R4D Ethiopia

Young Lives Newsletter No. 3

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:53:00 GMT

Miscellaneous 2009 Young Lives Newsletter No 3, October 2009. 3 pp. This newsletter features the latest research, publications and news from Young Lives. It includes overviews of: the Round 3 survey of children, households and communities; Research ethics and working with children; and New ways of looking at data.

NGOs and Humanitarian Reform: A Multi-Agency Project

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:35:00 GMT

Miscellaneous 2008 22 pp. This presentation introduces the UN-led humanitarian reform programme, and gives an overview of the NGOs and humanitarian reform project which seeks to engage NGOs in the overall process.

NGOs and Humanitarian Reform: Mapping Study Inception Report

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:03:00 GMT

Miscellaneous 2008 10 pp. This inception report is one of the outputs for the Mapping Study on humanitarian reform. It outlines the methodological approach to be used in the five case studies in Afghanistan, DRC, Ethiopia, Sudan and Zimbabwe and the key questions to be addressed. It is important to adopt a common approach in the case studies in order to ensure comparability across them.

NGOs and Humanitarian Reform Mapping Study: Ethiopia Report.

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:36:00 GMT

Miscellaneous T. Mowjee 2009 34 pp. Country mapping studies on humanitarian reform covered each of the projects headings of coordination, funding, leadership, partnership, accountability to beneficiaries and the impact of the reform process on humanitarian response. This report summarises the findings for Ethiopia, and makes recommendations for improving the humanitarian response process.

Reforming the process of humanitarian response: involving NGOs in the debate

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:00:00 GMT

The United Nations has been leading a process of reforming the way that humanitarian aid is delivered, aimed at improving the efficiency and reach of humanitarian response for beneficiary populations. With a growing awareness of the need to better involve NGOs particularly national and local NGOs in the various aspects of reform, DFID-funded research is helping to engage NGOs in the reform process.

Review of the engagement of NGOs with the humanitarian reform process: Synthesis report

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:10:00 GMT

Miscellaneous 2009 52 pp. This report analyses the current state of global humanitarian reform efforts from an NGO perspective by synthesising a series of mapping studies carried out between November 2008 and February 2009 that looked at humanitarian reform in five different countries: Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Sudan and Zimbabwe. Lessons from other contexts are also brought in to strengthen the analysis and provide an overview of humanitarian reform.

Many of the findings of the mapping studies are not new to those who have been following the UN-led humanitarian reform. They do, however, provide field-based evidence to support previously expressed views and emphasise the areas where improvements must be made. This report is intended both to provide a constructive, evidence-based critique of the state of reform and to set out clear recommendations and ways forward in finding solutions to the weaknesses and challenges inherent in the humanitarian community. Many of these challenges existed well before the reforms, and they still confront us today.

The research was commissioned by a consortium formed by six NGOs ActionAid, CAFOD, CARE, International Rescue Committee, Oxfam and Save the Children together with the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA) as part of the three-year NGOs and Humanitarian Reform Project, funded by DfID. The project aims to strengthen local, national and international humanitarian NGO voices in influencing policy debates and field processes related to the humanitarian reform and to propose solutions so that humanitarian response can better meet the needs of affected populations. This report represents a baseline for the project.

NGOs and Humanitarian Reform Project

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:44:00 GMT

Current The overall goal of the project is to increase the effectiveness of humanitarian response, by improving the way that NGOs are able to engage in pooled-funding mechanisms at the county level. NGOs, together with the UN and the Red Cross, constitute of 3 pillars of an international humanitarian response. However, the engagement of NGOs in coordination and financing reforms has faced multiple challenges and obstacles.

Improve NGO participation in coordination mechanism in 4 countries.
Improve NGO access to reformed humanitarian funding in 4 countries.
Improved participation of crisis affected people in needs assessments in 4 countries.
Good practice and lessons learnt are effectively disseminated.
Field generated knowledge impacts global policy formulation.

The recent Synthesis Report Review of the engagement of NGOs with the humanitarian reform process comprising the first phase of the project was recently presented at the Ditchley conference. The report analyses the current state of global humanitarian reform efforts from an NGO perspective by synthesizing a series of mapping studies carried out in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, DRC and Sudan between November 2008 and February 2009.

