Introduction Sierra Leone is consistently ranked among the countries with the highest maternal mortality ratio (970 per 100,000) and women in Sierra Leone have a 1 in 21 lifetime risk of dying as a result of pregnancy.  Despite some progress, Sierra Leone still ranks 5th in the world for countries with the highest under-five mortality […]

Abstract Delivering health services to vulnerable populations is a significant challenge in many countries. Groups vulnerable to social, economic, and environmental challenges may not be considered or may be impacted adversely by the health policies that guide such services.We report on the application of EquiFrame, a novel policy analysis framework, to ten Namibian health policies, […]

In 1961, I received an invitation from Sargent Shriver to join the newly created Peace Corps. I was a 1959 alumna of the Experiment in International Living that had been directed by Shriver. My husband and I applied and on May 22nd of that year received a congratulatory letter signed by John F. Kennedy. By […]

A More Connected World Is a Better World In a May 2010 opinion post for the Washington Post, Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg wrote in response to the public’s growing concern over user privacy: Six years ago, we built Facebook around a few simple ideas. People want to share and stay connected with their […]

Abstract: In order to protect national interests, the REAL ID Act of 2005 was enacted to help prevent terrorists from coming into the United States. The act curbed abuses to the existing asylum system. Changes stemming from REAL ID heightened the credibility and corroboration standards for asylum and provided immigration judges more discretion in denying […]

Abstract: Recent policies affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) older adults and people living with HIV promise a new era of reform. From California Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s antidiscrimination HIV-related bills and the sweeping changes of the Affordable Care Act to U.S. Senator Michael Bennet’s LGBT Elder Americans Act and the federal administration’s recent regulations, […]

Abstract This report presents the results of the pilot project, A Self-Help Model to Empower Youth, conducted by Dr. Helaine Daniels while on an eleven-month assignment in the Republic of Djibouti with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the International Foundation for Education and Self-Help (IFESH).  Dr. Daniels conducted the nine-week project with unemployed, […]

Abstract: Public policies to boost economic development in low-income countries or communities (LICs) are focused on either outward-oriented strategies (e.g. foreign technology transfer, tax incentives to attract foreign MNEs) or inward-oriented strategies based on expensive R&D expenditures. But such strategies are generally not viable in the context of LICs. This paper proposes an innovation strategy based […]

BY JAMES WALSH One of the painful lessons of the Great Recession has been that markets do not operate in a vacuum. They are influenced by a variety of external factors, including socioeconomic dynamics, norms of behavior, and institutions. Conversely, the market also has the capacity to shape our politics and society by creating and […]

BY CHRIS GUSTAFSON This article was originally published in the 2012 edition of the Kennedy School Review.   Chris Gustafson is a 2012 Master in Public Policy candidate at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he is focusing on health care policy and sarcasm. Photo source here.

BY ALEX REMINGTON A Review of Killing the Messenger: A Story of Radical Faith, Racism’s Backlash, and the Assassination of a Journalist by Thomas Peele (Crown Publishers, 2012) Five years ago, a radical Black Muslim sect in Oakland, CA, gunned down the journalist Chauncey Bailey to prevent him from writing a story about them. Bailey’s […]

BY MELISSA SANDGREN There is a scene in The Iron Lady film where the actress who plays Margaret Thatcher is walking defiantly down a marble hall; the camera zooms in on her solitary pair of high heels amidst a sea of squeaky parliamentarian loafers. Thatcher pushes open the door to the lady’s restroom only to find a […]