Celies Pain in Alice Walkers Color Purple Essay -- Color Purple Essa

Celie's Pain in The Color Purple Molestation is a topic that is painful to think about, and even more difficult to write about. Yet Alice Walker chose this as the central theme of her novel The Color Purple. Walker's work centers around a poor African American girl Celie. Celie keeps a diary, and the first section of the novel is an excerpt from her diary. After reading the excerpt, the reader comes to realize that Celie is a fourteen-year-old girl who has been molested by her father. Through this, she has lost her innocence as well as her self-worth, evident when the reader sees that the diary's words have been altered to say "I have always been a good girl" as opposed to "I am a good girl." From the moment her father molested her, Celie ceased to see herself as a good person. The events following the molestation only serve to lower Celie's confidence and hurt her relationship with her father. Her sister Nettie attempts to protect her, Nettie being the closest thing to a best friend that Celie has at this point. Nettie is the only person in Celie's life who cares enough about her to stand up to their father. "The first time I got big Pa took me out of school. He never care that I love it. He say 'You too dumb to keep going to school'. But Pa, Nettie say, crying, Celie smart too. Even Miss Beasley say so." Nettie gets Miss Beasley to go to the house to convince 'Pa' "She see how tight my dress is, she stop talking and go" The way Celie writes in her Diary reflects her lack of education and class status. She writes in the most basic and colloquial language that she would use when speaking. She spells many words incorrectly such as "git" and "Naw". She also uses her words in the wrong tense saying " I say" instea... ...Purple." PMLA 106 (1991): 1106-15. Berlant, Lauren. "Race, Gender, and Nation in The Color Purple." Critical Inquiry 14 (1988): 831-59. Bobo, Jacqueline. "Sifting through the Controversy: Reading The Color Purple." Callaloo 12 (1989): 332-42. Butler-Evans, Elliott. Race, Gender, and Desire: Narrative Strategies in the Fiction of Toni Cade Bambara, Toni Morrison, and Alice Walker. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 1989. Froula, Christine, "The Daughter's Seduction: Sexual Violence and Feminist Theory." Signs 2 (1986): 621-44. Hooks, bell. "Writing the Subject: Reading The Color Purple." Reading Black, Reading Feminist. Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. New York: Meridian, 1990. 454-70. Shelton, Frank W. "Alienation and Integration in Alice Walker's The Color Purple." CLA Journal 28 (1985): 382-92. Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. New York: Harcourt, 1982.

Referencing Harvard

It is important to show your reader that you have sought out expert, reliable sources to help support and develop your thinking, and this is done through referencing. The preferring in your assignment: demonstrates good research conduct shows the range of ideas and approaches you have found and thought about acknowledges the sources of those ideas tells your reader where they can locate those sources. Referencing also helps you to avoid plagiarism. If you present someone else's ideas as if they are your own work, or use the exact same language they use without acknowledgment, you are committing plagiarism.Plagiarism can be unintentional due to poor referencing, but the consequences are always serious. Accurate referencing helps you to avoid this. For more information on avoiding plagiarism, visit http://resource. Unions. Du. AU/course/view. PH? Id=1 572 Every time you include words, ideas or information from a source – whether it's a website, book or Journal article – i n your assignment, you must include an in-text reference to show that this content has been gathered from somewhere else.In-text references must be included whenever you: 0 0 0 0 paraphrase someone else's ideas in your own words summaries someone else's ideas in your own words quote someone else's ideas in their exact words copy or adapt a diagram, table or any other visual material. For each source that you reference in-text, you must also create an entry in the preference list at the end of the assignment. 2 How do we reference? There are two components to a Harvard reference: 1) an in-text reference in the body of your assignment Cabochon (2008) explores a range of themes and ideas†¦ ) full reference details in your reference list Cabochon, M 2008, Maps and legends, Immenseness Books, San Francisco. 1) In-text references An in-text reference is provided each time you refer to ideas or information from another source, and includes the following details: 0 0 the author's famil y name (do not include given names) [authoring body or organization the year of publication page numbers where applicable. There are two main ways to present an in-text reference, as shown below.One way gives prominence to the information by placing the reference at the end of your sentence in brackets: Universities can play an active role in finding solutions for climate change (Folio 2010, p. 2). Another way gives prominence to the author by placing the reference in the body of your sentence, with the author's name incorporated into the sentence structure and the date in brackets: Folio (2010, p. 2) argues that universities can play an active role in finding solutions for climate change.Including page numbers Page numbers are included when you: pacific page or pages refer to tables, figures, images or present specific information like dates/statistics. Habeas (2007, p. 48) notes that the novelist ‘draws on an established tradition of appropriating the waning for various soci al and political purposes'. If you do these things for a source without pages – e. G. A website – then Just author and year will suffice. 2) The reference list The reference list provides full bibliographic details for all the sources referred to in your assignment so that readers can easily locate them. Each different source referenced in your essay must have a matching entry in your reference list. It is important to note that the reference list is not a bibliography. A bibliography lists everything you may have read, while a reference list is deliberately limited to those sources for which you have provided in-text references. A bibliography is not needed unless specifically requested by your lecturer.The reference list is titled References and is: 0 arranged alphabetically by author's family name (or title/sponsoring organization where a source has no author) a single list where books, Journal articles and electronic sources are listed together (see sample referenc e list on p. 6 of this guide). The main elements required for all references are the author, year, title and publication information. Single line spacing required Judd, D, Assistant, K & David, GM 2010, A history of American nursing: trends and eras, Jones and Bartlett, London.Candler, PM, Patton, JAG, Coleman, RE, Egotistical, A, Hackers, FIG & Hoofer, BP 1999, Diagnostic nuclear medicine, Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore. Whitewater, R 2009, ‘How can nursing intervention research reduce the research-practice gap? , Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, Volvo. 41, no. 4, up. 7- 15. Leave space between each entry No indentation required in second or subsequent lines of an entry An extract from an essay using the Harvard referencing system Essay extract The literal adaptation of a book to film is practically impossible.As Steam (AAA, p. 4) suggests: The shift from a single-track verbal medium such as the novel to a multi- track medium like film, which can play not only with words (written and spoken) but also with music, sound effects, and moving bibliographic images, explains the unlikelihood and undesirability of literal fidelity. Comments Always provide author, year and page number(s) when quoting. Quotes longer than thirty words are indented both sides, and are one font size smaller. Ellipsis (†¦ Shows one or more words have been omitted.It is puzzling, then, that readers and audiences are so critical of adaptations which take liberties, sometimes for the better, with their source material. Film adaptations of novels are frequently ‘castigated and held to an absurdly rigorous standard of fidelity (Steam Bibb, p. 15). If key scenes from a novel are pruned for film, audiences often react negatively. However, fidelity is not an appropriate measure for evaluating a film adaptation's success, as numerous scholars concur (Despond ; Hawkers 2006; Letch 2008; McFarland 1996; Miller ; Steam 2004). Judging film adaptations is ultimately, Whelan (1999, p . ) contends, ‘an inexact science dogged by value judgments about the relative artistic worth of literature and film'. A fan of a novel might denigrate a film adaptation which alters the original book in some fashion, but their response is highly subjective and fails to take into account the practices and realities of film production (McFarland 2007, p. 26). Sometimes there are grounds for hostility. Author Alan Moore has witnessed a number of his complex graphic novels adapted into shallow Hollywood products, making him extremely critical of filmmakers and the filmmaker process (Assures 2009).However, this kind of attitude can be knee-Jerk and reactionary. Rather than being overly pedantic about textual faithfulness, it is best to approach film adaptations as re-interpretations of their source material (Hutchison 2006, p. 8) or as ‘a permutation of text, an intellectuality (Scariest, cited in Sanders 2006, p. 2). Moreover, new modes of production further complicate exis ting definitions of, and approaches to, adaptation (Moore, MR. 2010, p. 180). So The letters ‘a' and ‘b' have been added to the years here and above to distinguish between different sources by the same author (Steam) published in the same year.Several sources cited at once. Quotes shorter than thirty words are enclosed in single quotation marks. Always provide author, year and page number(s) when paraphrasing a printed source. Internet documents require the same information for the in-text reference (author and year). No page number for electronic sources unless available. Quote from Scariest found in Sanders' work. If authors have similar surnames, include first initials in reference to avoid confusion. 