Armed violence and poverty in Algeria: a mini case study for the Armed Violence and Poverty Initiative

YesThis report on Algeria is one of 13 case studies (all of the case studies are available at www.bradford.ac.uk/cics). This research draws upon secondary data sources including existing research studies, reports and evaluations. The author would like to thank David Seddon and Tim Heath for comments made on an earlier draft. The analysis and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views or policy of DFID or the UK government

Situating Sexual Violence in Rwanda (1990–2001): Sexual Agency, Sexual Consent, and the Political Economy of War

This article situates the sexual violence associated with the Rwandan civil war and 1994 genocide within a local cultural history and political economy in which institutionalized gender violence shaped the choices of Rwandan women and girls. Based on ethnographic research, it argues that Western notions of sexual consent are not applicable to a culture in which colonialism, government policy, war, and scarcity of resources have limited women’s access to land ownership, economic security, and other means of survival. It examines emic cultural models of sexual consent and female sexual agency and proposes that sexual slavery, forced marriage, prostitution, transactional sex, nonmarital sex, informal marriage or cohabitation, and customary (bridewealth) marriages exist on a continuum on which female sexual agency becomes more and more constrained by material circumstance. Even when women’s choices are limited, sometimes impossibly limited, they still exercise their agency to survive. Conflating all forms of sex in conflict zones under the rubric of harm undermines women’s and children’s rights because it reinforces gendered hierarchies and diverts attention from the structural conditions of poverty in postconflict societies

Better Health than Health Care: moving up, down and out

SUMMARY Promoting health is still widely equated with merely building up the health care system. Health services in Idcs, based on originally imported models, continue above all to benefit the elites, although the PHC approach emphasises equity. This article discusses three mechanisms, widely encouraged in theory but much less put into practice, which could help overcome such distortions: community participation, decentralisation and intersectoral collaboration. RESUMEN Preferible salud que atención de salud. Impulsar la participación comunitaria, la descentralización y la colaboración intersectorial La promoción de salud aún es ampliamente considerada como equivalente de la creación de un sistema de atención de salud. Los servicios de salud en los países en desarrollo, continúan privilegiando a las elites, pese a que el enfoque de la atención primaria de salud enfatiza la igualdad. Este artículo examina tres mecanismos — en teoría muy estimulados, pero escasamente puestos en práctica — que podrían contribuir a superar tales distorsiones: participación de la comunidad, descentralización y colaboración intersectorial. RESUMES Mieux vaut avoir la santé que se soigner La promotion de la santé n'est pas seulement une question de renforcer le système des soins médicaux. Les services médicaux dans les pays en voie de développement, basés sur des modèles d'origine importée, continuent, au dessus de tous, à faire bénéficier les élites, bien que l'assistance médicale primaire insiste sur l'équité. Cet article traite de trois mécanismes, largement encouragés en théorie, mais beaucoup moins essayés en pratique, qui pourraient aider à surmonter de telles distortions, à savoir — participation communautaire; décentralisation; collaboration intersectorale

Women's Voices, Work and Bodily Integrity in Pre?Conflict, Conflict and Post?Conflict Reconstruction Processes in Sierra Leone

This article focuses on the historical trajectories of women's empowerment in Sierra Leone, taking three entry?points as a means of exploring the dynamics of change over the pre?conflict, conflict and post?conflict periods: voice and political participation; work and economic participation; and bodily integrity. Looking at pathways of empowerment in pre?conflict Sierra Leone, at experiences of women during the time of conflict over the course of a long and brutal civil war from 1991–2002, and at post?conflict possibilities, the article highlights some of the changes that have taken place in women's lives and the avenues that are opening up in Sierra Leone in a time of peace. It suggests that understanding women's pathways of empowerment in Sierra Leone calls for closer attention to be paid to the dynamics of conflict and post?conflict reconstruction, and to the significance of context in shaping constraints and opportunities

A step too far? Making health equity interventions in Namibia more sufficient

BACKGROUND: Equality of health status is the health equity goal being pursued in developed countries and advocated by development agencies such as WHO and The Rockefeller Foundation for developing countries also. Other concepts of fair distribution of health such as equity of access to medical care may not be sufficient to equalise health outcomes but, nevertheless, they may be more practical and effective in advancing health equity in developing countries. METHODS: A framework for relating health equity goals to development strategies allowing progressive redistribution of primary health care resources towards the more deprived communities is formulated. The framework is applied to the development of primary health care in post-independence Namibia. RESULTS: In Namibia health equity has been advanced through the progressive application of health equity goals of equal distribution of primary care resources per head, equality of access for equal met need and equality of utilisation for equal need. For practical and efficiency reasons it is unlikely that health equity would have been advanced further or more effectively by attempting to implement the goal of equality of health status. CONCLUSION: The goal of equality of health status may not be appropriate in many developing country situations. A stepwise approach based on progressive redistribution of medical services and resources may be more appropriate. This conclusion challenges the views of health economists who emphasise the need to select a single health equality goal and of development agencies which stress that equality of health status is the most important dimension of health equity

Process and impact evaluation of the Greater Christchurch Urban Development Strategy Health Impact Assessment

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>despite health impact assessment (HIA) being increasingly widely used internationally, fundamental questions about its impact on decision-making, implementation and practices remain. In 2005 a collaboration between public health and local government authorities performed an HIA on the Christchurch Urban Development Strategy Options paper in New Zealand. The findings of this were incorporated into the Greater Christchurch Urban Development Strategy;</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>using multiple qualitative methodologies including key informant interviews, focus groups and questionnaires, this study performs process and impact evaluations of the Christchurch HIA including evaluation of costs and resource use;</p> <p>Results</p> <p>the evaluation found that the HIA had demonstrable direct impacts on planning and implementation of the final Urban Development Strategy as well as indirect impacts on understandings and ways of working within and between organisations. It also points out future directions and ways of working in this successful collaboration between public health and local government authorities. It summarises the modest resource use and discusses the important role HIA can play in urban planning with intersectoral collaboration and enhanced relationships as both catalysts and outcomes of the HIA process;</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>as one of the few evaluations of HIA that have been published to date, this paper makes a substantial contribution to the literature on the impact, utility and effectiveness of HIA.</p

Organized Crime and the COVID-19 Pandemic

As of 18 May 2020, 53 countries in Africa recorded 85,000 cases and 2,700 deaths; officials believe these figures are gross underestimates. Africa has a population of over 1.3 billion, and a Yale University study estimates that by 30 June, 16.3 million people in Africa could contract COVID-19. As the coronavirus circulates most rapidly in overcrowded urban concentrations that lack safe water and sanitation, the concerning facts are that more than 40% of Africans live in urban areas, and half ..