Treasury profile of glaxo smithline pharmaceutical company Essay

Treasury profile of glaxo smithline pharmaceutical company - Essay Example rofile shown in the appendix at the end of this paper gives a bird’s eye-view of the company’s treasury management framework and is considered the best suited to the present day environment the company is operating under. The major five functions reviewed in the main text shows that the company is managed conservatively and that it is not engaged in speculative activities. Treasury function in an organisation is essential in order to maintain liquidity in funds flow. Liquidity will be affected due to various risks involved. The management must foresee unavoidable risks involved and provide for such risks by structuring the fixed capital and working capital suitably. (ACT) Company Glaxo Smith Kline PLC, UK‘s case is taken up for study of its treasury management. A brief outline of the company’s treasury profile is furnished in appendix at the end of this paper. Aim and objective of this study therefore is to ascertain the risks faced by this company and how it has designed its capital structure to manage its treasury functions in order maintain its liquidity and whether the current practice of treasury management is adequate or not. Treasury functions encompass capital markets and funding, cash and liquidity management, corporate financial management, Risk management and treasury operations and control. (ACT) The role of the treasury department is to maintain company’s liquidity. The treasurer has to monitor current and projected cash flows and make use of the information to suitably invest excess funds and also be in readiness for additional borrowings or equity in case of capital shortage that may be encountered any time. It should safeguard the existing assets by prudent investment of funds available and also guard against excessive losses arising out of interest rate and foreign exchange fluctuations. Cash forecasting, working capital management, cash management, investment management, treasury risk management, management advice, credit rating

The growth and impact of 'temporary' employmen Research Paper

The growth and impact of 'temporary' employmen - Research Paper Example Department of Labor 1). The current paper hereby aims to present the growth and impact of temporary employment in the U.S. through initially providing a brief historical overview of temporary employment, prior to presenting current statistics on the subject. The causes and effects of temporary employment on the plight of employment condition in the country would also be examined, prior to a concluding portion would wraps up the points that were discussed. Recent economic difficulties in the country and all over the world have affected the tenure, status, and working conditions of the labor force. There are rampant news that reveal increasing levels of unemployment globally and more workers seeking temporary and part-time employment to be able to support a variety of needs. According to Villarreal and Swanson (2011), aside from economic factors that influence the rate of employment, the concerns about future imposition of taxes and the costs of health care in the country preclude optimistic growth potentials for supporting and sustaining permanent employment. As such, greater numbers of people seeking employment resort to part-time jobs and temporary employment. The characteristics of benefits eligibility for temporary employees have been explicitly indicated by DOL, to wit: â€Å"Temporary employees are eligible to earn leave and are covered by Social Security and unemployment compensation, but do not receive the other fringe benefits provided to career civil service employees. Current law allows temporary employees to purchase health insurance after they have one year of temporary service, but the employee must pay the full cost with no Government contribution. Employees are not eligible for coverage under the Federal Government Life Insurance program or the Federal Employees Retirement System† (U.S. Department of Labor par. 2). Thus, the disparities between a permanent from a temporary employee

Motivational Needs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Motivational Needs - Essay Example This includes food, sleep, water, exercise, clothing shelter and so forth (Iigo, 2000). Coon (2000) stated the three major categories of motives. Primary motives- which are based on biological needs that must be met for survival. The most important primary motives are hunger, thirst, pain avoidance, and needs for air, sleep, elimination of wastes, and regulation of body temperature. Love and Belongingness Needs. When the individual has minimum satisfaction of his survival and security needs, belongingness needs become important to him. The need for love, acceptance and approval by others - his family, friends those with whom he works (Cawaon, 1999). Cognitive Needs. We live in a decade where the source of power is information and education. Never in the lifetime of man has learning resources exploded and expanded to a phenomenal degree as today. Knowledge is everywhere and technology is facilitating our means of getting to it and using it (Puangco, 2005). Bandala et al. (1996) students motivation in general is high although students achievement motivation had a higher degree of motivation than the other areas. This suggests that students are continually striving, changing and trying to achieve their goals in life.

Jencos Information System Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Jencos Information System - Assignment Example Diversifications into other businesses are very important for business continuity and should be taken care really well to fetch more customers and provide them better and allied services for retention and indirect marketing. Most importantly the services can be rendered to a large variety of customers across a geographical region with B2B and B2C models. The feedback system can also be added so that future caterings can be handled better. The total sales and profit can be easily captured and produced to management with ease reducing a lot of manual operations. Why is it necessary for the organisation to become an e-business The reasons for converting 'bricks and mortars' into 'click and mortars' is as follows: 1. The visibility is improved which means more people get to know about it and often want to try it out for a change. Even if 10% of the people try it out in UK, it will generate huge sales. 2. The e-marketing helps to let people know about its various services it caters. 3. The business can spread in diverse fields so as to provide ancillary services to the customers along with grocery items so that they get served better. Helps for greater retention. 4. The supply chain management is better rendered through e-business. 5. People can access the online store at their convenience and make payment through loyalty card it wishes to introduce. What technology/systems can support good customer/supplier relations It is increasingly important to maintain good supplier and customer relations for business continuity and long term survival. Jencos have built their reputation from customers and need to continue doing the great job. The Supply Chain Management (SCM) systems could be used to track the... Diversifications into other businesses are very important for business continuity and should be taken care really well to fetch more customers and provide them better and allied services for retention and indirect marketing. The Supply Chain Management (SCM) systems could be used to track the production, procurement and logistics processes to supply goods and services from their source to final delivery to the customer. (Laudon, 2002) It eyes on Tesco which is an online grocery store and delivery service selling computers and furniture's, house dcor, entertainment stuff like DVD's and others and books, finance and insurance, phones and broadband services, flowers and other accessories. Tesco also provides a Tesco Clubcard for earning points on purchases where Jencos wants to introduce loyalty card. It also desires to get close to Sainsburys another supermarket giant which caters a lot of services besides grocery. It also incorporates a forum which puts across many interesting blog which a customer can participate and also acts like feedback, precisely a business strategy by the company. Creating a good market in other items than grocery will not be easier as others have already created the space really well.

