Resources

This article discusses CARE's experiences with involving youth through participatory research on sexual and reproductive health in Zambia. The research findings indicate that adolescents have incomplete, inaccurate and distorted information on sex and reproduction. CARE acted on the findings and implements adolescent and sexual health programmes in shanty towns. The authors opine that adolescent sexual behaviour has serious implications and there is a need for extensive interventions.

A report of developing a sexual health training pack with low-literacy youth who are attached to religious groups. The authors question the use and efficacy of participatory methods to facilitate information collection and analysis for producing a manual by tracing their experiences which saw the youth group opting for the use of drama instead of PRA tools and setting the agenda for the development of the manual. The article ends with a series of questions for reflection about facilitation in the participatory process.

This article recounts the experiences with the three year action-research pilot project called Living for Tomorrow which focuses on HIV prevention from a gender perspective. The Nordic Institute for Women's Studies and Gender Research (NIKK), coordinates the project aimed for people from countries belonging to the former Soviet Union. The author shows how the project works with young people in Estonia to address gender issues in a subtle way through the use of films, theatre, participatory drama and other mixed media.

This article describes the evaluation of a reproductive health project in which the external evaluator's main role was to identify the project's information gaps and to propose an evaluation methodology. The Adolescent Reproductive Health Education Project has been working with secondary school students in Zimbabwe since 1997, and in 1998 produced a reproductive health pack called "Auntie Stella". This evaluation took place a year later. The article describes the methodologies used (which included a logical framework and questionnaires), the positive qualities of the evaluation, to what extent the evaluation was participatory, how the concept of defection worked, and issues around affordability and shortcuts. It finishes with comments from the staff "with hindsight", and conclusions.

This is a set of locally adaptable resources for communities working with orphans and vulnerable children in Africa. They are based on the experience of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, its partners and other organisations. The briefing notes for working with children are organised into an overview and five sections: Education; Health and nutrition; Psychosocial support; Social inclusion; and Economic strengthening. Each briefing note provides issues and principles for guiding strategy, while drawing on best practice from programme experience. Each can be used alongside a Participatory Adaptation Guide, which will help organisations and community members, including children, to adapt these principles and strategies to their own local situation. These briefing notes have been developed through a highly participatory process, guided by an international advisory board (in collaboration with participants from Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Mali, Mozambique, Angola etc.). These briefing notes are divided into four sections: Introduction, with an overview that explains why programmes need to strengthen the skills and resources of families and communities to cope with the impacts of HIV/AIDS; Issues, with an outline of the impact of HIV/AIDS on children; Principles, with guidelines for programmes aimed at strengthening the coping capacity of vulnerable children, families and communities; and Strategies, with possible ways of taking action to strengthen support for orphans and vulnerable children. The full text document can be found on http://www.aidsalliance.org/building_blocks.htm or http://www.eldis.org/ and is available in English, French and Portuguese children, Africa, HIV, AIDS, training manual, orphans, health, sexual health, child care, coping strategies

As part of the 50th issue of PLA Notes, this article provides an introductory overview of both critical reflections as well as future directions of participatory learning and action. The articles compiled in the 50th edition speak from personal analyses and experiences. This article describes the process and products of a writeshop, held at IDS, where the participants came up with a timeline of participatory development based on their experiences. The main themes identified then formed the basis for the articles in this special issue of PLA Notes, including literacy, adult education and empowerment; participatory communications; sexual and reproductive health and well-being; gender and development; children's participation; agriculture, livestock and fisheries; people-centred approaches for natural resource management; urban participatory development; participation and well-being; monitoring and evaluation; advocacy, citizenship and rights; participatory processes in the North; governance and democracy; and critical reflections from practice. Several crosscutting themes also emerged, such as the evolution or participatory discourse; sharing learning and best practice between the South and the North; recognizing the political significance of participation, democratization and issues of power; scaling-up and institutionalizing participatory approaches; the continuing importance of critical reflection and participatory monitoring and evaluation; and the links between working at the local, national and international levels. After identifying these themes, the article goes on to briefly introduce and summarise each of the articles in this special issue. The article concludes with a hope that readers of PLA Notes continue to send in critical reflections and examples of innovations and best practices.