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Case Studies Training lifts the poorest out of poverty in Ghana

Poverty comes in many forms in Ghana. For some it is because they can only expect to generate very low incomes from their smallholder farms, but for many it is due to the lack of relevant skills evident in much of the poorer sectors of the population. A low skills base makes it very difficult to get a good job. In the towns and cities of Ghana a job that pays the equivalent of US$75 per month is a good job. Creating more of such jobs may not sound like a recipe for poverty reduction but it can be a good start. In the case of Ghana, poverty has halved from 1991 to 2005 essentially by creating more of these sorts of jobs. One particular route to employment which DFID-funded research has focused on is apprenticeship training. Studies by the Research Consortium on Education Outcomes and Poverty (RECOUP), published in a recent working paper have shown that privately financed apprenticeship training is most effective at lifting those with the lowest levels of education out of poverty, and that these effects are greatest among working-age men. A large-scale survey carried out throughout urban households in 2006 asked detailed questions about the background, training and earnings in both waged and self-employed workers. Apprenticeship was seen to be of most benefit to those with no or little education, or only junior high school-level attainment. For currently employed people who did apprenticeships but otherwise had no formal education, training was found to increase their earnings by 50%. The project is the first of its type in Ghana to provide evidence to policy makers in Ghana, the UK and the World Bank that private apprenticeships are a useful and effective route for lifting people out of extremes of poverty. Research suggests that promotion of private sector training provision may be warranted because the private sector currently has a greater impact on effective training provision than the public sector in Ghana.

Ca se Studies The Good Day Centre (Hao Rizi Zhongxin)

Despite Chinese state laws giving rights, entitlements and resources to all women, there is still the conviction amongst many local men and women that 'respectable' Muslim women should stay at home, as previous generations before have done, and that they should continue to depend upon fathers, husbands and sons for their safety and security. The Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture in Gansu Province, is a poor area, with few resources and a lack of basic necessities. The beliefs that keep 'men in public and women at home' prevent Muslim women from asking for the resources to which they are entitled. Researchers from the DFID-funded Women's Empowerment in Muslim Contexts (WEMC) research programme sought to address the issues of empowering Muslim women in Linxia. Collaboration between researchers from the International Gender Studies Centre (IGS) Oxford, and local researchers from Lanzhou University, led to the establishment of an Alliance of Muslim and non-Muslim professional women (including doctors, teachers and engineers) to work with and on behalf of local women. Studies were carried out in 2007 in Hanji Township, to determine how best to use the professional skills and social networks of the members of the Alliance. Hanji township had no public provisions or facilities for Muslim women, and there was little interaction between Hui Muslim and the non-Muslim (Han) women who were in the majority. It was chosen because of its role as a local transport hub, which gives it considerable influence on the surrounding villages. Local researchers identified health issues as the main factors affecting women's quality of life and sense of well-being. "Our research into the situation in Hanji Township, Linxia, showed clearly the need for action on many fronts: the impact of unemployment on family income, the impact of environmental degradation on the health of all, the growing divide between Han Chinese, with no religious belief, cultural Muslims (with a focus on diet and life-style) and those Muslims who belong to an ever more influential austere Islam (xin pai).

Wanting to work with local women, we found Muslim women in Hanji confined to their homes, adhering to a traditional division of labour, and increasingly donning religious clothing inspired by returning pilgrims' (hajj) insistence on rectifying 'inappropriate' appearance; choices become elusive." - Xu Lili (Lead Researcher, WEMC-Gansu) Inspired by the experiences of those who had studied women's mosques, and had seen the differences that provision of their own space could make to women, a small 'shop' for women's clothing and household textiles was acquired. This provided a 'safe space' for women to come together to talk, listen, learn and network. In the words of Xu Lili, the shop was "…a 'commercial guise' to placate religious leaders and suspicious families, to appeal to women and to ease them into conversation. The strategy was successful, from an initial trickle of women, a continuous flow of visitors now feel at ease with us – with this growing acceptance of the 'shop' its commercial function is diminishing somewhat, and educational and communication opportunities are assuming greater importance." The shop was the forerunner of the Hanji Township Muslim women's Good Day Centre (Hao Rizi Zhongxin). This was established in April 2008 after extensive exchanges with local government departments, who finally entered into an agreement of cooperation. Both Muslim women and women from non-Muslim ethnic groups now come to the Centre, to chat, exhibit their handicrafts, share knowledge and to learn from the health information provided. With the help of the Alliance, the first volume of a healthcare manual has been produced for local women, covering gynecological diseases, stomach disorders, rheumatoid arthritis and gall bladder infections. There are plans to revise this and to produce further volumes. In addition, by offering a free medical check-up in Lanzhou, the Alliance also helps in approaching local Muslim women and encouraging them to visit the Centre. "Externally, the Centre has received statements of support (with the exception of some of the more orthodox religious leaders) and expressions of interest in seeing this Centre as a possible prototype for similar initiatives elsewhere in the County." - Maria Jaschok, Lead Researcher, WEMC-IGS

