Small Island Developing States (SIDS) experience capacity constraints relating to their small size, remoteness and dispersion (in the case of island archipelagos), which impinge on the quality of the public sector (Horscroft, 2014; Mycoo & Donovan, 2017). This rapid literature review summarises the evidence on public sector reform and capacity building initiatives in SIDS. ...» more
Governance
Implications of Not Addressing Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) Needs in Conflict Situations
This review of existing literature indicates that there are a number of significant implications of not addressing mental health and psychosocial (MHPSS) needs of children, youth, and adults in conflict settings. Mental health consequences of war are by now fairly well documented (see for example Murthy and Lakshminarayana, 2006; Werner, 2012; Betancourt et al., 2014; ...» more
Government Communication Capacity and Media Freedom
The aim of this rapid literature review is to examine the relationship between government communication services and media freedom. However, this relationship receives little mention in the literature on media development and media freedom. Hence, it is very difficult to reach a consensus on the relationship between government communication services and media freedom due to the ...» more
Security and Justice Evidence Mapping Update
This evidence mapping was conducted to identify the empirical evidence on the outcomes of security and justice (S&J) interventions ranging from security reform to training border guards and to update an original evidence mapping published in September 2015. The findings are presented in the form of an evidence gap map, which provides an accessible and visual representation ...» more
Serious and Organized Crime in Jordan
This review presents findings on the prevalence and nature of serious and organized crime in Jordan, and efforts to combat this. The extremely limited literature on the topic indicates that Jordan has low levels of serious and organized crime: the main forms are smuggling of goods and drugs, and human trafficking. The influx of large numbers of Syrian refugees has promoted ...» 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
Civil Society and Accountability in Rwanda
Donors became interested in government accountability after the release of the World Development Report in 2004. Subsequently, the World Bank and international donors supported interventions that were designed to increase transparency which in turn was expected to promote accountability in developing countries. The limited evidence from impact assessments of such interventions ...» more
Humanitarian Access, Protection, and Diplomacy in Besieged Areas
This rapid literature review examines the lessons learned in terms of providing humanitarian access and protection for civilians in besieged areas. The focus is on the following besieged areas: Syria (e.g. Raqqa, Aleppo, Deir-Ez-Zor and Eastern Ghouta), Hudaydah in Yemen and Mosul in Iraq. The recent literature is dominated by the conflict in Syria while there is very little ...» more
Natural Resources Management Strategies in the Sahel
Natural resources, both renewable and extractives are extremely important to the livelihoods and economies of the Sahel (defined as Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger). For example, agriculture accounts for over 30% of Mali’s GDP and cotton and gold account for over 80% of exports (IMF, 2018, p. 6). There is potential for conflict between renewable and ...» more
Rule of Law Challenges in the Western Balkans
The rule of law, in its most basic form, is based on the principles that society is governed openly and fairly according to widely known and accepted rules; that no one is above the law, including those in authority; and that justice is accessible to all (Bara and Bara, 2017, 24-25; MavrikosAdamou, 2014; Memeti, 2014). A country operates under “rule of law” when it has, among ...» more
Benefits of STEM Education
The literature concurs with the general view that science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education is necessary to facilitate economic development, international competitiveness and job creation. However, the literature does not specify the particular benefits of STEM education in developing countries since the consensus is that STEM education is generally ...» more
Water Management/Governance Systems in Pakistan
Provincial governments in Pakistan are responsible for water and sanitation and in 2001 devolved responsibility for service delivery to local governments. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab provinces, a number of institutional actors are involved in water management and governance. The provincial Public Health Engineering Departments (PHEDs) install drinking water supply ...» more
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Services in Pakistan
Access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services varies across and between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab Provinces. The Government of KP’s 2017 Health Survey found that 89% of households have access to improved water sources, and 85% have accessed to improved sanitation (Government of KP, 2017). In contrast, according to the Government of the Punjab, access to ...» more
Implementation Frameworks for International Summits or Conferences
International summits and conferences bring together a variety of stakeholders including high-level government actors, to discuss and agree on resolutions to tackle global problems. However, the extent to which the resolutions are implemented varies. Likewise, the extent to which governments and other stakeholders can be held accountable for the commitments that they make at ...» more
What is Civil Society, its Role and Value in 2018?
Civil society is widely understood as the space outside the family, market and state (WEF, 2013). What constitutes civil society has developed and grown since the term first became popular in the 1980s and it now signifies a wide range of organised and organic groups including nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), trade unions, social movements, grassroots ...» more
A Mapping of Larger Youth Employment Programmes in Developing Countries
There is a robust literature on youth employment that spans academic and grey literature. This rapid literature review combines academic and grey literature to identify larger youth employment programmes in developing countries. The review identifies the countries, which have a national youth policy. There is no literature that assesses the sustainability of national youth ...» more
Lessons from Local Governance Programmes in South Sudan
Donor-funded (governance) programming in South Sudan has been hampered by numerous challenges, notably renewed conflict and economic crisis. The literature points to a general failure by donors to appreciate these challenges and to donors’ overestimating state capacity, leading to overambitious programmes. Donors are urged to be flexible, integrate political and development ...» 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
Local Governance in South Sudan: Overview
The system of local governance in South Sudan (independent since 2011) comprises both formal state structures and traditional authorities. The three tier local government structure faces significant capacity and resource constraints – manifested in weak effectiveness - which are being exacerbated by the government’s decision to increase the number of states in South Sudan from ...» more
Impact of Education Interventions for Working Children
Recent global estimates indicate that 152 million children – 64 million girls and 88 million boys – are engaged in child labour across the world (ILO 2017b: 8). According to these same estimates, 71% of child labourers work in the agricultural sector and 69% in unpaid work within their own family. Nearly half of all those in child labour are doing ‘hazardous work’ (ibid). ...» more
