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This is a case study of violence and sexual abuse towards women with disabilities in Malawi. It is based on in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. This work examines the childhood and adult experiences of these women, and asserts that discrimination, stigma and vulnerability is worse for adult women.It claims that improvements to access and education will lead to empowerment, thus improving the overall quality of life that women with disabilities can enjoy. This work would be useful for anyone with an interest in human/ women's rights and disability

This "summary" handbook with CD-ROM presents experiences and proposes ideas on how DPOs and people with disabilities can enter and participate in national Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) processes. It provides an overview of the PRSP process and outlines approaches to PRSP and disability, explaining how to include disability issues in national PRSPs. It explains the three main phases of a PRSP (formulation, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation), and suggests how civil society can participate in the process. The CD-ROM contains all this information, as well as extensive information on four case studies including lessons learned, and appendices on stakeholders, process and project management, and influencing policies through lobbying and advocacy

The 2006 World Development Report focuses on equity and development strategy. It builds on and extends frameworks discussed in the 2004 report. Equity is a potentially important factor affecting both the workings of the investment environment and the empowerment of the poor - the two major lines of the World Bank's poverty reduction strategy. The report describes current levels of and recent trends in inequalities along some key dimensions, both within and across countries; discusses whether such inequalities matter and, if so, how it may be possible to reduce them in ways which, rather than harming economic efficiency and growth, may indeed help promote them; and explores the role of domestic policies and international forces, and the potential for international action to reduce inequalities

The 2005 report takes stock of human development, including progress towards the MDGs. Looking beyond statistics, it highlights the human costs of missed targets and broken promises. Extreme inequality between countries and within countries is identified as one of the main barriers to human development and as a powerful brake on accelerated progress towards the MDGs. The report argues that poverty and inequality need urgent attention. It gives a comparison of life expectancy in various countries and puts forward a case that the response from the international community to HIV/AIDS pandemic has been lacking. The report indicates that child mortality has been on the rise compared to the 1980s when the trend had been reversed

This paper tries to deepen understandings of the biological and programmatic implications of the transmission of HIV through breastfeeding which have previously been hampered by insufficient study and difficulties of interpretation. It is a careful look at the findings of programmatic approaches. The project attempted to find, summarise and analyse reports on a wide variety of relevant programmes conducted since 1998 UNICEF guidelines were issued. The programmes range from small community research projects to national programmes. The compilation addresses numerous controversial topics and constraints, including human resources, confused mothers, stigma and discrimination, spillover of replacement feeding, free or subsidised infant formula, family economics and the difficulty in providing integrated HIV testing, informed choice counselling, community support, logistics and follow-up care for mothers and infants

Social exclusion is a complex phenomenon. It is multi-dimensional, and can pass from generation to generation. Social exclusion includes poverty and low income, but is a broader concept and encompasses some of the wider causes and consequences of deprivation. The UK Government defines social exclusion as 'a shorthand term for what can happen when people or areas suffer from a combination of linked problems such as unemployment, poor skills, low incomes, unfair discrimination, poor housing, high crime, bad health and family breakdown.' The problems of social exclusion are often linked and mutually reinforcing, and as a result it is often difficult to disentangle its causes and consequences. The risk of social exclusion is highest for those with multiple disadvantages. This document is a discussion paper intended to stimulate debate on social exclusion around a series of questions and draw together expertise to inform the UK Government's work

This valuable new report looks at the levels of infection of HIV and AIDS, the levels of orphaning and child headed households, sexual debut and sexual experiences and risk factors and risk environments for children aged 2-14 in South Africa. This has been investigated as the HSRC recognizes that there is very little known about HIV prevalence rates among children or about the risk factors that predispose them to becoming infected. The study looks at the social and community risk factors that predispose children to HIV infection as well as the impact of the epidemic on children in terms of orphan status and child headed households. It examines children’s knowledge of HIV and AIDS prevention, their knowledge about sexual behaviour and HIV as well as their own patterns of sexual behaviour and changes in that behaviour. This study is interesting as it explicitly includes young children

This review is the result of a workshop in May 2004 which brought together rehabilitation specialists from Africa, Asia, Europe and Central America to review assistance programmes for war wounded and persons who are living in landmine-affected countries. Lessons learned regarding emergency and continuing medical care, physical rehabilitation, psycho-social support, economic integration, capacity-building and sustainability, access to services, data collection, and coordination are presented in some detail, with reference to achieving the aims outlined in the International Campaign to Ban Landmines' Guidelines for the care and rehabilitation of survivors (1999)

A report of the learning study carried out as part of the Building Digital Opportunities (BDO) programme.The study focuses on mapping the experiences of BDO partners with ICTs and poverty reduction in order to enable BDO partners to improve their understanding of the role of ICTs in poverty reduction and play a pro-poor role in multilateral forums like the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). It draws on research into the use of information and communication technology in Mali, Uganda and Zambia, and examines progress in fulfilling BDO's global objective to ensure that such technology contributes to the achievement of the 8 Millenium Development Goals and 17 Millenium Development Targets