5 References Assures, S 2009, Why Alan Moore hates comic-book movies', Total Film, 2 February, viewed 5 December 2010, .Despond,J & Hawkers, P 2006, Adaptation: studying film and literature, McGraw-Hill, Boston. Hutchison, L 2006, A theory of adaptation, Rutledge, New Yo rk. Letch, T 2008, ‘Adaptation studies at a crossroads', Adaptation, Volvo. 1, no. 1, up. 63-77. McFarland, B 1996, Novel to film: an introduction to the theory of adaptation, Oxford University Press, New York. ? 2007, ‘Reading film and literature', in D Cartel & I Whelan (des), The Cambridge companion to literature on screen, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, up. 15-28. Miller, T & Steam, R (des) 2004, A companion to film theory, Blackwell Publishing, viewed 30 October 012, .Moore, MR. 2010, ‘Adaptation and new media', Adaptation, Volvo. 3, no. 2, up. 179- 92. Sanders, J 2006, Adaptation and appropriation, Rutledge, New York. Steam, R AAA, ‘Introduction: the theory and practice of adaptation', in R Steam & A Orange (des), Literature and film: a guide to the theory and practice of film adaptation, Blackwell Publishing, Malden, up. 1-52. ? Bibb, Literature through film: realism, magic, and the art of adaptation, Blackwell Publishing, Malden. Whelan, 1 199 9, ‘Adaptations: the contemporary dilemmas', in D Cartel & I Whelan (des), Adaptations: from text to screen, screen to text, Rutledge, London, up. -19. Online newspaper or magazine article Book with two authors Book Journal article Two works by same author, listed chronologically Dash used when more than one work by same author listed Chapter in an edited book Ebook. Two editors Journal article Book from which Serviette's quote taken Two works by same author in same year, listed a and b based on alphabetical order of title of the work Dash used Please note: this extract is from an assignment written in the Humanities. Please refer to published work in your area of study for examples of referencing conventions pacific to your discipline. What if your source does not exactly match any of these examples? This guide of source you need to reference in the pages that follow, and construct your reference in that format using the example(s) provided to guide you. While this guide prov ides a wide range of examples, it is not possible to provide a model for every type of source you might use in your assignments. If you cannot find an exact match for the type of source you need to reference, find examples for similar sources and combine the elements to create the reference you need.For instance, the reference low is for a chapter in an edited document which was found online in PDF form. It has been created through combining aspects of the following types of references: a chapter in an edited book an online document in PDF form. Author/authoring body Year of publication Title of the chapter Editors Title of online document Drunkard, P 2012, ‘The integrated reporting Journey, in C Van deer Lust & D Milan (des), Making investment grade: the future of corporate reporting, United Nations Environment Programmer, Dolomite and the Centre for Corporate Governance in Africa, up. 25-28, viewed 4 December 2012, .Publisher Page numbers of the chapter Date the document was viewed Internet address (URL) If you cannot find comparable reference types, always identify the following components of the source, and arrange them in the order below: author, editor, or authoring body/organization year of publication title publication information. Harvard referencing Unions – Examples Print Includes any materials created for publication in paper form Basic format: Author's family name, Initial(s) OR Authoring body year, Title of book, Author's family name, followed by a comma and initial(s) of any given names, or authoring body.Year of publication, followed by a comma. Title of book in italics, followed by a comma. Use upper case for the first letter in the title and lower case for the rest unless referring to names or places, I. E. Lawrence of Arabia. Gordon, M 2009, Manual of nursing diagnosis, Jones & Bartlett Publishers, Sturdy, Mass. Place of publication. If more than one place of publication is listed, give only the first listed. If there is another place with the same name, or if the place is little known, add the state or country (abbreviated), e. G. Texas, SLD, or Dully, SLD. Full stop at the end. Publisher, followed by a comma.Type of reference Book with 1 author (this can include a person or an authoring body, e. G. A sponsoring organization) In-text reference examples Cabochon (2008, p. 108) discusses. †¦ Was discussed in the study (Cabochon 2008, p. 108). †¦ A better world (Denied Green Consulting Services 2008, p. 5). Reference list examples Cabochon, M 2008, Maps and legends, Immenseness Books, San Francisco. Denied Green Consulting Services 2008, Capital idea: realizing value from environmental and social performance, Denied Green Consulting Services, North Carlton, Victoria. Further information Type of reference Book with 2 or 3 authorsIn-text reference examples Campbell, Fox and De Swart (2010, p. 46) argue†¦ †¦ Alternatives are preferable (Campbell, Fox & De Swart 2010, p. 46). Reference list e xamples Campbell, E, Fox, R & De Swart, M 2010, Students' guide to legal writing, law exams and self assessment, 3rd den, Federation Press, Sydney. As suggested by Hankie et al. (2006, p. 14)†¦ †¦ Has been suggested (Hankie et al. 2006, p. 14). Hankie, RE, Ova, D, Dillydally, GEL, Waltham, JAR, Shares, SMS, Wagner, RE ; Simmer, MS 2006, Nuclear medicine, 2nd den, Mossy Elsevier, Philadelphia. Book with no date or an approximate dateThis is emphasized by Seas (n. D. ) when†¦ This is emphasized by Seas (c. 2005) when†¦ Seas, R n. D. , Micro-computer applications, Microsoft Press, Redmond, Washington. Seas, R c. 2005, Micro-computer applications, Microsoft Press, Redmond, Washington. 2nd or later edition of a book Borrowed and Thompson (2009, p. 33) explain†¦ †¦ Components of filmmaker (Borrowed ; Thompson 2009, p. 33). Scariest (1995) has achieved great currency since its translation. †¦ Is argued as the reason for this tension (Scariest 1995). Borro wed, D ; Thompson, K 2009, Film art: an introduction, 9th den, Mac-Gram Hill, New York.Translated book Scariest,J 1995, New maladies of the soul, trans. R Superman, Columbia University Press, New York. Further information When multiple authors' names are included within your sentence (not in brackets) use the full spelling of ‘and'. When the authors' names are in brackets or in the reference list, use ‘&. When there are 4 or more authors, only use the first author's name in-text followed by the abbreviation et al. But include all names in the reference list. If there is no date use n. D. If there is an approximate date use c. (this meaner ‘circa' – Latin for ‘around/about').The edition number comes erectly after the title in the reference list. Edition is not mentioned in-text. The translator's name is not referenced in-text – it only appears after the title in the reference list. 9 Edited book reference examples Morrison (De. 2010) questions wh ether†¦ It is not clear whether this point supports his previous assertions (De. Morrison 2010). Reference list examples Morrison, D (De. ) 2010, The Cambridge companion to Socrates, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Further information When the editor's name is included within your sentence (not in brackets) place De. In the brackets following their name.When the editor's name is in brackets, put De. Before their name. When editors' names are included within your sentence (not in brackets) use the full spelling of ‘and'. When their names are in brackets or in the reference list, use ‘&. Note the use of ‘des' (no full stop) for multiple editors. When there are 4 or more editors, only use the first editor's name in-text followed by the abbreviation et al. But include all names in the reference list. Edited (De. ), revised (rev. ) or compiled (come. ) book with 2 or 3 editors Greenberg, Pollard and Salubrious (des 2011) are interested in providing a ramekin for†¦. . Is included in this framework (des Greenberg, Pollard ; sailplanes 2011). Greenberg, F, Pollard, N ; Salubrious, D (des) 2011, Occupational therapies without borders: towards an ecology of occupation-based practices, Volvo. 2, Churchill Livingston Elsevier, Edinburgh. Edited book with 4 or more editors In their collection of essays, Barnett et al. (des 2006) explore†¦ †¦ Is explored throughout (des Barnett et al. 2006). Barnett, T, Beriberi, N, Harder, S, Hooking, R ; Outlook, G (des) 2006, London was full of rooms, Lathrup Press, Adelaide. 10 Chapter in an edited bookBasic format: Author's family name, Initial(s) OR Authoring body year, ‘Title of chapter', in Editor's Initial(s) plus family name (De. ), Title of book, Publisher, Place of publication, up. X-xx. Author's family name, followed by a comma and initial(s) of any given names, or authoring body. Year of publication, followed by a comma. Title of the chapter in single inverted commas, followed by a comma. Use upper case for the first letter of the title and lower case for the rest unless referring to names or places. Initial(s) and family name of the books editor, followed by (De. ) for one editor and (des) for multiple editors.

