Rural piped-water enterprises in Cambodia: A pathway to women's empowerment?

© 2019 by the authors. This research examined the extent to which women's ownership and management of water supply schemes led to their empowerment, including their economic empowerment, in rural Cambodia. Privately managed water supply schemes in rural Cambodia serve over one million people. This study is the first of its kind to systematically investigate the experiences and needs of female water supply scheme owners, using well-established theoretical frameworks for women's empowerment, namely Longwe's stages of empowerment, and Rowlands, VeneKlasen and Miller's elaboration on different types of power. Business management frameworks relevant to the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector were also drawn on to assess operational constraints and enablers. Fifteen structured interviews were conducted with female water entrepreneurs in rural Cambodia. Female entrepreneurs reported encountering four key barriers to establishing and managing water supply schemes. The first were operational, and government and regulatory related issues, followed by financial issues and limited demand for water services. Three important enablers were reported by entrepreneurs: social enablers, economic enablers and program support from government, associations and non-government organisations (NGOs). This study found that, whilst there was evidence of empowerment reported by female water enterprise owners, the complexity of the ongoing empowerment process, challenges and limitations were also observed. Women's empowerment can be advanced through leadership of, and involvement in water enterprises, as evidenced by this study, however, gender norms constrained women, especially with respect to mobility (leaving the home for extended periods), and household and family duties impacting on income-generating work or vice versa. As such, targeted strategies are needed by a range of actors to address such constraints. The findings of this study can assist NGOs, donors and governments incentivizing entrepreneurship in water services, to ensure that these interventions are not gender blind, and to draw on evidence of the barriers and enablers for female entrepreneurs and how these are influenced by contextualized gender norms

Staged Mucosal Advancement Flap versus Staged Fibrin Sealant in the Treatment of Complex Perianal Fistulas

Background. In this prospective randomised study, the staged mucosal advancement flap is compared with staged fibrin sealant application in the treatment of perianal fistulas. Methods. All patients with high complex cryptoglandular fistulas were randomised to closure of the internal opening by a mucosal advancement flap (MF) or injection with fibrin sealant (FS) after treatment with setons. Recurrence rate and incontinence disorders were explored. Results. The MF group (5 females and 10 males) with a median age of 51 years and a median followup of 52 months. The FS group (4 females and 11 males) with a median age of 45 years and a median followup of 49 months. Three (20%) patients of the MF group had a recurrent fistula compared to 9 (60%) of the FS group (P = 0.03). No new continence disorders developed. Conclusion. Staged FS injection has a much lower success rate compared to MF

Performance-based financing as a health system reform : mapping the key dimensions for monitoring and evaluation

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Application du concept de raffinage végétal au safran du Quercy (Crocus sativus) pour la valorisation intégrée des potentiels aromatiques et colorants

La caractérisation des composés volatils des stigmates a permis une meilleure connaissance de l'arôme du safran. La typicité du safran du Quercy a été démontrée. Le safran frais libère majoritairement du linalool. Une teneur en eau résiduelle élevée induit des hauts taux d'HTCC et de safranal (note "épicée"), la dégradation de la couleur et la synthèse de l'acide 3-méthylbutanoïque (note "animale"). Le potentiel moléculaire des bulbes, des feuilles et des fleurs a été évalué afin de proposer de nouvelles valorisations. Les bulbes possèdent une teneur élevée en amidon et leur fraction lipidique est riche en acides gras oméga 6. Les concrètes de fleurs et de feuilles donnent des notes "miellées" (2-phényléthanol) et "vertes". Les caroténoïdes présents dans ces organes sont des xanthophylles en C40H5604 et en C40H5602, estérifiées par des acides gras dans le cas des fleurs. L'extraction des molécules aromatiques et colorantes a été réalisée avec succès à l'échelle pilote

Female Water Entrepreneurs in Cambodia: Considering enablers and barriers to women’s empowerment, Enterprise in WASH – Research Report 9

In 2015 there were an estimated 300 privately managed water supply schemes in rural Cambodia, serving over onemillion people (World Bank, 2015,p. 15). In recent years, a range of policies has been put in place by the Cambodian Government to promote gender equality within the rural water and sanitation sector. One such policy is theCambodian National Strategy for Rural Water Supply (2011–2025),whichincludesprovisions to increase gender equality. One of the ways the Strategy aims to do this is by: ‘Mainstream[ing]gender in the [rural water supply] sector’ (Cambodian Government, 2011, p.10). However, there are major knowledge gaps related to how gender norms intersect with the rural water sector, and with the growth of water enterprises in Cambodia. These gaps include:a lack of knowledge about how gender influences who becomes a water entrepreneur; what the experiences, challenges and opportunities of water entrepreneurs are; and how water entrepreneurship relates towomen’s empowerment, including economic empowerment. To begin to address these knowledge gaps, this study examined the extent to whichwomen’s ownership and management of water supply schemes led to their empowerment, including economic empowerment. This study, and a related concurrent study in Indonesia,arethe first of their kind to systematically look into the experiences and needs of female water supply scheme entrepreneurs(henceforth referred to as “entrepreneurs”), and the first to explore their experiences with reference to women’s empowerment frameworks

Reaching all in rural sanitation: experiences from inclusive programming in five countries

© 2020, © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. There is a need to reflect on approaches to reaching all in rural sanitation, given evidence that disadvantaged groups often miss out on benefits from programmes. This article presents approaches from area-wide rural sanitation programming undertaken by SNV across five countries. Analysis identified ten strategies used in combination to support inclusion. The article describes the strategies and their application, then presents four implications for the rural sanitation sector: the value of a “toolbox” approach; co-creation of strategies with stakeholders; recognition of local government as a driver of inclusive services; and the need to strengthen evidence on how strategies contribute to success

In Silico Analysis Identifies Intestinal Transit as a Key Determinant of Systemic Bile Acid Metabolism

Bile acids fulfill a variety of metabolic functions including regulation of glucose and lipid metabolism. Since changes of bile acid metabolism accompany obesity, Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and bariatric surgery, there is great interest in their role in metabolic health. Here, we developed a mathematical model of systemic bile acid metabolism, and subsequently performed in silico analyses to gain quantitative insight into the factors determining plasma bile acid measurements. Intestinal transit was found to have a surprisingly central role in plasma bile acid appearance, as was evidenced by both the necessity of detailed intestinal transit functions for a physiological description of bile acid metabolism as well as the importance of the intestinal transit parameters in determining plasma measurements. The central role of intestinal transit is further highlighted by the dependency of the early phase of the dynamic response of plasma bile acids after a meal to intestinal propulsion