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Background This study explored peer-led sex education for individuals with intellectual disabilities and/or autism (ID/ASD) from the perspective of project leaders within Swedish non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The purpose of this Grounded Theory study was to develop a conceptual model that characterizes the ways in which peer-led sex education is implemented by Swedish NGOs. This was done by exploring what the concept of peer-led sex education means to NGO project leaders, and how they experience, explain and reason about the application of peer education in their daily operations. Methods This study conducted 12 qualitative in-depth interviews with project leaders working with peer-led sex education initiatives. Grounded Theory enabled the construction of a conceptual model. Results The study identified the core category, \"Shifting participatory approach when ideology meets reality,\" encapsulating project leaders’ experiences in managing peer-led sex education programs. Three distinct approaches were discerned: (1) The Radical approach, where project leaders prioritize empowerment and norm criticism, striving to create an inclusive and equitable environment for individuals with ID/ASD. This approach resonates with Paulo Freire's pedagogy of the oppressed, emphasizing liberation through education. (2) The Pragmatic approach, which navigates the tension between ideology and pragmatism, recognizing the co-dependency between project leaders and persons with ID/ASD. External pressures from funders and the requirements to achieve tangible project outcomes inform this approach. (3) The Skeptical approach, which exhibits caution, doubting the capabilities and willingness of individuals with ID/ASD to challenge societal norms and work equally with people without ID/ASD. Conclusions The findings underscore the complexity of peer-led sex education programs and highlight the need for a balanced approach that addresses both ideological aspirations and practical constraints. Empowerment and norm criticism are central to fostering agency and challenging oppressive systems. However, the pragmatic realities of project management and external pressures necessitate a delicate balance. Understanding these diverse approaches can inform the design of more effective initiatives, ultimately contributing to sexual and reproductive health and rights of individuals with ID/ASD. Plain Language Summary This study is about sex education for and by people with intellectual disabilities and/or autism (ID/ASD). This research focuses on peer education programs managed by Swedish non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Through interviews with the program project leaders we discovered that they use three main approaches (1) A Radical Approach that emphasizes empowering peer educators with disabilities as well as challenging societal norms. The aim is to create an inclusive environment where everyone's voice is heard. Here inspiration is drawn from Paulo Freire's idea of using education to liberate and empower marginalized groups. (2) A Pragmatic Approach which tries to find a balance between ideals and the practical demands of running a program and where the need to meet specific goals and fulfill the requirements of funders is recognized. (3) Finally, a Skeptical Approach which is marked by caution and skepticism. In this approach there is uncertainty about whether participants with ID/ASD can challenge societal norms effectively. Awareness of the limitations when running projects with people with intellectual disability may lead to prioritizing stability over empowerment. In conclusion, running peer-led sex education programs for people with ID/ASD is not straightforward. Balancing empowerment and practicality is challenging. Understanding these different approaches can create more effective programs that empower individuals while addressing real-world constraints. Future research should involve the perspectives of peer educators and program participants for a comprehensive view of these programs’ impact and challenges.

A PDF version of this book is available for free in open access via www.tandfebooks.com as well as the OAPEN Library platform, www.oapen.org. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 3.0 license and is part of the OAPEN-UK research project. By examining how NGOs operate in Southern India in the early 2000’s, this book discusses the challenges faced by small, local NGOs in the uncertain times of changing aid dynamics. The key findings focus on what empowerment means for Indian women, and how NGO accountability to these groups is an important part of the empowerment being realised. The notion of community empowerment, in which the ‘solidarity’ of a group can be a path to individual empowerment, is discussed, as well as analysing how empowerment can be a useful concept in development. Based on case studies of 15 NGOs as well as in-depth interviews with 80 women’s self-help groups, the book highlights the key features of effective empowerment programs. The author uses innovative statistical analysis tools to show how a key factor in empowerment of marginalised women is the accountability relationship between themselves and the supporting NGO. The book goes on to discuss the ways that NGOs can work with communities in the future, and recognises the limitations of a donor-centric accountability framework. It provides a useful contribution to studies on South Asia as well as Gender and Development Studies.

Although the neonatal mortality rate (NMR) in Bangladesh remained steady between 1995-99 and 1999-2003 (41-42 deaths per 1,000 live births), evidence from the management information system (MIS) of a large nongovernmental organization (NGO) program indicates that the NMR declined by about 50 percent between 1996 and 2002 in the area served. This study aims to validate the recording of neonatal deaths among the cohort of children registered as born in 2003 and to assess the evidence of a decline in the NMR. It also measures the coverage of reproductive health outreach services, focusing on 12 of the 27 NGOs that have provided services in the same areas since 1996. Field-workers' registers, verbal autopsy reports, and immunization records were checked to confirm infants' survival. Interviews were conducted with 142 mothers of children who died within 28 days postpartum and with a random sample of 109 women with registered stillbirths. Out of 11,253 registered live births in 2003, 210 neonatal deaths were found, compared with 194 deaths that were reported in the MIS for 2003. The corrected NMR was 19 deaths per 1,000 live births, and it was in the range of 15-29 deaths per 1,000 live births in 11 of the NGO areas. Because underreporting of neonatal deaths was probably higher in 1996 when the MIS-reported NMR was 39 deaths per 1,000 live births, the decline in the NMR is likely to have been genuine.

