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Home»Social Development

Social Development

Social Protection Topic Guide

Horizontal inequalities: reading pack

Social development and human development

Topic Guide
  • Evie Browne,
  • Kerry A. Millington
October 2015
Charlotte Kesl / World Bank (A school in Colombia)

This Topic Guide aims to answer the question ‘What is the interaction between social development issues and human development outcomes?’ An individual’s right to lead a long and healthy life, to be educated and to enjoy a decent standard of living cannot be realised without addressing social development issues. This is because these issues determine individuals’ access to ...» more

Disability and development

E-Learning
  • Reading pack
  • David Cobley
October 2015

More than one billion people (around 15% of the world’s population) are disabled, with 80% of them living in the global South, estimates the first ever World Report on Disability jointly published by the WHO and World Bank in 2011. Furthermore, disabled people are disproportionately represented among the poor, have higher levels of unmet health…» more

Women in politics and the public sector in Tanzania

Helpdesk Report
  • Anna Louise Strachan
October 2015

The body of literature on women’s engagement in politics in Tanzania is relatively small, consisting of journal articles and government and NGO reports. Key topics covered by the literature include: Special seats for women: A quota system was introduced in 1985 to increase the number of women in parliament. Two journal articles by the same author look at this system in ...» more

Multidimensional poverty

E-Learning
  • Reading pack
  • Robert Walker
October 2015

While people generally recognise poverty instantly when they encounter it, they often find difficulty in saying precisely what it is.  Experts share the same difficulty and hence definitions frequently reflect what can most readily be measured. Poverty is commonly taken to be low income and, in global debates, is often indexed by income of $1.25…» more

Regional progress of the world’s girls and women

Helpdesk Report
  • Claire Mcloughlin
October 2015

What regions have made the most progress in achieving gender equality, and where has progress being slow? Key findings include the following: As the world’s poorest region, Sub-Saharan Africa is performing poorly on many gender equality indicators. For example, it has the highest rates of maternal and newborn mortality, and also the lowest proportion of deliveries attended ...» more

Global progress of the world’s girls and women

Helpdesk Report
  • Claire Mcloughlin
October 2015

Globally, remarkable progress has been made in achieving gender equality in some areas, while progress has been slow and stagnant in other areas. Findings include the following: Substantial progress has been made in closing the gender gap in primary enrolment, with two thirds of all countries in the developing world achieving gender parity in this area. Considerable ...» more

Extreme and persistent poverty

E-Learning
  • Reading pack
  • Andrew Shepherd
September 2015

Extreme and persistent poverty is once again a high profile issue thanks to the commitment to end extreme poverty and leave no one behind in the formulation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Given the great difficulty of the task ahead, it will remain so for some years to come. While a lot is known about…» more

Improving access to menstrual hygiene products

Helpdesk Report
  • Laura Bolton; Kerry A. Millington
September 2015

The market for menstrual hygiene products in developing countries is expanding rapidly, driven both by private demand and by public efforts to improve girls’ educational outcomes and women’s health and dignity. However, many women and girls cannot consistently afford the monthly cost of disposable menstrual products and revert to less hygienic solutions when facing cash ...» more

Facts about security and justice challenges

Helpdesk Report
  • Becky Carter
September 2015

Some of the global statistics included in this report are: A gap in access to justice exists for a majority of the people in the world, perhaps even as many as two thirds, according to an estimate by the Hague Institute for the Internationalization of Law. Preventing and redressing violence against women and girls is now on the public policy agenda, but abuse and violence ...» more

The social impact of private sector development

Topic Guide
  • Róisín Hinds
September 2015

The private sector can have a transformational impact on peoples’ lives as a creator of jobs and producer of goods and services that poor people use. Donor agencies are paying increasing attention to how private sector development can be leveraged to support poverty reduction and sustainable, equitable and inclusive economic growth. Making use of social development thinking is ...» more

