R4D Human Rights

Something old or something new? Social health insurance in Ghana

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:59:00 GMT

Miscellaneous S. Witter and B. Garshong 2009 BMC International Health and Human Rights (2009) 9: 20 [doi: 10.1186/1472-698X-9-20] There is considerable interest at present in exploring the potential of social health insurance to increase access to and affordability of health care in Africa. A number of countries are currently experimenting with different approaches. Ghana's National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was passed into law in 2003 but fully implemented from late 2005. It has already reached impressive coverage levels. This article aims to provide a preliminary assessment of the NHIS to date. This can inform the development of the NHIS itself but also other innovations in the region.

It is concluded that some trade-offs will be necessary between the existing wide benefits package of the NHIS and the laudable desire to reach universal coverage. The overall resource envelope for health is likely to be stable rather than increasing over the medium-term. In the longer term, the investment costs in the NHIS will only be justified if it is able to increase the cost-effectiveness of purchasing and the responsiveness of the system as a whole.

Strange Bedfellows? Sex and International Development: Podcast

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:37:00 GMT

Miscellaneous 2009 Podcast, 44 mins This is a podcast of an event held in the UK Houses of Parliament. The event was sponsored by the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Debt, Aid and Trade, the Institute of Development Studies Sexuality and Development Programme and the Realising Rights Research Programme Consortium.This meeting offered an exciting opportunity to explore the ways in which poverty reduction efforts and work on sexuality and sexual rights intersect with a view to improved policy and programming.

WEMC Annual Report. 1 July 2008 30 June 2009

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:05:00 GMT

Miscellaneous WEMC 2009 WEMC Secretariat, Southeast Asia Research Centre (SEARC), Hong Kong, China, 85 pp.

With regard to progress on intended outputs the research capacity of 228 individuals has been enhanced; 13 English-language and 10 other language publications printed/in press; the published and widely distributed research framework has been positively received; comparative analysis has commenced. WEMC research products are being used in over 100 institutions; an integrated action research methodology dialectically combining research, capacity building and communication of findings has strengthened women as rights claimants; findings and analyses have enabled evidence based communication with diverse audiences from the grassroots to international policy makers.

Impact of the research programme
Significant progress has been made towards WEMC's purpose to help build 'a sustained growing critical mass of civil society expertise engaged in policy debates for long-term changes in policies and practices that promote women's empowerment in Muslim contexts.' By June 2009, some 10 WEMC specific (or sets of) research-derived recommendations had been accepted and implemented in Pakistan, Indonesia, Iran, and China as well as for migrant women workers in Hong Kong and Indonesia. This year, four new sets of/specific recommendations were accepted by government authorities. Previously accepted recommendations started being implemented. Importantly, research findings are being requested by policy-makers and forums.

Enhanced analytical and communication skills enabled women to successfully negotiate expanded rights, demand expanded/better service delivery and accountability from meso-level government duty bearers (China, Indonesia, migrant workers, Pakistan). WEMC has transformed the approaches of government extension workers (Indonesia and Pakistan) and service providers (Iran). At the RPC level, in August 2008, key WEMC concepts and research results were communicated to UN ESCAP policy-makers at a WEMC-focused forum (Where's the power in women's empowerment?) and followed up by invited inputs to the UN Beijing+15 review process.

Research confirms WEMC's hypothesis that the greatest obstacles to women's empowerment operate at the meso level and that, somewhat counter-intuitively, women's priority expressed need is to have their own spaces for collective strategising, rather than improved linkages with government institutions. If cultural considerations, including interpretations of Islam and 'Muslim' women, are critical factors that keep women immobilized and disempowered, women's own counter-strategies of empowerment are diverse. Women's demands for different sets of rights derive legitimacy from constitutional rights and a re-orientation of cultural concepts as well as religious interpretations.

Enhanced capacity provides women a new/stronger voice in formal and non-formal forums, impacting developmental and governance processes. Women are questioning the dominant discourse culturally justifying women's disempowerment, reorienting religious instruction forums as well as secular arenas; women have started to speak out on empowerment on local radio, television and at public events, including in dialogues with officials.

