Economic Development

  • December 20, 2012

    New Video Highlights Benefits of Family Planning to Microfinance Clients in India

    Written by
    Sharmistha Basu, Senior Technical Specialist, Research, FHI 360
    Eva Canoutas, Associate Director, Research Utilization, FHI 360
    Rick Homan, Scientist, FHI 360

    FPquoteImagine millions of women who want to limit their family size or space their next birth, but can’t because they lack access to family planning. Imagine that many of these women have no knowledge of family planning at all. Hard to imagine after decades of national and global investments in health? This is the reality for many families around the world, particularly in developing countries, where approximately 222 million women have an unmet need for family planning.

    Innovative approaches to reach people with family planning information and services are critical. Under FHI 360’s PROGRESS (Program Research for Strengthening Services) project —a project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development to improve family planning services among underserved populations in developing countries — a key strategy is to move beyond the health sector to reach women and men of reproductive age who need family planning but might not otherwise have access to it. As non-health development programs reach a large proportion of the world’s poor, PROGRESS builds on these networks to bring family planning information and services to communities. Family planning has been shown to contribute to the broader development goals of poverty reduction, enhanced education, environmental sustainability and gender equality, and therefore fits well with the goals of non-health development programs. Currently, PROGRESS supports several intervention-based studies on integrating family planning into non-health programs such as agriculture, environment and microfinance.

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  • September 13, 2012

    Sex, Money and Girls: Reflections from Day 2 of the Global Youth Economic Opportunities Conference

    Written by
    Joy Cunningham, Senior Technical Officer, FHI 360

    Many of us who spend our time in the youth sexual and reproductive health (YSRH) world don’t often cross paths with those in the business of economic empowerment and livelihoods programs for young people. Although both worlds are aware of the converging paths, funding streams generally keep us operating on parallel roads. Therefore, I was pleased to facilitate a panel session this morning at the conference: “Exploring the Intersection of Adolescent Girls’ Reproductive Health and Economic Empowerment.” During a lively session, panelists shared their experiences with both issues for girls. Some of the themes were:

    • Even though we are aware of the problem, the data on SRH and economic empowerment for girls, taken together for developing countries, is shocking. The rates of HIV, maternal mortality and morbidity, poverty and isolation paint a dismal picture for girls.
    • Programs that target girls and adults in the community, with messages on both SRH and economic empowerment, are showing some successes. There’s more to learn, but results are encouraging.
    • Models that incorporate peer education and work with girls on SRH and economic empowerment show positive results: the Tesfa program led by the International Center for Research on Women, the Siyakha Nentsha program in South Africa led by Population Council, and a program by Restless Development in Northern Uganda all included a peer education component.
    • Reducing social isolation seems key for increasing both SRH and economic outcomes for girls. Girls need access to other girls for many reasons, but importantly, to give them an outlet to talk about themselves: their ideas, dreams and goals.
    • It’s important to work with the adults, not just the girls. Teachers, parents and faith leaders all play roles in girls’ lives, and we need to get them on board with difficult topics. Sex and money are not easy to discuss with young people, and the adults need to build their skills to do it.

    Today’s session initiated some vital discussion about next steps. It’s my hope that the two worlds of SRH and economic empowerment for young people will start to cross more often and begin to operate more closely together. This year’s conference is an encouraging step toward that. Look for more information on this topic, including a research brief and e-forum, by visiting the Interagency Youth Working Group website.

  • September 12, 2012

    How do you target young people effectively? Start by knowing how they spend their time.

    Written by
    Diana Rutherford, Research and Evaluation Specialist, Economic Development and Livelihoods, FHI 360

    A version of this post originally appeared on Making Cents’ Blog. Reposted with permission.

    Understanding how children and youth spend their time is crucial for designing effective development interventions that improve their well-being. Child time-use studies provide a tested way of shedding light on this essential topic. Perception of time varies by culture, gender, and age; youth perceive time differently than adults. The value attributed to how youth spend their time often differs among cultures. For example, in many societies girls tend to engage in home-based, non-economic chores, while boys engage in economic labor away from home. Economic labor is often more highly valued than the home-based labor, profoundly affecting how girls and boys perceive themselves and their value and place within the household. The interdependence of people within the household and the value placed on their work (at home, away from home, economic or not) influences well-being. Young people often value work in the same way they perceive that their parents do.