Elements of Good and Evil in The Crucible by Arthur Miller

The play, The Crucible, is a fireball of guilt, evil, and good compiled into one magnification. It is a play with tremendous feelings, with many inside twists hidden in the archives of the true story. It is a play with emotional feelings; feelings of anger, hate, and evil, yet also feelings of goodness, and pureness. Undeniably, The Crucible is a play illustrating good versus evil.nbsp; The principal characters, Abigail Williams, John Proctor, Ann Putnam and Marry Warren all contain within them elements of good and evil. nbsp;The play contained many scenarios of good versus evil, and the characters that generally possessed these feelings and intentions. But it must be understood that there were the intentions, the incentives, and†¦show more content†¦Of course the people she accuses are actually innocent, but she has the ability to manipulate people into believing that she is doing good. This again is evil. nbsp;The center of good can be labeled as John Proctor. He is considered the hero of the story, because he fits into the points that make up the hero of a story. Proctor is a heroic martyr at the end of the play, when he falsely admits that he was with Satan all a long. He then refuses to tell the judge and accuse anyone of being with Satan too like Abigail did. Therefore he may be considered a martyr, for dying for a cause of saving the lives of other innocent people. John Proctor also tries to defend his wife, and attempts to make the judge realize how Abigail is manipulating him. This is where the conflict arises between good and evil. It is survival of the fittest. Who will survive at the end, Abigail Williams or John Proctor? This is the main battle of the story. nbsp;John Proctor is not a saint in this story either. He does possess some fragments of evil in his soul. His intentions are to do good and that justice is served, but he wants this so badly, that he also turns to evil incentives to kill Abigail (subliminally for what she is doing). At the latter part of the play, he tries to use evil to counter evil by saying he was with the devil. His intentions are to do good, but that is really against the Puritan Code, and hence is considered evil. One more fault thatShow MoreRelatedCharacter Development in Arthur Millers The Crucible Essay739 Words   |  3 PagesCharacter Development in Arthur Millers The Crucible The Crucible deals with significant events in Salem and significant changes and developments in the characters that appear in the play. Every character in the play undergoes some kind of change whether it is for good or for evil. Arthur Miller considers good and evil in The Crucible he shows that all the characters think they are doing Gods work but are in fact encouraging the devil. Also many characters are Read MoreI am Innocent to a Witch. I Know Not What a Witch is.†: An Analysis of Arthur Miller’s Use of Diction, Syntax, and Metaphors in The Crucible.854 Words   |  3 Pages but naked now. Aye, naked! And the wind, God’s icy wind, will blow!† (205) This powerful quote is taken from The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller during the Red Scare of the 1950’s. Miller, accused in the McCarthy trials, wrote the play about the Salem Witch Trials in 1692 to criticize the way history was repeating itself and how hysteria was taking over the masses. Arthur Miller’s writing style adds to the retelling of the Witch Trials by his use of diction, syntax, and metaphors. TheseRead More Salem Witchcraft Trials vs. the Crucible Essay2031 Words   |  9 Pageswas spreading fast. Arthur Miller made a play called the Crucible that was about the Salem witchcraft trials. Arthur miller took the historical accounts and changed them to be suitable for the play. 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Leadership Styles That The Leaders Of The Ancient World

Title Page Boudi Haj-Ayoub Ms.Cross Class code Intro: There are many different leadership styles that the leaders of the ancient world used to create and expand their empires. Each leader used a combination of different leadership styles during their rule. Two leaders that share very similar leading styles were Richard the Lionheart and Saladin. They both were Situational leaders, management leaders and relations leaders. They both used their skills against each other in a battle for the holy lands. Paragraph one: Situational leadership theory states that the best leaders are flexible and adaptable, able to modify their plans or make quick decisions that benefit their rule and their people. According to this theory, situational leaders possess the ability to analyze a situation and its variables and come up with the best course of action. Both Saladin and Richard Lionheart were situational leaders because they both had the ability to adapt quickly to what was happening around them and make crucial decisions with little notice. For example, during the siege of Jerusalem, Saladin modified his battle strategy in order to bring about success: Saladin saw that he was making no progress†¦. At dawn on a certain day [Sept 26] the King of Egypt (that is, Saladin) ordered the camp to be moved without any tumult or commotion. He ordered the tents to be pitched in the Vale of Jehoshaphat†¦.When morning had come the men of Jerusalem lifted up their eyes and,Show MoreRelatedInfluence Of A Great Philosopher And The Metaphysic Of Divine Providence1162 Words   |  5 PagesCicero returned to the republic government after the late Julius Caesar death Cicero became an enemy to Mark Anthony. After a power struggle Cicero was executed being an enemy to the state by the second Triumvirate in 43 BC. 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During the 1500’s, there was an Italian statesman Niccolo Machiavelli, who wrote The Prince, which he described methods for leaders to use in acquiring power (Leadership 2003). This all led to the recent activity dating to the early 1900’s and what has been developed and used in today’s society. There

The Gettysburg Address By Henry Wadsworth - 1548 Words

The â€Å"Gettysburg Address† is a speech given by former President Abraham Lincoln that focuses on the Civil War and the horrific battle that just took place at that location. Lincoln urges the people to remember what America is built on and freedom, liberty, and working together. Not only does Lincoln discuss that, but he also makes sure to thank the men who have fought in the war. He also reminded the people of what these soldiers fought for to give them the ideals that they take for granted I plan to use this speech in my research to talk about ideas that America associates and bases itself off of, and how those ideas influence the lives of Americans. Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. â€Å"Paul Revere s Ride.† Poets.org, Academy of American Poets,†¦show more content†¦I intend to use this poem to explain some of the flaws in American nature, and also emphasize the work and pain these people suffered throughout the process of creating this â€Å"glorious† country. Morrison, Toni. Beloved. Vintage, 2016. Beloved is a novel that focuses on slavery, specifically the life of a woman who escaped but was captured by her previous slave owners. Before being taken Sethe, the escaped slave kills her two- year-old daughter so that she will not have to return to the plantation. However years later her daughter comes back and haunts her mother s as a constant reminder of what she did. I believe I will use this novel to talk about how people viewed slavery in American Society, and how it American culture was deeply shaken by slavery. I also wish to discuss what African’s had to experience and want to see what they felt their role in society was. McQueen, Steve, et al. 12 Years a Slave. Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation, 2013. The film 12 Years a Slave directed by Steve McQueen focuses on a free black man from the North who gets taken back to the South to become a slave. As the movie unfolds Solomon Northup, the man abducted, must experience pain and cruelty from the master of the plantation and learn to survive as a slave of the South. However, after his twelfth year of slavery, the man meets an abolitionist and hisShow MoreRelatedLincoln Speech Analysis1038 Words   |  5 PagesThe persuasion scenario our group choose to observe is the events that happen in United States of America in 19th century. It’s the President Abraham Lincoln famous Gettysburg address. One of the main points for Lincoln when he giving this speech is to persuade both union and confederate (two different sides during the civil war) citizens to come join together to create the new equal and justice United States. This persuasion speech made me known why many people saw him as the great man. He did notRead MoreEssay on The Battle of Gettysburg1316 Words   |  6 PagesThe Battle of Gettysburg General William T. Sherman put it best when he said War is Hell( Foote 1 ). The Civil War was the largest war fought on American soil. Over a million lives were lost and millions more were affected. Billions of dollars were spent by the United States and billions were spent by the Confederate States to fund this war. Three days were spent in the month of July of 1863 in pure hell. The largest battle of the Civil War was fought near a small town in Pennsylvania.

