External Review and Options Appraisal of the Global Fund for Community Foundations

This Strategic Review and Options Appraisal was undertaken for the Global Fund for Community Foundations (GFCF). This Report is not an evaluation of the work of the GFCF, while it nonetheless 'reviews' the work and achievements of the organisation, particularly in the light of where the organisation stands at the present time. In this sense, it is more of a 'snapshot' view of the GFCF, and the Report, recognising that the GFCF is at an important moment in its life at a time of both challenge and opportunity, then presents a set of Options for decision

Parallel or Integrated ‘Other Worlds’: Possibilities for Alliance-building for Sexual and Reproductive Rights

The author proposes that the paradigms within which struggles for reproductive and sexual rights are waged fail to engage with those dimensions of sexuality and reproduction that are inscribed into the broader organization of social and economic life nationally and globally. In the case of reproductive rights she argues that the possibility of delivering quality reproductive health services is determined not only by ideological struggles regarding people’s right to control their sexual and reproductive selves but also by the extent of the state’s commitment to delivery of services as well as global factors influencing state capacity, such as debt, or the impact of international trade agreements and corporate policies on costs of health commodities. Yet reproductive rights activism does not seek alliances with others concerned with questions of state capacity and accountability for provision of services to the public. This is evident in the presentation of parallel events at the WSF, rather than the inclusion of health services including sexual and reproductive health services as part of the discussion on the dominant themes of the WSF regarding both citizenship and globalization. In relation to sexual rights, the author argues that the dominance of identity politics as the paradigm of mobilization leads to failure to recognize that many of the impacts of discrimination on the basis of sexual or gender diversity are also experienced, albeit in different ways, by other marginalized groups, whether immigrants, poor people or different ethnic groups. The use of an essentialist identity paradigm prevents the development of alliances around the more fundamental problem of lack of access to the benefits of full citizenship for all of those who do not fit the hegemonic norm. She proposes that an effort to rethink these challenges would contribute towards the development of alliances at the World Social Forum and beyond to challenge those factors that ultimately undermine both sexual and reproductive rights

Enhancing Funders’ and Advocates’ Effectiveness: The Processes Shaping Collaborative Advocacy for Health System Accountability in South Africa

This article describes the roles of five advocacy groups that built collaborative initiatives to address the collapsing health system in South Africa. The findings presented are based on retrospective reviews of annual reports, organizational evaluations, interviews, and focus group discussions with each of four participating organizations and existing literature on the fifth. The key findings, for both advocacy groups shaping alliance strategies and for funders, are that flexible funding and a shared value system among groups with diverse capacities, constituencies, and reputational resources is a good approach for enabling adaptive and innovative strategies for holding the public sector accountable

The International Conference on Population and Development, Cairo, 1994. Is its Plan of Action important, desirable and feasible?

A Postscript to Our Forum of Volume 6(1):71-122. We received two further contributions to the debate featured in the Forum in our last issue. The papers speak for themselves and I will not attempt any further synthesis, except to note that each brings up important issues not fully covered in the previous Forum. John C. Caldwel

Maternal Influenza Immunization and Reduced Likelihood of Prematurity and Small for Gestational Age Births: A Retrospective Cohort Study

In an analysis of surveillance data from the state of Georgia (US), Saad Omer and colleagues show an association between receipt of influenza vaccination among pregnant women and reduced risk of premature births

The PneuCarriage Project : A multi-centre comparative study to identify the best serotyping methods for examining pneumococcal carriage in vaccine evaluation studies