Company Law shareholders Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Company Law shareholders - Case Study Example Remedies available to Samantha are bringing action section 994 (old459) of the Companies Act meant for Minority Shareholders' petitions against the directors' misrule etc. and also a derivative action. From time immemorial, minority shareholder has been discouraged to take action against the directors on the grounds of company being run on majority concept and on the basis of action if any should be taken only by the Company on the directors and not the shareholder in individual capacity. In Foss v Harbottle1, it was observed by the court that minority should rather take necessary action through the internal forum of company meetings. Wigram VC stated that in view of the majority rule, any unlawful conduct of the directors was capable of being ratified by the majority and that it was not possible for the court to intervene. The only exception to the rule as observed by Jenkins LJ in Edwards v Halliwell(1950)2, could be that the minority shareholder should show that the directors accused of fraud were actually in control of the company rather than merely maintaining that majority could not lawfully ratify the wrong acts of the directors.3 In Ebrahimi v Westbourne Galleries Ltd4, th e minority shareholder Ebrahimi sued on the basis oppression of minority and winding up on just and equitable grounds. The second one was accepted by the court holding that individual's rights should be respected and the rights were not necessarily submerged by the artificial corporate entity context. The minority shareholder Samantha is of the opinion that the purchase of the property of Pastry Products for 450,000 by Filo Ltd is prejudicial to its interests and now she has learnt that both the directors are together holding 44%(each 22%) of shares of that company and the proceeds of the sale of the property have been used for payment of that company's dividends. Regulation 81(a) of Table A of Articles Filo Ltd has adopted, governs removal of directors along with other regulations from 81(b) to (e). Regulation 81(a) says "the office of a director shall be vacated if-(a) he ceases to be a director by virtue of any provision of the Act or he becomes prohibited by law from being a director"5 Besides, a director enjoys immunity as per regulation 118 which indemnifies every director against liability incurred by way of defence to any civil or criminal proceedings in case of judgment or reliefs in his favour. On the other hand a person conducting shareholder litigation has to meet costs from his own sources in case of the derivative claim being rejected by the court. As per the new Act's section 172 which came into force from October 1, 2007, directors must "promote the success of the company for the benefit of the members as a whole"6 as against the earlier parallel provision that they should act "in the best interests" of the company. Government has clarified that "to promote the success" means "long-term increase in value" though this is subject to being confronted by a competing definition from potential litigants. Under Section 175 of the new Act, director has duty to avoid conflict of interests. There should not be a situation involving exploitation of any property, information, or opportunity whether or not they are advantageous to the company. The acquisitioning of the property by Filo Limited from Pastry Products in which both of the directors hold 44% of shares falls under this section. Further it has been stated that

The effects of single Parenting in women House-Holds Essay Example for Free

The effects of single Parenting in women House-Holds Essay Abstract This essay focuses on the issue of single parenting as one of the most effective family problems. A single parent is a parent who lives with one or more children without the second parent it could be either a dad or a mom. Usually the definition of single parenting depends on the local laws throughout different states, but there are other circumstances as well that could lead to single parenting, for example if a parent is left alone after getting divorced, if one of the parent just leaves the family or the child, if one of the parent is put to the jail or dies. Sometimes the single parent might not be the real father or mother of the child, some people decide to adopt a child or become a parent through implantation of babies or just take care of a family member child, who was abandoned by his real parents. The household of a single parent is very different from a normal household. But all the circumstances are distinctive, some Parents decide to become single parents if they see a relationship is not going well or if they see there might be a lot of family problems that might affect the child, and some have to do it if something happens like the loss of a the second parent. There are a lot of negative effects about being a single parent. For example, making decisions can be really hard sometimes and most of the time parents need that second person there to be able to make the best decision that will benefit the child and the parent. Frequently single parents do not have sufficient time to do all the house work and this involves children from the early age in doing house jobs which takes time away from them to do school work or other things. Single parents have to tell most of house problems to a child which doesn’t not help the child, they have to discuss these problems like if the child was an adult. If the other parent is alive they have to make the arrangements to take the child either to the other parent’s house or to jail if the parent is in jail which is not good because the  child will not have a stable home life and this will cause confusion. Single parenting starts with the divorce of a couple who have children, with the loss of a parent abandonment of a child or many other reasons. Most of the parents that become single parents are women. Non-custodial fathers usually don’t have much connection with their children, and contribution usually declines as time