IFPRI Annual Report 2007-2008:

Food prices, Poverty reduction, Globalization, Food security Developing countries, Agricultural systems, trade, Markets, Natural resources, World food situation, Social protection, science and technology, Nutrition, Capacity strengthening,

Millions Learning: Scaling Up Quality Education In Developing Countries

An estimated "100-year gap" persists between education levels in developed and developing countries, and if business proceeds as usual in the education sector, this gap is not projected to close. Today, 250 million children around the globe--many of them having spent at least four years of school in a developing country--lack the most basic literacy and numeracy skills. Additionally, countries around the world are struggling to help young people develop 21st-century skills, such as critical thinking and collaborative problem solving, which are increasingly demanded by the labor market. "Millions Learning" tells the story of where and how quality education has scaled in the developing world. The story emerges from wide-ranging research on scaling and learning, including 14 in-depth case studies, from Brazil and Honduras, to Uganda and Zambia, to Jordan and India.What we found is that from the slums of New Delhi to the rainforest in Brazil, transformational change in children's learning is happening at large scale in many places around the world. We found that successful scaling of quality learning often occurs when new approaches and ideas are allowed to develop and grow on the margins and then spread to reach many more children and youth. What constitutes the margins varies on a case-by-case basis. For some, it means a flexible central government giving freedom to its officials within a district to try a new approach. For others, it involves a community movement that develops new ways of reaching marginalized children whose educational options are limited.Scaling from the margins occurs in two main ways: idea adoption, namely the spread of new approaches across an education ecosystem, and delivery innovation, the development of new ways to deliver education to marginalized children and youth. With the former, effective new approaches to improving components of the teaching and learning process--from curriculum, to materials, to teacher development--have spread across education ecosystems and been adopted by different actors. With the latter, new education delivery approaches for the most marginalized communities--such as distance learning models or alternative education programs--have developed and grown within and across countries. We identified 14 core ingredients, in different combinations depending on the context, contribute to scaling quality learning. Each of these ingredients is central for scaling effective approaches that improve learning. Their importance is frequently reinforced from evidence in the broader scaling literature. They include essential elements for designing, delivering, financing, and enabling scaling of quality education

THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON THE CHILD PROTECTION SYSTEM IN BANGLADESH

This dissertation reviews the impact of COVID-19 on the child protection system in Bangladesh and approaches adopted by UNICEF to address there. Bangladesh represents a very rich scenario for a case study on child protection and COVID-19, with several child protection issues of concern interconnecting. Prevalent issues include violence against children and women (VACW) and harmful practices such as child marriage and child labour, both intersecting with humanitarian crises for the Rohingya refugee population. The core research addressed is: “How has COVID-19 impacted the child protection system Bangladesh?”, which is addressed with a mixed methods approach. A definition of child protection is provided, presenting the criteria utilized to assess the child protection system and its adjustments in Bangladesh during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. The thesis elucidates both the impact of COVID-19 on violence against children and harmful practices in Bangladesh as well as UNICEF support to the Government of Bangladesh. It is shown how COVID-19 provided an entry point for UNICEF Bangladesh to accelerate and expand some of its previous investments in the elimination of violence against children and the strengthening of a child protection system. The thesis concludes that there was a major shift at the government level from a project based and vertical programmatic response to a much more sustainable and scalable approach. This brought tangible progress in the establishment of a child protection system to prevent violence against children and women and harmful practices

Open and distance learning for basic education in South Asia: its potential for hard to reach children and children in conflict and disaster areas

This is the main report in a UNICEF funded project which explores the ways in which, across South Asia, various forms of open and distance learning could be developed to better meet the needs of marginalised children and those affected by natural disaster and by conflic

Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook

The purpose of the Sourcebook is to act as a guide for practitioners and technical staff in addressing gender issues and integrating gender-responsive actions in the design and implementation of agricultural projects and programs. It speaks not with gender specialists on how to improve their skills but rather reaches out to technical experts to guide them in thinking through how to integrate gender dimensions into their operations. The Sourcebook aims to deliver practical advice, guidelines, principles, and descriptions and illustrations of approaches that have worked so far to achieve the goal of effective gender mainstreaming in the agricultural operations of development agencies. It captures and expands the main messages of the World Development Report 2008: Agriculture for Development and is considered an important tool to facilitate the operationalization and implementation of the report's key principles on gender equality and women's empowerment

The Inclusive Growth and Development Report 2017

Around the globe, leaders of governments and other stakeholder institutions enter 2017 facing a set of difficult and increasingly urgent questions:With fiscal space limited, interest rates near zero, and demographic trends unfavorable in many countries, does the world economy face a protracted period of relatively low growth? Will macroeconomics and demography determine the world economy's destiny for the foreseeable future?Can rising in-country inequality be satisfactorily redressed within the prevailing liberal international economic order? Can those who argue that modern capitalist economies face inherent limitations in this regard – that their internal "income distribution system" is broken and likely beyond repair – be proven wrong?As technological disruption accelerates in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, how can societies organize themselves better to respond to the potential employment and other distributional effects? Are expanded transfer payments the only or primary solution, or can market mechanisms be developed to widen social participation in new forms of economic value-creation?These questions beg the more fundamental one of whether a secular correction is required in the existing economic growth model in order to counteract secular stagnation and dispersion (chronic low growth and rising inequality). Does the mental map of how policymakers conceptualize and enable national economic performance need to be redrawn? Is there a structural way, beyond the temporary monetary and fiscal measures of recent years, to cut the Gordian knot of slow growth and rising inequality, to turn the current vicious cycle of stagnation and dispersion into a virtuous one in which greater social inclusion and stronger and more sustainable growth reinforce each other?This is precisely what government, business, and other leaders from every region have been calling for. Over the past several years, a worldwide consensus has emerged on the need for a more inclusive growth and development model; however, this consensus is mainly directional. Inclusive growth remains more a discussion topic than an action agenda. This Report seeks to help countries and the wider international community practice inclusive growth and development by offering a new policy framework and corresponding set of policy and performance indicators for this purpose

