Sector social

Needs assessments of adults and children in households affected by HIV/AIDS in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa indicate that food provision is a critical support area which has been neglected in mitigation interventions. This paper looks at practical options for targeting food aid within a development framework, using Zambia as a case country.

Stepping Stones is a training package on HIV/AIDS, gender, communication, and relationship skills designed both for use in existing HIV/AIDS projects and more generally. Narrating her experience of a training of trainers programme in India, the author explores the possibilities and challenges of using this as a means of integrating gender into HIV/AIDS projects.

Con frecuencia las principales barreras para mejorar la salud de la mujer se encuentran enraizadas en factores socio-económicos, legales y culturales. A las mujeres les es generalmente asignado un estatus de subordinación en términos de poder económico, de toma de decisiones y de opciones de educación, trabajo y familia. Las leyes nacionales en general restringen o prohíben su igualdad y su opción dentro de una sociedad. Por lo tanto la mejora de la salud reproductiva no es sólo una cuestión de efectivas intervenciones, sino también de justicia social y de derechos humanos.

El concepto 'construcción de la paz' es una expresión en boga en las corrientes principales de la política y la praxis del desarrollo. Ultimamente se ha dado mucha importancia a las herramientas para gestionar la construcción de la paz y para medir su 'eficacia', mientras que se han dejado de lado y se han despolitizado interrogantes cruciales sobre las causas que subyacen tras la violencia y los conflictos.

El término 'protección social' se ha utilizado ampliamente en todo el mundo pero a menudo se presta a confusiones por considerarse sinónimo de 'seguro social'. Este ensayo analiza los numerosos términos que han ingresado al idioma de la protección social y advierte que la imagen asociada con un término podría no ser igual a su significado real.

Este ensayo establece conclusiones preliminares que surgieron tras solicitar a las élites lugareñas su apoyo para un programa de BRAC cuyo objetivo es apoyar a mujeres en extrema pobreza de las áreas rurales de Bangladesh. El ensayo describe los orígenes, los objetivos y la operación de este programa que otorga apoyos para los ingresos y activos productivos a las personas en extrema pobreza.

Several decades of development experience have yielded a wealth of findings about the key assumptions, procedures, and practices by which women have been marginalised in development planning. The value of these insights lies not only in highlighting flawed planning procedures, but also in helping to formulate alternative frameworks for thinking about development.

In current armed conflicts around the world, over 90 per cent of casualties are civilians. This article reviews medical and anthropological evidence of the psychosocial effects of extreme experiences such as torture, mutilation, rape, and the violent displacement of communities. The consequences for women and children are considered in particular. The author argues that the social development programmes of NGOs should be extended to support social networks and institutions in areas of conflict, and ends by giving guidelines for mental health promoters working in traumatised communities.

How is primary health care (PHC) to be funded in a climate of economic recession? The authors survey the financial implications of the Alma Ata Declaration of 1978 and the Bamako Initiative of 1987. They draw on a survey of over 100 Oxfam-funded health projects to assess four methods of PHC funding and their impact on the poorest users: charges for treatment, revolving drugs funds, personal insurance schemes, and income-generating projects. This article also appears in the Development in Practice Reader Development for Health.

Pastoralism in Sudan has produced complex and varied livestock management systems, finely adapted to local environmental conditions. The isolation of pastoral communities has made it difficult for development agencies to form working relationships with them, and mistakes have been made when donors attempted to introduce unsuitable breeds and crops. The author advocates post-drought restocking with camels because of their high tolerance of drought and low susceptibility to disease, and with goats, which are not labour-intensive and reproduce at a fast rate.