Social sector

Learning from experience in urban programming: the case of SHAHAR Project in Bangladesh

The article offers a reflective analysis of various problems encountered and lessons learned in implementing a programme to improve the livelihood security of the urban poor in Bangladesh. The study is based on the author’s involvement as an external action-research partner and a review of the literature.

Author: 
Rahman, Sanzidur
Page: 
40

Arms sales and development: making the critical connection

This Research Round-up summarises the findings of the 2004 Control Arms Report: Guns or Growth? Assessing the Impact of Arms Sales on Sustainable Development, published by Amnesty International, IANSA, and Oxfam International, in association with Ploughshares and Saferworld.
Author: 
Chanaa, Jane
Page: 
10

An institutional approach to service-provision partnerships in South Asia

Radical approaches to introduce public-private partnerships (PPPs) for infrastructure provision in South Asia have been largely unsuccessful. Yet the region is home to a thriving informal private sector and several regional NGOs have become engaged in efforts to involve communities in improved infrastructure provision. Many line agencies and local authorities have devolved some responsibilities for service delivery to the private sector through small-scale service and management contracts.
Author: 
Taylor, Kevin
Page: 
6

Public service privatisation and crisis in Argentina

This article discusses the privatisation of public services in Argentina in light of the severe crisis that afflicted the country between 1999 and 2002. An inadequate regulatory framework and the absence of effective regulatory agencies resulted in the exercise of monopolistic power over public-service fees. The emergence of a series of external shocks, starting in 1997 with the SE Asia crisis, weakened the country's external accounts.

Author: 
Rodríguez-Boetsch, Leopoldo
Page: 
3

Insider-outsider positions in health-development research: reflections for practice

Recognising that the stance of investigators could make a major impact on the quality and/or interpretation of development-study findings, a small investigation to explore researcher positions and roles was implemented. This was a subsidiary component of a larger health-development study which aimed to explore the evidence base for psychosocial and mental-health policy formulation and implementation in two conflict-affected, low-resourced countries.

Author: 
Blignault, Ilse
Author: 
Bunde-Birouste, Anne
Author: 
Ritchie, Jan
Author: 
Silove, Derrick
Author: 
Zwi, Anthony B
Page: 
120

Urban governance and service delivery in Nigeria

This article examines the inadequate delivery of social services by city governments in Nigeria. It identifies three problems: lack of transparency and accountability in governance; under-qualified staff and administration; and the tenuous relationship (an 'us' versus 'them' dichotomy) between the urban residents and local governments. It can no longer be argued that lack of funds is the key constraint.

Author: 
Omar, Massoud
Page: 
70

Peer education in sexual and reproductive health programming: a Cambodian case study

This article analyses in detail the impact and effectiveness of peer-education projects implemented in Cambodia under the Reproductive Health Initiative for Asia (RHI), in an attempt to provide important lessons for the design and implementation of such interventions and to contribute to the development of best practice.

Author: 
Knibbs, Sarah
Author: 
Price, Neil
Page: 
40

Public resistance to privatisation in water and energy

Since the 1990s, development agencies and international institutions have promoted private-sector involvement in infrastructure, assuming that this would inject both investment and efficiency into the under-performing public sector. In the water and energy sectors, these expectations have not been fulfilled. Private-sector investment in developing countries is falling, multinational companies have failed to make sustainable returns on their investments, and the process of privatisation in water and energy has proved widely unpopular and encountered strong political opposition.
Author: 
de la Motte, Robin
Author: 
Hall, David
Author: 
Lobina Emanuele
Page: 
2

Why does Community-Based Rehabilitation fail physically disabled women in northern Thailand?

Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) has been adopted in many countries to help disabled people. This article analyses the interplay between CBR and the self-alienation of physically disabled women from their communities. In-depth interviews with 40 women with physical disabilities in northern Thailand found that CBR was barely capable of enabling women with physical disabilities to realise their sense of self within their community, because in itself CBR was unable to change the community's false impression of disability.

Author: 
Ahmad, Mokbul Morshed
Author: 
Bualar, Theeraphong
Page: 
30

Business economic impacts: the new frontier for Corporate Accountability

Economic issues associated with poverty are complex and require holistic responses in order to realise the goals of sustainable development. While business alone may have significant economic impacts, the link between business-level behaviour and macro-level development aspirations is unclear.
Author: 
Campbell, Helen
Page: 
12
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