Women's leadership and participation : case studies on learning for action
Prelims (Boxes and figures, Acknowledgements) 1. Women's leadership and participation: overview Joanna Hoare and Fiona Gell 2. Pa Kite M Deyo! Don't Leave Me Out! Haitian women demand their right to participate in public affairs Kristie van Wetering 3. Creating the space to empower women fi shers: lessons from the Philippines Aurora Urgel and Gaynor Tanyang 4. Strengthening the voices of women leaders: lessons from Cambodia Menh Navy 5. Breaking the barriers: Sierra Leonean women on the march Joanna Hoare 6. Raising voices: training for empowerment for women experiencing poverty in Britain Sue Smith 7. Women's leadership in economic change in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel Joanna Hoare 8. Advocacy and national elections: women's political participation in Honduras Maite Matheu 9. Fighting for women's rights in Chile: supporting women workers and promoting women's political participation Michael van Gelderen 10. Useful resources Joanna Hoare 11. Concluding update Joanna Hoare Back Matter (Index)
An assessment of the Impact of Devolution on Women Empowerment in Nakuru County
-Women have been grossly marginalized in organs of decision-making and governance structures. The Constitution of Kenya has sought to bridge this gap by providing both women and men the right to equal treatment, including the right to equal opportunities in political, economic, cultural and social spheres. However, gender equality has not been achieved and women are still lagging in terms of decision making processes. The main objective of the study was to detemine the impact of devolution on women empowerment in Nakuru County. The study found that substantive women representation, development of programs and accessibility of services had a positive effect on the women empowerment in Nakuru County. The study also found out that increased accessibility of Services by women influenced women empowerment, this study also concludes that the introduction of development programs had the greatest impact on women empowerment in Nakuru County. The study recommends that more programs targeting women should be introduced as these have the greatest impact on women empowerment. The findings may be used to make conclusions and recommendations.
Costing of services of Vietnamese hospitals: identifying costs in one central, two provincial and two district hospitals using a standard methodology.
BACKGROUND
The People's Republic of Vietnam is currently in a period of transition from a purely socialistic country towards a so-called socialist market economy. Since the introduction of the Doi Moi policy in 1987, health care services have been liberalized, medical practitioners have received the right to open private hospitals and private pharmacies are booming. However, the majority of inhabitants strongly depends on governmental hospital services. These services are currently going through a financial crisis. This demands the quest for efficiency and the wise allocation of public funds.


RESEARCH QUESTION
The efficient allocation of funds depends on the quotient between costs and health outcomes, but the costs of health services in Vietnamese hospitals are unknown. Therefore the study analysed five hospitals in Vietnam and determined the average costs as well as the main cost drivers.


METHODOLOGY
The full costs of five hospitals were analysed, including depreciation and the value of donations. The costs were allocated to cost centres and cost units by a stepping-stone method.


MAJOR FINDINGS
As expected, the average costs per inpatient day at a central hospital are about 300% of the costs of provincial hospitals and about 600% of the costs of district hospitals. However, the costs of some laboratory procedures and operations done at district hospitals are higher than those of provincial or even central hospitals. The main reason for the high costs of some procedures at district hospitals was the low quantity of these procedures at that level. This is a strong indicator that some procedures, in particular major operations, should not be performed in Vietnamese district hospitals.