The project is now in phase 2. Humanitarian Reform Officers (HROs) have been appointed in each of the focus countries. (Sudan has been dropped from the list after international NGOs were expelled earlier this year), There are also 5 secondary countries, Haiti, Indonesia, Palestine, Mozambique and Pakistan.

Mapping the Likelihood of Introduction and Spread of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus H5N1 in Africa, Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria using Multicriteria Decision Modelling

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:22:00 GMT

Miscellaneous K. B. Stevens, S. Costard, R. Métras, and D. U. Pfeiffer 2009 Working Paper No. 20, 32 pp. The objective of this study was to describe the spatial variation in the likelihood of (i) introduction and (ii) spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) subtype H5N1 on a continental scale in Africa. This report describes the methods used to produce likelihood maps illustrating the likelihood of introduction and subsequent spread of HPAIV H5N1 at both the continental and country level (Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Ghana; targeted countries of the DfID project), and highlights limitations associated with the maps.

Impact of a Potential Avian Flu Outbreak in Ethiopia: A Multimarket Model Analysis

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:48:00 GMT

Miscellaneous M. Thomas, Xinshen Diao, and Devesh Roy 2009 HPAI Research Brief No. 13, 2009. 6 pp. The potential impact of a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak in Ethiopia is assessed, specifically on the countrys poultry and associated sectors. Ethiopia has not yet experienced an HPAI outbreak but has experienced a scare. An HPAI outbreak would cause a supply and demand shock to the poultry sector. Whereas supply shocks would be related directly to the disease and be local, demand shocks would be more dispersed across regions.

Results of a dynamic spatially disaggregated multimarket model indicate that, given the poultry sectors small contribution to the Ethiopian economy, the likely overall effect of an HPAI outbreak on the economy would be small. Importantly, for the same reason that aggregate impacts are likely to be small, the livelihood impact could be large, because poor households participate significantly in poultry production.

Investigating the Role of Poultry in Livelihoods and the Impact of HPAI in Ethiopia

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:34:00 GMT

Miscellaneous Gezahegn Ayele, Dorene Asare-Marfo, Ekin Birol and Devesh Roy 2009 HPAI Research Brief No. 12, 2009. 6 pp. This brief summarizes a study that (i) investigated factors that affect participation in small-scale poultry production and profiled those households most likely to be poultry producers and those most likely to keep larger flocks, and (ii) assessed the potential impact of HPAI supply and demand shocks on a livelihood outcome, namely, livestock wealth. Such information is expected to assist in the design of efficient, effective, and equitable interventions for the control and mitigation of potential HPAI outbreaks and associated shocks. The study used data from the most recent nationally representative Household Income, Consumption and Expenditure (HICE 2004-2005) and econometric models.

Overview of Qualitative Risk Assessments for the Introduction and Spread of HPAI H5N1 Virus

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:58:00 GMT

Miscellaneous R. Métras, S. Costard and D. Pfeiffer 2009 HPAI Research Brief No. 8, 2009. 7 pp. This Briefing gives an overview of risk assessments conducted in Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and Indonesia between October 2008 and June 2009.

Pro-Poor HPAI Risk Reduction Strategies: Synthesis of Country Background Papers

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:41:00 GMT

Miscellaneous M. M. Tiongco 2009 HPAI Research Brief No. 6, 2009. 14 pp. This brief is a synopsis of five country background papers that provided an inventory of information about the importance of the poultry sector in the economy and for rural livelihoods, the structure of the poultry sector and the associated level of biosecurity, and the threats and incidences of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), along with prevention and control measures that were implemented and the institutional response capacity. The countries investigated were Ethiopia, Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, and Nigeria.

Exploring the broader use of Community Therapeutic Care

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:32:00 GMT

Current High levels of poverty, food security, childhood illness and HIV/AIDS combine to increase the risk of malnutrition, which is associated with more than 50% of childhood deaths. Services to treat severe acute malnutrition in many areas of the developing world are often not able to reach those most in need and have failed to achieve a sustainable impact. To produce and disseminate evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of CTC in multiple contexts through research, programme development and documentation of best practice.

