2013 cambridge international development report

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2013 CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT REPORT

Working out our future togetherFour steps towards

ending global poverty
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Editor: Anne RadlEditorial assistant: Ellen JudsonCopy editor: Becky AllenDesigner: Tom AndersonProduction advisor: Charlotte SankeyProduction support: Rachel Helen SmithEditorial board: Steve Jones, Thomas Kirk, Janice S. Peder sen, Charlot te San key, Amy Weather up

We are grateful to the followingorganisations for theirsponsorship of this report:

Office of Public EngagementFaculty of Engineering

ARM is an international technology company with headquarters in Cambridge.ARM believes that the private sector has a leading role to play in implementingand achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They believe that true

development happens through partnership and collaboration; they are a LEADmember of the United Nations Global Compact, a global platform which convenescompanies together with United Nations agencies, labour and civil society to supportfundamental principles in the areas of human rights, labour, the environment andanti-corruption. They are also an environmentally low-impact company, committed to

nding ways to minimize their footprint, and helping others to do so through the useof information and communication technology (ICT).

Through their corporate social responsibility programmes, ARM supports initiativeswhere ICT is used to help enhance livelihoods in developing countries. ARMprocessors can be found in most of the 6 billion mobile phones worldwide. As we seein this report, mobile technology is helping people to voice their ideas and concerns(page 13 ), access essential services like health education ( page 21 ) even power thelights in their homes ( page 58 ).

ARMs partnership with the Humanitarian Centre helps to build knowledge, skillsand capacity for putting technology, science and innovation in the service ofdevelopment.

We are grateful to the followingorganisations for their support of theHumanitarian Centre in 2012-2013:

FOREWORDWe do much; we can do much moreBy Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER ONE

How do we realise the elusive vision ofan Africa-led development agenda?By Dr Alioune Sall, African Futures

Institute and Professor Alinah K.Segobye, Human Sciences ResearchCouncil

By broadcasting Africas many voices Africas Voices case study

Inclusive education is not enough; weneed empowering, quality education forallBy Dr Nidhi Singal, Faculty of

Education, University of Cambridge

Give people with disabilities a voice, andthe whole community learnsCBM UK case study

Should gender equality goals do more topromote the right to be respected?By Professor Madeleine Arnot, Faculty of

Education, University of Cambridge

Children can be agents of change in theircommunitiesChildren for Health case study

Bring the access revolution to everyone!By Dr Virginia Barbour, PLOS

By collecting the worlds open data all inone placeStat.io case study

CHAPTER TWO

Before we can feed the world, we need tounderstand food politicsBy Dr Bhaskar Vira and Dr David N ally,Cambridge University Strategic Initiativein Global Food Security

Complex does not need to beimpenetrable: the story of asuccessful campaign about food

Enough Food for Everyone If Campaigncase study

Use creative communications to breakdown peoples resistance to (climate)changeBy Dr David Viner, Mott MacDonald

In Sudan, lm is a powerful tool formoving forward towards peaceCultural Healing: Sudan case study

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CONTENTS
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CHAPTER THREE

A paradoxical challenge: how caninternational donors support autonomouslocal development?By Ian Steed, International Federationof Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies,and Balthazar Bacinoni, Burundi RedCross Society

We can create platforms for exchanginglocal and international agriculturalinnovationsNIAB Innovation Farms Africa case study

Lets try to view foreign aid from thereceiving endBy Bernard Rivers, Aidspan

How foreign aid can be less foreign:a word from a Ugandan partnerAfrinspire case study

We need scientists worldwide to be active in developmentAn interview with Dr Jasdeep Sandhu,Centre for Science and Policy, Universityof Cambridge

Finding out what worksCentre for Science and Policy case study

The Global Sustainability Institute ismodelling new ways to grow in the faceof resource scarcity

By Dr Aled Jones, Global SustainabilityInstitute, Anglia Ruskin University

CHAPTER FOUR

Is there a role for business in navigatingus through the perfect storm?By Polly Courtice LVO, Cambridge

Programme for Sustainability Leadership

By putting sustainability at the heartof innovation

Azuri Technologies case study

Is it possible to simultaneously generatemeaningful jobs, social good and pro tamong the poorest four billion people?By Professor Jaideep Prabhu, JudgeBusiness School, University ofCambridge

Yes, say venture capitalists who investin unconventional markets: vaccines anddrugs for the very poorGlobal Health Innovation Fund casestudy

CONCLUSION

AFTERWORDEach one of us, together, can makemassive small changeBy Andrew Lamb

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WE DO MUCH;

WE CAN DO

MUCH MORE

BYPROFESSOR SIR

LESZEKBORYSIEWICZ FRS,

VICE-CHANCELLOR,

UNIVERSITYOF

CAMBRIDGE

In overseas development work,partnership is a necessary condition ofsuccess. Universities, pleasingly, ndpartnership and collaboration natural.I applaud the Humanitarian Centrefor the collaborations it has fashionedwith NGOs, student societies, charities,policy-making bodies and the privatesector, and with University departmentsand colleges.

It is clear to me that poverty is bestunderstood, and addressed, as a systemof interlocking and co-dependentchallenges. A poor harvest meansa village cant afford medicines oreducation; poor health means workerscant plough the elds or look afterthe livestock, or go to school as pupilsor as teachers; and poor educationmeans that healthcare and hygiene arenot prioritised. The 2013 Cambridge

International Development report looksat these interconnected challenges andexplores ways that we can help shapeeach others efforts to make a ttingcontribution to the development jigsaw.

In April this year I gave the RichardLarkins Oration for Monash University,Australia. My title was Universities andthe Poorest Billion , and my messagewas that universities contribution to thealleviation of world poverty is seriouslyundervalued, including by universitiesthemselves. We do much; we can domuch more.

The key to doing more isunderstanding our strengths and

our limitations. This understandingcomes from doing what universitiesdo best: learning. Universities aremultidisciplinary and excel at complexproblems; we can support the growth ofuniversities in the global South, whichbring untold local bene ts; and wecan broker relationships with others,including the private sector.

In every historical and geographicalincarnation of a university in the West,making a difference in the world has beena recognisable aim. Although they sprungfrom monastic roots, universities are notmonasteries: they are functionally theopposite.

Academics do not withdraw intouniversities to think deep thoughts we deepen those thoughts by constantengagement with others. Our missionto serve global society is illustrated inthe pages of this report, which featurescontributions from academics who areworking with, and learning from, peopleliving in poverty to realise our shareddevelopment futures.

My challenge to the members of theHumanitarian Centre network is to helpuniversities nd new ways of matchingour skills and motivations with theworlds development needs, throughmeaningful collaborations with partnershere in Cambridge and all over the world.When we can all learn from one another,we will be inspired, empowered and

equipped*

to end global poverty. This isa journey that has only just begun.

* The power of the Humanitarian Centre is in its energy

and ability to inspire, empower and equip Cambridges

international development community.

2013CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONALDEVELOPMENT REPORTPAGE4

FOREWORD
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2013CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONALDEVELOPMENT REPORT2013CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONALDEVELOPMENT REPORTPAGE 6 PAGE 7

STEVEJONES,

CHAIR OF TRUSTEES,

THEHUMANITARIAN

CENTRE

ANNERADL,

PROGRAMMES MANAGER,

THEHUMANITARIAN

CENTRE

Eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were set at the turn of the 21stcentury to reduce global poverty andinjustice by 2015. For the rst time,all the members of the United Nations (UN) came together and committed toachieving a set of time-bound targets tomeet the needs of the worlds poor, fromhalving extreme poverty to ensuring that40% of wage-earning jobs in the non-agricultural sector were held by women.

Since 2000, UN members havereaf rmed these goals and theircommitment to ful lling them severaltimes. A feeling that the time was longoverdue to take action on needlessinjustices and inequalities resonatedfar beyond the UN, and beyond thedevelopment community; it rallied manyother actors from schools to churches tocorporations to take action too.

There has been striking,unprecedented progress over the past13 years; many of the targets set havealready been met. But there is still somuch to do, and with less than twoyears until the MDGs expire, there hasbeen a urry of activity to put a newdevelopment framework in place thathas the power to inspire people all overthe world, once again, to work togetherfor global social good.

With the bene t of hindsight, ouraspirations for the next framework areeven more ambitious, because we have

learned from what the MDGs did not do. The MDGs did not focus on themechanisms for change, nor the kindsof data and evidence we needed to becollecting to ensure that change washappening. The MDGs did not translatewell into planning tools, because theydid not differentiate targets by countriesor groups of people within countries. Incertain cases, they may have exacerbatedexisting inequalities by lifting up thosewho were easiest to reach, and leaving

the most neglected behind, for example,people living with disabilities andmarginalised ethnic groups.

Over the past 13 years the worldhas changed too. The evidence forunprecedented climate changehas become incontrovertible. A UNconference in Brazil in 2012, Rio+20 ,made it clear that human developmentcannot be divorced from environmentalprotection and sustainability goals. Itproposed that, whatever frameworkreplaced the MDGs, sustainability social, environmental and economic should be at its core.

