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Since 2018, Canada, through its Rohingya Response Strategy in Bangladesh, has been providing targeted assistance to the impoverished Bengali host communities and Rohingya refugees living in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Under Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP), gender equality and gender-responsive humanitarian action constitute some of the core priority areas for the Canadian government. In Cox's Bazar, Global Affairs Canada (GAC) funds programmes to empower women and girls through skill-based and livelihood training and to provide sexual and reproductive health services. However, scholars like Jennifer Cadesky and Rebecca Tiessen caution against the conflation of gender equality and empowerment, arguing that it often leads to short-term, quick-fix solutions without any long-term benefit to women. Canada needs to go beyond funding recovery assistance programmes at a surface level. Without understanding social norms and cultural practices that influence women's participation, mobility, and visibility in public spaces, gender equality in Canada's response strategy will be limited to only checklist goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on more than ten years of author’s experience in international technical assistance programs, the paper considers the problem of ensuring the sustainability of their outcomes. The author substantiates the position that international technical assistance in Ukraine significantly helps the development and modernisation of certain social spheres. However, effectiveness may vary depending on specific projects/programs and specific project teams. In addition, the author argues that international technical assistance in Ukraine requires greater coordination from the government and the direct participation of representatives of relevant ministries to be able to scale, monitor and evaluate effectiveness. The article provides an example of a specific local development tool proposed and tested over the six years of the USAID/DOBRE Program that can be scaled up at the national level. Experts’ attention may be drawn to the classification of factors that hinder the sustainability of international technical assistance programs/projects in Ukraine regarding aid recipients, donor organisations and the state. The author analysed the positions of Ukrainian scientists and the international donor organisations’ approaches on the content of the concept: outcomes sustainability of international technical assistance programs and investigated the criteria for determining their effectiveness. The concept of “The phenomenon of the financial absolutism illusion” was discovered and introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. The author also outlined the socio-psychological barriers that prevent Ukrainian communities from reaping the full benefits of local development instruments provided by donor countries. In addition, the author proposed some practical measures that will optimise the process of providing international technical assistance in Ukraine.

Integration with the large market of the EU creates additional competitive advantages for Ukraine. The Association Agreement and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), the status of the candidate country and international assistance, which aim to approximate Ukraine's legislation to EU norms, have become the institutional instruments of such integration. Over the recent years, the European Union has become Ukraine's main trade and investment partner. The basis of Ukrainian exports to the EU is formed mainly by crops and metallurgical products. The main items of Ukraine's imports are supplies of machine- building equipment and fuels. In terms of grains and oil crops, Ukraine is the main supplier to the EU. Under the conditions of war, the foreign trade with the EU has proven itself to be robust in volume and, in contrast to other vectors of trade, diversified. This was facilitated by the elimination of a number of tariff and non-tariff restrictions on Ukrainian exports to the EU, as well as the realign-ment of the logistics infrastructure towards the West. The structure of Ukrainian exports to the EU has seen an increase in the role of a range of agricultural products, along with a sharp decline in the role of metals. On the other hand, the EU has become an important supplier of military products and fuels to Ukraine. Along with that, with the question of security unresolved, the insufficient investment attractiveness remains to be a problematic aspect for Ukraine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) are tasked with the military defence of Finland, supporting other public authorities, both providing international assistance and participating in international activities, and participation in international military crisis management. The Act on the Making of Decisions Concerning the Provision of and Request for International Assistance is essential for the execution of the third of these tasks. This Act has been amended following the lessons learned from the evacuation operation in Afghanistan – but is it still necessary to understand the FDF's provision of international assistance and participation in joint operations and other international activities as an independent task? Should these functions, rather, be seen as means to an end in their own right, and be integrated appropriately into the FDF's remaining tasks? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) are tasked with the military defence of Finland, supporting other public authorities, both providing international assistance and participating in international activities, and participation in international military crisis management. The Act on the Making of Decisions Concerning the Provision of and Request for International Assistance is essential for the execution of the third of these tasks. This Act has been amended following the lessons learned from the evacuation operation in Afghanistan – but is it still necessary to understand the FDF’s provision of international assistance and participation in joint operations and other international activities as an independent task? Should these functions, rather, be seen as means to an end in their own right, and be integrated appropriately into the FDF’s remaining tasks?

This article analyzes the contribution of the Guidelines for the Implementation of the 1999 Second Protocol to the Hague Convention of 1954 for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (the Guidelines) to better protection of cultural property in peacetime and in times of armed conflict. The first part of the article introduces the Guidelines within the context of the implementation of the 1999 Second Protocol to the Hague Convention of 1954 for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (1999 Second Protocol) and the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, and provides examples of UNESCO's other standard-setting instruments such as the 1972 Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural or Natural Heritage, the 2001 Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage and the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, as well as bodies providing for guidelines for these instruments. The second part underscores the most important advances of the Guidelines in the implementation of the 1999 Second Protocol. The third part focuses on the contribution of the Guidelines as subsequent practice in the application of the 1999 Second Protocol establishing the agreement of the parties regarding its interpretation in the framework of Article 31(3)(b) of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. Finally, the fourth part concludes by highlighting the main advantages of the Guidelines in providing better protection for cultural property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]