Case Studies A Small Dream

"I want the students to excel in life and to proudly claim that they once studied in Moach Goth Replication School…At times when people would taunt us in the streets saying 'she thinks she is the guardian of our community's wellbeing...' I would pray in my heart give me no home, but grant my children a good school; grant me only this that in comparing [my home and the school], people see my sincerity and years of toil; and recognize that I have not worked for myself, but only for this small dream...". Humaira Bachal. As a first grade student, Humaira was the only one to go to school while all her friends played in the streets. She used to think school might be a punishment. She soon came to believe that she was the privileged one. She remained troubled by this until, still only in fifth grade, Humaira thought how she might redress this injustice: she would teach children at home the lessons she had learnt in class. Roping in her younger sister, Tahira, Humaira begged students to donate the unused pages of their old notebooks and pencil stubs, and started teaching every day after school. She was fully supported by her mother, Zainab Bibi, who endured social boycott, verbal and even physical abuse to give her girls the education they needed to enable them to break a cycle of disempowerment that she had also suffered. Backed by her mother, Humaira overcame initial resistance from her father and brothers at home and the conservative attitudes and reluctance of community members. A born leader, Humaira soon persuaded other classmates and juniors at school to join in. The young girls hit a hurdle, however, when, using every available space including the kitchen floor, the Bachal’s modest home could not accommodate any more children. Self help had reached its limits and Humaira was on the verge of giving up when her endeavours came to the notice of an organisation running street schools in the adjacent equally poor neighbourhood of Lyari. When the men from Anjuman-e-Raza-e-Mustafa (ARM) Youth Welfare Society visited, they were stunned by the amazing commitment and achievements of these "mere children,". Impressed, the ARM mobilized support from the Rotary Club. Today, five years later, the Moach Goth Replication School educates over 700 students in four shifts, including adult literacy classes for young women. The young teachers all continue their own education at the same time as they teach others.

The DFID-funded Women's Empowerment in Muslim Contexts (WEMC) programme has now helped tell Humaira's story through training director Gulnar Tabassum in documentary film making. Gulnar has produced 'A Small Dream' about Humaira's school which was launched in March, 2009. The film's premiere was in Lahore at the South Asia Free Media Association, with Humaira, Tahira and Zainab Bibi attending. The film has since been a great success. It has been shown at the Gender Studies Department of the Lahore College for Women University (LCWU) and has been featured on the LCWU radio station. It is also being used in teaching by other universities in the city. The film, especially the debate on culture and women's status, has found profound resonance in the WEMC programme itself. The film, which will soon be broadcast on a local cable network in Balochistan, has also invigorated the commitment to strive for women’s rights amongst members of the newly formed Nissa Women Welfare and Social Development Organisation which WEMC helped set up. Humaira's achievements go far beyond converting the view of education - especially for girls - from a 'suspect activity' into a valued asset amongst the community’s ethnically diverse groups. Supported by ARM, this small group of teenage girls have steadily transformed gender relations within the community, through awareness about women’s legal rights and discussions around gender relations, culture and marriage. In 2007, Humaira 'retired', she says, from the school 'in order to earn a living'; 19 year old Tahira is now the principal. Humaira still dreams of making her school a permanent longlasting institution. The Rotary Club has promised Humaira that they will build the school providing she can secure land. An empty plot of land is available, but the young teachers need Rs. 800,000 (£6,600) to purchase it. The film is helping to spread the word and raise funds. ARM hopes to use Humaira's school as a model for transforming their street schools - which are often literally held on the streets - into regular schools.

Case Studies Does the Media Help or Harm in Potentially Divisive Elections?

The media were accused in last year's Kenya general election of fermenting violence, yet in Ghana they were hailed for helping facilitate an election where informed citizens cast their votes according to policy choices rather than ethnic identity. The role of media in elections - sometimes negative, sometimes positive - is becoming an increasingly key governance issue. Paul Collier argues in his recent book, Wars, Guns and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places, that as elections increasingly become a catalyst for conflict, so investment needs to be made in institutions - including the media - that can inform citizens more effectively and can create more effective checks and balances in society. After the recent Bangladeshi elections, the public debate that led up to the election led one commentator in the country to argue that "We have entered a new political era in which divisive, wedge issues and identity politics take a back-seat, and the voters make their decisions based on the parties' respective visions and policy proposals and on their assessment of the candidates' honesty, competence, and ability to deliver". Interpreting what the media's role might be in any particular election has become the aim of the BBC World Service Trust’s new advisory and response unit for DFID's governance and conflict advisers. Where it has analysis on the role of media relevant to elections in a specific country - either from its own research or from other organisations - it has provided this as a briefing to advisers. The facility, which has been provided by the DFID-funded Policy and Research Programme on the Role of Media in Development has already been used to develop briefings for Angola, Burma, Cote D'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi, Yemen and Zimbabwe. Research from the programme has also been used more widely: The Kenya research was published as a BBC World Service Trust Policy Briefing in April 2008 and formed the basis of policy briefings for donors, in Kenya and internationally. Versions were published in BBC World Agenda magazine, the International Journal of Press and

Politics and in media reports. The briefing was strongly welcomed by both bilateral and multilateral agencies, and has been highlighted in many policy fora including at the Salzburg Seminar, the Ditchley Park Foundation, the National Endowment for Democracy and elsewhere.