The United States government has contributed food aid to North Korea nearly every year since 1996. This article breaks down the assistance into three phases: the initial phase, when DPRK-U.S. tension began over the monitoring protocol; the second phase, with increasing congressional pressure to make further assistance contingent on improved monitoring; and the third phase, in which U.S. concerns over monitoring were partially addressed. The article explores various, possibly overlapping, explanations for U.S.-DPRK disagreement over monitoring protocols, such as different expectations and cultural learning curves. It concludes with recommendations for the U.S. government to explore food-security programming in the DPRK and to reconsider the laws and theories guiding U.S. aid to countries with which the United States does not have diplomatic relations. The article also draws from U.S. nongovernment organization programming in comparison with the U.S. government experience.

The Khmer Rouge Tribunal is expected by many in the international community to bring a sense of reconciliation to a nation still grappling with the aftermath of more than thirty years of civil war. Yet the gap between national and local reconciliation initiatives tests post-conflict reconstruction efforts to meet the needs of Cambodian citizens who feel unconnected to the tribunal. This article inquires into the interrelationship between national reconciliation processes and grassroots peacebuilding in the form of conflict resolution trainings. Noting that retributive justice processes cannot take the place of restorative justice, genuine reconciliation in Cambodia will need to incorporate culturally-based ritual derived from Buddhism in order to be relevant to local people. The Khmer Institute of Democracy (KID), a Cambodian NGO, serves as a case study for the successes and obstacles to local peacebuilding initiatives.

This article analyzes broadly defined economics-related knowledge partnership (KP) between North Korea and the international community. Knowledge partnership with North Korea was prominent during 2001-2004 but decreased drastically añer 2005 due to the heightening of tension over the North Korean nuclear issue. Some organizations, however, have been very successful in continuing their KP programs. Based on an examination of ninety-one KP projects during 1997-2006, this article outlines the trends in knowledge partnership with North Korea, and suggests dos and don'ts in this important initiative.

We use a randomized controlled trial to study the response of poor households in rural Kenya to unconditional cash transfers from the NGO GiveDirectly. The transfers differ from other programs in that they are explicitly unconditional, large, and concentrated in time. We randomized at both the village and household levels; furthermore, within the treatment group, we randomized recipient gender (wife versus husband), transfer timing (lump-sum transfer versus monthly installments), and transfer magnitude (US$404 PPP versus US$1,525 PPP). We find a strong consumption response to transfers, with an increase in household monthly consumption from $158 PPP to $193 PPP nine months after the transfer began. Transfer recipients experience large increases in psychological well-being. We find no overall effect on levels of the stress hormone cortisol, although there are differences across some subgroups. Monthly transfers are more likely than lump-sum transfers to improve food security, whereas lump-sum transfers are more likely to be spent on durables, suggesting that households face savings and credit constraints. Together, these results suggest that unconditional cash transfers have significant impacts on economic outcomes and psychological well-being.

The promise of randomized controlled trials is that evidence gathered through the evaluation of a specific program helps us—possibly after several rounds of fine-tuning and multiple replications in different contexts—to inform policy. However, critics have pointed out that a potential constraint in this agenda is that results from small “proof-of-concept” studies run by nongovernment organizations may not apply to policies that can be implemented by governments on a large scale. After discussing the potential issues, this paper describes the journey from the original concept to the design and evaluation of scalable policy. We do so by evaluating a series of strategies that aim to integrate the nongovernment organization Pratham’s “Teaching at the Right Level” methodology into elementary schools in India. The methodology consists of reorganizing instruction based on children’s actual learning levels, rather than on a prescribed syllabus, and has previously been shown to be very effective when properly implemented. We present evidence from randomized controlled trials involving some designs that failed to produce impacts within the regular schooling system but still helped shape subsequent versions of the program. As a result of this process, two versions of the programs were developed that successfully raised children’s learning levels using scalable models in government schools. We use this example to draw general lessons about using randomized control trials to design scalable policies.

This paper theorises the political entrepreneurship of local political actors variously described as brokers, fixers or leaders, by examining their consistent and flexible labour towards gaining and maintaining political influence in informal settlements. Through close attention to how two exemplary individuals work and network with a combination of political parties, nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and local associations, I reveal the crucial role of political entrepreneurs in organising or representing local populations as legible ‘communities’, and thus, in mediating relations between communities and external agencies such as the state, political parties, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and also academic researchers. Observing informal settlements in this relational framework sheds light on how political entrepreneurs compete to become obligatory intermediaries between various institutions. This approach destabilises conceptions about the social infrastructure and social capital of a locality which underlie many community development programmes. Further, I argue that in the long-term, the careers of political entrepreneurs are punctuated by structural constraints in the form of limits to political party patronage, volatile NGO funding and the transient presence of academic researchers. The work of reproducing the social capital of the neighbourhood becomes a persistent and anxious striving with few actual opportunities for mobility. 本文通过考察当地政治行为者在非正规住区获得和保持政治影响力的一贯和灵活的努力，从理论上阐述了被分别称为经纪人、中间人或领导者的这些地方政治行为者的政治企业家精神。通过密切关注两个典型个人如何与政党、非政府组织和地方协会合作和建立联系，我揭示了政治企业家在组织或代表当地居民、从而使之成为清晰的“社区”方面的关键作用，以及在社区与外部机构（如国家、政党、非政府组织和学术研究人员）之间的关系中所发挥的关键中介作用。在这一关系框架中观察非正规住区，有助于了解政治企业家如何竞相成为各种机构之间的强制性中介。这种方法动摇了一个地方的社会基础设施和社会资本的概念，而这些概念是许多社区发展方案的基础。此外，我认为，从长期来看，政治企业家的职业生涯不时受到结构性制约的影响，这些制约表现为对政党赞助的限制、不稳定的非政府组织资助以及学术研究人员的变动。复制邻里社会资本的工作变成了一种持续而令人焦虑的努力，几乎没有实际的流动机会。