Women’s Empowerment in Lebanon: Impact evaluation of the project ‘Women’s access to justice in the Middle East and North Africa region'

This evaluation is presented as part of the Effectiveness Review Series 2014/15, selected for review under the women’s empowerment thematic area. This report documents the findings of a quasi-experimental impact evaluation carried out in December 2014 that sought to assess the impact of project activities, implemented at individual and community level, on women’s empowerment. This project was carried out in three countries: Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq; the evaluation focuses on the project component in Lebanon only. While there is no unique set of women’s empowerment characteristics that are applicable to all contexts, this evaluation identified a set of empowerment characteristics which are considered to be important in this particular context, even if not all are necessarily directly linked to the project activities. The main objective of this project was to contribute to improving the status and lives of women and girls in the Middle East and North Africa region by improving the quality of legal services for poor and vulnerable women. Key activities included providing awareness raising sessions for women and community leaders such as political parties, religious leaders and municipal employers; training and engaging women and men for raising awareness; offering free legal consultations to women; and raising awareness around women’s rights among lawyers and judges

A systematic review that evaluates the extent and quality of involving childhood abuse survivors in shaping, conducting and disseminating research in the UK

Despite a well-established understanding of the mental and physical health consequences associated with exposure to childhood abuse, the active voices of survivors are rarely present in shaping, conducting and disseminating research. To explore the extent and quality of involvement with adult survivors of childhood abuse in the UK, we performed a systematic review of research conducted ‘with’ or ‘by’ survivors, and analysed involvement against a new instrument, the Survivor Research Involvement Ladder, which was co-produced drawing from the principles of the Survivors Voices Charter. A search of relevant grey and peer-reviewed literature was conducted, which retrieved 662 sources after removing duplicates. Of these, 116 full-text articles on adult survivors of childhood abuse in the UK were subsequently assessed for involvement (beyond participation as ‘subjects’), of which only 15 (12.9 per cent) reported activities led, co-produced, advised or consulted on by survivors, and these were included in the review. From evaluations and analysis using the ladder, consumerist models were found to be the dominant form of involvement, with survivors filling advisory roles at isolated stages. Survivor-led research was scarce but emerged when survivor-researchers planned, conducted and disseminated their work. This review finds considerable opportunity for improvements in the level, quality and subsequent reporting of research activities involving survivors. The use of the instrument needs replication, validation and further field-testing.</jats:p

Headache onset after vaccination against SARS-CoV-2: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis

Background Vaccines against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are used to reduce the risk of developing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Despite the significant benefits in terms of reduced risk of hospitalization and death, different adverse events may present after vaccination: among them, headache is one of the most common, but nowadays there is no summary presentation of its incidence and no description of its main features. Methods We searched PubMed and EMBASE covering the period between January 1(st) 2020 and August 6(th), 2021, looking for record in English and with an abstract and using three main search terms (with specific variations): COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2; Vaccination; headache/adverse events. We selected manuscript including information on subjects developing headache after injection, and such information had to be derived from a structured form (i.e. no free reporting). Pooled estimates and 95% confidence intervals were calculated. Analyses were carried out by vaccine vs. placebo, by first vs. second dose, and by mRNA-based vs. "traditional" vaccines; finally, we addressed the impact of age and gender on post-vaccine headache onset. Results Out of 9338 records, 84 papers were included in the review, accounting for 1.57 million participants, 94% of whom received BNT162b2 or ChAdOx1. Headache was generally the third most common AE: it was detected in 22% (95% CI 18-27%) of subjects after the first dose of vaccine and in 29% (95% CI 23-35%) after the second, with an extreme heterogeneity. Those receiving placebo reported headache in 10-12% of cases. No differences were detected across different vaccines or by mRNA-based vs. "traditional" ones. None of the studies reported information on headache features. A lower prevalence of headache after the first injection of BNT162b2 among older participants was shown. Conclusions Our results show that vaccines are associated to a two-fold risk of developing headache within 7 days from injection, and the lack of difference between vaccine types enable to hypothesize that headache is secondary to systemic immunological reaction than to a vaccine-type specific reaction. Some descriptions report onset within the first 24 h and that in around one-third of the cases, headache has migraine-like features with pulsating quality, phono and photophobia; in 40-60% of the cases aggravation with activity is observed. The majority of patients used some medication to treat headache, the one perceived as the most effective being acetylsalicylic acid

