Millennium Villages Impact Evaluation, Baseline Summary Report

This report presents the baseline findings from the Department for International Development (DFID)-commissioned impact evaluation of the Millennium Village Project (MVP) in Northern Ghana.1 The project will run from 2012 until 2016, with interventions targeting a cluster of communities with a total population of approximately 27,000 people. The MVP has been designed to demonstrate how an integrated approach to community-led development can translate the international Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) into results. It is an approach that has been previously piloted in Kenya and Ethiopia and in 2006 launched at scale to reach nearly half a million people across 10 countries throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. The new Millennium Village (MV) in Northern Ghana is the first to be accompanied by an independent impact evaluation. Details of the conceptual approach and methodology for the evaluation are presented in the Initial Design Document (IDD), with appendices containing the tools used for data collection.2DFI

Millennium Villages Evaluation: Midterm Summary Report

This report presents the midterm findings from an impact evaluation of the Millennium Villages Project (MVP) in northern Ghana. The MVP has been designed to demonstrate how an integrated approach to community-led development can translate the international Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) into results. The project in northern Ghana is one of several instigated over the past 10 years, and is set to reach nearly half a million people across 10 countries in Africa. Central to the MVP approach is the synergistic value of integrated community-based investments, focused on scientifically proven interventions, delivered simultaneously rather than as one-off investments. The premise is that a critical platform of basic needs must be reached before economic development can really take off. The project in northern Ghana has been running in three districts since May 2012, investing over £11 million on health, education, agriculture and infrastructure interventions in 35 communities, and reaching around 30,000 people

Impact Evaluation of the SADA Millennium Villages Project in Northern Ghana: Endline Summary Report

The Millennium Villages Project (MVP) aims to demonstrate how the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) could be achieved locally through an integrated approach to development. While the MDGs have now been superseded by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs, 2016–30), there remains a consistent thread to the MDGs around issues such as eradicating poverty, preventing avoidable deaths and improving education. Furthermore, the interconnected nature of the SDGs means the MVP model also has relevance for those seeking to address extreme poverty by taking an integrated approach to sustainable development. This report summarises the findings from what we believe to be the first independent impact evaluation of the MVP approach. It is hoped that the evidence and analysis will be of relevance to a wide range of actors in international development.Department for International Development (DFID

How using light touch immersion research revealed important insights into the lack of progress in malaria elimination in Eastern Indonesia

Abstract Background By 2022, the Government of Indonesia had successfully eliminated malaria in 389 out of 514 districts but continues to face a challenge in Eastern Indonesia where 95% of the total 2021 malaria cases were reported from Papua, West Papua and Nusa Tenggara Timur provinces. There is an increased recognition that malaria elimination will require a better understanding of the human behavioural factors hindering malaria prevention and treatment, informed by local context and local practice. Methods This research used a light-touch immersion research approach. Field researchers lived in communities over several days to gather data through informal conversations, group-based discussions using visual tools, participant observation and direct experience. The study was conducted in four high malaria endemic areas in Papua, West Papua, and Sumba Islands in Nusa Tenggara Timur. Results The research highlights how people’s perception of malaria has changed since the introduction of effective treatment which, in turn, has contributed to a casual attitude towards early testing and adherence to malaria treatment. It also confirms that people rarely accept there is a link between mosquitoes and malaria based on their experience but nevertheless take precautions against the annoyance of mosquitoes. There is widespread recognition that babies and small children, elderly and incomers are more likely to be seriously affected by malaria and separately, more troubled by mosquitoes than indigenous adult populations. This is primarily explained by acclimatization and strong immune systems among the latter. Conclusions Using immersion research enabled behaviour research within a naturalistic setting, which in turn enabled experiential-led analysis of findings and revealed previously unrecognized insights into attitudes towards malaria in Eastern Indonesia. The research provides explanations of people’s lack of motivation to consistently use bed nets, seek early diagnosis or complete courses of treatment. The felt concern for the wellbeing of vulnerable populations highlighted during light touch immersion provides an entry point for future social behaviour change communication interventions. Rather than trying to explain transmission to people who deny this connection, the research concludes that it may be better to focus separately on the two problems of malaria and mosquitoes (especially for vulnerable groups) thereby resonating with local people’s own experience and felt concerns

Predicting climate impacts on health at sub-seasonal to seasonal timescales.

23 pagesInternational audienceThe potential to use sub-seasonal to seasonal (S2S) prediction systems for outcomes in health is presented, using four case studies of malaria, dengue, heat waves, and meningococcal meningitis. While promising, many such applications are currently in the demonstration phase, and examples of operationalizing S2S-based early warning systems, fully integrated with decision support, have yet to emerge. Potential reasons for this operationalization bottleneck are discussed, which include restrictions on open access to health and climate data, the unfulfilled requirement for training in the use of such systems, and the mismatch between the prediction paradigm and the decision entry points in health-planning systems. The S2S project sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization may help to demonstrate the potential application of climate information, but the lack of real-time access inhibits the operationalization of evaluated systems. It is recommended that partnership platforms, established through the Global Framework for Climate Services and related mechanisms, enable the climate and health academic and operational communities to work together on real-time provision and assessment of health early warning systems. This is particularly important in developing countries where climate-driven health outcomes can be severe