International voluntary service involving people from 'northern' countries represents a widespread and growing phenomenon on the African continent, prompting increased interest in the effects of international service on volunteers. Despite this trend, little research has been conducted into the contribution of international service to the development of the host organisations and communities where volunteers live and serve. Drawing on interviews and focus groups conducted with international volunteer host organisations in Tanzania and Mozambique, this paper examines the benefits and challenges for international service to contribute to the development of host organisations and communities. Findings suggest a range of positive benefits to host organisations. However, they also highlight a number of challenges that require additional measures to strengthen the potential benefits of international service. These include a greater critical consciousness of the imbalances between African host and Northern sending countries, locating international voluntary service in the context of a colonial legacy, and strategically hosting volunteers in the context of financial and human resource constraints.

Debates about the relationship between poverty and disability continue and are important in that they contribute to policies regarding how best to address the needs of disabled people living in conditions of poverty. Increasingly, researchers have begun to use Sen's capabilities approach in understanding disability. However, the approach has not been adequately applied to understand the nature of the poverty and disability nexus, particularly in developing contexts. This article seeks to address this gap by reporting on evidence from a study conducted in eight of the poorest wards in Johannesburg. Using the capabilities lens we demonstrate the ways in which both poverty and disability compound one another to limit the capabilities of people. The findings point to the need for broad-scale as well as targeted social development policies and programmes to address the consequences of poverty and disability.

Investigations into the relationship between poverty and disability are limited, particularly from a South African perspective. In addition, when this relationship is addressed it is usually in isolation of other social characteristics, such as gender. As such the intersections between disability, gender, race and poverty are often overlooked -yet internationally research points to gender gaps in outcomes for people with disabilities. This briefing seeks to address this gap by reporting on a national study on poverty and disability in South Africa. We make use of the theory of intersectionality as a lens to interpret evidence from a national survey, the South African National Income Dynamics Study (South African Labour and Development Research Unit, 2014). Specifically, we assess how poverty and disability intersect to shape particular outcomes for women as compared to men with disabilities. This briefing demonstrates that in South Africa disability intersects with gender as well as age and race to result in negative outcomes in education, employment and income for all people with disabilities, but particularly black women with disabilities. Evidence is provided for what we theorise to be the case -that disability and gender intersect to compound negative outcomes for black women with disabilities.

No abstract

Our findings underscore the importance of food access on young people's sexual health, regardless of gender. Prevention efforts may be more relevant when integrated with food security interventions that target vulnerable adolescents and young adults, irrespective of gender.