goes by I have seen this a lot in my job since I work with children I have seen how some parents just forget about their children mostly the male parents forget about their kid and stops communicating with them . Since most single-parent households are females their income are less that of a man, this causes economic issues on the mother and the child has less opportunities on being involved in activities after school or sports. Economic limitations may limit growth improving experiences of a child. Even the children that their fathers pay their child support check that they’re obligated to pay monthly still see limitations on outside activities. But there are a lot of parents that do not pay their monthly child support checks to their children which makes it even harder for a single mother. A lot of children strongly dislike divorces because having the most important people in your life live separated affects their lives greatly. For some children, divorce is not something that they will forget about quickly, but it’s something that will affect them for the rest of their lives. This is a traumatic experience for the child because it leaves them feeling alone, as if nobody in the world cares about them. I have experienced this a lot as well in my job. I have a lot of children that seek for my attention a lot, and I also have a lot of children that call me â€Å"dad† because they don’t have the male figure in their family. Single parenting affects each child differently depending on the childs age which ranges in four stages; infants, young children, the elementary school age and teenagers. Infants and young children can feel abandoned by the decision of parents to get divorced. Most of them need to feel, hear, and see both parents in order to bond wi th their parents. This connection is important for the parent and child relationship later on in the childs life â€Å"is the challenge for school age children, who are learning to make things use tools, and acquire skills for the adult life, children who fail these lessons of mastery and competence may come out of this stage feeling inadequate and inferior† (Erikson 1950). Parenting is hard at this age  because this young child requires a lot of love, and attention from the parents if a children fails in a situation like this it’s hard for the children to receive support since the parent barely has time for the child. Single parents don’t have time to give the appropriate amount of love and attention because they are forced to work and take care of the home responsibilities alone and the parent becomes very stressed since they worry about their children getting adequate attention. Family organization has changed has changed a lot in the last fifty years according to the research done. With higher percentages of marriage ending in divorce single parent families are growing quickly. â€Å"Seventy percent of all the children will spend all or part of their lives in a single-parent household† (Lindblad-Goldberg, M. 1989). These studies show that the children of single parenting families are affected greatly in a negative way. Women head the majority of single- parent families and as a result, children experience many social problems from growing up without a father. Some of these problems include lack of financial support and various emotional problems by not having a father around, which may contribute to problems later in life. One of the problems that they might face are anger issues a lot of the male boys that I mentor have a lot of anger issues and I believe that the cause of these issues is the missing of the male figure which is a symbol of authority in the house. Today, most researchers state that both models were not quite correct and are still not correct now. During the years 1860-1920 the black immigrant families could not afford only one earner for the family and these ideals were appropriate only for white middle class families. By the year 1893 more and more women were taking up jobs an d the number of divorces increased. â€Å"In 1950 – about 22% families had both working parents, in 1980 – the number increased to 42 %† (Morgan, K. 1993) Since the year 1980 the divorce rates were twice as big as before. This means that about one-third of all children lived in single parent families or in adoptive families. The statistical studies at that time showed that 25 % of all families didn’t have children at all 25% of all families lived in couples 25% of families were headed by females 4 % of families were extended (Lindblad Goldberg, M.1989). We can come to a assumption that as well as the family principles were changing, the amount of single-parent families were changing too. If we were to count the number of single mothers in the  difference to single fathers â€Å"the ratio is nine to one† ( Ceballo, R., Borquez, J. 1994) that means that children in most cases are left with their mother instead of their fathers. In my job most of the times all I see are single young mothers instead of single fathers taking care of their children which prove this ratio. It is clear that mothers are regularly closer to thei r children and care more about their children, but there are some exceptions, but there are a lot of difficulties that single mothers have to face. The problems of income are extremely difficult for single mothers headed households. All low earnings money families have economic problems, but in cases of single mother parenting women have to raise their children on top of these issues. Studies showed that â€Å"about 50 % of all households in poverty were female-headed. It is not only because of low wages that women get, but mostly because of the lack of another earners in the family, as a result there are cases when children start to work early in order to help their mothers† (Amato, P. R. 1993). This affects children a lot when they have to go and work at an early age it affects their studies and it prevents them from doing any extracurricular activity after school or participate in any sports team. These studies demonstrate that the wages of women from single female-headed households