Unleashing The Power of Social Enterprise (1)

Unleashing The Power of Social Enterprise (1)

The NGOs, CBOs, FBOs, non – profits, charities, voluntary and civil society organizations represent the social conscience of our nation. In an era of increased uncertainty about public funding, these organizations are depending on outside capital to finance various programmes in the country that improve quality of life.

Without their work, the nation would be a much poorer society morally and economically. As the gap they fill continue to grow so must our support for them.

The Power of Social Enterprise (11)

The Power of Social Enterprise (11)

With over 120 million Nigerians living below the poverty line, and the latest ranking of Nigeria as 152 out of 188 countries of the world, Nigeria has thus become one of the poorest countries, despite her rich human and natural resources.

Using Participatory Action Research to Improve Development Practice

Using Participatory Action Research to Improve Development Practice

Monday 22 January 2018 - Friday 26 January 2018
Convening Space, Institute of Development Studies

Why attend?

Participatory Action Research (PAR) engages people in communities as agents of change. Traditionally, development project ‘beneficiaries’ have rarely been included in researching issues, finding solutions, designing indicators or measuring change.  PAR provides a way of changing this, offering an inclusive community-driven approach to development. It is also an effective way of building participatory learning into organisations supporting development and social change.

This course equips development professionals with the theoretical knowledge and practical skills to design, develop and conduct context-sensitive PAR. The course draws on a range of PAR processes and methods which enable change to happen at scale both in organisations and across communities. These are of particular importance to development practitioners and researchers today, as they can help ensure interventions are relevant, appropriate and inclusive. Whether you work in the global South or North, this approach will encourage a more people-centred way of developing, delivering and assessing your projects and programmes of work.

The diversity of course participants from a wide array of development organisations has supported rich experiential learning and has led to the emergence of a network of participatory action researchers who have continued to learn from each other.  We are excited to be running this course for the third year. (Danny Burns, IDS Fellow and course co-convenor)

Course aims

To equip development professionals and change agents with the theoretical knowledge and practical skills to design, develop and conduct context-sensitive participatory action research (PAR).

Who should attend?

NGO practitioners, facilitators and change agents as well as donors developing evidence-based programmes. We also welcome researchers and postgraduate students wishing to orient their work within the PAR paradigm.

How will participants learn?

The course is interactive, inclusive, participatory and applied. Sessions blend theoretical and conceptual learning with experiential learning and sharing. Case studies are used to help deepen understanding.

Prior to the course, you will be asked to think of a critical question relating to your work or your organisation’s practice. Over the week you will explore this question, identify an appropriate PAR process to address it, and learn how to manage this process (including facilitation, recording, analysis, planning and monitoring). This will result in a detailed plan that you can operationalise on returning to your organisation.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, you will:

• Understand how the contribution of the PAR process can improve your own and your organisation’s practice
• Know about a range of PAR methods, key concepts and theories, and understand their appropriate application within your own work
• Understand the ethical, political and practical challenges of using PAR approaches
• Understand how to effectively facilitate, record and reflect on PAR processes
• Be able to identify further training and resources that you or your organisation may need
• Have designed a PAR process to address a key issue relating to your organisational and/or independent professional practice

Teaching Team

Danny Burns - Danny leads the IDS Participation Cluster and his work focuses on participatory learning for social change with a strong emphasis on systems thinking and complexity.

Jo Howard - Jo is a Research Fellow with the Participation Cluster, and uses a range of participatory action research and learning processes to work with marginalised groups, civil society and governmental organisations across the UK social policy field and the international development arena.

Testimonials

'The course provided a supportive learning space, informed teaching and a rich diversity of participants all willing to share and listen – a wonderful opportunity to learn and reflect. Thank you'. (Donna Hurford, University of Southern Denmark)

'It was a wonderful learning experience, well-shaped and considered, offering moments to be challenged, to introspect and to plan. I leave with much to bring to my work and my colleagues'. (Patrick Higdon, World Connect)

'I really appreciate the training which gave me an opportunity to rethink how I could do my own work'. (Satoko Horiuchi, International Labour Organisation, Switzerland)

Entry requirements

The course will be taught in English. To derive the maximum benefit from the course, participants should be proficient in English and able to take an active part in discussions. Your English needs to be of an intermediate standard or higher; participants must have an International English Language Test System (IELTS) score of 6.5 or above, or a Common European Framework for Languages (CEFR) score of B2 or above. 

