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This Practical Approaches brief highlights key considerations for rapidly appraising burial/funerary practices and beliefs around death/dying during an epidemic. It provides guidance on the relevant social science knowledge required to adapt epidemic preparedness and response to the local context. By using this tool, an overview of local knowledge, meaning and practice will be gained, which… Read more
Ministers of Education face hard choices as they respond to Covid-19. Within the education sector, the main response to this unprecedented crisis has been widespread school closures, with far-reaching ramifications: currently, over 1.4 billion learners (or 82.5% of learners around the world), are now affected, with 156 countries enacting nationwide closures. These closures are clearly… Read more
This policy brief summarizes the key findings from a multi-country sustainability assessment of rural water service delivery models conducted in 2016–17. This assessment used a case-study approach to identify good practices and challenges towards building sector capacity and strengthening sustainable service delivery models for rural areas. It does not focus on the critical planning, design, and… Read more
Agreement on the Sustainable Development Goals signals that early childhood development (ECD) will be a priority focus for the twenty-first century. Explicit mention is made in SDG Target 4.2 which states that by 2030 countries should: ‘ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that… Read more
The world is becoming increasingly urbanised. Over one third of urban dwellers now reside in low-income urban settlements, where living conditions are often inadequate and there are multiple barriers to access to health services for women and girls. Based on six case studies and a thematic review examining women’s and girls’ access to health in low-income… Read more
Food insecurity and poor nutrition remain a problem in many developing countries and can have profound effects on children’s health and their development. The Midday Meal Scheme in India is a programme covering primary school children to improve nutrition as well as increase educational enrolment, retention and attendance. This policy brief examines the effect of… Read more
Mozambique health system reconstruction supports the conclusion that the reconstruction of health systems is mainly “gender blind”. Policy-makers in Mozambique have not adequately considered the role of gender in contributing to health or addressed women’s and men’s different health needs. Despite government commitment to gender mainstreaming, the health system is far from gender equitable. Donors… Read more
This case study highlights that despite the challenges in integrating gender equity concerns into the health system in Timor-Leste, overall, the reform of the health system since conflict ended has benefited women’s health. In some areas, Timor-Leste has achieved some key targets, for example the proportion of births attended by a skilled health worker and… Read more
This case study examines whether health system reconstruction in northern Uganda has promoted equality and created a health system that is gender equitable. Measuring the health system against the World Health Organization’s six health system building blocks, the case study highlights that northern Uganda needs a post-conflict recovery plan which is sensitive to gender concerns…. Read more
Sierra Leone is almost at the bottom in the Human Development Index, ranking 180th out of 187 countries. There is significant gender inequality where a mere 23% of women are literate, half the rate among men, while domestic violence is widespread. In addition, infectious diseases such as malaria, TB and HIV/ AIDS are the leading… Read more
A common assumption is that strengthening the health system will automatically lead to better health for men and women. However, health systems are not neutral: they reflect gender norms, and as such, can reinforce gender inequalities and discrimination. Health system reform has largely paid little attention to how health service integration, human resource policies, information… Read more