Social and behaviour change communication (SBCC) is the use of communication to change behaviours by positively influencing knowledge, attitudes and social norms at the individual and community level. Approaches to SBCC include, but are not limited to: media campaigns, peer educators and mentors, small group sessions, community dialogues and events, and digital tools. This ...» more
Governance
Fossils fuels and job creation in Africa
Fossil fuel development, including oil, gas and coal, can provide or support employment in a number of different ways. Estimates for Africa’s extractive sector as a whole put it as employing less than 1% of Africa’s workforce (Fine et al., 2012). However, it is hard to determine the number of jobs supported directly or indirectly by the fossil fuels industry in different ...» more
Aid and non-state armed groups
This rapid literature review collates lessons related to aid (conditionality) and non-state armed groups (NSAGs). This is a companion paper to Herbert (2019)1 which looks more broadly at lessons from the use of aid conditionality in peace processes, that paper includes greater detail on what conditionality is. While the question posed sought to find information on where ...» more
Lessons from stabilisation, statebuilding, and development programming in South Sudan
This rapid literature review collates lessons from major evaluations and learning reviews from development, state-building and stabilisation programming in South Sudan since independence in 2011. Key findings include: Donors in South Sudan have had to transition from humanitarian to development aid and back and forth a number of times as conflict has broken out. Donors ...» more
Support for civil society engagement in peace processes
There is a widespread acknowledgement of the importance of civil society engagement in peace processes (Inclusive Security, 2013; Peace Direct, 2019). This is reflected in the wide range of interventions being carried out by various donors to support such engagement. This review looks at the effectiveness of interventions specifically aimed at supporting civil society groups ...» more
Political economy of Papua New Guinea and the water, sanitation and hygiene sector
The political economy of Papua New Guinea is characterised by formal and customary governance actors, structures and institutions, weak governance and corruption. Traditional institutions and structures including ‘big man’ politics, the wantok system and customary land tenure have been overlaid with formal governance structures including national, provincial and local ...» more
Interventions to Reduce Forced Marriage
This review drew largely on academic papers as well as reports by international development organisations. Evidence and hence lessons on how to combat forced marriage are limited and sometimes contradictory. Overall, the literature points to a number of approaches that can be effective, notably: empowerment of girls; community approaches to change social norms and attitudes on ...» more
Non-State Policing in Fragile Contexts
Non-state policing refers to the use of non-state (informal) actors, e.g. vigilante groups, private security firms, to carry out ‘law and order’ functions (preventing crime, investigating, detaining and punishing those responsible for crimes). Non-state policing is not a synonym for community policing (a much broader term, usually associated with formal police agencies) but ...» 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
Drivers and enablers of serious organised crime in Southeast Asia
There are many definitions of organised crime. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has developed a general definition: Organized crime is a continuing criminal enterprise that rationally works to profit from illicit activities that are often in great public demand. Its continuing existence is maintained through corruption of public officials and the use of intimidation, ...» more
Public Sector Reform and Capacity Building in Small Island Developing States
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
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