Participants should have at least three year’s practical experience in development-related work, as well as an active interest in participatory practice and an intention to use participatory methodologies.

Course fee

The course fee is £1,500 (GBP). The fee includes the tuition fees, course materials, lunches, refreshments and one group dinner. It does not cover accommodation or travel costs.

How to Apply

Before applying please read our terms and condtions (pdf).

The application procedure is a three-stage process:

• Stage 1: Apply by completing the online application form. Deadline for applications is 9 October 2017.
• Stage 2: You will be notified by 23 October 2017 as to whether your application has been approved or not. Successful applicants will receive a booking form and an invoice for the course fee. Places on the course are not guaranteed until fees have been received.
• Stage 3: Once fees have been received, you will be sent confirmation of your place on the course and a letter to support your visa application (if required).

You are responsible for organising your own travel and visas (where needed). If travelling from overseas, you must arrive in the UK ready to begin the course at 9:00 on Monday 22 January, and depart no earlier than the evening of Friday 26 January. The course will run from 9:00 to 17:00 each day.

Information about local accommodation will be provided by the course coordinator once your fees have been processed. A limited number of study bedrooms at IDS are available for rent on a first come first served basis.

Please contact the Course Coordinator, Richard Douglass (R.Douglass@ids.ac.uk) if you have any queries.

Image credit: Taylor Spicer (CCAFS) on Flickr

If Eating is “Cool” then Farming must be “Cool” too

By Willfred Iyamuremye

Thu, 04/20/2017

Most youths’ perception of agriculture and agribusiness reflects the image of a dirty, exhausted poor farmer carrying a rusty hoe on puffy, tired shoulders somewhere on the outskirts of modernity.

This old-fashioned guy is not conceivably on Snapchat, Tweeter, or Instagram. Perhaps this is the reason farming is not “cool” to young people? Nonetheless, since young people enjoy eating food, in an equal measure they must partake in the production of food—growing it, investing in it, producing it, processing it, packaging it, distributing it, marketing it, and sustaining it.

What an exciting time! Massive technologies and markets present farming with opportunities. More to the point, challenges facing agriculture and agribusiness offer creative minds similar advantages. Advanced, user-friendly apps that link farmers to consumers are lacking. Websites, magazines, newspapers, and books offering agriculture and agribusiness information are scarce.

Yet they are necessary: agriculture- and agribusiness-related training centers need to be set up for new entrants. Storage facilities are in high demand but largely unavailable. Crop and seed selection mechanisms need innovation. Effective land preparation and efficient irrigation services are not enough to meet demand. Factories for food processing and packaging are scarce. Distribution channels and marketing need a boost. And did you know that consumers of agricultural products would pay for consumption guidance?

Imagine that we probably don’t even have young agricultural researchers! In terms of transport, farmers continue to wait for the day an entrepreneur makes refrigerated trailers abundant. In Information Technology, farmers want to possess a mobile device to enable them to track down the growth of their crops, spot possible crop threats beforehand, and be able to perform basic work on their farms, all while enjoying the comfort of their homes.

Take this example; in Rwanda, consumers of traditional beverages, namely “Urwarwa” (produced out of ripe bananas), and “Ikigage, Ubushera, Umusururu” (produced out of sorghum) have given up drinking their favorite beverages because of the basic way they are produced, packaged, and can’t be stored. Isn’t this a huge opportunity for young creative minds out there? Just come up with innovative methods to better produce, suitably package, and efficiently store and market the above traditional beverages. A cooperative of ten youths should undertake this opportunity. Success is guaranteed!

Take this example. After graduating from Mount Kenya University, Gerald Mutema decided to start a piggery with five pigs on an investment of 500,000 Rwandan francs ($590). According to his calculations, by the end of next year, the pigs will have grown to number a thousand and be making him millions of francs in revenue.

