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Chronic poverty and disability in Uganda

LWANGA-NTALE, Charles
2003

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The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship of long-duration poverty and disability. It seeks to summarise the current state of knowledge about disability and chronic poverty in Uganda; discuss factors that lead to disabled people living in perpetual poverty; describe efforts to address the long-term poverty of disabled people in Uganda; and propose policy interventions aimed at the inclusion of disabled people in Uganda's development process

Living conditions among people with activity limitations in Namibia : a representative, national survey

EIDE, Arne H
VAN ROOY, Gert
LOEB, Mitch E
2003

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This report presents the findings of a study about the livelihoods of people with disability in Namibia using data from household surveys with and without people with disabilities. The report, one of a series of regional research reports to establish baseline data on living conditions among people in Southern Africa, looks at the fields of health, employment, education, living conditions and services for people with disabilities

Research for poverty reduction : DFID research policy paper

SURR, Martin
et al
November 2002

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This report proposes policies and principles to guide DFID's research work over the long term. It also identifies the need for better communication to enhance the pro-poor impact of DFID's research programme. The paper argues that research has a crucial role to play in helping to develop evidence-based, innovative approaches to international development and acknowledges the high quality of much current practice. It also acknowledges that research is only one element in a system; research needs to be located within the context of wider knowledge or innovation systems. Networks and trust-relationships between various players are central to knowledge systems. These relationships form the key communication channels. The report is also suggesting that DfID improve its understanding of knowledge systems, in which DfID funded research takes place

Designing HIV/AIDS intervention studies : an operations research handbook

FISHER, Andrew A
FOREIT, James R
et al
May 2002

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This handbook is designed to help HIV/AIDS researchers develop and write a detailed operations research proposal. The organisation of the handbook follows that of a research proposal, starting with identifying, defining and justifying a research problem, ending with how to prepare a budget. Chapters in between cover research objectives, study design, data tabulation, data analysis and dissemination and utilisation of research findings

To handle life's challenges : a tracer study of Servol's Adolescent Development Programme in Trinidad

GRIFFITH, Jean
February 2002

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Can a 14-week programme for adolescents have a lasting effect on their lives? This tracer study shows that, 10 years on, 40 Trinidadians in their 20s are doing their best to meet life's challenges. These young people, many from backgrounds of disadvantage and abuse, took part in the Adolescent Development Programme run by SERVOL. The study compares their outcomes with a similar group of people and, while the differences between the groups are small, there are some distinctions. The former trainees themselves believe that the course enhanced their parenting skills and had a positive impact on their lives. The report also shares learning from the project

Challenges of change : a tracer study of San preschool children in Botswana

LE ROUX, Willemien
February 2002

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This study of the Bokamosa Preschool Programme describes how San children, whose culture is distinct from that of other peoples of Botswana, try to cope with an education system whose values and norms are different to their own. They must also cope with pressure from their parents who mistrust a system that 'steals' their children but feel powerless to make any changes. This book discusses the many factors that influence children as they grow; and shows that if the school system is not congruent with home circumstances, children must make immense efforts to succeed

Bridging research and policy : context, evidence and links

CREWE, Emma
YOUNG, John
2002

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An exploration of the links between research and policy-making with the aim of finding some simple research tools to promote evidence-based policy that contributes to poverty reduction.
Recommends a historical, contextual and comparative methodology to consider the real-life links between institutional settings, a range of political and contextual influences, and power relations.
Identifies a range of bureaucratic pressures such as: the urge to simplify, due to resource shortages; ‘giantism’ - the bigger the budget, the greater the status; inflexible long-term project planning; fierce competition for funding - discouraging collaboration.
Also considers the role of different communication channels, their effectiveness and credibility, and the chains of accountability and legitimacy that link NGOs, researchers and policy makers.
Concludes that research is more likely to have an influence if it fits the political and institutional limits and pressures of policy makers; if researchers and policy-makers share networks in particular policy areas; outputs are based on local involvement and credible evidence and are communicated via the most appropriate communicators.
Finally advocates more research to track some historical examples of key policy decisions and the influences upon them

Making health communication programs work

NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE
2002

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This handbook presents key principles and steps in developing and evaluating health communication program for the public, patients, and health professionals. It expands upon and replaces two earlier publications titled Pretesting in Health Communications and Making PSA's Work. Referring primarily to the context of the United States, the guide discusses specific steps in program development and includes examples of their use. Sources of additional information on each subject are included at the end of the chapters