and from two-parent households are similar, but women from single female-headed households had to take additional hours or even work more than one job to support the family. There is often a problem of single mothers among teenagers. Young girls are left with their kids and their fathers just disappear. Then there are a lot of problems connected not only with finance but many others as well.The financial situation is not that hard by African-American single mothers, as the percentage of their income to the whole income of the family was bigger, but they have little chance to receive any child support money or other state payments. About â€Å"25% of Spanish households in Los Angeles, California and Arizona were headed by women, about 17.3 % of Hispanic households also had a female head† (Morgan, K. 1993). To draw a conclusion to this part we should mention that the cases of female-headed households happen more often, the problems they face are lack of finances and the need to spend a lot more of time at work. Fathers make about 13% of single parents in the USA. Currently fathers are more used to take some female roles at home. They are more involved with their children and in house responsibilities. Before men were  primary caregivers, only some of them had to raise their c hildren alone due to the death of their wives. As men typically have higher positions at work they have greater earnings as well, so they rarely face the same economic complications that single women do. On the other hand fathers do not always prosper in finding common language with their children and the results are that children raised by a single father are more likely to start using drugs or developing drinking habits, or start early sexual life since fathers are more flexible. Even though there is a common belief that fathers are stricter than mothers, they are often not able to converse with their children as well as the mothers can do it. Sometimes father are disciplined themselves or are not organized, it is not surprising if they cannot help their children to develop such qualities. I have been studying one of my children’s dad and the children has taken a lot of bad traits from his dad because the dad is not a great example he is not disciplined himself. A good father could be a good example for his son, and a go od model of behavior. A lot of single mothers have problems with their children at some time of their lives because they lack the strong influence of a man. The ratio of young fathers is lower in comparison with teenager girls who have kids. In the twentieth century the number of female-headed households enlarged significantly among Latino, Asian and Other race households. It’s a statement that single families are not the Americans. The number of single parent households increased greatly in England and in Australia during 1990s. â€Å"In the UK lone-parents families formed about 3.3% of all households, the percentage of them in Australia was even higher – 7.6%.Talking about other countries we should mention: Belgium – 1.8 – 2.7 % Ireland – 2.8 % Luxemburg – 2.2 % Japan – 5.1 %† (Borquez, J. 1994). In all countries most of single parents are women. Such countries as Greece, Portugal and Italy have more conformist opinions about family disputes even t hough they have a lower percentage of single parent families. Raising a child alone without any help from a second parent is pretty hard and a stressful experience, single parents have to put in a lot of work in order to follow an organized schedule that helps the parent as well as the child. The parents depend on many factors and have more responsibilities for their children. Being a single parent does not mean that a person should separate themselves from the whole world and isolate themselves with their complications and  problems. They should look for help provided by the government and any support that their family might provide. Single parents should never be embarrassed and they should never let their self-importance make complications for the support they can get from other people. If there is a lot of support from family members, friends or organizations it will be easier for the single parent to cope with all the problems. There are numerous areas where single parents need solid support from their friends, Family, or organizations. Throughout this paper we discussed the effects of single parenting. The effects that a child faces and the effects that a parent faces as a single parent are difficult. Both the child and the parent go through tough situations and difficulties that affect their lives greatly. There are some positive outcomes that come out from single parenting but there are more negative outcomes than positive outcomes. I have seen all of the negative outcomes in my job, I have experienced all of these things and all most of them are true children that come from single parenting families tend to have a lot of difficulties and problems in their lives, but these problems could diminish with good mentorship, and good support from other family members. References Amato, P. R. (1993). â€Å"Children’s adjustment to divorce: Theories, hypotheses, and empirical support.† Journal of Marriage and the Family, 55, 23-58. Bogenschneider, K., Kaplan, T., Morgan, K. (1993). â€Å"Single parenthood and children’s well-being.† Wisconsin Family Impact Seminars Briefing Report. Combrink-Graham (Ed.) Children in family contexts. New York: Guildford. Erikson, E.H. (1950). The Developmental stage of Erik Erikson. New York: Norton. Carole Wade. Carole Tavris. Tenth Edition Grossman, A. S., Hayghe, H. (1982). â€Å"Labor force activity of women receiving child support or alimony.† Monthly Labor Review, 105, 39-41. McLoyd, V. C., Jayaratne, T. E., Ceballo, R., Borquez, J. (1994). â€Å"Unemployment and work interruption among African American single mothers: Effects on parenting and adolescent socioemotional functioning.† Child Development, 65, 562-589. Lindblad-Goldberg, M. (1989). â€Å"Successful minority single-p arent families.† In L. Combrink-Graham (Ed.) Children in family contexts. New York: Guildford.

