This review finds no conclusive evidence that one model of ownership (i.e. public, private or mixed) is intrinsically more efficient than the others, irrespective of how efficiency is defined. Instead the literature suggests that the efficiency of service provision is dependent on the type of service (health, education, etc.) and other specific contextual factors (e.g. ...» more
Service delivery
Realising the right to a basic education in South Africa
Is South Africa meeting its constitutional and other legal obligations in making quality basic education accessible to all? This report finds that while progress has been made on access to basic education, quality and adequacy remain key issues that the government needs to address. This paper aims to guide the government in how to better fulfil these obligations and to provide ...» more
Links between education and peace
Education is a significant contributor to peace, and appears in two of the 24 indicators in the Positive Peace Index produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace. Education can lead to peace and be a part of ‘building back better’ by supporting the transformation of the security situation, political institutions, economic regeneration and social development. However, ...» more
Curriculum development in fragile states to encourage peace and reduction of conflict
Research on education and conflict shows that education systems are not politically neutral but are an important part of the political economy that can exacerbate or mitigate conflict (Novelli et al., 2014; Bush and Saltareilli, 2000). The curriculum can be used as a vehicle to promote dominant ideologies. There are numerous instances where school curricula have been used to ...» more
What lies beneath? A critical assessment of PPPs and their impact on sustainable development
Donor governments and financial institutions, such as the World Bank, are increasingly promoting public-private partnerships (PPPs), as a way to finance development projects. This report looks at the empirical and theoretical evidence on the nature and impact of PPPs based on experiences in Tanzania and Peru to assess whether they deliver on their promises. The report has ...» more
Reaching boiling point: high school activism in Afghanistan
This research paper explores patterns of politicisation in Afghanistan’s high schools. It reveals how the ban on political activities within schools has had little impact, and explores how the reproduction of the political establishment within schools poses a potential risk to Afghanistan's future stability. It suggests two ways to address this: (1) revoking the ban in order ...» more
Social development and human development
This Topic Guide aims to answer the question ‘What is the interaction between social development issues and human development outcomes?’ An individual’s right to lead a long and healthy life, to be educated and to enjoy a decent standard of living cannot be realised without addressing social development issues. This is because these issues determine individuals’ access to ...» more
The state-private interface in public service provision
Political theory sets out a strong case for the state to play a major role in public service provision. Yet services are often provided by a range of state and non-state actors as well as by collaborative partnerships. This paper surveys the literature, seeking to map arrangements in developing countries and to understand the politics of different types of service provision. It ...» more
External support for retention allowances
Retention allowances can come in the form of separate payments or salary top-ups. Donors have generally been reluctant to support retention allowances because they feel salaries are a government responsibility and because of concerns over the sustainability of such support. However, the scale of the crisis has sometimes been so great that they have stepped in to provide ...» more
Improving access to menstrual hygiene products
The market for menstrual hygiene products in developing countries is expanding rapidly, driven both by private demand and by public efforts to improve girls’ educational outcomes and women’s health and dignity. However, many women and girls cannot consistently afford the monthly cost of disposable menstrual products and revert to less hygienic solutions when facing cash ...» more
Getting textbooks to every child in Sub-Saharan Africa: Strategies for addressing the high cost and low
Despite extensive technical support and funding from external partners, making textbooks affordable and available to students remains an elusive objective for most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study asks why it has been so hard to improve textbook provision comparative to other regions, exploring the cost and financial barriers. Recognising that progress has been ...» more
Where have all the textbooks gone? Towards sustainable provision of teaching and learning materials in Sub-Saharan Africa
This study is based on the multiple experiences of over 40 years’ of working in the education sector in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It takes an evidence-based approach as it seeks to explain why adequate and effective TLM (Teaching and Learning Materials) provision has remained so elusive despite decades of funding, and suggests what needs to be done to make quality TLM ...» more
Transporting materials to schools
Most programmes have faced similar challenges and limitations in transporting materials to schools, and have found transferable approaches to what works. These are: Financing: the burden of paying for delivery falls on different actors. The literature is clear that either the government or the publishers should cover the costs, but often it has been teachers who travel to ...» more
The legitimacy of states and armed non-state actors
Legitimacy is a crucial aspect of all power relations. Without legitimacy, power is exerted through coercion; with legitimacy, power can be exerted through voluntary or quasi-voluntary compliance. Legitimacy lies at the core of state-citizen relationships and thus of the whole state-building agenda. This Topic Guide explores the meaning of legitimacy in relation to state and ...» more
Comprehensive sexuality education
Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) has strong support in the international discourse, and is supported by a relatively robust evidence base. In general, the evidence suggests that CSE has positive impacts on behaviour change, such as increased condom use, girls’ empowerment and delayed sexual debut. This is achieved through increasing knowledge and changing attitudes. ...» more
Opening the Black Box: The Contextual Drivers of Social Accountability
What are the factors—enabling and disabling—that shape the possibility of TAIs achieving their goals in a particular context? This report focuses on social accountability (SA) and solely on the accountability of public officials. It aims to fill three specific knowledge gaps and provides guidance on how to assess contextual drivers of SA effectiveness. Its principal ...» more
Adapting development: improving services to the poor
This report argues that if we are to avoid reproducing the pattern of uneven progress that has characterised the MDG campaign, there must be more explicit recognition of the political conditions that sometimes enable, but so often obstruct, development progress. In this context, domestic reformers and their international partners must pursue innovative and politically smart ...» more
Service characteristics and engagement with citizens
This briefing note aims to provide some practical guidance on how different services can offer differing opportunities and challenges for improving service performance through increased accountability and, especially, citizen engagement. It illustrates an approach to identifying these opportunities, using examples from two services: curative health care and urban networked ...» more
Education and building legitimacy during conflict
This rapid review summarises the available evidence of how far support to education has strengthened governance during conflict. The main points made by the literature on education delivery during conflict and strengthened legitimacy for those delivering it includes: Service delivery and state legitimacy: expectations for services vary and this has an impact on the ...» more
Political economy constraints for urban development
Experts highlight evidence gaps in particular on the political economy of urban service delivery; social and political participation by urban poor people; the relationship between urbanisation, urban poverty and urban violence; the relationship between state fragility, state legitimacy and the national political settlement; and what works and what does not in tackling political ...» more
