El desarrollo digital trae consigo promesas y desafíos

agosto 4, 2014

5 lectura mínima

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El desarrollo digital trae consigo promesas y desafíos

Por Jennifer Brookland

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Niños en Mtwara, Tanzania utiliza las TIC para mejorar sus habilidades de lectura. Los principios de las TIC para el Desarrollo alientan a los diseñadores a trabajar teniendolos en cuenta.

A pesar de su relativa juventud, la comunidad de desarrollo digital ha establecido nueve Principios para el desarrollo digital para superar los problemas que han afectado a la industria desde el principio.

Tecnología de la información y las comunicaciones para el desarrollo (TIC4D) Los profesionales esperan que estas “pautas de vida” sirvan de base para el diseño de programas de desarrollo basados en la tecnología y ayuden a evitar errores comunes.: iniciativas aisladas, ejecutores descoordinados, Donantes inflexibles y una sobreabundancia de pequeños proyectos imposibles de escalar e insostenibles..

Un foro en Creative Associates International en julio 31 Los involucró en una discusión sobre el Principio número uno.: Diseñar con el usuario.

como principio, Diseñar con el usuario genera poca controversia.. Pero para los implementadores, es difícil realmente emplear.

“Diseñar para el usuario es sencillo en teoría. Menos en la práctica," dice Panthea Lee, Diseñador principal y director de la firma de impacto social Reboot.

Ella dice que los buenos ejemplos de la capacidad del sector privado para girar y responder a las necesidades de los clientes contradicen la complejidad de hacer lo mismo en el desarrollo..

“Cuando hablamos de diseño centrado en el usuario, la gente suele señalar que el sector privado tiene muy buenos ejemplos de cómo deberíamos hacerlo.," Lee dice. “En el espacio del desarrollo, Tenemos que lidiar con múltiples partes interesadas., Políticas y entornos complejos que no siempre conocemos muy bien”.

Deja que el usuario lidere el camino

Para conocer mucho mejor esos entornos, Dianna Kane y su equipo de diseño en Medic Mobile le preguntan a la enfermera Mary, que trabaja en una clínica de escasos recursos a cuatro horas del hospital más cercano.

o prudencia, la mujer embarazada que dio a luz a sus primeros tres hijos en casa y no tiene interacción con el sistema de salud.

María y Prudencia no existen en la realidad, en sí, pero son dos de los cuatro "personajes de usuario" que la startup consulta mientras diseña iniciativas de salud móvil en 21 países.

“No empezamos con la tecnología, empezamos con la gente,"dice Kane, Diseñador senior de Medic Mobile, quien llama al diseño centrado en el ser humano tanto una mentalidad como una metodología. “Se necesitan muchos temas complejos y nos lleva de regreso a los cuatro. Su aprobación es la forma en que medimos el éxito como equipo”.

Y, ella dice, es algo que no puedes fingir. "En realidad, tenemos que preocuparnos por nuestros usuarios para poder obtener información significativa que se transfiera a las herramientas".

Medic Mobile también utiliza bocetos, Tarjetas ilustradas y juegos de roles para invitar a participar en el proceso de diseño a las mismas personas que esperan que utilicen la tecnología que se está desarrollando.. Echan un vistazo a las soluciones alternativas que la gente ya está utilizando: pistas principales sobre dónde las intervenciones tecnológicas podrían ser adoptadas y tener impacto..

“Queremos que la enfermera Mary sienta que esta es una plataforma diseñada para ella.,"dice Kane. "Y queremos que haga el tipo de cosas que ella necesita para tener un mayor impacto en su comunidad".

Involucrar a los donantes

De esta manera, un diseño con enfoque de usuario está explícitamente orientado a servir a los usuarios y no a los clientes..

Eso puede hacer que sea mucho más complicado “vender” a los donantes.. También significa que los socios implementadores que actúan sin un fuerte apoyo de los donantes para el diseño centrado en el usuario asumen un gran riesgo..

“Es realmente aterrador para los diseñadores entrar en un conjunto de usuarios completamente nuevo y tener que prometer algo a los donantes.,"dice Kane.

Las organizaciones rara vez tienen financiación flexible, y sentirse presionado a hacer las cosas rápidamente. Con el cronograma aparentemente incongruente requerido para diseñar con el usuario, no está claro qué donantes estarán a bordo.

Se están celebrando foros como este, en parte, para que la comunidad ICT4D pueda presentar un frente unido cuando expliquen a los clientes la importancia de diseñar con el usuario.

La comunidad ICT4D no puede permitirse el lujo de no hacerlo, en opinión de Kane. “Es más caro diseñar algo que falla," ella dice.