Community Empowerment Can Genuinely Benefit The Community Social Work Essay

Community Empowerment Can Genuinely Benefit The Community Social Work Essay In society, some groups are more vulnerable than others the poor, the disabled, battered women, etc. NGOs working at the grassroots levels are best suited to deal with the vulnerable groups. However, NGOs and the Government can join hands to find the most suitable strategies to use, to empower those who are potentially weak in the social structure. The Government of Mauritius has put in place an NGO Trust fund to help these people to lead a decent life. Community empowerment can genuinely benefit the community. However, along the way community organisations encounter several obstacles which hamper the empowerment process. This called for a review of the community empowerment strategies. Most of the limitations of empowerment strategies occurred due to the lack of training in leadership development and lack of capacity building skills. On the other hand, NGOs were found to be limited in their actions due to the lack of resources and dependence on the Government. Moreover, the Government sometimes attributes more importance to the needs of stakeholders, rather than the needs of the community thus failing the whole purpose of community empowerment. So, to increase community involvement, organisations have altered their way of doing things. Some examples are : strengthening relationships with the community by developing a deep understanding of community issues, undergoing training, implementing creative strategies to encourage participation, among others. 1 What is community empowerment? Community empowerment is the local governments core business (cdz changes, 2008). Community empowerment enables people to play an active role in the decisions that affect their environment (cdx changes, 2008). According to Rappaport (1987), empowerment is meant to enhance the possibilities for people to control their own lives. Cochran (1986) believes that people understand their own needs far better than anyone else and as a result should have the power both to define and act upon them (John at al, 1993). Community empowerment refers to the process of aiding communities to gain control over their lives. Communities consist of groups of people sharing common interests, concerns or identities. Through empowerment, people are able to control the factors and decisions that define their lives. By increasing their assets and building their capacities, they can therefore broaden their networks. People cannot be empowered by others as such, but by themselves (WHO, 2012) Community empowerment encompasses involvement, participation and commitment to the society. It is only possible when people feel a sense of belonging to the community and it aims mostly at social and political changes. In another words, community empowerment is a way of re-negotiating power to achieve more self-control (WHO, 2012). Community empowerment covers the social, cultural, political and economic aspects of society. With the advent of globalisation, actions at the local level heavily impacts actions at the global level. This is why partnerships are required to finding collective solutions (WHO, 2012). Communication is the key to successful community empowerment. It helps to raise awareness and increase knowledge of the people to encourage discussions and debates, so that people gain insight on the controlling forces acting upon their lives and initiate their own decision making process (WHO, 2012). Empowering communities also includes empowering the individual. Empowerment at the individual level starts with defined needs and aspirations and focuses on available resources. 2 It is the process of taking control, which eventually leads to fulfilling ones potential. It comprises of certain factors; self-reliance, participation in decision making, dignity and respect, belonging and contributing to the community. The empowerment of communities involves a higher degree of individual empowerment, a strong sense of belonging to the community, participation in political activities, leadership in decision making and access to resources (WHO, 2010). The community empowerment process is very complex and requires understanding and commitment from the part of all stakeholders. Community empowerment progresses gradually. Therefore it requires constant learning and consistent building of a communitys capacity (Donnelley, 2009) 2.1 How to empower a community? In order to empower a community, that is to involve groups of people in engagement activities, it may be necessary to develop a campaign. However, we should bear in mind that a campaign based on other motivational grounds besides community welfare, fails the whole purpose of community empowerment. Community engagement involves the active participation of individuals and community representatives in all aspects of the campaign. It is very important for the community to be active participants, instead of passive ones (Kirklees Partnership Involving Communities Framework, n.d). Empowering people is not an easy task. Individuals often do not have the time, energy, resources, expertise to develop and implement such campaigns. Community engagement demands certain criteria, namely resources to enable empowerment such as political and legal rights, funding and the social capacity to create mobilisation networks, opportunities such as those provided by institutional arrangements and finally motivations for people to exert their rights (Paul, 2010). Social workers, both voluntary and professional, are assets to the success of these campaigns. Since human nature is complex, the staff leading the campaigns should let go of aspects that 3 may threaten the purpose of the campaign. Instead volunteers, community organisations and partner agencies should participate in the design and implementation process. Here empowering social workers might be another important aspect of community empowerment (Kirklees Partnership Involving Communities Framework, n.d). The Government should include the community at all stages of development projects to increase community engagement and community participation. Capacity building strengthening skills, potential and abilities of people in developing societies so that they can step out of their misery, and community participation actively engaged in designing, implementing and evaluating strategies to address a particular problem are essential to community empowerment (Debra, 2002). Both NGOs and the Government understand the need for community empowerment in Mauritius. Here are some examples of how the community is empowered: The Government has proposed to introduce a Community Empowerment Programme (CEP) with the objective of facilitating the community to make use of ICT to fully participate in the socio-economic development of the country. The CEP in line with the Government encourages the development of local content and creativity. The purpose of this initiative is to democratize access to information, provide comprehensive information about the country, namely its economic and social structure and stimulate the development and production of local content on the internet. This will enable Mauritians to use the internet more effectively and find solutions to the challenges in the community. It will provide a common platform for sharing local knowledge, a marketplace for project proposals, and discussion forums. People will also formulate and implement their own development projects by collaborating with other stakeholders (NCB, n.d). Another example would be the Work done by the Bel Ombre Foundation for Empowerment, which was founded in 2008. Their vision is to create an enabling 4 environment where each individual can realize his potential. This organisation aims at empowering the inhabitants of Bel Ombre to catch the development pace by investing in training, entrepreneurship and social integration. Ongoing projects include adult literacy programmes, supporting the local artisans and the fight against poverty (Bel Ombre Foundation for Empowerment, n.d). People should feel free to act upon their own ideas for the benefit of the community, so that they can be more creative and productive in their endeavours. For instance educating people is one initiative of community empowerment, which can be understood as aiding the individual to better understand his/her needs as well as societys needs, and find proactive measures to the challenges that society faces, without controlling the latter. At the same time, they feel a sense of belonging to the community. 