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Home»Social Development

Social Development

Social Protection Topic Guide

Horizontal inequalities: reading pack

Political commitments to improve adolescent sexual and reproductive health

Helpdesk Report
  • Freida M'Cormack
January 2012

Although some progress has been made, adolescents continue to be disproportionately burdened by threats to their sexual and reproductive health. Politics heavily influences the priority setting process for reproductive health. However, the mechanisms for securing political commitment towards sexual and reproductive health are rarely examined in detail. There is little ...» more

Microcredit for the ultra-poor

Helpdesk Report
  • Becky Carter
January 2012

Key finding: There is a paucity of rigorous evidence on the impact of microcredit for the ultra-poor. Studies on microcredit do not tend to explore what, how and why different types of solutions work best for different types of clients. The available evidence gives a mixed picture on the impact of microcredit in general and for the ultra-poor in particular. The ultra-poor are ...» more

Alternative livelihoods

Helpdesk Report
  • Huma Haider
January 2012

The literature on ‘alternative livelihoods’ focuses primarily on efforts related to countering illicit drug crop cultivation. Links between illicit drug crop cultivation and armed conflict are noted in various contexts. Efforts to counter illicit drug crop cultivation are thus considered important to stability and security. The ‘alternative livelihoods’ approach is a ...» more

Evaluations of interventions impacting women’s political participation

Helpdesk Report
  • Freida M'Cormack
January 2012

Systematic evaluations of interventions that aim to increase women’s political participation are not common. Part of the reason for this is that while there are many programmes which aim to improve democracy and political participation, not many of these specifically aim to improve women’s political participation. The main exception to this is the introduction of quotas and ...» more

Risks, effects and prevalence of VAWG

Helpdesk Report
  • Erika Fraser
January 2012

Key facts on the prevalence of violence against young women and girls include: Globally, up to six out of every ten women experience physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime. A World Health Organization study of 24,000 women in 10 countries found that the prevalence of physical and/or sexual violence by a partner varied from 15 percent in urban Japan to over 70 percent ...» more

Monetary values of the private psychological costs of VAWG

Helpdesk Report
  • Erika Fraser
December 2011

Violence against women and girls is not only an important human rights and development issue, but there is increasing evidence that the economic and social costs are considerable. Several studies have calculated the direct costs to the medical, judicial and penal systems, as well as the economic losses incurred by victims. However, few studies have attempted to quantify the ...» more

Use of participatory methods in VAWG evaluations

Helpdesk Report
  • Erika Fraser
December 2011

In spite of the growing body of evidence that violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a serious human rights and development issue, there remains a paucity of evaluations of the impact of interventions in this area (particularly the impact on girls). The majority of evaluations of programmes to prevent or tackle VAWG take the form of qualitative, input or process-level ...» more

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) and Aid

Helpdesk Report
  • Erika Fraser
December 2011

Strategies that have been tried by development agencies (government and NGO) to secure and protect the rights of LGBT people, particularly in Africa, include: Action on HIV/AIDS: Donor and NGO concerns about the links between health and economic, social and political vulnerability opened up spaces to talk about the human rights of people marginalised by their sexuality. ...» more

Poverty and wellbeing indices

Helpdesk Report
  • Huma Haider
November 2011

The Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress was created in 2008 to explore the limits of GDP as an indicator of economic performance and social progress. Much literature in the past has critiqued the inadequacy of income measures. The Commission was also tasked with considering additional information and tools required to produce a more ...» more

How have social protection systems contributed to social and economic development in Indonesia?

Helpdesk Report
  • Erika Fraser
November 2011

Social protection systems were introduced in Indonesia in the wake of the 1997 financial crisis, which had devastating consequences for the national economy and society. This report reviews the introduction of social protection systems in Indonesia, how they have developed over time and the programmes that are involved. It also looks at how social protection systems have ...» more

How have social protection systems contributed to social and economic development in Singapore?

Helpdesk Report
  • Erika Fraser
November 2011

The social protection system in Singapore is based around the compulsory retirement savings scheme, the Central Provident Fund (CPF), introduced in 1955 as the national funded pension scheme under the British colonial government. In 1968, three years after Singapore became independent from the Malaysian Federation, the government introduced legislation to allow citizens to use ...» more

How have social protection systems contributed to social and economic development in China?

Helpdesk Report
  • Erika Fraser
November 2011

After the formation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, social protection systems were gradually introduced and now cover many contingencies, including old age, unemployment, healthcare, maternity and occupational injury. However, despite having a comprehensive system for its ‘legal’ urban population, China is only recently extending this system to the much larger rural ...» more

Effects of political quotas for women

Helpdesk Report
  • Huma Haider
November 2011

Many countries have introduced gender quotas (or political reservations), in order to increase female participation in policy-making. This helpdesk report surveys research on the effects of political quotas for women on (1.) political processes; (2.) service delivery; and (3.) social processes. There is limited empirical evidence on these issues and research that does exist has ...» more

Vulnerable groups in Burma and access to services

Helpdesk Report
  • Huma Haider
October 2011

Key fndings: This report focuses on vulnerable groups in Burma and access to basic services. The first part of the report outlines groups considered to be vulnerable and marginalised. These include minority ethnic groups (such as the Chin, Kachin, Karen, Karenni, Mon, Rohingyas, Shan). In some cases, minorities’ ethnic identity is closely linked with a religion other than ...» more

Time use studies and women’s empowerment

Helpdesk Report
  • Claire Mcloughlin
October 2011

Time use studies aim to provide information on the work performed by women and highlight the time they spend on unpaid activities including domestic chores, the care of children, the elderly and the sick, water and fuel collection, and voluntary community-oriented work. In so doing, they seek to address the problem of the ‘invisibility’ of women’s unpaid work, and draw ...» more

Women and Girls in the MENA Region

Helpdesk Report
  • Ann Kangas
October 2011

Women in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have seen positive changes in their economic and political rights between 2005 and 2010. According to research carried out by Freedom House, 14 out of the 17 MENA countries recorded some gains in the status of women. The Gulf States recorded the highest degrees of improvement, with women becoming more visible participants in ...» more

Girls’ access to economic assets

Helpdesk Report
  • Erika Fraser
October 2011

The literature suggests that increasing girls’ access to and use of economic assets has potentially far-reaching impacts on other aspects of their lives. However, to date, there have been few rigorous evaluations of girls’ economic empowerment programmes, particularly those which provide tangible productive/financial assets. The few evaluations available suggest that ...» more

Policies on Displacement and Resettlement

Helpdesk Report
  • Ann Kangas
September 2011

Displacement can be caused by a number of factors, including conflict, natural disaster and development. Most donor and NGO policy appears to focus on conflict-induced and natural disaster-induced displacement. Multilateral agencies, however, have generated more comprehensive guidelines and principles to address issues relating to development-induced displacement and ...» more

Impact evaluations of programmes to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls

Helpdesk Report
  • Claire Mcloughlin
September 2011

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

Girls’ Access to Natural Resources

Helpdesk Report
  • Ann Kangas
September 2011

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

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  • Social Development
    • Gender
      • Gender-based violence & VAWG
      • Men & masculinities
      • Sexualities
      • Women's economic participation
      • Women's political participation
    • Inequalities & exclusion
      • Children / youth
      • Class / caste
      • Disabilities
      • Older people
      • Race & ethnicity
      • Religion
      • Spatial factors
    • Poverty & wellbeing
      • Extreme poverty
      • Jobs & livelihoods
      • Multidimensional poverty
    • Social protection
      • Informal social protection
      • Labour market interventions
      • Social assistance
      • Social insurance

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