This report reviews the literature on links between international food prices and political instability (including protests, riots and social unrest). The literature on food prices and protests, riots, unrest, or violent incidents consists mainly of peer-reviewed scholarly articles that utilise econometric modeling. Some early studies examined the links between international ...» more
Development Pressures
Role of Faith and Belief in Environmental Engagement and Action in MENA Region
Almost all religions reflect on the creation of the universe, or universes, in different forms and with varying degrees of clarity or detail. Common across most religions is an agreement that “creation” is an act of God and should be treated as such. This rapid literature review collates evidence on the role of faith and belief in environmental engagement and action in MENA ...» more
Areas and Population Groups in Pakistan Most Exposed to Combined Effects of Climate Change, Food Insecurity and COVID-19
This rapid review looks at areas and population groups in Pakistan most exposed to the combined effects of climate change and natural disasters, food insecurity and malnutrition, and COVID-19. The review draws on a mixture of academic and grey literature, including reports by development organisations. While considerable information was found about the diverse effects of ...» more
Trends in Conflict and Stability in the Indo-Pacific
This report looks at trends in conflict and instability in the Indo-Pacific region, focusing on climate change effects and a number of civil liberties. The Indo-Pacific region is both highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and already facing significant security risks and challenges, many of which will be exacerbated by the impact of climate change. There are ...» more
Donor Support for Climate Change Initiatives in the Middle East and North Africa
Donors in the Middle East and North Africa’s (MENA) climate and environment space include both bilateral donors such as France and Germany, multilateral development banks and multilateral climate funds. France and Germany are key bilateral donors to the region, supporting both single country and regional programmes. Many donors, including the EU, France, Germany, the ...» more
Interventions in LICs and LMICs to improve air quality and/or mitigate its impacts
This rapid literature review summarises evidence on air quality interventions in LICs and LMICs to improve air quality and/or mitigate its impacts. The review found limited evidence derived from such countries and instead draws on evidence from reviews and compilations compiled by bodies such as Public Health England (PHE) and the World Health Organisation (WHO). In particular, ...» more
Monitoring Air Quality in Low- Income and Lower Middle-Income Countries
This rapid literature review surveys academic and grey literature on air quality monitoring in low-income (LICs) and lower-middle-income countries (LMICs). It draws heavily on three key sources of information. The World Bank (Awe et al., 2017) led report ‘Filling the Gaps: Improving Measurement of Ambient Air Quality in Low and Middle-Income Countries’, the Health Effects ...» more
Risk of Capital Flight Due to a Better Understanding of Climate Change
The physical risks of climate change, including both gradual global warming and an increase in extreme weather events, are likely to cause increasing financial and economic losses. Lower and middle-income countries may be more vulnerable to physical risks due to their reliance on climate-sensitive economic sectors and their limited capacity to absorb economic losses. However, ...» more
Coping mechanisms in South Sudan in relation to different types of shock
This rapid evidence review provides an assessment of negative and positive coping mechanisms of different groups (based on wealth (below the poverty line/elites), gender, age, (dis)abilities, geographies (rural/urban), and ethnicity of people in South Sudan in relation to different types of shock. It draws predominantly on a range of grey literature from multinational and ...» more
Urban Expansion in Nigeria
This rapid literature review surveys the available literature on urban expansion in Nigerian cities/towns over the coming decades. It presents information on population growth, geographic expansion and urban density to illustrate that urban centres in Nigeria are expanding at different rates which are dependent on the aspect of urbanisation considered. Rapid urbanisation is ...» more
G7 and G20 commitments on health
The health issues that have received the most consistent attention in G7 and G20 summit declarations, having been addressed in more than half of the summits since 2015 and appearing in 30 or more commitments over that time, are: Health systems strengthening Infectious diseases (including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, polio, neglected tropical diseases, and ...» more
International donor activity on climate change mitigation and adaptation in the G5 Sahel countries
This review provides a snapshot of current adaptation and mitigation projects being implemented by multilateral and bilateral donors in the G5 countries of the Sahel. Although not a systematic review, the research for this review has methodically examined key multilateral donor websites and bilateral donor websites for information on each of the G5 countries and climate ...» more
Legal Pathways’ Effects on Irregular Migration
Regular migration pathways include labour mobility regimes, sponsorship programmes for high-skilled workers, student visas and protections for refugees. In contrast, irregular migration pathways include illegal entry, overstaying a visa and befallen irregularity (where regular status is lost) (Vickstrom, 2014). The links between regular (legal) pathways for migration and ...» more
Doing research in fragile contexts
Research is critical to understanding and addressing the problems seen in fragile and conflict affected states (FCAS). The scale and impact of these problems is staggering: in 2016 about 1.8 billion people were living in fragile contexts but this is predicted to grow to 2.3 billion (28% of total world population) by 2030; poverty is also increasingly concentrated in fragile ...» more
Social Safety Nets in Fragile and Conflict-Affected States
Social safety nets in fragile and conflict-affected states often include cash and in-kind transfers, school feeding programmes and public works programmes (O’Brien, Scott, Smith, Barca, Karden, Holmes, Watson & Congrave, 2018). Programmes often target vulnerable households, refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in order to reduce their exposure to shocks and ...» more
Livestock and Conflict in South Sudan
Livestock are critically important in South Sudanese society1 and this is reflected in the role livestock play in the country’s conflict, both serving as drivers of conflict and being negatively impacted by the conflict, with the two often reinforcing each other in a vicious cycle. This review drew largely on a mixture of academic and grey literature to assess the ...» more
Rebuilding Pastoralist Livelihoods During and After Conflict
The impacts of different approaches to protecting and promoting/rebuilding pastoralist livelihoods during and after conflict is mixed, complicated by the evolving nature of the conflict (including its different forms), the range of pastoral groups operating across African contexts and the supranational nature of their activities. This rapid review synthesises findings from a ...» more
Legislation and Policy Addressing Inequality and Redistribution in Rwanda
This report is one of three related K4D helpdesk reports on inequality in Rwanda. The other two examine links between poverty, inequality and exclusion (Carter 2018) and provide data on inequalities (Orrnert 2018). This review summarises key national policies and legislation related to inequality and redistribution in Rwanda. Where available, this review provides insights ...» more
Approaches to remote monitoring in fragile states
Provide an update to the 2013 GSDRC report ‘Remote management of projects in fragile states’, focusing on new remote monitoring approaches, tools and examples that are being used, specifically on third party monitoring approaches. In complex environments, where the root causes of conflict are often entrenched and dynamic, ensuring that the right information from multiple ...» more
Humanitarian interventions for food/nutrition support in Ethiopia
There are many evidence gaps in the delivery of humanitarian food/nutrition aid. Evaluation of the relative cost‐effectiveness of dietary response projects is confounded by the fact that different projects can have different objectives (USAID, 2015). Ethiopia has made progress in meeting emergency needs, including through the Government of Ethiopia-led Productive Safety Net ...» more
