Conference Agenda

Problem Statement and Purpose

Since China entered an ageing society at the beginning of the twenty-first century, the degree of ageing has continued to expand, and the size of the elderly population has been rising year by year. The Communist Party of China (CPC) and the government have increasingly emphasized the significance of social participation of the elderly for economic and social development. Scholars' research on the social participation of the elderly has been deepening. but on the whole, there are few studies on the localized environment analysis of the social participation of the elderly, as well as synergistic and holistic strategies for promoting the social participation of the elderly.

The paper is to analyze the influencing factors of social participation of the elderly through SWOT, clarify the challenges and opportunities to promote social participation of the elderly, and construct a holistic strategy for social participation of the elderly.

Methodology

This paper adopts a qualitative research method, using SWOT analysis to analyze the internal strengths and weaknesses, external opportunities and challenges related to the research object, and applying systematic thinking to match various factors with each other to explore effective paths to promote problem solving.

Findings

Strengths include the relatively young age structure of the elderly population, the further improvement of health and education, and the strong willingness to participate in society; disadvantages include the large differences in the quality of their individual abilities, their lack of social adaptability, and their insufficient self-awareness; opportunities include increased national policy support, accelerated development of the ageing industry, and increased scientific awareness of ageing; threats include the lack of opportunities for the elderly to participate in society, the relative lag in regulations and policies, and the difficulty of changing stereotypes.

Proposals

Firstly, implementing the concept of active ageing and creating an environment for the social participation of the elderly; secondly, expanding the ways for the social participation of the elderly to meet their willingness to participate in society; thirdly, strengthening the strength of education for the elderly to enhance the ability of the elderly to participate in society; and, fourthly, giving full play to the role of the law to safeguard the rights and interests of the elderly in their participation in society.

References

Wang Lili.2011.A Review of Theoretical, Empirical and Policy Research on Social Participation of the Elderly in China.Population and Development,17(03):35-43.

Li Yixuan.2016.Study on Economic Activity Participation of the Elderly People in China under the Vision of Active Aging.Lanzhou Academic Journal,05:156-163.

Zhu Hui, Xiao Chunhui.2023. From Social Interaction to National Strategy: Conceptual Expansion and New Era Characteristics of Social Participation of the Elderly in China.Social Construction,10 (02): 37-45.

Problem Statement and Purpose

South Africa’s goal with the Breaking New Ground program was to eradicate informal settlements by 2014. However, informal settlements are still in existence in 2024. According to statistics provided by the Department of Human Settlement, there are 4297 informal settlements across the country home to more than two million households (Comins, 2023). The socio-economic conditions and housing challenges faced by the unemployed and low-income earners in South Africa are some reasons for the continued establishment of informal settlement in the country. Access to essential services is a problem or non-existence in informal settlements. If delivered, they are not adequate or satisfying. The residents of informal settlements have no choice but to make ends meet with the little they have and improvise to survive their poor living conditions. Cities are unable or struggle to deliver essential services to residents of informal settlements due to poor planning, financial mismanagement, and lack of community participation among others. This further imply informal settlements residents will continue to suffer and be short-handed by cities if these challenges are not addressed. Furthermore, these various challenges faced by cities in municipalities around the country means informal settlements residents find themselves not receiving these essential service as expected or adequately. Therefore, the overreliance of informal settlements residents on municipalities for services and the lack of, requires residents to consider other ways for services to reach them. Hence, the paper aims to explore aspects to consider for an inclusive alternative service delivery to the diverse residents of informal settlements.

Methodology

A qualitative research approach and phenomenological research design would be followed. An analysis of academic research documents and other relevant documents to the topic would be consulted to describe the reasons the lack of providing essential services to residents of informal settlements phenomenon is occurring. The research approach and design would further assist to explore aspects to consider for successful implementation of alternative service delivery within the diverse informal settlements communities to mitigate the continuous occurrence of this phenomenon.

Findings

The Constitution of South Africa lays the foundation for a democratic open society were government is based on the will of the people, every citizen is equally protected by law to improve the quality of life and free the potential of each person (Constitution, 1996). However, most South Africans are not equally provided with services and not happy with the quality of their lives. Citizens have the potential to improve the quality of their lives when collaborating with relevant stakeholders. Collaboration helps citizens identify aspects to consider for inclusive alternative service delivery methods for diverse informal settlements communities.

Proposals

The unequal provision of services to citizens requires considering alternative service delivery methods to respond to diverse needs of informal settlements residents. This is achievable because each informal settlement residents knows the needs of their own area and can solve them in a just fair manner. Hence, engaging communities during project design is critical to the success of any service delivery projects. Through this engagement, communities appreciate their own strengths (assets) which encourages community buy-in and support. It also helps stakeholders gain knowledge on current systems that are in place and what works for the community (Ramgobin, 2022).

References

Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996.

Comins, L. 2023. The shifting landscape of South Africa’s informal settlements. The Mail & Guardian. Available at: https://mg.co.za/news/2023-10-30-the-shifting-landscape-of-south-africas-informalsettlements/ Date of Access: 14 April 2024.

Ramgobin, P. 2002. Driving Alternative Service Delivery in South African informal settlements lessons from Green cape. Mobile for Development. Available at: https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/blog/driving-alternative-service-delivery-in-south-african-informal-settlements-lessons-from-greencape/ Date of Access: 14 April 2024.

