Assignment Reports
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
The ongoing conflict in Syria has taken a devastating toll on the education system; the impact on infrastructure, personnel, resourcing and student attendance is well documented. New DFID-funded research focuses on children’s learning and their exposure to trauma to build a picture of early primary education in opposition-held areas. In combining data on academic performance… Read more
In South Sudan the DFID Integrated Case Management Programme (ICCM) was initiated in April 2013 to complement the Global Fund home management of malaria for children under 5 years of age. It allows treatment of additional childhood illnesses including pneumonia, diarrhoea and severe acute malnutrition by community based distributors at the household level. This is… Read more
The already weak health care delivery sector in Sierra Leone has been further overburdened with the Ebola outbreak. All efforts made towards strengthening the health system and working towards providing equitable access to healthcare for all has suffered a major setback. The Ebola outbreak has further highlighted the gaps in the health system namely lack… Read more
Diseases such as Ebola highlight the importance of a holistic focus on health systems, as opposed to assuming that health is the preserve and concern of health professionals alone. This was the lesson Uganda learnt very quickly in managing the Ebola outbreak in 2001. Until the current epidemic in West Africa, Uganda held the unfortunate… Read more
Increasingly, policies are being put in place by governments to identify and provide services to parents who are seen as needing additional support in fulfilling their parenting roles. Such policies can be justified on the basis of young children’s rights as well as the accumulating evidence that many problems of development, behaviour and mental health in… Read more
In 2003, the government of Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva launched a comprehensive program to stimulate growth and social progress. On the social side, the centerpiece was a sweeping reform of Brazil’s social safety net, the Bolsa Familia Program (BFP), which integrated four cash transfer programs into a single program under the umbrella of a… Read more
The social policy of the Mexican Government is aimed to improve human development and wellbeing among Mexicans through the development of their capacities in health, education and nutrition, in order to promote equality and overcome poverty. Oportunidades is one of the core axes of Mexican policy, and in 2012 is benefiting 5.8 million families. Other… Read more
The Health and Education Advice and Resource Team (HEART) was contracted to undertake the first Annual Programme Review (APR) of the DFID-funded Ghana Malaria Prevention, Diagnosis and Data Programme. This review was undertaken between 24 July and 20 August 2014 by a team of two external consultants. The Review Terms of Reference (TOR) posed questions… Read more
This MQSUN Research Summary is based on a systematic review of complementary feeding interventions for prevention of undernutrition. Complementary feeding for infants refers to the timely introduction of safe and nutritional foods in addition to breast-feeding. These foods are typically provided to children from 6 to 24 months of age. It has been suggested that… Read more
This MQSUN Briefing describes lessons learnt and implications from a MQSUN assignment which main objective was to analyze the research and policy challenges for improving nutrition governance in a context of state fragility. Efforts to strengthen government commitment to reduce under nutrition in Fragile and Conflict Affected States (FCAS) face a number of context specific… Read more