Evaluation of development account project : strengthening capacity of governments in the ESCAP, ECA and ESCWA regions to respond to the needs of youth in formulating inclusive and sustainable development policies : evaluation report

Leading Division: SDDThis report presents an independent evaluation for the project, &ldquo;Strengthening the capacity of Governments in the ESCAP, ECA and ESCWA regions to respond to the needs of youth in formulating inclusive and sustainable development policies&rdquo;. This project was executed by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in partnership with the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Economic and Social Commission for West Asia (ESCWA) between mid-2014 and December 2017.&nbsp;The project was designed to increase participation of youth in the formulation of inclusive and sustainable development policies in the ESCAP, ECA and ESCWA regions.Acronyms .................................................................................................................................. 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................................................. 6 1. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................10 1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE EVALUATION ......................................................................10 1.2 Purpose and Objectives ..........................................................................................10 1.3 Scope .........................................................................................................................11 2. PROJECT CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVES ..........................................................................11 2.1 Development Context ............................................................................................11 2.2 Problem Analysis Contributed to Project Design and Priorities ..........................12 2.3 Project Strategy.........................................................................................................13 2.4 Project Objective and Expected Accomplishments ...........................................13 2.5 Project Activities ........................................................................................................14 2.6 Monitoring and Evaluation ......................................................................................14 3. METHODOLOGY ..............................................................................................................15 3.1 Evaluation Criteria and Questions ..........................................................................15 3.2 Indicators ...................................................................................................................15 3.3 Methods of Data Collection and Analysis ............................................................15 3.4 Gender and Human Rights mainstreaming approach .......................................19 3.5 Limitations and Risks .................................................................................................20 4. FINDINGS ..........................................................................................................................20 4.1 Project Overview ......................................................................................................20 4.2 Performance Assessment ........................................................................................23 4.2.1 Relevance ...........................................................................................................23 BOX 1 Sri Lanka - Developing Toolbox for Training of Youth in Rural Areas Throught the Country .....................................................................................................25 4.2.2 Effectiveness .......................................................................................................27 BOX 2 Tunisia &ndash; Declaration for Tunisian Youth .......................................................31 BOX 3 Jordan - Youth led Proposals for Development .......................................32 4.2.3 Efficiency .............................................................................................................34 4.2.4 Sustainability .......................................................................................................37 BOX 4 Mozambique &ndash; Taking the Toolbox Forward for Policy Development with Youth Engagement ...............................................................................................38 4.2.5 Gender and Human Rights Mainstreaming ...................................................40 5. CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................42 6. RECOMMENDATIONS .....................................................................................................44 Annexes ..................................................................................................................................46 Annex 1 Terms of Reference .........................................................................................46 Annex 2 Table of Key Evaluation Questions ................................................................46 Annex 3 Budget Delivery and Financial Management Summary ...........................46 Annex 4 List of Documents Reviewed ..........................................................................46 Annex 5 List of Interviewees ...........................................................................................46 &nbsp;</p

Malaria Infections Do Not Compromise Vaccine-Induced Immunity against Tuberculosis in Mice

BACKGROUND: Given the considerable geographic overlap in the endemic regions for malaria and tuberculosis, it is probable that co-infections with Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Plasmodium species are prevalent. Thus, it is quite likely that both malaria and TB vaccines may be used in the same populations in endemic areas. While novel vaccines are currently being developed and tested individually against each of these pathogens, the efficacy of these vaccines has not been evaluated in co-infection models. To further assess the effectiveness of these new immunization strategies, we investigated whether co-infection with malaria would impact the anti-tuberculosis protection induced by four different types of TB vaccines in a mouse model of pulmonary tuberculosis. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we show that the anti-tuberculosis protective immunity induced by four different tuberculosis vaccines was not impacted by a concurrent infection with Plasmodium yoelii NL, a nonlethal form of murine malaria. After an aerogenic challenge with virulent M. tuberculosis, the lung bacterial burdens of vaccinated animals were not statistically different in malaria infected and malaria naïve mice. Multi-parameter flow cytometric analysis showed that the frequency and the median fluorescence intensities (MFI) for specific multifunctional T (MFT) cells expressing IFN-γ, TNF-α, and/or IL-2 were suppressed by the presence of malaria parasites at 2 weeks following the malaria infection but was not affected after parasite clearance at 7 and 10 weeks post-challenge with P. yoelii NL. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that the effectiveness of novel TB vaccines in protecting against tuberculosis was unaffected by a primary malaria co-infection in a mouse model of pulmonary tuberculosis. While the activities of specific MFT cell subsets were reduced at elevated levels of malaria parasitemia, the T cell suppression was short-lived. Our findings have important relevance in developing strategies for the deployment of new TB vaccines in malaria endemic areas

Drying colloidal systems: laboratory models for a wide range of applications

The drying of complex fluids provides a powerful insight into phenomena that take place on time and length scales not normally accessible. An important feature of complex fluids, colloidal dispersions and polymer solutions is their high sensitivity to weak external actions. Thus, the drying of complex fluids involves a large number of physical and chemical processes. The scope of this review is the capacity to tune such systems to reproduce and explore specific properties in a physics laboratory. A wide variety of systems are presented, ranging from functional coatings, food science, cosmetology, medical diagnostics and forensics to geophysics and art

