To read the full article Click Here This Rapid Evidence Review synthesizes the current evidence base on the design and scalability of “refill on the go” and “return on the go” plastic reuse models in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). With plastic pollution rising sharply, transitioning from single-use to reuse systems presents a significant opportunity to reduce ...» more
Access to services
Community Monitoring of Service Delivery
Community involvement in the systematic collection of information to assess the quality of public services can take many forms. Mechanisms include citizen report cards (survey-based quantitative assessments of services) community scorecards (quantitative surveys combined with qualitative meetings), social audits (combination of the two) or participatory expenditure tracking. ...» more
Increasing Birth Registration for Children of Marginalised Groups in Pakistan
This review looks at approaches to promote birth registration among marginalised groups, in order to inform programming in Pakistan. It draws on a mixture of academic and grey literature, in particular reports by international development organizations. While there is extensive literature on rates of birth registration and the barriers to this, and consensus on approaches to ...» more
Water for the urban poor and Covid-19
Water, sanitation and hygiene are vital for the suppression and treatment of Covid-19. To maintain and increase access to water for the urban poor and other groups during the crisis, eleven African governments have announced various forms of free water. This includes governments paying users bills in some contexts (e.g. Ghana) and provision of water for vulnerable communities ...» 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
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
Infrastructure Project Failures in Colombia
Due to poor civil engineering practices, corruption, natural disasters, the sabotage of infrastructure associated with Colombia’s armed conflict, and the politicisation of large infrastructure projects, Colombia is spending a significant amount annually on improving and rebuilding relatively new infrastructure. As the country’s population and economy continue to grow, so do its ...» more
Rural Transport Interventions to Improve Maternal Health Outcomes
Rural transport interventions have been shown to improve maternal health outcomes. This rapid review synthesises findings from academic, practitioner, policy and non-governmental organisation (NGO) sources that discuss maternal mortality and transport. The report focusses on evidence on interventions from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), in Africa and Asia, in ...» more
Supporting Persons with Disabilities in Somalia
In a country where violence has been ongoing since 1991, persons with disabilities face extreme hurdles in being recognised, accessing resources and feeling valued in their community. This is particularly true for children and women with disabilities. Persons with disabilities in Somalia are side-lined in every aspect of humanitarian responses and are being denied their ...» more
Digital Development and the Digital Gender Gap
This rapid literature review collates findings from recently published papers on digital development and gender, highlighting some of the most commonly discussed discussions related to economic, social and political development. As the scope of this query is very large, this review provides an illustration of some of the commonly identified issues in the literature. The digital ...» more
Disability in Somalia
People with disabilities have been identified as a particularly marginalised and at risk group within Somali society as a result of the numerous attitudinal, environmental, and institutional barriers they face, and the lack of concerted efforts to include them. This rapid review identifies available evidence on the experiences of people with disabilities living in Somalia. ...» more
Digital inclusion – recent trends and messages
This annotated bibliography collates extracts from recently published flagship policy reports on digital inclusion in international development, highlighting the key messages, trends and issues. The digital inclusion agenda seeks to close the gaps in access to, and adoption of, fast evolving information and communication technology (ICTs) services, particularly mobile phones ...» more
Social policy
The development of social policy as a discipline is associated with the emergence of welfare states in European countries. This reading guide provides the user with some key texts and narrative. The development of European countries involved the progressive extension of rights, civil rights in the 18th century, political rights in the 19th century, and…» more
Service delivery
Equitable access to essential public services is vital for human development, inclusive growth, and tackling persistent inequality. This topic guide provides an overview of the best available evidence on inclusive service delivery. It includes lessons from cases where aid has been effective at addressing weak front-line incentives, where services have been delivered in very ...» more
Impact of gender-responsive budgeting
Gender-responsive budgeting has been applied by a few dozen developing countries since the mid-1980s, though to very different extents and in diverse forms. It is difficult to identify what its impact has been on gender outcomes and on resource distribution within government, due to a limited evidence base and to complexity in assessing and interpreting impact. Nevertheless, ...» more
Budget accountability and participation
Experts agree that the evidence base on budget transparency, accountability and participation is limited and underdeveloped. However there are a growing number of case studies and meta-analyses covering a wide geographic scope and diverse contexts, with a variety of methods and gender sensitivity. Key findings from the evidence include the following: There are examples ...» more
Poor people’s rights and successful legal actions
Key finding: Landmark rulings by South Africa’s Constitutional Court in favour of poor people’s social and economic rights since the 1990s have drawn widespread attention to the law as a tool for realising poor people’s rights and tackling the underlying systemic problems in a way that empowers individuals and communities. But while there has been broad support for using the ...» more
Evidence about the effectiveness of child protection programmes in developing countries
Key findings: There is little evidence on the effectiveness of child protection programmes in developing countries. Furthermore, some of the available evidence does not provide information on links between specific practices on the one hand and improved outcomes and impact for children on the other hand. There are, however, some targeted insights into what works and what does ...» more
Mobile telephony innovation to improve education service outcomes
There is a wide and growing interest in the use of mobile telephony to improve education service outcomes. The first part of the report identifies the key lessons learned and recommendations for policy makers relating to the use of mobile telephony to improve education service outcomes, though with a general focus on mobile phone-assisted learning. The second part identifies a ...» more
Literature and debates around ‘choice’ as a notion in development
The concept of choice has informed the development literature in a number of areas. It has been important in informing theoretical frameworks that underpin much development policy (through rational choice, public choice and social choice theory). From these theoretical foundations, the notion of choice has been central to defining key concepts such as human development and ...» more
