Download or read book Impact Evaluation of Bangladesh Integrated Nutrition Project written by and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 86 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Study on Bangladesh Integrated Nutrition Project.

Download or read book What Can We Learn from Nutrition Impact Evaluations written by The World Bank and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2010-08-27 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Evaluation Summary What Can We Learn from Nutrition Impact Evaluations? High levels of child malnutrition in developing countries contribute to mortality and have long-term consequences for children s cognitive development and earnings as adults. Recent impact evaluations show that many different interventions have had an impact on children s anthropometric outcomes (height, weight, and birth weight), but there is no simple answer to the question What works? to address the problem. Similar interventions have widely different results in different settings, owing to differences in local context, the causes and severity of malnutrition, and the capacity for program implementation. Impact evaluations of programs supported by the Bank, which are generally large-scale, complex inter-ventions in low-capacity settings, show equally variable results. The findings confirm that it should not be assumed that an intervention found effective in a randomized medical setting will have the same effects when implemented under field conditions. There are many robust experimental and quasi-experimental methods for assessing impact under difficult circumstances often found in field settings. The relevance and impact of nutrition impact evaluations could be enhanced by collecting data on service delivery, demand-side behavioral outcomes, and implementation processes to better understand the causal chain and what part of the chain is weak, in parallel with impact evaluations. It is also important to understand better the distribution of impacts, particularly among the poor, and to document better the costs and effectiveness of interventions. High levels of child malnutrition in developing countries are contributing to mortality and present long-term consequences for the survivors. An estimated 178 million children under age 5 in developing countries are stunted (low height for age) and 55 million are wasted (low weight for height). Malnutrition makes children more susceptible to illness and strongly affects child mortality. Beyond the mortality risk in the short run, the developmental delays caused by undernutrition affect children s cognitive outcomes and productive potential as adults. Micronutrient deficiencies vitamin A, iron, zinc, iodine, for example are also common and have significant consequences. Progress in reducing malnutrition has been slow: More than half of countries are not on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of halving the share of children who are malnou-rished (low weight for age) by 2015. The food price and financial crises are making achievement of this goal even more elusive. The World Bank has recently taken steps to ex-pand its support for nutrition in response to the underlying need and the increased urgency due to the crises. WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT REDUCING MALNUTRITION? The increased interest and resources focused on the problem of high and potentially increasing rates of undernutrition raises the question, what do we know about the causes of malnutrition and the in-terventions most likely to reduce it? The medical literature points to the need to inter-vene during gestation and the first two years of life to prevent child malnutrition and its consequences. It suggests that investments in interventions during this window of opportunity among children under 2 are likely to have the greatest benefits. Recently published meta-analyses of the impact evaluation literature point to several interventions found effective for reducing undernutrition in spe-cific settings. However, there are limitations to the generalizability of those reviews findings, particularly in the context of large-scale government programs most likely to be supported by the World Bank. The reviews tend to disproportionately draw on the findings of smaller, controlled experiments; there are few examples of evaluations of large-scale programs, over which there is less control in implementation. In reviewing a large number of studies, interventions, and outcomes, they tend to focus on average impacts. They generally do not explain the magnitude or variability of impacts across or within studies. Very few address the programmatic reasons why some interventions work or don t work, nor do they assess the cost-effectiveness of interventions. Objectives of the Review This paper reviews recent impact evaluations of interventions and programs to improve child anth-ropometric outcomes height, weight, and birth weight with an emphasis on both the findings and limitations of the literature and on understanding what might happen in a non-research setting. It further reviews in greater detail the experience and lessons from evaluations of the impact of World Bank-supported programs on nutrition outcomes. Specifically, the review addresses four questions. First, what can be said about the impact of different interventions on children s anthropometric outcomes? Second, how do these findings vary across settings and within target groups, and what accounts for this variability? Third, what is the evidence of the cost-effectiveness of these interventions? Finally, what have been the lessons from implementing impact evaluations of Bank-supported programs with anthropometric impacts? While there are different dimensions of child nutri-tion that could be explored, the report focuses on child anthropometric outcomes -- weight, height, and birth weight. These are the most common nutrition outcome indicators in the literature and the most frequently monitored by national nutrition programs supported by the World Bank. Low weight for age (underweight) is also the indicator for one of the MDGs. Methodology and Scope Forty-six nutrition impact evaluations published since 2000 were systematically reviewed. These evaluations assessed the impact of diverse interven-tions community nutrition programs, conditional and unconditional cash transfers, early child devel-opment programs, food aid, integrated health and nutrition services, and de-worming. All of the evaluations used research designs that compared the outcomes among those affected by the project to the counterfactual that is, what would have happened to a similar group of people in the absence of the intervention. About half used randomized assignment to create treatment and control groups, while the remainder used matching and various econometric techniques to construct a counterfactual. Among the 46 evaluations, twelve