This proposal aims to achieve outputs as follows:

A. Substantial evidence of where CTC is appropriate and how to maximize its effectiveness
1. CTC will be the internationally accepted approach and practice for a nutrition response in humanitarian emergencies and will be incorporated into policy and programme documents of international, national and local institutions and organisations
2. Evidence will be generated to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of integrating CTC within primary health care services as part of emergency preparedness and disaster mitigation, as well as treatment of severe malnutrition in non-emergency/development context as demonstrated by increased number of MOH-run integrated CTC programmes.
3. Refined CTC models for different country contexts (e.g. conflict, disaster preparedness/mitigation, HIV/AIDs, development) incorporated into policies and programmes in five (5) target countries at national, regional and district levels

B. Improved, affordable therapeutic products available for use in CTC programmes
1. Credible published evidence that local recipe RUTFs made from local crops are as effective as Plumpynut® in promoting recovery from acute malnutrition.
2. Locally produced RUTF integrated into new and ongoing CTC programmes thereby increasing stability of supply and eliminating cost of RUTF importation.
3. Alternative compositions of Ready to Use Supplementary Foods (RUSF) developed and proved to be effective
4. A growing body of evidence of the effectiveness of RUTF consumption on the rehabilitation of severe acute malnutrition in PLWHA
5. Evidence of the effectiveness of the addition of Synbiotic to RUTF in promoting recovery and decreases mortality and morbidity in acute malnutrition and HIV/AIDS.

C. Dissemination of results/best practices and expanded capacity to implement CTC
1. Broad dissemination of CTC best practices through national and international training and workshops
2. Key international and national organisations involved in translating results into policies and practice
3. Cadre of health professionals trained in CTC implementation in target countries

Domestic Resource Mobilisation North-South Institute (Phase 2) (DRM)

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:28:00 GMT

Current Sub Saharan Africa faces significant financial resource gaps in meeting its developmental needs. These gaps can be financed through external resource mobilization (e.g. through ODA and FDI) and through enhanced domestic resource mobilization, which entails increasing and enhancing domestic savings mobilization, improving financial sector performance and enhancing public sector revenue collection and expenditure. For sustainable growth and poverty reduction to take place in Sub Saharan Africa, it is essential that a coherent, dynamic and domestically driven capital accumulation, intermediation and mobilization process take root in the region. This is necessary to wean countries away from aid and other unpredictable and volatile external flows that can be problematic even when well intentioned.

The overall purpose of the research is to enable Sub Saharan African countries to enhance mobilization of domestic financial resources to finance domestic developmental priorities.

Phase 2 of the project is intended to build on the analytical work done in phase 1, and to address the key questions through a country focused approach via 5 in-depth country case-studies on DRM in Burundi, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda.

5 in-depth country case-studies

Production of a synthesis paper that brings together key findings from each case-study

Donor Handbook on Resource Mobilization

A final publication to be undertaken jointly with other project partners

Five in-country stakeholder engagement workshops

End of project conference and report

Young Lives: Research ethics in practice

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 01:00:00 GMT

A new working paper and a new page on the Young Lives website highlight the approaches to research ethics being taken by this DFID-funded Research Programme

World Food Prize goes to Ethiopian Researcher

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:00:00 GMT

The Ethiopian sorghum researcher, Gebisa Ejeta has been awarded the 2009 World Food prize

DFID Supports World Malaria Day 2009

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 01:00:00 GMT

DFID is supporting a range of research projects alongside programmes to scale up interventions already known to be effective in the control of malaria

Release of Young Lives Round 2 data

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 01:00:00 GMT

Young Lives Round 2 data is now archived with the ESDS UK Public Data Archive.

Young Lives: an international study of childhood poverty (Phase 4).

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 08:49:00 GMT

Current

Young Lives is tracing the changing lives of 12,000 children in Ethiopia, India (Andhra Pradesh), Peru and Vietnam over a 15-year period. This is the timeframe set by the UN to assess progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. Through interviews, group work and case studies with the children, their parents, teachers, community representatives and others, we are collecting a wealth of information not only about their material and social circumstances, but also their perspectives on their lives and aspirations for the futures, set against the environmental and social realities of their communities.

We are following two groups of children in each country:

2000 children who were born in 2001-02
1000 children who were born in 1994-95.

These groups provide insights into every phase of childhood. The younger children are being tracked from infancy to their mid-teens and the older children through into adulthood, when some will become parents themselves. When this is matched with information gathered about their parents, we will be able to reveal much about the intergenerational transfer of poverty, how families on the margins move in and out of poverty, and the policies that can make a real difference to their lives.