Case Studies Protecting the water rights of indigenous Mexicans

In Mexico, the flow of water from mountainous areas to the cities connects a variety of people and businesses. Researchers from the DFID-funded Development Research Centre on Citizenship, Participation and Accountability have promoted new relationships based on the common interests of major users of water resources: indigenous ranchers, rural and urban municipalities and the petrochemical industry. In the hills Southern Veracruz, where the study was conducted, water bubbles from natural springs and drips from the leaves of the lush vegetation to form the Huazuntlán River. Little of the Huazuntlán’s flow, however, benefits the small farms or cattle owned by the indigenous communities that inhabit the area. Instead, most of the water is diverted by a dam to an aqueduct that carries it to the oil refining town of Coatzacoalcos, 60 kilometers away on the Gulf coast. For years, indigenous communities have decried the loss of a natural resource they believe is rightfully theirs and have even seized control of the dam on more than one

occasion to shut down the aqueduct until their demands for compensation were met. Occasional acts of patronage to the hillside communities - the provision of a new building or road - maintained a delicate peace until environmental degradation began to threaten the livelihoods of the farming communities and the water supply of the city. "They may be educated people [in the city] but they are ignorant to our problems and to the economic burdens of doing the work that’s required to take care of the forests here in the basin," said one member of a farming community in the watershed. The researchers carried out a joint inquiry with these indigenous communities into the state of affairs. The work - done in the action-research tradition that believes that the act of seeking change is itself a form of investigation - has resulted in the beginnings of a new relationship of accountability between the communities of the sierra, the water consuming towns of the coast and state officials. The case demonstrates that building accountability and co-responsibility between numerous actors with diverse and contradictory interests requires an ongoing process of negotiation and engagement through both formal and informal channels. The evidence is clear: the technique has broken the control of client-patron networks. Indigenous communities have more direct access to policy discussions on water management and have been entrusted to manage a multi-million dollar fund for the restoration of the watershed. Among diverse strategies promoted to achieve the sustainable management of water is 'inducing social recognition of hydraulic environmental services and to consolidate the participation of organized society in water management.' On paper, this gives the authorities of the mountain villages the right to participate in the river basin commission corresponding to their region, but in reality they have not been included. In this case, each cooperative, village and municipality has its own assembly, but these spaces are often rife with conflict sewn by the uneven privatisation of cooperatives, migration, religion and party politics. Interaction between local institutions and federal and state government concerning water and natural resources are regulated by a legal framework, but the framework leaves no room for a negotiated settlement. As an issue of national security, conflicts over water are resolved by top-down mandate. Complicating the matter further, each government ministry defines its own strategy without coordinating with the other actors. During three years of participatory research, researchers engaged in dialogue with the local government to generate new concepts and practices for more accountable institutional arrangements over the long term. Through this process of negotiation and dialogue, there are now mechanisms that may lead to greater accountability and sustainable management of the watershed. These include:

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A shift towards increased dialogue between communities and urban and political institutions, although this does not exclude the possibility of social mobilisations (Meetings were held between urban water authorities and the watershed committee to create an environmental services payment scheme); The creation of a watershed committee involving the local authorities of eight villages; and The elaboration of a plan for the ecological restoration of the watershed.

The formation of the committee highlighted the differences of perspective among the various communities, differences that formerly had been hidden by institutional arrangements that gave the head of the municipality the only voice in the region. As a result, they decided that each community should manage its own resources, using the committee as a space for coordination. Groups of men and women opened discussions at the community level about how to develop an environmental agenda, which led to the creation of a watershed plan for restoration. The newly organized and informed communities have made a major breakthrough; they have been authorized to take charge of a $2.5 million fund for the restoration of the watershed and are in negotiations with state and federal government about the work plan. The strengthening of alliances between different levels and forms of government was an important first step toward ending the cycle of conflict and environmental degradation. In order to foster integration between environmental management, forestry and water policies, it was also crucial to deepen the relationship with urban water authorities. The case underscores how a more efficient and democratic use of resources directed toward solving environmental and social problems, it is necessary to respect the autonomy of the communities and avoid intermediaries. Here accountability is not about creating institutional arrangements from above, but about a process that requires new forms of negotiation and institutional arrangements that can benefit indigenous people, especially those living in protected areas. Accountability issues relate to the difficulty of enforcing existing laws and procedures for a better planned system. Local institutions lack information about their entitlements within this legal framework, and higher authorities lack political will to integrate indigenous people in the existing participation spaces. There is no recipe for creating accountability. Power inequalities need to be confronted and new cultures of accountability nurtured.