In a country where violence has been ongoing since 1991, persons with disabilities face extreme hurdles in being recognised, accessing resources and feeling valued in their community. This is particularly true for children and women with disabilities. Persons with disabilities in Somalia are side-lined in every aspect of humanitarian responses and are being denied their ...» more
Social Development
Lessons Learned from Youth Employment Programmes in Kenya
The government of Kenya with the support of multilateral donors, especially the World Bank, has introduced several youth employment initiatives since the 2000s, including a large-scale public works programme. There is a mix of supply-side programmes which provide training to enhance the skills of the youth labour force and demand-side initiatives which facilitate ...» more
Digital Development and the Digital Gender Gap
This rapid literature review collates findings from recently published papers on digital development and gender, highlighting some of the most commonly discussed discussions related to economic, social and political development. As the scope of this query is very large, this review provides an illustration of some of the commonly identified issues in the literature. The digital ...» more
Jobs in Kenya: opportunities and challenges
This report examines job opportunities in Kenya and challenges to their expansion. Job opportunities are measured on three levels: quantity, quality and inclusiveness. All three outcomes matter for a country’s development; “just having jobs is not enough” (World Bank, 2017). For individuals, the quantity, quality and inclusiveness of jobs determine living standards, since jobs ...» more
Disability in South Sudan
Decades of conflict in South Sudan, pre and post-independence in 2011, poverty and poor access to services have increased the rate of disability and rendered people with disabilities more marginalised and excluded as a result of the numerous attitudinal, environmental, and institutional barriers they face, and the lack of concerted efforts to include them. This rapid review ...» more
Youth initiatives supporting citizen engagement with government
There is a large volume of literature on youth participation in development, including on the benefits of involving young people in local, national, regional and global governance initiatives. Although not as voluminous, there is also a significant body of work on youth participation in civic life, though much of this focuses on issues of education and employment (Oxfam 2016) ...» more
Youth employment programmes in developing countries
Youth employment programmes are varied but meta-analysis and systematic reviews of impact assessments of these programmes indicate that some interventions have an overall positive effect on employment and earnings. Assessments of programmes which support youth job creation in the private sector find that larger businesses are more likely to generate jobs than micro-enterprises. ...» more
Assistive technologies in developing countries
Assistive technologies enable people to live healthy, productive, independent and dignified lives, yet most people who need them are currently unable to access them. This rapid review looks at examples of existing literature on the availability of assistive technologies and efforts to make these technologies more affordable and accessible in developing countries. ...» more
Modern slavery within the tea industry in Bangladesh
The main factor driving modern slavery within the tea industry in Bangladesh is the extreme marginalisation of tea garden workers, who are mostly descendants of migrants from India, by wider society. Social and economic exclusion mean workers have no alternative to working under highly exploitative conditions in the tea industry. The review found considerable literature on the ...» more
Threats to and approaches to promote freedom of religion or belief
Violations of religious freedom are increasing globally in scale, depth and blatancy. Carried out by both government and non-state actors, they range from the mundane (e.g. administrative restrictions) to the extreme (e.g. genocide). A multi-layered, multi-actor approach is needed to protect and promote freedom of religion or belief. The literature stresses that approaches to ...» more
Disability in Somalia
People with disabilities have been identified as a particularly marginalised and at risk group within Somali society as a result of the numerous attitudinal, environmental, and institutional barriers they face, and the lack of concerted efforts to include them. This rapid review identifies available evidence on the experiences of people with disabilities living in Somalia. ...» more
Interventions to support victims of modern slavery
This review found few evaluations of interventions to support victims of modern slavery, even though there is recognition of the need for support services. While there is little evidence on effectiveness of interventions, the literature highlights the importance of victim-centred, holistic (multi-disciplinary) approaches to supporting victims. There is strong consensus in ...» more
Digital development and the digital gender gap
This rapid literature review collates findings from recently published papers on digital development and gender, highlighting some of the most commonly discussed discussions related to economic, social and political development. As the scope of this query is very large, this review provides an illustration of some of the commonly identified issues in the literature. The digital ...» more
Interventions to combat modern slavery
This report details findings from evaluations of a range of interventions to combat modern slavery. While there are three broad areas of efforts to tackle modern slavery – prevention, protection and prosecution – the main focus to date has been on prevention and, to a lesser extent, protection; prosecution has received far less attention. The literature indicates that ...» more
Women’s participation in peacebuilding and reconciliation in Iraq
This rapid review synthesises data from academic, policy and NGO sources on women’s participation in peacebuilding in Iraq. Peacebuilding will be defined as a ‘range of measures targeted to reduce the risk of lapsing or relapsing into conflict by strengthening national capacities at all levels for conflict management and to lay the foundation for sustainable peace and ...» more
Digital inclusion – recent trends and messages
This annotated bibliography collates extracts from recently published flagship policy reports on digital inclusion in international development, highlighting the key messages, trends and issues. The digital inclusion agenda seeks to close the gaps in access to, and adoption of, fast evolving information and communication technology (ICTs) services, particularly mobile phones ...» more
Child labour in the artisanal and small-scale mining sector in Asia and Africa
This rapid review synthesises data from academic, policy, and NGO sources on child labour in the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector in Asia and Africa. ASM refers to small groups engaged in low-cost, low-tech, labour-intensive excavation and processing of minerals. Therefore, a clear distinction can be made between industrial and large-scale (usually licensed) mining ...» more
Cash transfer platforms in humanitarian contexts
As cash transfer programming (CTP) in humanitarian contexts has increased, so has the use of multipurpose (unconditional) cash transfers and the range of actors providing them. Use of different cash delivery platforms by different agencies can increase costs, inefficiency, and the risk of duplication and fraud, so 'single cash platforms' (the same delivery mechanism for cash ...» more
Conflict-sensitive cash transfers: social cohesion
The literature suggests that the effects of social protection initiatives such as cash transfers and vouchers on social cohesion are positive, but there is very little empirical evidence to back this. This review found no research comparing cash transfers and vouchers from the perspective of social cohesion. Experience of cash transfers in developing countries, including ...» more
Conflict-sensitive cash transfers: unintended negative consequences
Risks associated with cash transfer programmes in fragile contexts include theft, diversion, corruption, security, targeting, misuse by beneficiaries and inflationary effects. However, the literature indicates that – while different – these risks are no greater than those associated with other forms of aid, e.g. vouchers or in-kind goods, and could even be less. Cash transfer ...» more
