Archive for: Report


Research on vulnerability and resilience is rooted in the common-sense observation that similar climate events can produce very different levels of socioeconomic impact, depending not only on the location and timing of occurrence, but also the resources and agility of the societies who experience climate change impacts. The degree of impact depends on the ways in which the natural triggering event interacts with particular ecosystems and with the specific characteristics of the society affected, including its level of economic development; the types of livelihoods of its members; education levels; and other factors that generally determine both how resilient the affected population is as well as what resources are available for adaptation. This paper addresses four related topics: (1) varying definitions of vulnerability and resilience (and, to a lesser extent, adaptive capacity) and the implications of those differences for societal analysis, (2) candidate approaches to characterizing societal resilience to climate change, (3) methods for assessing resilience, and (4) the potential contribution of a richer understanding of affected populations to the study of resilience.

Year: 2009

Source: PAI | Battelle

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    The Tuungane Project is a collaboration between The Nature Conservancy, Frankfurt Zoological Society, and Pathfinder International that seeks to address the most significant health and environmental issues within the Greater Mahale Ecosystem in Western Tanzania. The Tuungane Project’s current and planned freshwater resource conservation interventions include, but are not limited to, support for development of fisheries co-management institutions (Beach Management Units, or BMUs), protection of fish breeding sites and the existing Mahale freshwater protected area, micro-credit loans to BMU members, reduction of sedimentation through agricultural land use management interventions, education, and capacity-building. This ecological survey focused on the freshwater component of the Lake Tanganyika Ecosystem. The diverse and fascinating animal life of Lake Tanganyika is a rich biological treasure of global significance.

    Year: 2013

    Source: Tuungane Project

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      The World Health Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund (WHO/UNICEF) Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (JMP) produces internationally comparable estimates of progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and is responsible for global monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets related to WASH. This report presents updated national, regional and global estimates for WASH in households for the period 2000-2017. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development commits UN member states to take bold and transformative steps to ‘shift the world onto a sustainable and resilient path’, ‘realize the human rights of all’, ‘end poverty in all its forms’, and ensure ‘no one will be left behind’. The UN General Assembly will conduct its first quadrennial review of progress in September 2019. This report assesses progress in reducing inequalities in household WASH services and identifies the populations most at risk of being ‘left behind’.

      Year: 2019

      Source: WHO | UNICEF

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        The evidence of impact of integrated Population, Health, and Environment (PHE) projects is often isolated in project reports and not disseminated widely. To respond to that need, this report pulls together project findings across many integrated projects to assess and better document what is known about the results and benefits of integrated projects and where gaps in the evidence base still exist. This synthesis report examines and summarizes recent available evidence from integrated PHE projects to document what they are measuring and/or not measuring, assess the current state of PHE project monitoring and evaluation, and identify gaps in evaluation and research for current and future PHE projects to improve upon. Forty-three documents from 35 projects were reviewed in conducting this synthesis. Findings suggest that projects report data and impact in some areas, particularly family planning, consistently. The findings also note that many PHE projects have found it challenging to collect data and thus document their impact in other sectors, particularly related to their environmental and livelihood programming.

        Year: 2015

        Source: The Evidence Project

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          Madagascar has a rich history of integrated conservation and development initiatives. This report provides an overview of the evolution of the integrated PHE approach in Madagascar from the late 1980s through until the present day, along with a summary of opportunities and challenges relating to the scale up of this approach moving forward. It draws heavily on several excellent reports published during the mid-late 2000s, supplemented by grey literature and personal communications. This report is organised chronologically, with overlapping phases reflecting key developments in policy and practice. Major projects and players are highlighted at each stage, in addition to important approaches and lessons learned.

          Year: 2014

          Source: Blue Ventures | The Madagascar PHE Network

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            Female education and family planning are both critical for sustainable development, and merit expanded support without any appeal to global climate considerations. Since both activities affect fertility, population growth, and carbon emissions, they may also provide sufficient climate-related benefits to warrant additional financing from resources devoted to carbon emissions abatement. This paper considers the economic case for such support. We find that the population policy options are less costly than almost all of the options Nauclér and Enkvist (2009) provide for low-carbon energy development. They are also cost-competitive with forest conservation and other improved forestry and agricultural practices. We conclude that female education and family planning should be viewed as viable potential candidates for financial support from global climate funds. The case for female education is also strengthened by its documented contribution to resilience in the face of the climate change that has already become inevitable.

            Year: 2010

            Source: Center for Global Development

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              The third National Conference on Population, Health, and Environment (PHE) was held in March 2008 Tagatay City, Philippines. The 350 delegates focused on the expansion, strengthening, and advancement of integrated Population, Health, and Environment (PHE) approaches. International partners from a myriad of countries shared PHE methods, models, and networks. Skill building sessions, presentations, demonstrations, and discussions were held to expand PHE knowledge and strengthen partnerships.

              Year: 2008

              Source: Conservation International

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                The aim of PHE projects is to improve access to reproductive and other health services for vulnerable populations in rural and ecologically threatened areas, while at the same time empowering these communities to manage their natural resources in ways that benefit their livelihoods. By linking these issues, people are increasingly motivated to change behaviors that threaten their health and environment. The PHE approach proposes that close collaboration and coordination across multiple sectors contributes to holistic results—people with improved health outcomes, diversified livelihoods, and stronger, more sustainable ecosystems. This publication features insights from four ongoing PHE projects in East Africa—two led by Pathfinder International and two by Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevölkerung (DSW)—and provides recommendations for those seeking to refine the PHE development framework. The projects described are located in Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya.

                Year: 2013

                Source: Pathfinder International | DSW

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                  This 2009 flagship report argues that reproductive health care, including family planning, and gender relations could influence the future course of climate change and affect how humanity adapts to rising seas, worsening storms and severe droughts. Women, especially impoverished women in developing countries, bear the disproportionate burden of climate change, but are often largely overlooked in the debate about how to address problems of rising seas, droughts, melting glaciers and extreme weather. The report cites research demonstrating women’s higher vulnerability in natural disasters—especially where incomes are low and status differences between men and women are high. The international community’s fight against climate change is more likely to be successful if policies, programmes and treaties take into account the needs, rights and potential of women. The report shows that investments that empower women and girls—particularly education and health—bolster economic development, reduce poverty, and have a beneficial impact on climate change.

                  Year: 2009

                  Source: United Nations Population Fund

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                    In February 2010, the USAID-funded BALANCED Project sponsored a South-to-South learning opportunity for government and non-governmental officials to observe how local stakeholders in the Philippines implement integrated Population, Health and Environment (PHE) approaches. PATH Foundation Philippines, Inc. (PFPI), a BALANCED Project partner, hosted ten developing country representatives from six African and Asian countries. They spent two weeks visiting PHE learning sites and a marine protected area in Bohol province. PFPI has been working for the past ten years on the Integrated Population and Coastal Resource Management Initiative (IPOPCORM) and has a wealth of lessons learned and best practices to share with people who are new to PHE. Based on these lessons learned and program design discussions, the participants developed action plans for their respective organizations and countries, in order to implement PHE at home.

                    Year: 2010

                    Source: The BALANCED Project

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