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Socioeconomic Assessment of Ein El-Hilweh Refugee Camp
18 December 2009
In 2007 Fafo collaborated with UNRWA on an assessment of living conditions and livelihoods in Ein El-Hilweh refugee camp in southern Lebanon. The Fafo-researchers Huafeng Zhang and Åge A. Tiltnes have recently published a comprehensive Tabulation report, The 2007 Socioeconomic Assessment of Ein El-Hilweh Refugee Camp. Other documents will follow, including a report (to be available in both English and Arabic) which will present key survey statistics and results from in-depth interviews with individuals and group discussions.  Download the Tabulation report Download other results |
 New book: Opportunity to Resist
11 December 2009
Fafo-researcher Silje Sønsterudbråten has published the book Opportunity to Resist: Palestinian Attitudes towards Rocket Attacks on Israel at VDM Verlag. The book is an improved version of her MA thesis. Sønsterudbråten examines variation in Palestinian public opinion on a key contemporary issue in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict - rocket attacks. From the first rocket was launched in April 2001 public opinion surveys have reported increasing acceptance and support for this expression of armed resistance. This study does not seek the reasons behind this development, but aims to shed light on the variation in Palestinian public opinion - who is it that supports the continuation of rocket launches? |
 Sichuan
earthquake-hit areas: restoration and reconstruction
3 December 2009
Fafo and the Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development have published a new report on the Sichuan
earthquake-hit areas. They find that ninety percent of the residents have moved into
permanent housing with improved living conditions. The unemployment rate maintains low, but the agricultural production is less than what is desired. Medical care, education and other public services are significantly improved, and residents are helpful to each other and their focus has shifted from survival issues to development issues. The authors of the report present 8 policy suggestions for how to improve the living conditions of the area furthermore. Download: Restoration and Reconstruction in Sichuan
Earthquake-hit Areas: a Household Survey
Report Download the 2008 report English version * Chinese version |
 Free movement, equal treatment and workers' rights
24 November 2009
Fafo's head of research Jon Erik Dølvik has together with Jelle Visser at the University of Amsterdam published the article "Free movement, equal treatment and workers' rights: can the European Union solve its trilemma of fundamental principles?" in Industrial Relations Journal, vol 40, issue 6.
The article analyses the trilemma the EU is facing concerning three fundamental principles on which the Community rests: free movement of services and labour; non-discrimination and equal treatment, and the rights of association and industrial action. With rising cross-border flows of services and (posted) labour after the Eastward enlargement, the conflict between these rights has triggered industrial disputes and judicial strife. The article is written as part of the FORMULA-project "Free movement, labour market regulation and multilevel governance in the enlarged EU/EEA – a Nordic and comparative perspective" which is financed by the Research Council of Norway. Read abstract here Formula |
Private welfare, Islamic charities, and the rise of the Zayd movement
November 2009
Fafo-researcher Kjetil Selvik (pictured) has together with Thomas Pierret at Princeton University published the article "Limits of 'authoritarian upgrading' in Syria: Private welfare, Islamic charities, and the rise of the Zayd movement" in International Journal of Middle East Studies, Volume 41, Issue 4. Through a detailed, fieldwork-based analysis, the article argues that the Zayd movement's success as a private welfare provider is the product rather than the cause of its large religious following. The journal's webpage Abstract |
Fafo Seminar: The Crisis of Femininity and Masculinity during the Second Palestinian Intifada
December 2009
Fafo invites to a seminar with the Palestinian scholar Aitemad Muhanna Tuesday December 15th from 10-11.30 at Fafo Borggata 2B in Grønland. Ms. Muhanna has conducted research and published extensively in her career on the situation of Palestinian women in the Gaza Strip. She also served as the Director of Women's Affairs Centre in Gaza for several years. Her PhD research is an intervention into the hegemonic feminist liberal approaches that conflate women's exercise of agency with women's individual autonomy and resistance to male domination. The research explores the example of Gaza society under the Second Intifada, when war and livelihood crisis have resulted in a crisis of masculinity and femininity: the former is caused by men's loss of work and sources of income, while the latter is caused by women's loss of their feminine self-respect through 'begging' for humanitarian support from public institutions. The two forms of gendered crisis are resisted by producing or reproducing different modes of gender agency and subjectivity. Please register by e-mail to Laura Mitchell by December 14th |
Expert’s advice to President Obama, Fafo-seminar 9. december
 December 2009
Ahead of President Obama’s arrival in Oslo, Fafo hereby invites to a seminar on the situation in the Middle East, where experts present their views on the current situation, and their advice to the international community. What are at present the prospects for a negotiated two-state solution? How does the regional situation affect the peace process? How can European countries and the U.S. contribute to a positive outcome?
