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The key recommendations of the `hybrid model' of the Justice System in Afghanistan, developed by Dr Wardak, were written into draft Afghanistan law under the title, `The Law on Dispute Resolution, Shuras and Jirgas', by the Ministry of Justice. The ideas derived from Wardak's new model were piloted in different parts of Afghanistan by the United States Institute of Peace, by USAID, TLO and CPAU. Preliminary results of pilot studies, in selected districts in Afghanistan, indicate that the hybrid model provides workable solutions to many of the problems that Afghan state and non-state justice systems currently face.
The Oxford Brookes Poetry Centre has, since its inception, been a focus for original research, community engagement and external collaborations. This relationship between research and outreach activities has resulted in significant cultural, educational and economic benefits. Work with refugees has empowered the individuals involved and contributed to social inclusion debates, tackling social and economic issues in creative forms. Children from underprivileged educational and economic backgrounds have had poetry made accessible to them through the establishment of the Oxford City Poet, encouraging their own creative writing and re-inspiring teachers. These projects have directly improved the cultural and creative life of Oxford and given a voice to those who would have been otherwise unheard.
The global pledge of achieving Education For All by 2015 is compromised by providers' reliance on education services that are designed for sedentary users and exclude nomadic pastoralists. Dr Caroline Dyer (University of Leeds; Senior Lecturer in Development Practice, 2004-2011; Reader in Education in Development, 2011- present) has re-visioned approaches to education for nomadic groups through her analysis of how public policy perpetuates pastoralists' educational marginalisation and design of research-based models of service provision that can deliver pastoralists' right to education inclusion without compromising their mobile livelihoods. Her research led to changes in national policy strategy and re-designed service delivery in Kenya in 2010, shaped policy debate in Afghanistan from 2012, and has supported community and NGO advocacy in India since 2008.
An influential playwright and screenwriter, Colin Teevan's work and its impact have continued to develop since he joined the Department of English in October 2008. His writing for verbatim/documentary theatre and broadcast scripts has had impacts in the cultural sphere, nationally and internationally, in schools and in military circles. This case study focuses on his work relating to conflict in the Middle East. Drawing on sustained research into international political conflicts, his plays have been broadcast on radio and TV, and performed in stage productions across Britain and the US. One of his plays, The Lion of Kabul, was performed to high-level military officers in both England and America.
Rabies is the most lethal known infectious disease and kills 55,000 people annually worldwide, mainly in Africa and Asia; however, it is almost entirely preventable. Effective vaccines for animals and humans are available, but their use is limited by cost and accessibility. Research undertaken at the University of Glasgow by Professor Sarah Cleaveland and her team has led to the development and adoption of new health and veterinary policies in East Africa, transforming research findings into practical strategies for rabies prevention and control. These strategies reduce the cost of medical treatment (such as post-exposure prophylaxis), increase its effectiveness (by improving compliance) and eliminate the barriers to receiving treatment in some of the world's most disadvantaged communities. Research by the Glasgow team on dog vaccination strategies has also made a major contribution to the recognition by the World Health Organization (WHO) that global canine rabies elimination is feasible, with national and global strategies now focussing on dog vaccination as a cost effective means of reducing human rabies deaths.
Emma Tarlo's research on modest dress and Islamic fashion plays a substantial role in combatting social prejudice and promoting understanding of religious minority groups in Britain and Europe. Addressing issues of the rights to religious expression and the need for socially inclusive design, it has attracted widespread coverage in British and international media, including religious and ethnic minority and fashion media, stimulating public debate on-line and off. Professor Tarlo has engaged with diverse publics in the context of museums, Islamic societies, inter-faith events, schools conferences, and through interviews on radio and film. Her research has been taken up in new educational curricula and by artists and designers seeking to combat social prejudice through design.
Research by Professor Grassly and colleagues at Imperial College on the epidemiology of poliovirus and the efficacy of new vaccines has played a critical role in the thinking and strategy of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI). This research has supported the introduction of new vaccines, guided the timing and location of vaccination campaigns and influenced polio `endgame' policy. This is documented in the GPEI Strategic Plan 2010-2012, where Imperial research informed 2 of the 4 `major lessons' concerning poliovirus epidemiology described in the executive summary that led to changes in the programme. The research has also informed our understanding of mucosal immunity induced by oral poliovirus vaccines, and led to two clinical trials of the potential role of inactivated vaccine to boost mucosal immunity. Results from one of these trials were used to support the recent World Health Organisations (WHO) recommendation for universal vaccination with inactivated vaccine following the switch to bivalent oral vaccine in routine programmes.
Impact was achieved through two projects led by Dr Hardy. In December 2005 the Unit helped to establish the Folkestone People's History Centre (FPHC) to research the town's historical heritage. The enthusiastic engagement of individuals and groups in the Centre resulted in a Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) supported project, `A Town Unearthed: Folkestone Before 1500' (ATU), running from December 2009-March 2013, which took over the work of the FPHC. Impact has centred on preserving, creating and interpreting cultural capital; engaging and developing local associations; creating new audiences; influencing policies towards heritage, and challenging assumptions about the history of Folkestone. The main beneficiaries have been adult learners; schools; local authorities, associations and groups; as well as national and international audiences.
Research conducted by the Centre for the Study of Poverty and Social Justice (CSPSJ) led to a new way of assessing child poverty in developing countries. This novel method (termed the Bristol Approach) resulted in the United Nations General Assembly's adoption, for the first time, of an international definition of child poverty (2006). It also underpinned UNICEFs Global Study on Child Poverty and Disparities (2008-10), which was run in over 50 countries. In the last ten years, the CSPSJ's work has put child poverty at the centre of international social and public policy debates. Its researchers have advised governments and international agencies on devising anti-poverty strategies and programmes that specifically meet the needs of children, and have significantly influenced the way child poverty is studied around the world. The Centre has developed academic and professional training courses for organisations like UNICEF on the issues of children's rights and child-poverty. Our work has also spurred NGOs such as Save the Children to develop their own child-development indices, and so has had a direct and profound impact on the lives of poor children around the planet.
The increasing diversity of migrant and minority ethnic communities and the growing awareness of multiple experiences of inequalities (age, gender, race and religion) require appropriate interventions and policy measures. Since the 1990s, research by the Social Policy Research Centre (SPRC) has enabled minority ethnic organisations and other local service providers to gather evidence and develop initiatives and practices better adapted to a challenging socio- economic and funding context, responding to the changing needs of their users and challenging the barriers they face in accessing services. Areas of focus include welfare advice, health services and the needs of migrant children and their families in relation to schooling and education. Key beneficiaries have been community organisations whose skills have been enhanced to use research evidence in identifying user requirements, successfully securing funding and meeting user needs.