Browsing by Author "Lombo, Mandy."

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Contraceptive use among young people: a case study of university students in Durban, South Africa.
(2016) Lombo, Mandy.; Maharaj, Pranitha.
There have been many studies conducted on the issue of contraceptive use among the youth. This is because the issue of contraceptive use among the youth is considered an important one, in the midst of high rates of unwanted/ unplanned pregnancies in the developing world. Unplanned pregnancies can have a negative impact on the studies of an individual. The rate of unplanned/ unwanted pregnancies is highest among young people. This category of individuals is most likely to be at a tertiary institute, this is why this study opted to try and understand the perceptions of the youth in the university context. This study also aimed at understanding how the interpersonal and social networks of these students impacted their contraceptive attitudes and use. This study draws on the theory of unsafe sexual behaviour to understand these interpersonal and social networks and if they have any impact on the decision of the participant in this study A qualitative approach was taken, in the form of 20 in-depth interviews with students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The study found that interpersonal networks of an individual did influence their contraceptive decision-making. Many of the participants that were using a contraceptive admitted that if their friends had negative opinions about contraceptives then they too would most likely have a negative perception of contraceptives as well. This was because friends were identified as the main source of information on sexual matters in the absence of parental advice. The interpersonal and social relationships also had an influence on the type of contraceptive to be used. Therefore it must be taken into consideration that individuals do not exist in isolation to their interpersonal networks. It became clear that the issue of contraceptive use by students is multi-dimensional and thus the approach should also be multi-dimensional. Campaigns aimed at changing the sexual behaviour of youth should focus on encouraging society as a whole rather than isolating youth.
A review of contested perspectives on climate change finance.
(University of KwaZulu-Natal., 2016-09-12) Lombo, Mandy.; Ntombela, Siyabonga Sibusiso.; Okem, Andrew Emmanuel.; Bracking, Sarah Louise.
There is an overwhelming consensus that climate change is a reality that requires urgent attention through mitigation and adaptation strategies. A slow rise in aggregate funding and investment towards projects which incorporate adaptation with respect to the consequences of climate change or mitigation of the known causes of climate change has occurred globally. This illustrates the increased intention of the public and private sectors to find appropriate interventions which work towards the lowering of carbon emissions or finding ways for the public to adapt their current behaviour to the eminent changes of climate. In this report, we present a critical review of literature on climate change financing. The review engages the meaning, sources and monitoring of the flow of climate finance. We also present discourses on issues related to the evaluation of the social impacts of climate finance on intended beneficiaries. These debates are contextualised in eThekwini Municipality’s approach to climate change adaption and mitigation. We note that there are many concerns regarding climate change finance that require further attention. These issues range from whether or not climate finance should form part of official development assistance (ODA), how funds should be distributed and who should climate change initiatives benefit. These issues could hamper the implementation of many useful strategies and much needed finance could end up funding projects that are not for public benefit. Furthermore, there is a conspicuous absence of appropriate and standard criteria for projects to meet in order to qualify as a climate change initiative. The lack of explicit requirements for projects to provide co-benefits to communities remains an unsettling problem and allows for substantial room for funding of unsuitable and in some cases, non-existent climate change projects. Much work still needs to be done to setup the identification criteria and measurement frameworks to help with issues of transparency, accountability and tracking of climate finance. This is especially needed in developing countries in order to curtail the misuse of climate funds in all tiers of government. There is also an urgent need to create a system that will govern, prescribe and monitor the use of climate funds for the betterment of the eco-systems, non –human species and humans.