WEMC has seeded multiplication. To date, at least 20 new initiatives directly catalysed, facilitated or inspired by WEMC transformative new knowledge processes, have emerged supported by reliable, non-DFID resources. Shaped by the research process and informed by findings, these vital meso-level discursive spaces for women's collective sharing and analyses of experiences are enabling indigenous strategies for women's empowerment to be forged, implemented and replicated. WEMC-catalysed collective spaces include five women's self-help groups in Indonesia, eight new Pakistani organisations, a young women lawyers' group and a young people's media group in Iran. In China, 'safe spaces' have developed in the form of a 'health centre', a handicraft initiative created within an academic institution (Gansu Academy of Social Sciences) and around traditional religious spaces. Among Afghan refugees and returnees, research led to a self-help teachers' group. An exciting WEMC-inspired international initiative is the 'Institute for Women's Empowerment', established and registered by several RPC members to:
a. Document and make visible women's empowerment initiatives in different communities and countries
b. Develop women's strategies for empowerment at multiple levels c. Communicate lessons on women's strategies for empowerment for replication and upscaling
d. Build the capacity of civil society groups in multiple countries to advance womens empowerment

IWE is collaborating with the international coordination office of Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) in the programme 'Women reclaiming and re-defining culture: asserting rights over body, self and public places.'

Rights and Risk: Challenging Biotechnology Policy in Zimbabwe

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:40:00 GMT

Miscellaneous J. Mohamed-Katerere 2003 IDS Working Paper 204, Biotechnology Policy Series 10. Brighton, UK: IDS. ISBN 1 85864 520 4, 44 pp. Human rights have become a key focus of law and development, yet they remain conspicuously absent from the regulatory and policy regimes for the use and development of modern agricultural biotechnology. In contrast to rights approaches biotechnology law and policy is concerned with individual property rights and global trade. In this context the only acceptable restriction on biotechnology development is safety and thus regulation has focussed almost exclusively on risk assessment. Drawing on the experience of Zimbabwe and other countries in southern Africa, this paper argues that a risk-based approach, creates an artificial divide between civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights, desegregates society into a conglomerate of individual rights holders, effectively dis-empowers citizens and fails to create a viable and supportive legal framework for consensual agricultural biotechnology development that is responsive to local needs and perceptions about rights. The paper begins by examining the legal underpinnings of a risk-based approach and asks why it has come to prominence. It contrasts this with a rights approach and looks specifically at how rights framing and claiming has evolved since Zimbabwes independence in 1980. Against this background it examines demands for rights to participation, livelihood choice, farmer and community property and information and how these are manifested as challenges to the established regulatory regime. In particular it looks at issues of problem framing, knowledge, culture, values, information and responsibility. In conclusion the paper suggests that human rights law is a useful tool in creating more socially responsive law. This is so because it seeks to redress inequalities by establishing legal standards that allow for the restoration of human dignity by putting people back in control of their lives and limiting abuse and so creating substantial equality between people.

From risks to rights: challenges for biotechnology policy.

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:34:00 GMT

Miscellaneous J. Mohamed-Katerere 2003 Democratising Biotechnology: Genetically Modified Crops in Developing Countries Briefing Series. Briefing 12. Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies. ISBN 1 85864 487 9, 2 pp. This Briefing, drawing on experience in Zimbabwe, shows how an emphasis on rights has influenced thinking about property, consumer, livelihood and development rights in the context of biotechnology and GM crops.

Crosscutting Disability Research Programme

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 10:55:00 GMT

Current

Approximately 400 million disabled people living in poverty in developing countries, are surviving on less than $1 a day. The World Bank estimates that 20 percent of the worlds poorest people are disabled. The MDGs cannot be achieved without addressing disability. Promoting the inclusion, rights and dignity of disabled people is central to poverty reduction and human rights.