As Cambridges internationaldevelopment network, theHumanitarian Centre has been followingthe many discussions, conferencesand reports from international policymakers and advocacy groups, and weare responsive and ready to help ourstakeholders join in a global partnershipto usher in and implement a new set ofglobal goals.

We are excited by some of thechanges we have seen in the processesto develop a new development agenda,in particular a powerful assertion thateveryone is implicated in the goals wewill set. We are all stakeholders in thenew development agenda, because weall have something at stake. The rich andpoor alike are vulnerable to the volatilitycreated by increasing social inequalities

and environmental risks.We have written this report with

everyone in mind. Our networkincludes not only our core membershipof non-governmental organisations(NGOs) working for poverty alleviation,but academics and researchers from plant geneticists to historians

students, young people, volunteers,business leaders and buddingentrepreneurs, tech innovators andpolicy experts and their networks and

PAGE7

partners all over the world, particularlyin developing countries. Just as it hasbeen suggested that the new goalsshould differentiate targets by groups,so we believe that we must beginthinking about how each of us w illmake an appropriate and effectivecontribution to achieving them.

Four things are clear to us:

1) The needs of the poor have to beat the centre of any new developmentagenda. To ensure that this happens, weneed to listen to the experiences, desiresand ideas of people in impoverishedand vulnerable communities, and to thethought leaders in so-called developingcountries. We can learn by listening howto support them in charting the futurecourse of their own development.

2) When we listen, we hear manyvoices, calling for many differentactions. We need to develop bettermechanisms and strategies forcoping with complexity, whetherthese are forums for promotingbetter understanding of one anotherspriorities, more creative and effectivecommunications techniques, or betterevidence bases and the capacity to usethem to build consensus.

3) By embracing complexity,

and understanding the potentialcontributions and limitations ofdifferent approaches, we also come toa clearer understanding of how eachof us can add value. The post-2015

development agenda has to be about thehow as much as the what. When weknow exactly what is wanted from us,and how we can contribute using ourparticular capabilities, we can proceed intruly impactful partnerships. In situationswhere we do not have value to add,we can support other efforts from thesidelines.

4) Whatever it is that we can do, weneed to do it all of us. Achievingsocial, economic and environmentalequality and sustainability is the mostimportant challenge facing the worldtoday. This means mobilising actors whomay have been seen as peripheral, oreven antithetical, to these goals, like bigbusiness. Groups that do not get on boardwith the new sustainable developmentagenda will nd that they themselvesare not sustainable in a rapidly shiftinglandscape.

With these four ideas as our framework,we have gathered a set of essays thatdemonstrate the challenges we will allencounter in setting and implementinga post-2015 development agenda, andcase studies that illustrate potential waysforward.

Each chapter ends with a series ofsuggestions of how different individualsand organisations can play a role atevery point, with the hope of inspiring,

empowering and equipping everyone who reads this report to make anappropriate contribution to endingpoverty and achieving sustainabledevelopment in the next 15 years.

INFOGRAPHICFROM BAPTIST WORLDAID AUSTRALIA ,

BELOVE, AUGUST 2012

INTRODUCTION
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CHAPTER ONE:

LISTEN TO LEARNWe are all stakeholders in the fate of our planet and the people on it. However,the people with the greatest stake in the post-2015 development agenda arethose who are most at risk of poverty, disease, vulnerability and hardship.

There are many parallel dialogues happening around the world, from the UnitedNations to the grassroots level , to assess who we are and where were going.

The world must make space for listening to the previously unheard voices of the

poor and marginalised, to hear their experiences and values, their history, andtheir self-reflections, and draw on these to chart our future course of direction.

By listening to the unheard voices, we hear previously unarticulated ideas aboutdevelopment radical transformations and reimaginings of what our future canbe. Critically, we must ensure that everyone can listen and learn from thesevoices.

How do we realise the elusive vision of an Africa-leddevelopment agenda? By Dr Alioune Sall, African Futures Institute and Professor Alinah

K. Seg obye, H uman S cience s Resea rch Cou ncil

By broadcasting Africas many voices Africa s Voices c ase stu dy

Inclusive education is not enough; we need empowering, quality education for allBy Dr Nidhi Singal, Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge

Give people with disabilities a voice, and the whole communitylearnsCBM UK case study

Should gender equality goals do more to promote the right tobe respected? By Professor Madeleine Arnot, Faculty of Education, University ofCambridge

Children can be agents of change in their communitiesChildren for Health case study

Bring the access revolution to everyone!By Dr Virginia Barbour, PLOS

By collecting the worlds open data all in one placeStat.io case study

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HOW DO WE REALISE

THE E LUSIVE VISION

OF AN AFRICA-LED

DEVELOPMENT

AGENDA

2013 has seen a variety of celebrations forand about Africa at 50. An equallyimportant activity driven by theAfrican Union Commission has beenthe development of a vision for Africafor 2063. Agenda 2063 is unfolding inthe wings of the United Nations exerciseto develop the next global developmentagenda (post 2015). These events havegenerated interesting conversations anddebates, and we wish to re ect on just afew.

REFLECTING ON PAST DEVELOPMENTSIt is opportune for an African-led agendaof Africas future(s) to be on the globaldiscourse on development. However,the concept of development remainsproblematic. For Africa, it is interwovenwith the colonial and post-colonialproject 1. The Berlin Conference 2 led to aholistic approach to colonisation, which

thereafter was seen and approached asan enterprise of controlling resources,both natural and human. Independencefor Africa was yet another tool formaintaining hegemony of the West 3. Itwas based on knowledge and analysesgenerated from Euro-Americanintellectual centres, think tanks andpolitical forces. It was engineered in sucha way that it would be: Economic growth without social

progress Democracy without accountability Independence without

emancipation Decolonisation without liberation Crown without the jewel 4

Because of these characteristics, theindependence project was dubbed, neo-colonialism by Kwame Nkrumah 5. Theproject was well thought out and welldesigned to be the most cost-effectiveway to maintain domination.

It can be surmised that the neo-colonialproject was anchored heavily in nation-building and the process of developingAfrican states. This served to generatenew local elites, who played the roleof chiens de garde 6. A bourgeoisie wascreated without roots in the productionsystem or capital. Then and now,conspicuous consumption and instantgrati cation were the main characteristics

of the elite. In South Africa, the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowermentproject (B-BBEE) has generated whatis called the Black Diamonds whohave a similarly voracious appetite formateriality.

The adoption of an externallydriven development trajectory led to apermanent nervous condition 7 whereAfrica would be producing what it doesnot consume and consuming what it

The legacy of post-colonialdevelopment endures. This is whyordinary people in developingcountries should be shaping thepost-2015 development agenda.

1. For more thoughts, see Karuri-Sebina, G., Sall, A.,

Maharajh, R., Segobye, A. (2012). Fictions, factors and

futures: re ections on Africas impressive growth.

Development 55(4), 491-496.

2. The Berlin Conference, 188485 formalised European

powerscolonial control over Africa, leading to the

scramble for Africa and squelching African

self-governance and autonomy.

3. The Westis used in reference to countries of the

developed global north, inclusive of Europe and North

America.

DR ALIOUNESALL,

EXECUTIVEDIRECTOR

AFRICANFUTURES

NSTITUTE

PROF ALINAH K.SEGOBYE,

DEPUTYEXECUTIVE

DIRECTOR &

HEADOF RESEARCH

IMPACT ASSESSMENT,

HUMANSCIENCES

RESEARCH COUNCIL

African development is mired in the legacy of post-colonialism.Alioune Sall and Alinah Segobye challenge African academiesto break down barriers that prevent them from hearing oneanother, and from working together towards an African-led development agenda. With reflection, communicationand action, Africas thought leaders can reconceptualiseour development futures, eradicating Africas poverty andembracing the wealth and abundance of the continents truepotential.

C HA L L E NG E

Re ection, communication and actionare the three points of a liberationtriangle. Africas thought leaders arecoming together to re ect and listento each other as they ask, Who andwhat are we?

WE SHOULD LOOK AT DEVELOPMENT AS AN OPPORTUNITYTO CREATE AND MANAGE WEALTH AND ABUNDANCE

4. C.f ., Mazrui, A.A. (2001). Shifting African Identities:

The Boundaries of Ethnicity and Religion in Africas

Experience. Shifting African Identities 2, 153.

5. Kwame, N. (1965). Neo-Colonialism: The last stage of

imperialism . London: Thomas Nelson and Sons.

6. Watch dogs

does not produce. African elites remainobsessive in their adoration of all thingswestern, including a fastidious embraceof European languages and culture andrejection of Africa and her heritage.

The post-independence developmenttrajectory was buttressed by the

nancial incentives of aid and latterlyloans, which have been pervasive,addictive and cancerous, thusweakening the immune system of therecipients of aid (African societies).We see this dependence as a majorthreat to the pan-Africanism andrenaissance paradigm and agenda inthe architecture of Africas future(s).

