Are reproductive health and HIV prevention outcomes for young people better when a project makes an explicit effort to involve community members? This briefing paper summarises the findings of a range of studies that have sought to investigate this question. Most evaluations reviewed identify positive effects including empowerment of participants, increased sustainability, greater acceptance of the initiative, and improved knowledge and attitudes. However, while studies that compared programmes that involved communities with standard programmes found these positive effects, some noted little or no differences in young people’s behaviour. The paper also provides references and links to resources on community involvement and youth reproductive health and HIV prevention.
Governance and participation in health
Care of the mentally ill in Botswana is provided at different levels of coverage and sophistication. There is a single mental hospital in the country. Attached to the district hospitals are psychiatric outpatient clinics run by psychiatric nurses and a psychiatrist who visits them on monthly basis. Mental health care in Botswana has gone through a paradigm shift, from the prepenal years, penal years and institutional to community based care, which reflects a philosophy of citizen involvement and collaboration. The purpose of this article is to provide an insight into the developmental trends in community mental health care in Botswana. Different approaches are discussed and the opportunities that have emanated from them.
Severe acute malnutrition remains a major killer of children under five years of age. Until recently, treatment has been restricted to facility based approaches, greatly limiting its coverage and impact. New evidence suggests, however, that large numbers of children with severe acute malnutrition can be treated in their communities without being admitted to a health facility or a therapeutic feeding centre.
This paper in Globalisation and Health assesses progress in the development of a global framework for responding to non-communicable diseases, as reflected in the policies and initiatives of the World Health Organization (WHO), World Bank and the UN. Responding to the global burden of chronic disease requires an assessment of the global processes that are likely to be most effective in generating commitment to policy change at country level. The paper assesses the merits of the Millennium Development Goals and the WHO framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), and considers that lessons might be learned for enhancing the implementation of the Global Strategy on Diet.
Capacity strengthening of rural communities, and the actors that support them, is needed to enable them to lead their own malaria control programmes. The existing capacity of a rural community in western Kenya was evaluated in preparation for a larger intervention. The study shows that culturally sensitive but evidence-based education interventions, utilising participatory tools, are urgently required which consider traditional beliefs and enable understanding of causal connections between mosquito ecology, parasite transmission and the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease.
This paper presents findings from a survey of a section of Tanzanian NGOs on their perceptions of their relationships with the government and donors, and their views on their roles and impacts on poverty reduction and development. Key findings of the study indicate that the relationship between NGOs and the government of Tanzania is expanding and improving, characterised by increased communication, interaction and trust. NGOs' relations with donors are seen by respondents as cordial and smooth, but with further probing, numerous frustrations were evident. NGOs view donors as more powerful than the government and the government often sees civil society as a competitor for resources. Despite many barriers, most NGOs felt their organisations have a largely positive impact on policy.
President of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CONGO) Renate Bloem said that without the active engagement of civil society organizations (CSOs) the chances of African countries to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is minimal. Addressing the African Civil Society Forum 2007 held at the United Nations Conference Centre under the theme "Democratizing Governance at Regional and Global Level to meet the Millennium Development Goals" yesterday, she said that civil societies need to give their unconditional support to sustainable development with a view to exerting maximum effort to achieve MDGs by 2015.
Mayors from eastern and southern Africa who met in Harare recently have recommended that municipalities should work with ratepayers to develop participatory budgets. The concept of participatory budgeting is an annual process of democratic decision-making in which ordinary city residents and other stakeholders decide how to allocate part of a municipal budget.
Members of civil society organizations in Zimbabwe have expressed concern that the on going negotiations on Economic Partnership Agreement (EPAs) are complex without clear outcomes and are between two unequal parties. they have outlined in a position paper areas of concern relating to trade imbalances, agriculture, health service liberalisation and intellectual property rights. the organisations thus call for EU member states to listen to and act upon the concerns of ACP countries, and for African governments to put the needs of the people above those of the markets.
Social Movements and Human Rights Organisations marched from the Library Gardens to the Constitutional Court in Braamfontein. Formed in 2002, the Social Movements Indaba (SMI) and its affiliates have been at the center of struggle for reclaiming human rights as entrenched in the constitution of the country. The SMI and other organisations affiliated took part in a nation-wide protest in support of the demands for housing, land, water, electricity, HIV treatment and health care, jobs and a positive contribution to the human rights of people suffering in neighbouring countries and around the world.