Financial Performance of National Bank of Ethiopia free essay sample

In recent years, the importance of measuring MFI performance has been growing. An important aspect of this trend has been the increasing use of financial indicators that measures MFIs’ performance. However, it is hard to know the true picture of institutions with out the necessary adjustments. Hence, financial statements of NBE WSACA are adjusted for subsidy, loss provision and inflation to know its true picture. Accordingly, financial performance of the institution is analyzed based on PEARLS monitoring systems and MFI performance indicators (ROA, ROE, OSS, FSS and SDI), in which the overall performance was good. However, unadjusted ratios were misleading. 6 1. Introduction NBE WSACA has been in operation since 1985. It has been paying dividends to its members at the end of every year, after putting aside the reserve requirement and other deductibles. From the outset, the association was established with full financial and technical support from National Bank of Ethiopia and the various supports of the bank continue to date. However, these subsidies have never been considered in preparing the financial statements of the association so that it has not been possible to tell about the true performance of the association. This paper, therefore tries to see the real financial achievements of NBE WSACA in 2004, 2005 2006 and 2007 by including the various subsidies it was receiving, loan loss provision and the effect of inflation. Adjusted and non-adjusted financial performances of year 2005, 2006 and 2007 are also analyzed using PEARLS monitoring tool of WOCCU and selected MFI performance indicators. The results are also compared against each other and peer group result of sub Saharan Africa as well as benchmark of 30 credit unions operating around the world. The appropriate interest rate on loan is also suggested as per the indication of SDI. 1. 1 Background Ethiopia is one on the sub-Saharan African countries with a population of about 73 million. More than 85% of the population lives in rural area and agriculture remains the main stay of the economy. The Government applies agriculture lead development as growth strategy. Agriculture contributes 44% of GDP followed by Service and Industry with a share of 46. 3% and 11. 7% respectively. Table 1- Selected Macroeconomic and social indicators of Ethiopia 2005 Population (2005)* Population growth GNI per capita $ (2005)* GDP $ (2006) GDP growth, annual (2005) 75. 17 2. 8% 150 11 billion 11. 6% 2006 2007 7 2005 General Inflation, annual (2005) 8. 8537 2006 8. 9666 2007 9. 3192 Source: National Bank of Ethiopia Annual report (2006/2007) (*) World Bank Group Data and Statistics (accessed on 18/08/08) 1. 2 Financial sector in Ethiopia Traditional financial system in Ethiopia has long history and paramount contribution to economic betterment and social wellbeing of the society. Traditional institutions organized with a sense of cooperation and risk sharing has enabled Ethiopians to experience saving and financial management within its cultural context. Eqqub1 and Edir2 are some of the informal financial institutions that shaped the social bond and interaction. Formal financial institution started as early as 1905 with the formation of Bank of Abyssinia. However, the growth in number and capacity has been limited so that the service has not reached to the majority of the people. Currently, ten commercial banks, nine insurance companies and one development bank are operating in the market. All are owned by Ethiopian nationals. The banking sector was swinging from nationalization in 1977 to liberalization in 1992, which may contribute to its limitation in providing better services in terms of outreach and products. Their focus on big urban areas and the stringent lending policy they have been following have made there service inaccessible to the common citizens. As an alternative finance source, some enlighten employees started to form saving and credit cooperatives taking their working place as a common bond, based on provisions of proclamation No. 241/58. As of June 30, 2006, about 5437 SACCOs were providing financial services to their members. On the other hand, various NGOs (humanitarian organizations) were providing microcredit services as a complementary to their humanitarian and developmental activities. Although some of the NGOs had tried to provide the services through formation of SACCOs by providing revolving fund to organized groups, it had not been sustainable due to its loose 1 Eqqub is a form of rotation savings association in which e regular payment of weekly or monthly are made for the benefit of a large sum at some point in time. 2 Iddir is an informal financial and social institution of a community that serves as insurance when members face emergency situation. 8 foundation. The life of financial services was limited to the life of projects in particular areas. Absence of institutional framework and related legal problems compounded with clients’ lack of knowledge and attitude towards NGOs (loans were considered as donation) had affected loan repayment, in which outreach and sustainability of the service was not possible. In order to address these problems and bring the activities of micro financing within Ethiopia’s monetary and financial policies, Licensing and Supervision of Microfinance Institution, Proclamation No. 40/1996 was issued. The proclamation strongly prohibited provision of financial services without a license from the central bank. Following this, National Bank of Ethiopia has issued various directives as per the power vested in it by the proclamation. Accordingly, most of the NGOs that were providing credit services plus new government sponsored organizations came into the legal system by including nominal shareholders in their ownership structure. Since the enactment of the proclamation, 28 MFIs have registered to operate as a commercial financial institution as it is clearly stated in the proclamation and subsequent directives. Out of the 28, 7 are government owned MFIs established to assist its development strategy. However, they have been practically operating on a double bottom line approach. As of June 30, 2007, the sector has registered a total asset, total deposit and total capital of USD 0. 3 billion, USD 88. 3 million and total capital of USD 93. 6 million, serving total clients of 1. 5 million. 1. 3 Objectives of the study Though licensed MFIs are recent comers to the financial market, Savings and Credit Associations have been in operation for more than three decades. Most of the institutions have been reporting profit and good performance. The financial reports are based on conventional accounting methods that exclude various transactions that affect the quality of the report. Because conventional accounting usually reports the actual costs, not opportunity costs that reflect the real economic cost to society. Government and donor supports come in the form of tax exemptions, indirect government subsidies, in the form of direct financing, via budget subsidies, grants for specific purposes, and contracts to perform certain work and exchange rate fluctuation, inflation, non-performing loans and deposit requirements are the main factors that could affect the quality of financial reporting. Hence, the objective of this paper is to measure the financial performance of NBE WSCA, by including items that have not been captured by conventional accounting practice and then to: 1. Identify the degree of its dependence on subsidy and how much the society cost in supporting the institutions, if any, 2. Forward useful recommendations for its future prospect, 3. Give some light to microfinance sector in Ethiopia on relatively real performance evaluation method. 4. Recommendations related to future improvements in financial reporting if warranted Comparison to peer group of Africa’s Microfinance institutions will also be made to understand better its level of performance. It is proper to note here that the above Factors that affect the quality of the financial reports would be treated if their influence were believed to be significant and reliable information is secured for the adjustment. 1. 4 Methodology In assessing the performance of the selected institution, mainly, secondary data from reliable sources (audited financial statements) are used. The researcher will also try to complete data insufficiency and information gaps through questionnaire, interview and personal discussions. Though performance measurement tools in the sector are usually debatable, the researcher prefers to use adjusted return on asset (AROA), adjusted return on equity (AROE), financial self-sufficiency (FSS) and subsidy dependence index (SDI). In recognition of SACCOs unique feature, PEARLs monitoring tool is also used to evaluate its financial performance. The results will be compared with the peer benchmark result of the micro banking Bulletin of the MIX. 1. 5 Organization of the paper The paper is organized in six parts. In the first part, brief review of the financial sector in Ethiopia will be made. This part also contains objective of the study and the methodology. The second part deals with literature review on performance measures in microfinance with 10 especial emphasis to FSS, OSS, ROA, ROE, SDI and PEARLs monitoring systems. The third part focuses on SACCOs in Ethiopia and its legal framework. The fourth part gives incite on background of NBE WSACA and its services to members. Part 5 deals about NBE WSACA financial performance with and without consideration to the necessary adjustments as well as comparison to Africa benchmark of MBB. Part 6 gives conclusion based on the finding and forwards recommendations. 