RE-ENVISIONING THE FUTUREThe question therefore is: how doAfricans become their own liberators? Toanswer that question, we would submitthat what is needed is a new triangle.

Re ection, communication and actionare its three points and nexus. As far asthe reconceptualisation is concerned,it begins by de ning ourselves and ourproject of society. Who and what are we 8?We need to answer that. A paradigm shiftis a must, and the role of universities hasbeen crucial where such shifts have takenplace in the world.

First, we should do away with themethods of development planningthat consist of measuring gaps, with aview to lling them and catching up.These methodologies are anchoredin the idea that development is abouteconomic growth and that economicsis the science of the management ofscarcity. They emphasise de cienciesrather than potentialities, poverty ratherthan abundance. We should look atdevelopment as an opportunity to createand manage wealth and abundance.

INIGUNGA, TANZANIA,ZAWADI (WHICH MEANS GIFT)

LEANS OVER PLANS FOR A WATER TANK,WHICH IS BEING

CONSTRUCTEDIN THEBACKGROUND. EWBUK

7. Dangare mbga, T. (1988). Nervous conditions. London:

Womens Press.

8. This question, posed by Aime Cesaire in 1946, remains

pertinent today.
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10. Th is debate was interrogated by some of Africas

leading scholars at the Thabo Mbeki African Leadership

Institute symposium aptly titled, Finding Solutions to

Africas Development (August 2013).

9. The 2013 Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture delivered

by Dr Mo Ibrahim eloquently spoke to the subject of the

eadership de cit plaguing Africa.

We should aim at correcting theepistemological fallacies that havedominated intellectual discourse ondevelopment, and have led us to believethat Africans are poor and need aid, whileAfricas impoverishment can be linked todevelopment aid.

Further, our complacency with corruptelites cannot continue unchallenged 9.African academia must play the positiverole of an organic, intellectual, thought-leadership cadre and contribute to theparadigm shift alluded to above 10.

The second point is aboutcommunicating with a purpose.Speci cally, this speaks to building aconstituency for change. Communicatingis about breaking barriers, be theygenerational, gender-based or geographic.

The question of local and indigenouslanguages remains a major battle eld asmany of the elite draw their power,status or authority from the mastery of aforeign language.

Reconceptualising developmentincludes challenging frameworks,like the post-2015 developmentgoals, as to whether they canappropriately represent the manyconcerns of the worlds diversecitizenry.

After re ection comescommunication. To builda constituency for change,communication must break downbarriers.

Breaking the disciplinary boundariesis an essential ingredient ofcommunicating within and betweencommunities and countries in Africa.The late Ugandan scholar DaniNabudere was in uential on thispoint, arguing persuasively against thefragmentation of knowledge throughacademic disciplines.

Recognising and harnessing thediversity/plurality of forms of expressionis paramount. That requires addressingthe toxic hierarchy established betweendifferent forms of expression and theprivileging of written forms, particularlyin the African academy.

It is timely to venture into explorationsof Africas future(s). However, theproject needs to be rooted in a truly self-conscious African academy and remaincritical of the conceptual frameworksthat create time-bound agendas notanchored on the aspirations of a verydiverse African citizenry.

W A Y F O R W A R D

BY BROADCASTING

AFRICAS MANY

VOICES

The third point in Sall and Segobyes liberation triangleis action. Africas Voices is an innovative project that usesradio broadcasting, SMS technology and social researchto help policymakers, development actors and thoughtleaders to hear the opinions of a diverse citizenry and takeresponsive actions.

Radio stations across eight Africancountries are using Africas Voices to askquestions on-air about relevant publicissues, and inviting listeners to send a

text message to the station voicing theiropinion. Questions focus on topics suchas governance, health, education, genderequality and environment, for example:Should our government ban the use ofplastic bags?

Because the questions are asked in locallanguages and many people have accessto a mobile phone, the discussions arelargely inclusive. The text messages areanalysed by the Centre of Governanceand Human Rights in Cambridge(CGHR) to nd common themes as wellas differences among countries. These

ndings are shared with the stations anddiscussed on Africas Voices programmes,

fostering audience engagement with localissues.

The data gathered have great potentialfor use by policymakers, researchers

and NGOs. The project aims to providean opportunity for comparative studyof public opinion on a range of issues,and plans to collaborate with Cambridgeresearchers across the natural and socialsciences interested in deploying theplatform.

Over the next three years, CGHR ishoping to expand Africas Voices toinclude 30 radio stations across15 countries. Widening the projectsreach means that more people fromacross the continent can contribute toand in uence local, national andinternational public debate on issuesthat matter to them.

AFRICA CAN ONLYDEVELOP IF PEOPLE INRURAL COMMUNITIES AREASKED FOR THEIR VIEWS,RATHER THAN H AVINGDECISIONS IMPOSED ONTHEM. LETS GIVEPEOPLE A PLATFORM TOVOICE THEIR CONCERNS.

JOSEPH MAZIZI,

JOURNALIST,

MUDZIWATHURADIO

STATION,MCHINJI, MALAWI

A RADIO BROADCAST WITH VICTOR OTIENO JUMA AND

A GUEST AT RADIO NAMLOLWE IN KISUMU,KENYA.

AFRICAS VOICES
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INCLUSIVE

EDUCATION IS NOT

ENOUGH;

WE NEED

EMPOWERING,

QUALITY EDUCATIONFOR ALL

DR NIDHI SINGAL,

SENIOR LECTURER IN

NCLUSIVEEDUCATION,

FACULTYOF EDUCATION,

UNIVERSITYOF

CAMBRIDGE

What can happen when we listen to unheard voices? Well, wecan hear ideas that we have never previously thought of! Inthe following piece, Nidhi Singal shows how listening to theexperiences of people with disabilities can challenge educationpolicy makers to look for innovative and flexible ways ofeducating, which move beyond the four walls of schools.

Almost everyone will be temporarily

or permanently impaired at some pointin life, and those who survive to old agewill experience increasing dif cultiesin functioning World Report on

Disability (WHO, 2011).Disability is a global issue, which

means that it is also deeply complex.The demographic pro le and nature ofimpairments is changing as childhoodmortality rates are reduced and peoplelive longer. No country developedor developing is omitted from thisphenomenon.

Attitudes to disability differ dependingon wider social attitudes about issuessuch as class, gender and religion, andthe speci c circumstances of the personthemselves their age, their position inthe household and so forth. But mountingevidence also highlights the broadcommonalities that mark the lives ofpeople with disabilities. This is illustratedin the signi cant deprivation that theyface as a result of their status of beingdisabled.

Across the world, people withdisabilities have poorer healthoutcomes, lower educationalachievements, less economicparticipation and higher ratesof poverty than those withoutdisabilities. This is partly because theyexperience barriers in accessing basichealth, education, employment andinformation services and are also morelikely to experience social stigma 11.These issues are ampli ed in low andmiddle-income countries, which are

already saddled with education and

health systems that cannot meet thedemand for quality service provision,outreach and resources 12.

THE COSTS OF NO EDUCATIONEducation is regarded as central topoverty reduction and individualwellbeing. It strengthens individual andcollective capabilities of people suchthat they become less poor or escapepoverty altogether. Education nurturesan enabling environment for social andeconomic transformation, underpinnedby inclusive democratic processes andfostering co-operative social networks.

Education is arguably the crux ofdevelopment in contemporary society,yet research shows that disabilitieswill prevent more children fromparticipating in school than otherissues such as gender, rural residence,or economic status differentials 13. Thishas a signi cant impact on poverty inadulthood, but also on family poverty.In Bangladesh the cost of disabilitydue to forgone income from a lack ofschooling and employment of peoplewith disabilities and their caregivers isestimated at 770 million annually, or1.7% of gross domestic product (GDP).

While international and nationalinitiatives have led to an increase inenrolment numbers for children withdisabilities in low and middle-incomecountries, their transition from primaryschooling to secondary and beyondremains concerning. Fundamental issuesof quality and parity in participation

11. World Health Organisation and World Bank (2011). World report on disability. UNICEF (2013). The state of the worlds

children. These reports have startling evidence on the high level of exclusion from basic services experienced by children

and adults with disabilities.

C HA L L E N G E

in school-based processes remainoverlooked. Research shows thatchildren with disabilities remain at thevery margins (socially and in terms oflearning) even if they attend school.Teachers fail to adapt pedagogicalapproaches for students with disabilities,and school cultures are unresponsive tothe needs of increased diversity.

FROM THE MARGINS TO THEMAINSTREAMNora Groce, in a review commissionedby the United Nations (2011) , notes astriking omission in the MillenniumDevelopment Goals, which do not evenmention disability in any of the eight

goals or the attendant 21 targets and60 indicators. In setting out a range ofentry points for disability issues, sheargues that to achieve the vastly betterdevelopment prospects that lie at theheart of the post-MDG agenda, peoplewith disabilities need to be central tomainstream debates, not on the margins.