Problem Statement and Purpose

Problem statement

The most difficult and burdensome task of promoting common prosperity remains in rural areas. The “three rural issues” have always been intertwined with gender issues. Fully stimulating the potential of women's labor can provide more sufficient momentum for common prosperity. However, in the past, poverty alleviation policies were formulated and implemented with households and villages as the basic units. The development capabilities of rural women lifted out of poverty have not been effectively promoted, so that it’s difficult for them to fully contribute to promoting rural revitalization and achieving common prosperity. To ensure that there is no large-scale return to poverty, the key lies in enhancing the self-development ability of rural women, thereby achieving common prosperity for all people. This is also a major theoretical and practical issue that the CPC and the Chinese government urgently need to address at present.

Purpose

Based on the reality of Chinese rural areas, and the dynamic changes in development environment and social relations, it is necessary to explore how to find the convergence point between women, families, villages, and the market. We should objectively evaluate the self-development ability of rural poverty-eradicated women in order to expand research ideas on enhancing their self-development ability. It is crucial to find effective paths for the self-development of rural women, so as to better unleash the gender dividend and promote rural revitalization, achieve long-term balanced population development, and advance common prosperity with high quality.

Methodology

(1) Combining historical analysis with logical analysis, and based on “grounded theory”, we’ll systematically investigate the evolution of rural areas and the changes in rural women's lifestyles. This approach reveals the logic and mechanisms of the interactive development between rural women and rural communities.

(2) Combining qualitative and quantitative analysis, we’ll collect relevant research literature and data to compare gender differences in the labor market. It analyzes issues such as rural women's physical sub-health and lack of social network support, which are caused by Prolonged and heavy burden of family care, agricultural work, and traditions such as "living with the father," "living with the husband," and "living with the son."

(3) Combining questionnaire surveys with door-to-door interviews, we’ll construct an evaluation system for women's development abilities. This system allows us to assess the self-development ability of women who have been lifted out of poverty. Furthermore, it enables us to explore the pathways for rural women to enhance their self-development abilities in the context of achieving common prosperity.

(Detailed data and case studies will be presented in the full paper.)

Findings

Rural women lifted out of poverty face challenges in enhancing their development capabilities, primarily due to insufficient accumulation of human capital and lack of self-development awareness. These are mainly manifested in the lack of strong market awareness, the scarcity of cultural activities, the difficulty of traditional skills in adapting to new markets, and the coexistence of sub-health issues and weak social network support.

It is crucial that we actively expand women's employment and income-generating opportunities. This urgent need is specifically reflected in the lagging development of rural industries and the gender disparities in the labor market.

Proposals

It’s necessary to improve the quality of rural education. We should increase investment in basic education, strengthen vocational and continuing education for women lifted out of poverty, jointly create a favorable environment for re-learning, and enrich the cultural and recreational life in rural areas.

In addition, we need to increase “inclusive employment opportunities” to improve rural women's self-sustainability. We should enrich the rural industrial models, and promote non-agricultural employment. We should focus on digital enablement to timely assess the risks of returning to poverty. Furthermore, we should improve the labor and employment service system to promote stable employment.

References

Candida March, Ines Smyth, ＆ Maitrayee Mukhopadhyay. 1999. A Guide to Gender-analysis Frameworks, Oxford: Oxfam Publishing.

Ester Boserup. 1995. Woman's Role in Economic Development, London: Earthscan Publications.

JIN Yihong, ＆ LIU Bohong. 1998. Chinese Women and Development at the Turn of the Century--Theory, Economy, Culture, and Health, Nanjing: Nanjing University Press.

The Party Leadership Group of the All-China Women's Federation. 2020. The Chinese Experience in Poverty Alleviation for Women in the New Era, QIUSHI, (24):42-48.

FENG Jianxia. 2019. ICT Empowerment and Rural Women's Development from the Global South Perspective: Case Study of the “Infolady” Project in Bangladesh, Journal of Chinese Women's Studies, 154(04):39-48.

LUO Biliang, HONG Weijie, GEN Pengpeng, ＆ ZHENG Wolin. 2021. Empowering People, Strengthening Capacity and Ensuring Inclusiveness: Enhancing Farmers' Subjective Well-Being in Reducing Relative Poverty, Journal of Management World, 37(10):166-181+240+182.

LI Xiaoyun, LIN Xiaoli, ＆XU Jin. 2022.The Resilience of Small holders: A Constructed Representation of Interactions between Individuals，Society and the State, Issues in Agricultural Economy, 505(01):52-64.

XIAO Zeping, ＆ WANG Zhizhang. 2021. Gender Dividend: An Empirical Analysis of the Family Income Effect of Non-agricultural Employment of Female Labor Force in Poverty-eradicated Households Based on 2,860 Samples from 2015 to 2020, Journal of Yunnan Minzu University ( Social Sciences), 38(06):56-65.

SU Hai. 2021. Institutional Embeddedness in Life: Local Practice and Reflection on Poverty Reduction of Rural Poverty-stricken Women: A Case Study of “Poverty Alleviation Workshop”, Journal of Yunnan Minzu University (Social Sciences), 38(01):73-80.

LI Xiaoyun, CHEN Banglian, SONG Haiyan, ＆ Dong Qiang. 2019. Alienation of Empowerment and Spill over of Poverty Reduction Based on “Women’s Poverty” Approach: The Observation on a Women’s Poverty Reduction Project in a Minority Village in Southwestern China, Women's Studies,152(02):5-16.