Poverty eradication in Iraq

Helpdesk Report
  • Brigitte Rohwerder
August 2015

Despite being an oil-rich, lower-middle income country, poverty remains prevalent in Iraq. This rapid review looks at the recent literature on poverty in Iraq and identifies the barriers to, and opportunities for, poverty reduction and eradication. The literature indicates that: 3.9 per cent of people in Iraq are living in extreme poverty (2012). 18.9 per cent live below ...» more

Increasing youth participation in accountability mechanisms

Helpdesk Report
August 2015

The literature argues that empowering, organising, capacity-building and partnering with young people can contribute to good governance and improved accountability of governments (DANIDA, 2007; UNDP, 2006; Walton, 2010). To this end, governments, donors and NGOs have supported a variety of interventions that encourage youth participation both formally and informally. The extent ...» more

Social exclusion

Topic Guide
  • Seema Khan; Emilie Combaz; Erika McAslan Fraser
August 2015

This publication aims to introduce some of the best literature on the definitions, understandings, causes, and impact of social exclusion, as well as how exclusion can be measured and addressed by governments, civil society actors and international organisations. The guide was written by Seema Khan (GSDRC), in close collaboration with Professor Frances Stewart (Centre for ...» more

Wellbeing

E-Learning
  • Reading pack
  • Sarah C. White
July 2015

Wellbeing is advocated as a positive, more inclusive approach to development, which goes beyond a narrow focus on policy or programme objectives to comprehend the real impact on people’s lives. Wellbeing is, however, a highly contested term, with different concepts and methods producing quite different results. This briefing provides a guide to the main approaches…» more

Evidence on outcomes of an inclusive societies approach

Helpdesk Report
  • Evie Browne; Becky Carter; William Avis; Dana Blackburn;
July 2015

This annotated bibliography covers 80 studies that include some evidence of inclusive outcomes. The studies range across sectors, such as the political sphere, health, and education; across groups, such as people with disabilities, women and ethnic minorities; and across indicators, such as increased growth, school enrolment, and policy changes. Several types of intervention ...» more

Development outcomes of the political and social inclusion of young people

Helpdesk Report
  • Becky Carter
July 2015

Qualitative case studies provide evidence – albeit limited, mixed and context-specific – of a wide range of development outcomes from the political and social inclusion of young people. The key findings are: Some development actors see youth participation as an end in itself – children and young people’s enjoyment of meaningful participation is an intrinsic human ...» more

Evidence for the added value of an inclusive societies approach

Helpdesk Report
June 2015

There is little direct evidence on the added value of an inclusive societies approach for increasing the effectiveness of poverty reduction efforts. The state of research in this area is predominantly theoretical and not empirical, although there is a clear normative consensus that poverty reduction and sustained economic growth is contingent upon the development of ...» more

Benefits to society of an inclusive societies approach

Helpdesk Report
  • Becky Carter
June 2015

There are many claims for the benefits to society of an inclusive societies approach across a broad range of societal outcomes. The anticipated development benefits of inclusive societies are increasingly present in donor policy thinking and global dialogues, including the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goal framework. The desired impacts range from economic benefits to ...» more

Longitudinal social research in Ethiopia

Helpdesk Report
  • Róisín Hinds
June 2015

The prominent longitudinal studies in Ethiopia, from which much of the academic and practitioner literature draws from, include: Young lives: an international study on childhood poverty involving 12,000 children in four countries (Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam) over 15 years. Research priorities include nutrition, health, education and child work. Ethiopian Rural Households ...» more

Evidence on programmes’ effectiveness on horizontal political inclusion

Helpdesk Report
  • Evie Browne
June 2015

There is very little evidence on what role donors can play in making political settlements more horizontally inclusive. The state of research on this area remains theoretical and not empirical, although there is a clear normative consensus that international actors need to consider inclusivity in political settlements. The three areas of inquiry in this report (political ...» 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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