I hereby press the call-to-action button. I challenge you to pause and reflect a while on this enlightening question: if agriculture were one among us, if we let her die, what will happen to us? Do you see how the survival of humanity depends on the survival of farming? If you care strongly enough for your children and their grandchildren, now is the time to engage in agriculture and agribusiness.

I choose to Farm, what about you?

Making Innovation Benefit All: Policies for Inclusive Growth

By Caroline Paunov

Mon, 04/24/2017

 “Inclusive growth” has been at the forefront of policy discussions in OECD and non-OECD economies. These discussions reflect a concern that economic growth does not necessarily improve the welfare of all citizens as income inequalities have risen to unprecedented levels over the past decades. The richest 10% of the population in the OECD area earn almost ten times more than the poorest 10%.

Throughout history, innovation has been the main engine of improved living standards and the current period of digital innovation offers similar opportunities. At the same time, periods of substantial technological change are known to be highly disruptive as new technologies render old technologies obsolete. This process creates winners but also losers within and across countries.

How is digital innovation affecting wellbeing? What can innovation policy do to support inclusive growth?

Here are 5 observations that provide answers to these questions.

1. Digital innovations strengthen the welfare of disadvantaged and low-income groups.

Digital technologies have improved opportunities for consumers to find best products at affordable prices, and have also improved education, health and government services in ways that have favoured social inclusion.

Further contributions that emerging digital technologies are making toward inclusive growth include:

• the Internet of Things (IoT) – devices and objects that can be manipulated via the Internet, with or without active human involvement
• big data analytics – a set of techniques used to interpret large volumes of data generated by the increasing digitisation of content, greater monitoring of human activities, and the spread of the IoT
• artificial intelligence (AI) – the ability of machines and systems to acquire and apply knowledge and to carry out intelligent behaviour
• blockchain  – a database that enables value transactions within computer networks and without the necessity of a central institution or third party.

2. Digital innovations can give rise to winner-take-all markets. These types of markets generate rents for top income groups.

Digital innovations disrupt the way markets operate, by changing competition dynamics. Digital innovations give rise to extreme scale economies and network effects, which in turn can result in winner-take-all market structures characterised by strong market concentration and creative destruction.

Winner-take-all markets are a source of innovation-based rents. How do the rents from digital innovation affect income distribution? Paunov and Guellec (2017) argue that they are shared among shareholders of the winning firms, top executives and some key employees, hence contributing to increased income inequalities. In the United States, shareholders have benefitted from a steady increase in dividends and share prices over the past decades. The share of capital (vs. labor) in national income has also increased, particularly in innovation-intensive economic activities.

3. Disparities in regional innovation capacities are a challenge in several OECD countries
Regions within many OECD countries show significant differences in their innovation capabilities and investments. Overall, the top 20% of regions in OECD countries concentrate 40% of total R&D spending and half of all patent applications.

Traditional innovation policies might unintentionally favour leading regions by rewarding excellence. Such policies should also take account of the impacts they have on the regional distribution of innovation.


4. Innovation policies that strengthen opportunities of disadvantaged and excluded groups to innovate can help support more inclusive growth

Many countries have implemented “inclusive innovation policies” – innovation policies that aim to boost the capacities and opportunities of disadvantaged individuals to engage in innovation activities. These policies tackle the systematic under-representation of some groups in innovation activities, such as women, minority groups and migrants, among others. These also take an industrial or territorial focus by providing tools to less innovative firms and regions to engage in innovation activities.  Planes-Satorra and Paunov (2017) provide a comprehensive characterisation of these policies.

5. Higher education systems, enrolment in quality education and the potential of online education tools

Higher education systems can help reach wider inclusion in innovation activities by building the capacities of disadvantaged and lower-income groups. Leveraging on the potential of the opportunities offered by online education tools may help.

This blog post is based on the report Making Innovation Benefit All: Policies for Inclusive Growth

The Inclusive Innovation Policy Toolkit on the OECD-World Bank Innovation Policy Platform provides a practical and interactive guide to designing and implementing inclusive innovation policies.
  The findings expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the OECD or its member countries.

