Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management 2006 Annual Report

This annual report highlights the many programs and initiatives with which the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division is involved.

Affirmative Action in Iowa, September 2006

In accordance with 19B.5 of the Code of Iowa, the 2006 Affirmative Action in Iowa report illustrates the progress made during fiscal year 2006 to balance the State's worforce, the challenges that the State must address and the effort that the Department of Administrative Services must lead in order to remove barriers that limit the hiring, retention and advancement of females, minorities and persons with disabilities in the State's workforce. Highlighted in the report are the qualitative achievements made by all departments setting goals for fiscal year 2006. Additionally, the Department of Administrative Services-Human Resources Enterprise outlines its plan to build on its past efforts as well as pursue new initiatives to partner with advocacy groups and reach out to the commuity more directly to enhance State employment opportunities for females, minorities and persons with disabilities.

State of Iowa Workforce Plan 2006-2008,

Iowa state government, as well as other state governments, other public jurisdictions and other employers in general, finds itself at the beginning of a unique demographic phenomenon, the aging of the workforce and the concomitant mass exodus of many workers. Anticipation of this trend alone has raised the profile of and interest in workforce planning. In 2000, the Iowa Department of Personnel, the predecessor agency of the Department of Administrative Services Human Resources Enterprise (DAS-HRE), undertook several initiatives as foundational steps in establishing a workforce planning program.

Improving Transition Outcomes: Henry County Transition Partners: Infrastructure Building Replication Template

Replication Template for Improving Transition Outcomes Henry County Transition Partners Prototype. This concise document will help you build a community team and the infrastructure necessary to implement and plan for sustaining specific initiatives.

Iowa Budget Report, Building on our Progress: Protecting our Priorities, 2009

*********** Some files are large and will take time to load. *********** Seven Files: 1)Report Cover, 2)Table of Contents, 3)Statewide Financial Summaries, 4)Department Budgets, 5)Capitol Projects, 6)Associated Financial Documents, 7)Budget Report. To Members of the 82nd General Assembly, As we begin the second year of our Administration, we are pleased to submit the Fiscal Year 2009 budget for the State of Iowa pursuant to Iowa Code Section 8.21 and our constitutional authority. This budget recognizes the progress that we began last year with improvements in education, economic development, energy independence, and health care; provides funding for new policy initiatives in these areas; and is based on fiscally sound budget practices. Building on last year’s accomplishments, our Fiscal Year 2009 General Fund budget proposes an additional $75 million for increasing teachers’ salaries as part of our goal to move Iowa closer to the national average. We lay the foundation for student achievement by recommending $32.1 million for pre-school education, and we also propose $177.5 million in total for community colleges and $726.2 million in total for Regents universities. To make our State more energy independent, our General Fund budget appropriates the second-year funding of $25 million for the new Iowa Power Fund. The newly established Office of Energy Independence will soon start making awards from the Power Fund. Apart from the budget, we will be making several proposals to implement the new State energy plan. We have pledged to expand the number of Iowans who have health-care coverage. As a result, we are recommending additional funding for enrollment growth in the State Children Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). These additional funds will help the State provide coverage for another 25 percent of children who are eligible but not yet enrolled in hawk-i and the Iowa Medicaid Program. To protect the safety of Iowans, we are recommending issuance of revenue bonds for approximately $260 million in net proceeds to build a new state penitentiary in Ft. Madison, renovate and expand the Women’s Correctional Institution at Mitchellville, upgrade kitchen facilities at the Rockwell City and Mt. Pleasant Correctional Institutions, and expand Community-Based Correctional Facilities in Ottumwa, Sioux City, Waterloo, and Des Moines. Additionally, we are including funding for developing a prototype program for providing parolees and low-risk offenders with mental health and drug abuse treatment and educational services to help them make a crime-free re-entry into our communities. As part of this Capitals Budget, we also propose using $20 million for the State’s matching share for building new facilities at the Iowa Veterans Home. Iowa Budget Report iv Fiscal Year 2009 Importantly, our budget continues to fully fund our State’s Reserve Funds to help buffer Iowa from any future economic downturn. We recommend reimbursing $78.2 million to the Property Tax Credit Fund as part of our multi-year proposal to correct bad budgeting practices and eventually restore $160.0 million to this Fund. To provide more transparency, we are transferring operational expenditures in the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund to the General Fund and expenditures from the Endowment for Healthy Iowans and Healthy Iowans Tobacco Trust Funds to the General Fund. We believe that Iowa has charted a new course of becoming energy independent, providing quality pre-school education, recognizing the importance of our teachers, and providing greater health coverage for children. Our Fiscal Year 2009 budget and policy priorities reflect our continuing faith in Iowa’s ability to be the best state in the nation. We look forward to working with you in a bi-partisan and all-inclusive manner to build on our progress and protect our priorities. Sincerely, Chester J. Culver Governor Patty Judge Lt. Governor

