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In the South, urban environmental and social management is often based on top-down approaches which use technologies and strategies not corresponding to the demands of the inhabitants and to their social, economic and ecological realities. This paper discusses how a community-based approach - Research Action Capacity Building (RAC) - can be valuable for malaria control and more specifically for the dissemination of insecticide treated bednets. Taking a bednet project in NDjamena, capital of Chad, as an example, the article investigates the potential and the limitations of this approach for mobilising and strengthening sustainable activities and capacity building at community level

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.

This book reviews recent experiences in strengthening local institutions, governmental and non-governmental alike, in six countries on five continents. It examines various aspects of the tensions between international initiatives to save lives or to reconstruct the fabric of societies, and the parallel and sometimes competing international commitment to "capacitation" - to building longer term skills locally. The last chapter reviews the case studies and attempts to draw out the learning in terms of conceptual, operational, political and motivational issues

This paper explores ways to improve information capacity building activities in developing countries. Focusing on the capacity building process, it presents some principles and key questions for actors in this area. It concludes with a call for capacity builders to invest more in knowledge sharing as a way to improve the relevance of their efforts

This brief document reports on the broad achievements and constraints faced in the health sector in Uganda. Poverty-reduction funds are being channelled into primary care, and improved management of public funds is helping the situation. However, capacity beyond the Ministry of Health is limited, and decentralization, with unclear policy links in the regions, is a challenge. There is some evidence of success in using funding strategies to reorient services to primary care and prevention

A three-day, six-session curriculum designed as a companion piece to 'Cairo, Beijing, and Beyond: A Handbook on Advocacy for Women Leaders'. This manual uses participatory methodologies and is based on CEDPA's experience in building the skills of NGO leaders to advocate for change in the reproductive health arena. While the background information and role play scenarios deal directly with reproductive health issues, a trainer can adapt the sessions for other contexts