Aim: Mothers of children with intellectual disabilities are particularly vulnerable to mental distress due to demanding and exhausting caregiving. However, in the Arab world, they are seldom screened for depression because of limited diagnostic resources. Addressing the urgent need for brief and reliable …

The project focuses on highlighting the importance of the work-life balance within the hospitality industry, in 5-star hotels. Moreover, it is tailored to deliver a concrete and efficient implementation plan of a 5-day work week system instead of the current 6-day work week model system within a 5 star …

The Middle East and North Africa region has been absent form stocktaking exercises on social accountability initiatives (SAI), an umbrella term to designate citizen-led tools aimed at socio-political change. We argue that this sidelining is unwarranted, given the proliferation of participatory governance …

This chapter offers a working definition of social accountability as any citizen-led action beyond elections that aims to enhance the accountability of state actors. We view social accountability as a broad array of predominantly bottom-up initiatives, aimed at improving the quality of governance (especially …

In this chapter, we first summarise the findings from the country chapters on the multiple meanings of SA, documenting terms, translations and contrasting understandings between citizens and public officials. Second, we highlight how civil mobilisation tends to be cyclical over time and is often mediated …

In an aging population, the prevalence of people with dementia is increasing. Intelligent environments can offer a solution to support people in the early stages of dementia, who often experience problems with maintaining their day-night rhythm. The focus of this work is developing an Intelligent Environment …

Veganism and vegetarianism is a globally growing practice that is becoming of high social relevance. However, Egypt is an overlooked country when it comes to the widely discussed topic of veganism/vegetarianism. There is a lack of statistical analysis as well as plant based food market presence. The …

As the revolutions across the Arab world that came to a head in 2011 devolved into civil war and military coup, representation and history acquired a renewed and contested urgency. The capacities of the internet have enabled sharing and archiving in an unprecedented fashion. Yet, at the same time, these …

Iran has been a critical player in the Syrian war since 2011, crafting a complex foreign policy and military strategy to preserve its Syrian ally. What have been the drivers of Iranian decision-making in this con fl ict? And how has Iranian strategy evolved over the course of the war? This chapter argues …

Iraq is currently one of the most unstable countries in the world. Its political instability can be attributed to different factors, such as internal (armed) conflicts, wars with neighbouring countries, and invasions. Political scientists such as Toby Dodge argue that the state that the British created …