Secretary Håkon Gulbrandsen of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Senior Advisor Hanna Syse of the Ministry of Defence, and Fafo-researcher Kathleen Jennings (pictured). It is also the Oslo launch of a new Fafo-report, Protecting Whom?: Approaches to sexual exploitation and abuse in UN peacekeeping operations, which takes a critical and constructive look at the challenges faced by the UN’s attempts to stop sexual exploitation and abuse by blue helmets. The seminar will be held at Fafo 08.30-09.45, Borggata 2B Oslo. Read more and register

Survey results:
Palestinians yearn for institutional reform,
national reconciliation and unity

1 April 2009
An opinion poll carried out by Fafo in late February and early March provides important insights into the political attitudes of the West Bank and Gaza Strip populations six weeks after Israel ended its assault on Gaza.

It finds that the legitimacy of both the international community and national leadership is exceptionally low. Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza lack confidence in the international community’s ability to contribute to a peaceful end to the conflict with Israel. There is a substantial demand for renewed political leadership, especially in Fatah.

Image: From the field work in Gaza. Photo: Fafo, Hani El Dada
Results from the surveys