In spite of the growing body of literature documenting the prevalence of violence against women and girls, there remains a paucity of evaluations of the impact of interventions in this area. The majority of evaluations of programmes to prevent and respond to such violence take the form of qualitative, input or process-level assessments, as opposed to approaches that measure the ...» more
Gender
Girls’ Access to Natural Resources
This report looks at girls’ access to natural resources and how this contributes to their empowerment. As girls’ roles in the household are closely linked to women’s, mainly domestic roles, this report looks in particular at resources associated with household tasks, including water, agricultural land and labour. Literature on girls’ access to other natural resources appears ...» more
Key Resources on Gender and Humanitarian Responses
This helpdesk report identifies some of the key resources on gender and humanitarian action. The most widely relevant, rigorous and accessible resources have been selected. This selection is based on the author’s own review of the available literature and on recommendations from a number of gender experts and practitioners. Within their sections, the resources have been ...» more
International Instruments and Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting
This report outlines the international instruments available that address female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). It covers the international instruments, the regional instruments and resolutions and declarations currently available. The report also looks at the roles of committees and special procedures to implement some of these international instruments. It highlights the ...» more
Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting and gender indicators
FGM/C is rooted in gender inequality and is used as a form of social control over women. While the practice and the decision of putting a girl through FGM/C may be taken by the girl’s mother or another female relative, there is a need to contextualise these decisions within societies that are strongly patriarchal. Underpinning early marriage, early pregnancy, lack of girls ...» more
Early marriage and sexual and reproductive health
Although the marriage of adolescent girls has been declining in many regions of the world, significant proportions are still marrying at a young age. Early marriage is most common in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Central America. This report focuses on the relationship of age of marriage with: Age of onset of sexual activity: A delay in marriages has in some cases ...» more
Women’s control of productive natural resources
This report looks at women’s access to and control of natural resources, especially water and forests. While it does not specifically look at women’s access to land, access to other natural resources are strongly linked to ownership and control of land (IFAD 2007; FAO 2007). As women continue to face restrictions on land ownership and control over land due to socially ...» more
The impact of human trafficking on people and countries
Human smuggling and trafficking have become a world-wide industry, incorporating millions of people annually, and generating an annual turnover of billions of dollars. The impacts of trafficking are felt both in the countries from which people are trafficked, and the countries to which they are trafficked. In both sets of countries there are implications for: Society, including ...» more
Combating human trafficking – approaches and lessons
Human Trafficking is a global problem. International legal consensus on the issue was reached with the ratification of the Convention on Organised Crime in Palermo in 2000, ratified to date by 117 countries (146 Parties in total), and its associated Protocols (the Palermo Protocols), including the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially ...» more
Political Trends in Sub-Saharan Africa
This report uses data from the World Governance Indicators dataset, the Ibrahim Index, Freedom in the World, Afrobarometer and Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) to map political trends in Sub-Saharan Africa between 2000 and 2010 both in terms of numbers and weighted by population. The population-weighted values are strongly influenced by the performance of Nigeria, Ethiopia, ...» more
Good practice findings of donor efforts to support sustainable gender equality
This report reviews a selection of academic and donor literature examining donor work on gender equality and female empowerment. Most of the available literature focuses on organisational strategies to achieve gender sensitive programming rather than directly on equality outcomes. While promising donor approaches to gender equality and female empowerment were found, less ...» more
Evaluations of programmes on women and work in low income countries
This report provides an overview of the findings of evaluations of programmes aiming to create jobs for women, improve their working conditions, and address unpaid work in low income countries. Most organisations that have programmes covering these issues work under the umbrella of women’s empowerment in general. Programmes aiming to create employment possibilities for women ...» more
Key messages from research on women and work in low income countries
Women in low-income countries continue to face significant barriers to obtaining paid work, and when employed suffer worse pay and working conditions than men. Although in the 1980s and 1990s women’s participation in labour markets in developing countries grew substantially, over the past ten years, the tendency toward increased participation has slowed down. Women are ...» more
Mapping key authorities on women and work in low income countries
This helpdesk research report provides an overview of key academics researching women and (paid and unpaid) work in low-income countries. The authorities live in, and work on, different geographical regions, and are based at universities and other research institutions. Many of the themes to do with women and work are crosscutting, demonstrated by the multiple areas of research ...» more
Communication initiatives to change attitudes/behaviours
Key Findings: Behaviour change communication has been widely used in health education, and much of the literature included in this report is related to the health sector. Initially, communication initiatives adopted a diffusion approach, aimed at changing individual attitudes and behaviour. More recently, attention has also been paid to face-to-face and participatory ...» more
Evidence-based strategies for preventing child/early marriage
Early marriage is still prevalent in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. It exposes millions of girls to the risks associated with early sexual activity and pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, social exclusion, limited education and livelihood opportunities, and gender-based violence. Factors influencing the age at which girls marry include the extent of their education and of household ...» more
Evidence on Women’s Access to Financial Services
The evidence considered in this report suggest that women lack access to particular financial services, and that accessing financial services has the potential to lead to economic empowerment. The literature indicates that men have better access to formal services such as formal credit loans or formal savings accounts. However, there is also strong evidence that informal ...» more
Climate Change and Empowerment
Key findings: There is limited but growing attention to the ways in which empowerment and climate change policy and interventions interact with and benefit each other. The vast majority of this literature focuses on the empowerment of women, and centres on climate change adaptation. While the links between gender and adaptation and gender perspectives on adaptation have been ...» 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
Women’s Participation in Elections in Afghanistan
This review attempts to synthesise the available literature addressing women’s election participation in Afghanistan, spanning a period of 6 years. Press coverage around the recent presidential elections in Afghanistan emphasised the low turnout of women voters, the perceived lack of security at voting stations, and election fraud. However, things are clearly changing in ...» more