Purpose (from project logframe: Sept 2008)

To generate evidence on the causes and consequences of childhood poverty and inequality in order to shape policy debate and programme design in the study countries and globally.

Outputs (from project logframe: Sept 2008)

1) High quality child focussed longitudinal data and analysis provides new evidence on the causes and consequences of childhood poverty and is widely used.

2) Young Lives evidence base persuasively communicated to key stakeholders, policy makers and planners, in order to ensure that they act on the basis of it, initiating and/or changing policy, programme approaches and practice.

3) Development and documentation of methodology that generates, uses and communicates evidence from longitudinal quantitative and qualitative research and policy analysis.

4) Improved research, policy engagement & influencing and communications capacity in the 4 countries and globally.

More funding for Young Lives

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 01:00:00 GMT

DFID has awarded Phase 4 of the Young Lives research programme to Oxford's Department of International Development

Identifying barriers to TB diagnosis and treatment under a new rapid diagnostic scheme.

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 10:49:00 GMT

Current Tuberculosis is the main cause of adult death due to infection in developing countries and its diagnosis in these settings requires the examination of multiple sputum samples using smear microscopy. Although smear microscopy was described more than 100 years ago, front line facilities still rely on it as a low cost, relatively simple and robust diagnostic test in the absence of alternatives. Despite its widespread use, microscopy has substantial limitations: it is insensitive, identifying only 40% to 75% of adults with pulmonary tuberculosis and the examination of multiple specimens is costly in time and economic expense for both services and patients. The disease disproportionately affects poor populations in remote areas and individuals often have to travel long distances and sell personal assets to access services. Many patients are unaware of the number of days required for diagnosis and, as several visits are necessary, are unable to adhere. As patients can only initiate treatment if they have been formally diagnosed, improving the efficiency of the process is crucial for increasing access to treatment. Improved diagnostic efficiency could be achieved by modifying the way sputum specimens are processed in order to increase the sensitivity of microscopy, examining a reduced number of specimens and accelerating the collection of samples to within a single day. The purpose of this study is to identify barriers to Tuberculosis (TB) treatment uptake and strengthen the evidence that accelerated diagnostic schemes lead to increased access to treatment in high incidence countries. The study will, in populations with high TB incidence:
1. Identify barriers preventing adults from completing the diagnostic process for TB when examined through new accelerated schemes.
2. Establish whether accelerated schemes for diagnosis results in an increased uptake of TB treatment.
3. Identify changes required by health services to address these barriers.

Tropical forests in poverty alleviation: from household data to global-comparative analysis

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 10:53:00 GMT

Current Forests are important to the rural livelihoods of poor people in developing countries. But due to the paucity of quality data on rural household economies in the tropics and sub-tropics, we know very little about just how important forests are, for what specific purposes they primarily serve, and for how many people forests are vital assets. This impedes the design of effective strategies for forest-based poverty alleviation. This project aims to fill these serious empirical gaps by using a uniform methodology to gather high-quality primary household data in about 25 sites with tropics-wide coverage. The global data bank (5-6000 households) with complete annualized income information and other economic and non-economic data will be used for a global-comparative analysis of forest-poverty linkages in rural household economies. Our goal is to analyse the general importance of various forest types in different aspects of rural livelihoods, identify major causes of geographical variation, and point to tangible options for interventions that actively enhance forest-based poverty alleviation. Specifically, we will test for hypotheses related to the alleged pro-poor role of market integration and of collective forest mangement at the local level. The data will also enable tests of broader microeconomic hypotheses regarding the role of natural resources in rural livelihoods, e.g. to what extent natural resources serve as seasonal gap-fillers, as safety nets in response to shocks, and as means of accumulating assets that eventually can lift people out of poverty. The project is integrated into the Poverty and Environment Network (PEN), coordinated by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). PEN is an ongoing collaborative research effort between CIFOR, a network of PhD students, and external experts from ten universities including the University of East Anglia. PEN data collection is already advanced; we thus seek financial support over a three-year period mainly to establish a global data bank, to undertake the global-comparative data analysis, and to carry out synthesis & dissemination work. Research results will be communicated through a variety of media to the main intended beneficiaries that include academia, donors, multilaterals, and policy makers at different levels. The primary project objective is:
I. To undertake a comprehensive global-comparative analysis of the role of forests and environmental income in preventing and reducing rural poverty, built on a centrally coordinated pan-tropical data bank with high-quality primary household and village data collected though PEN (research outputs);
The secondary project objectives are:
II. To elaborate recommendations for tangible forest-poverty interventions, and feed them into national and global policy processes (policy impacts);
III. To enhance the ability of project partners in using best-practice methods for conducting income-accounting rural household surveys, and to suggest improved research methodologies for future studies of environmental incomes and rural livelihoods (capacity building and methodological innovation).