assessed the im-pact of World Bank-supported programs on nutri-tion outcomes in eight countries. While the broader review relies on the analysis of the published impact evaluations as the main source of data, for these twelve evaluations project documents and research outputs were reviewed and World Bank staff, country officials and the evaluators and re-searchers who conducted the studies were interviewed. Findings A wide range of interventions had a positive impact on indicators related to height, weight, wasting, and low birth weight. There were a total of 10 different outcome indica-tors for the four main anthropometric outcomes. A little more than half of the evaluations addressing a height-related indicator found program impacts on at least one group of children, and this was true for about the same share of interventions aimed at improving weight-related and wasting (low weight for height)-related indicators. About three-quarters of the 11 evaluations of interventions that aimed at improving birth weight indicators registered an impact in at least one specification, including five out of seven micronutrient interven-tions. There was no clear pattern of impacts across interventions in every intervention group there were examples of programs that did and did not have an impact on a given indicator, and with varying magnitude. Evaluations of the nutritional impact of programs supported by the World Bank, which are generally large-scale, complex, and implemented in low-capacity settings, show equally variable results. Even controlling for the specific outcome indicator, studies often targeted children of different age groups that might be more or less susceptible to the interventions. It is thus difficult to point to inter-ventions that are systematically more effective than others in reducing malnutrition across diverse set-tings and age groups. Differences in local context, variation in the age of the children studied, the length of exposure to the intervention, and differing methodologies of the studies account for much of the variability in results. Context includes factors like the level and local determinants of malnutrition, differences in the characteristics of beneficiaries (including their age), the availability of service infrastructure, and the implementation capacity of government. Outside of a research setting in the context of a large government program there are many things that can go wrong in either service delivery or the demand response that can compromise impact. Beyond this, there are social factors like the status of women or the presence of civil unrest that can affect outcomes. These findings underscore the conclusion that it should not be assumed that an intervention found effective in a randomized controlled trial in a re-search setting will have the same effects when im-plemented under field conditions in a different set-ting. They also point to the need to understand the prevailing underlying causes of malnutrition in a given setting and the age groups most likely to benefit in selecting an intervention. Further, impact evaluations need to supplement data measuring impact with data on service delivery and demand-side behavioral outcomes to demonstrate the plausibility of the findings, to understand what part of a program works, and to address weak links in the results chain to improve performance. There is scant evidence on the distribution of nutrition impacts who is benefiting and who is not or on the cost-effectiveness of interventions Just because malnutrition is more common among the poor does not mean that they will disproportio-nately benefit from an intervention, particularly if acting on new knowledge or different incentives relies on access to education or quality services. Only a third of the 46 evaluations looked at the distribution of impacts by gender, mother s education, poverty status, or availability of complementary health services. Only nine assessed the impacts on nutritional outcomes of the poor compared with the non-poor. Among the evaluations that did examine variation in results, several found that the children of more educated mothers or in better-off communities are be-nefitting the most. Bank-supported cash transfers, community nutrition, and early child development programs in six of eight countries had some impact on child anthropometric outcomes. Of the 12 impact evaluations of Bank support, all but one were of large-scale government programs with multiple interventions and a long results chain. Three-quarters found a positive impact on anthro-pometric outcomes of children in at least one age group, although the magnitude was in some cases not large or applied to a narrow age group. Most of the impact evaluations involved assessment of completely new programs and involved World Bank researchers. Most used quasi-experimental evaluation designs and two-thirds assessed impact after at most 3 years of program implementation. Only half of the evaluations documented the distribution of impacts and only a third presented information on the costs of the intervention (falling short of cost-effectiveness analysis). In two of the countries (Colombia and the Philippines) the evaluations likely had an impact on government policy or programs. Lessons A number of lessons for development practi-tioners and evaluators arose from the review of impact evaluations of World Bank nutrition support. For task managers: Impact evaluations of interventions that are clearly beyond the means of the government to sustain are of limited relevance. The complexity, costs, and fiscal sustainability of the intervention should figure into the decision as to whether an impact evaluation is warranted. Impact evaluations are often launched for the purpose of evaluating completely new pro-grams, but they may be equally or even more useful in improving the effectiveness of ongo-ing programs. There are methods for obtaining reliable impact evaluation results when randomized assignment of interventions is not possible for political, ethical, or practical reasons. For evaluators: In light of the challenges of evaluating large-scale programs with a long results chain, it is well worth the effort to assess the risks to disruption of the impact evaluation ahead of time and identify mitigation measures. The design and analysis of nutrition impact evaluations need to take into account the likely sensitivity of children of different ages to the intervention. For the purposes of correctly gauging im-pact, it is important to know exactly when delivery of an intervention took place in the field (as opposed to the official start of the program). Evaluations need to be designed to provide evidence for timely decision-making, but with sufficient elapsed time for a plausible impact to have occurred. The relevance of impact evaluations for po-licymakers would be greatly enhanced if im-pact evaluations were to document both the

