Blogs
This blog originally appeared on the Open University website and is reposted with their permission Measures to control the current pandemic impact more heavily on everyone whose access to internet and digital technologies is limited. But in some countries, the impact can be particularly devastating, says Anna Colom. The COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on the inequalities in access to the… Read more
In 2017 the Canadian IDRC concluded a six-year programme supporting research organisations in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lebanon, Peru and Vietnam in the development and testing of solutions to strengthen health systems through information technology. The programme under the title ‘Strengthening Equity through Applied Research Capacity building in eHealth’ (SEARCH) set out four objectives:… Read more
Between 2013 and 2017, Education Development Trust designed and delivered a large-scale education reform programme in Kenya, intended to improve the life chances of some particularly disadvantaged girls. This was funded by the UK government Department for International Development (DFID) as part of the UK global Girls’ Education Challenge (GEC) Step Change programmes. Education Development Trust called their project ‘Wasichana Wote Wasome’ (WWW); Kiswahili for ‘let all girls… Read more
Kenya has some of the highest rates of maternal and neonatal mortality in the world at 360/100,000 and 22/1,000 live births respectively. Translated into numbers – this equates to about 7000 maternal deaths and 29,000 neonatal deaths per year in Kenya. The DFID-funded Reducing Maternal and Neonatal Death in Kenya programme aims to reduce mortality… Read more
Based on the lessons that emerged from the UN Millennium Development Goals and the Education for All movement 2000–2015, there is now a global consensus that universal school enrolment is necessary but not sufficient for children to learn. This report captures what might be learnt from a selection of the world’s most interesting examples of technology-assisted in-service professional development in lower-income countries… Read more
This annual review summary sheet captures the headlines on programme performance, agreed actions and learning over the course of the review period (2016/2017) for the Reducing Maternal and Neonatal Deaths in Kenya programme. The programme is implemented by three core partners: i) the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) is scaling up training in Emergency… Read more
This Second-Stage Report follows an initial scoping study (the ‘Inception Report’) and is intended to provide the Department for International Development (DFID) with support for the 2018 launch of its Education Technology Hub for Research and Innovation. This report seeks to provide actionable understanding of the EdTech ‘landscape’ in seven focal countries: Bangladesh, India, Jordan,… Read more
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
In early 2017, WSUP commissioned a situation analysis of urban sanitation services in Bangladesh, Ghana and Kenya, in order to identify potential research areas as part of the DFID-funded Urban Sanitation Research Initiative. Here, Goufrane Mansour (Aguaconsult, lead expert for the study) and Sam Drabble (WSUP, Research and Evaluation Manager) reflect on common findings across the three… Read more
Country-led political and financial commitments to nutrition goals are widely recognized as critical to reducing malnutrition at scale. This report seeks to examine the relationship between country-level nutrition policy, implementation leadership, donor support and coordination, and nutrition outcomes at a national or subnational level. The analysis focuses on reducing the prevalence of stunting in countries… Read more
This report, part of WSUP’s Urban Sanitation Research Initiative, explores the background to the urban sanitation sector in Kenya. Kenya is one of Africa’s top 10 economies, experiencing strong urban growth amid deep institutional and governance reforms. However, a minority of urban residents use improved sanitation facilities as per the JMP definition, while wastewater treatment… Read more