Helpdesk Reports
This report provides a global selection of case studies providing evidence of approaches to the design of basic education interventions by aid agencies. In keeping with the request, the scope of the report focuses as far as possible on outcome-driven approaches, and includes an analysis of any evidence of programmatic responsiveness to need and context…. Read more
With 2.1 billion people – mostly in rural areas – lacking safely managed drinking water and reported low rural water supply functionality rates, the Sustainable Development Goals pose a triple challenge: to reach unserved mostly rural population groups, to raise service levels, and to sustain existing and future services. This assessment uses a multi-country case… Read more
This publication asks, what happens when a humanitarian crisis with political roots interacts with a humanitarian crisis induced by environmental disaster? Focusing on Sri Lanka and Indonesia, countries that were dealing with complex upheavals long before the 2004 tsunami struck, this publication shows how the storm shifted the goals of international aid, altered relations among and… Read more
This report is a summary of an extensive evaluation undertaken by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) of its response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. It focuses on Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Maldives — countries that had the most serious damage and received 84 per cent of UNICEF tsunami country-level funds. The evaluation mainly… Read more
This study focuses on institutional autonomy and the role it plays in governance and management towards enhancing the overall effectiveness of higher education systems. It addresses in particular the effect of autonomy on academic programmes, staff appointments, student admissions, administration, and financing. The study is based on case studies taken from five countries in Asia:… Read more
Increasing costs of running educational institutions and funding educational programs, coupled with decreasing government subsidies to support such costs, have made privatisation and marketisation of higher education a common phenomenon throughout the world. The article presents the development of this trend in Indonesia utilizing two recent government regulations: Badan Hukum Milik Negara (BHMN/State Owned Legal… Read more
Higher education in South East Asia stems from different historical backgrounds and has undergone various kinds of challenges and various stages of development. The rapid expansion of student enrolment, the knowledge explosion, advances in information and communication technology, globalization, economic restructuring, and financial constraints have all contributed to higher education reforms in these countries and… Read more
Dr Miriam Taegtmeyer and Dr Sally Theobald from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine recently gave a presentation to DFID advisors on understanding and developing the role of close-to-community providers of health care in preventing, diagnosing, and treating major illnesses and health conditions in rural and urban areas in Africa and Asia. They outlined findings to… Read more
Gradients across socio-economic position exist for many measures of children’s health and development in higher-income countries. These associations may not be consistent, however, among the millions of children living in lower- and middle-income countries. Our objective was to examine child development and growth in young children across socio-economic position in four developing countries. We used… Read more
A review of recent research was conducted to assemble evidence on the impact that Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI) may have on improving student learning outcomes. IRI is an instructional tool designed to deliver a family of active learning packages via radio broadcast using a dual-audience approach. IRI exposes students to regular, curriculum-based learning content while… Read more
The authors extend the standard concept of static benefit incidence to dynamic benefit incidence––the relationship between programme benefits and changes in household expenditures. Using panel data this paper compares the static and dynamic benefit incidence of two programmes: sales of subsidised rice targeted on administrative criteria and a set of public employment schemes based on… Read more