The aim of this "Crosscutting Disability Research Programme" is to integrate disability as a crosscutting research issue in at least six existing (primarily DFID) research programmes to investigate how disability interacts with other factors influencing poverty.

The aim of this programme is to provide evidence on how disability interacts with other factors influencing poverty, particularly through the mainstreaming of disability in research on a range of themes in a selection of DFID and non-DFID research programmes to investigate how disability interacts with other factors influencing poverty and to establish parameters for mainstreaming disability into research, including how to promote the uptake of knowledge on disability with developing country policy makers and international organisations working in development.

The Goal of the programme is to increase the effective and sustained social and economic inclusion of disabled people in developing countries.

The Purpose is the uptake of new knowledge by developing country policy makers, international organisations and other research institutions.

A body of high quality, new policy, technical and institutional knowledge that makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the disability issues in developing countries produced by researchers which includes disabled persons.

Effective communication of new knowledge about disability in developing countries to a global audience.

Strengthening of capacity for research on disability, in particular within disabled peoples organisations in developing countries.

An Assessment of Knowledge and Practice in Achieving the Rights of the Child. Final Report

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:51:00 GMT

Miscellaneous R. Baker and R. Hinton 2000 32 pp. A child-centred collaborative research initiative in Nepal led by Edinburgh University found limited impact in four child labour programme approaches stemmed from an inadequate flow of knowledge within and between organisations. The research suggests that progress made by the private sector and trade union movements is largely undocumented. This untapped potential may yet offer sustainable solutions to protect children and provide livelihood opportunities.

The collaborative research analysed and compared childrens livelihoods and ambitions. The researchers worked with child beneficiaries as well as those who continue to work without intervention. This approach enabled an examination of the policy influence, programme planning and decision-making processes. Results of the research may offer clues to why a positive impact of child labour programmes have been slow to emerge from interventions. In particular, gaps in organisational capacity prevented staff conducting primary research and later assessing the impact of programmes. The study suggests a number of measures to further childrens rights.

UNDP/UNFPA/WHO/World Bank Special Programme Of Research: Human Reproduction Programme (HRP)

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:56:00 GMT

Current

Purpose of engagement:

Research on reproductive health has been identified as one of the top ten global research priorities. Improved access to reproductive health services enables women and men to exercise choice in childbearing and improves the health and quality of life for parents and children. It can also have a direct impact on gender equality and poverty reduction. The September 2005 UN World Summit reaffirmed the commitment of the international community to achieve the goal of universal sexual and reproductive health and rights as set out in the Cairo agenda of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD).

The Human Reproduction Programme (HRP) is central to the United Nations system for research in human reproduction, bringing together policy-makers, scientists, health care providers, clinicians, consumers and community representatives to identify and address priorities for research aimed at improving the sexual and reproductive health of developing country populations. HRP is a joint Special Programme, based at the World Health Organisation (WHO). The programme places a strong emphasis on research with practical application and developing countries have a voice in the management of the research.

The goal of HRP is to contribute to improved sexual and reproductive health. Its purpose is to support the generation of knowledge, products and capacity to help countries meet the sexual and reproductive healthcare needs of their populations. It does this through research, development of norms and standards guidance, training, and capacity strengthening focused on improving the quality, range and availability of reproductive health services in poor countries.

DFID engagement Strategy/DFID line:

Reproductive health is central to attainment of the MDGs (particularly 3 - 6, but also 1, 2 and 8) and so is in line with many DFID strategies and policies.

DFID's ongoing commitment to research into reproductive and sexual health is captured in the Research Strategy 2008-2013, and reflects DFID's firm policy commitment to realising international targets on sexual and reproductive health and rights. Funding HRP activities fits this agenda well and their work complements and builds upon other DFID funded programmes (both operational and research) and covers areas of linkages, for example, between sexual and reproductive health and HIV.

To support the generation of knowledge, products and capacity to help countries meet the sexual and reproductive healthcare needs of their populations, through research, development of norms and standards guidance, training and capacity strengthening focused on improving the quality, range and availability of reproductive health services in poor countries. 1. With the latest research information HRP established a model of antenatal care that halves the time and money women spend accessing services without compromising the quality of care. At least 15 developing countries now use the model. USAID has adapted it and promotes its use as "focused antenatal care." The health sector could save as much as $16 billion annually by implementing this new approach world wide.

