News, Blogs and Events

Outcome Mapping Training Workshop

Outcome Mapping for Programme and Project Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation

 25th to  27th August 2014, and 17th to 19th November 2014.

Accra, Ghana

The Institute for Development Practice and Management (IDPM) of PDA Ghana is hosting two 3-day workshops to introduce the basic principles of Outcome Mapping, and how they can be applied to the planning, monitoring and evaluation of development projects and programmes.  The training is designed for programme managers, desk officers and field staff from CSO’s NGOs, funding agencies and national and international development organisations looking for effective ways to address the dynamics of change in the complex environments in which they work. Both workshops will be held at the Paloma Hotel, Kokomlemle, Accra, Ghana: for more information visit the IDPM website.

Women in Politics: gender, power and development

A new book from Mariz TadrosBook cover showing title

Women the world over are being prevented from engaging in politics. Women’s political leadership of any sort is a rarity and a career in politics rarer still. We have, however, begun to understand what it takes to create an enabling environment for women’s political participation.

In this pioneering collection, writers from Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East are brought together for the first time to talk explicitly about women’s participation in the political scene across the global South. Answering such questions as how women can get political apprenticeship opportunities, how these opportunities translate into the pursuit of a political career, and how these pursuits then influence the kind of political platform women advocate once in power, Women in Politics is essential reading for anyone interested in what it means to engage politically. Published by Zed Books and available from the IDS Bookshop.

Designing Inclusive Targets for a Post-2015 Agenda

A new IDS Policy Briefing by Danny Burns and Clare Gorman

After the MDGs logoTackling extreme poverty and marginalisation alongside rising and intersecting inequalities must be a priority for the post-2015 agenda.  As country representatives at the United Nations undertake the difficult task of agreeing the next steps towards a final framework, a focus on the three key areas including improving livelihoods and pro-poor infrastructure development; increasing opportunities for participation and citizen action and tackling discriminatory social norms is critical if the final targets are to be transformative for the poorest and most marginalised people. This Policy Briefing examines these focus areas and provides some policy recommendations.

Ndenzeni - What have I done?

A powerful digital story from South Africa

What is life like for a twelve-year old boy born HIV+ who loses his family members one by one, is stigmatised by his community and drops out of school?  “Ndenzeni - What have I done?” is a digital story about a boy left to fend for himself in a Cape Town township, told through the eyes of his neighbour Cebisa Fubesi.   As a participant of a Digital Storytelling workshop, Cebisa asked to tell her own story about her neighbour: in it she powerfully conveys the prevalence of discrimination alongside a lack of support and comfort available to children orphaned due to HIV/AIDS.

Making Development Inclusive: The Workshop 2014

Logo for the Workshop

The 18th Praxis International Commune On Participatory Development: The Workshop 2014, Bengaluru, India, 8-15 September 2014.

The commune is an annual residential workshop that brings together development workers, policy makers and proactive individuals from across the world to share information and experiences as well as keep themselves abreast of the latest in the field of participatory development. It provides a theoretical understanding of participatory methods and the opportunity to apply them in the field.
 
The modules on offer this year include: Advocacy, Campaign & Networking, Community Mobilisation,Corporate Social Responsibility and Community Development,Participatory Communication, Participatory Creation Of Urban Safe Spaces For Children,Participatory Methods and Approaches,Participatory Planning,Monitoring & Evaluation: Focus On Sustainability, Public Accountability. 

Visit www.theworkshop.in
Call Stanley at +91-44-26612876

Participate Proposal for post-2015 targets

A new briefing paper from the Participate Initiative

The Participate Initiative provides high quality evidence on the reality of poverty at ground level, bringing the perspectives of the poorest into the post-2015 debate.  In 2013, the initiative carried out a synthesis of studies conducted by the Participate Participatory Research Group (PRG) in 29 countries. This synthesis, presented in the ‘Work with us’ report, draws out the patterns of change that emerged from people’s accounts of their own experiences of moving in or out of poverty and marginalisation. This briefing Paper summarises the areas of focus that emerged from this work which include: leave no one behind; livelihoods and pro-poor infrastructure development; participation and citizen action; and tackle discriminatory norms.  To gain a deeper insight into this work read Danny Burn’s recent blog “Participate’s proposal for Post-2015 targets that respond to the realities of poor and marginalised people”


Speaking Volumes: Stories of people living with HIV

Come and curl up with a living book!picture of inside of book

 Speaking Volumes is an organisation working with people living with HIV to give them a voice and an opportunity to share their experience of life with the condition.  Using digital storytelling, this project has enabled the voices of the often hidden, stigmatised and marginalised to be heard.  Initiated by Alice Booth it has been funded by the Big Lottery, Pink Fringe and Brighton and Hove City Council.  An exhibition of the resulting digital books is on display at the Jubilee Library, Brighton, UK from 8th April to 8th June 2014.  The stories are also on the Speaking Volumes website so they can be heard all over the world.  For more information contact Alice Booth: alice@speakingvolumesproject.org

Into the Unknown:explorations in development practice

A new book from Robert Chambers      Into the Unknown cover picture

As change accelerates, development professionals find themselves more than ever explorers of an unknown and unknowable future.  This brings opportunities, excitement and surprises, and demands continuous critical reflection and learning.  In the opening part of this book, Robert Chambers reviews his own life, including his early career, participation in the World Bank’s Voice of the Poor project and research and engagement in South Asia on canal irrigation.  These experiences led him to examine personal biases and predispositions, and to recognize the pervasive significance of power in forming and framing knowledge.

Participatory Monitoring & Evaluation Workshop

July 21-26, 2014.  University of Ottawa, Canada.                                                                                                                                                                Monitoring and Evaluation is a vital management tool. Communities, organizations and funders need to know how effective their efforts have been. But, a key question being asked is "Who should make these judgments, and on what basis?". Too often, it is outside "experts" who are completing the report card primarily to fulfill an accountability function for the funding organization. Participatory monitoring and evaluation (PM&E) is a different approach involving a wide range of stakeholders deciding together about how to measure results and what actions should follow. This six-day workshop is set in the community to maximize learning, group interaction and networking.

Pages