11 2. Literature Review 2. 1 Microfinance performance Evaluation Microfinance has attracted a number of attentions around the world and many countries and donors have been using it as a tool of poverty alleviation and development strategy. Microfinance has played significant role in embracing large world population who was forgotten and excluded by the formal financial institutions. It has been serving as a litmus paper to banks to show that it is feasible to do business with the poor. It has also put the poor at a higher moral ground by witnessing that the poor are trustworthy and have ideas, visions, talent and capacity to achieve them, if they are given the chance. Nowadays, many actors in the microfinance sector see finance as an effective tool, which can be used to help humanity and society develop. Significant numbers of people around the world have able to generate income and accumulate savings as their capacity allows them to do due to the availability of financial services. â€Å"Microfinance is much more than simply an income generation tool. By directly empowering poor people, particularly women, it has become one of the key driving mechanisms towards meeting the millennium Development Goals/MGD/, specifically the overarching target of halving extreme poverty and hunger by 2015. 3 In their effort to achieve what is expected of them from various stakeholders, microfinance institutions are required to achieve two major performances, social performance and financial performance. The former is the one, which characterizes microfinance institutions, and it includes outreach to the poor and the excluded, adaption of services and products to the target clients, improvement of clients’ social capital and social responsibility of MFIs. Financial performance on the other han d, deals on economic situations such as portfolio quality, efficiency and productivity, financial management and profitability. Nevertheless, unlike commercial banking with its Basle standards, the microfinance industry does not have widely agreed performance standards. â€Å"Recent years have seen a 3 Mark Malloch Brown, Administrator of the United Nations Development Program/UNDP/ 12 growing push for transparency in microfinance. An important aspect of this trend has been the increasing use of financial and institutional indicators to measure the risk and performance microfinance institutions. However, it is hard to achieve transparency if there is no agreement on how indicators measuring financial condition, risk and performance should be named and calculated. †4 Hence, Microrate, Inter-American Development Bank (IBD), the Consultative group to assist the poorest (CGAP), the united states Agency for International Development (USAID), MCRIL and planet Rating agree on the names and definitions of a set of commonly used indicators. Accordingly, the â€Å"Roundtable group† agreed on performance measures such as portfolio quality, efficiency and productivity, financial management and profitability. SEEP network has also developed MFIs performance measure and reporting guidelines. 2. 2 PEARLS Monitoring System World Council of Credit Unions/WOCCU has also developed its own performance measures for SACCOs. Since 1990, the world council of credit unions, Inc. has been using a set of financial rations known as PEARLS, which each letter of the word PEARLS measures key areas of Credit unions operations. Protection, Effective financial structure, Asset quality, Rate of return and cost, Liquidity and Sign of growth. PEARLS ratios are set to serve as executive management tool for standardize evaluation, comparative ranking and tool of supervisory control. (David C. Richardson, 2002). WOCCU has set the following targets for the main ratios in PEARLS: Protection- protection against loan loss is deemed adequate if a credit union has sufficient provision to cover 100% of all loans delinquent for more than 12 months, and 35% of all loans delinquent for 1-12 months. The system evaluates the a dequacy of the protection by comparing the allowance for loan losses to loan delinquency. Microrate inter-American Development Bank Sustainable Development Department Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Division, performance indicator for MFIs, Technical guide 2 nd edition, Washington D:C, 2002 5 David C. Richardson (2002), PEARLS monitoring system, World Council of Credit unions, WCCU toolkit series number 4 13 Effective financial structure- 95% of the productive asset should composed of 70-80% loan and 10-20% liquid investment. The remaining 5% is unproductive assets composed of land, buildings and equipments). On the ther hand, 70-80% of Credit union liability should be composed of members’ savings to achieve financial independence. In order to finance non-performing assets, improve earnings and absorb losses, members share capital and institutional capital should be greater or equal to 20% and to 10% of total asset respectively. Asset Quality-keeping delinquency rate belo w 5%, maintaining non-earning asset a maximum of 5% and financing the non-earning asset with institutional capital are set to be measure of asset quality for credit unions. Rate of return and costs- operating expense to total assets ratio is set to be less than 10% and other return and costs to be greater or equal to market rate. However, administrative cost should not be greater than 5% of the average total assets. Liquidity- the liquidity indicators show whether the credit union is effectively measuring its cash so that it can meet deposit withdrawals requests and liquidity reserve requirements. This is a measure of savings deposits invested in National Associations or Commercial banks, the minimum amount set to be 15%. In addition, the idle liquid fund should as much as possible closer to zero. Liquidity reserve to savings deposit is also set at 10%. Signs of growth- growth in Credit unions are measured in areas of total assets, loans, savings deposits, shares and institutional capital linked with profitability. The desired goal in this respect is growth, after subtracting inflation of the year. Nevertheless, the key performance and self-sustainability ratios published by the microfinance industry are deceiving if not adjusted to reflect subsidies. This is mainly because many items that significantly affect measuring real self-sufficiency are excluded by conventional accounting practices, which need to be adjusted. 14 2. 3 Adjustments Financial analysts often calculate a number of adjustments based on their purpose of analysis. In general, the following four groups of adjustments are commonly used but there is no precise standard calculation method so that any kind of adjustment should describe the calculation method used (Microfinance consensus guidelines, 2003). 1. Subsidy Adjustments- subsidy adjustment serves two purposes, first, MFIs vary widely for subsidy they receive. Some MFIs get no subsidy at all. Thus, adjustment that offset subsidy will allow for a more meaningful comparison of performance among MFIs with different amounts of subsidy. Second, the industry has accepted that, in the long term, MFIs should be able to operate without subsidy, relying instead on commercial sources and private investment or market rate. 6 There are two types of subsidy adjustments, subsidized cost of fund adjustment and in kind subsidy adjustment. Subsidized cost of funds adjustment looks at the difference between an MFI’s actual financial expenses and the financial expense it would pay if all of its liabilities were priced at market rates. One common way of doing this is to multiply the MFI’s average funding liability by some shadow price-a market interest rate and then subtract the actual financial expense. The difference is the amount of adjustment and is treated as an expense. No single shadow rate is appropriate in all circumstances. Many analysts use as a shadow the rate that local banks are paying on 90-day time deposits (International accounting standards 2002 in CGAP Microfinance consensus guidelines, 2003). In-kind subsidy adjustment on the other hand is provision of goods and services at no cost or below market cost. The usual in-kind subsidies could be office furniture and equipments, consultancy services, free office space and free staff. The adjustment in this case is the difference between what an MFI pays for the goods and services and what it would have to pay for the same goods and services at market rate. CGAP, Microfinace Consensus Guidelines, definition of selected financial rations and adjustments for Microfinance, third edition, September, 2003 15 2. Inflation Adjustment- The value of fixed assets tracks with the rises in price levels. Their real value increases along the lines of inflationary pressures. As such, the value of the fixed assets rises with inflation. Analysts make two adjustments f or inflation to account for this rise: one to total equity and one to fixed assets. Equity is adjusted downwards with inflation; and fixed assets adjusted upwards. In reporting this separate adjustment for fixed assets, the institution must create two counterbalancing entries, one on the income statement and one on the balance sheet. On the income statement, inflation increases the value of fixed assets, recorded as revenue from a revaluation adjustment. On the balance sheet, this adjustment increases the balance of the fixed assets account. The rational behind the inflation adjustment is that an MFI should preserve, at a minimum, the value of its equity against erosion due to inflation. Inflation produces a loss in the real value (purchasing power) of equity. The inflation adjustment recognizes and quantifies that loss. 7 In order to adjust for inflation, subtract net fixed assets from equity and multiply the difference with the period inflation rate. Year to year inflation adjustments create an expense in the income statement and a reserve in the balance sheet equity account, which is cumulative retained earnings consumed by the effects of inflation. 