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Guidance document : effective use of international human rights monitoring mechanisms to protect the rights of persons with disabilities

THEYTAZ-BERGMAN, Laura
TROMEL, Stefan
May 2010

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This guidance document provides practical strategies and advice to disabled people's organisations (DPOs) and DPO coalitions on the international human rights mechanisms. It provides details on the reporting process of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), raises awareness on the need to establish national DPO coalitions, and offers assistance for DPOs on producing effective reports for submission to the UNCRPD Committee. It also provides guidance on the monitoring process and includes information on the use of other human rights mechanisms. This document would be useful to global, regional and national DPOs engaging in the UNCRPD reporting process

The gender-based violence information management system user guide

GENDER BASED VIOLENCE IMFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (GBVIMS)
2010

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This comprehensive user guide explains what the Gender-Based Violence Information Management System (GBVIMS) is, why it is important and how it works. It is also a training tool on how to use the GBVIMS and related tools through hands-on, self-learning activities. It is intended to be both a reference document and a training manual for both service providers with specific services in place for GBV survivors, such as case management or health services, and agencies or actors coordinating multisectoral GBV interventions within a humanitarian context. This could include local national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), state actors, community-based organizations (CBOs) and/or UN agencies operating within a humanitarian context
Note: free registration is required to access the guide
Note: the guide is available as one document, or as individual chapters and annexes. A workbook is also available

WHO ethical and safety recommendations for researching, documenting and monitoring sexual violence in emergencies

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO)
June 2007

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This document builds on previous WHO publications and explores the different reasons for collecting information about sexual violence in emergency situations. It applies to all forms of enquiry about sexual violence and makes a number of recommendations that are intended to ensure that the necessary safety and ethical safeguards are in place at the beginning of any information gathering exercise. The document sets out the key safety and ethical issues that need to be addressed and the questions that need to be asked. There are examples of good practice and details of further information and resources that are available. This document is not intended to be a standalone guidance document but is designed to complement existing internationally-agreed ethical guidelines for research and to inform ethics review processes

Infant and young child feeding in emergencies : operational guidance for emergency relief staff and programme managers

IFE Core Group
February 2007

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This document aims to provide concise, practical (but non-technical) guidance on how to ensure appropriate infant and young child feeding in emergencies. A number of elements are also applicable in non-emergency settings. It is intended for emergency relief staff, programme managers, national governments, United Nations agencies, NGOs and donors, and it applies to all countries. It includes six sections of practical steps, references, key contacts and definitions. Members of the IFE Core Group are: UNICEF, WHO, UNHCR, WFP, IFBAN-GIFA, CARE USA, Fondation Terre des hommes and Emergency Nutrition Network. It is also available in Arabic, Bahasa Indonesian, French, Portuguese and Spanish

Tools for knowledge and learning : a guide for development and humanitarian organisations

RAMALINGAM, Ben
July 2006

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This toolkit brings together approaches and techniques aimed at supporting the learning and knowledge management of humanitarian organisations, to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of their work. It provides a comprehensive overview of 30 tools and techniques, divided into five categories: i) strategy development; ii) management techniques; iii) collaboration mechanisms; iv) knowledge sharing and learning processes; and v) knowledge capture and storage. This guide is primarily aimed at staff working in development organisations

Maximising the impact of development research : how can funders encourage more effective research communication?

BARNARD, Geoff
CARLILE, Liz
RAY, Deepayan Basu
2006

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This Report is the main output of a workshop that was held in October 2006 to ask the question How can funders encourage more effective research communication? The workshop brought together invited participants drawn from three groups: research funders (international agencies, foundations, and research councils involved in funding development research); research organisations and networks from around the world involved in carrying out research, and with an interest in effective research communication; and knowledge intermediaries involved in communicating research

networklearning.org

NETWORK LEARNING
December 2005

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This website aims to make high quality manuals, field books and training courses easily available to groups who need them (free of cost to those in the South but with a contribution of $25 requested from those in the North); to encourage colleagues to be open to new knowledge and skills, to plan and stick to self-guided learning; to introduce topics which may be new to some people an to link users to resources, useful organisations, websites and materials; and to provide a place for users working in different countries in the South to stay informed. The resources are available online and cover a variety of topics in a clear, easy to understand format. It provides a number of guidelines including guidelines for writing reports [http://www.networklearning.org/writing-reports.html] and a simple guide to the web [http://www.networklearning.org/web.html]

ICTs for poverty alleviation : basic tool and enabling sector

GREENBERG, Alan
November 2005

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This report acknowledges the crucial role that information and communication technologies play in the fight to reduce poverty. It focuses in particular on the impact that "older" technologies such as radio and telephone can have in addressing poor communities' problems. The study investigates the linkages between ICTs and four key areas: education, livelihoods, healthcare and government. It reports on pilot studies which have shown that use of technologies can help reduce child mortality and maternal mortality by nearly 50 per cent. It suggests that ICTs can enable people's empowerment and ultimately strengthen human rights

A tool for sharing internal best practices

D'ADAMO, Margaret
KOLS, Adrienne
Eds
2005

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This publication is aimed at organisations willing to develop and implement effective mechanisms for strengthening organisational learning and sharing good practices internally. Includes a step-by-step process to help identify success stories, validate and document best practices, develop a strategic plan and adapt and apply best practices. It also presents three case studies of organisations that have attempted to share best practices, highlighting lessons learnt, problems encountered, and achievements. Includes a list of useful resources

