Wednesday, October 10, 2007

[EQ] Commitment to Development Index - 2007

Commitment to Development Index – 2007

Center for Global Development, Washington DC - USA

Website: http://www.cgdev.org/section/initiatives/_active/cdi

Press Release October 10, 2007:

English: http://www.cgdev.org/doc/cdi/2007/CDI%20Press%20Release_2007.pdf

Spanish: http://www.cgdev.org/doc/cdi/2007/CDI%20Press%20Release_2007_spanish.pdf

“….The Commitment to Development Index (produced annually since 2003 by the Washington-based Center for Global Development) ranks the policies of 21 donor nations in terms of their compatibility or coherence with the goal of promoting development in the Global South.

Aid matters, and is part of the Index, but the scope of the ranking extends beyond aid to include policies relating to trade, investment, migration, the environment, security and technology. The Index is intended to stimulate debate about policies, and ultimately to lead governments in the developed world to make their policies more coherent around development objectives. It poses challenging questions for governments about priorities and the best ways to ensure cross-departmental working….” ODI, APGOOD and CGD event

The CDI assigns points in seven policy areas: aid (both quantity as a share of income and quality), trade, investment, migration, environment, security, and technology. Within each component, a country receives points for policies and actions that support poor nations in their efforts to build prosperity, good government, and security. The seven components are averaged for a final score. The scoring adjusts for size in order to discern how much countries are living up to their potential to help.

2007 CDI Materials

Each year CGD crunches thousands of numbers to compute the CDI. We offer a suite of publications from accessible to technical to explain the what, why, and how:

· For the basics, visit a country or component page using menus at left. At a country page, you can download a short CDI performance review in English or the country's major non-English language(s).

· The CDI brief (pdf) by David Roodman tours the seven CDI components in seven pages.

· "How Do the BRICs Stack Up?" (pdf) shows what happens if Brazil, Russia, India, and China are added to the CDI's environment component.

· The CDI postcard (pdf) offers a handy overview.

· The CDI main report (pdf) provides an expanded view the 2007 scores in individual components and change in component scores over time.

· The 2007 CDI slide presentation (pdf)

· The 2007 Technical Paper (pdf) by David Roodman details the design.

· The 2007 spreadsheet (Excel, 2.5MB) contains most of the formulas and data, back-calculates the 2007 methodology through to 2003, and lets you instantly see the consequences of changing the weights of the policy components.

· Building and Running an Effective Policy Index by David Roodman distills lessons from the CDI project.

To request paper copies of these materials for conferences, seminars, or classroom use contact Sarah Jane Hise.

Background Papers

· Aid component: David Roodman. This paper elaborates on the subcomponent on private charity. The aid component was influenced by an earlier paper by William Easterly, Non-Resident Fellow, Center for Global Development.

· Trade component: David Roodman. The trade component is influenced by an earlier paper by William Cline, Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development.

· Investment component: Theodore Moran, Non-Resident Fellow, Center for Global Development.

· Migration component: Kimberly Hamilton and Elizabeth Grieco, Migration Policy Institute. A 2006 paper by B. Lindsay Lowell and Victoria Carro of Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of International Migration proposes additional migration indicators.

· Environment component: Amy Cassara and Daniel Prager, World Resources Institute.

· Security component: Michael O'Hanlon and Adriana Lins de Albuquerque, Brookings Institution.

· Technology component: Keith E. Maskus, Professor of Economics, University of Colorado at Boulder. The technology component was influenced by an earlier paper by Alicia Bannon and David Roodman.

You could browse the CDI charts by clicking bars, country names, and policy components and explore the Data Maps

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[EQ] Nutrition Education in Primary Schools - A Planning Guide for Curriculum Development

Nutrition Education in Primary Schools - A PLANNING GUIDE FOR CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 2007

Website: http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/a0333e/a0333e00.htm

9 October 2007, Rome - Educating school children in healthy nutrition is one of the most effective strategies for overcoming malnutrition and chronic diet-related diseases but has been neglected far too long…”

“….wide-ranging new guide on teaching good eating habits to primary school children in an effort to reduce malnutrition and diet-related diseases.