Y prevé una reducción de los costes organizativos.. “Una vez que tenga algunas de las mejores prácticas basadas en un análisis y un trabajo de diseño sólidos,, puedes tener un proceso mucho más ágil para no tener que empezar desde cero cada vez”.

Diseño para la aspiración

Cuando Tapan Parikh asesoraba a la startup india de redes sociales Awaaz.De sobre cómo aumentar la participación de los agricultores con un programa de radio con llamadas telefónicas., quería encontrarse con los usuarios donde estaban. Analizó su contexto, motivaciones y habilidades, y se le ocurrió un sistema que permitía a las personas que llamaban dejar mensajes.

Eso fue solo el comienzo. Profesor asistente en UC Berkeley, Parikh se dio cuenta de que podía hacer algo mejor que encontrarse con el usuario donde se encuentra. Él los encontraría donde ellos buscado ser.

“Algo que me gustaría proponer es intentar diseñar donde los usuarios quieren estar., o donde estarán mañana, en una semana, un mes, un año o cinco años”. Parikh dice. "Diseño para la aspiración".

Parikh animó a Awaaz.De a introducir un navegador, Capacidad de búsqueda y filtrado para que los agricultores pudieran escuchar todas las preguntas que se planteaban a los locutores de radio.. en un 2010 evaluación, Los agricultores dijeron que el mayor beneficio fue aprender de las preguntas y experiencias de otros..

El siguiente paso de diseño fue evitar que los usuarios consumieran y respondieran al contenido y les permitiera crearlo.. Awaaz.De se convirtió en una plataforma de voz, Plataforma de publicación de contenido por teléfono que facilitó a los agricultores transmitir información entre sí..

Parikh prevé la siguiente fase de diseño para adaptarse al paso a los teléfonos inteligentes. No porque los agricultores los tengan.. Pero porque lo harán.

La próxima frontera del diseño para el usuario en general es hacer que no sólo las interfaces sean fáciles de usar, sino diseñar las bases de datos reales detrás de las herramientas con el usuario, también.

Y, sin embargo, el foro sirvió para recordar a la comunidad ICT4D que no se deje llevar por la próxima intervención tecnológica apasionante sin mantener al usuario en primer plano..

“Estamos constantemente hablando de tecnologías más nuevas y emocionantes.,"dice Lee. “Pero parte del desafío es, ¿Entendemos nosotros mismos si nosotros, como comunidad de desarrollo, podemos utilizar, Por ejemplo, los grandes datos que están llegando?"

“La gente olvida que al insertar tecnología, todavía está en desarrollo," ella dice. La tecnología ofrece grandes promesas, pero no da tregua a la necesidad de adherirse también a los principios de desarrollo convencionales.. "Aún es necesario tener esas discusiones en profundidad".[/vc_column_text][/columna_vc][vc_columna ancho=»1/12″][/columna_vc][vc_columna ancho=»1/4″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=»barra lateral-primaria»][/columna_vc][/vc_row]

Joining the Call to Ramp up the HIV Response

julio 24, 2014

2 lectura mínima

Smiling girls — Taking a more holistic approach to HIV prevention– like including psychosocial support and education for schoolchildren–could help create an AIDS-free generation. Foto: Mary Lynn Field-Nguer

Thousands of dedicated delegates this week called for a scaled-up HIV response to save lives at the 20th International AIDS Conference in Melbourne, Australia. The five-day conference, themed “Stepping Up the Pace,” attracted 12,000 delegados, who discussed and debated the latest HIV research and programmatic developments, working to rapidly roll out new interventions to achieve an AIDS-free generation.

En an article I co-authored in a special supplement to the Journal of AIDS, which was released at the Conference, I call for better strategies to help HIV-positive moms succeed in their efforts to protect their infants and live healthy lives with HIV.

The article urges health and development practitioners to take a more nuanced and patient-sensitive approach to treating and supporting HIV-positive pregnant women, instead of relying on more traditional clinical and medical models.

Por ejemplo, using community health workers or peers as liaisons between people living with HIV and health care providers, and making care less disjointed by incorporating social services, child protection and education into packages of client-responsive services.

The improved approach would attract more mothers to seek out and stay in care, and adhere to treatment, improving their own lives and saving those of their children by preventing HIV transmission.

The Melbourne conference’s call for decreased HIV stigma and discrimination is also well in line with recent initiatives at Creative.

A newly-completed research study in Uganda, Ethiopia and Mozambique conducted by Susan Rogers, a Senior Associate in Design, Monitoring and Evaluation, examined how gender and internal stigma around one’s own perception of their HIV status affected disclosure. This is critical research, as studies demonstrate that the more individuals disclose their HIV status to their partners, the more likely they are to seek treatment.