Organising local documentation services for the water and sanitation sector : guidelines

INTERNATIONAL WATER AND SANITATION CENTRE (IRC)
2004

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Guidelines for the development of local documentation centres which can be maintained with minimum effort, and provide useful information on water and sanitation to colleagues and the local community without the help of professional librarians or documentalists. Concentrates on the basic tasks needed to set up and operate a small documentation centre at the local level. This second edition has been revised to take account of the developments in information and communication technologies (ICTs) which have revolutionised information provision during the past ten years. The revised guidelines continue to cover manual systems, but also include more detailed guidance on computer applications and access to the Internet

Routemapping culture and development : report on a pilot research project exploring the use of cultural approaches to development within five UK development agencies

GOULD, Helen
MARSH, Mary
2004

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This research highlights the inconsistent approach and limited explicit policy with reference to cultural activities in development, despite finding over 350 examples across five development agencies over two years. The study considers the different uses of culture in development, finding a lack of consistency in implementing projects, little understanding of how cultural processes work, and few examples of appropriate evaluation

ICT for development : empowerment or exploitation

BEARDON, Hannah
2004

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A mid-term review of the Reflect ICT project, which uses a participatory approach to ICT and communication for development and empowerment. The review reinforces Reflect's position that it is the process whereby ICTs are chosen and introduced which determines their impact, as much or more than the investment itself, and describes pilot projects in Uganda, Burundi and India which illustrate the Reflect approach and inform the 'lessons learned' in the final section

Effects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic on rural communities in ACP countries : a reader

BOTO, Isolina
WESSELER, Gesa
BERKHOF, Irene Prins
Eds
2004

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This reader synthesises information from a number of sources on the impact of HIV on rural communities. It focuses the effects in the agricultural sector, and the implications of 'crusscutting issues' of gender and youth. It explores possible mitigation strategies, and information and communication strategies; and identifies 'urgent actions' which include improving the use of and access to ICT

The role of registers and databases in the protection of traditional knowledge : a comparative analysis

ALEXANDER, Merle
et al
January 2004

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This report seeks to help inform the debate regarding the potential and limitations of databases and registers for the protection traditional knowledge through the analysis of a number of case studies of existing registers established by indigenous peoples, states, non-governmental organisations and research institutes. Part I of the report discusses a number of underlying concepts regarding the nature of traditional knowledge; Part II presents case studies from Canada, India, Panama, Peru and Venezuela; Part III provides a comparative analysis of the case studies focusing on objectives, scope, procedures and benefits; Part IV considers the role of databases and registers in defensive and positive protection of traditional knowledge and their relationship to sui generis legal regimes, and the possibilities for interim protection of traditional knowledge through use of sui generis database laws and database trusts; and Part V sets down a number of conclusions and recommendations for further study

New DFID research strategy : communications theme. Final report

DODSWORTH, Elizabeth
et al
December 2003

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Reviews the background and recommendations for the communication component of DFIDs new research strategy. Concludes that policy processes are complex and that research-based evidence is only one of the many competing influences on policy makers, development practitioners and end users. Outlines a number of gaps in flows of research information and how these may be addressed. Acknowledges the vital role of communication while also noting the importance of context and enabling environments in which the repackaging and circulation of information takes place and that intermediaries and networks are a vital part of this process. The political context and the complex relationships between people are key. Highlights a number of initiatives of European donors to strengthen southern research capacity and initiatives to facilitate knowledge and research sharing by a range of intermediary communication organisations

Resource centre manual : how to set up and manage a resource centre

O'SULLIVAN, Sheila
et al
2003

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Contains practical information on all aspects of setting up and managing a resource centre, from planning, fundraising and finding a suitable location, to collecting and organising materials, developing information services, and monitoring and evaluating the work of the resource centre. It assumes that most readers will use manual systems for organising information, but also explains how computers can be used in resource centres, including e-mail, Internet and databases. It describes how to select database software, and contains a detailed review of three leading database programs. It includes a list of organisations and publications that can provide further information

Livelihoods approaches to information and communication in support of rural poverty elimination and food security

CHAPMAN, Robert
SLAYMAKER, Tom
YOUNG, John
2003

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FAO, DFID and ODI undertook a study in 2001/2 to analyse the role of information in livelihoods, and make recommendations on how agencies can capitalise on and integrate the best elements of traditional communication methods and new information and communication (ICT) technologies within the livelihoods approach. This publication provides the results of the initial literature review, comprised of a 30 page paper followed by 20 pages of heavily annotated references. The key conclusions were that information and communications systems are most likely to improve livelihoods in rural areas if they: share costs appropriately; ensure equitable access to all; contain a high proportion of local or appropriately localised content; build on existing systems; build capacity; use realistic technologies; and build knowledge partnerships

Ancient roots, new shoots : endogenous development in practice

HAVERKORT, Bertus
VAN T' HOOFT, Katrien
HIEMSTRA, Wim
Eds
2003

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This book describes the approach of COMPAS, a network of partners that supports 'development from within', based on local knowledge and practices. The body of the book consists of case studies which illustrate how development can be based on locally available resources, knowledge, values and leadership institutions; how there can be genuinely local determination of development options; and how the benefits of development within local areas and communities can be fostered

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