Why Introducing School Agricultural Clubs Could Turn Farming into the Coolest Thing Ever

Why Introducing School Agricultural Clubs Could Turn Farming into the Coolest Thing Ever

By Joseph Kyanjo Lule

 Mon, 04/24/2017

Getting more youth to engage productively in agriculture is not, and won’t be, an easy job. As an aspiring goat farmer and student in agribusiness management, I know that it takes real passion and commitment to make a living from agriculture.

To farm, or Not to farm? Changing the Youth’s Mind-set is the Answer

To farm, or Not to farm? Changing the Youth’s Mind-set is the Answer

By Mercy Melody Kayodi

Mon, 04/24/2017

Let me answer it this way: If you are a youth, you are damned if you farm, and you will be equally damned if you don’t. Farming as an option is very key to enabling the continuous production of food to meet our consumption demand. We are in an era where we have to attract the young people to join food production, since majority of them think it is dirty work. Interacting with young farmers has only left me understanding that, besides the lack of mechanisation, we lack the best farming practices that would otherwise increase our earnings.

The Future of Work: The Number of Jobs Is Not the Only Thing at Stake

The Future of Work: The Number of Jobs Is Not the Only Thing at Stake

By Siddhartha Raja co-authors: Luc Christiaensen, Esteve Sala

Wed, 06/07/2017

Technology is a great job-creating machine. But will these new jobs be better or worse? (Photo: John Hogg / World Bank)

Most of the discussion about the future of work focuses on how many jobs robots will take from humans. But this is just a (small) part of the change to come.

There’s More to Agriculture than Hand hoes: Rising Opportunities for Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship in African Agrifood Systems

There’s More to Agriculture than Hand hoes: Rising Opportunities for Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship in African Agrifood Systems

By Julie Howard

Wed, 14/06/2017

This blog summarizes the findings of the Agrifood Youth Employment and Engagement Study (AgYees). The authors, all at Michigan State University, are Andrea Allen, Julie Howard (corresponding author), M. Kondo, Amy Jamison, Thomas Jayne, J. Snyder, David Tschirley, and F. Kwame Yeboah.

Africa’s share of the global population is projected to rise dramatically from 12% in 2015 to 23% by 2050. This huge demographic trend will certainly amplify Africa’s political and economic impact on the rest of the world, and this impact will largely be determined by young Africans between 15-35 years who constitute about 55% of the labor force. At the same time, Africa faces a big employment challenge, about 11 million young Africans are expected to enter into the labor force each year until 2035. Yet formal job creation in Africa’s growing economies has not kept pace -- more than half of Africa’s un- and underemployed are youth. Research by Michigan State University in collaboration with The MasterCard Foundation, the Agrifood Youth Employment and Engagement Study (AgYees) examines the potential for African agrifood systems to provide employment opportunities for Africa’s youth, focusing on Tanzania, Rwanda and Nigeria.

The study found that, throughout the next decade, expanding investments in Sub-Saharan Africa’s agrifood system will be critical to generate greater numbers of higher paying jobs —both on and off the farm — that can reduce poverty among the large rural youth population and accelerate economic transformation.
As incomes rise, Africans — rural and urban, rich and poor — are consuming higher quantities of fruits, vegetables, livestock products and processed goods. These changes in consumption will expand employment opportunities in improved seed, fertilizer and machinery service provision, as well as in post-harvest handling, marketing and food manufacturing.

At the same time that farming’s share in overall employment is falling, off-farm employment opportunities related to food and fiber are growing rapidly, and are increasing their share in overall employment. Key among these are food away from home, whose demand is growing more rapidly than any other category of food; food processing, with rapid growth especially in the demand for more highly processed foods; and marketing and transport. Women are especially represented in food away from home and in some types of food processing.