Within education there are particularchallenges. Everyone agrees that allchildren should be in an engaging andempowering learning environment, but itis still not clear how this is best achieved.In a society where people, states andcorporations put unquestionable faithin the power of formal education, theonus to deliver is high. Can a system

12. Filmer, D. (2008). Disability, poverty, and schooling in

developing countries: results from 14 household

surveys. The World Bank Economic Review 22(1), 141-163.

13. A World Bank (2009) study examining evidence from India notes that the share of disabled children who are out of

school is around ve and a half times the general rate and around four times even that of the tribe population. Even in states

such as Kerala, which otherwise have the strongest educational indicators, 27% of children out of school are those with

disabilities.

Providing access to schools is onlythe rst step in addressing exclusionfrom education.

ROBIN WYATT VISION,2013, FOR CBM
http://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/http://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/http://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/http://www.who.int/disabilities/world_report/2011/en/index.htmlhttp://www.who.int/disabilities/world_report/2011/en/index.htmlhttp://www.who.int/disabilities/world_report/2011/en/index.htmlhttp://www.who.int/disabilities/world_report/2011/en/index.htmlhttp://www.unicef.org/sowc/http://www.unicef.org/sowc/http://www.unicef.org/sowc/http://www.ucl.ac.uk/lc-ccr/centrepublications/workingpapers/WP16_Poverty_and_Disability_review.pdfhttp://www.ucl.ac.uk/lc-ccr/centrepublications/workingpapers/WP16_Poverty_and_Disability_review.pdfhttp://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2009/09/02/000334955_20090902041543/Rendered/PDF/502090WP0Peopl1Box0342042B01PUBLIC1.pdfhttp://www.cbmuk.org.uk/http://www.cbmuk.org.uk/http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2009/09/02/000334955_20090902041543/Rendered/PDF/502090WP0Peopl1Box0342042B01PUBLIC1.pdfhttp://www.ucl.ac.uk/lc-ccr/centrepublications/workingpapers/WP16_Poverty_and_Disability_review.pdfhttp://www.ucl.ac.uk/lc-ccr/centrepublications/workingpapers/WP16_Poverty_and_Disability_review.pdfhttp://www.unicef.org/sowc/http://www.unicef.org/sowc/http://www.who.int/disabilities/world_report/2011/en/index.htmlhttp://www.who.int/disabilities/world_report/2011/en/index.htmlhttp://www.who.int/disabilities/world_report/2011/en/index.htmlhttp://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/http://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/http://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/


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historically designed for a completelydifferent social structure respond to ourcurrent challenges, or do we need to askmore fundamental questions about thestructure and purpose of education?

WHAT DO PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIESWANT FROM THEIR EDUCATION?To understand the role of education in thelives of young people with disabilitiesin poor communities, the Disability,Education and Poverty Project 14 conducted research across four countries:Ghana, India, Kenya and Pakistan.The young people who had achievedhigh levels of schooling valued greater

exibility in the system. They came frompoor but aspirant families, who wantedto see them employed and nanciallyindependent. Their educational journeyshighlighted how crucial it was for schoolsto respond to their particular needs, suchas teaching them basic living skills andproviding them with role models withdisabilities, especially as they came fromfamilies with very limited social andeconomic capital. For them the perceivedrole of education in employment wasimportant, but increased self-con denceand self-respect were central.

Although it was clear that whatthe young people valued most fromeducation was the self-respect andcon dence they gained from going toschool, these factors did not feature in the

discourses of other stakeholders such astheir teachers and heads of schools.

MAKING NEW SPACESOur research highlights that young peopleprovide powerful insights into whatworks for them. Their stories suggest thatwe must look for innovative and exibleways of educating, which move beyondthe four walls of schools. For instance,is there merit in beginning to think aboutvalue free transition points betweendifferent educational streams (special,mainstream etc.), where the participationin one system will not stigmatise learnersfor life?

Current policy debates focus narrowlyon where children w ith disabilitiesshould be educated, that is, in specialor mainstream schools, rather thancentering on the quality of their learningexperience. For too long there has beena complete silencing of the voices ofpeople with disabilities in Southerncontexts. We have not heard themre ect on their educational experiences,nor listened to their ideas for chartingthe future course of education. Thesekey stakeholders must have spaces tospeak and to in uence. By seeking tounderstand individual and collectivestories, in context, we can open up themoral and political space for effectiveeducational reforms.

While many of the current MDGsremain unful lled and the future is beingre-charted, maybe it is time to makespace for those who have not yet been

heard, so that we might together createsolutions we have not yet thought of.

YOUNG PEOPLE PROVIDE POWERFUL INSIGHTSINTO WHAT WORKS F OR THEM. TH EIR STORIESSUGGEST THAT WE LOOK FOR INNOVATIVE ANDFLEXI BLE WAYS OF EDUCATING, WHIC H M OVEBEYOND THE FOUR WALLS OF SCHOOLS

Learning life skills is a crucial part ofinclusive, quality education. To achievethis, educators and policy makersneed to listen to people living withdisabilities.

CBM and Mobility India are supporting a community-development approach for including people withdisabilities. Self-help groups, formed by people withdisabilities and their families, are the vehicle for thisholistic approach. As people with disabilities participateand raise awareness of related issues, they also ensurethat the rest of the community is learning.

CBM and Mobility India are supportingindividuals with disabilities and theirfamilies to gain greater inclusion withintheir communities in decision making,

employment, health services andeducation.In the broader community, self-help

groups for people with disabilities aredelivering project components, includingpeer support, training, livelihoodopportunities, and sharing of personalexperiences in a safe environment.

Elected members of the self-helpgroups coordinate after-school clubsfor children from families affected bydisability. These coordinators serve asinspiring role models and bring their ownvaluable experience of disability to theirwork.

The clubs provide an opportunity forchildren to relax and have fun, receive

educational support and develop theircon dence and participation within theirschools and communities.

In addition to the community focus,

government teachers are trained oninclusive approaches, running pupilsclubs, liaising with after-school-clubcoordinators and on developingindividual education plans for childrenwith disabilities and special needs withcommunity members and project staff.

Local advocacy initiatives are startingto grow as the self-help groups andafter school clubs raise awareness ofdisability-related issues. In 2014, schooland village awareness campaigns willculminate in CBM UKs marking ofthe Global Campaign on Education sGlobal Week of Action in May w ith itsfocus on the education of children withdisabilities.

JAYAMMA (RIGHT),PRESIDENT OF THE CHAMKOL

SELF-HELP GROUP FEDERATION,FELT SHESHOULD

GET AHEADIN LIFE,NO MATTER WHAT THE

CHALLENGES TO HER MOBILITYMIGHT BE.

ROBIN WYATT VISION,2013, FOR CBM

GIVE PEOPLE WITH

DISABILITIES

A VOICE, AND

THE WHOLE

COMMUNITY

LEARNS

W A Y F O R W A R D

14. The Disability, Education and Poverty Project was carried out under the aegis of the Research Consortium on

Educational Outcomes and Poverty (RECOUP) funded by DFID. A full list of publications is available at:

http://recoup.educ.cam.ac.uk
http://recoup.educ.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/disability/http://recoup.educ.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/disability/http://www.cbmuk.org.uk/http://www.mobility-india.org/http://www.cbmuk.org.uk/http://www.mobility-india.org/http://www.campaignforeducation.org/en/http://www.cbmuk.org.uk/http://recoup.educ.cam.ac.uk/http://recoup.educ.cam.ac.uk/http://www.cbmuk.org.uk/http://www.campaignforeducation.org/en/http://www.mobility-india.org/http://www.cbmuk.org.uk/http://www.mobility-india.org/http://www.cbmuk.org.uk/http://recoup.educ.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/disability/http://recoup.educ.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/disability/


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SHOULD GENDER

EQUALITY GOALS

DO MOR E TO

PROMOTE THE

RIGHT TO BE

RESPECTED?

PROF MADELEINEARNOT,

PROFESSOR OF

SOCIOLOGYOF

EDUCATION,

UNIVERSITYOF

CAMBRIDGE

Many people would have heard that educating girls is the singlegreatest investment in development that we can make. But thisstatement says nothing about what they actually want from aneducation. Madeleine Arnot is behind the Cambridge team thathas listened to young women and men across differentsocieties, and learnt that gaining respect is a powerful driverfor becoming educated. By reframing the discussion aboutthe role that respect plays, Arnot and colleagues have seta challenge to reimagine the educational space as a placewhere both girls and boys have the power and agency to definethemselves, and to achieve a most powerful ambition namelyto become someone who has the right to be respected.

In 2012, UNICEF established a globalthematic consultation on Addressing

Inequalities: the heart of the post 2015 Development Agenda and the futurewe want for all . The submission fromthe Cambridge Faculty of Education prioritised the notion of gender respect 15.Dr Sharlene Swartz 16 and I pointedout that the time was ripe for a shiftin thinking about the goal of genderequality. Whilst a powerful goal inrelation to the 2015 global educationaltarget, women often fail to gain respectand power for the contribution they maketo the social, moral and economic fabricof society. Recognition of rights has beenused to promote gender equality, butmany women still experience economic

exploitation, male violence and physicaloppression in poverty, with high levels ofilliteracy.