Susan also conducted research in Jamaica and the Bahamas with healthcare and social service providers. She found that key affected populations in their care were experiencing “layered stigma”—HIV–related stigma combined with stigma toward marginalized groups. Findings from Susan’s study were published last month in the journal AIDS Care.

The message in these articles resonates with Creative’s longstanding work on HIV prevention. Desde 1996, Creative has managed more than 20 projects related to HIV or Orphans and Vulnerable Children, and now manages more than $18 million in President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) funding in Africa.

By harnessing education to prevent HIV and link children to health services and policy reform, our programs in Uganda, Zambia, Nigeria and elsewhere have addressed critical structural factors contributing to young girls’ vulnerability to HIV through school drop-out prevention programs and psychosocial support for vulnerable children.

Throughout these programs, Creative is taking the integrated approach that I argued for in my article, and about whose benefits health and development experts are increasingly vocal.

Sara Melillo is Creative’s Management Associate for Health

A Hero of Her Time

julio 16, 2014

3 lectura mínima

Zambia's Brigitte Syamalevwe initiated an ongoing ripple of counseling and support for hundreds of people affected by HIV. — Zambia’s Brigitte Syamalevwe initiated an ongoing ripple of counseling and support for hundreds of people affected by HIV by speaking up about her own positive status. Foto: Bradford Strickland

What Brigitte Syamalevwe noticed most of all about the beeswax chamber we stood inside was the fragrance coming from the gold colored walls. Her observation of the contemporary art installation was that it smelled milky and of honey, and comforting like a mother’s embrace.

The Wolfgang Laib exhibit at the Hirshhorn Gallery had been on Brigitte’s list of things to see while she visited Washington, CORRIENTE CONTINUA. in December of 2000 to participate in International AIDS Day. En 42 años, Brigitte had already emerged from the urban Copperbelt region of Zambia as a pioneer in HIV prevention because of her courage and vision organizing grassroots campaigns to empower women and slow the spread of HIV and AIDS in Africa.

When Brigitte had tested positive for HIV in the late 1990s—after a decade of counseling local young women about HIV prevention—part of her response was to sit with her husband, to whom she had always been faithful, and ask together why this thing had come to them.

Together they explored what about their married relationship led him to pursue extramarital sexual relations. Together they questioned what about their culture had led her to be so passive as a wife, not asking for open conversation about power, sex and condoms in their marriage.

“Instead of giving in to the disease, Brigitte saw it as an opportunity," the Guardian wrote of her. “She silenced a meeting in the Zambian capital Lusaka, where people were proclaiming that HIV only affected the poor and ill- educated, with a public declaration that she too – a respected teacher and mother, and not young – was infected.”

Her husband tested positive for HIV, and together they began a counseling campaign with sponsorship from their Catholic Diocese to help other married couples explore power dynamics within Zambian marriages that made women especially vulnerable to HIV and AIDS.

They met in their home, and eventually the homes of other church members. The counseling groups they started were open to any couple that wanted to participate, up to five couples at one time in a single counseling circle.

The only requirement for participation was that each couple had to commit in turn to create an additional counseling circle for an additional five couples. In this way Brigitte and her husband initiated an ongoing ripple of counseling and support for hundreds of people in the Zambian Copperbelt who otherwise might have remained silent about the virus and the disease.

Brigitte’s experience standing publicly to confront HIV and AIDS ensured she was spotted by UNICEF and the U.S. Agencia para el Desarrollo Internacional (USAID) in Lusaka as an inspired visionary in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

En 2000, as a USAID staff member in in the Africa Bureau who specialized in support to the USAID/Zambia education office, I worked with other HIV prevention staff at USAID to incorporate HIV prevention and mitigation into education, economic growth and agriculture programs. para nosotros, Brigitte provided a model for us to draw attention to and help replicate.

I also personally advocated to support Brigitte’s 2000 International AIDS Day trip to Washington, CORRIENTE CONTINUA. It was there that the Honorable Andrew Young, marking the occasion at St. John’s Church across from the White House, referred to her as the Rosa Parks of the HIV and AIDS prevention movement.

Brigitte died of complications related to AIDS in 2003, but her legacy lives on in the many people inspired by her work. Among them are the development professionals serving on the UNAIDS Inter-Agency Task Team (IATT) for HIV and Education, led by UNESCO, of which I am a founding member and former Chair.

I—like many others—remember and revisit the work of heroes like Brigitte, whose legacy from decades of HIV prevention continue to help me now in my role at Creative Associates International, updating strategies that have proved successful in the past, and deserve to be carried forward.

