Research findings for development policymakers and practitioners

Rethinking sexuality and policy
id21 insights 75, November 2008
What do sexuality and policy have to do with each other? Is not sexuality personal, private, and more to do with your body than your politics? Of course on one level it is. However, if we consider our sexual relations in a little more depth, we discover that the terms for them are set by policies and politics, including social norms and gender dynamics, national policies and international relations.

Addressing the global sanitation crisis
Up to 2.6 billion people do not have a clean and safe place to defecate. Untreated waste contaminates food and pollutes rivers. More than 80 percent of people in developing countries become ill because they lack clean water and their waste is not disposed of safely. A focus on the 'sanitation' aspect of water and sanitation programmes is needed to achieve the Millennium Development Goal target of halving the proportion of people without access to basic sanitation.

Reviewing and strategising to make aid effective
A substantial increase in aid and making it effective were goals laid down in the 2002 Monterrey Consensus. The need for coordinated and coherent development policies and strategies has been stressed since then. How far has this been achieved?

Conflict, displacement and reproductive health
Conflict and displacement have a profound negative impact on the reproductive health of affected populations. Poverty, loss of livelihood, disruption of services, breakdown of social support systems, and acts of violence combine to destroy health. Reproductive health services should be considered as much a human right in conflict and post-conflict settings as the basic essentials of shelter, food, water and sanitation.

How can people resolve conflicts over natural resources?
Many natural resources, such as water, forests, land and minerals, are declining due to degradation, overuse and threats including climate change. Conflicts arise as people compete for increasingly scarce resources. How can these conflicts be resolved to ensure a fair outcome for poor people?

Committed but demotivated teachers in Mozambique
Mozambique is working to improve salaries and levels of motivation for teachers and other civil servants. Teachers are generally committed to their profession, but the quality of education is threatened by the conditions they live and work in and the impact of these on their performance, wellbeing and professional pride. More on education issues

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