Girls’ Education: Keeping Girls in School. ( A Literature Review with Implications for Girls’ School Attendence in Cape Verde)

Education plays a very important role in society’s development in order to promote good citizenship and individual rights and freedom. To this end, it is fundamental that girls be included in the education process. Inmost developed and developing countries, theoretically, both males and females have access to education. Cape Verde is no exception; however, the reality is that even in Cape Verde, promoting girls’ education and creating conditions to motivate girls to stay in school remains a challenge. Whereas girls have access to education many girls drop out for gender-related reasons. This paper will investigate girls’ education initiatives in general, and Cape Verde specific to offer recommendations and strategies to keep girls in school.

Gender gaps in policy making: Evidence from direct democracy in Switzerland

In spite of increasing representation of women in politics, little is known about their impact onpolicies. Comparing outcomes of parliaments with different shares of female members does not identifytheir causal impact because of possible differences in the underlying electorate. This paper usesa unique data set on voting decisions to sheds new light on gender gaps in policy making. Ouranalysis focuses on Switzerland, where all citizens can directly decide on a broad range of policiesin referendums and initiatives. We show that there are large gender gaps in the areas of health,environmental protection, defense spending and welfare policy which typically persist even conditionalon socio-economic characteristics. We also find that female policy makers have a substantial effect onthe composition of public spending, but a small effect on the overall size of government.

Active civic participation of immigrants in Portugal

Portugal’s historical past strongly influences the composition of the country’s immigrant population. The main third-country foreign nationals in Portugal originate traditionally from Portuguese-speaking African countries (namely Cape Verde, Angola, Guinea Bissau, and S. Tomé e Príncipe) and Brazil. In 2001, a newly created immigrant status entitled “permanence” authorization uncovered a quantitative and a qualitative change in the structure of immigrant population in Portugal. First, there was a quantitative jump from 223.602 foreigners in 2001 to 364.203 regularized foreigners in 2003. Secondly, there was a substantial qualitative shift in the composition of immigrants. The majority of the new immigrants began coming from Eastern European countries, such as Ukraine, Moldavia, Romania, and the Russian Federation. Thus, European countries outside the E.U. zone now rank second (after African countries) in their contribution of individuals to the stocks of immigrant population in Portugal. The differences between the new and traditional immigration flows are visible in the geographical distribution of immigrants and in their insertion into the labour market. While the traditional flows would congregate around the metropolitan area of Lisbon and in the Algarve, the new migratory flows tend to be more geographically dispersed and present in less urbanized areas of Portugal. In terms of insertion in the labour market, although the construction sector is still the most important industry for immigrant labour, Eastern European workers may also be found in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors. The institutional conditions that encourage immigrants’ civic participation are divided at three different levels: the state, the local, and the civil society levels. At the state level, the High Commissioner for Migrations and Ethnic Minorities is the main organizational structure along with a set of interrelated initiatives operating under specific regulatory frameworks, which act as mediators between state officials and the Portuguese civil society, and more specifically, immigrant communities. At the local level, some municipalities created consultative councils and municipal departments aiming at encouraging the participation and representation of interests from immigrant groups and association in local policies. In the civil society sphere, the main actors in Portugal spurring immigrants civic participation are immigrant associations, mainstream associations directed toward immigration topics, and unions. The legal conditions framing immigrants’ access to social housing, education, health, and social security in Portugal are also considered to be positive. Conditions restricting immigrants’ civic participation are mainly normative and include the Portuguese nationality law, the regulations shaping the political participation of immigrants, namely in what concerns their right to vote, and employment regulations restricting immigrants’ access to public administration positions. Part II of the report focuses on the active civic participation of third country immigrants. First, reasons for the lack of research on this issue in Portugal are explained. On the one hand, the recent immigration history and the more urgent needs regarding school and economic integration kept this issue out of the research spotlight. On the other hand, it was just in the beginning of the 1990s that immigrants took the very first steps toward collective mobilisation. Secondly, the literature review of Portuguese bibliography covers research on third country immigrants’ associative movement, research on local authorities’ policies and discussion about ethnic politics and political mobilisation of immigrants in Portugal. As political mobilisation of these groups has been made mainly through ethnic and/or migrant organisations, a brief history of immigrants' associative movement is given. Immigrant associations develop multiple roles, covering the social, the cultural, the economic and the political domains. Political claiming for the regularisation of illegal immigrants has been a permanent and important field of intervention since the mid-1990s. Research results reveal the com5 plex relations between ethnic mobilisation and the set of legal and institutional frameworks developed by local and national governmental authorities targeted to the incorporation of minority groups. Case studies on the Oeiras district and on the Amadora district are then presented. Conclusions underline that the most active immigrant groups are those from Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau, since these groups have constituted a higher number of ethnic associations, give priority to political claiming and present a more politicised discourse. Reflecting on the future of research on civic participation of third country immigrants in Portugal, the authors state that it would be interesting and relevant to compare the Portuguese situation with those of other European countries, with an older immigration history, and analyse how the Portuguese immigrants’ associative movement will be affected by a changing legal framework and the emergence of new opportunities within the set of structures regarding the political participation of minority groups.