2.2 Whom to empower? It is true that we are all part of society, and that we have needs, but there are other people who are in precarious situations and need a boost. However, it does not mean that they deserve better treatment than the common man. They should just be given a hand. For example; poor people, battered women, minority groups, the disabled and so on. Empowerment is also about sensitizing people who are in vulnerable positions or who are potentially weak in the social structure. As mentioned earlier, community empowerment sometimes necessitates campaigns to reach the target audience. However, there are sensitive issues that touch a large group of people and are not often discussed openly. E.g. Battered women. Hence, both the Government and NGOs focus on preventive measures. Due to the division of labour and stereotypes, women often occupy an inferior position in society and are victims of injustices by man. So, one initiative of the Government was to empower women. 5 Empower women According to reports from all over the world, women constitute a majority among activists in the community and a minority in leadership in the community (Sadan, 1997). The Ministry of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare insists on the reinforcement of capacity building of women, which can be achieved through education and training. The Government also provides the necessary support for women to launch businesses (Ministry of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare, 2010). The Ministry has organised workshops for women under the National Women Entrepreneur Council to enable them to develop their managerial skills and provide support to potential women entrepreneurs wishing to launch their own enterprise (Ministry of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare, 2010). The Women Entrepreneurship Development Programme has been launched in several regions of Mauritius, namely in Quartier Militaire, Triolet, Le Morne, Terre Rouge, Camp Thorel, Lallmatie, Ernest Florent and Pont Lardier and some 1800 women have benefitted from the programme (Ministry of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare, 2010). Empower the poor Since NGOs work at the grassroots level with the poor, they have been able to establish reciprocity, mutual understanding and build trust. The Government of Mauritius works in hand with NGOs to combat poverty. All stakeholders have come to realize that actions at the local level can be a first step to a national solution (Hurbungs, n.d). One of the first conditions for getting people out of the poverty trap is to make them take full responsibility for their lives. They should also be included in all stages of community projects, so that they feel valued and gain confidence. Another initiative adopted by the Government of Mauritius is developing actions based on the aspirations of the poor. For instance the poor prefer receiving aid to send their children to school with all the necessities 6 instead of receiving financial support to feed their hungry stomachs (Hurbungs, n.d). NGOs should help the poor become aware of their current realities and empower them to make their own choices about the future, initiate actions for their development and adopt a healthy lifestyle (Hurbungs, n.d). 2.3 Benefits of empowering a community When a community is empowered, people feel free to act within the society and at the same time associate a sense of belonging to it. Through community participation and capacity-building, they rediscover their own potential and gain confidence. They also feel worthy of the community, for the help they are providing to make a change. Community empowerment can initiate actions at individual level, which can reach community or even national levels. For example, someone victim of an accident, can gather a group of people it can be close friends, family, or even strangers who have joined for a good cause and help to sensitise others on road safety measures (Dr. Glenn, 2009). Development of small groups can initiate collective actions. It is also a means for practitioners to gain community service skills, leadership skills for some, management skills, develop empathy, broaden networks, form partnerships and bring about social cohesion (Dr Glenn, 2009). Community organisations offer the means to resolve societal problems. They include young groups, faith groups, community councils and associations. They have the power to mobilise resources. They development of community organisations requires some form of leadership and those who serve the community have better chances of developing community capacity and can become future leaders (Dr Glenn, 2009). Empowered individuals are able to influence the direction and implementation of a programme through their participation. They progress from a personal action to the point that 7 they are collectively involved. This can lead to gaining the power to influence economic, political and social action. They can therefore help others to empower themselves and gear them towards capacity building (Dr Glenn, 2009). 2.4 The role of the Government and NGOs in community empowerment The Government of Mauritius has the responsibility of catering for the people and has formulated laws to protect them and safeguard their rights. The Government acts as an authority figure. The political and administrative environment of a community directly affects the empowerment process (Phil, 2007) The environment includes a series of factors such as the laws, rules and regulations and practices of the civil society. The environment also covers the policies and practices of relevant Non-Governmental Organisations (Phil, 2007) In this regard, their task is to encourage community activities that enable the community to develop itself to be empowered. They should also help the community to initiate actions towards self-reliance, community empowerment and eradication of poverty (Phil, 2007). The Government should be able to modify Ministry regulations, modify legislative policies, support legislative committees responsible for legislative reform, provide guidelines and empower NGOs active in the related sectors, raise awareness through conferences, workshops, competitions and so on and pass relevant information through public media posters, radio, local TV, newspapers, and advertisements (Phil, 2007). NGOs are increasingly involved in capacity development. They lean towards developing skills and tools to strengthen the society. NGOs can have a significant impact on community development. However not all NGOs are in good terms with the Government and very often they lack resources and face many obstacles and unless they become partners with the Government, capacity building initiatives will continue to fail (Inger, 2009). 