R4D Mozambique

Engendering the bureaucracy? Challenges and opportunities for mainstreaming gender in Ministries of Health under sector-wide approaches.

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 06:15 GMT

Document Type: Journal Article
Creator: Theobald, S.; Tolhurst, R.; Elsey, H.; Standing, H.

Production Year: 2005

Citation: Theobald, S.; Tolhurst, R.; Elsey, H.; Standing, H. Engendering the bureaucracy? Challenges and opportunities for mainstreaming gender in Ministries of Health under sector-wide approaches. Health Policy and Planning (2005) 20 (3) 141-149. [DOI: 10.1093/heapol/czi019]

Summary: The increasing ascendancy of ‘gender mainstreaming’ as the central approach to improving gender equity has largely determined strategies to integrate a gender focus in sector-wide approaches (SWAps). This paper explores the impetus for and process of gender mainstreaming in SWAps in the Ministries of Health in Uganda, Ghana, Malawi and Mozambique, and outlines some achievements and challenges. The shifting and contested relationships between the Ministry of Health, donors and other government ministries (such as Ministries of Finance and Ministries of Women's Affairs/Gender) are important in shaping the opportunities and constraints faced in gender mainstreaming. The refocusing of resource allocation to different sectors has led to changes in the balance of power between the various actors at the national level, with diverse implications for promoting gender equity in health. Some of the achievements to date and ongoing challenges are explored through concrete examples from different countries. These include: the development of structures for mainstreaming, including the dilemmas of the ‘focal points’ approach and the role of national gender mainstreaming machinery; the need for training and building capacity to identify and address gender issues, which involves engaging with new languages and concepts, and developing new skills; building alliances, consensus and momentum; integrating gender concerns into policy and planning documents; and promoting gender equity in human resources in the health sector. Cross-cutting themes underlying these challenges are the need for gender-specific information and ways to finance mainstreaming strategies. Implications are drawn for ways forward, without losing sight of the challenge of translating discourses of gender mainstreaming, and its central ideal of social transformation, into pragmatic strategies in the bureaucratic environment.

The Impact of EU Sugar Policy Reform on Developing Countries

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 06:00 GMT

Document Type: Technical Report
Creator: LMC International; ODI

Production Year: 2012

Citation: LMC International; ODI. The Impact of EU Sugar Policy Reform on Developing Countries. LMC International, Oxford, UK/ODI, London, UK (2012) 16 pp.

Summary: The objective of this report was to assess the implications of further reform of the EU sugar regime on Afro-Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) and Least Developed Countries (LDC). To do this, the outlook for the EU sugar market was modelled under a range of scenarios and the viability of the sugar industries in LDC/ACP countries that currently rely, to a greater or lesser extent, on sales to the EU market was assessed. The report then draws on this analysis to highlight potential impacts on poverty and livelihoods in affected countries and discusses possible transitional assistance measures to mitigate negative impacts.

The global financial crisis Series. Paper 316: Phase 2 Synthesis

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 05:35 GMT

Document Type: Discussion Paper
Creator: Velde, D. W.; Ahmed, M. M.; Alemu, G.; Bategeka, L.; Calí, M.; Castel-Branco, C.; Chansa, F.; Dasgupta, S.; Foresti, M.; Hangi, M.; Ingombe, L.; Iqbal, A.; Jalilian, H.; Jemio, L. C.; Kalala, F. K.; Keane, J.; Kennan, J.; Khan, T. I.; Lunogelo, H. B.; Massa, I.; Mbilinyi, A.; Mudenda, D.; Mwega, F. M.; Ndulo, M.; Nina, O.; Ossemane, R.; Rahman, M.; Reyes, G.; Ssewanyana, S.; Wild, L.

Production Year: 2010

Citation: Velde, D. W.; Ahmed, M. M.; Alemu, G.; Bategeka, L.; Calí, M.; Castel-Branco, C.; Chansa, F.; Dasgupta, S.; Foresti, M.; Hangi, M.; Ingombe, L.; Iqbal, A.; Jalilian, H.; Jemio, L. C.; Kalala, F. K.; Keane, J.; Kennan, J.; Khan, T. I.; Lunogelo, H. B.; Massa, I.; Mbilinyi, A.; Mudenda, D.; Mwega, F. M.; Ndulo, M.; Nina, O.; Ossemane, R.; Rahman, M.; Reyes, G.; Ssewanyana, S.; Wild, L. and others. The global financial crisis Series. Paper 316: Phase 2 Synthesis. ODI, London, UK (2010) 77 pp.

Summary:

When the global financial crisis broke out in earnest in September 2008, it quickly became clear that developing countries would also be affected, but that the impacts would vary markedly. The Overseas Development Institute (ODI) coordinated a multi-country study over January-March 2009 involving developing country teams in 10 countries. This showed that, while the transmission mechanisms were similar in each (trade, private capital flows, remittances, aid), the effects varied by country, and much was not yet visible. As such, further country-specific monitoring was required. Most findings suggested that, as a result of time lags, the worst effects were yet to come. This synthesis of the effects of the global financial crisis on developing countries updates the description of the economic and social situation during the course of the crisis in 11 countries (Bangladesh, Bolivia, Cambodia, Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia). The synthesis includes a series of easy-to-read comparative tables of how the 11 countries have been affected and a summary of key facts.

Mozambique and beyond: Insights from a career at the forefront of sanitation

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:32 GMT

Document Type: Audio
Creator: Cairncross, S.

Production Year: 2012

Citation: Cairncross, S. Mozambique and beyond: Insights from a career at the forefront of sanitation. (2012) Podcast, 19 min 53 sec.