Avaliação Externa de Escolas: Estudo Comparativo entre Portugal e Cabo Verde

A avaliação externa de escolas assumiu, nos últimos anos, uma grande centralidade nas políticas educativas e apercebemos que cada vez mais, se tornou uma exigência nos estabelecimentos de ensino. É nesta perspetiva que levamos a cabo uma investigação cuja preocupação central assenta na avaliação externa de escolas como nosso objeto de estudo, uma vez que, devido à pertinência atribuída pelas políticas educativas e sustentada nas boas práticas internacionais é considerada um gerador de mudança que contribui para a melhoria da aprendizagem dos alunos e para o desenvolvimento das instituições. Assim, optamos por realizar o trabalho segundo uma abordagem predominantemente qualitativa, através de um inquérito por entrevistas, com o propósito de obter dados que permitissem compreender e conhecer o modelo da avaliação externa de escolas, que, enquanto área de avaliação e de melhorias é assumida como uma das prioridades na educação, que caminha para o progresso das escolas, qualificando-as, com o objetivo de gerar impacto na melhoria dos resultados dos alunos. De uma forma global constatamos que nas últimas décadas, particularmente em Portugal, varias foram as iniciativas de avaliação de escolas e que a lei nº 31/2002, de 20 de dezembro, veio dar continuidade aos programas antes implementados, atribuindo-lhe um caráter obrigatório. Entretanto, Cabo Verde não dispõe de nenhum regulamento que estabeleça a obrigatoriedade da mesma, mas tendo consciência do impacto que a avaliação externa de escolas tem suscitado em muitos países europeus, a inspeção - geral da educação iniciou-se uma experiência em março de 2012, mas falta ainda fazer a revisão dos normativos que permitam regularizar este fenómeno, de modo a que se torne seja uma prática regularizada e consistente. De acordo com os argumentos dos entrevistados, os dados revelam-se que, a avaliação externa de escolas têm como finalidade a melhoria do sistema educativo e os efeitos nomeadamente a este nível são o desenvolvimento a nível institucional e profissional dos professores, a boa gestão pedagógica e ainda o de produzir uma cultura de autoavaliação nas escolas.