Resilience in Thailand: Impact evaluation of the climate change community-based adaptation model for food security project

This evaluation is presented as part of the Effectiveness Review Series 2014/15, selected for review under the resilience thematic area. This report documents the findings of a quasi-experimental evaluation carried out in December 2014 that sought to assess the impact of the activities of the development and scale up of a climate change community-based adaptation model for food security project.Oxfam and local organization Earth Net Foundation (ENF) have worked together since 2004 to promote organic rice farming and fair trade marketing in Yasothon province. The project under review was also implemented in partnership with the Healthy Public Policy Foundation and Climate Change Knowledge Management and was carried out in two provinces - three sub-districts of Yasothon in the Northeast, and one sub-district in Chiang Mai in the North. The project had three specific objectives: 1) increase resilience and adaptation capacity of small scale farmers to weather variability and climate change through the development of a self-sustainable climate change adaptation model; 2) scale up implementation of the model to reach new communities and support national development of the agenda on climate change adaptation and food security; and 3) foster cooperation among NGOs, community-based organizations, scholars, local and central government and the private sector to achieve the other objectives.For more information, the data for this effectiveness review is available through the UK Data Service. Read more about the Oxfam Effectiveness Reviews>.

Women's Empowerment in Lebanon: Impact evaluation of the project 'Women's access to justice in the Middle East and North Africa region'

This evaluation is presented as part of the Effectiveness Review Series 2014/15, selected for review under the women's empowerment thematic area. This report documents the findings of a quasi-experimental impact evaluation carried out in December 2014 that sought to assess the impact of project activities, implemented at individual and community level, on women's empowerment. This project was carried out in three countries: Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq; the evaluation focuses on the project component in Lebanon only. While there is no unique set of women's empowerment characteristics that are applicable to all contexts, this evaluation identified a set of empowerment characteristics which are considered to be important in this particular context, even if not all are necessarily directly linked to the project activities.The main objective of this project was to contribute to improving the status and lives of women and girls in the Middle East and North Africa region by improving the quality of legal services for poor and vulnerable women. Key activities included providing awareness raising sessions for women and community leaders such as political parties, religious leaders and municipal employers; training and engaging women and men for raising awareness; offering free legal consultations to women; and raising awareness around women's rights among lawyers and judges.For more information, the data for this effectiveness review is available through the UK Data Service. Read more about the Oxfam Effectiveness Reviews.

Women's Empowerment in Mali: Impact evaluation of the educational project: 'Girls CAN - Promoting Secondary Education in West Africa'

This evaluation is presented as part of the Effectiveness Review Series 2015/16, selected for review under the women's empowerment thematic area. This report documents the findings of a quasi-experimental impact evaluation carried out in January 2016 that sought to assess the impact of the activities of the 'Girls CAN - Promoting Secondary Education in West Africa' project.The overall objective of this project was to promote the successful transition of adolescent girls from primary to secondary school. This was achieved by rolling out a variety of activities to support the change from within the community. It was, therefore, aimed not only at girls, but also at all community members involved in the project (e.g. mothers, school directors and religious figures).The project was implemented by Oxfam in conjunction with the Association d'Appui à l'Auto Développement Communautaire (AADeC), a local NGO, in collaboration with the Centre d'Animation Pedagogique (CAP) of Baguinéda, and the Ministry of National Education. It started in October 2011 in 17 primary schools and eight secondary schools, and ended in December 2015.Read more about Oxfam's Effectiveness Reviews

Combined epidural morphine and bupivacaine in the treatment of lumbosacral radicular neuropathic pain: A noncontrolled prospective study

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the therapeutic effectiveness of epidural morphine and bupivacaine in patients with chronic lumbosacral radicular neuropathic pain after the cessation of treatment. Methods: Twenty-two patients with chronic lumbosacral pain with neuropathic features were enrolled. An indwelling catheter was placed into the epidural space, and each patient received an epidural injection of morphine chlorhydrate and bupivacaine up to three times a day. The medication was administered for 4 weeks. The pain intensity score on a 0-10 numeric rating scale (NRS), the total pain rating index rank (PRIr-T), and its coefficients were evaluated before treatment and 1 month after catheter removal. P-value 30% in NRS) was reached and maintained in half of the patients at follow-up. Conclusion: Combined epidural morphine and bupivacaine seems to be effective in the treatment of neuropathic pain