8 The Government should also offer training to practitioners so that they are well equipped at all phases of the process. More importantly the Government should provide support to NGOs which can lead to consistency and integration with each other. Support could be of financial and technical assistance for meetings, working committees and campaigns. According to the Mrs Sheila Bappoo (Â  Minister of Social Security, National Solidarity and Senior Citizens Welfare Reform Institutions), the Mauritian Government fully acknowledges the role of NGOs in community development. The Government has put in place an NGO Trust Fund which has the objective of helping vulnerable groups of the society so that they can lead a decent life. The Government provides support to numerous organisations who are actively involved in community empowerment. One such example is the the Youth Empowerment Programme which was implemented by a group of students from the University of Mauritius and the Force Vive des Quartier Reunies. The project had the objectives of developing leadership skills among children and at the same time encouraging community service by University students (MEF, 2011). The Government is actively involved in many such initiatives, and as we can see community empowerment begins with the common man. All we need is an idea and the will to bring about change. 9 3.0 Community empowerment strategies Community empowerment strategies include community development, community engagement, community participation and capacity building (Peter, 1996). Community development helps people to recognise and develop their abilities and potential and organise themselves to respond to problems and needs which they commonly share. It supports communities that control and use assets to promote social justice and help to improve the quality of community life (SCDC, n.d). In Maritius, the Community Development and Poverty Alleviation Project has been implemented by the Government and its budget extends to approximately 4 million Rupees. Community development requires the knowledge of people, their values and culture. People should be empowered to generate their own knowledge and use it to improve the quality of life. Therefore participation is necessary for community empowerment. Community development walks in hand with management. Community Services Management is a relatively new approach and it aims at empowering community workers and stakeholders to better assess and implement community based projects efficiently and cost effectively. Community Development also requires General Organisational Skills including financial skills. The emergence of professional management in such organisations denotes power. Community practitioners should be aware of the structure of the organisation to develop the required skills to effectively achieve its objectives. Finally, we cannot ignore the concept of Sustainable Development when speaking about development in Mauritius. The Government, NGOs, and the private sector recognise recognize that the environment, the economy and equity are irrevocably linked (Community Development and Poverty Alleviation Project, 2005). Community engagement is the process of involving people in decisions that affect them. This can mean involving communities in the planning, development and management of services. Moreover it consists of empowering the community to make decisions and to implement and manage change (DSE, 2011). 10 The Government envisioned the creation of a sustainable society with the implementation of the project Maurice Ile Durable (MID). In this regard, the Government encourages community members to initiate partnerships with multiple stakeholders and facilitates community engagement that supports people to express their vision for the community and initiate shared responsibility (Anneleos at al, n.d). Community participation refers to active engagement in designing, implementing and evaluating strategies to address a particular problem (Debra, 2002). The Government stresses upon the integration and participation of the youth in many aspects of the society. The Government also provides the opportunity for youngsters to engage in voluntary activities. One such programme is the National Youth Award which was launched in Mauritius in 1996. It is a sort of training programme which encourages personal delivery and growth, self-reliance, perseverance, responsibility to themselves and the community (Ministry of youth and sports, 2012). This programme under the Ministry of youth and sports supervised numerous activities which involved the participation of many national projects, namely Jeux de Lavenir, Jeux de Lespoir, Environmental Projects, Community Services and special vacances (Ministry of youth and sports, 2012). Capacity building involves strengthening the skills, potential and abilities of people in developing societies so that they can get out of their misery. Capacity-building programmes were established in Mauritius in view of poverty reduction. Since 2000, the IFAD (Funded Rural Diversification Programme) has been reaching out to more the 15 000 poor people. The programme has helped the poor to diversify their incomes and improve their standard of living. Under the Community Development and Poverty Alleviation Project, the Government adopts an approach to help the poor to get out of their own misery, by providing them with opportunities to generate their own income by empowering them (Community Development and Poverty Alleviation Project, 2005). 11 3.1 Limitations of community empowerment strategies Community empowerment strategies encompass several areas and require the participation, involvement, and commitment of various stakeholders. Implementing empowerment strategies also demands much time and effort. However they are good initiatives to empower the community, as explained previously. Community empowerment strategies have brought about numerous improvements in sectors such as poverty, health, environment, and society in general. The major obstacle to successful community empowerment is the lack of training in leadership development and organisational capacity building (Peter, 1996). NGOs NGOs have the possibilities to pass on information either by directly providing them to the public or helping the community to acquire access to information sources. NGOs can improve organisational assets by establishing new community organisations or improve on existing ones. They can also help people to get financial aid and material assets based on their needs and rights. Moreover, they do a great job in sensitizing and gathering people through health and education activities community engagement. Finally, since NGOs work at the grassroots level, they are more experienced and have genuine knowledge of the difficulties people find themselves in (Selibu, 2006). However, very often many obstacles hamper the empowerment process. Limitations to empowerment activities of NGOs arise from many sources. To start with, NGOs are constrained by the fact that they have little access to resources and less influence on policies and the law. Another factor would be that most NGOs are dependent on the developments made by the Government. NGOs are in most cases not in good terms with the Government, and this directly impacts their actions. Moreover, NGOs are limited by local factors such as inefficient institutional frameworks, weak relationships with the community and organisational problems within themselves. Consequently, in trying to respond to donors, the Government often lose sight of genuine empowerment needs of the community and cater for other demands from stakeholders (Selibu, 2006). 