There is some debate about how sectarianism, particularly as it relates to the Middle East is commonly conceptualised. For many in the Middle East, it has come to be defined as the process of ascribing political and social claims or rights on the basis of religious adherence and belonging. However, scholars stress the importance of developing an appropriate conceptual framework ...» more
Service delivery
Experience with Health SWAps
Experiences with SWAps have shown that they can have a positive impact on improved national ownership and leadership; donor harmonisation and alignment; and greater coherence, transparency and accountability along the policy-result chain. This query examines the key determinants and prerequisites for success in health SWAps. It also looks at the success of different SWAp ...» more
Violence against Women (VAW) and political engagement
The link between violence against women (VAW) and women’s political engagement is a complex one, deeply rooted in patriarchal systems of gender relations.In the literature consulted for this query, convincing arguments are made about the connection between VAW and women’s engagement in political processes. The link between VAW and women’s under-representation in politics is ...» more
Community Empowerment Outcomes – South Asia
Key findings: The vast majority of the literature focuses on the empowerment of women in the community. Of these, some evaluate the contribution of the underlying activity (e.g. micro-finance) in promoting empowerment outcomes, rather than assessing the outcomes of empowerment programmes, more generally. Nonetheless, outcome findings do overlap for both and there is value in ...» more
Climate Change, Empowerment and Accountability
This helpdesk research looks at how climate change policies and programmes (particularly for adaptation) can best respond to the needs of the most vulnerable. The general consensus appears to be that this requires a combination of greater investment in community-based adaptation, more decentralised planning and stronger mechanisms to link community-level decision-making with ...» more