The intra-household allocation of resources: cross-cultural tests, methodological innovations and policy implications

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 09:55:00 GMT

Current Gender matters for the incidence of poverty, ignorance and disease. In developing countries, boys tend to be favoured in the intra-household distribution of nutrients and in access to schooling and health care, women earn less than men and, when time engaged in home production activities is included, women work longer hours than men. An accurate understanding of how resources get allocated within the household has implications for the design of policy. Consider by way of example a policy concern with food security. In Sri Lanka food stamps are given to the main female of the household because of policy-makers' concern that the main male may sell the stamps and squander the cash on alcohol. At the same time, such a conflict of interests may undo policy-makers' good intentions: if the male head of the household has sufficient sway over his wife, he will get hold of (at least some of) the food stamps whether they were initially given to him or not. Economic models of intra-household decisions attempt to understand patterns of resource allocation among members of a household. There are a large number of such theories, but a paucity of data that can discriminate between these models principally because most data is available at the already aggregated level of the household. Yet, for the design of policy, differences between models matter enormously. For the sake of development policy, an important empirical challenge to be taken up by the research community is thus a rigorous testing of the household models that differ in their predictions of the effects of a given policy.

Our aim is to use three elements (experiments, socio-economics surveys and in-depth interviews) to answer the following questions:
1. Are the assumptions and key predictions of the most influential economic models of the household valid?
2. To what extent is the allocation of resources within households governed by norms of fairness?
3. Are such norms conducive to equality and/or efficiency within the household?
4. How are norms for allocation related to the cultural and economic context, particularly patterns of conjugality? As experiments become more common in development studies we also seek to build research capacity in the area and to explore the following methodological issue.
5. To what extent are experimental results (i) relevant to real-world behaviour; (ii) the useful basis for policy innovation?
In terms of output, the objectives are to produce a group of scholarly articles that answer the questions above and to publish them in international journals. Secondly, to disseminate more widely (i.e. into the policy community) the results of the research and thirdly, where appropriate, to influence the design of development policies in the light of the research results.

Challenges and experiences in tackling HIV and AIDS

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 01:00:00 GMT

An informal lunchtime discussion on the Challenges and experiences in tackling HIV and AIDS will by co-hosted by Panos London and Healthlink Worldwide in London on 22 January 2009

Improved treatment for sleeping sickness

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 01:00:00 GMT

A new combination of drugs has been successfully trailed by the DFID-funded Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative as a treatment in Sub-Saharan Africa

Young Lives research highlights new challenges in poverty reduction

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 01:00:00 GMT

Midway findings on child poverty and poverty reduction policies are now available from the DFID-funded Young Lives research programme

The camera never lies: children's views of health in their communities

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 01:00:00 GMT

Young Lives children hosted a photo exhibition in Addis Ababa for the Day of the African Child

Research Into Use: African Innovation Challenge Fund

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 01:00:00 GMT

The second Research Into Use (RIU) call for proposals is for the African Innovation Challenge Fund

African Community Access Programme (AFCAP)

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:49:00 GMT

Current AFCAP funds applied research to rural access problems, communicates the research outcomes to stakeholders, and supports the mainstreaming of the research results into practice. A six-month inception phase was completed in December; projects are now in operation or in planning in several sub-Saharan African countries.

Programme Goal: Sustained economic development, poverty reduction and improved livelihoods of the rural poor through more effective, efficient and equitable access to socio-economic opportunities (employment, healthcare, education, etc.).

Programme Purpose: To create sustainable access for rural communities to external opportunities and services (including health, education, employment, markets and social and political networks).

Best practice on Rural Roads Technology mainstreamed in Africa
Evidence of impact of appropriate rural road technology disseminated
Sustainable ownership mechanisms for construction and maintenance of local road systems
Knowledge and research capacity in Africa improved and key knowledge disseminated and adopted
Status of improving access to basic infrastructure for poor in Africa reviewed and further developed

AFCAP has made substantial progress in establishing a robust research programme for the rural transport sector in Africa. National co-ordinators have been appointed in Mozambique, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Malawi and Kenya, national steering groups have been identified, initial projects have been developed, and contractors for these projects are being procured.

Discussed with International Institute of Water and Environment Engineering of Ouagadougou University possible development of a short course for rural road engineering. There is potential to collaborate with KNUST in Ghana and the opportunity to offer course material across the French West African region.

Letters of Agreement have now been secured with the governments of Mozambique, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Malawi and Kenya. AFCAP is supporting study tours for the Ethiopian Road Authority and a strategic planning workshop in Tanzania.

Labour Based Roads - Ethiopian Roads Component

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Current

One of the main factors which affects the performance of all types of road, including very low-volume roads is the standard to which it has been designed and constructed. For more highly trafficked paved and gravel roads, performance-based deterioration relationships have been derived from research. These models assist in predicting the rates of deterioration for different types of road and help to ensure that roads are designed and built to appropriate specified standards and total life-cycle costs optimised.

Although DFID research is funding this project separately, its work contributes to the wider aims of the African Community Access Programme (AFCAP)

Goal: To promote sustainable livelihoods and contribute to the socio-economic development of disadvantaged rural populations through improved road access provision.

Purpose: To reduce the life-time cost of unpaved rural roads by promoting appropriate engineering standards, planning tools and works procedures for labour-based construction and maintenance.

No final project conclusions yet.

(A) Planning and Management Tools
A1. Deterioration relationships established for low volume unpaved roads
A2. Methodologies developed and documented for life cycle costs of labour-based roads.

(B) Engineering Standards
B1. Guideline on the use of appropriate engineering standards developed and for different categories of low-volume roads in different environments
B2. Appropriate methods established for quality approval of labour-based construction and maintenance works.

(C) Dissemination, training and capacity building
C1. Stakeholder and Training Workshops
C2. Training Workshops
C3. Project reports and revision statements for country manuals
C4. Results provided to Regional and National Training Institutes

Administrative:

Initial assessments of the project structures and scope were carried out during the inception phase and several conclusions were made. The Regions did not have research capacity and all research would be headed by the Engineering Research Branch of ERA, and while the SRA would take ownership of the project as the initiator, the Engineering Research Branch is the lead counterpart to TRL. Laboratory tests were supposed to be carried out by the SRA laboratory but for a long time results were not forthcoming and this was due to lack of capacity and this activity has since been outsourced.

Technical:

Most of the preparatory work i.e. planning and design have been completed. Currently, a work order has been requested for approval of construction by the District Maintenance Contractor in Shashemane District of ERA. This will lead to availing of funds for the construction of test sections from ERA sources.

Addressing the Balance of Burden in HIV/AIDS (ABBA)

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Current This RPC is helping DFID to drive forward its strategy for assisting countries to tackle HIV and AIDS. The goal is to improve the effectiveness of efforts to reduce poverty and to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by lessening people's vulnerability to HIV.

HIV threat is uneven across a population, and impacts differently on individuals, households and communities. Country policies sometimes ignore this unevenness. Although funding for HIV has increased dramatically, it has produced unequal benefits, and there is a danger of efforts at prevention being disconnected from those for treatment. HIV also threatens civil and government institutions (e.g. the health service, agricultural production and formal education sectors) necessary for poverty reduction, with consequent implications for development.

We assist governments in Africa to use research evidence about factors that influence the impact of HIV and AIDS on poor and vulnerable groups in order to provide greater benefits from programmes to tackle HIV in health, education and other sectors. One important body of such evidence concerns the social, economic and institutional factors that place the livelihoods of vulnerable and neglected groups at increased threat from HIV and AIDS, and identify which institutions and programmes are best placed to alleviate those threats. Another, concerns the way in which HIV affects the very institutions and programmes that tackle HIV and other health problems.