To End Preventable Child Deaths, Look Beyond Health

junio 27, 2014

3 lectura mínima

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Educating girls is key to helping every child reach their fifth birthday.

Hillary Clinton, Bill Gates, World Bank President Jim Kim and U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Rajiv Shah are sharing their baby photos to honor the millions of children around the world who will celebrate their fifth birthdays. This playful effort is part of a serious initiative; el 5^th Birthday and Beyond campaign was launched by a coalition of more than 100 organizations to celebrate the tremendous progress to end preventable child and maternal deaths around the world.

Annual under-five deaths have fallen dramatically. “Every day this year 18,000 more children will live and 700 more mothers will survive compared to the daily maternal and child mortality rate in 1990,” says Shah.

Yet despite these gains, much work remains to be done. este año 6.6 million children will die before their fifth birthday. These children mostly live in poor countries and their deaths are largely preventable. En 2012, 98.6 percent of under-5 deaths globally occurred in the developing world.

Solo 27 developing countries are expected to achieve Millennium Development Goal 4: to reduce by two-thirds, entre 1990 y 2015, the under-five mortality rate.

Creative Associates International is committed to the goal of ending preventable child and maternal deaths. Creative’s expertise in education, especially in conflict-affected areas, provides a way in.

Educación, especially girls’ education, is essential to achieving the goal of ending preventable child and maternal deaths and helping every child to reach their fifth birthday.

Según la UNESCO, children of mothers with secondary education or higher are twice as likely to survive beyond age five as those whose mothers have no education. Además, each extra year of a mother’s schooling reduces the probability of infant mortality by 5 a 10 por ciento.

The benefits of girls’ education are immense, extending to decreased fertility rates, improvements in child and maternal health and increased earning potential.

Girls and women with at least some formal education are more likely to use contraception, marry later, tener menos hijos, and be better informed on the nutritional and other needs of their children. Además, education decreases a girl’s or woman’s risk for contracting HIV or transmitting HIV to her baby.

en junio 25, USAID hosted Acting on the Call: Ending Preventable Child and Maternal Deaths, a high-level forum in which it unveiled an action plan to realign its $2.9 billion maternal and child health portfolio over the next three years in an effort to end preventable child and maternal health by 2020.

El action plan delineates how 24 priority countries will dramatically accelerate progress in maternal and child survival.

The plan encourages using education to improve health outcomes. It suggests that in India, Por ejemplo, partners should do more to invest in adolescents with a holistic approach to breaking down education related barriers and enhancing life skills development. En Afganistán, it recommends including health education into the existing education system.

It points out that the immediate causes of under-nutrition in children rest atop a host of underlying factors, incluido: educación, women’s empowerment and child marriage.

Of USAID’s priority countries, Creative Associates International works, or has recently worked, en Afganistán, Nigeria, Sudán del Sur, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia to contribute to the goal of ending preventable child deaths by improving child learning and helping children stay in school.

Creative believes that every child deserves a fifth birthday.

Join us in our commitment to ending preventable child and maternal deaths by uploading a fifth birthday or age-5 photo to the birthday album![/vc_column_text][/columna_vc][/vc_row]

Miope en Sudán del Sur

junio 16, 2014

3 lectura mínima

South Sudan's National Election Commission is less than two years old yet operates without international guidance or support, erosionando las posibilidades de elecciones creíbles. — La Comisión Electoral Nacional de Sudán del Sur tiene menos de dos años pero funciona sin orientación ni apoyo internacional., erosionando las posibilidades de elecciones creíbles.

Sudán del Sur 2010 elecciones y 2011 Los referéndums son posiblemente las únicas experiencias positivas que los sursudaneses han tenido con procesos políticos en su corta historia, y las instituciones electorales que los organizaron son vitales para el proceso de paz en curso del país y para su futuro político.. Entonces, ¿por qué se ha detenido el apoyo internacional a la Comisión Electoral Nacional??

En sociedades divididas y propensas a los conflictos, La independencia del organismo de gestión electoral es una característica clave que puede tener un impacto significativo en la consolidación de la paz..

La Comisión Electoral de Sudán del Sur se estableció como un organismo independiente del gobierno con autoridad para regular, conducir y supervisar eventos electorales; establecer la delimitación de límites; organizar el registro de votantes; y ofrecer educación cívica. En otras palabras, decidirá cuestiones altamente politizadas. Cualquier mala práctica real o percibida podría socavar la credibilidad de las elecciones y provocar una nueva violencia..

