For Canadian civil society organizations (CSOs) research is an important part of efforts to improve policy and/or practice in developing countries, an IDRC-supported study found. The study e-surveyed 162 Canadian CSOs that are engaged in international cooperation for development but don't have research as their prime mandate. The study's author, Stacie Travers, also carried out four case studies on Canadian research activities in South America to enrich the survey data.
Date
Research in Action
Development
Economics
Environment
Food and Agriculture
Governance
Health
Information and Communication
Natural Resources
Science and Technology
Canadian and Latin American researchers are jointly pursuing knowledge in a variety of disciplines, generating ideas and building international networks.
Building on the IDRC and Organization of American States partnership which established the Network of e-Government Leaders of Latin America and the Caribbean (RED GEALC) in 2003, the joint project Innovations in e-Government in the Americas has strengthened regional capacity to generate and share research evidence. Targeted capacity building and dissemination activities have resulted in a greater ability of both individuals and institutional actors to access research results. This in turn has improved citizen access to public services by linking policy-relevant evidence to government practice.
Violence against women and female homicides or femicide, is escalating across Central America. And despite the efforts of women’s organizations, human rights groups, regional governments, and civil society to stem these crimes, incidents of violence against women remain vastly underreported. Under many legal systems in the region, official records often do not distinguish such crimes as gender-based violence or femicide.
A new study comparing the garment-export industries in Honduras and Nicaragua challenges the conventional wisdom that competing on the basis of cheap labour is the only option for poor garment-producing countries.
The Mantaro Valley in central Peru is highly vulnerable to extreme weather events, such as droughts, floods, and frost. According to recent projections, this vulnerability will increase in coming years due to climate change.
As of 2012, Mexico is well on the road to universal health coverage. In less than a decade, thanks to Seguro Popular, a national health insurance program introduced in 2003, every Mexican is now covered by a public insurance scheme. The program offers health services and financial protection to over 50 million Mexicans who were previously uninsured.
Research shows that weather-related emergencies, such as floods, significantly increase internal migration in Costa Rica. An increase of one hydro-meteorological emergency raises migration rates between 0.7 and 0.11 percentage points. Therefore, migration can be a potential adaptation strategy when faced with weather-related emergencies, with people moving to less vulnerable places.
The IDRC-supported “Labour markets for inclusive growth” project, coordinated by the Centre for Distributive Labor and Social Studies (CEDLAS) at Universidad Nacional de La Plata in Argentina, is generating rigorous and policy-relevant evidence on how labour markets and social protection work in Latin America — and what that means for growth and inclusion.
As governments and businesses around the world struggle to guarantee the safety of their citizens and employees, many are turning to private security companies (PSCs). In the English-speaking Caribbean, PSCs now employ more people than the police forces. However, regulating such firms remains inconsistent.