2.HRP pioneered research in emergency contraception, led an international consortium including industry to put a dedicated product on the market, and confirmed a new, effective emergency contraception regimen that has now been registered in more than 100 countries covering 80 percent of the world's population.

3. With others in WHO, HRP revealed the extent and nature of domestic violence against women in 10 countries and the impact on sexual and reproductive health. The findings support advocacy and new ways to help women and health care providers to manage, treat and prevent such violence.

4. For the first time, HRP demonstrated that women who have undergone genital mutilation have increased complications at childbirth and that the risk of death of their newborn is increased. These results have boosted advocacy movements to stop the practice and are supporting the development of training materials for health care providers. With ten other UN agencies WHO developed a new Interagency Statement on Eliminating Female Genital Mutilation, launched in 2008.

5. After two years of convening global experts, HRP on behalf of WHO, submitted recommendations for sexual and reproductive health indicators to measure progress within the context of MDG 5, in particular the new target 5B, 'achieve universal access to reproductive health'. These recommendations became officially recognized by the United Nations in January 2008, following deliberations within the Interagency and Expert Group on MDG indicators.

PILAR (United Indonesians Against Overcharging) achieves the cancellation of unjust government policy.

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:22:00 GMT

Miscellaneous WEMC 2009 4 pp.

This success story tells how PILAR (United Indonesians Against Overcharging), which was facilitated by the Center for Environment Gender and Development (ENGENDER-HK), a research partner of the Women's Empowerment in Muslim Contexts Research Programme Consortium (WEMC-RPC) became the principal instrument in the reversal of the key government policy SE2258 which was issued on 7 December 2008 by the Indonesian Consulate in Hong Kong. SE2258 would have resulted in the limitation of Indonesian women migrant worker's mobility and rights to change their employment agencies.

See also the output for the film Bergerak! A story of Indonesian migrant workers in Hong Kong.

Bergerak! A story of Indonesian migrant workers in Hong Kong [Film]

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:05:00 GMT

Miscellaneous WEMC 2009 27 minutes

Bergerak tells a story of empowerment of Indonesian migrant workers in Hong Kong and of a struggle won. This film documents the growth of the migrant movement among Indonesians that led to the formation of PILAR (United Indonesians Against Overcharging) which was facilitated by the Center for Environment Gender and Development (ENGENDER-HK), a research partner of the Women's Empowerment in Muslim Contexts Research Programme Consortium (WEMC-RPC). PILAR has become the principal instrument in the reversal of the key government policy SE2258 which was issued on 7 December 2008 by the Indonesian Consulate in Hong Kong and which would have resulted in the limitation of Indonesian women migrant worker's mobility and rights to change their employment agencies. The film shows the events leading to a successful two-month campaign in 2008 of these women migrants who said "No!" to SE2258. The infamous policy was withdrawn in less than three months but only after ground-breaking efforts among grassroots migrants in education and awareness-raising, self-organising and community-building became possible. More than 120,000 Indonesian women migrants benefited from the success of the campaign. Up to now, the migrant women continue to draw inspiration from the movement as they broaden the cooperation of grassroots organisations of Moslem women and migrants which were born and grew during the period of struggle. This film has documented the education, empowerment, advocacy, strategy for network development and the results of activities funded by Women's Empowerment in Muslim Context. The film project is led by the Mission for Migrant Workers (MFMW) in Hong Kong in cooperation with the Association of Indonesian migrant Workers in HK (Asosiasi Tenaga Kerja Indonesia - ATKI-HK), Center for Environment Gender and Development (ENGENDER-HK) and the Women's Empowerment in Muslim Contexts Research programme Consortium.

For additional information about the success story of PILAR and the cancellation of SE2258, please click here. The film has English and Bahasa subtitles.

