Safeguarding is rapidly rising up the international development agenda, yet literature on safeguarding in related research is limited. This paper shares processes and practice relating to safeguarding within an international research consortium (the ARISE hub, known as ARISE). ARISE aims to enhance accountability and improve the health and well-being of marginalised people living and working […]
This brief describes how RinGs worked with the ReBUILD Research Programme Consortium to stimulate and embed gendered research within the partnership. It includes detail on how the collaboration fostered new ways of knowing and framing problems in health systems research. How it provided channels of capacity development on gender and intersectionality analysis. How it influenced policy and […]
This brief explains how we developed our partnership to research and sharing learning on close-to-community providers of health care across contexts.
In all countries with community health programmes, close-to-community providers collect data about the people that they serve and the services that they provide. Depending on the country, these services include a mixture of health promotion, disease prevention, referral, and curative and disease management services. These data are essential to monitor the performance of community health […]
Close-to-community (CTC) providers have been identified as a key cadre to progress universal health coverage and address inequities in health service provision due to their embedded position within communities. CTC providers both work within, and are subject to, the gender norms at community level but may also have the potential to alter them. This paper […]
Research shows that CHWs are effective in delivering health services in low- and middle-income countries. They can also improve equitable health care and extend access for populations who are difficult to reach. But data are often too patchy or project specific. Several assumptions are commonly made about CHWs including that they are less expensive than formal health care workers as a way of delivering key services. What is striking, however, is the lack of robust evidence on the cost-effectiveness of CHWs. In order to enhance understanding and inform policy dialogue on the role of CHWs in the health system, the…
The recent thematic series on close-to-community providers published in this journal brings together 14 papers from a variety of contexts and that use a range of research methods. The series clearly illustrates the renewed emphasis and excitement about the potential of close-to-community (CTC) providers in realising universal health coverage and supporting the sustainable development goals. This editorial discusses key themes that have emerged from this rich and varied set of papers and reflect on the implications for evidence-based programming. We are at a critical stage in the development of CTC programming and policy which requires the creation and communication of…
In the health sector we are facing a double challenge; there is a shortage of formal health workers and a concurrent push to scale up programmes to meet targets such as Universal Health Coverage and the Millennium Development Goals. Working with Community Health Workers (CHWs) is thought to be a potential solution. Ensuring that CHWs are properly supported is vital if they are to fulfill the critical role they can play in improving the health of communities. There are management challenges associated with CHW programmes, including attracting recruits, turnover and performance. A range of different health actors are involved in…
Kembatti Mentti Gezzimma (KMG) is an Ethiopian organisation working to encourage communities to abandon the practice of FGM-C. There has been a phenomenal reduction in FGM-C prevalence levels in Kembatta Zone where KMG has worked for the last two decades. Between 1999 and 2008, the number of people practising FGM-C in Kembatta zone reduced by approximately 92% (OHCHR 2008). KMG has expanded its work to other zones, including most recently the Sidama zone, and nearly the entire southern region of Ethiopia has been reached by its FGM-C prevention efforts.
The global economic crisis is showing the cracks in the surface of how patriarchy is lived in everyday lives; is now not the right time to refocus the discussion? Can we reclaim ‘patriarchy’ from the analysis of all men as patriarchs? How do we understand masculinities in a more political way? How do we address the ways that patriarchy is bad for men, whilst still recognising the battles for women’s rights? What are the implications of rights language for an understanding of patriarchy? If marriage as an institution is the foundation of patriarchy, why are gay and lesbian movements so…