Desafortunadamente, Las primeras tareas de la Comisión se están llevando a cabo actualmente sin ningún asesoramiento internacional ni ningún otro tipo de apoyo.. Dado que Sudán del Sur tiene poca experiencia con procesos democráticos, Todos los Comisarios son nuevos en el trabajo y en la organización de elecciones., las posibilidades de elecciones creíbles son bajas sin orientación internacional.

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«If You Know What Happiness is to You»

junio 10, 2014

4 lectura mínima

Six of the seven Central American countries mad Gallup's list of happiest places in the world, according to their latest poll. — Six of the seven Central American countries made Gallup’s list of happiest places in the world, according to their latest poll.

It seems like being happy is en vogue in the international media these days. Desde crackdown on Iranian youth making a video to Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” to various indices ranking the level of happiness of people living in the countries around the world, the debate over happiness is on.

Surprisingly (or not) the recent indices come up with somewhat different sets of rankings. To my joy, the latest poll by Gallup, done with 1,500 people from each of 138 países, put four of the places I have lived or worked among the top 10 happiest places in the world (Panamá, El Salvador, Honduras y Guatemala).

The odd juxtaposition is that these are also four countries that have been part of Creative’s joint programming with USAID that works to reduce the high levels of violence.

How does that mesh – when the people interviewed from a variety of income levels expressed high levels of “enjoyment,” “laughing or smiling a lot” and feeling “well-rested,” while also living in three of the countries (El Salvador, Honduras y Guatemala) with the highest murder rates globalmente?

I was surprised with such positive responses from Salvadorans, Guatemalans and Hondurans to the happiness surveys given high level of gang violence and extortion by gangs. Notablemente, violence likely contributed to the fact that the least happy people according to this year’s survey, understandably so, are Syrians, Chadians and Yemenis.

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Contando historias en Tanzania

junio 9, 2014

3 lectura mínima

Anne reads with children at the Chaume Primary School in rural Mtwara. — Anne reads alongside children at Tanzania’s Chaume Primary School in rural Mtwara.

En un espacio de lectura al aire libre protegido, Le pregunto a un grupo de niños si puedo traer mi libro y unirme a ellos.. Me reciben calurosamente mientras me siento junto a ellos sobre alfombras de colores brillantes.. Me preguntan sobre el libro que estoy leyendo..

“It’s called The Alligator Man, by James Sheehan,” I say. “It’s a tale about a mean, greedy man who gets eaten by a big, ol’ alligator when he is walking past the local swamp one dark night.”

Their eyes get big with excitement as they scoot closer to me on the rug.

That morning, we had traveled four hours crammed into an SUV, bumping along dirt roads while avoiding huge potholes, and swapping stories about our lives to pass the time. Afortunadamente, it was still cool outside; the summer heat and humidity were not yet at their peak.

Finalmente, we arrived at Chaume Primary School in rural Mtwara, Tanzania. I peeked into the classroom entrance and smiled at the room full of children sitting obediently at their desks.

I saw the teacher using a solar powered laptop to teach her students how to read. She was showing short videos to students for early grade reading instruction. The students then practiced what they learned in small groups.

In a nearby school library, students were quietly reading books – large, medium and “pocket” sized – that are printed or even hand-made by teachers and other students. The books were colorful, with fun, culturally relevant short stories.

In primary schools like Chaume, Creative is running the Tanzania 21^calle Century Basic Education Program to train teachers on engaging classroom methods and the use of technology to help kids learn to read. The program works in the Mtwara region of southeast mainland Tanzania, and on the islands of Unguja and Pemba in Zanzibar, and is funded by the U.S. Agencia para el Desarrollo Internacional.

It builds government capacity to train teachers on these approaches, and also trains administrators and selected teachers to use education management information system for improved school management.

Lo más importante, Creative is trying to stimulate an interest in reading, not just for learning other school subjects, but also for fun. Having access to age-appropriate books at school and at home is a big part of that effort.

I was so impressed by what I saw at Chuame. The classroom of 60 kids in second grade was really engaged and interested in the subject matter. Most were raising their hands to answer questions. When they were split into groups of four to continue practicing letter and word recognition, they got right to work.

The school yard, clean-swept with flower beds and trees planted all around, was also painted with words and sentences for young readers to sound out. White-washed classrooms had colorful posters and slogans to capture the eye, and encourage reading.

The kids seem very interested in reading—both their books and mine. They surround me on the rug in the outdoor reading space and clamor to hear more of the story about the “big ol’ alligator.” Their smiles are large and excited.

Sucesivamente, they teach me Kiswahili for crocodile (mamba), frog (chura) and elephant (tembo). With their help, I say each word out loud and practice.

Later on, they draw pictures of the animals with their Kiswahili names so I won’t forget what I’ve learned. The kids write their names and the date below the pictures so I don’t forget them, either. Now tacked up on the wall over my desk, that piece of paper – and the memory that goes with it – means I never will.

