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Learning lessons from experience

GUY, Michael
DE LAMARZELLE, Julie
May 2014

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This practical guide on learning lessons from experience is for all Handicap International staff (individuals and teams) who intend to conduct or support lesson learning from a project or programme experience. The guide is organised into the following three main sections:

  • Principles and Benchmarks: this section provides important definitions and a framework for understanding how lesson learning occurs within Handicap International programmes
  • Planning: this section offers practical advice for planning a lesson learning process and explains how to formulate clear Terms of Reference; how to select a methodology; and how to prepare a detailed Action Plan
  • Implementation tools: this section offers practical tools to help implement an effective lesson learning process, including: how to capture, formalise and publish lessons learned; how to disseminate your publication: and how to influence change

PG 12

Linking CBR, disability and rehabilitation

MUSOKE, Grace
GEISER, Priscille
Eds
2013

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This 4th book in the series can be used as a basis for future action throughout the African continent. The content provides an overview of present day CBR knowledge, and also details how this information has been interpreted and implemented in the African context. The writers are predominantly of African origin and provide insightful views of the dynamic nature of CBR and its capacity to respond to contextually different challenges. Examples are provided from their own CBR experiences and case studies of their programmes, highlighting the problems they face and how they were overcome

The content of this book has been developed from conference presentations and discussions, and some chapters have been reinforced with additional information from discussions or relevant literature. The end of each chapter provides references to the academic literature used by the authors

4th CBR Africa Conference

Abuja, Nigeria

26th-29th October 2010

Information and communications for development 2012 : maximizing mobile

THE WORLD BANK
2012

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"This report analyzes the growth and evolution of applications for mobile phones, focusing on their use in agriculture, health and financial services, as well as their impact on employment and government. It also explores the consequences for development of the emerging "app economy", summarizing current thinking and seeking to inform the debate on the use of mobile phones for development. It’s no longer about the phone itself, but about how it is used, and the content and applications that mobile phones open"

Disaster risk reduction : a gender and livelihood perspective

GIULLIANI, Alessandra
WENGER, Ruth
WYMANN VON DACH, Susanne
Eds
August 2009

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This issue emphasizes how natural disasters impact and affect genders differently. It discusses the various ways in which using a gender based approach when dealing with natural disasters can have a significant difference in the lives of those in the disaster zone. It also addresses the degree of vulnerability from a gender aspect, and specifically the sensitivities that needs to be addressed

InfoResources Focus No 2/09

The 'Three Ones' in action : where we are and where we go from here

JOINT UNITED NATIONS PROGRAMME ON HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
February 2005

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This report looks at progress on applying the "Three Ones" principles to the end of 2004. The principles are: one agreed AIDS action framework; one national AIDS coordinating authority; and one agreed country-level monitoring and evaluation system. The report provides an assessment of progress so far, and then considers lessons learned, identifies challenges and suggests opportunities for overcoming these challenges. While this preliminary report is not comprehensive, it is a useful step in addressing how we can make optimal use of the limited resources available for tackling the AIDS pandemic.

Nonconsensual sex among youth

FINGER, William
et al
March 2004

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Reproductive health and HIV prevention programmes for youth rarely look at the reallity of coercive sex that so many youth face. Coercive sex is a violation of a person's rights and can have severe mental, physical and reproductive health consequences, including pregnancy and HIV and other STIs. This paper highlights a number of key issues: the range of sexual coercion faced by youth; the impact of gender norms on coercion; the consequences of coercion; and programme approaches to reduce the problem

Taking better care? Review of a decade of work with orphans and vulnerable children in Rakai, Uganda

WITTER, Sophie
CALDER, George
AHIMBISIBWE, Timothy
2004

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Taking Better Care looks at the situation facing orphaned and vulnerable children in the Rakai District in Uganda and at the legacy of Save the Children's Child Social Care Project (CSCP) there. The report examines the impact of the CSCP, implemented between 1991 and 1996, and at trends in Rakai since the CSCP ended, as well as outlining the lessons learned and providing recommendations for future action. It concludes that in order to support orphans and vulnerable children in a long-term, sustainable way, child-care models now need to incorporate a maximum of state support and civil society mobilisation, combined with more traditional family support

Working from within : culturally sensitive approaches in UNFPA programming

UNITED NATIONS POPULATION FUND (UNFPA)
2004

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The nine case studies presented in this brochure are drawn from a longer UNFPA report entitled, "Culture Matters: Working with Communities and Faith-based Organizations". It highlights the necessity of mainstreaming cultural analysis and sensitivity in development efforts addressing issues such as gender equality and equity, HIV/AIDS, female genital cutting, gender-based violence and reproductive health. Presents an outline of key principles for working within cultures in a culturally sensitive way, and briefly looks at examples of programming in a number of countries highlighting what works in each case

Evaluation and utilization of traditional methods of communication in Cameroon's central, southern, eastern and extreme northern regions : case study 20

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION (FAO). Communication for Development Group
August 2003

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This study's main objectives are to evaluate traditional means of communication; to note their constraints; to select the traditional methods which can best be used for the diffusion of information and to devise a strategy for implementing the selected method of traditional communication. The methodology of this survey is based on the Active Method of Participative Research.
The study illustrates that the traditional media for communication in Cameroon are: the gong and songs accompanied by dances (in all of the surveyed provinces); the xylophone (in the center and south); griot [travelling poet] and balafon (in the east); colleagues of the traditional chiefs (Lawanes, Djaoros); and messengers of traditional chiefs or muezzins (extreme north).There are numerous constraints to using individuals in devising communications strategies: a lack of trained musicians, the lack of initiative on the part of the village elders, the disinterest of the youth, conflict among the different generations, the proliferation of modern communications technologies, the complexity of training in various methods, the possible alteration of messages, a lack of motivation and the slow speed of transmission. The study notes that the best methods for the diffusion of information in the regions surveyed in Cameroon are: the gong, the colleagues and messengers of traditional chiefs to organize village meetings in which reproductive health issues could be raised, singing and dancing, travelling poets and xylophones.
In order to devise effective strategies for conveying messages about reproductive health through these traditional methods of communication, traditional authorities must be engaged early on in the process and informed of the importance of these means of communication; qualified individuals must be identified as resources and others trained; and a training of trainers must be conducted

