Children's Participation in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Ethnographic Study of NGO-Sponsored Child Rights Projects in Senegal (2007 – 08)
SSHRC Funding
Principal Investigator

Civil Society Participation and the Governance of Education (2005 – 06)
CIDA & IDRC Funding
Co-investigator with Professor Karen Mundy (OISE, University of Toronto)
Principal Investigator (Burkina Faso case study)

A study examining civil society and educational governance in four sub-Saharan African countries.  The case study in Burkina Faso is being conducted in collaboration with Professor Benôit Kabore at l’Université de Ouagadougou, and with the assistance of Mme. Colette Mvoto Meyong, a doctoral candidate in the Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa.  The study is examining the governance role played by civil society organizations in Burkina Faso ’s education sector. Specifically the research aims to : a) provide an assessment of the current capacities of civil society organizations (CSOs) in the governance of the education sector; b) provide insight into the quality and effectiveness of civil society participation in the education sector; c) propose specific mechanisms to enhance the participation of national CSOs in the development and implementation of national education sector plans; and d) investigate possibilities whereby Northern research and policy institutions can provide longer-term collaborative support for CSOs in Burkina Faso

Joint Government - Donor Evaluation of Nepal ’s Basic and Primary Education Programme II (2004)
Kingdom of Nepal (Mnistry of Education and Sports) & Government of Denmark (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Member of an international evaluation team

An investigation conducted by a 12-person evaluation team comprised of Nepalese, Danish, Canadian, and British evaluators, the focus of inquiry was to assess the results of Nepal’s second Basic and Primary Education Programme in terms of its three broad objectives: a) Access and Retention; b) Quality and Learning Achievements; and c) Institutional Capacity. Fieldwork consisted of preliminary site visits and interviews in and around Katmandu, followed by more extensive fieldwork in various regions of Nepal.

Child Soldiers in Sierra Leone : Experiences, Implications, and Strategies for Rehabilitation and Community Integration (2002 – 04)
CIDA funding
Co-Investigator with Myriam Denov

This study traced the experiences and perspectives of former child soldiers in Sierra Leone and investigated the effects of their participation in armed conflict on their subsequent disarmament and adjustment to post-conflict circumstances. Three groups of participants were identified and recruited as research participants: a) young men and women who were formerly involved in armed conflict as child soldiers; b) parents/guardians of these young people; and c) community leaders and aid agency representatives.  In examining the antecedents as well as the nature and extent of children’s involvement in conflict, the research highlighted the phenomenon of child soldiery within the framework of structuration theory and a life history approach.  The juxtaposition of structural forces and individual agency has generated insights into the dynamics of victimization, organized violence, and survival strategies during the course of conflict.  The study has also examined the challenges of education in post-conflict circumstances, particularly the education of former female child soldiers. Findings have been disseminated in several refereed journal publications and will appear in a forthcoming book edited by the researchers.

Joint Evaluation of External Support to Basic Education in Developing Countries : Country Case Study Report : Burkina Faso (2002 – 03).
Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, CIDA, & UNICEF
Co-Investigator with Sheila Faure (Goss Gilroy, Inc.) , N. Coulibaly, & K. Dow Sao

A study of external support to basic education in Burkina Faso for the period of 1990 to 2002. It is one of four case studies carried out for the Joint Evaluation of External Support to Basic Education commissioned in 2002 by a consortium of 13 external support agencies, with the participation of the four case study countries (Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Uganda, and Zambia)

The work for this case study was carried out between April 2002 and January 2003 by a team of four consultants: two Burkinabè and two Canadian consultants. The Canadian consultants made three trips to Burkina Faso, in April and October 2002 and January 2003. Between those visits, the Burkinabè consultants had meetings with many individuals and continued the data collection. They also prepared analysis documents that have been synthesized in this report.

The research team benefited from the advice and guidance of the Country Reference Group (CRG), which included the Ministère de l’Enseignement de Base et de l’Alphabétisation (MEBA) in Burkina Faso, financial and technical partners, civil society organizations, and other researchers in Burkina Faso. 
Analysis and reporting focused on the three evaluation issues: external support to basic education; externally supported basic education; and partnership. The summary concludes with a discussion of the policy and programme implications for national partners and external agencies.
The full report is located at: https://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/6/0/35148659.pdf

Internally Displaced Children in Sierra Leone (2000 – 01)
PLAN International funding
Principal Investigator

This was an evaluation of PLAN International’s rapid education project (REP) in four internally displaced people’s (IDP) camps in Freetown. In order to ensure a close connection between systematic information gathering and immediate subsequent action, the evaluation was conducted as a participatory exercise involving a team that included two ‘outsider’ consultants who had no previous involvement in the REP and several ‘insider’ stakeholders who had been actively engaged in the program from its outset.

The methodology consisted of a questionnaire administered to 36 REP teachers, observations of school activities, and interviews with MoE personnel, PLAN staff, and teachers, parents, and children in the camps. A ‘rapid appraisal’ seminar which concluded the evaluation fieldwork provided a forum for stakeholders to reflect on the initial findings and to discuss possibilities for immediate follow-up actions.

The evaluation highlighted the achievements, the difficulties, and the lessons of a project that responded to the urgent psycho-social and educational needs of war-affected children while simultaneously aiming to contribute to the reconstruction of a shattered school system. The evaluation likewise provided directions for PLAN and other development assistance agencies as they work towards the reconstruction and renewal of children’s education in Sierra Leone and other war-torn regions.

The evaluation summary is located at:
http://www.plan-lanka.lk/pdf/after_the_cameras.pdf

Social Policy Reform and Risks of Adolescent Violence (1999 – 2002)
(Canada , Kenya , & Nicaragua)
IDRC funding
Principal Investigator

Between 1999 and 2002, with support from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), a team of researchers in Canada , Kenya , and Nicaragua undertook a comparative inquiry into policy changes designed to influence social services impinging on the welfare of marginalized urban youth. Qualitative case studies focused on three stages of policy : a) the politics and macro-level forces underlying the formulation of social policies that affect urban youth; b) the institutional dynamics of policy implementation within selected urban sites and the corresponding relations between units of local government and civil society organizations; and c) the actions and perspectives of groups of individuals who have been engaged in, and affected by, these policy processes.

Despite the diversity of contexts and policies examined, case study findings revealed how the formulation of youth-oriented policies are shaped by dominant discourses that rarely accommodate perspectives of youth themselves. Likewise implementation of such policies constitutes a complex set of practices that are subject to negotiation and different forms of appropriation, and therefore often exacerbate the marginalization of urban youth.

In keeping with the qualitative and collaborative design of the project, the research helped to generate inter-organizational dialogue within the communities that were the sites of inquiry. It also fostered insights into the role of collaborative international research as a catalyst for cross-national dialogue and as a knowledge base for grassroots rights-oriented social change.

Findings have been disseminated in several refereed journal publications.