Download or read book The Bangladesh Integrated Nutrition Project written by and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Impact Evaluation of Infrastructure Interventions written by Henrik Hansen and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-09-13 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The focus on results in development agencies has led to increased focus on impact evaluation to demonstrate the effectiveness of development programmes. This book illustrates the broad range of methods available for counterfactual analysis of infrastructure programmes such as establishment, rehabilitation and maintenance of roads, water supply and electrical power plants and grids. Understanding the impact of interventions requires understanding of the context in which the intervention takes place and the channels through which it is expected to occur. For infrastructure interventions it is particularly important to identify the links between the input and the outcomes and impacts because the well-being of people, the ultimate impact, does not change directly as a consequence of the intervention. Therefore impact evaluation of infrastructure programmes typically requires mixing both quantitative and qualitative approaches as illustrated in many of the contribution to this edited volume. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Development Effectiveness.

Download or read book The Project in International Development written by Caitlin Scott and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-06-26 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The project has become fundamental to international development and humanitarian practice, playing a key role in defining objectives, funding streams and ultimately determining what success looks like. This book provides a much-needed overview of the project in international development practice, guiding the reader through the latest theoretical debates, and exploring the core tools and stages of planning and design. The book starts with an overview of the role of the project through development history, before taking the reader through the stages of a standard project management cycle. Each chapter introduces the stage, the most common tools used to support that phase of planning, and the critical debates that exist around it, with examples to illustrate discussions from around the world and a range of development fields. The book explores the challenges to working effectively in contemporary aid contexts, including the role of politics and the pressures wrought by the demands to demonstrate quantified results. Throughout, the book argues for the need to see the project as a form of governmentality that arranges resources and people in time and space, and that extends neoliberal forms of managerial control in the sector. Ending with suggestions for innovation, this book is perfect for anyone looking for an accessible and engaging guide to the international development project, whether student, researcher or practitioner.

Download or read book Impact Evaluation in Practice Second Edition written by Paul J. Gertler and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2016-09-12 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The second edition of the Impact Evaluation in Practice handbook is a comprehensive and accessible introduction to impact evaluation for policy makers and development practitioners. First published in 2011, it has been used widely across the development and academic communities. The book incorporates real-world examples to present practical guidelines for designing and implementing impact evaluations. Readers will gain an understanding of impact evaluations and the best ways to use them to design evidence-based policies and programs. The updated version covers the newest techniques for evaluating programs and includes state-of-the-art implementation advice, as well as an expanded set of examples and case studies that draw on recent development challenges. It also includes new material on research ethics and partnerships to conduct impact evaluation. The handbook is divided into four sections: Part One discusses what to evaluate and why; Part Two presents the main impact evaluation methods; Part Three addresses how to manage impact evaluations; Part Four reviews impact evaluation sampling and data collection. Case studies illustrate different applications of impact evaluations. The book links to complementary instructional material available online, including an applied case as well as questions and answers. The updated second edition will be a valuable resource for the international development community, universities, and policy makers looking to build better evidence around what works in development.

Download or read book The Tangle of Science written by Ann C. (PhD candidate Thresher, PhD candidate University of California San Diego) and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2023-01-08 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Science is remarkably reliable. It puts people on the moon, performs laser eye surgery, tells us about ancient civilizations and species, and predicts the future of our climate. What underwrites this reliability? This book argues that the standard answers--the scientific method, rigour, and objectivity--are insufficient for the job. Here we propose a new model of science which places its products front and centre. In The Tangle of Science we show how any reliable piece of science is underpinned by a vast, diverse, and thick network of other scientific products. In doing so we bring back into focus areas of science that have been long neglected, emphasizing how every product, from the screws that hold the space shuttle together, to ways of measuring the consumer price index, to Einstein's theory of general relativity, work together to support results we can trust.