Adapting IT Project Management Practices to Globally Distributed Remote Teams

This research studies the challenges of globally distributed remote teams, including geographical dispersion, cultural diversity, and communication barriers. Practices for coordination, collaboration, and maintaining team cohesion are identified. The research problem here is that, despite research on the difficulties, the procedures that IT project team members must adhere to when collaborating in geographically dispersed remote teams are not adequately covered. Finding the methods that the members of the IT project team use to deal with the issues of leadership, communication, and cultural norms that arise in internationally dispersed remote teams is, thus, the problem that this thesis attempts to solve. The research question to address this problem is: What practices do team members in IT projects follow to address the communication, cultural, and leadership challenges posed by working in globally distributed remote teams? The study employs qualitative research methods, including semi-structured interviews, to gather insights from team members working in globally distributed remote teams across various industries. Through thematic analysis, the research identifies standard practices employed by team members to navigate communication barriers, manage cultural differences, and foster leadership within remote IT project settings. A total of 10 participants were interviewed, and the data were recorded and transcribed. Later codes are identified by highlighting various statements from the interview. Five themes from the codes that address the research question are derived. A thematic map is drawn, and various interpretations are presented, with supporting interview data from the participants. Later, the themes are discussed and compared with the previous literature. Later, the practices employed by team members are captured by analyzing the data collected to address these challenges of working in globally distributed remote teams. Next, it is concluded by answering the research question. So, the practices go like this. To address the communication technology challenges, an interesting one would be AI-integrated tools for analyzing the project data to suggest optimizations and predict timelines, which help team members. Also, it is highlighted that discussion tasks and assignments during standup meetings or sync meetings will improve communication among the globally distributed remote teams. Next, addressing the leadership challenges, the team members practice setting up targets and goals with the expected delivery date from the beginning of the project. Likewise, more practices are discussed in the last chapter. To address the cultural challenges, the team members practice virtual informal team meeting talks to help to discuss the cultural aspects with globally distributed teams. Also, celebrating cultural diversity by recognizing traditions from different cultures helps to make the global teams gel together. Future work aims to do more research on team members' practices as it is an evolving process along with technological advancement. Later, ethical and social consequences clarified that respondents will not suffer harm and ensure they are safe

Adapting IT Project Management Practices to Globally Distributed Remote Teams

This research studies the challenges of globally distributed remote teams, including geographical dispersion, cultural diversity, and communication barriers. Practices for coordination, collaboration, and maintaining team cohesion are identified. The research problem here is that, despite research on the difficulties, the procedures that IT project team members must adhere to when collaborating in geographically dispersed remote teams are not adequately covered. Finding the methods that the members of the IT project team use to deal with the issues of leadership, communication, and cultural norms that arise in internationally dispersed remote teams is, thus, the problem that this thesis attempts to solve. The research question to address this problem is: What practices do team members in IT projects follow to address the communication, cultural, and leadership challenges posed by working in globally distributed remote teams? The study employs qualitative research methods, including semi-structured interviews, to gather insights from team members working in globally distributed remote teams across various industries. Through thematic analysis, the research identifies standard practices employed by team members to navigate communication barriers, manage cultural differences, and foster leadership within remote IT project settings. A total of 10 participants were interviewed, and the data were recorded and transcribed. Later codes are identified by highlighting various statements from the interview. Five themes from the codes that address the research question are derived. A thematic map is drawn, and various interpretations are presented, with supporting interview data from the participants. Later, the themes are discussed and compared with the previous literature. Later, the practices employed by team members are captured by analyzing the data collected to address these challenges of working in globally distributed remote teams. Next, it is concluded by answering the research question. So, the practices go like this. To address the communication technology challenges, an interesting one would be AI-integrated tools for analyzing the project data to suggest optimizations and predict timelines, which help team members. Also, it is highlighted that discussion tasks and assignments during standup meetings or sync meetings will improve communication among the globally distributed remote teams. Next, addressing the leadership challenges, the team members practice setting up targets and goals with the expected delivery date from the beginning of the project. Likewise, more practices are discussed in the last chapter. To address the cultural challenges, the team members practice virtual informal team meeting talks to help to discuss the cultural aspects with globally distributed teams. Also, celebrating cultural diversity by recognizing traditions from different cultures helps to make the global teams gel together. Future work aims to do more research on team members' practices as it is an evolving process along with technological advancement. Later, ethical and social consequences clarified that respondents will not suffer harm and ensure they are safe

Making Evaluation Matter Writings from South Asia

Voices and perspectives of evaluation approaches in South Asia!.Cover -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- 1 - Introduction -- 2 - Evaluation for Development Results -- 3 - Building the Field of Evaluation in South Asia -- 4 - The Importance of Context in Participatory Evaluations -- 5 - Evaluation Rights and Social Justice -- 6 - An Evaluation Practitioner's Journey with Utilization-focused Evaluation -- 7 - Enhancing the Use of Evaluation -- 8 - The Importance of Understanding Context and Structures in Programme Evaluation -- 9 - The Need for Methodological Diversityin Evaluating Complex Health Interventions -- 10 - Operationalizing the Capability Approach (CA) for Evaluating Small Projects -- 11 - Impact Evaluations -- 12 - Giving Voice -- About the Editors and Contributors -- IndexVoices and perspectives of evaluation approaches in South Asia!.Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, YYYY. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries