Improving literacy outcomes in rural schools in Haiti - ACE (Fall 2015)

Client Profile

The Alliance for Catholic Education has been working closely with the Congregation of Holy Cross in Haiti (CSC Haiti) since 2011. CSC Haiti runs two flagship K-12 schools in Haiti in Cap-Haitien and Port-au-Prince and also has a network of 20 additional rural, under-resourced schools in the Northern and Southern regions of the country. CSC Haiti wants to improve the quality of education in these rural schools, where access to resources and quality teaching staff is a challenge due to the schools’ remote location and inability to adequately compensate faculty and staff. ACE in Haiti has made it a strategic priority to work alongside CSC Haiti to improve the quality of education in these rural schools.

See all Development Advisory Team projects with ACE

Definition of Problem

Rural and under-resourced CSC schools in Haiti face many challenges that drastically limit the quality of education students receive.  Some of the significant challenges include: limited training for teachers, extremely limited access to texts and instructional materials for both students and teachers, and limited use of native-language instruction. One of the most pressing challenges is ensuring that all students become proficient readers with strong comprehension in early grades. Literacy achievement in the early grades is the foundation of all other learning and is highly correlated with lifelong educational attainment. Forty-nine percent of Haitian students cannot read a single word when they enter the third grade, with devastating life outcomes (Gove 2010; USAID 2012).  To address teacher quality, the importance of native-language literacy development, and the pervasive need for quality instructional materials, USAID and others have developed relatively low-cost, scripted programs.  One program, ToTAL, is being used in some under-resourced Haitian schools to teach students basic phonemic awareness, decoding, and fluency skills in Haitian Kreyol with a transition into French. The program addresses early grade instruction in students’ native language to build a foundation for literacy with a transition into French instruction.

 ACE would like a DAT to help with the following questions:

1. What are the most promising education programs that aim to improve literacy outcomes for all students in highly under-resourced developing counties (e.g. Africa, India, Latin America)?  Do these programs include native-language instruction?
2. How are teachers with relatively low literacy levels trained to implement the identified education programs?
3. How do these programs train teachers and provide coaching and/or ongoing support?
4. What are innovative approaches showing success in addressing early grade literacy gaps, such as access to texts, pre-literacy skills, instructional quality, parent engagement, and other related issues?

Initial Steps and Options

1. Identify effective literacy intervention models of relevance (literacy programs that include teacher training) in other development context countries (or in Haiti).  Identify what these programs have in common and key variations, including funding, evaluation, and cost per student or school.
2. Identify how teachers were trained to participate in the promising programs and the level of ongoing support teachers received.
3. Learn more about what the World Vision working group mini-grants are researching on innovations in early grade literacy.

Definition of Success

ACE would like Development Advisory Team to produce  a report on innovative programs that have impacted early grades literacy skills for under-resourced school populations, including information on how teachers were trained and supported by the program.  These case studies will serve as potential models and thought partners for ACE Haiti’s ongoing work to significantly improve the quality of literacy education for students in highly under-resourced CSC schools.

Recommendation

Presentation

                                                                   Report

Innovative Behavioral Change Strategies - BRAC (Fall 2015)

Client Profile

BRAC is one of the largest development organizations in the world, with over 100,000 employees worldwide. It strives to alleviate poverty through empowerment and create opportunities for the poor. BRAC works on many different fronts in order to combat issues of poverty: focusing on empowerment of women and farmers, grassroots organization, health, education, inclusive financial services, and self-sustainment.  Over the last decade, the organization has extended its work beyond Bangladesh to 11 additional countries. 

See all Development Advisory Team projects with BRAC

Definition of Problem

Behavioral change is a huge component of all of our activities. Started in 2013, the Material Development Unit (MDU) provides service and technical assistance for materials to the BRAC’s programs. In this regard, MDU follows a renowned strategic and communications `P’ process created by John Hopkins University. BRAC is well known for ceaselessly introducing new services and ideas to clients, and it is MDU’s responsibility to identify cost effective, sustainable, client-oriented tools.

While BRAC is well known for effective behavior change, it believes that there are some new ideas and directions that have been introduced to behavior change communications (BCC) that BRAC is missing now. BRAC is currently exploring human-centered design, but this is just the tip of the iceberg.

What are the different models or opportunities that BRAC can achieve? BRAC tries to create precise customer-oriented tools. What is the ideal process BRAC should try to leverage flow of mobile money users?  Other projects include: helping female migrants reintegrate into their communities, motivating women experiencing domestic violence to seek services, etc.  Many people at BRAC are unaware or skeptical of these new methods. BRAC wants to gather some evidence that will persuade BRAC’s leadership to help us get started, and give us some ideas about how to start.  

BRAC would like the project team to help us understand:

• What are the common approaches to designing behavioral change interventions used by commercial companies or NGOs, especially with rural, poor clients?
• What are the existing case studies and persuasive examples of the application of these methods to development work (like BRAC)?  It would be helpful to have some sense of the costs, impact, etc.
• What tools are out there to help us get started?  What should BRAC try and how? (This could be especially focused on our work with mobile money adoption.)

Initial Steps and Options

• We have gathered a little knowledge from some notes and books, especially Nir Eyal’s Hooked. Suggest students take a look at this book or his other writings/videos.
• Look at BRAC’s website to learn more about what we do.

Definition of Success

We would like a report that catalogues: innovative methods, case studies, samples, and open-source tools.  It would also be helpful to have a presentation geared towards senior management with recommendations.

Recommendation

Presentation

Slide Show

Report

Development Advisory Team Biographies

Sustainable Tourism in Kerala - Indian Institutes of Management (Fall 2014)

Client Profile

Kerala, a state located in southwest India, is one of the lowest-income places in the world, but it has remarkably high levels of social development.  Nobel Prize winning economist Amartya Sen classified Kerala as one of the three models of places in the world with high quality of life indicators with low per capita income.  However, while Kerala has indicators that are considered exceptional, the Wayanad District in northeast Kerala is a pocket of incredible difficulty and deprivation, mainly due to challenges faced by the tribal population living in largely inaccessible forests and hill areas.

The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are the most prestigious business schools in the country and IIM Kozhikode is located about 40 kilometers from Wayanad. In collaboration with Notre Dame, the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, seeks to revitalize key children’s programs to be more effective, especially regarding issues related to children’s health and nutrition.

See all Development Advisory Team Projects with Indian Institutes of Management

Definition of Problem

Tourism continues to be a major growth driver in the economy of Kerala, and Wayanad is singled out for its incredibly beauty. Trends over the last ten years show significant increases in both domestic and international tourist arrivals, despite the global recessionary trends in recent years. The figures for 2010 show an impressive increase of over 18 percent in foreign tourist arrivals and an increase of over 33% in foreign exchange earnings. The tourism infrastructure has not been growing in pace with the increase in arrivals and revenue generation. Demand is outstripping supply, both in terms of hotel rooms and home stay facilities. However, the most critical constraint is the one in terms of people who have the right training and orientation to provide services of an international standard to the tourists who visit the State of Kerala. Tourism requires a range of specialized skills from culinary to front office staff, guides, conservation staff, drivers and managers. The supply of adequately trained staff falls far short of the demand. A second aspect of concern is the impact of tourism on the local environment and the people of the State. Tourist projects are located in or very near ecologically fragile environments that are prone to irretrievable damage if right practices are not observed. It is also necessary that the people who reside in the areas where tourism develops, particularly in the hill and tribal areas feel involved in the development and realize tangible benefits from this development.

Initial Steps and Options

A team of IIM students in India will work with a team of Notre Dame’s DAT students to identify international examples of sustainable tourism that promote both human development as well as protect the natural environment, with leadership from and active involvement of local, indigenous communities. In particular, students should examine public-private partnership models for development, including training programs that ultimately provide tribal youth of the State high quality training in hospitality related trades, that will enable them to benefit from employment in tourism. However, since the tribal youth are significantly behind others in educational background, the cases should look for examples that includes a component of “make up” schooling that will help the tribal students to catch up with others in terms of basic academic and social skills.

Definition of Success

Careful analysis of case studies of successful sustainable tourism, and in particular the processes for dialogue and engagement that contributed to that success. The success will be in being instrumental in changes in policies and practices both with the government and the tourism industry so that the environment and human development concerns are addressed.

Recommendations

Video

Development Advisory Team Biographies

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Sustainable Housing Projects- Engineering2Empower (Fall 2014)

Client Profile

Engineering2Empower (E2E) seeks to overcome the challenges of establishing safe and affordable permanent housing in the developing world. Limited financial resources, the absence of codes and standards, and poor quality control currently govern these housing sectors. E2E’s current focus is on Haiti, where more than three years after the devastating 2010 earthquake, the majority of displaced families are still in transitional shelters, looking for permanent housing they can call “home”. Forced evictions have disbanded many of the camp settlements, leaving most to vie on their own for housing.

E2E has formulated an innovative approach to navigate the aforementioned constraints, and ultimately support self-financed recovery in the residential housing sector. The E2E model fundamentally shifts the structural system used in residential construction from the established masonry system toward a frame and panel system. Through this approach, the limited resources available to Haitian families are engineered into a U.S. code compliant concrete frame (“skeleton” of structure), while lightweight concrete panels are then introduced to simply enclose and partition the home (“skin” of the structure). The level of safety against earthquakes and hurricanes is drastically increased, but the cost, materials, and skill sets required remain exactly the same as the current model.

Through other innovations, such as customizable payment plans, prefabricated components, and standardized designs, E2E is additionally able to deliver the model through locally operated businesses. Unlike other developing world housing solutions, E2E is able to supply safe, affordable homes in a culturally appropriate and financially sustainable way, solely dependent on existing skill sets and locally available materials.

See all Development Advisory Team projects with Engineering2Empower

Definition of Problem

To date, there are few permanent housing program models for the developing world that do not resemble the “volunteer model” – aka a team of builders donates money, makes a trip, and contributes labor towards construction. E2E is interested in creating a model that engages partners and donors while also meeting its commitment to empowering a local housing market. One potential solution is an advocacy trip model, where partners and donors are engaged through exposure, and not labor. In reference to this question, E2E would like to explore the experience of leading development organizations (CARE, PIH, Oxfam, etc.) that are sophisticated about engaging partners in their project work. We would be interested in better understanding the different models of engagement, including the costs of advocacy trips and fundraising and their return on investment for use in programming, as well as how this type of program might most effectively advance E2E’s commitment to empowerment.

Initial Steps and Options

• Work closely with Dustin Mix in Haiti, as well as advisors Erik Jensen and Kevin Fink (who are in the master’s program in civil engineering at ND) to define more clearly the project and proposed outcome.
• Identify the list of development organizations that are most effective at using partner and donor advocacy trips.

Definition of Success

A clear analysis on the value, opportunities, and risks of developing a partner and donor advocacy trip strategy (including different approaches), with concrete and operational recommendations. This will include an analysis of other similar programs, including the cost of fundraising, trips, and the return on those investments in terms of program funding.

Recommendations

Presentation

Report

Development Advisory Team Biographies

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From Aid to Accompaniment -Partners in Health (Fall 2014)

Client Profile

Partners in Health (PIH) was founded in 1987 to bring quality medical care to rural Haiti.  Since then, PIH has expanded to several countries around the world including Rwanda, Lesotho, Malawi, Russia, Peru, and Navajo Nation in the United States.  PIH also partners with several sister organizations to increase its ability to further its mission.  In 2012, PIH launched its newest project in the Chiapas region of Mexico.  PIH draws on the world’s best medical institutions to provide a preferential option for the poor in health care.  According to PIH’s mission statement, its mission is both medical and moral, and it is based on solidarity rather than charity alone.

See all Development Advisory Team projects with Partners in Health

Definition of Problem

One of PIH’s principal ideas is the approach to service, partnership, and engagement through accompaniment. The accompaniment approach to aid delivery is based on pragmatic solidarity with the poor. It proposes to build a different long-term relationship between that is traditional called “donor” and “recipient” and mandates walking side-by-side rather than leading. This model informs all the PIH does, including the way in which PIH uses funds to invest in the local community and meets the needs identified by local people. PIH believes that this idea—“from aid to accompaniment”—needs to become a much great part of the dialogue on international development, including the ways that an organization like PIH needs to “accompany” the public sector in the countries where it works. Although people inside and outside the organization often hear the term “accompaniment” many would have a hard time defining it and articulating how the principles impact the work of PIH. We hope to build awareness of this idea, and see how it can be integrated more fully into the training of PIH staff and friends, as well as serve as a training model for other interested organizations.

Initial Steps and Options

• Identify key principles of teaching of the concept “accompaniment” and how those concepts could most usefully be developed in an organizational context
• Working with the client, identify three to five non-profit or for-profit organizations that are particularly effective in training about key organizational concepts. Write short case studies that draw lessons from those experiences that would be useful to PIH as it is designing its own training programs.
• Promote awareness of this concept on a wider scale. How can PIH and other development organizations effectively engage people in a deeper understanding of the concept of accompaniment?

Definition of Success

It would be enormously helpful to have 1) an excellent set of three to five case studies of organizations particularly effective at training about key organizational concepts, and 2) outline (ideally with lesson plans) of a model for training new PIH staff members on the concept of accompaniment.

Recommendation

Presentation

Report

Development Advisory Team Biographies  

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Advocacy for Women - CARE (Fall 2014)

Client Profile

CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. CARE places special focus on working alongside marginalized women because, equipped with the proper resources, women have the power to help whole families and entire communities escape poverty. Women are at the heart of CARE’s community-based efforts to improve basic education, improve maternal and child health, increase access to clean water and sanitation, expand economic opportunity and protect natural resources. CARE also delivers emergency aid to survivors of conflict and natural disasters and helps people rebuild their lives. In 2013, CARE worked in 87 countries around the world, implementing long-term programs to fight poverty, respond to humanitarian emergencies and advocate for policy change to improve the lives of the poorest populations.

The purpose of CARE’s advocacy work is to influence U.S. Government policymakers and the American public to adopt and fully implement policies that support the efforts of poor and marginalized people in the developing world to realize their rights and improve their lives.

See all Development Advisory Team projects with CARE

Definition of Problem

Every spring, CARE hosts its annual National Conference and International Women’s Day Celebration (NCC). This two-day event convenes CARE advocates and supporters from around the country to learn about vital international development issues before heading to Capitol Hill to call on lawmakers to deliver lasting change to girls, women and communities around the world. Each year, the 200-300 participating advocates discuss two or three issues with lawmakers. Yet follow-up from the conference is often a challenge, as is measuring the impact of the conference and advocacy asks with lawmakers. Moreover, CARE is one of dozens of organizations that conduct such conferences and lobby days on Capitol Hill each year. CARE would like to compare our NCC with conferences and lobby days convened by similar organizations, particularly in relation to best practices, effective messaging, measuring impact and opportunities for follow-up.

Initial Steps and Options

Working with a Development Advisory Team, CARE would like to examine how other organizations engage advocates and supporters around advocacy conferences and lobby days. In particular:

• What are the best practices for engaging advocates at a conference and lobby day? (compare & contrast CARE’s NCC with other major conference & lobby days)
• What makes advocates sign up for the NCC, and travel to D.C. on their own dime and time to participate? (Conduct a survey or focus group with advocates who registered for/participated in the 2014 NCC on why they signed up, what went well and could be improved upon, etc).
• What are effective messaging strategies, particularly on the importance of U.S investments overseas and travel to see U.S. investments firsthand?
• How can we cut through the noise in reaching policymakers (particularly given the amount of Lobby Days)? How can CARE stand out and be more effective in its conference?
• How can we measure the effectiveness and impact of the NCC? How do other organizations measure the effectiveness and impact of their conferences and lobby days?
• How can we continue the momentum of the NCC, particularly with advocates and supporters? What are effective methods of follow-up with advocates, and with legislators? Again, conducting a review of the methods/processes of similar organizations.

Definition of Success

A systematic report with recommendations, addressing the questions listed above, that helps us increase the impact of our advocacy conference and lobby days on behalf of women.

Recommendation

Presentation

Report

Microfinance and Housing Loans - BRAC (Spring 2014)

Client Profile

BRAC is one of the largest development organizations in the world, with over 100,000 employees worldwide. It strives to alleviate poverty through empowerment and creating opportunities for the poor. BRAC works on many different fronts in order to combat issues of poverty: focusing on empowerment of women and farmers, grassroots organization, health, education, inclusive financial services, and self-sustainment. The organization began as the Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee (BRAC) in 1972 to provide relief and rehabilitation following the end of Bangladesh’s War of Independence. Over the last decade, the organization has extended its work beyond Bangladesh to 11 additional countries. The main values of the organization are innovation, integrity, inclusion and effectiveness.

See all Development Advisory Team Projects with BRAC

Recommendations

Final Report

Development Advisory Team Biographies

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Literacy and Empowerment - Rubia (Spring 2014)

Client Profile

Rubia promotes women’s empowerment through literacy, education and income generation from the sale of their heritage handwork. An American scholar started Rubia as a grassroots embroidery project in Pakistan in the year 2000 when desperate Afghan refugees asked her to help them find a means to earn income.  These impoverished embroiderers, who belong to the minority Pashai tribe, continued selling their handwork through Rubia when they returned to their homes in Eastern Afghanistan when the Taliban was overthrown after September 11, 2001.  Over the past 14 years, Rubia’s literacy and embroidery projects have grown, in spite of worsening poverty, increasing insecurity, and a rise in Islamic fundamentalism.  All aspects of the development and implementation of Rubia’s programs are rooted in local culture, using community members at all levels to help build the economy and capacity in their home region. Most recently, 600 Afghan women participated in “Threads of Change,” a curriculum that integrates health, human rights and literacy with handwork.  In 2007, Rubia spread to Manchester, New Hampshire in response to the needs of impoverished refugees from Central African who had fled the genocide and were trying to rebuild their lives in the US. “Sewing Confidence,” Rubia’s American program, has expanded over the past five years to include financial literacy and entrepreneurship. Rubia is considering expanding its work to other countries, including Mali.

See all Development Advisory Team projects with Rubia

Recommendation

Development Advisory Team Biographies

Sustainable Housing Projects - Engineering2Empower (Spring 2014)

Client Profile 

Engineering2Empower (E2E) seeks to overcome the challenges of establishing safe and affordable permanent housing in the developing world. Limited financial resources, the absence of codes and standards, and poor quality control currently govern these housing sectors. E2E’s current focus is on Haiti, where more than three years after the devastating 2010 earthquake, the majority of displaced families are still in transitional shelters, looking for permanent housing they can call “home”. Forced evictions have disbanded many of the camp settlements, leaving most to vie on their own for housing.

E2E has formulated an innovative approach to navigate the aforementioned constraints, and ultimately support self-financed recovery in the residential housing sector. The E2E model fundamentally shifts the structural system used in residential construction from the established masonry system toward a frame and panel system. Through this approach, the limited resources available to Haitian families are engineered into a U.S. code compliant concrete frame (“skeleton” of structure), while lightweight concrete panels are then introduced to simply enclose and partition the home (“skin” of the structure). The level of safety against earthquakes and hurricanes is drastically increased, but the cost, materials, and skill sets required remain exactly the same as the current model.

Through other innovations, such as customizable payment plans, prefabricated components, and standardized designs, E2E is additionally able to deliver the model through locally operated businesses. Unlike other developing world housing solutions, E2E is able to supply safe, affordable homes in a culturally appropriate and financially sustainable way, solely dependent on existing skill sets and locally available materials.

See all Development Advisory Team projects with Engineering2Empower

Recommendation

Development Advisory Team Biographies

Measuring Teacher Effectiveness - Enseña Chile (Spring 2014)

Client Profile

Enseña Chile is based on the successful Teach for America model, recognized for creating a corps of leaders committed to improving access to excellent education regardless of socio-economic circumstances. Many join straight after finishing college, but others have gathered professional experiences outside the education sector. All applicants need to have demonstrated skills in leading and motivating teams, such as campus initiatives, community organizations or sports teams. Enseña Chile was founded by Tomas Recart in 2007 in Santiago, Chile. Enseña Chile provides quality education to 14 to 18 year old high-school students by bringing outstanding university graduates with leadership skills into classrooms of low-quality schools in poor areas for a period of two years. On a long term basis Enseña Chile is promoting a movement/network of Enseña Chile alumni that will be active at key positions in society with the possibility to positively influence a change in the educational system of Chile. Enseña Chile has adapted the model for the Chilean and Latin American context. By bringing bright college graduates and professionals to teach in underprivileged schools, they provide significant contribution to bridging the inequality gap. Although Enseña Chile believes that good teachers have similar characteristics independent of culture, the organization has been adapting the Teach for America model in the way these competencies are measured and trained, and in teacher training.

See all Development Advisory Team projects with Enseña Chile

Recommendation

Development Advisory Team Biographies

From Aid to Accompaniment - Partners in Health (Spring 2014)

Client Profile

Partners in Health (PIH) was founded in 1987 to bring quality medical care to rural Haiti.  Since then, PIH has expanded to several countries around the world including Rwanda, Lesotho, Malawi, Russia, Peru, and Navajo Nation in the United States.  PIH also partners with several sister organizations to increase its ability to further its mission.  In 2012, PIH launched its newest project in the Chiapas region of Mexico.  PIH draws on the world’s best medical institutions to provide a preferential option for the poor in health care.  According to PIH’s mission statement, its mission is both medical and moral, and it is based on solidarity rather than charity alone.

See all Development Advisory Team projects with Partners in Health

Recommendation

Development Advisory Team Biographies

Agricultural Innovation - Fundación Nuevo Norte (Spring 2014)

Client Profile
 

Fundación Nuevo Norte (FNN) is a non-profit organization in La Paz, Bolivia with an entrepreneurial approach to promoting sustainable economic and social development of the productive sector and services of the Department of La Paz. It has a special emphasis on micro, small and medium enterprises, using innovation, differentiation of products and market segmentation to help promote competitiveness in a way that connects with the natural riches and cultural traditions of Bolivia.

See all Development Advisory Team projects with Fundación Nuevo Norte

 

Recommendation

English Report

Spanish Report

Development Advisory Team Biographies

Literacy and Empowerment - Rubia (Fall 2013)

Client Profile

Rubia promotes women’s empowerment through literacy, education and income generation from the sale of their heritage handwork. An American scholar started Rubia as a grassroots embroidery project in Pakistan in the year 2000 when desperate Afghan refugees asked her to help them find a means to earn income.  These impoverished embroiderers, who belong to the minority Pashai tribe, continued selling their handwork through Rubia when they returned to their homes in Eastern Afghanistan when the Taliban was overthrown after September 11, 2001.  Over the past 14 years, Rubia’s literacy and embroidery projects have grown, in spite of worsening poverty, increasing insecurity, and a rise in Islamic fundamentalism.  All aspects of the development and implementation of Rubia’s programs are rooted in local culture, using community members at all levels to help build the economy and capacity in their home region. Most recently, 600 Afghan women participated in “Threads of Change,” a curriculum that integrates health, human rights and literacy with handwork.  In 2007, Rubia spread to Manchester, New Hampshire in response to the needs of impoverished refugees from Central African who had fled the genocide and were trying to rebuild their lives in the US. “Sewing Confidence,” Rubia’s American program, has expanded over the past five years to include financial literacy and entrepreneurship. Rubia is considering expanding its work to other countries, including Mali.

See all Development Advisory Team projects with Rubi

Definition of Problem

Mali is undergoing a painful transition, after it imploded when a 2012 rebellion of Islamists and Tuaregs in the north interrupted a decade of peace and democratic rule. The August 2013 election of Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who ran his Presidential campaign on a pledge to restore Mali’s dignity, offers a hopeful moment for this battered West African nation. This project offers an opportunity to assess whether the Rubia model combining income generation with education that was developed for women displaced by conflict in Afghanistan and New Hampshire literacy is relevant to post-conflict Mali.  With Mali’s rich tradition of making beautiful textiles, especially its world-renown mud cloth (bogolan), there may be opportunities for Rubia to engage in Mali at this critical moment in its history.

Initial Steps and Options

Rubia has tested its integrated model of women’s empowerment through a combination of literacy, handwork, and income generation in two sites.  A DAT can assist Rubia to determine if there is a demand for a similar approach among women surviving conflict and displacement in Mali.  The DAT would start with an analysis of Mali’s political, economic, and socio-cultural environment. Specifically, it would seek to answer the questions:

1. What contextual factors would favor the adoption of the Rubia model to Mali?
2. What contextual factors may inhibit the adoption of the Rubia model to Mali?
3. In light of the your response to Question 2, what interventions would you as development practitioners recommend to mitigate these inhibiting forces?
4. What aspects(if any) of the Rubia model— income generation, literacy, health education, or preservation of heritage textiles— do Malian women need the most and which would you start with? (They are not mutually exclusive.) 

The team would also explore possible partner organizations that may be currently working with Malian women on education and income generating, preferably through the sale of their traditional textiles.  Some team member or members should be able to work in French.

Recommendation

Communicating for Impact - Inter-American Development Bank (Fall 2013)

Client Profile

Established in 1959, the Inter-American Development Bank is the leading source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribbean, with a strong commitment to achieve measurable results, increased integrity, transparency, and accountability. The IDB has an evolving reform agenda that seeks to increase our development impact in the region.

While the IDB is a regular bank in many ways, it is also unique in some key respects. Besides loans, the IDB also provides grants, technical assistance and does research. The IDB has shareholders, 48 member countries, including 26 Latin American and Caribbean borrowing members, who have a majority ownership of the IDB.

See all Development Advisory Team projects with Inter-American Development Bank

Definition of Problem

Education is a priority area for the IDB, and there is a new strategy for the education for the bank, following a IDB reorganization six years ago. A key area for the IBD and its educational division is effectively communicating to policy makers, educators, academics, and other stakeholders about its work.

Initial Steps and Options

Students look at the most effective ways to communicate about the priorities of the IDB educational sector framework to policy makers, academics, NGOS, and other interested audiences in the region. The students might look at what other organizations (such as the World Bank, Ashoka, Gates Foundation, Save the Children, among other possibilities) have done in terms of a communication strategies, as well as, possibly, do focus group research with some particular group of actors or in a particular location.  