    Knowing where youth are and when

    When designing youth-focused programming, one key step is to understand where the target beneficiaries are throughout the day, so as to know when and where to engage them. Some labor youth engage in is designed to limit their autonomy (“keep them busy and out of trouble”).Other activities, despite being labeled as labor, provide outlets for young people to interact with people their own age with limited or no supervision. Fetching water or going to the market are two common examples. How the target beneficiaries value their time and perceive their freedom to make choices (personal agency) will affect their interest, willingness and ability to partake of project activities designed to benefit them.

    The best source of information about time-use is the youth themselves. Children as young as eight can work together in groups to describe how they spend their time. With youth groups, a facilitator can provide a framework and instructions before stepping away to provide the youth space for private discussion.

    Tools for measuring time-use

    While there are several time-use tools, a quick, efficient tool for measuring how youth spend their time is through participatory rapid appraisals, which use mapping and day/time grids and photos or drawings of places and activities. The STRIVE program has employed this tool successfully in the Philippines with children from households engaged in seaweed farming and weaving. In about one hour, you can understand:

    • Where youth are and when
    • The routes and means of transportation between locations/activities
    • Where and when you might locate your intervention
    • Where safety might be an issue
    • How your target beneficiaries perceive time and value their current activities

    For more information on the importance of child time-use studies, see Ben-Arieh, A. & A. Ofir (2002) Time for (More) Time-Use Studies: Studying the Daily Activities of Children. Childhood, 9(2), 225-248.

  • October 5, 2011

    #WhyForeignAid

    Only the Start

    This timely event was only the start of a very important conversation. We invite you to join us and our partners – PSI, PATH, ONE, and World Vision – and lend your voice to the conversation taking place at #WhyForeignAid.

    Tell Us – Why is Foreign Aid Important?

    To add to this important discussion, watch the video below and give us your thoughts by including #WhyForeignAid in your tweets. Follow the conversation, stay engaged and help us keep this discussion strong.

    • How does foreign aid improve lives?
    • Why is foreign aid is so important for building stronger economies, saving lives?
    • What are examples of funds well spent?
    • Why do Americans need to care?

     

  • September 30, 2011

    Webcast & Conversation: The Power of 1%

    On October 3rd, experts will come together to discuss how 1% of the US federal budget builds stronger economies, saves lives, and protects our borders. Tune in to watch the event live  while you add to the discussion on twitter using the hashtag #WhyForeignAid.

    This lively discussion will look at the incredible return on investment of U.S. development efforts in global health and how they contribute to building new markets for more products, preventing the proliferation of disease across borders and ensuring better health for some of the world’s most vulnerable people.

    View the list of speakers here

    USAID Fact Sheet:

    The Power of 1% and Global Health: Saving Lives, Improving Economic Opportunity, Promoting Security

    Press Release:

    The Power of 1%: What Americans Get for Investments in Global Health

  • July 6, 2011

    Small beginnings, big impact

    Written by
    George Nyairo Obanyi, Information Officer, Kenya, FHI 360

    I have always believed in the power of microcredit to change lives. A visit to rabbit farmer George Kihanya’s home in the Kenya Rift Valley District convinced me beyond all doubt. Kihanya’s success shows that if well implemented, community-based credit and savings schemes can turn around the lives of many rural families.

    In 2002, Kihanya was caring for his ailing mother. Newly married, he eked out a living growing maize, beans and potatoes.

    Kihanya’s fortunes changed after he started keeping rabbits. Now, he earns on average Sh60,000 (US$650) a month.

    Kihanya was introduced to rabbit farming during a course organized by the Catholic Relief Services, one of the partners in the APHIAPlus program led by FHI.
    Kihanya was chosen by his local church to be trained as a community health worker. He, along with other volunteers, was trained on how to prevent diseases, including HIV, and to link vulnerable children and families to HIV treatment, care and support. Volunteers also learned about farming and other activities, including rabbit farming, to improve food security for their families and communities.

    Inspired by Kihanya’s success, scores of families in the community are now earning money by raising rabbits.