Objetivo: Analisar o conhecimento da população sobre DST/aids, bem como os discursos sobre o uso do preservativo e das práticas sexuais. Métodos: Pesquisa qualitativa com 64 indivíduos jovens e adultos, brancos e negros, sexualmente ativos, de ambos os sexos. A vulnerabilidade ao HIV/aids foi discutida a partir da perspectiva racial (negros ou brancos), geracional (entre 16 e 24 anos ou 45 e mais) e de gênero (masculino ou feminino). Foram realizadas entrevistas em profundidade com roteiro semiestruturado nas cidades de São Paulo (SP) e Recife (PE), sobre os temas: conhecimento e percepção sobre DST/aids, percepção de risco individual, negociação e uso de preservativos, iniciação sexual e práticas sexuais. Resultados: Os indivíduos menos escolarizados, os homens, os mais velhos e os moradores de Recife foram os menos informados sobre DST/aids. Pessoas acima de 45 anos e os menos escolarizados possuíam conhecimento incipiente sobre as formas de transmissão e prevenção das DST/aids. O uso do preservativo entre os entrevistados de ambas as cidades foi relativamente baixo; a não utilização do preservativo entre as mulheres em relação estável foi atribuída à negativa do parceiro. Entre os entrevistados que declararam usar o preservativo, o tipo de relação estabelecida e a fase do relacionamento resultaram em padrões de uso diversificados; o uso consistente do preservativo foi mais frequente nas parcerias eventuais. Conclusões: O conhecimento incipiente aliado à prática sexual insegura coloca mulheres unidas, de baixa escolaridade, menor renda, sobretudo acima dos 45 anos, e os residentes de Recife em situação de maior vulnerabilidade às DST/aids. Palavras-chave: DST/aids e vulnerabilidades sociais; Iniquidades de gênero; Raça e geração; Uso do preservativo; Brasil.

We meta-analyze enrollment, attendance and dropout effect estimates from forty two references of conditional cash transfer program evaluations in fifteen developing countries. Average effect sizes for all outcomes in primary and secondary schooling are statistically different from zero. Average effect sizes for secondary enrollment, attendance and dropout are larger than those for primary. For all outcomes and schooling levels, there is considerable heterogeneity in effect sizes. Programs with more generous transfers have larger primary and secondary enrollment effects. Programs that condition benefit receipt on achievement and pay transfers less frequently than monthly, exhibit larger enrollment and attendance effects. Effect sizes are no different in programs with random assignment. We find evidence in support of publication bias and selective reporting.

Docentes, Colômbia, política pública. Palabras claveDocentes, Colombia, política pública. ResumenEste artículo resume el trabajo Tras la excelencia docente: cómo mejorar la calidad de la educación para todos los colombianos, recientemente publicado y divulgado por la Fundación Compartir. Aprovecha la ocasión para responder a algunas de las críticas que aparecieron tras la publicación del estudio. En particular, el trabajo se ocupa de aclarar, explicar o corregir tres asuntos que surgieron tras la publicación del trabajo: asuntos metodológicos, la posición de los autores del estudio sobre el papel de los rectores en la calidad de la educación y sobre la importancia de una política pública sobre métodos pedagógicos. AbstractThis article summarizes After Excellence in Education-How to Improve the Quality of Education for all Colombians, a paper recently published by Fundación Compartir. At the same time, it answers some criticisms made to the study after its publishing. Specifically, the article attempts to clarify, explain and/ or correct three concerns: methodological issues, the authors' posture about the role of principals in the quality of education, and the importance of a public policy addressing pedagogical methods. ResumoEste artigo resume o trabalho Após a excelência docente: como melhorar a qualidade da educação para todos os colombianos, recentemente publicado e divulgado pela Fundação Compartir. Aproveita a ocasião para responder algumas das críticas que apareceram após a publicação do estudo. Em particular, o trabalho ocupa-se de esclarecer, explicar ou corrigir três assuntos que surgiram após a publicação do trabalho: assuntos metodológicos, a posição dos autores do estudo sobre o papel dos reitores na qualidade da educação e sobre a importância duma política pública sobre métodos pedagógicos. Sandra García** Darío Maldonado*** Guillermo Perry**** Catherine Rodríguez***** Juan Esteban Saavedra****** pp. 89-105 * ** *** **** ***** ****** Este artículo sintetiza contenido y opiniones que los autores han divulgado en otros medios. Las secciones 3 y 4 aparecieron originalmente en la Nota de Política No. 16 de la Universidad de los Andes

El contenido de la presente publicación se encuentra protegido por las normas internacionales y nacionales vigentes sobre propiedad intelectual, por tanto su utilización, reproducción, comunicación pública, transformación, distribución, alquiler, préstamo público e importación, total o parcial, en todo o en parte, en formato impreso, digital o en cualquier formato conocido o por conocer, se encuentran prohibidos, y solo serán lícitos en la medida en que cuente con la autorización previa y expresa por escrito del autor o titular. Las limitaciones y excepciones al Derecho de Autor, solo serán aplicables en la medida en se den dentro de los denominados Usos Honrados (Fair Use), estén previa y expresamente establecidas; no causen un grave e injustificado perjuicio a los intereses legítimos del autor o titular, y no atenten contra la normal explotación de la obra.

