Civil society

Editorial (22.2)

Development in Practice prides itself in being one of the most international of development journals, based on both authorship and readership. To reinforce our commitment to this international participation we are pleased to announce that our editorial team will now be strengthened by a group of regionally based contributing editors, who will provide a perspective on the key development issues, authors, and publications from those regions.

Author: 
Pratt, Brian
Page: 
141

Volunteering in the developing world: the perceived impacts of Canadian youth

Volunteers who travel abroad on short-term (three- to six-month) assignments represent a growing trend in international development work. Many of the short-term volunteers abroad employ funds earmarked for poverty alleviation and development. This article examines the perceived impacts of international volunteering in the developing world of 50 Canadian youth. The findings demonstrate an awareness of modest and, at times, negative effects in international development.

Author: 
Tiessen, Rebecca
Author: 
Heron, Barbara
Page: 
44

Editorial (22.1)

The world is standing at a major point in its history as I write, with European politicians still deliberating as to how a deepening of the international economic crisis will be averted or at least mitigated. The longer term implications for developing and emerging economies cannot yet be known. At one level we may see a major change in the emphasis of development aid, as well as priorities within developing countries as the demand-led consumer boom falters, but new opportunities arise in those countries still maintaining their economic growth.

Author: 
Pratt, Brian
Page: 
1

Youth organisations as learning organisations: exploring special contributions and challenges

Youth and youth organisations are becoming valuable development partners, but little knowledge about their characteristics as learning organisations exists. This article presents perceptions of youth workers on this topic. These were gathered via an online survey and through research done by a youth network. Knowledge, skills and attitudes for active citizenship are facilitated by youth organisations as emergent learning spaces where peer-to-peer learning and experiential methods are central.

Author: 
Del Felice, Celina
Author: 
Solheim, Lillian
Page: 
94

HIV/AIDS prevention: building on community strengths in Ajegunle, Lagos

This paper builds upon field research in Ajegunle, Nigeria, which suggests that effective HIV/AIDS prevention requires a much higher degree of independent community participation. In exploring ways to achieve this, we suggest that assessing community strengths provides positive scope for understanding and utilising a much wider variety of HIV/AIDS responses which have not been previously used in the context of community development. Community-based approaches also encourage a deeper understanding of locally-specific vulnerability issues that surround HIV and AIDS.

Author: 
Iyiani, Christian
Author: 
Binns, Tony
Author: 
Shannon, Pat
Page: 
80

Integrating learning into organisational capacity development of Cambodian NGOs

A holistic learning approach to organisational capacity building with Cambodian NGOs produced impressive results in some organisations and important learning about blocks to change in others. The approach clearly demonstrates that moving beyond traditional training and organisational development interventions and into processes that promote learning and its integration into everyday work practices has positive and lasting impacts.

Author: 
Pearson, Jenny
Page: 
37

Editorial (21.8)

As we come to an end of 2011, will the year mark a historical turning point for international development as we know it, or will this corner not be reached for a couple of years yet? The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) international summit was held at the end of 2010, yet in reviewing this summit it is not clear that much has really changed. Many donors are still keen to support the MDGs through to target point of 2015, but most are following plans already laid out in their existing budgets.

Author: 
Pratt, Brian
Page: 
35

Making aid effective at the community level: the AMREF experience

Effective use of donor aid is critical in achieving the sixth Millennium Development Goal –reversing the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2015. The Paris Declaration of 2005 identified five key principles for aid effectiveness: ownership, alignment, harmonisation, mutual accountability and managing for results. As civil society organisations play a critical role in implementing HIV/AIDS interventions, it is important that they adhere to these principles. Often, however, they fail to implement interventions conforming with the principles, leading to duplication and inefficiency.

Author: 
Ojakaa, David
Author: 
Okoth, Elizabeth
Author: 
Wangila, Sam
Author: 
Ndirangu, Meshack
Author: 
Mwangi, Naomi
Author: 
Ilako, Festus
Page: 
1000

Identity and learning in international volunteerism: ‘Sport for Development and Peace’ internships

Young sportspersons now serve abroad within the ‘Sport for Development and Peace’ (SDP) movement. Drawing on interviews with former interns from Commonwealth Games Canada's Canadian Sports Leadership Corps programme, this study explored what interns brought to, and learnt from, international SDP service. Interns confronted notions of expertise and privilege and, in some cases, considered the limits of Northern development stewardship.

Author: 
Darnell, Simon C.
Page: 
974

NGOs and post-violence community development: holistic, multi-track ventures in Afghanistan

This article explores the interview narratives of six NGO directors working in Afghanistan regarding the holistic and multi-track nature of their NGO's project work. Data analysis revealed that NGO leaders believed that effective NGO project work relies extensively on purposeful coordination with other NGOs, and is dependent on non-NGO actors such as the military, the UN, local government structures, and local organisations. However, working in proximity with international military forces posed special challenges for NGOs in Afghanistan.

Author: 
Thiessen, Chuck
Page: 
930
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