Regulating Business in Zones of Conflict: A Synthesis of Strategies. Project Report.

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:51:00 GMT

Miscellaneous D. Lilly 2002 ODI, 46 pp. Regulation is about the control and restraint of private sector activities in the interests of the public good; in this case public security and the absence of violent conflict. The paper therefore attempts to identify the private sector activities that are of concern in conflict situations and assess whether there are relevant regulatory instruments to address these. There are in fact no comprehensive laws or regulations specifically dealing with the role of business in conflict, but rather a range of instruments and measures related to cross-cutting concerns such as human rights and corruption. An incipient regulatory framework for business operating in conflict situations is only just emerging. This paper attempts to make sense of this framework by mapping the issues and responses as a basis for making recommendations on how to fill the noted gaps.

Protecting the unprotected: drug-use, sexual networking and rights in Pakistans fight against HIV/AIDS.

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:51:00 GMT

Miscellaneous Mayhew, S.; Platt, L.; Collumbien, M.; Hawkes, S.; Qureshi, A.; i-Rahat, N.; Rizvi, N. 2008 AIDS 2008 -- XVII International AIDS Conference, Mexico City, Mexico, 3-8 August 2008, abstract WEPE0945.

The nature, extent and eradication of homelessness in developing countries

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:34:00 GMT

Completed An in-depth study of homelessness in nine developing countries (Bangladesh, South Africa, China, Zimbabwe, India, Indonesia, Egypt, Ghana and Peru) was conducted. The nine countries chosen for the study presented a range of housing and homelessness situation and degrees of poverty. They gave a range of different cultural experiences and understanding of housing and homelessness. To establish the nature and extent of homelessness in developing countries; to formulate workable definitions of homelessness suitable for developing country situations; to identify innovative practice in eradicating homelessness, in ameliorating its effects and in getting people off the streets; to disseminate findings through electronic and paper means. This will be done in relation to children as well as adults. The international conference on 'Homelessness: A Global Perspective', India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, India, 9-13 January 2006 was developed to disseminate the current findings and to identify ways to take the work forward.

Contested development?: intimate partner violence and women's employment in urban and rural Tanzania

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 11:16:00 GMT

Current Women form the majority of the world's poor, and their social and economic empowerment is a central tenant of DFIDs and many other development agencies programming. Violence against women is a global problem, with between 15% and 71% women having ever been physically or sexually assaulted by their partners at some point in their lives. Physical and sexual violence within intimate partnerships - intimate partner violence (IPV) - is recognised as an important but neglected development, health and human rights concern, and a central constraint to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In Tanzania poverty is widespread, with 20% of the population live on less than US$ 1 a day. It is recognised that women play an important role in contributing to the country's domestic economy (TGNP). However, as well as widespread norms condoning violence and promoting traditional gender roles, there is substantial inequality between the sexes with women's income being 70% that of men, and some of the lowest gender empowerment scores in the world. 1) Examine the association between household poverty; women's social and economic empowerment and risk of intimate partner violence (IPV) in Dar es Salaam and Mbeya; and explore the influence of contextual factors on the associations documented;

2) Document how poor women engaged in formal or informal employment activities outside the home describe the impact of their work on their household roles and relationships, including their partner's perspective on their work; the extent to which financial autonomy and/or social mobility seems to support or threaten the family unit, reduce or exacerbate the risk of violence; and whether these have changed over time.

3) Document the strategies that poor women engaged in formal and informal employment use to mediate the potential risk of violence within their partnerships; including the extent to which women are able to seek help or try to leave a violent relationship in each setting; and their assessment of the extent to which employment increases their ability to address IPV.

4) Document community and local stakeholders perceptions about the relationship between women's economic and social empowerment and IPV risk, and the possible implications of the findings for development and poverty alleviation strategies in Tanzania, and other similar settings regionally, and for interventions aiming to prevent IPV in the region.

5) Use the findings to develop a revised conceptual framework for the relationship between women's social and economic empowerment and risk of IPV.

