Resources

This guide from the Lessons From the Field series outlines two training workshops held in Nepal in 1997-98 to help NGO staff understand health from a gender sensitive point of view, analyze current reproductive health (RH) activities, use participatory tools, and develop realistic action plans. The training programme was based on a community-based needs assessment in the Ramechhap, Sindhupalchowk and Kavre districts, aimed at gaining knowledge of some of the RH and gender issues and concerns of women in the communities. Among the service-related reproductive health issues the following stood out: women were not accessing prenatal care and assisted delivery leading to increased maternal and infant morbidity and mortality; women wished to limit family size; unsafe abortion methods; prolapse was a common health problem in all communities visited along with reproductive and urinary tract infections; HIV a growing concern. This was all seen in a gender perspective and it was found that women had low status and constrained gender roles, there were problems with domestic violence and trafficking of girls and women. In order to address outcomes of the assessment the organisation World Neighbors developed a program strategy for training and supporting a team of experienced health workers. The aim of the programme was to enable participants understanding and discussion of RH from a gender perspective; describe and analyze their current activities in terms of a RH/gender approach and identify possible strategies; gain skills in the use of participatory tools and analysis; and develop an action plan. The guide goes through all the methods used in the training workshops in an easy-access manner and includes 15 practical exercises.

This report from the Lessons From the Field series presents methods and findings of a participatory evaluation of integrated reproductive health programs in two villages in India, with comparisons to a third village that had no reproductive health programming. The evaluation of the reproductive health component of the Bayalu Seeme Rural Devlopment Society (BSRDS) integrated programme took place in 2001 in the villages of Nellur, Yelenavadgi and Khanapur of the Aland subdistrict of the Gulbarga district south of Karnataka, India. The objectives were to review the reproductive health component of the BSRDS integrated programme to examine impact, outcome and progress; to determine the lessons learned from the application; and to develop capacity of NGO staff for self-evaluation. The evaluation method was integrated and included aspects of womenÆs status, reproductive health, group capacity, organisational capacity, integration, and savings and credit. It involved a comparison village and incorporated quantitative and qualitative methods. The results suggest that there were significant changes in key reproductive health practices; changes in indicators of womenÆs status; loans given by the created womenÆs groups had an impact on the livelihood of ca. a third of the group members; and that the womenÆs groups have developed capacities to effectively implement, monitor and evaluate their activities. It was found that the linkages between the menÆ agriculture groups and the womenÆs groups have been important and that the integrative model appeared cost-effective.

Around the world a growing crisis of legitimacy characterises the relationship between citizens and the institutions that affect their lives. The project of defining, indeed of understanding, citizenship in Nigeria is seen by the authors of this Briefing as an engagement in a journey of disconnection between a primal conception of an indigenous sense of being and the notion of an entity beyond that confine of indigenousness. In response to this gap between citizens and their institutions, people are struggling to find new forms of citizenship, participation and accountability.

Working with communities across Nigeria, the Nigerian Popular Theatre Alliance (NPTA) and its research centre, the Theatre for Development Centre (TFDC) have sought to understand why the country, with vast assets in human and natural resources, remains a nation with millions of people suffering political exclusion, voicelessness and poverty. The research involves academic and civil society institutions in Nigeria, Mexico, Bangladesh, India, Brazil, South Africa and the UK. Through comparative and participatory research, it seeks to explore new forms of citizenship that help make rights real for poor people. This document is the first of the Briefings aimed at highlighting key policy issues for debate and possible action. It includes issues of ethnicity, gender, and religion as well as citizenship rights, government accountability, resource management and required changes in government policy. It was produced in conjunction with the Development Research Centre on Citizenship, Participation and Accountability at IDS, UK.

This consultants report provides a framework for ActionAidÆs fundraising and communications activities in Greece, Ireland, Italy and UK. It examines income, expenditure and profitability; resource allocation and investment; number of supporters; communications and public campaigning; organisational infrastructure; and international fundraising for ActionAid in the four countries.

Research shows that the more resources reach the family through women, the greater the impact on poverty reduction. Therefore, if the main objective is to reduce poverty, CCGD (Collaborative Centre for Gender and Development) of Kenya, argues that there is a need to mainstream gender equity in the budget to ensure that more resources reach the households through women. This paper examines the task of CCGD to ensure that gender is taken on board in the National Economic Policies, e.g. PRSP (Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper) and the subsequent national budgets. The CCGD project of engendering budgetary policies is built on recommendations made at a workshop organised by the CCGD in 1997 where a dialogue between the government and other stakeholders in order to influence budgetary policies and processes to mainstream gender was launched. Since then and after a recommendation from the at the time Director of Planning in the Ministry of Planning and Development to focus where the distribution of resources takes place, women NGOs in Kenya have been concentrating their efforts on the activities of the Ministry of Finance and Planning. For the last three years the project has been implementing the programme on engendering the national budget and economic policies. The paper analyses the project and its implementation and lessons learned, and gives recommendations for the future.

This report by ActionAid shares the experience of Radhamani, a young Indian woman from Orissa, with her community and DISHA, an Indian voluntary organisation. It therefore focuses on the involvement of women in decision-making and the challenges they have encountered. This is part of a larger reflective process undertaken by ActionAid to reach the poorest and most vulnerable people, which hopes to bring about greater accountability to the people with whom they work. The story of Radhamani crystalises the lessons and challenges confronting ActionAidÆs initiative, and presents them in a narrative form.

The article, as part of the special 50th issue of PLA Notes, provides a general reflection on participatory development from a gender perspective and looks to future challenges. The article begins by laying out the case for a focus on gender issues, and then discusses the tensions between gender perspectives and participation. Some of these tensions include the myth of community; space, time and opportunity for participation (these can often be limited or determined by gender roles within a community); gender and policy processes; womenÆs participation and the role of the facilitator or change agent. Some of the achievements in using participatory methods in a gender responsive way include sexual and reproductive health (such as the Stepping Stones program), literacy and adult learning (such as Reflect), and linking the local to the national (such as the Self Employed Women's Association in India). The author also identifies some of the challenges for participatory development if it is to be equitable: it fundamentally has to deal with gender-based oppression. Some of the key points addressed include the impact of liberalization and privatization on women's participation in the public sphere and the linkages and disconnects between individual values and institutional change. Overall, the author highlights, from a personal perspective, some achievements and lessons and discusses the common challenges ahead in the current global context, for advocates of both participatory development and gender equality.