Anne Woodworth is the Director of Business Development for Creative’s education programming.

Burundi workshop takes on electoral conflict

junio 9, 2014

2 lectura mínima

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Burundi workshop takes on electoral conflict

Por Maggie Farrand

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Election workshop in Burundi — Participants of the four-day workshop addressing electoral security in Bujumbura, Burundi stand together for a photograph.

Thirty participants from Burundi’s Commission Nationale Electorale Independente, the Burundi National Army, the Burundi National Police and the country’s judiciary came together from May 6 a 9 in the capital city of Bujumbura as part of a four-day workshop on Conflict-Sensitive Electoral Administration.

The workshop was led by staff of Creative Associates International in conjunction with SwissPeace, a Swiss non-governmental organization, with funding from the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) Human Security Division.

During the workshop, participants were provided with the tools to analyze the potential for electoral conflict to occur; profile the electoral conflict dynamics; and gain techniques to prevent manage, and mediate this conflict.

The workshop’s curriculum was based on methodologies and research performed by Creative in developing the Marco de seguridad electoral y el Mejores Prácticas en Seguridad Electoral handbooks for the U.S. Agencia para el Desarrollo Internacional (USAID). These two handbooks provide development professionals, policymakers and practitioners with a global overview of best practices in programming related to electoral conflict and violence.

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Profesor de Tanzania premiado por su innovación en el aula

junio 6, 2014

Por Jennifer Brookland

2 lectura mínima

Asha Amour Abrahman, a TZ21 teacher, is the first-ever Global Bridge IT Award winner.

Asha Amour Abrahman, Un maestro TZ21, es el primer ganador del Premio Global Bridge It.

Un maestro de una de las escuelas de proyectos de Creative en Tanzania recibió el primer premio Global Bridgeit de la Excelencia en la Enseñanza..

Presidente y CEO de la Fundación Pearson Mark Nieker firmó un certificado que reconoce a Asha Amour Abrahman por su "uso de estrategias de enseñanza innovadores y efectivos, Compromiso con la educación y el crecimiento personal de sus alumnos, y dedicación a su comunidad docente ".

Abrahman enseña swahili, Inglés, Ciencia, Estudios sociales, Matemáticas y deportes a alumnos de primer grado en la escuela primaria Jadida en Zanzíbar, una escuela donde creative es Tanzania 21^calle Programa de educación básica del siglo (TZ21) está implementando un proyecto de lectura de grado temprano con un enfoque en mejorar los métodos del aula.

Los maestros en Tanzania a menudo no están entrenados y usan técnicas obsoletas que dejan a los estudiantes desconectados y desmotivados. Bridgeit ha funcionado desde 2003 Para proporcionar desarrollo profesional a maestros como Abrahman para ayudarlos a desarrollar más, enfoques interactivos.

TZ21 se asoció con Bridgeit en Tanzania para casarse intervenciones tecnológicas como computadoras portátiles y contenido electrónico con lectura de grado temprano y desarrollo de maestros. La asociación ha creado aulas que no solo están conectadas, Pero efectivo para impulsar el rendimiento académico y el disfrute de los estudiantes jóvenes.

El proyecto funciona en 100 Escuelas en la isla de Pemba, Donde se encuentra la escuela primaria Jadida.

Abrahman dice que nunca había estado expuesta a usar tecnología de comunicaciones de información en el aula hasta que TZ21 llegó a su escuela con capacitación en 2013. Aprendió sobre la alfabetización digital y cómo incorporar el contenido electrónico en sus lecciones., y ahora pasa tiempo ayudando a otros maestros en su escuela a hacer lo mismo.

“El uso de las TIC en la enseñanza me ha motivado y aliviado mis prácticas de enseñanza," ella dice.

En la carta acompañante de Nieker a Abrahman, La felicitó por ejemplificar todas las cualidades que un gran maestro debería poseer. La maestra y su escuela recibirán un pequeño premio.

Zambia welcomes 100,000 new readers, una historia a la vez

junio 4, 2014

3 lectura mínima

Tassew Mekuria, Director of Creative's Read to Succeed project in Zambia, addresses the audience at the breakfast ceremony announcing the expansion of Reading Tools in a Box. — Tassew Mekuria, Director of Creative’s Read to Succeed project in Zambia, addresses the audience at the breakfast ceremony announcing the expansion of Reading Tools in a Box.

Trucks are rumbling down the rural roads of Zambia carrying special packages as they travel to far-flung primary schools. Thousands of young students are about to receive fun and engaging reading materials in local languages—books and materials that enliven their basic classrooms and make reading enjoyable.