Building a Brighter Future: A Randomized Evaluation of Slum-Housing Upgrading

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:47:00 GMT

Current Adequate housing, along with food and clothing, is considered by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a basic requirement for achieving a minimum living standard for adequate health and well-being. Yet, inadequate housing, a primary characteristic of slum dwellers, is a problem facing 45% of the global urban population. An estimated 924 million people, or 31.6% of the world's population, lived in slums in 2001. This estimate represents an increase of more than 400 percent since the mid-1970s, while rural populations have increase 75 percent. The dire living conditions of the world's slums received international attention by inclusion in the Millennium Development Goals. Target 11 states that we should "achieve a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020". In current literature, there is surprisingly little evidence on the causal effects of housing programs on the welfare of beneficiary populations. Many observational studies have shown strong associations between poor housing and poor health outcomes. Such studies find that common features of substandard housing, including lack of drinking water, poor waste disposal and insufficient food storage, contribute to the prevalence of infectious diseases and respiratory infections. On the policy side, observational evidence shows that children from low income families who received housing subsidies experienced increased growth relative to children whose families remained on a subsidy waiting list. Un Techo Para Mi País (UTPMP) is a youth-led program which provides basic pre-fabricated houses to extreme poor populations in Latin America. The main objective of the program is to improve household well-being and increase the beneficiary household's probability of exiting extreme poverty. UTPMP targets households in sub-standard housing (typically homes made of waste materials such as cardboard, tin and plastic, with dirt floors and lacking basic services such as water and sewage), and provides a basic housing package as part of a dynamic package of social services designed to help lift households out of extreme poverty. The research objectives are to evaluate the impact of slum-housing upgrading by UTPMP on the health and welfare of the target population, as well as potential spill-over effects on the informal settlement community at large. Specifically, the evaluation is designed to test the hypotheses that providing improved housing to targeted beneficiaries:

1. Improves the health status of beneficiary household members. In order to determine the impact of improved housing on health outcomes, the study will collect 1) maternal reported diarrhea in children in the last four weeks, 2) stool samples to determine the presence of various types of parasites in fecal matter, 3) anthropometric statistics to measure stunting and wasting, and 4) blood samples with an anemia finger prick test.

2. Improves the economic conditions of beneficiaries, including labor market participation, productivity, income and consumption. We will collect data on 1) household income consumption, 2) labor market participation of adults and children, and 3) school attendance of children.

3. Improves measures of well-being, including depression, stress, satisfaction and dignity. We will collect 1) measures of depression and perceived stress for mothers of children under 6 years old, 2) female head of household satisfaction with house quality and quality of life, 3) data from Picture Peabody Vocabulary Test applied to children 3 to 5 years old.

4. Increases sense of security, thereby allowing increased investment in upgrading the physical space and the accumulation of household assets.

5. Improves outcomes on non-beneficiary neighbors and the well-being of the community at large.

Support to United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD)

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:47:00 GMT

Current

Founded in 1963, UNRISD engages exclusively in research on social development and is the only UN organization that does so. UNRISD is part of the UN system but is not supported by it, and so seeks funding in the form of core contributions and grants for specific research topics/projects. The DFID support strengthens policy-relevant research capacity on social development issues within the UN system, improves UNRISD dissemination and assists in diversifying UNRISD research networks.

Priority thematic areas currently being addressed in UNRISD research are the role of social policy in social development and poverty reduction; gender and development; markets, business and regulation; and the impact of civil society activism on the policy process.

DFID is to provide support to UNRISD over three years to enable it to continue to provide research to developing countries on the role of social policy in both economic and social development. Policy-relevant research on the role of social policy in inclusive development that is disseminated in forms that are accessible and affordable, thereby enhancing global knowledge about, and policies that support, the role, instruments, financing and critical institutions of social policy in inclusive economic and social development in different country contexts.