The RPC agenda is to improve use of this evidence by policy makers, local programme implementers, representatives of vulnerable groups, and researchers so that better policies and programmes can be implemented for improving benefit to the poor and the vulnerable. The goal is to influence poverty reduction and the achievement of the MDGS by tackling and reducing the causes of vulnerability. 1. Identifying a National Health Emergency in a Middle Income Country - Swaziland The Swaziland Emergencies Study built on the extensive, ABBA-supported work that HEARD has carried out in that country. The aim was to assess what AIDS was doing to the country across sectors using all available data, and evaluate what being of lower-middle income (versus low-income) status meant for Swaziland. The study showed Swaziland faces an emergency by international standards. An independent impact assessment carried out six months after the reports release showed affects on policy and practice in Swaziland. We consider this to be a flagship project in terms of generating new knowledge and influencing policymakers.

2. The Health Related Quality of Life of people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHAs) HIV/AIDS affects both the life expectancy and quality of life of PLWHAs. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has proved to be an effective intervention for improving quality of life by extending the number of survival years and reducing morbidity outcomes. The ABBA RPC is conducting research with HIV infected adults receiving and not receiving ART in Uganda, with studies beginning in other countries. A key finding is that the perceived HRQoL of those receiving ART improves over time. The study will help to determine which aspects (symptoms, physical functioning, work, social activities, and mental health) of the individuals HRQoL are affected by HIV/AIDS and the impact of ART. The findings will help tailor ART programmes and policies towards maximizing the HRQoL of HIV infected individuals receiving ART.

3. Adolescents made vulnerable to HIV by social, economic and cultural factors. The Siyakha Nentsha study emanates from the ABBA-supported work that the Population Council and partners - including HEARD and the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education - have carried out in South Africa. Previous findings demonstrate adolescent HIV risk behaviors as influenced in a gendered manner by social and economic circumstances, yet a local program scan showed that most prevention approaches do not strive to address these underlying vulnerabilities. The Siyakha Nentsha programme is a government-accredited multi-session intervention, randomized to secondary school learners, that focuses on: developing skills to manage personal and familial resources, access education/training opportunities and plan and aspire for the future; building and strengthening social capital; increasing knowledge of HIV/AIDS prevention behaviors and available services, and the ability to act on acquired knowledge. Even before the results of the study are in, the KZN DORE sees value in the approach and is eager to expand coverage of the programme.

4. An evaluation of the iThemba Letu project, a school-based HIV prevention program been carried out by a faith based organisation in Cato Manor just outside Durban, South Africa, is showing unexpected and not altogether favourable results. The program aims to reduce HIV infection rates through a curriculum delivered by peer mentors and guided by principals of Christian faith, self worth, hope and a belief in personal destiny. The evaluation included a survey looking at attitudes and social norms between the targeted learners and a controlled group. The findings will have important implications for the design of similar such programs.

5. Strengthening Access to HIV/AIDS Prevention, Care and Treatment Amongst Persons Living with Disabilities. In Kenya, the Regional AIDS Training Network (RATN) has strengthened the activities of the Disability Fraternity. In October 2008, RATN facilitated mobilization and support for the Kenya Campaign on Disability and HIV through meetings and workshops that resulted in development of a three-year Kenya PWD and HIV Advocacy Strategy (October 2008 September 2011). The strategy identified three key objectives to address the problems faced by PWDs. These are to achieve universal access to HIV information and services for PWDs in Kenya; to combat stigma and discrimination facing PWD; and to eliminate all forms of sexual abuse and violence which confronts PWDs in Kenya.

6. Orphans and Vunerable Children (OVCs), PLWHAs and their caregivers. In KZN, South Africa, the ABBA RPC has worked closely with Richards Bay Chambers of Business and Commerce in the organisation, monitoring and evaluation of OVC programmes to develop good practice and standards for mitigating the impact of HIV and other diseases on vulnerable children. Alongside this work the ABBA RPC has also assisted the Richards Bay Family Care Unit to identify the special needs of elderly relatives who are increasingly faced with the burden of caring for and looking after grandchildren when their mothers and fathers are sick or die from HIV/AIDS.

7. In Ghana a scan was completed in the Central region of programs and organizations serving OVCs or PLWHAs. These groups and government were subsequently brought together to share information on common strategies, challenges and resources. This dialogue is beginning to contribute to policy development within the Department of Social Welfare and Ministry of Women and Children Affairs. A summit convening the Department, Ministry and civil society actors to advance discussion on these policies will take place in August 2009.

Involving the poor in urban development

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 01:00:00 GMT

Livelihoods of micro entrepreneurs should be taken into account in infrastructure and service development