Yet the actual number of people employed in farming continues to rise even as its share falls. When combined with the fact that so many people currently work in farming, we find that farming remains extremely important for livelihoods and economic growth. Farming is still the largest single employer in many countries, accounting for about half of all "full-time equivalent" employment – a measure of the amount of time put into different types of work. Perhaps most importantly, farming is found to be critical to determining the rate of off-farm job growth. Cross-country empirical evidence shows that African countries experiencing the most rapid rates of agricultural productivity growth over the past 15 years have also enjoyed the greatest rates of non-farm labor productivity growth and the most rapid exit of the work force out of farming. This evidence is particularly striking for Rwanda where strong on-farm agricultural productivity growth has contributed to dramatic poverty reduction and generated multiplier effects that are expanding economic opportunities in the broader economy.

To take advantage of these opportunities, major efforts are needed to provide young Africans with up-to-date practical skills and access to land, equipment and finance that will allow them to transition from subsistence agriculture into higher-paying economic opportunities on- and off the farm.

Turning around youth preconceptions about agrifood opportunities, integrating advanced technologies and greatly expanding private sector involvement will be critical to attract youth to the agrifood system and ensure their success. Other key recommendations include:

• Develop youth employment programming that focuses on the prepared food, food manufacturing, dairy, poultry, fish and horticulture sectors, which are expected to generate high quality jobs for youth and women;
• Expand private sector engagement in youth agricultural training programs in order to increase internship, apprenticeship and mentoring opportunities for young people;
• Increase investments in research to develop "youth centered" agricultural productivity strategies to create new opportunities for youth in farming and generate the multiplier effects that expand employment in the broader off-farm sector;
• More broadly, develop strategies that address key policy constraints affecting youth employment and enterprise development in the agrifood system, including access to land and finance, and regulations affecting small and medium enterprise development.

Photo Credit: Michigan State University

The Rise of Artificial Intelligence: What Does It Mean for Development?

The Rise of Artificial Intelligence: What Does It Mean for Development?

By Leebong Lee  

co-authors: Young-Jin Choi

Wed, 06/28/2017

Along with my colleagues on the ICT sector team of the World Bank, I firmly believe that ICTs can play a critical role in supporting development. But I am also aware that professionals on other sector teams may not necessarily share the same enthusiasm.

The Care Economy: A Powerful Entry Point for Increasing Female Employment

By Eliana Carranza

Thu, 07/06/2017

Access to affordable childcare is critical to increase female labor participation because the burden of childcare and elderly care falls disproportionately on women. Photo: Rama George-Alleyne / World Bank

Promoting female labor force participation and the quality of women’s employment was one of the main topics of the latest G20 Ministers of Labor meeting, as we explained in this blog.

Making Progress Towards Polio Eradication in Nigeria, Despite Boko Haram

Making Progress Towards Polio Eradication in Nigeria, Despite Boko Haram

By Mayowa Oluwatosin Alade

co-authors: Benjamin Loevinsohn, Ayodeji Oluwole Odutolu

Mon, 10/07/2017

Vaccination campaigns against other diseases can learn from campaign against polio. Photo credit: Dasan Bobo/World Bank.

Many people were bitterly disappointed when four cases of wild polio were discovered in August 2016 in insecure areas of Borno State in the northeast of Nigeria. Nigeria had gone for almost two years without any cases of wild polio being detected, and was just a year away from being able to declare polio eradicated. (Wild polio is the type of the virus found in nature, as opposed to in a vaccine.)

What’s in a number? Unpacking the 65 million-forced displacement crisis

What’s in a number? Unpacking the 65 million-forced displacement crisis

By Xavier Devictor

Tue, 06/20/2017

Regia, from Somalia, greets her friends and customers in her shop on the main street in the Nakivale refugee settlement, South West Uganda © Dorte Verner

Today on World Refugee Day, we hear once again that the number of people forcibly displaced due to conflict and persecution has increased to 65.6 million by the end of 2016, according to UNHCR’s latest Global Trends report.

These numbers have served to galvanize attention to the severity of this crisis, providing momentum for the global community to take action. At the same time, these numbers have caused anxieties among many hosts, especially in OECD countries. Taking center stage in the political debate, it has raised questions over their ability to support all of those fleeing conflict, at times leading to fear and rising anti-refugee sentiments.