Concepção de uma Estratégia de Geoconservação para Cabo Verde e sua Aplicação à Ilha de Santiago

A singularidade de certos registos geológicos impressos em rochas, as peculiaridades estruturais e dinâmicas dos diversos elementos dos geossistemas, a análise dos seus valores intrínsecos, bem como da sua vulnerabilidade e dos perigos de degradação que os podem afectar, entre outros parâmetros, são factores que concorrem para a necessidade de assegurar a conservação do património geológico. É neste contexto que surge a geoconservação que preconiza a gestão do património geológico com base num conjunto de medidas e acções para a identificação, manutenção ou recuperação do valor natural dos elementos da geodiversidade numa perspectiva de sustentabilidade dos recursos geológicos que integram a componente abiótica do sistema natural. A geoconservação, à escala internacional, tem um desenvolvimento irregular. Enquanto algumas regiões estão bastante avançadas, como na Europa, outras revelam ainda alguma inércia relativamente à implementação de iniciativas que se devem enquadrar no âmbito da conservação da Natureza e do ordenamento do território. Em África, são ainda pontuais os exemplos de geoconservação pelo que, este trabalho, pretende ser promotor de uma política de geoconservação neste continente. No presente trabalho, concebemos uma estratégia de geoconservação para Cabo Verde e aplicamo-la, a título de exemplo, à ilha de Santiago. A metodologia utilizada, baseada em critérios internacionalmente reconhecidos e aceites para o inventário do património geológico de valor científico, consiste no estabelecimento de “categorias temáticas” que representam as características e evolução geológica do arquipélago. Foram propostas nove categorias para Cabo Verde e, para cada uma delas, foram inventariados diversos locais de interesse, dos quais 40 foram propostos como geossítios na ilha de Santiago. Com base nestes geossítios, propuseram-se linhas metodológicas para as etapas subsequentes que integram uma estratégia de geoconservação, nomeadamente, a quantificação, classificação, conservação, valorização, divulgação e monitorização de geossítios. Embora a conservação da geodiversidade esteja prevista, embora de forma pouco clara, na actual legislação ambiental cabo-verdiana, a execução desta estratégia de geoconservação poderá representar um dos primeiros passos para a definição, caracterização e valorização, sistemáticas, do património geológico nacional e contribuir para a implementação de uma política de sustentabilidade ambiental para o país.

Cooperação Portugal-PALOP no Domínio da Comunicação Social

The paper examines the cooperation between Portugal and the African Portuguese Speaking Countries (APSC: Angola, Cabo Verbe, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and S. Tomé and Príncipe) in media-relevant fields. It starts off with an outlook into cooperation activities undertaken by various countries in the APSC in such a field and assesses those initiatives in terms of linguistic and cultural significance. Next, I review the Portuguese institutional framework and the legal instruments for this kind of cooperation. The central aspect of the paper is a critical analysis of measures and projects related to training of journalists and other media professionals. The goal is to identify sensitive aspects and difficulties. I conclude with a global assessment of the Portuguese cooperation in the field of media and advance some suggestions for improvement.

Necessidades de formação contínua dos professores para utilização das TIC na escola : um estudo com professores de uma escola secundária em Cabo Verde

No momento em que se verifica algumas reformas no sistema educativo cabo-verdiano, torna-se necessário analisar a questão da formação dos professores de forma a prepará-los para a função que têm que desempenhar. Com a realização deste estudo, pretende-se diagnosticar percursos e necessidade de formação dos professores na área das Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação (TIC), bem como descrever o sentido de competência (auto-eficácia) dos professores na utilização das tecnologias, concretamente à mobilização dos mesmos no processo ensino e aprendizagem. Tendo em conta os objetivos do estudo, optou-se por utilizar uma metodologia de natureza quantitativa. O estudo integra a participação de 87 professores. Escolheu-se a técnica de inquérito, realizando um inquérito por questionário com questões fechadas aos professores da Escola Secundária Abílio Duarte situada na Cidade da Praia, ilha de Santiago, Cabo Verde. A revisão da literatura permitiu verificar que já foram desenvolvidas iniciativas, a nível nacional, para a implementação das TIC nas escolas. Atualmente destaca-se o programa Mundu Novu do governo de Cabo Verde, coordenado pelo Ministério da Educação, que tem como objetivo modernizar o processo de ensino através da utilização das TIC criando um novo paradigma de ensino interativo. Os resultados apontam para a progressiva utilização das TIC nas atividades dos professores que revelam um moderado sentido de auto-eficácia de utilização das TIC. A formação de professores é apontada como o principal obstáculo à integração e utilização educativa das TIC.

