Press coverage around the recent presidential elections in Afghanistan emphasised the low turnout of women voters, highlighting the shortage of female staff at polling stations, proxy voting by male family members, and the threat of retributive violence against women voters and candidates as key factors. However, the academic literature is largely silent on these issues, both ...» more
Governance
Peacebuilding and Access to Justice in Sri Lanka
Since the signing of a ceasefire agreement in 2002, many donors have sought to facilitate the peace process through peace conditionalities, i.e. the provision of aid tied to commitment to conflict resolution and peace. Much of the literature stresses, however, that political and diplomatic actors and processes and efforts to address structural causes of conflict are also ...» more
Urbanisation and Urban Poverty in Bangladesh
Access to housing and security of tenure is a key issue for the urban poor of Bangladesh. Often they are forced to settle in informal settlements on marginal lands where they fall prey to mastaans, or middle men, who charge extortionate rents for land and services and often use coercive methods. These settlements often have little or no access to basic services such as water ...» more
The impact of the financial crisis on conflict and state fragility in sub-saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa was largely insulated from the initial stages of the financial crisis as the majority of the countries in the region are de-linked from the international financial markets. However, with the worsening of the global financial and economic crisis, the region as a whole has now been exposed to the downturn, and growth estimates have been continually lowered from ...» more
Institutional Assessment of the Police and Justice Sectors
This report includes coverage of a number of donor designed frameworks for assessing the policing and justice sector. According to much of the general academic and policy literature on SSAJ programmes, substantial reform of the police force is only possible when reform of the justice system is administered at the same time. However, whilst the underlying principles for the ...» more
Governance in Malawi
Malawi is a young democracy, having transitioned to multi-party democracy only in 1994. It remains one of the poorest countries in the world, with 80-85% of the population living in rural areas and deriving their livelihoods from agriculture. Environmental degradation and HIV/AIDS are serious challenges to the country, and are having dire social and economic effects. In ...» more
Political settlements
Why do similar sets of formal institutions often have such divergent outcomes? An analysis of political settlements goes some way to answering this question by bringing into focus the contending interests that exist within any state, which constrain and facilitate institutional and developmental change. It provides a framework to analyse how the state is linked to society and ...» more
Gender Issues in Afghanistan – Violence against Women and Voice
Gender-based violence and the inadequate representation of women in civic and political life continue to be key problems in Afghanistan. This helpdesk research report explores initiatives aimed at countering gender-based violence and empowering women’s voices. Information on the role of the legal system in Afghanistan - particularly sharia and customary law, is also ...» more
Cross-party Caucuses
Caucuses are widely believed to be important forums for bringing parliamentarians together across political party lines – so that they may share information, discuss policy issues, channel common interests and concerns, and engage civil society. Some women’s caucuses have been noted for their unique approach towards fostering good governance. In some conflict contexts, caucuses ...» more
Conflict and Sexual and Domestic Violence against Women
The literature on sexual violence in armed conflict indicates that rape and violence against women and girls prior to, during and after conflict seem to be extensive in scope and magnitude throughout the world – with reported incidents in conflicts in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. The forms of sexual violence most commonly documented are:sexual ...» more
The Impact of Conflict on Women’s Education, Employment and Health Care
The extent to which conflict restricts women’s freedom of movement depends on a number of factors including the stage of conflict, whether the women are displaced, whether they are directly or indirectly affected by the conflict, and the cultural norms of the conflict-affected area. Forced displacement, for example, may in some cases lead to greater mobility, where women assume ...» more
The Humanitarian Impact of the Global Economic Crisis on the Asia Pacific Region
Preliminary estimates by the ILO indicate that in 2009 unemployment in Asia-Pacific could increase by between 7 and 23 million workers. The countries experiencing the greatest impact will be those with slowing economies and rapid labour force growth, such as Cambodia, Pakistan and the Philippines. Emerging economies whose growth depends heavily on exports to the United States ...» more
French Financial Crisis (2008-2009)
There is very little academic literature available about the current economic crisis and its social impacts in France. This report includes some relevant articles from the news media. More literature is available relating to the unrest seen in 2005, and as some of that material may be relevant to the current situation a small selection has been included.Unemployment and ...» more
Economic Crisis and Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa was largely insulated from the initial stages of the financial crisis. With the worsening of the crisis, however, the region as a whole has now been exposed to the downturn. The countries most affected are those whose economies are highly specialised in the affected industries, especially when combined with pre-existing poor governance and weak state ...» more
Argentine Financial Crisis (2001-2002)
The 2001-2002 Argentine financial crisis culminated in the collapse of the 1991 Convertibility Plan, the freezing of bank deposits, and the biggest foreign debt default in world economic history. By May 2002, 40% of the total workforce was either unemployed or underemployed.Social unrest during and following the financial crisis principally took the form of social protests. ...» more
Religion and Democracy in Secular States
The literature notes that various approaches have been adopted by democracies in dealing with the relationship between religion and the state. These range from excluding religion as a political force altogether (such as in Turkey); to constitutionally privatising religion (such as in France and the US); through to recognising the communal nature of religion (such as in Israel). ...» more
Indonesian Financial Crisis (1997-1998)
In the 1980s and early 1990s, Indonesia along with other Asian countries experienced strong economic growth which produced reductions in poverty and improvements in social indicators. The financial crisis of 1997 undid many of these improvements as GDP dropped, unemployment rose, wages eroded, and prices increased dramatically. The rapid descent into economic hardship ...» more
Equality and Human Rights Commission
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is a non-departmental public body established under the Equality Act 2006. It began its operations on 1 October 2007. It brings together the work of the three previous equality commissions - the Disability Rights Commission (DRC), Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) and Commission for Racial Equality (CRE). The EHRC also takes ...» more
The Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on Conflict and Social Stability
While there seems to be little academic research which addresses the impact of economic crises on conflict, fragility and social stability, it has been widely discussed in the media recently. According to a recent US Senate intelligence briefing, almost a quarter of all countries have already experienced low-level instability, such as changes in government and anti-state ...» more
Voice and Accountability Indexes
Because ‘voice and accountability’ is a broad term comprising several areas of donor intervention - including civic education, rights awareness, empowerment, democracy promotion and support to civil society and the media - the literature on tools and indicators for measuring the impact of development interventions on voice and accountability is highly fragmented. With the ...» more