Have we really entered a “new world” where population movements are on a scale never experienced before, calling for extraordinary measures to stop the flow? To answer this question, it’s worth taking a closer look at the numbers.

The 65.6 million that have been forcibly displaced are in fact comprised of four different groups of people that have very different characteristics and are hardly comparable. These differences matter when considering a response, to inform policies and determine appropriate solutions. This is the breakdown of the 65.6 million.

• 17.2 million refugees under UNHCR mandate: This includes 5.5 million Syrians, most of whom have been in exile for a few years in Jordan, Lebanon, or Turkey; but also 2.5 million Afghans, who often have been in Iran and Pakistan for decades; and about 1.4 million South Sudanese who are moving in large numbers into Ethiopia and Uganda as I write these lines.
• 2.8 million asylum-seekers: These are people who have applied for refugee status and are awaiting a decision: Syrians, Afghans, Iraqis who are in Germany, the US, or Italy for example.
• 5.3 million Palestinian refugees registered by UNRWA: This group has a specific status, one that is inherited, regardless of citizenship or where the person lives. It includes many who live under dire circumstances as well as others who now own business and are de facto included in their new host communities.
• 40.3 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs): These are people who have been displaced by conflict and violence, but still live in their own country. This group, the largest by far, is also where statistics are weakest. It includes people who live in the midst of war (in Syria or Yemen) as well as people who have been displaced for a long time from unsafe rural areas to cities, such as in Colombia or the Caucasus. Their prospects and needs are differ considerably. Contrary to some assumptions, there is no evidence that IDPs will eventually leave their country to become refugees.

Missing from the 65.6 million is the number of people who live in host communities – people whose lives are affected by the arrival of large numbers of new comers. They need help to manage the crisis, especially since 95% of the forcibly displaced live in developing countries, often in remote areas where there are few opportunities.

It’s also important to note that counting refugees is tricky. Unless they are in camps, they can be difficult to identify. Add to this methodological and definition issues, and there is even less certainty. For example, how many refugees were in Norway at the end of 2013? The question seems simple enough, but the answer is not. The number ranges widely, from 18,000 according to Eurostat (the EU statistical office), 46,000 according to UNHCR, and 132,000 according to Norwegian Statistics. Counting IDPs are even more challenging.

Bottom line: of the 65.6 million people today who are in forced displacement, only a very small fraction may eventually move to OECD countries. In fact, of the ten largest refugee-hosting countries, only Germany is in the OECD, at number eight in the rankings. Developing countries are shouldering the largest share of this global responsibility.

Numbers can create perceptions that aren’t necessarily founded in fact, and facts can be difficult to establish. What’s even more important, we must not forget that this is not just about numbers. These are people who have endured great hardships, who need help to become self-reliant and contribute to development along with their generous hosts.

OBAMA FOUNDATION FELLOWSHIP

The Obama Foundation Fellows will be a diverse set of community-minded rising stars – organizers, inventors, artists, entrepreneurs, journalists, and more – who are altering the civic engagement landscape. By engaging their fellow citizens to work together in new and meaningful ways, Obama Foundation Fellows will model how any individual can become an active citizen in their community.

The Future of Jobs and the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Business as Usual for Unusual Business

The Future of Jobs and the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Business as Usual for Unusual Business

By Jieun Choi

Mon, 07/17/2017

The global economy is on the precipice of a Fourth Industrial Revolution – defined by evolving technological trends that have the potential to fundamentally change life for millions of people around the world. Increasingly, technology is connecting the digital world with the physical one, resulting in new innovations such as artificial intelligence and self-driving cars.

Water in social accountability – reflections from Tajikistan

Water in social accountability – reflections from Tajikistan

By Jeff Thindwa

Tue, 07/18/2017

Copyright: Global Partnership for Social Accountability

The saying goes, ‘water is life’, and how so true! But water also drives economic and social development. Clean water supply is vital for health, hygiene and livelihood. Water is essential for agriculture and critical to energy production – and much, much more.

