IFPRI-3; | PR | EPTD; | Journal article

FCND | PR | Journal article | IFPRI3; MP14; Theme 12

Development practice should be centred on human relations governed by a spirit of cooperation, kindness and compassion, rather than on purely economic concerns. The Sarvódaya Shramadána movement, a grassroots Buddhist-based development movement in Sri Lanka, emphasises that development practices should be more closely aligned with religious resources and principles in order to achieve a balanced and sustainable development process. The work of Sarvódaya Shramadána shows how religion is an integral element in socio-cultural situations and can play a vital role in overcoming impasses associated with growth-orientated development practices.

This article shares the approach and experiences of a joint immersion of two organisations in Tanzania. Immersions have a profound effect on individuals and strongly stimulate individual learning. Wishing to go beyond that, an immersion was designed with the aim of also contributing to organisational learning. With an increasingly complex and dynamic situation, organisational approaches and strategies need to closely fit within the local context. Immersions are good tools for development practitioners to appreciate this context and form an important part of the organisational learning demanded from development organisations.

Christian health services (CHSs) provide a substantial proportion of health services in many developing countries. This paper outlines the results of research which assessed whether the financial pressures resulting from a decline in their traditional funding sources have compromised CHSs' initial motivation to serve the poor. The two main approaches CHSs used to increase their income in the 13 countries investigated were by improving their access to government funds through increased cooperation, and increasing user fees. Although some of the CHSs studied seem to be targeting more affluent patients to increase their income, the majority retain their commitment to the poor despite their financial difficulties.

Volunteers who travel abroad on short-term (three- to six-month) assignments represent a growing trend in international development work. Many of the short-term volunteers abroad employ funds earmarked for poverty alleviation and development. This article examines the perceived impacts of international volunteering in the developing world of 50 Canadian youth. The findings demonstrate an awareness of modest and, at times, negative effects in international development. The primary focus in the youth reflections was on personal growth as a positive impact; thus raising questions about the goals and desired outcomes for international development funding for volunteer abroad programmes.

This paper explores how the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' (UNHCR) global priorities and strategies for refugee girls and boys are applied in long-term Bhutanese refugee camps in Nepal. It examines UNHCR's interventions to prevent and respond to child protection issues, including separation from parents and caregivers, and early marriage. These are compared with community perceptions of, and assistance for, children living in difficult circumstances. Young refugees' own research on issues affecting children in the camps offers further insights into how protection is defined and experienced by children living in this context and their suggestions for community and bureaucratic responses.

In mainstream development thinking, policy, and practice, religion has generally been neglected, despite its pervasiveness and importance. As a result, analysts puzzle over how best to study the complex links between religion and development. The framework outlined in this paper addresses the question – how can the presence, nature, and activities of religious people and organisations be better understood, so that they can be taken into account in development activities? It identifies and clarifies the key concepts and factors that need to be considered, explores ideas about the relevance of religion to development and social change, identifies the broad levels of analysis needed to better understand a particular context and briefly discusses some possible methodological approaches. A series of questions for analysis are suggested, investigation of which could lead to an improved understanding of the meaning of religion in the lives of individuals; the ways in which religion interacts with social and political processes; and the nature, aims, and activities of religious organisations.

Home and field office staff disagreement often impedes international development NGOs (INGOs) from making their accountability systems more responsive to partner and community concerns. Drawing on a staff survey, and qualitative interviews across four country programmes, of a major INGO, three interlocking explanations for this disagreement are suggested: that staff perceive accountability practices differently because they place greater interpretive weight on practices most relevant to their own organisational roles; that divergent views reflect substantively different normative beliefs about accountability; and that differing assessments of accountability practices reflect a strategic misrepresentation of field country experiences as a rational response to power differentials.