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Inclusive disaster risk management : briefing paper

SHARMA, Anshu
et al
2014

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This briefing paper  presents the case for building safer, more resilient communities in South Asia using evidence-based inclusive approaches to Disaster Risk Management (DRM) through multi-stakeholder engagement. It is based on the learning from the Inclusive Community Resilience for Sustainable Disaster Risk Management (INCRISD) South Asia project, currently being implemented in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It concludes by highlighting ten recommendations more inclusive Disaster Risk Management framework, and, while the paper is based on South Asia experiences, the recommendations and approaches can have global application

Resource pack on systematization of experiences

HARGREAVES, Samantha
MORGAN, Mariluz
Eds
2009

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Systematization of experiences is a methodology that helps people involved in different kinds of practice to organize and communicate what they have learned. Over the past 40 years systematization has evolved and obtained recognition as a methodology for social reflection, in Latin America. This resource pack provides materials for the English speaking world

Advocacy for change : lessons from Guatemala, Brazil, and USA

LEON, Rosario
Ed
2009

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This resource summarises a systematization of advocacy experiences related to the status of youth (in Guatemala), the right to education (in Brazil) and farming (in the United States). The systematizations allowed the actors involved to consider the evolution of the experiences and to identify lessons and insights for future interventions. The Guatemala systematization product was documented in writing and film, the US experience in writing, and the Brazil experience in film

Walking the talk : putting women's rights at the heart of the HIV and AIDS response

CORBY, Nick
et al
2008

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This report argues the need to adopt a rights-based approach to counter gender inequality, violence against women and other violations of women’s rights, in order to combat the HIV and AIDS pandemic effectively. It explores obstacles to universal access to prevention, treatment, care and support for all women and girls. It illustrates the ongoing violations of women’s rights by the actions and inactions of those setting policies, providing funding, offering services and implementing programmes. It further provides working solutions and best practices for overcoming those obstacles. These strategies were gathered through research studies conducted in 13 countries: Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Guatemala, India, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda, South Africa, Vanuatu and Zimbabwe

The abstinence debate : condoms, the President's emergency plan for AIDS relief (PEPFAR) and ideology

BOLER, Tania
INGHAM, Roger
June 2007

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This paper summarises issues raised by a meeting to discuss the contribution of abstinence-only HIV & AIDS education and presents the key arguments for and against abstinence-only education that were presented at the meeting. It was developed on behalf of the Working Group on Education and HIV/AIDS, in the UK Consortium on AIDS and International Development

Evaluating Stepping Stones : a review of existing evaluations and ideas for future M&E work

WALLACE, Tina
June 2006

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This publication aims to review monitoring and evaluation activities, methodologies and findings around the Stepping Stones (SS) approach. Over the last ten years, Stepping Stones has been used by many NGOs as an effective tool for HIV prevention, gender empowerment, community mobilisation and promotion of PLWHA rights. However, monitoring and evaluation documentation on SS is sparse and does not reflect the wealth of learning about the methodology. Key findings show that SS helps improve communication about health issues and supports behaviour changes, although evidence that it has led to a decline in HIV or AIDS incidence is less clear. The report calls for well-designed and systematic monitoring and evaluation activities, and for a strategic dissemination of findings and monitoring and evaluation data

Participatory vulnerability analysis : a step-by-step guide for field staff

CHIWAKA, Ethelet
Yates, Roger
2005

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This guide is to assist field workers and communities to analyse people's vulnerability. The guide is divided into three major parts: part 1 provides insights into key aspects of vulnerability, as different people often have different levels of understanding about it; part 2 contains suggestions of how best to prepare for a PVA, how to conduct the analysis and how to generate action; part 3 is an appendix providing suggestions for compiling the data generated through PVA, ideas for advocacy work and an example terms of reference

Life skills education for HIV prevention : a critical analysis

BOLER, Tania
AGGLETON, Peter
2005

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Challenges conventional wisdom that teaching life skills to young people would reduce HIV infection. The paper suggests that: there is disagreement about the definition of life skills; the introduction of life skills in the curriculum often creates problems, particularly in the schools of poorer countries; and that life skills are action-oriented, and may be alien to cultural contexts where people, especially the youth, are not encouraged to choose. While the paper does not intend to undermine the importance of life skills-based education in HIV contexts, its cautious and critical analysis may provide a useful tool for the improvement of related initiatives

ICT for development : empowerment or exploitation

BEARDON, Hannah
2004

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A mid-term review of the Reflect ICT project, which uses a participatory approach to ICT and communication for development and empowerment. The review reinforces Reflect's position that it is the process whereby ICTs are chosen and introduced which determines their impact, as much or more than the investment itself, and describes pilot projects in Uganda, Burundi and India which illustrate the Reflect approach and inform the 'lessons learned' in the final section

UK AIDS aid : an analysis of DFID HIV/AIDS expenditure

JANJUA, Harinder
November 2003

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This report collates available evidence to determine how much the UK government is currently spending on HIV/AIDS in developing countries and countries in transition. It points out that a desire to see HIV/AIDS mainstreamed within development work is inconsistent with a desire for clear vertical budget lines. It makes recommendations for future campaign demands and for DFID's statements on its spending

The sound of silence : difficulties in communicating on HIV/AIDS in schools

BOLER, Tania
et al
2003

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This report describes the difficulties in communicating on HIV/AIDS in schools. It includes experiences from India and Kenya, and reports the findings of a survey carried out by ActionAid researchers in both countries in 2002. The research examines parental demand for HIV/AIDS education. It then explroes teh role that schools have in meeting this demand and other sources that young people might use to learn about HIV and AIDS. The final section places HIV/AIDS communication in the wider context of a crisis in education in resource-poor settings, and highlights some of the barriers or silences in communication around HIV/AIDS. Among its conclusions is the suggestion that HIV/AIDS education be placed in the context of the community

Monitoring and evaluating advocacy : a scoping study

CHAPMAN, Jennifer
WAMEYO, Amboka
January 2001

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This scoping study has attempted to identify and document how various agencies and institutions have approached the assessment of advocacy. It sets out a number of frameworks that look at similar issues from different perspectives and, instead of promoting one framework as the 'correct' one, allows the reader to pick and choose what elements are most useful to them. The work was limited in scale, and focused in particular upon the approaches of NGOs. The insights and ideas from this study will contribute to a three-year action research project to be undertaken by ActionAid and partners in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Transforming power

ActionAid
2001

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This is the report of a forum that was initially conceived as a space to share experiences around participatory methodologies, adapting them to the new strategic direction of ActionAid. However, it rapidly evolved into a space for the analysis of power relationships, with the recognition that all participatory methods, tools and techniques can easily become manipulative, extractive, distorted or impotent

Reflect mother manual - regenerated Freirean literacy through empowering community techniques

ARCHER, David
COTTINGHAM, Sara
1996

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REFLECT is a participatory approach to adult literacy developed by ActionAid, based on Participatory Rural Appraisal and Freirean methods. The approach does not use pre-printed materials, but through ‘literacy circles’ encourages people to develop their own learning materials, such as maps, diagrams and calendars representing local reality. These are then used as the basis for introducing reading and writing in a meaningful context

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