The agency notes that one of the most effective strategies for overcoming malnutrition and chronic diet-related diseases, such as excess weight and obesity, diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases, is educating school children in healthy nutrition…”

The Planning Guide is a resource package comprising three elements

- Vol. 1: The Reader

- Vol. 2: The Activities

- The Classroom Curriculum Chart

PDF files available at: ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/009/a0333e/

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[EQ] Research capacity for mental health in low and middle income countries: Results of a mapping project

On the occasion of World Mental Health Day - 10 October 2007 the Global Forum for Health Research launched the following electronic publication:

Research capacity for mental health in low- and middle-income countries: Results of a mapping project

Pratap Sharan, Itzhak Levav, Sylvie Olifson, Andrés de Francisco and Shekhar Saxena (eds.)
Geneva, World Health Organization and Global Forum for Health Research, 2007

Available online as PDF file [146 p.] at: www.globalforumhealth.org/filesupld/MentalHealthRC/MHRC_FullText.pdf

Website: http://www.globalforumhealth.org/Site/002__What%20we%20do/005__Publications/021__Mental%20Health.php

This report provides an account of the current status of mental health research in 114 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) of Africa (52), Asia (32) and Latin America and the Caribbean (30).

The scale of the study makes it the first systematic attempt to confirm the pressing needs of improving research capacity in mental health. Thus, the report enables evidence-based decision-making in funding and priority setting in the area of mental health research in low- and middle-income countries LMICs. It strongly requests all policy-makers, programme managers, and funders of research for health, at national and global levels, to place mental health high on their agendas.

A total of 4633 mental health researchers and 3829 decision-makers, university administrators and association workers working in the field of mental health were identified:

· Half of the countries mapped had only five or fewer mental health researchers.

· Fifty-seven per cent of the 114 LMICs were found to contribute fewer than five articles to the international mental health indexed literature for a 10-year period (1993–2003), while very few articles could be identified from non-indexed sources in almost 70% of the countries, suggesting a paucity of researchers and mental health research in many LMICs.

· Some countries, such as Argentina, Brazil, China, India, the Republic of Korea and South Africa contributed significantly to international mental health publications – a finding that attests to notable variations in mental health research production within as well as across regions.

The main reasons for this paucity of mental health research identified in the study are the many demands faced by clinicians and academics in a context characterized by poor funding, a lack of trained personnel, little infrastructural support, and a paucity of research networks, in institutions which mostly lacked a research culture.

This report highlights the weak research structures and the lack of connection between mental health decision-makers and researchers in LMICs. It gives nine key recommendations for the development of research for action."Professor Lars Jacobsson, Department of Clinical Sciences, Division of Psychiatry, Umea University, Sweden

The findings of the report emphasize the need for:

1. Governments and other institutions considering mental health crucial to the overall health of their populations and an important bearing on national development.

2. Integrating mental health research within health research systems to enhance synergies and avoid inefficiencies, gaps and duplications.

3. Establishing a leading body to identify and monitor gaps in national and regional mental health research, formulate priorities, advocate for funds, assess
research capacity, establish networks, disseminate information and provide technical and financial support.

4. Formulating and implementing mental health research priorities through a transparent, participatory and scientific process.
The Combined Approach Matrix (CAM) of the Global Forum is an effective tool for priority setting in this regard.

5. Increasing national funding for mental health research, bringing it into line, as far as possible, with the country’s burden of mental disorders.
In addition, leading research donors must include a specific mental health component in their budgetary allocations.

6. Investing in mental health research capacity strengthening, particularly through research trainings and incentives for mental health professionals.

7. Developing research networks and public-private partnerships. In particular, more LMIC researchers and other stakeholders should be
connected to established research networks.

8. Mainstreaming cross-cutting issues, such as socioeconomic status and gender, in all strategies and research designs, as key variables.

9. Connecting with information networks in health research to ensure the sharing and utilization of mental health information by
researchers, policy-makers, and the general population.

Content:

Executive summary

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Methods

Chapter 3: Results

Chapter 4: Discussion

Chapter 5: Recommendations

1. Raise awareness of the importance of mental health

2. Integrate with health research systems

3. Establish governance and monitor progress in mental health research 105

4. Formulate and implement mental health research priorities 106

5. Increase funding for mental health research 107

6. Invest in mental health research capacity strengthening 108

7. Develop research networks and public-private partnerships 109

8. Consider cross-cutting issues affecting mental health 110

9. Connect with information networks in health research

The printed publication will be launched at Forum 11, Beijing, People's Republic of China, 29 October to 2 November 2007
URL: www.globalforumhealth.org/Site/000__Home.php

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    IMPORTANT: This transmission is for use by the intended recipient and it may contain privileged, proprietary or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient or a person responsible for delivering this transmission to the intended recipient, you may not disclose, copy or distribute this transmission or take any action in reliance on it. If you received this transmission in error, please notify us immediately by email to infosec@paho.org, and please dispose of and delete this transmission. Thank you.