International Council On Human Rights Policy (ICHRP)

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:29:00 GMT

Current Current research areas include climate change (focusing on technology transfer); corruption; plural legal orders (human rights issues that arise in the context of claims by ethnic and religious minorities); policies of social control (across a range of fields including mental health, homelessness, and some forms of crime); migration and human smuggling; terrorism; human rights and sexuality; and privacy (in the context of the spread of new technologies). ICHRP uses its research to stimulate global level co-operation and exchange between non-governmental, governmental and intergovernmental sectors which can inform discussion of human rights policy and influence policies and strategies that protect and promote human rights. To support ICHRP's research programme on human rights to identify issues that impede efforts to protect and promote human rights.

Elections and the democracy challenge

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 01:00:00 GMT

The latest issue of id21 insights, Issue #74 (August 2008), examines the role of elections in the pursuit of democracy

DFID seeks research fellows to design and execute research programmes

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 01:00:00 GMT

Notification of forthcoming appointment opportunities at the Department for International Development (DFID) for senior research fellows

DFID's Research Strategy on Governance in Challenging Environments

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 01:00:00 GMT

DFID will seek new ways of tackling the toughest social and governance problems in the most fragile and challenging environments

Pathways of Women's Empowerment

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 13:47:00 GMT

Current

Pathways of Womens Empowerment is an international research and communications programme established in 2006 which links academics with activists and practitioners to find out what works to enhance womens empowerment. The aim is to make these pathways of change visible and to build on them to inspire a radical shift in policy and practice. By involving policy actors and practitioners directly in the research and learning, they hope the work will be in itself a catalyst for change.

The programme investigates what enables women, individually and collectively, to empower themselves, how they can sustain these changes, and how development agencies' policies support or hinder this process in order to make such changes visible and to build on them to inspire a radical shift in policy and practice. The key areas of focus are:

Locating empowerment in women's everyday lives, applying a range of methodological and analytical strategies to gain a better understanding of how positive change happens in women's lives.
Tracing policy processes that seek to promote women's empowerment in order to understand the enabling conditions, strategies and tactics for achieving policy change.
Understanding strategies for change, seeking to reveal the factors for success and asking what works and what is specific to particular contexts, and what more generic lessons can be drawn.

Research strategy implemented for systematic identification of pathways of women's empowerment in four thematic areas.

Four centres of regional excellence in applied research strengthened CEGENSA, NEIM, SRC/AUC and BRAC University with capacity to implement and support policy research on womens empowerment within their regions.

Associated global institutions UNIFEM, DFID and other donors, IDS strengthened in their capacity to make use of innovative and critical research.

Communications strategy achieved, having influenced key stakeholders to take RPC research findings into account in policy practice.

Consortium governance and management system achieved horizontal working practices and power sharing.

The Mid Term Review of 2009 found that most of the outputs have either been achieved or are in the pipeline and nearing completion. Some of the real successes highlighted include:

Knowledge outputs of extremely high academic quality, the consistency of the quality is remarkable for a consortium comprising such diverse locations, the outputs are diverse in form, content and style.
A significant number of policy-advocacy and public education oriented communications materials have also been produced and used in the form of pod casts, photo exhibitions, films and videos.
Capacity of the research partners enhanced. There is some variation, in relation to the increased capacity of individual and teams compared to improved institutional capacity.
Communications is not an "end of pipe" activity but a central part of the programme.
Some stunning examples of creative communications work across all hubs: Stories for Change (Bangladesh), a pilot TV drama on mythical stories of Nigerian women, the Changing Times, Changing Lives photography course and exhibition (Bangladesh), work with Ghanaian Foundation for Female Photojournalists.
The programme created a transparent, democratic, egalitarian and effective system of managing the multiple partnerships and relationships within its structure.

The Mental Health and Poverty Project: Mental health policy development and implementation in four African countries.

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 11:27:00 GMT

Current The research programme consortium aims to provide new knowledge regarding comprehensive multi-sectoral approaches to breaking the negative cycle of poverty and mental ill-health. The programme will undertake an analysis of existing mental health policies in African countries, provide interventions to assist in the development and implementation of mental health policies in those countries, and evaluate the policy implementation over a 5-year period. 1. Conducted the first large-scale situation analysis of mental health systems in 4 African countries: Ghana, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia. These studies highlighted the neglect of mental health in current policies, the meagre resources available for mental health, lack of data for mental health service provision and widespread stigma against the mentally ill.