Summary: Professor Sandy Cairncross, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, has been a pioneer in the water, sanitation and hygiene sector for more than 30 years. In this latest podcast in the Sanitation Matters series, he explains the work behind some of his major achievements and his thoughts on the future of the sector. He describes how he helped to design and market hundreds of thousands of hygienic pit latrine slabs when based in Mozambique in the 1980s. As the Research Director of SHARE, he also charts the progress of the consortium, which conducts research for sanitation and hygiene solutions.

Targeted interventions on low volume rural roads in Mozambique. Design Report.

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:53 GMT

Document Type: Report
Creator: Mukura, K.; Rolt, J.; Otto, A.

Production Year: 2012

Citation: Mukura, K.; Rolt, J.; Otto, A. Targeted interventions on low volume rural roads in Mozambique. Design Report. Transport Research Laboratory, UK (2012) 87 pp.

Summary: This report covers the design stage of the RRIP/AFCAP Project Phase 3. The designs focus on low cost road surfacings and the design of bases using locally available materials. The project aims to improve sustainability of the rural road network, using locally available materials, especially for the large network of low volume roads.

Global Financial Crisis Discussion Series. Paper 18: Mozambique Phase 2

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 07:31 GMT

Document Type: Discussion Paper
Creator: Castel-Branco, C. and Ossemane, R.

Production Year: 2010

Citation: Castel-Branco, C. and Ossemane, R. Global Financial Crisis Discussion Series. Paper 18: Mozambique Phase 2. ODI, London, UK (2010) 27 pp.

Summary:

This paper assesses the impact to date of the global crisis in Mozambique by exploring the main transmission channels, namely, external trade, remittances and inflows of private and official capital, and further analysing subsequent impacts on several fiscal and monetary aspects, external balances, sector performance, investment and employment. The paper provides a critical analysis of the anti-crisis measures that the country has been taking and their potential impacts on the country’s growth prospects.

The growth rate in Mozambique fell from 6.8% in 2008 to an estimated 6.5% in 2009 (according to the government of Mozambique (GoM)), lower than the 7% growth rate projected for 2009 before the crisis.3

Given high inflows of aid and private capital, and weak linkages between private foreign investment and the economy as a whole, the negative impacts of the crisis have been transmitted to the economy mainly through external trade. Exports have suffered as a result of a high concentration on aluminium and on other primary commodities, such as seafood and cashew nuts, with high income and price elasticities of demand, and on commodities such as cane sugar and cotton fibre, which face high rates of substitution and imperfect markets (preferential markets, subsidised prices and so on). As a result of price and/or demand reduction, it is estimated that export values have decreased by one-fourth.

This paper also finds that the resilience of the economy to the crisis comes from its main structural weaknesses. Given that the policies adopted by the GoM to deal with the crisis and those projected for 2010 do not address these structural problems, the paper concludes by agreeing with the IMF (2009) statement that, while Mozambique has weathered the global crisis relatively well, it will also benefit less from the global recovery.

Impact of EU Policy Reform on Developing Countries

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:31 GMT

Project Status: Completed

Project Objectives: To assess the implications of further reform of the EU sugar regime on Afro-Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) and Least Developed Countries (LDC).

Actual Outputs:

The researchers modelled the outlook for the EU sugar market under a range of scenarios and assessed the viability of the sugar industries in LDC/ACP countries that currently rely, to a greater of lesser extent, on sales to the EU market. The report highlights potential impacts of this analysis on poverty and livelihoods in affected countries and discusses possible transitional assistance measures to mitigate negative impacts.

In order to look in more depth at the poverty impact in different countries, the report presents case studies for four countries facing very different situations as a result of reform. These are Guyana, Mauritius, Malawi and Mozambique.

The Global Financial Crisis and Developing Countries. Phase 2

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:58 GMT

Project Status: Completed

Project Objectives: A monitoring exercise to track the economic impact of the financial crisis on Bangladesh, Bolivia, Cambodia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia.

African Women and ICTs: Investigating Technology, Gender and Empowerment

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 05:38 GMT

Document Type: Book
Creator: Buskens, I.; Webb, A. (Editors)

Production Year: 2009

Citation: Buskens, I.; Webb, A. (Editors). African Women and ICTs: Investigating Technology, Gender and Empowerment. Zed Books, (2009) ISBN 978 1 84813 191 0 [hardback], 978 1 84813 192 7 [paperback], 978 1 55250 399 7 [online], 233 pp.

Summary: The revolution in information and communication technologies (ICTs) has vast implications for the developing world, but what tangible benefits has it brought when issues of social inclusion and exclusion, particularly in the developing world, remain at large? In addition, the gender digital divide is growing in the developing world, particularly in Africa. So what do ICTs mean to African women?

African Women and ICTs explores the ways in which women in Africa utilize ICTs to facilitate their empowerment; whether through the mobile village phone business, through internet use, or through new career and ICT employment opportunities. Based on the outcome of an extensive research project, this timely book features chapters based on original primary field research undertaken by academics and activists who have investigated situations within their own communities and countries. The discussion includes such issues as the notion of ICTs for empowerment and as agents of change, ICTs in the fight against gender-based violence, and how ICTs could be used to reconceptualize public and private spaces.

AFCAP Bite-size project updates

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 02:22 GMT

Document Type: Report

Production Year: 2011

Citation: Anon. AFCAP Bite-size project updates. (2011) 2 pp.

Summary: Brief updates are given for projects in Ethiopia, Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and South Sudan.