RESPECT AS A GOALThe right to be respected is nowde ned as a human right and respectingdifference, including gender difference,is recognised as central to this ideal. Buthow does this right translate into concretedevelopment goals? In his book Respect ,

Richard Sennett cautions that behaviorwhich expresses respect is often scantand unequally distributed in society,and what respect itself means is bothsocially and psychologically complex. Asa result, the acts which convey respect

the acts of acknowledging others aredemanding, and obscure 17.

Cambridge education and povertyresearch has shown that there is aunifying, powerful ambition foundamongst young people, their parents andteachers to be respected, or to becomesomebody 18 with the right to berespected. Our contribution to the globaldebate draws on the empirical ndingsof the DFID-funded Youth, Genderand Citizenship project 19, and seven

associated community-based doctoralresearch projects 20 which focused on theschooling of the poor in Ghana, India,Kenya and South Africa.

This research highlighted how genderworks with the giving and receiving ofrespect, the sometimes violent strugglefor respect, and the role of schooling inhelping youth to gain self-respect.There are ve key dimensions ofbuilding gender respect:

Worldwide, two-thirds of adults whocannot read are women.

15. Arnot, M. & Swartz, S. (2012). Recognising womens

contribution the social-moral fabric in the 21st century:

countering violence and building gender respect.

Addressing Inequalities: the heart of the post 2015

Development Agenda and the future we want for all.

16. A research director in Human and Social Development

at th e Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa.

C HA L L E NG E

RESPECTING OTHER GENDERCULTURESThe act of respecting other culturesmeans recognising that other societieshave different attitudes towards genderand gender roles. Any approach towardsgender equality needs to respect differentsets of gender relations and differentfemale roles in civic and private life.There is also not one model of a girlor a girl-child across societies (or evenwithin them). For example, encouraginga young woman in non-Western societiesto act in her own right in isolationfrom her family would disregard strongcommunal cultures. There are differentfemale worlds and different ways inwhich girls develop and negotiatecultural norms. It is essential to respectthe agency, capabilities and experiencesof minority and marginalised groups ofgirls.

RESPECTING REAL WOMENS VOICESRespecting women involves movingbeyond models that plot the impact offemale education; it means letting go ofparticipatory consultation and povertyalleviation strategies that leave womenvoiceless and powerless, or can evendeepen gender inequality. Respect forwomen involves understanding that theinterrelations between poverty, genderand education play out differently forwomen than for men. We begin to

unravel this nexus 21 when we listen towomen voice the importance of tiny,imperceptible and very speci c impactsthat school can have on their sense ofidentity, relationships and decision-making.

RESPECTING THE CONTRIBUTION OFWOMEN AS TEACHERS AND MOTHERSCambridge researchers have documentedhow mothers and female teachers haveto ght to be respected, especially in thecontext of male-dominated hierarchies.The role of mothers in deciding which oftheir many children is to be educated isinsuf ciently recognised, yet a mothersrole is key to achieving education forall. Similarly, female teachers contributegreatly to the education of the poor,but they struggle to achieve status orrecognition.

PROMOTING SELF-RESPECT ANDELIMINATING DISRESPECT THROUGHSCHOOLINGBeing educated may help a young personbecome somebody, but schools canalso be disrespectful of the poor. Youngmen can resort to sexual violence evenrape to achieve respect from girls ortheir male peers. Young women living inpoverty may also use physical violenceas a means of sustaining their self-respect, literally ghting for survival.Reform programmes need to remove the

THE CHALLENGE OF THE 21ST CENTURY IS TOFIND WAYS OF EDUCATING YOUNG WOMEN ANDMEN TO FIND THEIR OWN VOICE, AGENCY, CHOICEAND EMPOWERMENT RATHER THAN ASSUME AUNIVERSAL DEFINITION OF GENDER EQUALITY

Girls can demonstrate their power andcapability in many ways; its not justabout asserting independence.

18. Wexler, P., Crichlow, W., Kern, J., Matusewicz, R.

(1992). Becoming somebody: Toward a social psychology

of school. London: Routledge.

19. Research working papers can be found at

http://recoup.educ.cam.ac.uk/publications/policybriefs.html

17. Sennet, R. (2003). Respect: The formation of character

in an age of inequality. New Haven: Yale University Press,

59.

20. The Cambridge research on education, gender and

poverty includes the doctoral work of Fatuma Chege,

Fibian Lukalo, Angela Githitho-Muriithi, Manasi Pande,

Georgina Yaa Oduro, Arathi Sriprakash and Sharlene

Swartz. The full text of the original paper can be found at

http://www.worldwewant2015.org/node/287843

21. Chege, F.N., & Arnot, M. (2012). The gender

educationpoverty nexus: Kenyan youths perspective on

being young, gendered and poor.

Comparative Education 48(2), 195-209.
http://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/http://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/http://www.unicef.org/http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/Think%20Pieces/10_inequalities.pdfhttp://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/Think%20Pieces/10_inequalities.pdfhttp://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/Think%20Pieces/10_inequalities.pdfhttp://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/Think%20Pieces/10_inequalities.pdfhttp://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/Think%20Pieces/10_inequalities.pdfhttp://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/Think%20Pieces/10_inequalities.pdfhttp://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/Think%20Pieces/10_inequalities.pdfhttp://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/http://recoup.educ.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/youth/http://recoup.educ.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/youth/http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/Think%20Pieces/10_inequalities.pdfhttp://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/Think%20Pieces/10_inequalities.pdfhttp://www.hsrc.ac.za/http://recoup.educ.cam.ac.uk/publications/policybriefs.htmlhttp://www.worldwewant2015.org/node/287843http://www.worldwewant2015.org/node/287843http://recoup.educ.cam.ac.uk/publications/policybriefs.htmlhttp://www.hsrc.ac.za/http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/Think%20Pieces/10_inequalities.pdfhttp://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/Think%20Pieces/10_inequalities.pdfhttp://recoup.educ.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/youth/http://recoup.educ.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/youth/http://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/Think%20Pieces/10_inequalities.pdfhttp://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/Think%20Pieces/10_inequalities.pdfhttp://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/Think%20Pieces/10_inequalities.pdfhttp://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/Think%20Pieces/10_inequalities.pdfhttp://www.unicef.org/http://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/http://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/


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destructive material conditions whichlead to the lack of respect. Schools needto recognise the role that respect plays inmale and female youth cultures and helpyouth achieve self-respect, and respectfrom others, by becoming educated.

RESPECTING RESPECTAmanda Roth noted that feministshave long recognized the signi canceof respect in overcoming oppression 22.Respect is not just about individualpersons, it is about relationships. Peoplestand in relation to each other; thereforerespect is about experiencing orperceiving others in the right way 23.

Respect looks different in differentsocieties: there is no need for a one-size- ts-all, Western notion of genderequality.

23. Ibid., 320.22. Roth, A. (2010). Second-Personal Respect, the

Experiential Aspect of Respect, and Feminist

Philosophy. Hypatia 25(2), 316.

24. Arnot, M. (2010). Promoting substantive gender

equality in education: youth citizenship. RECOUP Policy

Brief no. 17. http://recoup.educ.cam.ac.uk/publications/

pb17-gender-youth_citizenship.pdf

It is one thing to believe intellectuallythat gender equality is a good and worthygoal. It is another to enact the truthof that within unequal or oppressivegender relations. It is crucial that peopleexperience their status as respect-worthy.The challenge of the 21st century is to

nd ways of educating young womenand men to nd their own voice, agency,choice and empowerment rather thanassume a universal de nition of genderequality. Promoting substantive, not

just formal, gender equality 24 involvesreframing respectful gender relations.This involves listening to the realexperiences of women and men.

WOMENS CHAMPIONS SPEAKING AT KHANDELLIGHT

WOMENS EMPOWERMENT DAYINRAJASTHAN, INDIA.

KHANDELLIGHT

Children for Health is a Cambridge-based NGO that is founded onthe idea that children can be effective agents of change. Childrenfor Healths project The 100 helps children gain self-respect andthe respect of others by taking them from becoming educated tobecoming educators within their families and communities.

Children have great potential to learnand communicate vital knowledge to therest of their community, yet this abilityis often undervalued. When children aretaught about health and disease, withsome encouragement, they can sharewhat they have learnt with others.

Children, especially older siblings,are often caregivers for their relatives.Investing in their health education w illenable them to relay their knowledgeto others in their community, and alsoto practically address the health issueswhich they and their families face daily.

To that end, Children for Health is producing The 100 : ten simplemessages on ten health topics, such asnutrition, sanitation and development,covering the causes, symptoms,treatment and prevention of disease.Health workers, teachers and anyoneelse working with children can access

these messages, and additional resources,online or through a mobile phone.