A Panel with experts from Israel, Jordan and Palestine will present their views through brief interventions, followed by a general discussion.
The seminar will be in english at Fafo's conference center in Borggata 2B 09:00 – 11:00.
Seminar program and registration. |
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13 November 2009
Fafo has published an English translation of a summary of the findings from a study of living conditions among people with cancer in Norway. The study was conducted by the researchers Tone Fløtten, Arne Backer Grønningsæter, Karin Gustavsen, Hanne C. Kavli, Roy Nielsen, Jonn Syse and Steffen Torp. They represent Fafo, Vestfold University College and Telemarksforskning. The main research questions are connected with employment and job situation, financial situation, follow-up from private networks and the treatment and support system. The final issue covered in the study is how children are affected financial and material when a parent gets cancer. Read more about the report Download the report |
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10 November 2009
This is the main report forming part of Fafo’s wider project on living conditions among people with HIV in Norway, conducted in 2008–2009. It is written by Arne Backer Grønningsæter, Roland Mandal, Bjørn Richard Nuland and Hilde Haug. They find that 70 per cent of the respondents declare being in good or very good physical health, and 80 per cent consider that medical treatment contributes positively to their health levels. However, the report also finds that there exist several challenges linked to openness and stigmatisation. One arena standing out in particular is the workplace as it presents challenges associated with attitudes towards people with HIV, and the dissemination of and access to information about rights and adaption to ensure that people with HIV can participate in the workplace. Download the report |
   Fafo-breakfast: Sichuan recovering from the disaster
November 2009
One year after the devastating earthquake in Sichuan in May 2008, the vast majority of those who lost their
houses had a new dwelling. New health reforms have been implemented after the earthquake, but unemployment and corruption are still major challenges in the area. This are some of the results from two large scale surveys conducted by Fafo, together with Chinese partners. At a breakfast seminar December 3rd Jon Pedersen, Kristin Dalen and Huafeng Zhang present the results from the work conducted in Sichuan in 2008 and 2009. The seminar will be held at Fafo in Borggata 2B, it is free of charge and open to everybody.The introduction and presentation will be in English. Read more and register |
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5 November 2009
Fafo research director Åge Tiltnes has recently published a report on the living conditions in the Gaza Strip during and after Israel’s military campaign in the winter of 2008/2009. It was prepared in cooperation with UNFPA, Jerusalem, and it is a write-out of the key findings of a large household sample survey implemented in March this year. The paper is financed by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs with contribution from the UNFPA. Download the paper Arabic Summary English Summary |
 
Infant feeding in Madya Pradesh, India
2 November 2009
Together with researchers from Academy of Nursing Sciences in Hyderabad, the Fafo researchers Marina de Paoli and Liv Elin Torheim will look at infant feeding in Madhya Pradesh in this first project from the Norway-India Partnership Initiative. The project’s primary objective is to gain insight into the critical factors influencing breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices for the first 12 months after a child's birth. The secondary objectives of include a study of mothers’ own perceptions of optimal infant feeding practices and the barriers they encounter. The project is financed by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. |