12 Risks factors When implementing empowerment strategies, risk factors should be anticipated and well-managed. The risk factors include time and planning limitations, possible lack of cooperation from stakeholders, incompatibility among methods used, diminished interest from community leaders, lack of additional funding and possible lack of resources for community leaders to impart their knowledge and skills (Community Development and Poverty Alleviation Project, 2005). Community organizations face enormous obstacles to repairing the social fabric of their communities, especially if society faces serious issues (e.g. high crime rate). This limitation is due in part to organizations inability to develop strategies and due to lack of resources (Peter, 1996). Moreover it is quite difficult to foster community participation and engagement, because people are not always free to participate in activities even if they can benefit from them. The community is also reluctant to form partnerships with stakeholders due to lack of trust. The community sometimes expects too much from the Government, and therefore is left with only aspirations and dreams. People have responsibilities and other concerns and they view community engagement and participation as an added burden. It can also be that information and whereabouts of campaigns and workshops are not evenly spread, considering low-budget organisations. Sometimes community leaders themselves are not committed to the project. Very often community activities are merged with politics, and are a means to monetary gain and enhanced image. As a matter of fact, community empowerment strategies fail their very own purpose due to lack of community involvement/participation/engagement. 3.2 Alternatives to increase community engagement and participation If an organisation wants to be truly accountable, it needs a strong system of organisational governance. Without a clear focus, it is impossible for community organisations to achieve significant impact. Hence, community organisations should be able to develop the element 13 of trust with the community (ICD, 2005). They should implement creative strategies so that the community is motivated to work with them. Both NGOs and Government organisations should address the different strategies including capacity building, physical projects, research and information and networking (ICD, 2005). Organisations should also display reliability, leadership and transparency. Empowerment programmes are not always easy to achieve. This is why organisations should review their own strategies. Participation and continuity It is necessary to work with the community in bringing awareness of the proposed activities and their benefits. It is also of significant importance to maximise community participation in planning, design, and implementation stages so that people develop sustained interest and ensure continuity of the particular project (Community Development and Poverty Alleviation Project, 2005). Management, supervision and monitoring The success of the projects will depend on proper management, supervision and monitoring. Practitioners should be given appropriate training in the field of project management. Progress should be monitored, to ensure that objectives are being fully achieved (Community Development and Poverty Alleviation Project, 2005). Engagement Community engagement is achieved if projects bear better outcomes. It is also very important to strengthen the relationship with the community. Community organisations should project the reputation of the organisation through their actions. Moreover they should develop increased understanding of community issues to form partnerships and broaden their networks (DSE, 2011). Leadership training Social workers and staff should possess the right skills to be able to reach the audience. Some practitioners often feel a lack of motivation and discontinue their service. Dealing with 14 people can be exhausting and frustrating. Therefore the Government should provide access to training sessions, information and networks. More than 20 training centres have been successful in teaching community organizations the skills needed to develop leaders and build strong community organizations in the US (Peter, 1996). Target vulnerable groups The Government should display involvement in the community. It should tackle issues that are of concern to the community education, emancipation of women, poverty, etc, and provide support by empowering them. E.g. Implementing poverty alleviation strategies. The Community organisations should also work with those who are potentially weak in the social structure. For example by educating the illiterates, providing economic support to vulnerable women, reduce vulnerability to HIV/AIDs and other health issues, and by collaborating with other organisations (SEM, 2012). Community organisations should themselves be empowered to adopt the best suitable approach to deal with people. The Government should promote community access to technology and information and also allocate a budget for community organisations to implement community empowerment programmes, for sensitization campaigns, workshops and working committees. Moreover, since media plays an important role in conveying information, media coverage of community initiatives should be improved. The common man should also be empowered to initiate action on a small basis and eventually be monitored for potential innovative ideas. It is also primordial to promote laws and regulations that give communities a voice (Peter, 1996). The Government of Mauritius has implemented the National Empowerment Foundation in this regard and has extended support and empowered numerous people. Some examples include; The Integrated Social Development programme setting up housing units at La Valette Bambous accounting to a total cost of Rs. 205 million and benefitted 200 families ; around Rs 1.1 billion allocated for programmes which include facilities for unemployed women, Integrated Social Development, circular migration, technical assistance to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) (NEF, 2009). 15 4.0 Critical Analysis Community empowerment strategies are effective measures to empower a community. Through community engagement, community participation, community development and capacity building, people are able to identify their potential and discover their abilities, participate in group discussion and activities, engage in implementation of important projects and can empower themselves so that they can overcome difficult social situations. As mentioned in the previous sections, community empowerment can benefit the community on a small basis as well as nationally. Community empowerment enables people to initiate actions based on their day-to-day experiences. It also creates a chain where the empowered individual in turn helps others to empower themselves by sharing experiences and forming partnerships. Community empowerment is a means for the community to broaden their networks and meet new and influential people. An empowered community can influence the social and economic aspects of a country to seek their rights. Moreover, when working with others for a collective cause, individuals acquire a sense of worthiness. Those actively involved in community work and community service can eventually become tomorrows leaders. Since community empowerment strategies deal with people, unforeseen events may arise. It is true that community empowerment is beneficial to the individual and the community, however people are not always free to engage in community activities. Moreover people are reluctant to indulge in community activities due to lack of trust, because very often activities are based on selfish grounds. For example; political parties showing interest in social activities for the sole purpose of enhancing the image of the Government. Other limitations of empowerment strategies include lack of cooperation from stakeholders, lack of funding and diminished interest from community leaders themselves. Finally, NGOs are limited in their actions due to lack of resources and dependence on the Gover