Download or read book Thinking Clearly with Data written by Ethan Bueno de Mesquita and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2021-11-16 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An engaging introduction to data science that emphasizes critical thinking over statistical techniques An introduction to data science or statistics shouldn’t involve proving complex theorems or memorizing obscure terms and formulas, but that is exactly what most introductory quantitative textbooks emphasize. In contrast, Thinking Clearly with Data focuses, first and foremost, on critical thinking and conceptual understanding in order to teach students how to be better consumers and analysts of the kinds of quantitative information and arguments that they will encounter throughout their lives. Among much else, the book teaches how to assess whether an observed relationship in data reflects a genuine relationship in the world and, if so, whether it is causal; how to make the most informative comparisons for answering questions; what questions to ask others who are making arguments using quantitative evidence; which statistics are particularly informative or misleading; how quantitative evidence should and shouldn’t influence decision-making; and how to make better decisions by using moral values as well as data. Filled with real-world examples, the book shows how its thinking tools apply to problems in a wide variety of subjects, including elections, civil conflict, crime, terrorism, financial crises, health care, sports, music, and space travel. Above all else, Thinking Clearly with Data demonstrates why, despite the many benefits of our data-driven age, data can never be a substitute for thinking. An ideal textbook for introductory quantitative methods courses in data science, statistics, political science, economics, psychology, sociology, public policy, and other fields Introduces the basic toolkit of data analysis—including sampling, hypothesis testing, Bayesian inference, regression, experiments, instrumental variables, differences in differences, and regression discontinuity Uses real-world examples and data from a wide variety of subjects Includes practice questions and data exercises

Download or read book Maintaining Momentum to 2015 written by and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2005-01-01 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report addresses the issue of what publicly-supported programs and external assistance from the Bank and other agencies can do to accelerate attainment of targets such as reducing infant mortality by two-thirds. The evidence presented here relates to Bangladesh, a country which has made spectacular progress but needs to maintain momentum in order to achieve its own poverty reduction goals. The report addresses the following issues:(1) What has happened to child health and nutrition outcomes and fertility in Bangladesh since 1990? Are the poor sharing in the progress which is being made? (

Download or read book Doctor You written by Jeremy Howick and published by Quercus. This book was released on 2018-06-05 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Award-winning Oxford University researcher Dr. Jeremy Howick draws on the latest peer-reviewed medical studies to arm readers with scientific evidence that will empower them to make sensible choices about what drugs to take, what drugs to give their children, and when (and when not) to simply let the body do its thing. "READ THIS BREAKTHROUGH BOOK!" --DEEPAK CHOPRA The miracles of modern medicine--and our overreliance on prescription drugs and surgical procedures--have obscured the evolutionary ability of the body to heal itself, as Dr. Jeremy Howick explains in this groundbreaking book. Wealthy countries have become highly dependent on medical intervention: On average, one-fifth of all Americans, half of the elderly British, and two-thirds of older Canadians take at least five prescription drugs per day, their lives a nonstop ritual of pill popping and managing side effects. One in ten people takes antidepressants, and millions of boys who can't sit still in school are prescribed methamphetamines. Skyrocketing global healthcare costs render this overmedication increasingly unaffordable. In Doctor You, Howick explains that the abundance of modern drugs and technologies has blinded us to the fact that the human body produces its own drugs that can treat pain, is capable of curing itself of many physical ailments as well as a surgeon, and can even combat most mild depression as well as any psychologist. Recent clinical trials clearly show that states of mind affect our health: relaxation, positive thinking, and comfortable social environments all provide measurable health benefits--sometimes as effectively as blockbuster drugs. With a methodical and approachable analysis of modern medicine's overuse of pharmaceutical intervention and the scientific evidence for your body's innate power to heal itself, Doctor You will change the way you think about your health, your body, and your approach to medicine.

Download or read book Ethics in Public Health Practice in India written by Arima Mishra and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-10-10 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This edited volume draws on ten original contributions that locate ethics at the centre-stage of public health practice. The essays explicate ethical issues, challenges, deliberations and resolutions covering a broad canvas of public health practice including policies, programmes, research, training and advocacy. The contributors are academics and practitioners in varying roles and long-standing engagement with public health in diverse settings within India. Their expertise in disciplines range from anthropology, sociology, health communications, gender studies, economics, epidemiology, social work and medicine. Their chapters deal with dimensions of ethical dilemmas that can rarely be defined and contained within ethical guidelines and protocols alone. Instead, they throw light on the associated factors, value systems and contexts in which such complexities occur and require response or redressal. This volume aims to articulate the growing awareness among practitioners that public health ethics is not merely an advanced grouping of possible problems and solutions. It hopes to facilitate robust platforms for dialogue and debate on the subject through the lenses of these contributions. The book is conceptualized to reach broader audiences such as public health practitioners and researchers in several roles within Government health systems, NGOs/Grass root organizations/CSR initiatives/advocacy groups; as well as researchers in academic settings and facilitators involved in teaching ethics and imparting training for students and young practitioners of public health.

