Although a substantial literature examines the relationship between culture and health in myriad individual contexts, a lack of comparative data across settings has resulted in disparate and imprecise conceptualizations of the concept for scholars and practitioners alike. This article examines scholars and practitioners' understandings of culture in relation to health interventions. Drawing on ...

Emerging out of radical theories about the uneven nature of power and underwriting practices that assist marginalized peoples in constructing their own development strategies, ‘‘participation’’ has recently come under fire for being co-opted and mainstreamed by governmental and nongovernmental agencies, part of a new development ‘‘tyranny’’ that betrays the concept’s populist roots. The issues ...

PROBLEM Many women who experience gender-based violence may never seek any formal help because they do not feel safe or confident that they will receive help if they try. APPROACH A public-private-academic partnership in Gujarat, India, established a toll-free telephone helpline - called 181 Abhayam - for women experiencing gender-based violence. The partnership used existing emergency respon...

Like many other non governmental organizations (NGOs) that provide assistance to vulnerable populations living in difficult and resource-limited settings, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is confronted with situations for which proven, effective interventions are often lacking and/or where there is need for strong advocacy for improving medical care. As a result, MSF has become an important contr...

Several international conservation organizations (ICOs) created in the developed world to promote conservation in the tropics are now extremely outspoken and powerful, due in large measure to their access to capital. We acknowledge that ICOs have been critical stakeholders in shaping international environmental policies. We also recognize that there have been successful collaborations between I...

The need for evidence-based practice calls for research focussing not only on the effectiveness of interventions and their translation into policies, but also on implementation processes and the factors influencing them, in particular for complex health system policies. In this paper, we use the lens of one of the health system's 'building blocks', human resources for health (HRH), to examine t...

OBJECTIVE The objective of this paper is to describe HIV prevention programs conducted by nongovernmental organizations (NGO) that are meeting this challenge. METHODS One NGO undertaking HIV prevention programs was evaluated in each of the 23 countries participating in the Global AIDS Intervention Network (GAIN) Project throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. A two-stage selection process...

Across the third world, the discourse on civil society has remained a key feature of democracy promotion initiatives. Scholars evaluating the potential for democracy in these developing states and activists seeking to effect democratic reforms have focused much of their attention on civic associations. They argue that civil societies help to hold states account­ able, represent citizen interest...

Using original survey data, we document the activities, resources, and governance structure of NGOs operating in Uganda. The NGO sector is funded primarily by international non-governmental organizations and bilateral donors. We Þnd large differences in size and funding across NGOs, with only a few NGOs attracting most of the funding. Most NGOs are small and underfunded and focus on raising awa...