Publications

Mining of tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold (3TGs) in the Great Lakes Region (GLR) of Africa holds much promise to lead to economic, social and political transformation although its development potential is yet to be realized. 3TGs in the GLR are mainly produced via artisanal and small scale mining (ASM), an activity that provides a crucial source of livelihood and catalyst for economic development yet is often informal, highly manual and characterized by dire occupational, environmental and social risks. Over 300,000 men and women, adults, youth and children, produce 3TGs in the GLR, mainly driven to ASM by economic vulnerability or drawn by economic opportunity.

Can agricultural extension systems deliver quality services to smallholder producers, often in remote areas? Yes, there is evidence that this is achieved in some developing and emerging economies. But this is by no means a common practice, and many extension systems continue to struggle with weak performance. This is paper 3 on this subject in a series of six: Monitoring and evaluation for accountability and learning

An association between onchocerciasis and epilepsy was suspected as early as the 1930’s in Mexico and later reports were published showing clustering of epilepsy in several African onchocerciasis foci. Ecological studies carried out in onchocerciasis endemic areas in West, Central and East Africa found a strong association between the prevalence of onchocerciasis and of epilepsy. In previous case-control studies this association was less clear, but this was probably due to shortcomings in study design and the selection of comparison groups. Moreover there seems to be an association between epilepsy and the degree of infection with Onchocerca volvulus. Indeed, in a study in Cameroon, performed before the introduction of annual ivermectin treatment (to control Onchocerciasis), the prevalence of epilepsy and the community microfilarial load were closely related. Moreover a case-control study demonstrated that the microfilarial loads (microfilariae per skin snip) in the epileptic group were significantly higher than in the control group.

This report provides the result of an evaluation of the Universal Health Coverage Partnership (UHC‐P), a collaboration between the EU, Luxembourg and the WHO. As a formative evaluation, the focus is on lessons learnt, rather than on accountability. This review was carried out between March and September 2016 by KIT, the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam, and mandated by WHO headquarters.

With a maternal mortality ratio of 789 per 100,000 live births, and a contraceptive prevalence rate of 4.7%, South Sudan has one of the worst reproductive health situations in the world. Understanding the social norms around sexuality and reproduction, across different ethnic groups, is key to developing and implementing locally appropriate public health responses.

The Post-Ebola Resilience programme started its implementation in August 2015 and it has been progressing thanks to the hard work and commitment of the WPs leaders and the different project teams. We are excited to share with you the ongoing activities of the programme.

KIT is proud to launch a new 4 part analysis of maize seed systems – in Malawi, Zambia, Bihar in India and Chiapas in Mexico. These studies show that the maize seed sectors in these areas are quite advanced, although need better quality controls. At all 4 places hybrid varieties are now widely grown by small farmers, although in Chiapas, Malawi and Zambia local varieties remain popular for local food preparation. The studies were carried out with support from the CGIAR Research Program (CRP) MAIZE. Please find all the reports below:

The purpose of this project was to develop a 150 million multi donor fund proposal that will contribute to improving universal health coverage (including a focus on SRHR, TB and HIV), increase conflict sensitivity equity and health care delivery in hard to reach areas and populations. The donors in the Multidonor Fund are DFID (largest donor), SIDA, Swiss Development Corporation and USAID. This appraisal will result in a proposal following the DFID business case outline.

The Government of the Netherlands (GoN) via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) is currently supporting the NGO Pact in implementing the three-year Scaling up Minerals Traceability Project (“the Project”) in the Great Lakes Region (GLR) of Africa and has requested assistance from the Gender Resource Facility (GRF) to ensure the Project sufficiently accounts for gender and enhances its contributions to gender equality

Can agricultural extension systems deliver quality services to smallholder producers, often in remote areas? Yes, there is evidence that this is achieved in some developing and emerging economies. But this is by no means a common practice, and many extension systems continue to struggle with weak performance. This is paper 2 on this subject in a series of six: Quality of content in extension.

There is increasing interest amongst donors in investing in the health sectors of fragile and conflict-affected states, although there is limited research evidence and research funding to support this. Agreeing priority areas is therefore critical. This paper describes an 18-month process to develop a consultative research agenda and questions for health systems research, providing reflections on the process as well as its output.

There is increasing global interest in how best to support the role of community health workers (CHWs) in building bridges between communities and the health sector. CHWs’ intermediary position means that interpersonal relationships are an important factor shaping CHW performance. This study aimed to obtain in-depth insight into the facilitators of and barriers to interpersonal relationships between health surveillance assistants (HSAs) and actors in the community and health sector in hard-to-reach settings in two districts in Malawi, in order to inform policy and practice on optimizing HSA performance.

YES I DO. is a strategic alliance of five Dutch organizations which main aim is to enhance the decision making space of young women about if, when and whom to marry as well as if, when and with whom to have children. Funded by the sexual and reproductive health and rights policy framework of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, the alliance is a partnership between Plan Nederland, Rutgers, Amref Flying Doctors, Choice for Youth and Sexuality and the Royal Tropical Institute. Led by Plan, the alliance members have committed to a five-year programme to be implemented between 2016 and 2020 in seven countries: Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Pakistan and Zambia

For many decades, the Netherlands Society for Tropical Medicine and International Health (NVTG) has provided training in the Netherlands to doctors aspiring to work in low- and middle-income countries. Over the years, the training has professionalized, resulting in the formal recognition, in 2012, of the ‘doctor International Health and Tropical Medicine’ (doctor IHTM) as a medical specialization, by the Dutch Royal Medical Association (KNMG). In addition, the Commission for the Registration of Medical Specialists (RGS) recognized the Institute of International Health and Tropical Medicine (IGT), which oversees the implementation of the post-graduate specialization programme. This commission extended IGT’s accreditation up to 2021. However, the approval was not unconditional and stipulated modernization and an overhaul of the curriculum to better
align it with the training programme.

The purpose of this project was to provide Sida with a comprehensive mapping and description of research institutions that work on health systems, health economics or health financing research.

Mining of tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold (3TGs) in the Great Lakes Region (GLR) of Africa holds much promise to lead to economic, social and political transformation although its development potential is yet to be realized. 3TGs in the GLR are mainly produced via artisanal and small scale mining (ASM), an activity that provides a crucial source of livelihood and catalyst for economic development yet is often informal, highly manual and characterized by dire occupational, environmental and social risks. Over 300,000 men and women, adults, youth and children, produce 3TGs in the GLR, mainly driven to ASM by economic vulnerability or drawn by economic opportunity.

Can agricultural extension systems deliver quality services to smallholder producers, often in remote areas? Yes, there is evidence that this is achieved in some developing and emerging economies. But this is by no means a common practice, and many extension systems continue to struggle with weak performance. This is the first paper on this subject in a series of six: The governance of agricultural extension systems.

With a maternal mortality ratio of 789 per 100,000 live births, and a contraceptive prevalence rate of 4.7%, South Sudan has one of the worst reproductive health situations in the world. Understanding the social norms around sexuality and reproduction, across different ethnic groups, is key to developing and implementing locally appropriate public health responses.