The 100 provides a starting block forchildren to create their own relevanthealth messages, reinforced throughactivities like putting on a play ormaking a poster about a health issue.Children can aim to collect, learn andshare all 100 messages, which togetherprovide a solid foundation of healthawareness.

Children for Health launched inMarch 2013 and has already madesigni cant progress, with partnershipswith Zimbabwe-based internationalNGO Africa Ahead and the NationalRural Support Programme based inPakistan. Once The 100 are completed,the messages will be translated for useglobally to encourage more children toact as health ambassadors, sharing theirhealth knowledge and reducing disease.

CHILDREN CAN

BE AGENTS OF

CHANGE IN THEIR

COMMUNITIES

CLAREHANBURY,

FOUNDER,

CHILDRENFOR HEALTH

A YOUNG GIRLLEARNS ABOUT GOODHEALTH FOR

HERSELF ANDHER FAMILY. CHILDRENFOR HEALTH

CHILDREN ARERESOURCEFUL, COMPETENT

AND THEY CAN CONTRIBUTE; THEY HAVE THE POWERTO CHANGE THEIRCOMMUNITIES.

W A Y F O R W A R D
http://recoup.educ.cam.ac.uk/publications/pb17-gender-youth_citizenship.pdfhttp://recoup.educ.cam.ac.uk/publications/pb17-gender-youth_citizenship.pdfhttp://www.khandel-light.co.uk/http://www.childrenforhealth.org/http://www.childrenforhealth.org/the-initiatives/the-100/http://www.childrenforhealth.org/http://www.childrenforhealth.org/the-initiatives/the-100/http://www.childrenforhealth.org/the-initiatives/the-100/http://www.africaahead.org/http://nrsp.org.pk/http://nrsp.org.pk/http://www.childrenforhealth.org/http://www.childrenforhealth.org/http://www.childrenforhealth.org/http://www.childrenforhealth.org/http://nrsp.org.pk/http://nrsp.org.pk/http://www.africaahead.org/http://www.childrenforhealth.org/the-initiatives/the-100/http://www.childrenforhealth.org/the-initiatives/the-100/http://www.childrenforhealth.org/http://www.childrenforhealth.org/the-initiatives/the-100/http://www.childrenforhealth.org/http://www.khandel-light.co.uk/http://recoup.educ.cam.ac.uk/publications/pb17-gender-youth_citizenship.pdfhttp://recoup.educ.cam.ac.uk/publications/pb17-gender-youth_citizenship.pdf


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BRING THE ACCESS

REVOLUTION TO

EVERYONE!

DR VIRGINIA BARBOUR,

MEDICINEEDITORIAL

DIRECTOR,

PLOS

When it comes to listening and learning, we know that accessto information and to spheres where disparate perspectivescan be voiced is key. Nidhi Singal and Madeleine Arnot havewritten about improving social access, but there are also otherbarriers to access, including resources, technology, licensing,policies and capacities. In the 2012 Cambridge InternationalDevelopment report , we featured ideas about Getting in theAccess Loop, which highlighted how health researchers inAfrica could access the resources needed to develop and sharenew solutions to local and global health challenges. Below,Virginia Barbour describes continued challenges in gettinginformation the last mile to become fully accessible to all.

Open access publishing is now anestablished model of publishing withoverall agreement on its bene ts andits importance as a way of makinginformation a global public good.Intensive discussion continues on thebest ways to achieve widespread openaccess, but what this does not address isa recognition that open access is just onepart of a much wider issue of translatingknowledge into action where openaccess is required but not suf cient.

To that end PLOS has consistentlycollaborated with other organisations thathave an interest in taking informationthe last mile One shining examplehere is the HIFA 2015 campaign, aphenomenally active advocacy and

discussion forum of many groups andindividuals in the health informationchain, which has as its vision a worldwhere people are no longer dying for lackof healthcare knowledge.

Both HIFA 2015 and PLOS arealso involved with a wider group thatincludes publishers, librarians and other

health information professionals andorganisations who have tried to articulatewhat is speci cally needed for the moreequitable sharing of science informationin the less developed world.

What has become clear in thediscussions among groups who caredeeply about access is that manydifferent components are needed. Whatis required is not only the will to provideaccess, but also the correct licenses toensure this access sits within the correctlegal framework and the developmentof tools that will allow access. Cruciallythese tools must enable use and reuse,and have designs that are driven by theneeds of end users.

The good news of course is that all

these aims are achievable. When openaccess was rst mooted computing wasprimarily on desktops; smart phonesand tablets were not yet even imagined.The challenge for the next few yearswill be to harness the new technologieswith the current drive to improveaccess.

C HA L L E NG E

Another element of the access revolution is o pen data. Opendata is an increasingly valuable resource, and its potential isexpanding as more and more governments begin to release it.Open data can be used by NGOs or researchers anywhere in theworld to identify areas of interest and to monitor the success ofprojects; by policymakers to assist in decision-making; a nd bycitizens to actively participate in governance.

Stat.io , rst set up at the CambridgeStartUp Weekend in November 2012,has a simple vision for open data theyare working to aggregate the worldsgovernment data into one platform,with a free version open to all. Once

the platform is established, citizens,organisations, and policymakers willbe able to access and visualise socio-economic data across all levels ofgovernment be it international or local

from energy usage to crime gures tomortality rates. The Stat.io platform willallow people to view and compare datafrom many different sources at once,eliminating the complexities involved incompiling data from different places andin different formats.

The potential for Stat.io in developmentis enormous: the ease of access toopen data which it provides will be

invaluable. In countries which do notyet have open data, or where the of cialgovernment data may not be an accuraterepresentation of the true statistics,users will be able to publicly moderateinformation by commenting on published

data or uploading their own dataalongside it.Being able to access government

data and to challenge it will helppromote transparency, which is not onlycrucial for open governance, but helpsresearchers, NGOs and community-basedgroups to work more effectively.

Stat.io is expected to be operationalin early 2014, but will be continuallyupdated as more data is made availableto make it more comprehensive anddynamic. The founders see it as a toolavailable to citizens to interact withpublic data and increase accountability. STAT.IO SCREENSHOT

BY COLLECTING

THE WORLDS

OPEN DATA ALL IN

ONE PLACE

ELLIOTT VERREAULT,

DIRECTOR OF PRODUCT

DEVELOPMENT,

STAT.IO

BY AGGREGATING THEWORLDS OPEN DATAONTO ONE FUNCTIONALPLATFORM, WE CANEMPOWER CITIZENS WITHA TOOL THAT WILL HELPMAKE GOVERNMENTSAROUND THE WORLD MOREACCOUNTABLE.

W A Y F O R W A R D
http://www.plos.org/http://bit.ly/camghhttp://bit.ly/camghhttp://www.plos.org/http://www.hifa2015.org/http://stat.io/http://cambridge.startupweekend.org/http://cambridge.startupweekend.org/http://stat.io/http://stat.io/http://cambridge.startupweekend.org/http://cambridge.startupweekend.org/http://stat.io/http://www.hifa2015.org/http://www.plos.org/http://bit.ly/camghhttp://bit.ly/camghhttp://www.plos.org/


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LISTEN! LEARN!

DEVELOPMENT POLICY MAKERS: Check out the wonderful work done by Participate, co-convened by theInstitute of Development Studies and Beyond2015, on the post-2015development agenda. They are not only listening to the needs of poorpeople all over the world, but they are supporting them to take a stakein making sure their voices are translated into actions. Why not borrowtheir participative methodology?

RESEARCHERS:Support the improvement and development of open access publishingby engaging with it. The system is not perfect yet, but working towardsa world where the fruits of research and thinking are accessible to all isimperative for achieving equality.

SMART PHONE USERS: Download one of the many apps that allow you to hear news and editorialperspectives from all over the world. You can TuneIn to radio in Nigeria orperuse any World Newspaper right from your phone.

KHANDELLIGHT

Y O U !
http://www.ids.ac.uk/participatehttp://www.ids.ac.uk/http://www.beyond2015.org/http://tunein.com/http://www.khandel-light.co.uk/http://www.khandel-light.co.uk/http://tunein.com/http://www.beyond2015.org/http://www.ids.ac.uk/http://www.ids.ac.uk/participate


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When we listen, we hear many voices. But many voices do notnecessarily speak in harmony. Louder, more powerful voices voicesthat speak for vested interests can overwhelm dialogues and turnthem into arguments. And of course there are repercussions fromunresolved arguments: blockages, rejection and conflict. Even whenwe listen well, giving minority and marginalised voices a centralplatform, it is unlikely that incorporating diverse perspectives,opinions and needs will lead to simple, straightforward solutions

where everyone wins.

Rather than suppress some voices, coping with diversity means lookingfor new platforms for understanding and dealing with complexity. Itcan even mean creating new cultures of c onversation and interaction,to finally pull o urselves out of entrenched, over-simplified positionsand make real progress.