The impact of gender composition on team performance and decision-making: Evidence from the field

We investigate whether the gender composition of teams affect theireconomic performance. We study a large business game, played in groups ofthree, where each group takes the role of a general manager. There are twoparallel competitions, one involving undergraduates and the other involvingMBAs. Our analysis shows that teams formed by three women aresignificantly outperformed by any other gender combination, both at theundergraduate and MBA levels. Looking across the performancedistribution, we find that for undergraduates, three women teams areoutperformed throughout, but by as much as 10pp at the bottom and by only1pp at the top. For MBAs, at the top, the best performing group is two menand one woman. The differences in performance are explained bydifferences in decision-making. We observe that three women teams are lessaggressive in their pricing strategies, invest less in R&D, and invest more insocial sustainability initiatives, than any other gender combination teams.Finally, we find support for the hypothesis that it is poor work dynamicsamong the three women teams that drives the results.

Agriculture et eche - strategie de developpement a l’horizon 2015 & plan d’action 2005-2008

Pour lever les contraintes multiples auxquelles le pays est confronté, et développer les différents secteurs de l’agriculture et de la pêche, le gouvernement a adopté plusieurs programmes qui sont à différents stades de mise oeuvre, notamment: (i) le Programme national pour l'environnement, (ii) le Programme national de lutte contre la désertification, (iii) le Programme national de lutte contre la pauvreté, (iv) le Plan d'action forestier national, (v) le Plan directeur des ressources hydriques, (vi) le programme national de sécurité alimentaire, (vii) le Plan directeur pour l'élevage, et (viii) le plan de développement de l’horticulture. Bien que pertinents individuellement, les différents programmes nationaux ne sont point reliés entre eux par une stratégie cohérente de développement agricole au sens large, à moyen et long terme. Une assistance avait été apportée par la FAO au Cap-Vert en 19961 pour appuyer le GEP dans la formulation d'une stratégie sectorielle, en vue de la préparation du 4ème plan national de développement pour la période 1997-2000. Les nouvelles autorités nationales, en place en 2001, voudraient disposer d’une stratégie de développement agricole de long terme, allant au-delà des programmes nationaux de développement élaborés tous les 4 ans, au gré des mandats politiques. Par ailleurs, plusieurs partenaires au développement du Cap-Vert ont également indiqué au Gouvernement que leur nouveau cadre de coopération orienté vers l’aide budgétaire, doit disposer d’un cadre stratégique cohérent à long terme, et d’un plan d'action opérationnel indiquant les actions à entreprendre et les moyens humains, institutionnels, et financiers nécessaires à leur mise en oeuvre. La stratégie de développement agricole, au sens large, s’appuie sur des politiques, initiatives et dynamiques en cours, parmi lesquelles : la vision stratégique de développement à moyen termes du Gouvernement, présentée dans les Grandes Options du Plan 2002-2005 (GOP), le document intérimaire de stratégie de réduction de la pauvreté (DSRP) du pays, indiquant la sécurité alimentaire et la garantie de la cohésion sociale en milieu rural comme des axes stratégiques importants, le programme national de sécurité alimentaire du Cap-Vert, avec une orientation marquée pour la réduction de la pauvreté le PANA II en cours d’élaboration, le document UNDAF2 pour le Cap-Vert élaboré en septembre 2002, avec quatre axes d’intervention prioritaire et cinq dimensions transversales. la dimension genre, pour favoriser la participation effective de toutes les couches de la société (notamment les femmes) au processus de développement socio-économique du pays, particulièrement dans les politiques, stratégies et programmes du MAAP en cohérence avec la politique de décentralisation du Gouvernement. les dynamiques d’intégration sous-régionale en cours dans le cadre de la CEDEAO3, et du CILSS4, et continentales dans le cadre du NEPAD5. C'est en tenant compte de l’ensemble du cadre contextuel évoqué et de la complexité des tâches à accomplir que le Gouvernement a sollicité l'assistance de la FAO, au titre du programme de coopération technique, pour l’aider à élaborer une stratégie de développement agricole à long terme (horizon 2015) et préparer un Plan d’actions prioritaires à moyen terme. 1 TCP/CVI/6611 : “Appui technique et méthodologique pour la formulation d’une stratégie et des politiques de développement rural “. 2 Plan-cadre des Nations Unies pour l’aide au développement. 3 Communauté économique des états de l’Afrique de l’Ouest. 4 Comité inter-états de lutte contre la sécheresse au Sahel. 5 Nouveau partenariat pour le développement de l’Afrique.

