News, Blogs and Events

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.

Young Advocates for Change

26th July to 2nd August 2014, Switzerland

Initiatives of Change in partnership with the Child to Child Trust and Universal Education Foundation present the second edition of CATS: Children as Actors for Transforming Society.  This conference provides a space where children, young people and adults live, learn and work together as equal partners in transforming society.  Over six days, the beautiful venue of Caux Palace (Switzerland) will become a meeting point for a global community of advocates for the rights and well-being of children.

IDS short film is shown at London Feminist Film Festival while being viewed over 1000 times an hour on Vimeo

30%: Women and politics in Sierra Leone’, a short film produced by Pathways to Women's Empowerment has been recommended as a staff choice by Vimeo, resulting in 1000 views an hour. The documentary follows the challenges and successes of gender equity in politics in Sierra Leone. The women's movement in Sierra Leone is becoming increasingly influential, and the film tells the story of three women who are fighting for their role in government as the women’s movement campaigns for a 30% quota for women in government.

Pages