Before we can feed the world, we need to understand food politicsBy Dr Bhaskar Vira and Dr David Nally, Cambridge University Strategic

Initiative in Global Food Security

Complex does not need to be impenetrable: the story of asuccessful campaign about food

Enough Food for Everyone If Campaign case study

Use creative communications to break down peoples resistance to(climate) changeBy Dr D avid Viner, Mott MacDonald

In Sudan, lm is a powerful tool for moving forward towards peaceCultural Healing: Sudan case study

CHAPTER TWO:

COPING WITH COMPLEXITY

28

30

31

34


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BEFORE WE CA N

FEED THE WORL D,

WE NEE D TO

UNDERSTAND

FOOD POLITICS

DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY,UNIVERSITYOF

CAMBRIDGE; MEMBERS OF THE CAMBRIDGEUNIVERSITY

STRATEGICINITIATIVEINGLOBAL FOODSECURITY

Technologies that increase food production may seem like astraightforward solution to hunger. But Bhaskar Vira and DavidNally 25 show that technologies for food security are embeddedin power relations that, far from being win-win, can producedeprivation and new forms of precarity. For these technologiesto truly benefit the poor, the people whose lives are at stake mustalso have a stake in them.

As a result of the UKs recent IFCampaign and Nutrition Summit, whichtook place before this years G8 meeting,many people will now be familiar withthe scandalous statistics on hungerin todays world. Although the worldproduces enough food for everyone: 870 million people (one out of eight)

still go hungry, and the vast majority(852 million) live in so-calleddeveloping countries.

Nearly half of all deaths in childrenunder ve more than three millionchildren die every year fromundernutrition.

Knowing the scale of the problemis merely the rst step in tackling it.Eliminating hunger will require actionon a host of fronts, from governanceissues as we saw in the IF Campaign ,calling for more transparency around aid,tax and land use and social protectionmechanisms, including investment inagriculture and the provision of decentwork opportunities, especially for

smallholders. Partnerships betweengovernments, civil society groups andindustry will be of particular importance.Such partnerships are not easy to broker,as stakeholder views differ, oftenirreconcilably, on a number of vitalissues.

POLITICAL TECHNOLOGIESOne particularly contentious area isthe role and appropriate use of genetictechnologies as a key component in

the transition towards what has beendescribed as resilient, nutrition-sensitive and climate-smart agriculturefor the 21st century.

There seems little doubt that futurefood security will involve some use ofagricultural biotechnologies such asgenetic modi cation. What is morecontentious, in our view, is the way inwhich these technologies are likely tobe rolled out and, more to the point,who stands to bene t.

As with most technologies, thedevelopment, deployment and control ofagro-biotechnology is likely to result inwinners and losers. Despite the commonrhetoric of a win-win situation, thereis simply no such thing as sociallyneutral or apolitical technology.There are, for example, considerabledifferences between publicly fundedgenetic research, which is made freelyavailable to farmers and other producers,and patented and protected technologiesthat are distributed under the proprietary

control of private companies. In reality,developing these technologies is likelyto involve some compromise betweenthe need to provide adequate incentivesfor research and development within theprivate sector including the possibilityof using limited patents to propelinnovation and protect pro tability and the need for these technologies tobe used at a suf cient scale to offer trulysustainable solutions to the challenge offeeding over seven billion people.

From geography to plantbiotechnology, the new CambridgeUniversity Strategic Initiative inGlobal Food Security is bringingtogether researchers together fromacross disciplines.

C HA L L E N G E

DR DAVID NALLY,

SENIOR LECTURER IN

HUMANGEOGRAPHY

DR BHASKAR VIRA,

DIRECTOR,

CONSERVATION

RESEARCH INSTITUTE;

SENIOR LECTURER IN

ENVIRONMENT AND

DEVELOPMENT

CONCERNS MATTERConcerns about the safety of thesetechnologies are equally paramount.For proponents to dismiss these asthe irrational fears of misinformedconsumers is short-sighted andseriously underestimates the power ofthe consumer voice, especially in thedigital communication age and withthe emergence of strong online lobbygroups. It is also patronising, suggestingthat consumers should have choiceon the shelves but not on the level ofinformation provided on the origins ofthese products.

National attitudes matter as well.The debate in Europe over the use anddeployment of genetically-modi ed(GM) foods is considerably morecautious than that in N orth America,and European regulators are far moresensitive to public opinion in theirapproach to GM crops. In India, one ofthe largest public consultation exerciseson such issues led to the imposition ofa two-year moratorium on growing GMbrinjal (aubergine) in 2010, despite areport by six of the countrys scienceacademies concluding that the crop wassafe for cultivation and consumption.More recently, in August 2013, anadvanced trial plot of geneticallymodi ed golden rice (developed toaddress Vitamin A de ciency amongstchildren) in the Philippines was

destroyed by local protestors who wereresistant to the use of GM technology inthe country.

As global food markets becomemore integrated, the regulation of newbiotechnologies, whether in Europe,India or elsewhere, will have a muchwider impact. Indeed, we have alreadywitnessed the tragic consequences of USfood aid being rejected by the Zambiangovernment at the height of a majorfamine in 2002. While people were in

desperate need of food, the Zambianleadership felt unable to accept deliverybecause the majority of US corn andsoya was GM, citing health concerns(perhaps unfounded, as Americans wereconsuming the same stocks) as well aspotential longer-term consequences ofGM strains entering the Zambian foodsystem. These included the possibleimpact on Zambias future ability toexport to GM-wary European markets.The decision to avoid risks associatedwith bio-pollution may compromisepoorer countries ability to engage inagricultural trade.

WORKING TOWARDS SOC IALLY-ACCEPTABLE SOLUTIONSThe regulation and control ofbiotechnologies, the transparency ofthese developments and the right tomake informed consumption choices

these concerns are likely to lead to abroader debate, as we move towards anever-more globalised food productionsystem. The outcomes will profoundlyshape our ability to respond to thechallenges of feeding the world inthe 21st century. While some form ofbiotechnology is likely to be part of thesolution, its proponents need to recognisethat there are political, social andeconomic consequences that go beyondtechnocentric debates about ef ciencyand scaling up to more pro table

agricultural practices. Only by rstrecognising the interplay betweentechnology and power can we harnessthe promise of these developments ina manner that provides solutions forglobal food security that are sociallyresponsible and better for human andenvironmental wellbeing.

Through surveys, Bangladesh-basedNGO BRAC gauged peoples concernsabout new rice biotechnology. Policyand research is now informed by civilsocietys suggestions.

25. A version of this article rst appeared on the UNA-

UK site, New World , on 19 April 2013: http://www.una.

org.uk/magazine/spring-2013/bhaskar-vira-david-nally-

biotechnology-food-security
http://www.geog.cam.ac.uk/http://www.geog.cam.ac.uk/http://www.globalfood.cam.ac.uk/http://www.globalfood.cam.ac.uk/http://enoughfoodif.org/http://enoughfoodif.org/http://www.globalfood.cam.ac.uk/http://www.globalfood.cam.ac.uk/http://www.globalfood.cam.ac.uk/http://research-institute.conservation.cam.ac.uk/http://research-institute.conservation.cam.ac.uk/http://www.brac.net/http://www.una.org.uk/magazine/spring-2013/bhaskar-vira-david-nally-biotechnology-food-securityhttp://www.una.org.uk/magazine/spring-2013/bhaskar-vira-david-nally-biotechnology-food-securityhttp://www.una.org.uk/magazine/spring-2013/bhaskar-vira-david-nally-biotechnology-food-securityhttp://www.una.org.uk/magazine/spring-2013/bhaskar-vira-david-nally-biotechnology-food-securityhttp://www.una.org.uk/magazine/spring-2013/bhaskar-vira-david-nally-biotechnology-food-securityhttp://www.una.org.uk/magazine/spring-2013/bhaskar-vira-david-nally-biotechnology-food-securityhttp://www.brac.net/http://research-institute.conservation.cam.ac.uk/http://research-institute.conservation.cam.ac.uk/http://www.globalfood.cam.ac.uk/http://www.globalfood.cam.ac.uk/http://www.globalfood.cam.ac.uk/http://enoughfoodif.org/http://enoughfoodif.org/http://www.globalfood.cam.ac.uk/http://www.globalfood.cam.ac.uk/http://www.geog.cam.ac.uk/http://www.geog.cam.ac.uk/


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26. For more information on climate change and its effects:

http://www.climatecommunication.org/new/articles/heat-

waves-and-climate-change/heat-waves-the-details


The Humanitarian Centre was recently one of more than 200organisations in the coalition behind the Enough Food forEveryone IF Campaign , coordinated by Bond. The IF Campaign looked at the root causes of inequity that lead to one in eightpeople going to bed hungry each night, when there is enoughfood produced to feed everyone in the world. Root causesincluded a lack of transparency around aid and tax, and landgrabs that divert resources and income from smallholder

farmers.

