WASH in Schools Empowers Girls' Education: Proceedings of the Menstrual Hygiene Management in Schools Virtual Conference 2013

This publication brings together the key elements of the 16 presentations made at the Second Annual Virtual MHM in WinS Conference at UNICEF Headquarters in New York City on 21 November 2013. Building on recommendations from the MHM 2012 virtual conference, the 2013 conference focused on the research tools and instruments being used to explore MHM barriers and practices and to evaluate the interventions being trialed or implemented in various contexts

A World That Counts: Mobilising The Data Revolution For Sustainable Development

This report sets out the main opportunities and risks presented by the data revolution for sustainable development. Seizing these opportunities and mitigating these risks requires active choices, especially by governments and international institutions. Without immediate action, gaps between developed and developing countries, between information-rich and information-poor people, and between the private and public sectors will widen, and risks of harm and abuses of human rights will grow

APFIC/FAO Regional Consultative Workshop: Securing sustainable small-scale fisheries: Bringing together responsible fisheries and social development, Windsor Suites Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand 68 October 2010

In the Global Overview, we attempt to view reefs in terms of the poor who are dependent on reefs for their livelihoods, how the reefs benefit the poor, how changes in the reef have impacted the lives of the poor and how the poor have responded and coped with these changes. It also considers wider responses to reef issues and how these interventions have impacted on the lives of the poor

Application of smart phone in "Better Border Healthcare Program": A module for mother and child care

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To assess the application of cell phone integrating into the healthcare system to improve antenatal care (ANC) and expanded programme on immunization (EPI) services for the under-served population in border area.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A module combining web-based and mobile technology was developed to generate ANC/EPI visit schedule dates in which the healthcare personnel can cross-check, identify and update the mother's ANC and child's EPI status at the healthcare facility or at the household location when performing home visit; with additional feature of sending appointment reminder directly to the scheduled mother in the community.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The module improved ANC/EPI coverage in the study area along the country border including for both Thai and non-Thai mothers and children who were either permanent resident or migrants; numbers of ANC and EPI visit on-time as per schedule significantly increased; there was less delay of antenatal visits and immunizations.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The module integrated and functioned successfully as part of the healthcare system; it is proved for its feasibility and the extent to which community healthcare personnel in the low resource setting could efficiently utilize it to perform their duties.</p

The Role of Information and Communication Technologies for Agricultural Development in Developing Countries

Major challenges to agricultural development in developing countries have been the low level of agricultural information exchange among the different stakeholders in the agricultural sector. Fortunately, the recently radical penetration of information and communication technologies (ICTs) tools in developing countries offers a great opportunity for overcoming information problems. Use  information  and  communication  technology  (ICT)  enables to  facilitate  rapid,  efficient  and  cost  effective knowledge  management.  The  experiences  of  most  countries  indicate  that  the use of  ICT based extension, marketing and banking which  facilitates  the  flow  of  data  and  information,  that has  tremendously  enhanced  the  knowledge management, financial inclusion and market efficiency. This paper has intended to review, the subscription and broadband level of ICTs in least developing countries and to review the role of ICTs for rural and agricultural development in least developing countries. To review this paper all recently(conducted before 2010) ICT for agriculture (ICT 4Ag) related journals, reports, conferences, working papers and other documents studied for developing countries had used. Keywords: Agriculture; Developing countries; ICTs; Role DOI: 10.7176/JESD/11-15-04 Publication date:August 31st 202

Software development process of Neotree - a data capture and decision support system to improve newborn healthcare in low-resource settings

The global priority of improving neonatal survival could be tackled through the universal implementation of cost-effective maternal and newborn health interventions. Despite 90% of neonatal deaths occurring in low-resource settings, very few evidence-based digital health interventions exist to assist healthcare professionals in clinical decision-making in these settings. To bridge this gap, Neotree was co-developed through an iterative, user-centered design approach in collaboration with healthcare professionals in the UK, Bangladesh, Malawi, and Zimbabwe. It addresses a broad range of neonatal clinical diagnoses and healthcare indicators as opposed to being limited to specific conditions and follows national and international guidelines for newborn care. This digital health intervention includes a mobile application (app) which is designed to be used by healthcare professionals at the bedside. The app enables real-time data capture and provides education in newborn care and clinical decision support via integrated clinical management algorithms. Comprehensive routine patient data are prospectively collected regarding each newborn, as well as maternal data and blood test results, which are used to inform clinical decision making at the bedside. Data dashboards provide healthcare professionals and hospital management a near real-time overview of patient statistics that can be used for healthcare quality improvement purposes. To enable this workflow, the Neotree web editor allows fine-grained customization of the mobile app. The data pipeline manages data flow from the app to secure databases and then to the dashboard. Implemented in three hospitals in two countries so far, Neotree has captured routine data and supported the care of over 21,000 babies and has been used by over 450 healthcare professionals. All code and documentation are open source, allowing adoption and adaptation by clinicians, researchers, and developers

Urban air pollution and health inequities: a workshop report.

Over the past three decades, an array of legislation with attendant regulations has been implemented to enhance the quality of the environment and thereby improve the public's health. Despite the many beneficial changes that have followed, there remains a disproportionately higher prevalence of harmful environmental exposures, particularly air pollution, for certain populations. These populations most often reside in urban settings, have low socioeconomic status, and include a large proportion of ethnic minorities. The disparities between racial/ethnic minority and/or low-income populations in cities and the general population in terms of environmental exposures and related health risks have prompted the "environmental justice" or "environmental equity" movement, which strives to create cleaner environments for the most polluted communities. Achieving cleaner environments will require interventions based on scientific data specific to the populations at risk; however, research in this area has been relatively limited. To assess the current scientific information on urban air pollution and its health impacts and to help set the agenda for immediate intervention and future research, the American Lung Association organized an invited workshop on Urban Air Pollution and Health Inequities held 22-24 October 1999 in Washington, DC. This report builds on literature reviews and summarizes the discussions of working groups charged with addressing key areas relevant to air pollution and health effects in urban environments. An overview was provided of the state of the science for health impacts of air pollution and technologies available for air quality monitoring and exposure assessment. The working groups then prioritized research needs to address the knowledge gaps and developed recommendations for community interventions and public policy to begin to remedy the exposure and health inequities

COLLABORATIVE KNOWLEDGE MAKING AND SHARING ACROSS SITES: THE ROLE OF BOUNDARY OBJECTS

A number of researchers on Science and Technology Studies (STS) have criticized the western view treating knowledge as objective and universal, with the argument that all knowledges are locally situated. In this article we draw on this view of decentring of scientific knowledge and on the concept of boundary objects to discuss an empirical case of a ‘global’ collaborative network called Health Information System Programme (HISP) involving a number of countries in a process of knowledge creation and sharing. The network consists of knowledge objects with seemingly universal characteristics shareable across sites. The paper discuss the ‘localness’ of the knowledge produced by looking at its originality and how it is made mobile, thereby giving it the seemingly universal characteristics. The article further, discuss how the involved multiple social worlds characterized by different knowledge practices, cultures and visions, participate through boundary objects shareable across the network and thereby contribute new knowledge in the network. The collective boundary objects created and shared within the network play a significant role in creating synergies which in turn sustains the involved countries’ local initiatives