Resources

This book is a summary of the findings of a decade of research on poverty in Zambia which has used a range of participatory research tools. Its objective is to represent the perceptions and analyses of poor people concerning their situation. It does this through analysis of the following areas: livelihoods, health, education, and institutions. It also does this by means of a compilation of policy-related insights from participatory research which applied and evolved techniques, both verbal and visual. These shed light on poor people's livelihoods and means of coping, and on health services and conditions, education, community-level participation, and other areas. Some of the findings of the research include: the pervasive significance of seasonality; the bad behaviour and attitudes of many health service providers and teachers; the abuse and discrimination suffered by many orphans; time and energy poverty of poor households due to working for other people. Overall, the book demonstrates that participatory methods can help establish a commitment among all actors in the development process, and this improves the value of the interventions.

This working paper details a new community-led approach to sanitation in Bangladesh. Access to latrines in rural areas is less than 15 per cent. Despite many agencies having been involved in the provision of subsidised latrines and toilets over the last three decades very few villages are totally sanitised. This new approach concentrates on empowering local people to analyse the extent and risk of environmental pollution caused by open defecation, and to construct toilets without any external subsidies. The Paper details the background to the work, the process of participatory total community sanitation, the impact of the project, it's national and international spread, how it differs from other sanitation programmes and limits to the approach. Finally it provides a list of recommendations, which have implications for policy makers and require institutional change. This project has had a huge impact: open defecation had been stopped in over 400 villages in Bangladesh and the methodology is being adopted in parts of India and elsewhere in Asia and Africa.

This book brings together a wide range of innovative examples from around the world in the sexual and reproductive health field. It intends to create new space for dialogue, and offer strategies for change that can help realise sexual and reproductive rights. Whilst sexual and reproductive well-being has gained recognition as a basic right, and is enshrined in international law, the reality on the ground is different as society, health programmes and aid agencies remain entrenched in old ways. The examples presented in this volume offer insights into ways to realize these rights and transform these realities. In addition, all the examples emphasise the need to engage women, men and youth more directly in determining pathways to change, as well as highlighting both the complexities and the possibilities of making rights real.

This paper explores the use of Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) amongst drug users in northern Myanmar/Burma. This is an extremely disabling environment in which there is little capacity to develop a multifaceted approach. The prevailing intervention paradigms are summarised as: demand reduction, supply reduction, harm reduction, drug user treatment, and a new paradigm of participatory development. The paper finds that there has been insufficient validation of the use of PLA methods amongst extremely socially excluded groups, but that the approach can enable participants to look realistically at their environmental limitations.

The Uganda Participatory Poverty Assessment Process (UPPAP) is an initiative of the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (MFPED). Its overall aim is to bring the voices and perspectives of poor people into policy formulation, planning and implementation by central and local governments. A first participatory poverty assessment (PPA1) was carried out in 1998/99 in 36 research sites in nine districts. Its findings were used to inform policymaking. This book details the second PPA (PPA2) which has now been implemented, with two main aims: to deepen the understanding of poverty and poverty trends gained in the first PPA; and to investigate people's experiences with selected government policies. Research was carried out in 60 research sites in 12 districts. Work was undertaken in three phases, or 'cycles', between November 2001 and May 2002. The research was undertaken by seven partner organisations - NGOs or research institutions - working with local researchers, usually from the district administrations, and the overall coordinating and implementing agency was Oxfam GB. The book includes sections on: the Uganda participatory poverty assessment process; poverty, vulnerability and poverty trends; livelihoods and the plan for the modernisation of agriculture; environment and poverty; health and poverty; water and sanitation; education; taxation; and good governance and poverty reduction.

This report documents the development of a project by the International Community of Women living with HIV/AIDS (ICW) encouraging HIV positive women in Zimbabwe to share and document their own experiences of living with HIV, particularly in relation to their sexual and reproductive health and needs. They wanted to lead their own research, own the process and gain skills to advocate for their own health and that of their families and communities. This project was seen as a model of partnership between positive women and researchers; positive women and those who are negative or untested; and positive women and community leaders and health care workers. The participants in the study showed that an HIV diagnosis has an impact on every aspect of women's lives and that there is a great need for emotional, medical, financial and social support in order for families and communities to better cope with the impact of HIV. The report particularly highlights the importance of peer support and coming together in groups to share experiences, build confidence and learn from one another.