2. Established partnerships between research teams and Ministries of Health in all four countries and built capacity for mental health research and policy development through training workshops, exchanges and supervision.

3. Currently conducting and evaluating interventions that are having a significant impact on policy and practice in the four countries, including:

Ghana: reform of mental health legislation and establishment of mental health information systems for routine service monitoring.
South Africa: development of a strategic plan for mental health in the Northern Cape and development of mental health information systems in Northern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
Uganda: development of a national mental health policy, national strategic plan and reform of mental health legislation.
Zambia: reform of the mental health legislation.

4. Establishing models of best practice for the integration of mental health into primary health care, through demonstration projects in all 4 countries.

5. Conducted the first systematic literature review of the relationship between mental health and poverty in low and middle income countries. From this process and our engagement in the four African countries we have identified a range of interventions that have the potential to address the vicious cycle of poverty and mental ill-health.

Religions and Development Research Programme Consortium (RaD)

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 09:14:00 GMT

Current Research will be based in comparative analysis of world faiths (especially Christianity, Islam and Hinduism, but also Buddhism, Sikhism and traditional belief systems) across Africa and Asia, with a focus on Nigeria, Tanzania, India and Pakistan. Select additional cases will enrich the research's international comparative dimensions. Engagement with international agencies, governments and non-governmental users, especially faith groups, at international, national and local levels, will drive the research, provide audiences for the findings and create opportunities for outputs to ease dialogue and collaboration.

Director: Professor Carole Rakodi Through interdisciplinary research, the RPC will develop the shared concepts and analytical tools currently lacked, in order to improve understanding of relationships between faiths and development. It will enable positive dialogue between development partners to facilitate achievement of development goals, especially the MDGs. Interconnected projects will generate new knowledge on·relationships between
* religious values and beliefs and development concepts and practices, including perceptions of well-being and attitudes to corruption;
*faiths, governance and development, for example in Poverty Reduction Strategy processes, post-conflict development and movements for social change;
*the involvement of religious organisations in development activities and the delivery of services such as education and health care;
*religious transnationalism and development

R4D Human Rights

Something old or something new? Social health insurance in Ghana

Strange Bedfellows? Sex and International Development: Podcast

WEMC Annual Report. 1 July 2008  30 June 2009

Rights and Risk: Challenging Biotechnology Policy in Zimbabwe

From risks to rights: challenges for biotechnology policy.

Crosscutting Disability Research Programme

An Assessment of Knowledge and Practice in Achieving the Rights of the Child. Final Report

UNDP/UNFPA/WHO/World Bank Special Programme Of Research: Human Reproduction Programme (HRP)

PILAR (United Indonesians Against Overcharging) achieves the cancellation of unjust government policy.

Bergerak! A story of Indonesian migrant workers in Hong Kong [Film]

Regulating Business in Zones of Conflict: A Synthesis of Strategies. Project Report.

Protecting the unprotected: drug-use, sexual networking and rights in Pakistans fight against HIV/AIDS.

The nature, extent and eradication of homelessness in developing countries

Contested development?: intimate partner violence and women's employment in urban and rural Tanzania

Building a Brighter Future: A Randomized Evaluation of Slum-Housing Upgrading

Support to United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD)

International Council On Human Rights Policy (ICHRP)

Elections and the democracy challenge

DFID seeks research fellows to design and execute research programmes

DFID's Research Strategy on Governance in Challenging Environments

Pathways of Women's Empowerment

The Mental Health and Poverty Project: Mental health policy development and implementation in four African countries.

Religions and Development Research Programme Consortium (RaD)

Strange Bedfellows? Sex and International Development: Podcast

WEMC Annual Report. 1 July 2008 30 June 2009

Protecting the unprotected: drug-use, sexual networking and rights in Pakistans fight against HIV/AIDS.