Download or read book Improving Effectiveness and Outcomes for the Poor in Health Nutrition and Population written by World Bank and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2009-01-01 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study evaluates the effectiveness of the World Bank Group's support for health, nutrition, and population (HNP) in developing countries from 1997 to 2008 - totaling more than $17 billion - and distills lessons for greater impact in the future. It finds that the Bank Group now funds a smaller share of global support for HNP than a decade ago, but its support remains substantial and adds considerable value. About two-thirds of the Bank's HNP support has had satisfactory outcomes, often in difficult environments. But in a number of country settings, particularly in Africa, it has not performed well, in part due to high complexity and weak capacity. Only half of HNP support had a pro-poor focus, while support to reduce high fertility and promote family planning has dwindled. The evaluation highlights the contribution of investments in water supply, sanitation, and hygiene to improving the health of the poor and the lessons from support for sector-wide approaches, communicable disease control, and health reform. Moving forward, the World Bank needs to improve the performance of its HNP support and the Bank and IFC need to take actions to ensure their support reaches the poor and contributes greater social benefits, respectively.

Download or read book Summary Findings of Evaluation Reports Published by Evaluation Sector IMED During the Period 2001 2010 written by Syed Md. Haider Ali and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Economic and social impacts of Integrated Aquaculture Agriculture technologies in Bangladesh written by Murshed-E-Jahan and published by WorldFish. This book was released on with total page 15 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Repositioning Nutrition as Central to Development written by and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2006 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Persistent malnutrition is contributing not only to widespread failure to meet the first MDG--to halve poverty and hunger--but to meet other goals in maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS, education, and gender equity. The choice is now between continuing to fail, or to finally make nutrition central to development. Underweight prevalence among children is the key indicator for measuring progress on non-income poverty and malnutrition remains the world's most serious health problem and the single biggest contributor to child mortality. Nearly a third of children in the developing world are either.

Download or read book Handbook of Research on Promoting Social Justice for Immigrants and Refugees Through Active Citizenship and Intercultural Education written by Barreto, Isabel María Gómez and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2021-06-11 with total page 468 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Migration movements have been a constant in the societies of the past, as well as in postmodern society. However, in the past ten years, the increase in political, economic, and religious conflict amongst nations; the increase of the poverty index; and many and various natural disasters have duplicated the forced displacement of millions of people across the seven continents of the planet. This situation brings important challenges in terms of the vulnerability, inequity, and discrimination that certain peoples suffer. Professionals from the fields of the social sciences, education, psychology, and international law share the fact that education represents an opportunity for children and young migrants to become members with full rights in the societies they arrive in. Empirical studies show that that the implementation of the right to education for migrants presents some challenges and dilemmas to the governments of host countries and more specifically to the education centers, NGOs, universities, and the professionals working in them, hence the need for more research on these issues of immigration, refugees, social justice, and intercultural education. The Handbook of Research on Promoting Social Justice for Immigrants and Refugees Through Active Citizenship and Intercultural Education provides visibility to issues such as the increase in migration and displacement and the difficulties in political agreements, educational contexts, and in cultural issues, stigmatization, vulnerability, social exclusion, racism, and hatred amongst host communities. This book gives possible solutions to this current complex situation and helps foster and promote sensitivity, perspective, and critical thinking for a respectful and tolerant coexistence and promotion of equity and social justice. The chapters promote cultural diversity and inclusion in classrooms by offering knowledge, strategies, and research on organizational development for educational institutions and multicultural environments. This book is essential for administrators, policymakers, leaders, teachers, practitioners, researchers, academicians, and students interested in the promotion of social justice in education for immigrants and refugees.

Download or read book Nourishing millions written by Gillespie, Stuart and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2016-06-29 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The stories in this book are diverse, spanning five decades and playing out in different arenas, from local to global. They take place in developing countries all over the world, and they involve many sectors and disciplines beyond nutrition itself, including health, agriculture, education, social protection, and water and sanitation. Most importantly, they paint a nuanced picture of success as a context-specific achievement that may, or may not, endure into the future.