The Art academy without walls: photography in context.

A photographic workshop for the Art Academy Without Walls, Lusaka, Zambia 2004. A NORAD (Norwegian Government Aid Organisation) commissioned project to generate a photographic facility for the Zambian Visual Arts Community, carry out technical inductions, deliver daily thematic lectures and discussions, supervise thematic workshops, set up a public exhibition. Agree on a management strategy for the facility and write a report

Transhipment and the FCWC Region: Case Studies

This collection of case studies aims to highlight the diverse and complex role that transhipment plays. They illustrate different types of operations and, unless specific non-compliance is mentioned, are not intended to imply non-compliance. The cases provide indications as to which features and factors can be taken into consideration to determine the IUU risk associated with specific operations. Trygg Mat Trackin

Do existing research summaries on health systems match immunisation managers' needs in middle- and low-income countries? Analysis of GAVI health systems strengthening support

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The GAVI Alliance was created in 2000 to increase access to vaccines. More recently, GAVI has supported evidence-based health systems strengthening to overcome barriers to vaccination. Our objectives were: to explore countries' priorities for health systems strengthening; to describe published research summaries for each priority area in relation to their number, quality and relevance; and to describe the use of national data from surveys in identifying barriers to immunisation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>From 44 health systems strengthening proposals submitted to GAVI in 2007 and 2008, we analysed the topics identified, the coverage of these topics by existing systematic reviews and the use of nation-wide surveys with vaccination data to justify the needs identified in the proposals.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Thirty topics were identified and grouped into three thematic areas: health workforce (10 topics); organisation and management (14); and supply, distribution and maintenance (6). We found 51 potentially relevant systematic reviews, although for the topic that appeared most frequently in the proposals ('Health information systems') no review was identified. Thematic and geographic relevance were generally categorised as "high" in 33 (65%) and 25 (49%) reviews, respectively, but few reviews were categorised as "highly relevant for policy" (7 reviews, 14%). With regard to methodological quality, 14 reviews (27%) were categorised as "high".</p> <p>The number of topics that were addressed by at least one high quality systematic review was: seven of the 10 topics in the 'health workforce' thematic area; six of the 14 topics in the area of 'organisation and management'; and none of the topics in the thematic area of 'supply, distribution and maintenance'. Only twelve of the 39 countries with available national surveys referred to them in their proposals.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Relevant, high quality research summaries were found for few of the topics identified by managers. Few proposals used national surveys evidence to identify barriers to vaccination. Researchers generating or adapting evidence about health systems need to be more responsive to managers' needs. Use of available evidence from local or national surveys should be strongly encouraged.</p

Progressing Gender Equality Post?2015: Harnessing the Multiplier Effects of Existing Achievements

This article argues that international efforts to progress gender equality now and post?2015 need to build on the achievements of the MDGs and other international frameworks, but simultaneously address the gender dynamics that underpin the root causes of poverty. The first half of the article seeks to unpack the ways in which gender inequalities underpin five clusters of MDGs: poverty and sustainable development; service access; care and caregiving; voice and agency; international partnerships and accountability. The analysis then turns to highlight the importance of harnessing the momentum from other global initiatives such as CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women) and the Beijing Platform for Action to promote more fundamental change including: the establishment of a more powerful UN agency to champion gender equality; the institutionalisation of gender budgeting and gender?responsive aid effectiveness approaches; and the promotion of gender?sensitive social protection to tackle gender?specific experiences of poverty and vulnerability

The Impacts of Politics and Ethnicity on Volunteering

This article examines how national and local ethno?politics impact on volunteering by taking a cross?country comparative perspective: Kenya and Mozambique. In both countries societal fragmentation along ethno?political lines is mirrored within the volunteer landscape and reduces the positive impacts of volunteering. The role of international volunteers (IVs) from the global North and, in the case of Kenya, national volunteers (NVs), to address these divisions is discussed. The effects of the support of the volunteering for development sector in such ethnically and politically fragmented contexts is also explored. The findings from the current research show that the perceived neutrality of the IV and NV means they may face less risk in attempting to step outside of existing political and ethnic confines than local volunteers or citizens functioning within these environments. Through this neutrality, IVs and NVs may be provided with a unique opportunity to use this position to assuage some of these societal fractions

Rights-based Approaches and Bilateral Aid Agencies: More Than a Metaphor?

It could be argued that the rights based approach … is no more than ametaphor; a concept that catalyses a set of values into a phrase that many people can adopt and adapt. It is a general statement in favour of equitable development, involving widespread participation of those with no direct control of, or access to, the power of the state … If we still take rights as a legal concept then much of what passes as rights based is unlikely to be successful because there are often no state bodies committed to meeting the obligations implied. There is also a sense in that the “emperor has no clothes ” as there are too many people arguing about the details of what a rights approach should be and how it should be operationalised.Meanwhile, this is happening in the absence of any clear idea of what it is they are engaging with. (Pratt 2003: 2)

Critical reflection on knowledge and narratives of conservation agriculture

In the context of contemporary concerns about climate change and food security, Conservation Agriculture (CA) has emerged as a well-supported and central component of the agricultural sector development strategy across sub-Saharan Africa, including in Zambia, which is the focus of this paper. A variety of narratives about the benefits of CA over conventional agricultural systems underpin endeavours towards ‘scaling up’ CA and increasing rates of adoption amongst smallholder farmers nationwide. However, there is a knowledge politics underlying the translation of a weak evidence base around CA into persuasive narratives and financial and political support. In this paper, we trace the evolution of five narratives around CA in Zambia in relation to changing political agendas and the involvement of new public and private sector actors, and review the development of evidence bases and knowledge that support and challenge each of these narratives. We discuss the potential to open up space within this knowledge politics to alternative narratives and the contestation of the pervasive CA scaling up agenda. Critical reflection is essential to ensure that national and local evidence is more effectively used to guide national climate and agricultural policy developments and international donor initiatives

Evaluating the institutional sustainability of an urban water utility: A conceptual framework and research directions

This article was published in the journal, Utilities Policy [© Elsevier]. The definitive version is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jup.2013.08.001Institutional sustainability (IS) is critical to translating infrastructure investments into actual service delivery. This paper examines IS for urban water utilities, and how its progress could be tracked. Common conceptualisations of IS in extant literature were found inadequate from an evaluation stand point. We conceptualize IS as a capacity rather than a financial issue, and, consistent with a process-based approach, we propose a new evaluation tool e the water utility maturity (WUM) model e which is flexible and considers different levels of IS. The WUM model, which requires further validation/verification, was piloted in two water utilities in South Asia with positive feedback