3. Adjustments for non-performing Loans- MFIs’ differ widely in their treatment of loan loss provision expense and write of policies, which can have a large impact on how sound its financial results appear. Hence, three portfolio adjustments have to be made to generate true financial statement. The three main adjustments are: Loan loss allowance and provision expense, write off and reversal of interest accrual on delinquent loans (CGAP, microfinance consensus guide lines, 2003). The MIX makes provision of 50%, 100% and 50% for loans with payments that are late between 90 and 180 days, for loans late for more than 180 days and renegotiated loans respectively. Loan loss allowance and provision expense increases loan loss allowance in the balance heet and provision expense in the income statement. Write off adjustment reduces gross loan portfolio and loan loss allowance with out 7 CGAP, Microfinace Consensus Guidelines, definition of selected financial rations and adjustments for Microfinance, third edition, September, 2003 16 affecting other accounts in the income statement or balance sheet. Reversal of interest income accrued on non-performing loans reduces interest income net profit and equity with the same amount. 4. Foreign exchange adjustments- this is an adjustment related to MFIs, which have assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currency, but handle their accounting in local currency. The change in exchange rate between the two currencies put an institution in gain or loss position. However, there is no agreement how to recognize the gain or loss. 2. 4 Key performance indicators in Microfinance Performance measure in microfinance has been a point of concern due to their double bottom line operation and their reliance on external source of fund in the form of subsidy. Hence, traditional accounting performance measures that have been used for purely commercial undertaking may give unrealistic picture for MFIs that benefit from any kind of subsidy. The failure of the return on asset (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) in measuring the performance of MFIs is due to their reliance on accounting practices that ignore the subsidies received by MFIs, in which without properly reporting and evaluating the subsidies involved, no adequate cost benefit analysis or cost effectiveness analysis of the MFI can be carried out. Basic financial statement indicators, such as net income, hints about an institution’s level of profitability without taking into consideration whether the income is donated or earned, whether loans received by the institution are priced competitively or subsidized , or whether the institution gets in-kind support. A truly accurate assessment of an institution’s sustainability based on adjusted data can help to anticipate the future, when external support may end (CGAP, MIS for MFIs, a handbook, Technical tool series no. 1). 17 The MFI industry, as represented by MIX, correctly recognizes the failure of traditional accounting ratios to measure the performance of MFIs. Accordingly, the ROA and ROE ratios are adjusted in an attempt to account for subsidies commonly received. 8 Accordingly, the mix developed three key ratios: adjusted return on asset (AROA), adjusted return on equity (AROE) and financial self-sufficiency (FSS). 2. 4. 1 Adjusted return on asset (AROA) and adjusted return on Equity (AROE) The prime objective of any commercial activity is to maximize shareholders benefit through maximizing profit. The process by which the profitability of the shareholders can be measured is through determination of retune on equity. Return on asset is an overall measure of profitability that reflects both the profit margin and the efficiency of institutions. It gives an indication how efficient institutions are in utilizing their assets. ROE makes little sense for comparing microfinance institutions, which have widely divergent liability and equity structures. Many have large equity base built up through donor funds; others have little equity and are funded through soft loans. Hence, return on asset is more appropriate to measure MFIs performance (CGAP, MIS handbook, 1998). However, using such traditional indicators to measure performance of MFIs is inadequate because of this ratios failure to reflect the tremendous impact of subsidies received by MFIs (Yaron, 1992a). Therefore, ROA and ROE are adjusted for subsides received, inflation, loan loss provision and exchange rate difference. Adjusted return on asset is determined as adjusted net operating income net of taxes divided by adjusted average total asset. AROA = Adjusted net operating income-tax Adjusted average total Asset. 8 Ronny Manos and Jacob Yaron (2007), what is wrong with â€Å"adjusted† accounting ratios that are commonly used by MF industry to measure financial performance, school of business, college of management. 18 Adjusted return on equity could also be determined as adjusted operating income net of tax divided by average adjusted total equity. AROE= Adjusted net operating income-tax Adjusted average total Equity 2. 4. Operational self sufficiency (OSS) and financial self sustainability (FSS) According to definition of CGAP MF consensuses guidelines, OSS measures how well an MFI covers its cost through operating revenue. In addition to operating expense, it is recommended that financial expense and loan-loss provision expense to be included in this calculation, as they are a normal (and significant) cost of operating. FSS on the other hand measures how well an MFI covers its costs, taking into account a number o f adjustments to operating revenue and expenses, which is the level of self-sufficiency. The purpose of most of these adjustments is to model how well the MFI could cover its costs if its operations were unsubsidized and it were funding its expansion with commercial-cost liabilities (CGAP MF consensus guidelines, 2003) The FSS measure is the prime sustainability performance indicator provided by the MIX, and is the basis for further calculating the AROE and AROA-the subsidyadjusted profitability ratios. Yaron and Manos (2007) on the other hand, argue that the FSS is an inaccurate measure of financial sustainability and that it causes to distortion due to the following reasons: 1. When measuring the subsidy attributed co concessionary funds, the FSS methodology ignores the administrative cost of mobilizing and servicing deposits, (when financial cost of deposits serves as the shadow price-the practice of MBB) 2. The FSS measure treats equity as a cost free item except erosion of net monetary asset due to inflation, 19 3. FSS does not consider exemption of institutions from reserve requirements, which underestimates subsidy received, 4. The FSS methodology does not distinguish between an MFI that generates income from lending to target clients and MFI that uses subsidies received to generate its income from others sources. 2. 5 Subsidy dependence index (SDI) The subsidy dependence index (SDI) asses and quantifies subsidy dependence. Its assessment and calculation requires the application of a certain procedure as well as judgment. The consistence application of these procedures and judgments from period to period is more important than the absolute accuracy of the figures included in the SDI computation. The SDI is the ratio that measures the percentage increase in the average onlending interest rate required to compensate an MFI for the elimination of subsidies in a given year while keeping its return on equity equal to the approximate non-concessional borrowing cost. 9 Subsidy Dependence index (SDI) is calculated as the annual subsidy received by the MFI divided by the income earned by the MFI on its average loan portfolio. It is normally derived in to two stages. First, the annual subsidy received by the MFI is divided by the average annual loan portfolio. Then, the total annual subsidy received by the MFI is divided by the MFI is divided by the interest and fee income earned on the MFI’s loan portfolio. The amount of the annual subsidy received by the MFI is stated as: S=A(m-c) + [(E x m)-p]+K Where: S Annual subsidy received by the MFI A – MFI concessionary borrowed funds outstanding (annual average) M – The assumed interest rate that the MFI would have to pay for borrowed funds if access to concessionary borrowing was eliminated 9 Jacob Yaron (1992), Assessing Development Finance Institutions a Public Interest Analysis, a World Bank Discussion paper 174 0 E – Average annual equity P – Reported annual profit before tax (adjusted, when necessary, for loan loss provisions, inflation, and so on) K – The sum of all other annual subsidies received by the MFI. Then SDI is defined as: SDI= S___ LP x i Where: SDI – Subsidy dependence Index S –Annual subsidy received by the MFI LP †“Average outstanding loan portfolio I –weighted average interest rate on loan portfolio of the MFI As it is stated above as a sensitivity analysis, an MFI has to increase its interest rate on loan in order to avoid subsidy. However, this is not the only means to avoid subsidy or minimize it. Improving loan collection rate, minimizing administrative costs play significant role in driving an institution towards self-sustainability. Striving to achieve self-sustainability and completely remove all subsidies is not always or necessarily politically feasible or economically desirable. However, calculating the SDI measure is still important for three basic reasons10 a. The SDI may be used as a tool to measure dependency and recommend improvement or justify its continuation, b. Measuring the subsidies received by the MFI is always economically or politically desirable as it would improve resource allocation, c. Computing and disclosing SDI provide basic information on the public debate on the use of scarce public funds. 10 Jacob Yaron and Ronny Manos (2007), Determining the self sufficiency of Microfinance institutions, savings and development No. 2 21 2. 6 Benchmarking In the field of microfinance, an agreed upon set of ratios to measure performance has developed. Accurate data, adjusted along common lines, are a pre-requisite for benchmarking. When comparing its own performance against industry benchmarks, an MFI can identify performance variance and highlight the key factors that influence performance. For managers and board members, such system provides a sign post for identifying institutional strength and weaknesses. It also influences the decision of donors and investors. MFIs with different characteristics have been operating around the glob. MFIs differ in their age, charter, depth of intermediation, lending methodology, scale of operation, operating region, target market and outreach, which makes comparison difficult. The way out for such problem is using Peer group performance as a benchmark. In this regard, Microbanking bulletin of the MIX has been preparing simple peer group benchmarks (bases on single characteristics) and compound peer group benchmarks (complex set of variables). 22 3. SACCOs in Ethiopia 3. 1 Legal framework of SACCOs in Ethiopia Savings and credit cooperatives in particular and cooperatives in general have passed through various changes due to continuous political changes in the country. Every new government came to the country was interested to promote cooperatives in its own way with no deep analysis on strong and weak points. The main reason for such radical change was believed to be that government change in the country has never been made in peaceful way. Hence, activities of the going government were grossly considered disgraceful so that new governments were interested to start afresh. During the command economy, promotion and registration of cooperatives were given to different ministries. Accordingly, promotion and registration of savings and credit cooperatives were given to National Bank of Ethiopia (central Bank). Issuance of proclamation N. 47/98 by the incumbent government has given the power to respective cooperative promotion offices under different regional offices. The cooperative promotion structure in National Regional states have different names and they way they are structured is not uniform either. In some Regions the office is named as Cooperative Agency (Ormia, SNNNP. ), in Addis as cooperative Promotion and regulation Department, in Afar, Somalia and Gambella as cooperative bureau. The accountability of the offices also differs from Region to Region. In Oromia, it is organized under Mass organization ( Hezeb aderejajete) which is one sector that reports to the Regional cabinet meetings, in Amhara it is under the Rural and Agricultural development bureau, while in Addis it is under the bureau of trade and industry. In most of these offices including the Federal cooperative Agency, the activities are departmentalized under Promotion, Market, Supervision and Audit, legal services and support activities. Promotion department is again divided into major teams like Agricultural and non-agricultural cooperatives. Promotion of saving and credit cooperatives is undertaken mostly under the non- agricultural cooperative team. The marketing department again can be subdivided into market development, effort, loan follow up (for agricultural input and crop loans). The promotion department is divided into teams based on the type of cooperatives while the marketing is on major marketing and credit activities. 23 (Dagnew Gessese Half a century development of savings and credit cooperatives in Ethiopia, status, challenges and future prospects, April, 2007) The main contributing factor for such mixed and non-standard structure is that the country has been using one proclamation for different nature of cooperatives. This clearly shows that there no clarity on financial services of savings and credit cooperatives. As performance standard measures has not been developed for SACCOs or WOCCUs standard, PEARLS has not been adapted, inspection of SACCOs has been limited to checking for proper record of their transactions to respective accounts. The other manifestation on lack of clarity on financial nature of SACCOs is that in 1996, proclamation No. 0/96, for licensing and regulation of microfinance institutions was issued that has authorized the central bank to license and regulate MFIs. Following this, National Bank of Ethiopia has issued 18 directives to regulate and supervise SACCOs.

Security in Government and Private Institutions The Aftermath of 9/11 Essay Example

Security in Government and Private Institutions: The Aftermath of 9/11 Essay The world-infamous 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon have forever changed the way people look at security measures.   This is not to say that security had been more lenient prior to these attacks, but the fact remains that everybody – especially those occupying sensitive posts in government – has tightened the security measures surrounding them.   The apparent anxiety that the 9/11 attacks have caused is not without basis.Everyday in the world today, we read about kidnappings, killings, and terrorism.   If one reads newspapers and watches television, it would be easy to conclude that there is no safe place for mankind to stay anymore. It is not, therefore, surprising if a huge chunk of the government budget is being eaten by security.   It is a must, considering that government entities, and especially military bases, are prime targets for attacks.Indeed, the United States government has a reason to fear terrorism. After all, it has attacke d its prime military base a few years back. Although, the clear picture of the 9/11 attacks has yet to be publicly acknowledged, one cannot – and should not erase from memory the pulverized buildings of the Twin Towers, together with the dead bodies littered all over Ground Zero.Following the 9/11 attacks, the Bush administration scrambled to announce to the world that it is waging war against terrorists. It went on to attack Iraq and Afghanistan, countries suspected of coddling terrorists. Iraq was attacked primarily because of Saddam Hussein who was suspected of concealing nuclear weapons intended for mass destruction. Attacks on Afghanistan followed suit, and this time it is in pursuit of the alleged architect of the 9/11 attacks, Osama Bin Laden who happens to be of Saudi Arabian descent.Consequently, security in government-owned and -controlled buildings has been tightened.   This is not to discount the fact that private institutions are not totally safe.   After al l, when something exploded in the twin towers of the World Trade Center, its proponents did not mark out who was going to be killed and spared. It goes without saying that terrorism knows no discrimination. As long as one is within the trajectory of target, he or she is not safe from harm.It is therefore logical to assume that danger is everywhere. It is a-given, however, that highly-classified government institutions, such as the Pentagon and other U.S. Military bases, are more prone to terrorist attacks and imminent danger than private entities (Miller, 2001).   This paper will then comparatively tackle the issue of the security measures being implemented in both government entities and private companies, especially following the 9/11 attacks.Statement of the ProblemHave the level of security and types of measure increased in public and private institutions after the 9/11 attacks?Data Presentation and AnalysisThe number of literature on terrorism and security naturally shot up a fter the 9/11 attacks. Indeed, the world has changed since September 11, 2001. The Bush administration thinks that America has remained a nation at risk to terrorist attacks and will remain at risk for the foreseeable future. Given all threat conditions, the American people must remain vigilant, prepared, and ready to deter terrorist attacks (whitehouse.gov, 2006).Prior to Iraq’s Hussein’s capture, U.S. intelligence agencies, independent analysts and arms control organizations have already been mapping possible weapons of mass destruction facilities in Iraq.   They have allegedly found evidence that Hussein has rebuilt at least some facilities that were earlier destroyed in military strikes or dismantled by U.N. weapons inspectors. This is presumably one reason why the U.S. government has been itching to seize Hussein and attack Iraq.Although U.S. officials and many private analysts said the satellite images cannot definitively determine what activities are going on inside Iraqi facilities, this has not stopped the government from attacking Hussein’s country.Inevitably, this reaction by the U.S. government has caused massive criticism worldwide.   Nonetheless, Hussein was captured, Iraq was bombed, and the Bush Administration finally conceded that, indeed, the claim that Iraq was keeping weapons for mass destruction was a false alarm. America’s habit of championing the freedom of the world has brought many enemies to its shore.   From among its citizens themselves, enemies have been formed. It then left American society more vulnerable to security risks. The terrorists of late 2001 took advantage of the weaknesses of U.S. security—its international borders, its immigration policies and its financial management systems (csa.com, 2005).But terrorism is not the only threat to the American people.   The other issue threats are espionage, proliferation, economic espionage, targeting the national information infrastructure, targeting the U.S. government, perception management, and foreign intelligence activities (fbi.gov, 2006).On the other hand, even private entities have become vulnerable to security risks.   Although terrorism may not rank high among the threats, the advent of technology has brought even private companies closer to danger.In the case of private companies, the biggest threat to their existence comes through cyberspace. Internet usage has brought monumental problems to these institutions that even those who are manning the security of private companies are already alert on terrorist activities that may be forward through cyberspace. In other words, the threats to American security have been getting more perilous.Recent historical events have left America in pain. As discussed earlier, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) identified several issue threats prevalent in American society today.Terrorism is foreign power-sponsored or foreign power-coordinated activities that: involv e violent acts, dangerous to human life, that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State, or that would be a criminal violation if committed within the jurisdiction of the United States or any state; appear to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or   to affect the conduct of a government by assassination or kidnapping; and occur totally outside the United States or transcend national boundaries in terms of the means by which they are accomplished, the persons they appear intended to coerce or intimidate, or the locale in which their perpetrators operate or seek asylum (fbi.gov,2006).Espionage concerns foreign power-sponsored or foreign power-coordinated intelligence activity directed at the U.S. government or U.S. corporations, establishments, or persons, which involves the identification, targeting and collection of U.S. National defense information (fbi.gov, 2006).On the other hand, proliferation consists of foreign power-sponsored or foreign power-coordinated intelligence activity directed at the U.S. government or U.S. corporations, establishments or persons, which involves: the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to include chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons, and delivery systems of those weapons of mass destruction; or the proliferation of advanced conventional weapons (fbi.gov,2006).According to the FBI, one of the most prevalent security risks in the private sector concerns economic espionage.   This is actually about foreign power-sponsored or foreign power-coordinated intelligence activity directed at†¦U.S. corporations, establishments, or persons, which involves:   the unlawful or clandestine targeting or acquisition of sensitive financial, trade or economic policy information, proprietary economic information, or critical technologies; or the unlawful or clandestine targeting or influencing of sensitiv e economic policy decisions (fbi.gov, 2006).There is also what analysts call perception management, which involves a foreign power-sponsored or foreign power-coordinated intelligence activity directed at†¦U.S. corporations, establishments, or persons, which involves manipulating information, communicating false information, or propagating deceptive information and communications designed to distort the perception of the public regarding†¦economic strategies (fbi.gov,2006).Alternatively, the targeting of the national information infrastructure concerns foreign power-sponsored or foreign power-coordinated intelligence activity directed at the U.S. Government or U.S. Corporations, establishments, or persons, which involves the targeting of facilities, personnel, information, or computer, cable, satellite, or telecommunications systems which are associated with the national information infrastructure(fbi.gov, 2006).Then there’s targeting of the U.S. government by foreig n power-sponsored or foreign power-coordinated intelligence activity directed at the U.S. government or U.S. corporations, establishments, or persons, which involves the targeting of government programs, information, or facilities or the targeting or personnel of the U.S. intelligence community, U.S. foreign affairs or economic affairs community, or the U.S. defense establishment and related activities of national preparedness (fbi.gov, 2006).Finally, foreign intelligence activities concerns foreign power-sponsored or foreign power-coordinated intelligence activity conducted in the U.S. or directed against the government, or U.S. corporations, establishments, or persons, that is not described by or included in the other issue threats (fbi.gov, 2006).Consequently, virtually all public and private sector entities need updated threat assessments and a plan to mitigate threat and further reduce their risks. Today, many of America’s businesses with critical infrastructures and ass ets are taking a proactive approach to security by developing and maintaining a comprehensive security and crisis program.Admittedly, however, many private companies are still inadequately prepared to counter risks. Too little attention is paid to security; too few resources are devoted to it. According to the director of the Institute for Security Technology Studies (ISTS) at Dartmouth College, Michael Vatis, security everywhere has beefed up since the 9/11 attacks â€Å"†¦more companies have taken needed steps but we’re not close to where we need to be. It’s just not where we must beCertainly, there’s more attention to the issue than two, three, four years ago. The specter of threats is growing. There are more attacks. The sophistication of those attacks is growing. There are terrorist groups to deal with. Foreign nation states are using cyber technologies.† (Gaudin, 2002)Targets usually hit by cyber attacks are critical infrastructures. This is be cause that’s where the impact would be the broadest and most severe, and this applied even to U.S. government facilities offshore.Take for example a U.S. Military Base in Iraq.   According to some officials, the military has completed a review of base security throughout Iraq in wake of insurgency attacks on facilities that included both Iraqi and U.S. troops. New regulations have been put in place and this meant increase in the screening of visitors and limit access to Iraqis who train or work in military bases (worldtribune.com).Big targets also include banks and other financial houses because of their impact on the economy. Recognizing the urgent challenge of Department for Homeland Defense (DHS), many private companies have also devoted their efforts to ongoing research. In fact, the Science and Technology Directorate of the DHS itself is continuing to transfer cutting-edge technological resources to federal, state, and local officials in order to strengthen the capabil ities of protecting the homeland. In the future, science and technology will serve as intelligent tools for national security (Rothman, 2003).Indeed, this is not the time for the United States of America to be lax as far as security is concerned. Now, risks are not only critical among government entities.   Even private companies have become susceptible to threats and since they are the most unprepared, they are most likely to be targets when attacks are deployed.ConclusionAnyone can be vulnerable to terrorist attacks or other security threats.Intelligence services of nations who view themselves as rivals seek out classified U.S. government information. Moreover, the secrets of the American economy have also become attractive targets of intelligence services.   This is primarily because the cost of economic espionage is cheaper than research and development. Intelligence services, utilizing the cyberspace, are extremely sophisticated and have become extensive resources to carry out operations.However, once a nation or corporation believes its secrets have been compromised, it makes changes to minimize damage; therefore, intelligence services conceal their operations to maximize their efforts. This is what has been happening in America since the 9/11 attacks. It is therefore normal that the government has done its best to reduce risk vulnerabilities.   However, it must be highly noted that American citizens, corporations or institutions with access to restricted information can be a target of an intelligence service. After all, they are potential targets of a terrorist attack anywhere in the world.In the end, it is safe to conclude that security measures in American institutions – both government and privately owned – have been finely tuned, especially after the destructive 9/11 attacks. However, there is still so much to be done to eliminate more danger and threats, and this is where the government is currently concentrating their efforts o n.   Even private companies are already investing huge sums to upgrade their security procedures.   The fact is, the threat to security is continuing and everybody must exert extra effort in helping minimize, if not curb, it.