Q&A: Ambulances, HIV initiatives, Emergency strategies, Participatory monitoring, DDR, Contracts

Topics included:

• Low-cost ambulances
• HIV workplace initiatives
• Emergency preparedness and response strategies
• Participatory monitoring
• Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration
• Contracts with contractors
• Disability equality in practice

Can you offer any insights or pointers to useful information/contacts on these topics? Thank you.

Responses to the previous questions are summarised below. Please continue the discussions online at Aid Workers Forum or e-mail exchange@aidworkers.net

New Questions

LOW-COST AMBULANCES

How can sick people and pregnant women travel in comfort and security along footpaths or poor roads to distant health facilities? Paul is investigating possibilities for low-cost rural ambulances. Can you share any information or experiences? Join the discussion online at Aid Workers Forum

HIV WORKPLACE INITIATIVES

Wendy is helping to develop HIV workplace initiatives targeted toward trucking companies and the uniformed services in Zambia. Can you recommend any good practices based on your experiences? Join the discussion online at Aid Workers Forum

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE STRATEGIES

Shane in Nigeria is developing an Emergency Strategy Plan with a relief and development agency. What advice and guidance can we offer? Join the discussion online at Aid Workers Forum

NEWS UPDATE:

18 months after its launch, Aid Workers Network has grown to 3,900 participants in 145 countries, with around 70 new people joining us each week. There are over 1,000 topics being discussed in the Aid Workers Forum and over 77,500 people have visited the web site. You can read a full update by downloading the latest newsletter [news-oct03.pdf 55kb]

Responses

PARTICIPATORY MONITORING

Ingeborg summarizes the IRC's monitoring guidelines: Create a detailed plan using input from the communities and the management service; Include plans for dissemination of the gathered data; Have indicators that are easy and cheap to measure; Keep the data analysis simple; Include training to ensure validity and reliability in data collection; Combine qualitative and quantitative monitoring. Prabhat strongly encourages inclusion of the community's traditional methods of monitoring and evaluation. Ted tells of the classic book "Partners in Evaluation," by Marie-Therese Feurstein. Kamran provides a document with a performance management tool kit. Continue the discussion at Aid Workers Forum.

DISARMAMENT, DEMOBILIZATION AND REINTEGRATION (DDR)

Bryan shares a summary of some best practices on reintegrating children involved in armed conflict, from a recent Istituto degli Innocenti and UNICEF conference: In northern Uganda, ACET (AIDS Counselling, Education and Training) works with child soldiers and uses culturally based approaches like a purification ceremony for children to aid psychological healing and promote community acceptance. Children who can contribute to their wider community feel useful and valued by society. Malia tells us that documenting children before a formal process starts facilitates their later enrollment. Having different services available can make consistency, important in a DDR process, challenging. The particular issues of girls warrant special attention. A Save the Children-UK report evaluates its child soldier DDR program in East DRC. A study from the Canadian International Development Agency has policy and program recommendations. World Bank publications, such as "Good Practice InfoBrief," which includes lessons learned in Sierra Leone, received several mentions, as did UN documents, all on the web. Continue the discussion at Aid Workers Forum.

CONTRACTS WITH CONTRACTORS

Drew just went through a borehole exercise, and for a geophysical contract siting boreholes for handpumps, recommends specifying location; drill depth; well width; lined channel (pipe) depth; water pump depth; policy if a dry hole is struck; type of pump, pipe, etc.; policy if digger cannot go to max depth; policy if the well digger breaks equipment; requirement for testing quantity, quality, and recharge rate for well; requirement that the client monitor all major acts. Continue the discussion at Aid Workers Forum.

DISABILITY EQUALITY IN PRACTICE

Jayne became interested in ways to better involve people with disabilities as volunteers several years ago. One of the best resources she found was "Training Manual for Working With Youth Volunteers Who Have Disabilities," by Youth Volunteer Corps. It emphasized that people with disabilities want to contribute their expertise too. Jayne used this manual extensively in the development of the online document "Working via the Internet with volunteers who have disabilities." Continue the discussion at Aid Workers Forum.

Aid Workers Exchange 19-NOV-03 ISSN 1478-5137