Background: The pneumococcus is a diverse pathogen whose primary niche is the nasopharynx. Over 90 different serotypes exist, and nasopharyngeal carriage of multiple serotypes is common. Understanding pneumococcal carriage is essential for evaluating the impact of pneumococcal vaccines. Traditional serotyping methods are cumbersome and insufficient for detecting multiple serotype carriage, and there are few data comparing the new methods that have been developed over the past decade. We established the PneuCarriage project, a large, international multi-centre study dedicated to the identification of the best pneumococcal serotyping methods for carriage studies. Methods and Findings: Reference sample sets were distributed to 15 research groups for blinded testing. Twenty pneumococcal serotyping methods were used to test 81 laboratory-prepared (spiked) samples. The five top-performing methods were used to test 260 nasopharyngeal (field) samples collected from children in six high-burden countries. Sensitivity and positive predictive value (PPV) were determined for the test methods and the reference method (traditional serotyping of >100 colonies from each sample). For the alternate serotyping methods, the overall sensitivity ranged from 1% to 99% (reference method 98%), and PPV from 8% to 100% (reference method 100%), when testing the spiked samples. Fifteen methods had ≥70% sensitivity to detect the dominant (major) serotype, whilst only eight methods had ≥70% sensitivity to detect minor serotypes. For the field samples, the overall sensitivity ranged from 74.2% to 95.8% (reference method 93.8%), and PPV from 82.2% to 96.4% (reference method 99.6%). The microarray had the highest sensitivity (95.8%) and high PPV (93.7%). The major limitation of this study is that not all of the available alternative serotyping methods were included. Conclusions: Most methods were able to detect the dominant serotype in a sample, but many performed poorly in detecting the minor serotype populations. Microarray with a culture amplification step was the top-performing method. Results from this comprehensive evaluation will inform future vaccine evaluation and impact studies, particularly in low-income settings, where pneumococcal disease burden remains high. © 2015 Satzke et al. *For a complete list of authors, please see acknowledgments in the published article

Is the Policy Win All? A Framework for Effective Social-Justice Advocacy

· This article offers a theory-of-change framework to help those engaged in social-justice advocacy to reflect on whether social-justice values are being retained in the process. · A reproductive rights effort in South Africa provides an example of how social justice values can be lost in the advocacy process. · The failure to sustain work on the ground pointed to the need to maintain a base of support even after a policy victory. · Strategies must be revisited as social and political contexts change. · One of the critical social-justice values that supports the establishment and maintenance of alliances is collaboration, which must continue to be nurtured even after a victory. · The theory-of-change framework helps to keep these values visible

Finding common ground: A participatory approach to evaluation

Background: This article describes the efforts of a group of donors and activists to collectively develop a national base line on organisations working for human rights in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) in Kenya to develop an ongoing monitoring and evaluation process. Objectives: The purpose of the base line was to support both activist strategising and ongoing reflection, and more effective donor collaboration and grant making. Method: Drawing on interviews with key stakeholders, the authors examined the dominant approach to funding and evaluation on social change globally. They analysed the impact of this dominant approach on developing and sustaining a SOGI movement in Kenya. They developed an alternative theory of change and participatory methodology and worked with a range of donors and SOGI organisations to conceptualise and support the collaborative collection of information on four themes: legislation and policy, organisational mapping, political and cultural context, and lived experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people. Results: This was a useful process and tool for activists and donors to develop a shared understanding of the current context and capacities influencing efforts to promote SOGI rights. It served as a basis for improved strategising and participants expected it to prove useful for monitoring progress in the longer term. Conclusion: This theory of change and participatory approach to base line development could be helpful to donors, activists and monitoring and evaluation specialists concerned with supporting social change in the region and globally

El cambio social y los tribunales. Opciones en el conjunto de herramientas de los activistas para la promoción y defensa de los derechos

Este libro es una guía que trata sobre cómo lograr la participación de los tribunales para promover el cambio social. Describe el concepto que tiene Women’s Link Worldwide («Women’s Link») acerca del litigio como una plataforma para el cambio social y la defensa de los derechos humanos basada en nuestra comprensión de la dinámica judicial. Presenta la teoría del cambio y la metodología que hemos desarrollado para ayudar a los compañeros activistas a identificar si las condiciones para trabajar con los tribunales son suficientes para hacer que el compromiso con ellos sea una opción útil y cómo se pueden fortalecer esas condiciones. Así, en este libro encontrará cómo usted, como abogado de interés público o activista de justicia social, puede evaluar contextos estratégicamente y tomar decisiones con respecto a las opciones disponibles para las estrategias y tácticas legales, de defensa y de comunicaciones que sean necesarias para utilizar eficazmente el litigio y los procesos legales como una oportunidad para construir sobre la arquitectura existente de los derechos humanos, configurar la opinión pública y fomentar la movilización social. En cada punto, esta guía ilustra el proceso con ejemplos de las propias experiencias de Women’s Link.Introducción -- Consideración del litigio como una herramienta de defensa y promoción -- La teoría de las cuatro condiciones -- Introducción al mapeo -- Cuando el litigio no es la mejor estrategia -- Cuando el litigio es una buena estrategia -- Un estudio de caso: defensa de los derechos reproductivos en Colombia a través de litigio estratégico de interés público