Maternal and Child Health - Ford Family Program (Fall 2013)

Client Profile

Dandora (Nairobi, Kenya) is one of the largest urban squatter settlements in the world. The Holy Cross Congregation has had been working for more than 50 years in Dandora. The Kellogg Institute’s Ford Family Program in Human Development Studies and Solidarity works closely with the community in Dandora to explore different opportunities for social, community and health development. The Parish and community have expressed a long-term interest in establishing a maternity ward, and donors have also expressed interest in providing support.  We would like this to be a ward that incorporates research, focusing on serving a population for which high quality, cutting edge care maternal and child health care is often out of reach.

See all Development Advisory Team projects with the Ford Family Program

Definition of Problem

The Ford Family Program would like a group of students, ideally with at least one premedical or global/public health student, to investigate strategies to improve the services available at the community level by harnessing mobile technology.

Initial Steps and Options

Investigate potential models that use mobile technology to improve the provision of maternal, pre-natal and post-natal care to women in resource-poor settings in East Africa.  The final product should include:

1)    Identify at least 4 -5 separate models, programs or initiatives that use mobile technology that improves (or attempt to improve) maternal health in the developing world.

1. At least 1 of these examples should involve the use of a handset-based application to guide the interaction of community health workers and community members.
2. At least 1 of these examples should involve the use of a handset-based application to monitor maternal health indicators.
3. At least 1 of the examples should involve the use of mobile communications (e.g., text messaging or mobile phone communication) for community health workers to interact directly with community members.
4. At least 1 of the examples should involve the use of a mobile money transfer platform.  Potential examples may use the platform to deliver subsidized care to targeted participants, provide unconditional cash transfers, improve service delivery at the facility level, or some other purpose.

2)    The final product should evaluate the potential models based on the following criteria, and identify the single program or strategy expected to succeed:

1. Cost effectiveness
2. Ease of implementation
3. Proven benefit or impact
4. Potential ease of scalability
5. Relevance for the local context

3)    The chosen model or program should include a budget, work plan, and timeline to fully understand the resources needed to implement a similar initiative in Kenya

Child Nutrition and Development - Indian Institutes of Management (Fall 2013)

Client Profile

Kerala, a state located in southwest India, is one of the lowest-income places in the world, but it has remarkably high levels of social development.  Nobel Prize winning economist Amartya Sen classified Kerala as one of the three models of places in the world with high quality of life indicators with low per capita income.  However, while Kerala has indicators that are considered exceptional, the Wayanad District in northeast Kerala is a pocket of incredible difficulty and deprivation, mainly due to challenges faced by the tribal population living in largely inaccessible forests and hill areas.

The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are the most prestigious business schools in the country and IIM Kozhikode is located about 40 kilometers from Wayanad. In collaboration with Notre Dame, the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, seeks to revitalize key children’s programs to be more effective, especially regarding issues related to children’s health and nutrition.

See all Development Advisory Team Projects with Indian Institutes of Management

Definition of Problem

There are currently 177 government run Integrated Children Development Services (ICDS) in the state of Wayanad, which is the largest interface with government and the community in the state. These ICDS provide health, nutrition and non-formal education opportunities for children up to the age of 6 plus interventions for adolescent girls and pregnant and lactating women. While extensive services exist, the community is not taking full advantage of the services. The Last Mile Project is working with the ICDS to help improve the status of people, particularly children, in the Wayanad district. In collaboration with Notre Dame, the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, seeks to raise the profile of key children’s programs among community members, especially regarding issues related to children’s health and nutrition.

Initial Steps and Options

A team of IIM students will work with a team of Notre Dame’s DAT students to identify and highlight local and international examples where effective marketing and promotion have led to greater usage of available health, education and nutritional services targeting children.  A focus on successful interventions that have worked with marginalized indigenous populations (North American Indians, aboriginal populations in Australia and New Zealand for instance) will be of particular interest. The IIM, alongside Notre Dame, also seeks to link this promotion work to corporate social responsibility, and explore longer-term roles for academic institutions (particularly the IIM and Notre Dame) to contribute to this work.

Sustainable Housing Projects - Engineering2Empower (Fall 2013)

Client Profile

Engineering2Empower (E2E) seeks to overcome the challenges of establishing safe and affordable permanent housing in the developing world. Limited financial resources, the absence of codes and standards, and poor quality control currently govern these housing sectors. E2E’s current focus is on Haiti, where more than three years after the devastating 2010 earthquake, the majority of displaced families are still in transitional shelters, looking for permanent housing they can call “home”. Forced evictions have disbanded many of the camp settlements, leaving most to vie on their own for housing.

