Reclaiming “People Power”: Prospects for Renewed Civil Society Engagement and Democratic Governance

With mounting challenges to democratization and the threat of regression, one asks how do we best reclaim spaces for engagement and public participation. The paper turns to civil society and revisits the case of the Philippines. It takes a closer look at their contributions, experiences, and insights as to challenges faced by the country relative to democratic nation-building. Towards this end, the paper discusses prospects for renewed engagement towards inclusive and democratic governance

Evaluating Impacts of Development Programs on Female Education in Afghanistan

This dissertation evaluates the effects of three development interventions on female education in Afghanistan: 1) effects of foreign military withdrawal on females’ demand for higher education; 2) impacts of PEZAK, a community-driven university entrance preparation, on student enrollment and performance in tertiary education; and 3) long-term effects of National Solidarity Program (NSP), that established gender-balanced local development councils, on female enrollment. Foreign military withdrawal increased female participation in higher education by 0.3 percentage points from a base value of 0.05 percent participation per capita. The PEZAK increased test scores by 0.17 standard deviations and had a positiveeffect on enrollment in top programs. Female students exposed to the PEZAK had a lower likelihood of enrollment in low-rank universities as compared to treated male students. In areas with favorable attitudes toward women, the NSP increased female enrollment in higher grades. In culturally conservative places, the NSP was counterproductive. Findings in this dissertation inform development policies related to women’s empowerment in conservative and fragile state settings

Toward a Territorial Approach to Rural Development

This paper explores a territorial approach to rural development in Latin America. It first reviews evidence that progress in rural social development has not been accompanied by reductions in income poverty and inequality. It then assesses qualitative changes that have occurred in rural incomes and the emergence of new opportunities for rural poverty reduction and draws implications for the potential of a territorial approach to rural development. Recent experiences with territorial approaches are briefly reviewed and lessons extracted for the implementation of such an approach. It concludes with a series of recommendations for implementation of a territorial approach to rural development.rural development, rural poverty, territorial approach, inequality, Latin America, Community/Rural/Urban Development, O10, O13, O15, O18,

STREAM Journal, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp 1-17. October-December 2005

CONTENTS: Seaweed culture and farmer incomes in Bekasi, Indonesia, by A. Mauksit L. Maala and Aniza Suspita. Significant change for a self-help group, by Nguyen Song Ha. Conflict over fishing in Jharkhand, by Ashish Kumar. Two worlds across a highway, by William Savage. Critical steps in preparing coastal communities for effective policy changes, by Josephine P. Savaris. New guidelines on data collection and iniormation sharing for co-management, by Charlotte Howard

What Ails Local Service Delivery of Public Goods and Services?

This Note provides an account of the problems underlying local service delivery (LSD) in the Philippines and presents some prospective solutions. The problems are examined on the basis of the three components of the Triangulation Framework for LSD developed in a recently completed PIDS-UNICEF study.millennium development goal (MDG), local service delivery, triangulation, public goods and services

Creating a nation-state, and an economy, in South Sudan

South Sudan is in the news again. Conflict has flared up and we are reminded that political problems and ethnic tension are never the causes of anything. Rather, they are the predictable effects of dysfunctional economies and incoherent governance. Civil conflict arises and persists when young males cannot find superior livelihood prospects. Predatory behavior is an expected response to material want and unwanted leisure

Campaigning for the rights of indigenous peoples

Civil society monitoring and advocacy that is vertically integrated across different levels of action is one strategy for seeking government accountability. This case study summary is one of a set of seven from the Philippines. Each discusses a civil society campaign in a different sector, and draws out lessons for vertical integration. This summary discusses the activities of the Teduray Lambangian Women’s Organisation, which has made its demands for basic social services for indigenous people through claiming spaces for representation at the local through to the national level.DFIDUSAIDSIDAOmidyar Networ