The agriculture sector holds great potential before, during and after crises such as conflict and disasters caused by natural hazards, to save lives and contribute to livelihoods, support rural households, and provide decent employment (Eynon, 2017, p. 2; Mayen, 2016, p. 2). This rapid review looks at recent available evidence on the impact of conflict, protracted crises, and ...» more
Recovery & reconstruction
Leveraging change to policies, laws and practices in refugee hosting countries
This rapid review synthesises data from academic, policy and NGO sources on influencing government polices on refugees, with a particular focus on Rohingya in Bangladesh. However, it must be noted that this is an under researched topic with only the work of Jacobsen (1996) focusing specifically on the subject. Additionally, there are very few successful cases in the literature ...» more
Wastewater Treatment Plants in rapid mass displacement situations
This rapid review report has identified the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) options used in emergency settings, with decentralised wastewater treatment systems (DEWATS) and mobile wastewater treatment units performing most effectively and with minimal costs. Examples are taken from refugee camps and internally displaced people (IDP) settlements due to the Iraq war, the ...» more
Rohingya refugee crisis: impact on Bangladeshi politics
The huge Rohingya refugee influx into Bangladesh is seen in the literature as likely to strengthen the position of the Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League party. However, there are concerns that it will lead to further authoritarianism in the country, as well as fuel extremist sentiment. The Bangladeshi public are generally supportive of the ...» more
Waste management in situations of rapid, mass displacement
Solid waste and faecal sludge management in situations of rapid mass displacement are important to public health and providing for a better environment. Despite this, both have been neglected in WASH programmes, which tend to have a focus on water. However increasing efforts are being made to find solutions to challenges in solid waste and faecal sludge management in difficult ...» more
Environmental Impact Assessments in refugee crises
Although much of the literature found by this rapid review emphasises the necessity of including environmental considerations into the planning of mass displacement camps, and the role of environmental impact assessments (EIAs), there is little publically available literature on the assessments carried out, and the quality of these. The literature specifically highlights the ...» more
Lessons from the coordination of refugee responses
The literature review found little evidence of successes in coordination of refugee responses involving multiple lead agencies. Rather, it identified some clear lessons to emerge from recent experience of refugee response coordination, in particular from the Syrian refugee crisis in Lebanon. While host governments are assigned primary responsibility for refugee responses in ...» more
Innovative WASH options in situations of severe overcrowding
A rapid review of the literature has found a selection of innovative WASH options available for situations of severe population overcrowding and limited spaces. Case study information was collated from African, Middle Eastern, South Asian and Caribbean countries. As requested, a number of experts were consulted for their opinion where there was a lack of project evaluations ...» more
Managing risks in securitisation of refugees
This rapid review synthesises data from academic, policy and NGO sources on the securitisation of refugees, with a particular focus on Rohingya in Bangladesh. Although not referred to as refugees in Bangladesh, this report refers to Rohingya fleeing Myanmar as refugees. There is limited research on managing the risk of securitisation of refugees, rather the focus tends to be on ...» more
Effectiveness of various refugee settlement approaches
This review of the effectiveness of different approaches to refugee settlement shows that the ‘traditional’ approach of setting up refugee camps is ineffective in many respects - particularly in terms of promoting self-reliance - and hence to be avoided. The recommendation in policy circles is now for alternatives to camps that provide economic opportunities to refugees, allow ...» more
Linkages between private sector development, conflict and peace
The private sector can both exacerbate drivers of conflict and contribute to peacebuilding in post-conflict states. Examples of the role that the private sector can play in conflict and peace at the macro, meso and micro levels include the following: Macro level There is a general consensus in the literature that illicit trade in natural resources can increase in the ...» more
Stabilisation in Syria
The Syrian conflict is now in its seventh year and involves a wide range of both national and international parties. Crucially, no party is in a position to establish control over the entire country. This has implications for efforts at stabilisation. There is increasing recognition that the Assad regime cannot be displaced and hence efforts to find a political solution are ...» more
Psycho-social support for children and school staff in protracted conflict situations
Whilst the provision of psychosocial activities is regularly mentioned in documents referring to the humanitarian response to education, there is a dearth of literature that refers to exactly what these programmes consist of, and how effective they are. There is, however, widespread recognition of the importance of providing psycho-social interventions to counter the impact of ...» more
Libyan political economy
Much has changed in Libya since April 2014. However, Libya remains highly unstable and divided along multiple fracture lines, with a multitude of armed and non-armed groups. Given the fluidity of relations between these groups, literature on the country situation becomes quickly outdated. Libya has three rival claimants to power: a reconvened General National Congress (GNC) ...» more
Stabilisation
What is stabilisation? Stabilisation efforts have become a common policy component of intervention in conflict response throughout the world. In recent years, there have been significant stabilisation interventions in places such as the Western Balkans, Haiti and Mali, among others. The concept of stabilisation, understood as the requirement to meet basic humanitarian and development needs…» more
Video of seminar on Mass atrocities
A video of Chandra Sriram‘s GSDRC seminar is now available below. Professor Sriram explored three critical issues in developing responses to mass atrocities introduced in her Professional Development Reading Pack on the same subject. Chandra Sriram is Professor of International Law and International Relations at the University of East London. This seminar was held on 8…» more
Economic development in fragile and conflict-affected states
This Topic Guide draws on lessons from programmes and case studies to explore which types of economic development interventions can be effective in FCAS and which factors have contributed to successes and failures. ...» more
Lessons learned for national state entities for recovery and reconstruction
Key indicative lessons learned for national state entities from the literature reviewed include: Structure Develop national recovery frameworks in advance of disasters. Appoint a lead agency with a built-in end date, a clear legal mandate and an experienced politically aware leader. Integrate the immediate humanitarian action into the government-coordinated recovery ...» more
Multi-agency stabilisation operations
While there is as yet limited empirical evidence of what works best in multi-agency – or ‘whole-of-government’ – approaches to stabilisation, the literature does identify some lessons learned and principles of good practice. These include: Overcoming common challenges: establishing transparent processes to identify and manage tensions and trade-offs between neutral humanitarian ...» more
Relationship between humanitarian and development aid
There are various approaches to understanding the relationship between humanitarian and development aid. Some literature points to a specific time period; envisaging the humanitarian-development gap as a temporal period when a humanitarian operation is about to be completed, and development and reconstruction projects are about to begin. Others refer to an institutional gap ...» more