Education amidst Fragility, Conflict and Violence

Education amidst Fragility, Conflict and Violence

By Stephen Commins

Tue, 07/18/2017

Access to schooling and quality learning can be undermined by various manifestations of fragility, conflict and violence (FCV). The effect of different elements of FCV on education has both immediate and long lasting impacts on children’s learning, their well-being and their future prospects.

In different forms, FCV manifestations contribute to a denial of the right to education, whether from government failures, a violent ecosystem, and the treatment of displaced children and divisions within schools, attacks on schools or the language of instruction. This can include the ways in which teachers and principals treat lower castes, children with disabilities, or minority groups; the threat or real violence against girls; as well as how textbooks portray history and culture.  These issues exist globally, not just in ‘fragile states’.

Over the past two decades, greater attention has focused on the impact that long-term complex humanitarian emergencies, fragile states, and contexts of protracted crises on education. What has received less attention is the aggregate impact of various forms of negative conflict and intra-personal violence.

There are three entry points to consider for FCV: protracted crises; conflict as the basis of exclusion; direct and indirect forms of intra-personal violence. 

The entry point that is more familiar in the donor system are protracted crises or fragile and conflict-affected States. When governments lack the capacity or commitment to support educational systems, there are notably fewer children in school, and when children are at school in these environments, frequently there are either no teachers or the schools lack the resources for effective learning. 

In practical terms, the humanitarian aid system often, and of necessity, focuses first on saving lives. Thus, education frequently receives less support or priority in emergencies. However, when humanitarian crises are protracted, as is evident in the long-term displacement with its challenges of urban settings and large numbers, there is more room to build on the work of networks focused on education in emergencies.

What needs to receive more attention is the presence of widespread forms of exclusion based on negative conflict outcomes and violence in countries and regions not designated as ‘fragile’.  This includes OECD countries where different manifestations of bullying, gangs, threats to enforce exclusion and corporal punishment also exist. The impact of the overall impact on education of different forms of violence may be significantly underestimated.

Conflict and violence are distinct but related issues. Conflict is part of all societies at all levels, from household to state. There are many instances when conflict over resources, norms, access to power, is negatively resolved without violence but nevertheless leads to exclusion from education. This could involve deliberate mistreatment of indigenous children, instruction in the language of a dominant identity group, or preferential advantages to children from more powerful groups.

In situations where the education system contributes to different forms of negative conflict (ethnic exclusion, gender exclusion, language of instruction), there will be reduced access to schools for certain groups as well as potential exacerbation of existing forms of conflict. 

This is distinct from, but sometimes linked with, ecosystems of violence, both external to the school (gang violence) and within the school, bullying, sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and corporal punishment.

Just as the total number of people affected by ‘small’ disasters compared to mega disasters can be comparable, so the total number of children affected by forms of negative conflict and local violence may also be comparable to those affected by fragile and conflict-affected states’ contexts.

Governments, donors and civil society organizations can expand the definition of FCV to give greater attention to the conflict and violence elements. Program design can be structured more specifically to address pedagogical, community and classroom issues.  There can be specific programs structured to reduce bullying, SGBV and corporal punishment.

Governance and fragility are still at the heart of the matter:  Does the state have the capacity and will to deliver education to all children? Is the state reducing different forms of conflict-based exclusion? Does the state have enforceable laws against SGBV and corporal punishment?

Creating safe and effective learning environments remains central to achieving educational goals in all countries and contexts, and greater attention is required for both rebuilding and sustaining educational systems in fragile states, as well as to the neglected dimension of FCV briefly outlined in this note.

Island communities in Ghana get electricity–at last!

Island communities in Ghana get electricity–at last!

By Sunita Chikkatur Dubey

Tue, 07/18/2017

TV: Steady electricity brings with it a mix of work and play. Photo credit: Kennedy Fosu/World Bank

When a mini-grid project came to Atigagome, a remote island in the middle of Ghana’s Lake Volta, the kerosene lamps people had been using became decorative pieces that were hung on the walls—a reminder that the island’s days of darkness were over. But the village not only gave up kerosene lamps and candles: it also attracted people like Seth Hormuku, who migrated to the island once a stable electricity supply was being provided to the local community.