Participatory mapping, commonly used in participatory development, plays an important role in helping marginalised groups by making visible the association between land and local communities, highlighting important social, historical and cultural knowledge as well as presenting geographical feature information. This review is intended to provide a broad background in the use of participatory mapping processes and the range of tools available to practitioners. It is not exhaustive but aims to give readers a greater appreciaion of how participatory mapping has involved from a relatively simplistic participatory rural appraisal (PRA) tool into a community of practice spanning a range of sophisticated technologies and processes. It draws on a number of examples from around the world, with special attention given to projects supported by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), as this organisation commissioned the review. However, it contains useful insights, lessons and pitfalls in both the processes and tools available for participatory mapping.
Useful Resources
This monitoring and evaluation framework is a guide for project implementers to help them develop national monitoring and evaluation plans to monitor and report on progress when implementing mobile messaging programmes for mothers. The key objective of this framework is to ensure that MAMA programme outputs meet the needs of the target population. The indicators presented in this framework can be used to monitor and report on progress in the implementation of the various MAMA initiative components in countries.
Since the World Conference on Social Determinants of Health in Rio de Janeiro last 2011, there has been a surge of interest and commitment among different stakeholders, especially WHO Member States, to addressing the social determinants of health to achieve health equity. In order to support this growing global movement, the Secretariat now launches a newly-revitalised website that captures the considerable body of work done since the launch of the report of the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health in 2008. The website’s contents are more accessible and better organised, and include useful information in three areas. 1. Evidence established by WHO and its partners on the various themes covered by the Commission’s work. 2. Action in terms of WHO programmes and activities that implement the five action areas of the Rio Political Declaration on Social Determinants of Health. 3. Global commitments, including key documents, resolutions, and declarations that express the political commitment of WHO, its Member States, and the global community to the social determinants of health approach.
This guide was developed by amfAR’s MSM Initiative to provide fundraising assistance to community-based organisations that provide HIV-related programs and services for gay men, transgender individuals, and other men who sex with men (MSM) in low- and middle-income countries. In this guide, a number of key questions are answered about external funders, grants, programmes and projects The guide offers information about who is funding MSM/LGBT groups, snapshots of what those grant programmes look like, how to approach funders, and what projects those grant makers have supported in the past. This toolkit goes beyond traditional funders, such as private foundations, and offers information and ideas about other organisations that provide funding to, or partner with, MSM/LGBT groups. Finally, the guide offers general tips on fundraising, from networking to proposal writing, and includes templates to help organisations and activists get started.
Embassies play a vital role in the co-ordination of bilateral and multilateral development efforts. Certain embassies organise and directly implement a funding country bilateral aid (such as the Dutch Embassies). Other external funder countries, such as Germany, manage grant schemes through their diplomatic offices abroad. Embassies could also provide crucial training schemes to support the managerial and administrative capacity of NGO workers (such as the British Embassy) and serve as platforms to get in contact with other local and international NGOs working in the same field of action. This guide takes in account programmes and strategies of five embassies working in developing countries. It illustrates what strategies have been so far implemented, offers ideas on how to engage local embassies on collaborative projects.
The Haki Zetu handbook is a practical toolkit for local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and community-based organisations (CBOs) working with local communities to realise their economic, social and cultural rights. The main target group is rural or local activists and development workers who would like to use a rights-based approach to tackle economic and social problems. The handbook can be used immediately on the ground, to help NGO/CBO workers in their jobs to assist communities secure access to economic, social and cultural rights. It will assist them to better study laws and policies and promote citizens to use them and monitor where they are not being used effectively. This is part 1 of the book.
The Haki Zetu handbook is a practical toolkit for local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and community-based organisations (CBOs) working with local communities to realise their economic, social and cultural rights. The main target group is rural or local activists and development workers who would like to use a rights-based approach to tackle economic and social problems. The handbook can be used immediately on the ground, to help NGO/CBO workers in their jobs to assist communities secure access to economic, social and cultural rights. It will assist them to better study laws and policies and promote citizens to use them and monitor where they are not being used effectively. This is Part 2 of the handbook.
The right to the highest attainable standard of health is a fundamental human right. However, millions of people in Africa do not receive adequate health care. Putting the right to health into practice would allow everyone, regardless of who they are or what health problems they have, to be able to receive help and treatment. Better health would also benefit the economy and society as a whole, argues Amnesty International. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society organisations (CSOs) can make a significant difference by promoting the right to the highest attainable standard of health. NGOs and CSOs have already encouraged governments to realise the right to health and they should continue to do so by monitoring government policies, calling attention to violations of the right to health and empowering communities to participate in realising their right to health. In conjunction with the main handbook (included in this newsletter), this booklet explains how this can be done. The booklet is divided into three sections: Section 1 gives a brief introduction to the right to health and the main issues facing CSOs working on the right to health; Section 2 gives advice on preparing to work on the right to health; and Section 3 is about realising rights in practice.
One of the most powerful ways to visualise information is to display it on a map. You can use the Ushahidi Platform for information collection, visualisation and interactive mapping. It is free for you to download and use and is aimed at activists, news organisations and every-day citizens. It provides information mapping tools that allow you to track your reports on the map and over time. You can filter your data by time and then see when things happened and where, as it's also tied to the map. With multiple data streams, the Ushahidi Platform allows you to easily collect information via text messages, email, twitter and web-forms.
The Joint Learning Network for Universal Health Coverage systematically documents the reforms of its member countries and other countries that have expanded health coverage through demand-side financing. The network has compiled all available data on this website, which contains case studies describing the key highlights and technical features of each programme for each country. This tool allows users to compare health funding mechanisms for various countries, including African countries.