Objective: To examine socio-economic inequalities in malnutrition among Colombian children and adolescents, and to assess the contribution of individual-, household-and community-level factors to those inequalities. Design: Cross-sectional data were used from two sources: 2005 Colombian Demographic and Health Survey and 2005 Colombian census. Malnutrition outcomes included stunting and overweight. Multilevel Poisson models were used to estimate the association between individual, household and contextual characteristics and malnutrition. Changes in prevalence ratios of the poorest quintile (v. richest) were compared to assess the contribution of different characteristics to inequalities in malnutrition. Setting: Population-based, representative of Colombia. Subjects: Children and adolescents ,18 years of age (n 30 779) from the Colombian Demographic and Health Survey. Results: Children and adolescents living in the poorest households were close to five times more likely to be stunted, while those from the richest households were 1?3-2?8 times more likely than their poorest counterparts to be overweight. Care practices and household characteristics, particularly mother's education, explained over one-third of socio-economic inequalities in stunting. The proportion explained by access to services was not negligible (between 6 % and 14 %). Access to sanitation was significantly associated with a lower prevalence of stunting for all age groups. Between 14 % and 32 % of socio-economic disparities in overweight were explained by maternal and household characteristics. Mother's overweight was positively associated with overweight of the child. Conclusion: Socio-economic inequalities in stunting and overweight coexist among children and adolescents in Colombia. Malnutrition inequalities are largely explained by household characteristics, suggesting the need for targeted interventions.

OBJECTIVE:To identify discriminatory attitudes in two moments of the Brazilian HIV/AIDS epidemic, as well as the occurrence of possible changes. METHODS:The Intention of Discrimination Index was obtained by scoring 1 for discriminatory situations or 0, when the opposite was the case. Intention of discrimination ranges were established by means of the clustering technique, and made compatible between the 1998 and 2005 surveys. Mean comparisons, chi-square test and ordered logit adjusted regression models were used to verify association between the index and socio-demographic variables. RESULTS:Between the 1998 and 2005 surveys, there was a statistically signifi cant reduction in the proportion of people who answered "yes" to anti-HIV test's being mandatory in the following cases: admission for employment, before getting married, when joining the military service, drug users, foreigners entering the country, sex professionals, and for all the people. To have lower level of education, to be female, to live in the North/Northeast regions of Brazil, and to be aged over 45 years are factors associated with higher intention of discrimination level. CONCLUSIONS:The growth of intention of discrimination shows that information about ways of AIDS transmission and non-transmission still needs to be better planned and promoted, especially among populations that have lower level of education, live in the North/Northeast regions, are female and aged over 45 years.

SUMMARY There are many obstacles to promoting learning as an outcome of performance measurement in non‐governmental organizations (NGO) social service providers, especially in less developed countries. Building upon a conceptualization of accountability as a multifaceted set of relationships through which funders, or principals, and non‐profit providers, or agents, jointly shape organizational learning, and performance, this study expands our understanding of how accountability mechanisms affect learning within service providers. This paper explores the role that funders play in shaping performance measurement, or monitoring, practices within NGOs serving disadvantaged children in developing countries. We examined the experience of service providers in Egypt and Colombia to assess how the barriers to use of performance data and learning may be addressed. We conducted interviews using the same protocols with program managers in six non‐profit providers in each country that provide services to children, and we also interviewed major donors in the arena of children's services in the USA. We probed the NGO managers' experiences with performance measurement to identify obstacles and potential solutions to improve the use of the data to promote learning. Our findings support previous research about the potential for upward accountability mechanisms to influence internal learning. We suggest that funders should be held accountable for how the incentives and disincentives they provide to grantees affect their internal learning about how to improve their services. This notion of ‘reverse accountability’ means that funders need to be strategic and intentional when they design reporting mechanisms that affect the learning behaviours within their grantees. In line with our call for reverse accountability, we offer a model demonstrating our notion of the two‐way flow of accountability and we offer recommendations to help improve the performance reporting environment for NGOs who are addressing complex problems with less than adequate capacity. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

IntroductionPrevalence of obesity is rising in Latin America, is increasingly affecting socially disadvantaged groups, particularly women. Conditional cash transfers are recently established welfare interventions in the region. One, Familias en Accion, transfers ~20% of average monthly income to women in Colombia’s poorest families. Previous work has found that families buy more food as a result.We tested the hypothesis that participation in Familias would be associated with increasing body mass index (BMI) in participating womenMethodsWomen from participating areas and control areas (matched on environmental and socioeconomic criteria) were surveyed in 2002 and 2006. Pregnant, breast-feeding or women aged<18 or with BMI<18.5kg/m2 were excluded. The sample comprises 835 women from control and 1238 from treatment areas. Because some treatment areas started Familias shortly before baseline data collection, a dummy variable was created that identified exposure independent of time-point or area. Follow-up was 61.5%.BMI was measured by trained personnel using standardized techniques. Overweight was defined as BMI>25kg/m2 and obesity as >30kg/m2. The effect of Familias was estimated using linear regression (or logistic regression for dichotomous outcomes) in a double-difference technique, controlling for several individual, household and area characteristics, including parity and baseline BMI, using robust standard-errors clustered at area-level in an intention-to-treat analysis.ResultsAt baseline, women’s mean age was 33.3 years and mean BMI 25.3kg/m2; 12.3% women were obese. After adjustment, exposure to Familias was significantly associated with increased BMI (β=0.25, 95% CI 0.03, 0.47; p=0.03). Age (β=0.09; 95%CI 0.06, 0.13; p<0.001) and household wealth (β=0.78; 95%CI 0.41, 1.15; p<0.001) were also positively associated with BMI. Familias was also associated with increased odds of obesity (O.R.=1.27 95%CI 1.03, 1.57; p=0.03), as was age (O.R.=1.04; 95%CI 1.02, 1.06; p=0.001).ConclusionConditional cash transfers to poor women in Colombia are independently associated with increasing BMI and obesity risk. Although conditional cash transfers are generally regarded as popular and successful schemes, parallel interventions at individual, household and community level are needed to avoid unanticipated adverse outcomes.