Education and HIV/AIDS : a sourcebook of HIV/AIDS prevention programmes

WORLD BANK. Education Team
2003

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Education sectors of affected countries are playing an increasingly important role in the fight against HIV/AIDS. This sourcebook aims to support efforts by countries to strengthen the role of the education sector in the prevention of HIV/AIDS. It provides concise summaries of programmes around Africa, highlighting the main elements of the programme as well as what lessons can be learned from them

Health : an ecosystem approach

LEBEL, Jean
2003

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Can people remain healthy in a world that is sick? Many ecological disasters can be directly traced to careless exploitation of the environment, with human beings as first perpetrator and then victim. Our health closely mirrors the health of our surroundings: this is the basis of the Ecohealth approach. It recognizes the links between humans and their biophysical, social, and economic environments, and that these links are reflected in the population's state of health. This is a new area of research, requiring input from scientists, community and interest groups, and decision-makers. This book describes this new approach, providing lessons and recommendations from various IDRC-supported research activities. It demonstrates how decision-makers, in particular, can use the ecohealth approach to formulate policies and solutions that are both immediately visible and sustainable over the long term

World health report 2003 : shaping the future

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO)
2003

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This report argues that real progress in health depends on strengthening health systems, centred on the principles of primary health care. This requires effective use of existing knowledge and technologies and innovation to create new health tools, along with appropriate structures and strategies to apply them. Success will need new forms of cooperation between international health agencies, national health leaders, health workers and communities, and other relevant sectors. Chapter 1 of the report looks at the current state of global health, highlighting the gap between the poor and better-off everywhere. Chapter 2 reflects on the slow progress towards achieving the Millenium Development Goals. Chapter 3 looks at the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and demonstrates why HIV/AIDS control needs to drive the agenda for the global health community. Chapter 4 looks at the steps needed to achieve polio eradication within the next few years, and chapter 5 concentrates on the lessons learned from the SARS outbreak. The theme of chapter 6 is the the overlap between communicable and non-communicable diseases and injuries occurring throughout the developing world, leading to a crisis of priorities for health systems. The concluding chapter returns to the statement that stronger health systems are necessary, and that strengthening health systems should be based on the principles and practices of primary health care

National AIDS Councils : monitoring and evaluation operations manual

WILSON, David
2002

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Designed as a practical toolkit and road map for practitioners to use in designing and implementing programme monitoring and evaluation (M&E). The manual introduces key concepts; presents simple, clear procedures, with a checklist of the process, timing and costs of building participatory programme M&E for National AIDS Councils (NACs); and offers key tools that implementing partners need for M&E. The manual emphasizes the development of the overall M&E system, in relation to the National Strategic Plan, and the monitoring of services provided through NACs and their implementing partners. Offers a page of 'further resources' available through UNAIDS, FHI and CDC

The world health report 2001. Mental health : new understanding, new hope

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO)
October 2001

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This report raises awareness of the global burden of mental and neurological disorders, and its cost in human, social and economic terms. It also aims to dismantle the barriers which prevent millions of sufferers of mental and neurological disorders from receiving the treatment they need and deserve. The report describes how mental health problems can be solved (eg. by drug therapy, psycho-social rehabilitation and psychotherapy, vocational rehabilitation, housing), and gives examples of the effectiveness of these treatments for a wide range of mental disorders

Hepatitis B vaccine introduction : lessons learned in advocacy, communication, and training

WITTLETT, Scott
January 2001

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Hepatitis B is especially dangerous for infants, since they may carry the infection for the rest of their lives without knowing it. Chronic carriers can infect others and are at risk of serious liver disease in later life. However, the hepatitis B vaccine, if provided, helps protect infants against these problems. The vaccine's introduction to developing countries only began in the late 1980s, but many countries still cannot afford to administer the vaccine to all children. This paper summarises the lessons learned about effective advocacy with decision makers, communication with parents and caretakers, and training health staff regarding hepatitis B, gained from over ten years of experience introducing hepatitis B vaccine worldwide. It also includes the WHO 'aide-memoire' on hepatitis B

Education for all and children who are excluded

BERNARD, Anne
2001

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This thematic study was produced in preparation for the World Education Forum on education for all held in Dakar in Senegal in 2000. The final product was published in 2001 following the Forum. Millions of children are excluded from education through poverty, disability, ethnic difference and gender issues. Two thirds of the 130 million million primary school age children not in school are girls. This report discusses education at all levels from early childhood development through to primary school and secondary school with respect to the most vulnerable groups: girls, children in war, indigenous children, children with disabilities and children with HIV/AIDS. It looks at lessons from good practice and debates the way forward for a more inclusive approach. It is aimed at policy makers and programme makers

Patronage or partnership : local capacity building in humanitarian crises

SMILIE, Ian
Ed
2001

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This book reviews recent experiences in strengthening local institutions, governmental and non-governmental alike, in six countries on five continents. It examines various aspects of the tensions between international initiatives to save lives or to reconstruct the fabric of societies, and the parallel and sometimes competing international commitment to "capacitation" - to building longer term skills locally. The last chapter reviews the case studies and attempts to draw out the learning in terms of conceptual, operational, political and motivational issues

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