Experts highlight evidence gaps in particular on the political economy of urban service delivery; social and political participation by urban poor people; the relationship between urbanisation, urban poverty and urban violence; the relationship between state fragility, state legitimacy and the national political settlement; and what works and what does not in tackling political ...» more
Service delivery
Delivering education during conflict
Education is important for children’s wellbeing, development and future prospects, as well as for a country’s peace, stability and economic development; and is often a priority for those directly affected. Despite the challenges of delivering education during active conflict it is possible; and UN agencies, NGOs, and donors have supported governments, communities, and local ...» more
Non-state provision of skills development in South Asia
Development practitioners increasingly see skills development as a way to improve the employment and incomes of the poor. However, findings on the effectiveness of such trainings are typically mixed. Only programmes that entail linkages with the labour market have had a significant impact. Even with such linkages in place, what has worked and what has failed in implementation ...» more
Political economy of energy in southern Africa
Some African states, with encouragement from international donors, have developed regional power sharing arrangements as a strategy to deal with the continent’s energy problems. Power pools aim to balance electrical loads over a larger network, lower electricity prices, and expand access by encouraging trade and investment in the sector. The Southern African Power Pool ...» 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
Public service reform
The focus in this Pack is on action: on the public service reform intervention, conceived as an exercise in helping. The readings included in this pack have been chosen to be interesting and fresh rather than comprehensive; that is, to stimulate thinking rather than necessarily to ‘cover all the bases’ in public service reform as…» more
Impact and implications of the Ebola crisis
Political impact and implications: Initial analysis suggests that governments' poor management of the Ebola crisis has generated frustrations and exposed citizens’ lack of trust in their governments. The Ebola crisis is likely to play a very political role in the next election in Sierra Leone and there are predictions that the opposition will win as a result. Economic impact ...» more
Decentralisation and local government
Estimates suggest that decentralisation is being pursued in over 80% of developing countries worldwide. For many people, local government is the part of government that most directly impacts on their lives, particularly via the provision of services like water, sanitation, and primary education and healthcare. Further resources The following resources were included in GSDRC's ...» 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
Community-driven development and indigenous, ethnic minority, and disability issues
Few CDD programmes explicitly address minority issues. Many programmes target vulnerable groups such as women, youth, disabled, ethnic minorities, but as one group rather than distinguishing their differing needs. Few programmes are targeted specifically at vulnerable groups alone. Many programmes focus on reducing poverty and vulnerability, with the implicit assumption that ...» more
Integrated programmes supporting adolescent girls
This rapid review provides examples of integrated programmes that support adolescent girls. The programmes have positive impacts on girls’ empowerment, livelihoods, health and education. Evaluations found that girls especially appreciated having a nearby safe space of their own and being educated by their peers. Girls who participate in integrated programmes may experience the ...» more
Supporting local governance in protracted conflicts
Successful interventions to support the delivery of services by local governments and administrations have been undertaken in a number of countries, including Afghanistan, Nepal, Somalia and Sudan. The majority of these interventions fall into the community-based approaches category. These are often used in areas where there is no effective local government or where supporting ...» more
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex rights in national human rights institutions
NHRIs almost unanimously take a universal human rights stance which is validated and backed up by the UN. This institutional support allows NHRIs to criticise governments for failing to support certain human rights. NHRIs often emphasise that LGBTI rights are contained within existing UN rights principles, particularly the rights to privacy, health, life, freedom from ...» more
Working with members of parliament’s constituency funds
The key points from this rapid literature review include: CDFs are a relatively recent phenomenon (with most being established from the 2000s onwards), and they are relatively few in number (Barkan & Mattes, forthcoming). As a result, little is known about them. Countries that have used CDFs include: South Sudan; Philippines; Honduras; Nepal; Pakistan; Jamaica; Solomon Islands; ...» more
New thinking on governance issues
There is a wide and diverse literature on political economy, public administration, public financial management, procurement, and social accountability. This literature search is neither comprehensive nor exhaustive, but instead a rapid review that looks to identify literature that provides novel approaches or insights, as well as notable literature that provides a good ...» more
Benefits of urbanisation in Asia
This report reviews selected literature on urbanisation in East, South and South-East Asia, and draws out its developmental benefits and lessons for donors. There is a strong evidence base on urbanisation and urban poverty, but mostly looking at the development challenges of increasing urbanisation. Since the literature largely takes a negative or problem-solving approach to ...» more
Gender in community-driven development
Elite capture is a significant concern. The evidence is clear that 'uncontrolled' CDD will not necessarily benefit women, the poor and other disadvantaged groups. Women's participation is a central problem as they do not usually have the time and/or confidence to contribute to village planning processes. To reach women and other disadvantaged groups, CDD needs to have explicit ...» more
Community-based disaster risk management in Pakistan
Disaster risk management (DRM), including disaster risk reduction (DRR), has received increased attention - particularly community-based DRM (CBDRM). Despite limited implementation and very limited evidence, some findings emerge: Factors of success have included: - Work that is multi-sectoral, integrated and multi-hazard. - Good programming, with high-quality analysis, ...» more
State fragility and social cohesion
This report reviews the relationship between social cohesion and state fragility – focusing on literature from 2010 onwards. There is no clear empirical understanding in the literature of how social cohesion contributes to state resilience or fragility, as it is very difficult to measure, and to assess independently other variables that impact on state fragility. Key points ...» more
Regional development programmes and poverty reduction
This report looks into the actual performance, and possibly impact, of regional development programmes on national-level poverty reduction and associated factors such as ‘good governance’. The evidence base presents some strengths, such as the availability of diverse and rigorous evaluations, but also significant difficulties, most notably the lack of clear data on impact, ...» more