Youth and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): Challenges and Opportunities for Implementation

Young people ages 15 to 24 are 1.2 billion of the world’s human capital. Around the world, many of them are already making contributions to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and their work should be further acknowledged and strengthened. Increasingly, youth are recognized as key participants in decision-making and development, as reflected in the growing presence of non-governmental youth organizations and the upsurge of youth advisory boards and committees to international institutions and programmes. Yet building the capacity of and creating sustained partnerships with young people are crucial strategies to achieving the MDGs that have not been fully realized by the international community. This paper aims to provide an overview of youth participation as it currently exists, to outline the ways in which youth are directly involved and affected by each Goal, to demonstrate the ways in which young people are contributing to the MDGs, and to provide ‘Options for Action’ that governments, the United Nations system, donors and other actors can harness, support, and scale-up in order to support young people in making significant contributions to achieving the MDGs. Part I outlines the existing mechanisms for youth participation in development policy. These channels can be used by governments and institutions to strengthen and mobilize young people as partners in policy formulation. Successful modes of participation should be recognized and replicated, and also adapted to the challenging political and socio-economic realities facing many youth-led and youth-serving organizations. Part II presents youth participation as it relates directly to the MDGs. Each goal is analyzed with respect to its effect on young peoples lives as well as how young people can play – and indeed are playing — a role in its implementation. Under each goal are a number of “Options for Action” that governments, the UN and multilateral organizations can use to fully harness the contributions that youth can make to achieving the MDGs. Part III outlines the synergies between the Options for Action presented in this report and the Quick Wins proposed by the Millennium Project. The Options for Action are complimentary and provide a process to implement the Quick Win actions, using young people as key implementing agents and service providers. Part III also outlines a number of youth-focused Quick Wins that can make a significant and measurable difference to the state of young people in target countries. Part IV elaborates on how youth can participate in achieving the MDGs and contains cross-cutting recommendations on youth engagement in all 8 Goals. Overall, the report demonstrates that investing in youth will provide the longest and most effective dividend towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by building the social capital needed to foster pragmatic development. Indeed, without the involvement of young people, a demographic that comprises one fifth of the world’s total population, the full achievement of the MDGs will remain elusive and their long-term sustainability will be compromised. Youth participation is currently quite varied, ranging from effective, to sometimes tokenistic, to often non-existent. There are specific ways in which youth and youth organizations can contribute to the design and implementation of MDG-based strategies, some of which are outlined in this document. Many projects are already happening, but there is much work left still to be done.Youth participation; Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); Poverty Eradication

Agriculture for Improved Nutrition: Seizing the Momentum

his book highlights the important links between agriculture and nutrition, both direct and indirect, both theoretical and practical. It explores these relationships through various frameworks, such as value chains, programmes and policies, as well as through diverse perspectives, such as gender. It assesses the impacts of various agricultural interventions and policies on nutrition and profiles the up-and-down journeys of countries such as Bangladesh, China, Ethiopia, India, and Malawi in integrating nutrition into agricultural policies and programmes. It highlights successes such as biofortification, the integration of behaviour change communication and gender equality into existing agricultural interventions, and agriculture's role in improving household access to nutritious foods and diet diversity. It analyses challenges such as climate and environmental change, undernutrition, and obesity. And it ponders big questions, such as how to build capacity, engage with the private sector, participate in the big data revolution, and foster strong governance and leadership throughout agriculture and nutrition.illustrato

Child Poverty, Evidence and Policy

This book is about the ideas, networks and institutions that shape the development of evidence about child poverty and wellbeing, and the use of such evidence in development policy debates

THE UNCERTAINTY THAT SHAPES THE OPERATIONS OF HEALTH-FOCUSED NON-GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS IN VIETNAM

Objective: This research project explores how uncertainty shapes NGOs operating in the health sector in relation to other institutions, and how NGOs strategize to maintain their image and survive under uncertain conditions, while working to improve population well-being. Methods: The research questions were answered through qualitative methods. Twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted, thirteen with the representatives of NGOs, and seven with high-ranking government officers at both central and provincial levels. In addition, documents (decisions, proposals, reports) were reviewed. Results: Numerous uncertainties internal and external to NGOs greatly influence their operations. As a result, they adjust their mandates, roles vis-à-vis government, accountability, and delivery methods to manage these uncertainties. Although relations with government were sometimes difficult, in general NGOs confirmed that they supported government priorities. Several lessons about operations, programming, policy making, and relationship building have been learned through this study, resulting in recommendations being made to the government, to NGOs in Vietnam (including their headquarters), and to donors, aiming to facilitate smooth NGO operations and benefit communities. Conclusion: NGOs have no standing in the local socio-political structure, a problem arising from the government’s restrictive control of the civil society sector. NGOs do their best to avoid notice, “hiding themselves” to avoid attention or scrutiny. As a result, government-NGO relations are highly problematic, and NGOs often struggle to implement sustainable programs at the community level. Further studies are required to identify effective modes of NGO operations under such circumstances, including work to identify methods for strengthening NGO capacity, increasing appropriate donor engagement, and facilitating the localization of foreign NGOs