Toward liberatory early childhood theory, research and praxis : decolonizing a field

SOTO, Lourdes Diaz
SWADENER, Beth Blue
2002

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This article presents an overview of current theoretical, ideological and methodological approaches to early childhood development. The focus is on the landscape and discourse emerging from USA and Western literature, which have seen an expansion of the field in several and intersecting directions, including scientific orientations; qualitative/interpretive research; early multicultural and bilingual education; advocacy and social justice; critical reconceptualist, feminist, and post-colonial theory; liberatory praxis. The paper supports a post-colonial hybridity, entailing the development of a liberating critical discourse space in early childhood theory, research and praxis

Measuring child poverty and health : a new international study

HARPHAM, Trudy
2002

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This paper describes the early work of the Young Lives project and how the research is changing the way various factors behind child poverty are understood. "Measures of poverty are rarely applied in a child-centric fashion and have solely focused on income. Increasingly, however, poverty is being recognised as encompassing low achievement in education and health, vulnerability and exposure to risk. Both subjective and objective measures of well-being need to be used to create a multi-dimensional picture of childhood poverty"

Bridging research and policy : an annotated bibliography

HOVLAND, Ingie
DE VIBE, Maja
YOUNG, John
2002

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An extensive annotated bibliography of 100 documents relevant to 'bridging research and policy'. Mainstream literature is supplemented with alternative viewpoints. The bibliography has been divided into three key themes ('bridging research and policy: the political context', 'the actors: networks, organisations, individuals', 'the message and the media'), including 'new' subject areas that may be useful (eg social psychology, media studies, marketing and communication). The entries are listed alphabetically by author, and then cross-indexed by theme, and by academic discipline

Child poverty in Vietnam : using adult equivalence scales to estimate income-poverty for different age groups

WHITE, Howard
MASSET, Edoardo
2002

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This paper ..."begins by reviewing different approaches to estimating child expenditure, arguing that one based on equivalence scales is the only defensible approach. Part 3 explains the theory behind the two most commonly used approaches, the method of empirical estimation and how these estimates are used to calculate child poverty. Part 4 applies the method to the case of Vietnam, and Part 5 concludes"

Information communications technology for development

EVALUATION OFFICE. UNDP
September 2001

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This helpful resource outlines monitoring and evaluation issues in the emerging field of information and communication technology (ICT) for development. It includes three sections: concept, lessons learned, and recommendations. Though written with an eye to the future, it is grounded in evaluative evidence and case-study research. It seeks to provide the development practitioner with evidence-based insights, synthesised from across a wide range of ICT for development initiatives undertaken by UNDP and partners, and presented as a selection of generic challenges and lessons learned

Making a difference for children affected by AIDS : baseline findings from operations research in Uganda

GILBORN, Laelia Zoe
et al
June 2001

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This paper reports on baseline findings from a study of two programmes for AIDS-affected children and their families implemented by PLAN International in the Luwero and Tororo districts of Uganda. One programme, referred to as orphan support, provides educational, health, and nutritional assistance as well as other services to orphans. The second programme, known as succession planning, reaches AIDS-affected children earlier, by helping HIV-positive parents prepare for their children’s future through counseling, will-writing, appointing guardians, and other measures. The study was designed to assess the impact of the orphan support programme on child wellbeing; explore the acceptability of a succession planning programme in the Ugandan context; assess the impact of succession planning on child wellbeing; and determine the impact of succession planning on adult wellbeing and on guardians' capacity to care for orphans

Lessons from malaria control activities in urban West Africa using a research-action-capacity building approach

FELBER, G
OTHINGUE, N
YEMADJI, N
et al
February 2001

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In the South, urban environmental and social management is often based on top-down approaches which use technologies and strategies not corresponding to the demands of the inhabitants and to their social, economic and ecological realities. This paper discusses how a community-based approach - Research Action Capacity Building (RAC) - can be valuable for malaria control and more specifically for the dissemination of insecticide treated bednets. Taking a bednet project in NDjamena, capital of Chad, as an example, the article investigates the potential and the limitations of this approach for mobilising and strengthening sustainable activities and capacity building at community level

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