At a recent ceremony in Zambia’s capital city of Lusaka, Creative Associates International announced the expansion of its Herramientas de lectura en una caja iniciativa, designed to build early-grade reading skills both in and out of the classroom.

Durante los próximos meses, Creative will send 305 boxes, valued at nearly $55,000, to six provinces across Zambia.

Each box contains 10 illustrated books in local languages, five titles on basic life skills as well as additional materials designed to boost reading skills. All of the materials are colorful and fun, featuring interesting stories that children can read aloud and enjoy.

This initiative began as part of Leer para tener éxito, un Estados Unidos. Agency for International Development-funded project implemented by Creative, which aims to improve early-grade learner performance in reading.

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The Best Mother’s Day Gift: Why women around the globe play a central role in creating better economies

mayo 12, 2014

4 lectura mínima

Este blog apareció originalmente en el Foro Construyendo la Paz. Puedes ver el original., posted in March 2014,aquí. – See more at: https://www.creativeassociatesinternational.com/#sthash.W2oUFRWb.dpuf

This blog originally appeared on The Globalist. Puedes ver el original., posted on May 10, 2014, aquí.

Mother’s Day has become a commercial phenomenon in the United States and elsewhere in the Western world. People living in these countries are flooded with messages about the perfect gift for the one who loves us unconditionally. With one crucial caveat: We regale her with flowers and perfume, but not always with love and respect.

What Mother’s Day 2014 should really celebrate is a little understood statistic about women. Once properly understood, it will change our approach to economic development.

Treating mothers well in the workplace makes good sense for the bottom line. Y ahora, it is proven that the way a nation treats its women is an indicator of its ability to grow economically and succeed.

An economic fact of life

Érase una vez, this type of data was often thought of as feminist propaganda. But this economic fact of life goes beyond women’s studies programs. It is clear that a society that neglects its women as economic actors will fall behind in its capacity to grow.

Janet Yellen, the first woman to lead the U.S. Federal Reserve, said that the benefits of the growing participation of women in the economy are “clear and substantial” as the United States continues to recover from recession.

Yellen added that the success of the United States since the 1970s, including the sustained growth of family incomes, coincided with the fuller contribution of women in the economy.

For that reason, President Obama, in his April executive order to fight pay discrimination and strengthen enforcement of equal pay, was only reinforcing a long-known fact about the way forward for the United States.

While the executive order will not right all the wrongs of income inequality, it has certainly made it harder for U.S. employers to conceal disparate salaries that once were the way women’s participation in the work force was treated.

Stunning pay gap

Women are the primary breadwinners in 40% de EE.UU.. households but are bringing home 23% less than their male counterparts. That stunning pay gap means less for families’ everyday needs, less for investments in our children’s futures – and, when added over a lifetime of work, substantially less for a woman’s retirement.

And that pay gap is significantly greater for women of color, with African-American women earning 64 cents and Latinas earning 56 cents for every dollar earned by a U.S. Caucasian man.

What does this mean for economic development in a globalized economy? It’s really simple: Women’s participation in a community’s economy can make or break any investment made by the international community. Their participation improves lives and ensures stability and economic growth.

More important, sin embargo, is that sustaining these gains – whether in agriculture, health care delivery, or early childhood education – are not possible unless women are factored into the design and the final outcome of the investment.

And this means that governments and the private sector who invest in any given country must create a strong partnership that values the salience of women’s participation in the economy.

Across the global south, women have always borne the burden of agricultural work, child care and domestic labor. Todavía, in spite of tremendous investments in women’s economic development – from micro finance programs to girls’ elementary education and literary programs – the fruits of such programs are often negated.

The reason why is cultures that would keep women in slave-like conditions through forced child marriages and/or total elimination of such simple rights as access to basic health care, primary education, or even contact with family members after marriage.

Con demasiada frecuencia, women are thought of as consumers of security, as the victims of conflict. En efecto, there is no shortage of real evidence of this type of abuse.

Women as economic producers

But women are also producers of security in their neighborhoods. They are the first line prevention of children becoming gang members. They are the ones who organize neighborhood watches when crime impedes freedom of movement.

And women are often the interlocutors with local police authorities who often seek women out to help them gain access to areas held by criminal gangs.

Partnerships with women in a community by local and national government agencies can create a powerful nexus between security and development. Además, more security enables a better climate for investment and growth.

Changing our understanding of women as producers in any economy is the first step to building a culture of equality. If we are to create a movement that values the work of women globally, we must start in our own country. There we must work with the wide range of government programs and civil society organizations that can help take the vision of a world of education and productive women to a global level.

