Current analyses of poverty and economic marginality in relation to masculinity continue to ignore the direct perspectives of men whose lives form the crux of such investigations. I draw on interview and ethnographic data from two slums in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city to address poor men’s constructions and performance of manliness in relation to poverty. […]
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The Countdown regional initiative for West and Central Africa aims to strengthen evidence in support of reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, […]
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Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) experiences an acute dearth of well-trained and skilled researchers. This dearth constrains the region’s capacity to identify and address the root causes of its poor social, health, development, and other outcomes. Building sustainable research capacity in SSA requires, among other things, locally led and run initiatives that draw on existing regional capacities as well as mutually beneficial global collaborations.
This paper describes a regional research capacity strengthening initiative—the African Doctoral Dissertation Research Fellowship (ADDRF) program. This Africa-based and African-led initiative has emerged as a practical and tested platform for producing and nurturing research leaders, strengthening university-wide systems for quality research training and productivity, and building a critical mass of highly-trained African scholars and researchers. […]
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Kenya’s new and ambitious devolved system of government constitutes a big shift in policy decision processes, with counties now taking a pivotal role in driving public investment decisions. While County Governments. are committed to making the right investment choices to improve human capital, these choices can sometimes be hindered by a lack of adequate county-specific information. Specifically, there is need for strong data systems to inform human capital investment decisions in children and youth, which represent 70% of Kenya’s population and therefore constitute Kenya’s greatest asset.
In light of this, the Council of Governors (COG) entered into a strategic partnership with Big Win Philanthropy, with technical support from the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC). The partnership aims to improve the capacity and effectiveness of the County Governments to consolidate and achieve ‘Big Wins’ in human capital investments for Kenya’s children and youth, thereby supporting Kenya’s efforts towards achieving a demographic dividend. […]
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African policy makers are increasingly called on to use evidence-based research to inform development decisions. But this requires the rigorous […]
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This report presents the findings of the Social Return On Investment (SROI) analysis of a nutritional intervention known as Maternal Infant and Young Child Nutrition (MIYCN) in Kenya, conducted by the African Population Health Research Center (APHRC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health.The project aimed to improve the health and nutritional status of children in urban poor settings in Kenya and inform the implementation of the Government’s Baby Friendly Community Initiative (BFCI). […]
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The STEPS survey of noncommunicable disease (NCD) risk factors in Kenya was carried out from April to June 2015. Step 1, Step 2 and step 3 were carried out together with the two optional modules on Oral Health and on Violence and Injuries. Socio demographic and behavioural information were collected in Step 1. Physical measurements such as height, weight and blood pressure were collected in Step 2. Biochemical measurements were collected to assess blood glucose and cholesterol levels in Step 3. The survey was a population-based survey of adults age 18-69 years. A multi-cluster random sample design was used to produce representative data for that age range in Kenya. A total of 6000 adults participated in the survey. […]
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Although researchers in Kenya seek to influence social protection policies and programmes with the knowledge that they generate, they face challenges ensuring that policy-makers use their evidence. The proposed solution is to transform evidence generation and policy uptake processes through Utafiti Sera, a community of researchers, policymakers, policy practitioners and users. Utafiti Sera aims at ensuring that research evidence on social protection becomes available and is used to inform policy decisions and practices. […]
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There are those who perceive any effort to limit population growth as “population control.” This is a term that chillingly evokes coercive state intervention to control individual reproductive behavior. Population control programs have rarely been implemented without exacting unacceptable ethical costs. […]
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The cell type, cell status and specific localization of Prothymosin α (PTMA) within cells seemingly determine its function. PTMA undergoes 2 types of protease proteolytic modifications that are useful in elucidating its interactions with other molecules; a factor that typifies its roles. Preferably a nuclear protein, PTMA has been shown to function in the cytoplasm and extracellularly with much evidence leaning on pathognomonic status. As such, determination of its cellular distribution under normal physiological context while utilizing varied techniques is key to illuminating prospective validation of its distinct functions in different tissues. Differential distribution insights at normal physiology would also portent better basis for further clarification of its interactions and proteolytic modifications under pathological conditions like numerous cancer, ischemic stroke and immunomodulation. We therefore raised an antibody against the C terminal of PTMA to use in tandem with available antibody against the N terminal in a murine model to explicate the differences in its distribution in brain cell types and major peripheral organs through western blotting and immunohistochemical approaches. […]
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The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) adopted in 2000 formed a time-bound global blueprint to set a course for improved health, […]
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Evidence-based policy is the latest fashionable imperative in the development world, particularly in the health sector. It requires health policies […]
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The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria’s Board passed its new strategy for the period 2017-2022 yesterday in […]
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A revolution starts with a small, beautiful idea that ignites the imaginations and inspires action to a bold, new future. […]
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The use of solar energy in households, access to health services such as immunization and antenatal care, and proper drainage […]
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This is an initiative inspired by a collaboration between the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Councils on ‘Ageing’ and on a ‘Demographic Dividend (DD)’, which seeks to pinpoint strategic action to harness older populations for advancing the empowerment, education and employment of youth – and thus the prospects for a DD – in developing countries in Africa and Asia. […]
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The key to Africa’s progress relies on policies informed by reliable and timely data. Reliable and accessible data is of […]
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Data revolutionaries around the world (myself included) are using every forum possible to call for more and better data that […]
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