Agriculture et peche - strategie de developpement a l’horizon 2015 & plan d’action 2005-2008

Pour lever les contraintes multiples auxquelles le pays est confronté, et développer les différents secteurs de l’agriculture et de la pêche, le gouvernement a adopté plusieurs programmes qui sont à différents stades de mise oeuvre, notamment: (i) le Programme national pour l'environnement, (ii) le Programme national de lutte contre la désertification, (iii) le Programme national de lutte contre la pauvreté, (iv) le Plan d'action forestier national, (v) le Plan directeur des ressources hydriques, (vi) le programme national de sécurité alimentaire, (vii) le Plan directeur pour l'élevage, et (viii) le plan de développement de l’horticulture. Bien que pertinents individuellement, les différents programmes nationaux ne sont point reliés entre eux par une stratégie cohérente de développement agricole au sens large, à moyen et long terme. Une assistance avait été apportée par la FAO au Cap-Vert en 19961 pour appuyer le GEP dans la formulation d'une stratégie sectorielle, en vue de la préparation du 4ème plan national de développement pour la période 1997-2000. Les nouvelles autorités nationales, en place en 2001, voudraient disposer d’une stratégie de développement agricole de long terme, allant au-delà des programmes nationaux de développement élaborés tous les 4 ans, au gré des mandats politiques. Par ailleurs, plusieurs partenaires au développement du Cap-Vert ont également indiqué au Gouvernement que leur nouveau cadre de coopération orienté vers l’aide budgétaire, doit disposer d’un cadre stratégique cohérent à long terme, et d’un plan d'action opérationnel indiquant les actions à entreprendre et les moyens humains, institutionnels, et financiers nécessaires à leur mise en oeuvre. La stratégie de développement agricole, au sens large, s’appuie sur des politiques, initiatives et dynamiques en cours, parmi lesquelles : la vision stratégique de développement à moyen termes du Gouvernement, présentée dans les Grandes Options du Plan 2002-2005 (GOP), le document intérimaire de stratégie de réduction de la pauvreté (DSRP) du pays, indiquant la sécurité alimentaire et la garantie de la cohésion sociale en milieu rural comme des axes stratégiques importants, le programme national de sécurité alimentaire du Cap-Vert, avec une orientation marquée pour la réduction de la pauvreté le PANA II en cours d’élaboration, le document UNDAF2 pour le Cap-Vert élaboré en septembre 2002, avec quatre axes d’intervention prioritaire et cinq dimensions transversales. la dimension genre, pour favoriser la participation effective de toutes les couches de la société (notamment les femmes) au processus de développement socio-économique du pays, particulièrement dans les politiques, stratégies et programmes du MAAP en cohérence avec la politique de décentralisation du Gouvernement. les dynamiques d’intégration sous-régionale en cours dans le cadre de la CEDEAO3, et du CILSS4, et continentales dans le cadre du NEPAD5. C'est en tenant compte de l’ensemble du cadre contextuel évoqué et de la complexité des tâches à accomplir que le Gouvernement a sollicité l'assistance de la FAO, au titre du programme de coopération technique, pour l’aider à élaborer une stratégie de développement agricole à long terme (horizon 2015) et préparer un Plan d’actions prioritaires à moyen terme. 1 TCP/CVI/6611 : “Appui technique et méthodologique pour la formulation d’une stratégie et des politiques de développement rural “. 2 Plan-cadre des Nations Unies pour l’aide au développement. 3 Communauté économique des états de l’Afrique de l’Ouest. 4 Comité inter-états de lutte contre la sécheresse au Sahel. 5 Nouveau partenariat pour le développement de l’Afrique.