E2E has formulated an innovative approach to navigate the aforementioned constraints, and ultimately support self-financed recovery in the residential housing sector. The E2E model fundamentally shifts the structural system used in residential construction from the established masonry system toward a frame and panel system. Through this approach, the limited resources available to Haitian families are engineered into a U.S. code compliant concrete frame (“skeleton” of structure), while lightweight concrete panels are then introduced to simply enclose and partition the home (“skin” of the structure). The level of safety against earthquakes and hurricanes is drastically increased, but the cost, materials, and skill sets required remain exactly the same as the current model.

Through other innovations, such as customizable payment plans, prefabricated components, and standardized designs, E2E is additionally able to deliver the model through locally operated businesses. Unlike other developing world housing solutions, E2E is able to supply safe, affordable homes in a culturally appropriate and financially sustainable way, solely dependent on existing skill sets and locally available materials.

See all Development Advisory Team projects with Engineering2Empower

Definition of Problem

A cornerstone of E2E’s approach is leveraging personal savings for financing the purchase of a home. An effective way to do this in other parts of the world, and for other purposes, is through savings groups. These savings groups not only leverage personal savings, but also combined group savings, to provide individuals with the capital they need to make important, impactful purchases. However, there are many intricacies to the operation and structure of these groups. Who collects, manages, and bears liability for the funds are all key questions, along with determining the order by which members of the groups receive the aggregated funds. The success of E2E is dependent on making these savings groups function effectively and efficiently, and ultimately making them a trustworthy institution to the community.

Initial Steps and Options

Given the importance of the organizational structure of the savings groups, E2E has a few vital questions that could be explored:

1. How are participants for a savings group chosen, and what is the method by which they are grouped together?
2. Once in a savings group, who manages the group? How is that person(s) chosen? Does it have to be a member of the group, or can/should it be an outside party (e.g., an E2E employee)?
3. How does money actually flow through the group? Who collects it? How often is it collected? Who/where is the money stored before it is disbursed? Who disburses the money?
4. How is the money disbursed back to the individual group members? Does it have to be, or can it flow right to E2E? How is the order of recipients chosen within the group?
5. What are the repercussions or incentive structures used to ensure that participants contribute regularly and on time?
6. Are there examples in other countries of successful housing policies that support just these models for individual savings initiatives?

An interesting approach to this project might be to survey the answers to the questions throughout other organizations and locations, and then work to propose a small-scale pilot program that E2E can test. This pilot would include a small number of savings groups/participants, with the goal of savings towards an item that could be purchased within a few months (with a year being the maximum). The selection of this item would also be an important aspect of the pilot (as E2E would not want to pilot an entire home because of the duration it would take to finish).

From Aid to Accompaniment - Partners in Health (Fall 2013)

Client Profile

Partners in Health (PIH) is an NGO that was founded in 1987 in Boston. The organization originally developed as a community health project in Haiti, and since then has expanded with multiple other sites in Haiti as well as sites in a dozen other countries. The main goals of the organization are: providing health care and education to those most in need, working to alleviate the causes of disease, and sharing the ideas and lessons learned from experiences with other countries and NGOs. PIH also trains members of the community and partners with public health systems to involve local people in their initiatives.

See all Development Advisory Team projects with Partners in Health

Definition of Problem

One of PIH’s principal ideas is the approach to service through accompaniment. The accompaniment approach to aid delivery is based on pragmatic solidarity with the poor.  It proposes to build a different long-term relationship between partners and mandates walking side by side rather than leading.

This model informs all that PIH does, including the way in which PIH uses funds to invest in the local community and meets the needs identified by local people. PIH believes that this idea — “from aid to accompaniment” – needs to become a much great part of the dialogue on international development. We hope to build awareness of this idea, and see how it can be integrated into the work of other organizations.

Initial Steps and Options

• Identify key principles of the concept “aid to accompaniment”: How might aid be invested on the local level to improve public services, accompany governments, create jobs, and directly empower the people?
• Promote awareness of this concept on a wider scale.  How can other development organizations effectively be partners in promoting the idea of accompaniment? What are the most effective modalities to help build a “social movement” around this idea? What similar language/themes are used by other organization to convey similar concepts to accompaniment?
• Focus on particular opportunities related to Notre Dame, that include the publication of a book in the early fall 2013 by Orbis Press called In the Company of the Poor: Conversations with Dr. Paul Farmer and Fr. Gustavo Gutiérrez, possibility of a conference on the topic, engagement of faculty and staff.

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