For quick results

All of that is why we should use this Mother’s Day to reinforce a message that will be heard worldwide: Treat women as economic actors and treat women as an integral part of any community’s development program and the results will come quickly.

Ensuring the value of women in any society can become the best gift any mother can get – more than flowers, candy or any other material good. And this gift is affordable and in the national interest.

When our nation invests its tax dollars in helping women in the developing world, and when it encourages foreign direct investment that partners with women, the result will not only be higher returns.

Such investments will also demonstrate that ignoring half of the world’s population will not solve the problems of war, poverty and neglect.

Comprender las elecciones a través de una lente comparada: ¿Cómo se comportan Nigeria y Estados Unidos?. comparacion de elecciones?

mayo 1, 2014

Por Tihana Bartulac Blanc

3 lectura mínima

Bajo los auspicios de la Instituto de Derecho Internacional, Tuve el privilegio de reunirme con miembros del Comité de Reforma Constitucional del Senado de Nigeria en abril. 28. En una sesión de tarde, Pasamos tiempo comparando las elecciones realizadas en los Estados Unidos con las de Nigeria..

Este tipo de reunión refleja el enfoque de Creative para apoyar las elecciones en todo el mundo a través de la educación y el empoderamiento de las partes interesadas nacionales para tomar decisiones informadas sobre sus propios procesos electorales y políticos..

Creativos equipo de elecciones, que acogió a delegaciones de Birmania en 2012 y Turquía en 2008, Los participantes suelen preguntar cómo se comparan las elecciones de su país con las de EE. UU.. Cuando se consideran las diferentes historias y situaciones geopolíticas, la respuesta intuitiva puede ser: realmente no lo hacen.

Existen similitudes, incluso entre las parejas más improbables, como los estados unidos. y Nigeria o Estados Unidos. y Birmania, y se pueden extraer lecciones útiles. en Nigeria, Por ejemplo, El sistema constitucional sigue en muchos sentidos el modelo de Estados Unidos.. federalismo.

Y desde un punto de vista más general, Siempre es posible comparar incluso las elecciones más diferentes desde una perspectiva de estándares y mejores prácticas electorales internacionales..

El debate de esta semana en el Instituto de Derecho Internacional fue dinámico e informado, impulsado por las preguntas planteadas por los miembros del Comité del Senado de Nigeria. Gran parte de la conversación se centró en las diferencias entre las condiciones electorales en Nigeria y Estados Unidos..

Como practicante electoral, Tengo mis propios pensamientos sobre las elecciones en estos dos países.. veo nosotros. elecciones agitadas por el partidismo y la descentralización excesiva. en Nigeria, La violencia electoral plantea una de las principales amenazas..

En su núcleo, La experiencia electoral en los dos países es bastante diferente.: Estados Unidos. es uno de los más antiguos, y Nigeria una democracia en transición. A pesar de todas las fallas técnicas en la administración de elecciones, Las sólidas instituciones y los controles y equilibrios de Estados Unidos siguen siendo el principal garante de las elecciones democráticas..

Nigeria ha logrado avances notables en la administración de elecciones en el transcurso de un solo ciclo electoral., pero su falta de instituciones comparables requiere que sus organismos de gestión electoral y organismos relacionados llenen el vacío y funcionen a un nivel mucho más alto..

Desde esta amplia perspectiva comparativa, El grupo de expertos electorales del Instituto de Derecho Internacional pasó a discutir lecciones específicas que Nigeria puede extraer de Estados Unidos..

Identificamos dos cosas particulares por las que Nigeria debería esforzarse no emular: Uno se relaciona con las similitudes de los dos países como sistemas federales.. Estados Unidos. El sistema electoral está demasiado descentralizado., provocando una falta de uniformidad y estandarización en los procedimientos electorales, lo que significa que diferentes votantes reciben un trato diferente.

El segundo ejemplo fueron las debilidades de EE.UU.. tecnologías de votación, que se hizo tan notable en el 2000 elección presidencial. Mientras Nigeria considera alternativas a su modalidad de votación en papel en persona, Se puede extraer una lección útil sobre el impacto que las tecnologías electorales pueden tener en los resultados electorales y en la credibilidad general de las elecciones..

esta visita, después de uno realizado por la Comisión Electoral de Nigeria anteriormente en 2014, habla bien de los preparativos de Nigeria para su 2015 elecciones generales.

En creativo, Continuamos sirviendo como un recurso para las partes interesadas nigerianas, así como para aquellas de todo el mundo, brindando análisis y asesoramiento sobre la realización de elecciones creíbles e inclusivas..

Tihana es asociada senior en el área de práctica de integridad y educación electoral de Creative.