But by employing Einsteins tenet that e verything should be assimple as possible, but no simpler, the IF Campaign was ableto derive clear, strong messages from a complex landscape;thereby drawing over 50,000 people out of their homes to rallyfor action, and securing a commitment of 4.1 billion from worldleaders to address hunger and undernutrition at the HungerSummit that preceded the 2013 G8.

W A Y F O R

W A R D

USE CREATIVE

COMMUNICATIONS

TO BREAK DOWN

PEOPLES

RESISTANCE TO

(CLIMATE) CHANGE

COMPLEX DOES

NOT NEED TO BE

IMPENETRABLE:

THE STORY OF

A SUCCESSFUL

CAMPAIGN ABOUTFOOD

BYDR DAVIDVINER,

PRINCIPALADVISOR

FOR CLIMATECHANGE,

MOTT MACDONALD

Culture can be a nebulous concept that means many things tomany people. It can also be a concept used to build and reinforcevery real barriers to communication and interaction. In hiswork with The Culture for Climate Action Network, David Vinerchallenges us to use the malleability of the concept of cultureto build bridges, rather than construct barriers, be tween us. Heasks us to employ sound and creative communication techniquesto work together on combating climate change, supersedingother kinds of differences that divide us, such a s demographyand geography.

In the 23 years that Ive been workingas a climate change professional, I haveseen the atmospheric concentrationof carbon dioxide skyrocket from 350parts per million to over 400 parts permillion. There is an overwhelmingscienti c consensus that the climatesystem is changing, and that this ispredominantly a result of human activity.Yet internationally, we still dont see thefar-reaching agreements that will limitfuture changes in climate to anythingnear a safe level.

Recently, the rise in the globaltemperature has slowed, and some peoplehave used this fact to make the case thatclimate change isnt happening or hasbeen over-stated. Published research,however, shows that the temporarilyreduced rate of change in global meantemperature is largely due to additionalocean heat uptake. 2001-2010 was stillthe warmest decade on record.

LIVED EXPERIENCE OF CLIMATECHANGEThe backdrop to the global temperaturecurve is becoming depressingly familiar;everyday we witness the impacts ofclimate change, from a dying coral

reef that is destroying the livelihoodsof local communities, to the sufferingof thousands from short-term transientrainstorms (like oods in Uttarakhand,India that killed over 5,000 people).

Although a single meteorologicalevent cannot be directly attributed toclimate change, climate change doesincrease the likelihood of an extremeevent occurring. It is very likely, forexample, that human in uence has atleast doubled the risk of experiencingheat waves: extremely hot summers arenow observed over 10% of the globalland area, compared with 0.1 0.2% inthe period of 1951 1981 26.

Our understanding of climate change,however, is ltered through societysweb of values, beliefs, attitudes, norms,cultures, perceptions and habits. Allof these lived experiences affect howwe interpret and communicate climatechange, and our resulting action. Soif we want to see far-reaching,international agreements in place tomitigate climate change, we have tounderstand the role that our proclivitieshave in in uencing decision-making andleadership on climate (for individuals andsystems).

C HA L L E NG E

KRISTIAN BUUS
http://www.climatecommunication.org/new/articles/heat-waves-and-climate-change/heat-waves-the-details/http://www.climatecommunication.org/new/articles/heat-waves-and-climate-change/heat-waves-the-details/http://www.humanitariancentre.org/http://enoughfoodif.org/http://enoughfoodif.org/http://http//www.bond.org.uk/http://enoughfoodif.org/https://www.mottmac.com/http://www.flickr.com/photos/enoughfoodif/http://www.flickr.com/photos/enoughfoodif/https://www.mottmac.com/http://enoughfoodif.org/http://http//www.bond.org.uk/http://enoughfoodif.org/http://enoughfoodif.org/http://www.humanitariancentre.org/http://www.climatecommunication.org/new/articles/heat-waves-and-climate-change/heat-waves-the-details/http://www.climatecommunication.org/new/articles/heat-waves-and-climate-change/heat-waves-the-details/


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27. For example between 2008-2011, on behalf of the British Council, I ran an innovative assessment of barriers to

implementing solutions to climate change. Barriers were grouped into four categories: cognitive, normative, political and

economic. A global strategy was implemented to overcome these barriers. Learning from the successes and challenges of

this massive programme is being built on by initiatives like The Culture for Climate Action Network.


THE NEW CLIMATE CULTUREThe Culture for Climate Action Networkis being developed by Dr Candice

Howarth of the Global SustainabilityInstitute at Anglia Ruskin University ,with support from Mott MacDonald .It has an ambitious vision to addresssustainability challenges in creativeand academically robust ways, basedon evidence of what has worked fromprevious programmes of engagement andtrust 27. The network will bring togetherexperts from backgrounds ranging fromgovernment, research, policy, the arts and

Young peoples views on achanging climate need to be heard.In 2008-2011, the British Councilempowered 120,000 young peoplein over 60 countries to considerclimate change.

Record-breaking weather events are becoming increasinglyfamiliar and having greater impacts on people, communities,property and the environment.

2013 Another devastating heat wave in the USA.

2013Extensive ooding in Germany and Hungary caused widespread damage with totalcosts in excess of 19 billion.

2012/13 Australia: 123 temperature records were broken throughout the country in just 90days.

2011 The USA experienced 14 weather events that in total caused nearly 320 billion ofdamages.

2010 Pakistan oods affected 20 million people and killed nearly 3,000 people. They aredeemed to be the worst in the regions history.

2007 England and Wales summer was the wettest since records began in 1766 andcaused major ooding with costs in excess of 3.2 billion.

business, to forge new communicationsroutes that navigate different values,

beliefs, attitudes and cultural in uencesto in uence decision making on climate.

By engaging across different sectors,we form alliances that stretch beyondnational boundaries. We can run activitiesthat link individuals and communitiesthat otherwise would have no reason orcircumstance to connect. These linksbreak down barriers between groups, andpave the way for open conversation aboutshared values, and how these values lead

WE HAVE THECOMMUNICATIONS TOOLSAND TECHNIQUES NOW TOMOVE ON FROM THE TIREDDEBATE THAT SCIEN TISTS

AND POLICY MAKERSHAVE WITH DENIERS OFSCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE, TOFOCUS INSTEAD ON POSITIVEINFLUENCERS IN OURGLOBAL SOCIETY

us to take action on climate change. Byapplying learning from different culturesand disciplines and evaluating impact,we can help make the complex worldof climate change communication mosteffective at delivering useful, impactfulclimate action.

When people have effective, innovativecommunication techniques, they canexert powerful in uence, and heal

ssures between communities andnations.

We have the communications tools andtechniques now to move on from the tireddebate that scientists and policy makershave with deniers of scienti c evidence,to focus instead on positive in uencers inour global society.

USHERING IN THE AGE OF RESILIENCEThe progress in climate change science,the evolution of public perceptions andthe ongoing international negotiationsshould all add up to a suf cient force tobreak down barriers that are preventing a

global deal on carbon reduction.While we hammer away at the old

barriers, we also need to be building anew foundation of resilience. We candesign and construct our buildings,infrastructure and communities in waysthat allow society and the environmentto be preserved and protected from theconsequences of climate change, withno lasting damage borne when extremeevents happen.

What will allow us to do this issupporting a culture for climate action

a culture across cultures where it isthe norm for governments, businessesand organisations to account forclimate change in their planning andstrategies and take actions to build amore resilient and sustainable future.Our actions have indeed led to climatechange, but they have also led tointercultural communications pathwaysand scienti c endeavor that can ensurethat the coming era is not the age ofcatastrophe but the age of resilience.

Resilience is a crucial concept.Embodying both effort and hope, itallows us to move from humanitariancrises to sustainable development.

DAVIDVINER
http://www.anglia.ac.uk/gsihttp://www.anglia.ac.uk/gsihttps://www.mottmac.com/http://www.britishcouncil.org/home-about-us-world-of-difference-climate-champions.htmhttp://www.britishcouncil.org/home-about-us-world-of-difference-climate-champions.htmhttp://www.britishcouncil.org/home-about-us-world-of-difference-climate-champions.htmhttp://www.britishcouncil.org/home-about-us-world-of-difference-climate-champions.htmhttp://www.britishcouncil.org/home-about-us-world-of-difference-climate-champions.htmhttp://www.britishcouncil.org/home-about-us-world-of-difference-climate-champions.htmhttp://www.britishcouncil.org/home-about-us-world-of-difference-climate-champions.htmhttp://www.britishcouncil.org/home-about-us-world-of-difference-climate-champions.htmhttps://www.mottmac.com/http://www.anglia.ac.uk/gsihttp://www.anglia.ac.uk/gsi


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There is no better example of coping with complex issues andemotions than finding a peaceful way forward from a sustainedconflict. Taghreed Elsanhouris project Cultural Healing: Sudan (2010-2013) harnessed the medium of film to allow fragmentedSudanese people to hear one anothers concerns a nd aspirations,and come together over their shared humanity. Elsanhouri wassu

2013 cambridge international development report

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