What are the lessons to be learnt and opportunities for improving CEWARN’s functionality as it implements and reviews its new strategy for 2012–2019? This report recognises how far CEWARN has come since 2002 when there was no mechanism in place and now, where it operates differently in 6 countries across the region in response to the context. It also highlights the critical ...» more
Library
This e-library contains more than 4500 external publications on governance, social development, conflict and humanitarian issues. It includes academic and grey literature selected for its basis in good quality research and coverage of a range of perspectives. Policy-oriented summaries of each document are provided, plus links to the full text.
The impact of Syrian refugees on the Turkish labour market
1.8 million Syrian people have found refuge in Turkey. Drawing on newly available data, this paper assesses the impact of refugee inflows on Turkish labour market conditions. It finds that these inflows change the level and composition of Turkish employment with particularly negative effects on Turkish workers in informal jobs (particularly women), the low educated, and those ...» more
Mechanisms underpinning interventions to reduce sexual violence in armed conflict: a realist-informed systematic review
This literature review aims to identify both the mechanisms that underpin successful intervention and the contextual factors those mechanisms require. It identifies the important potential of building in mechanisms involving community engagement, awareness of responses and safe reporting provisions. The realist approach is an exploratory and theory-driven review method. It ...» more
Getting textbooks to every child in Sub-Saharan Africa: Strategies for addressing the high cost and low
Despite extensive technical support and funding from external partners, making textbooks affordable and available to students remains an elusive objective for most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study asks why it has been so hard to improve textbook provision comparative to other regions, exploring the cost and financial barriers. Recognising that progress has been ...» more
Child-sensitive social protection in Fiji: Assessment of the care and protection allowance
Despite Fiji’s status as a middle-income country, a high proportion of children live in poor and income-insecure families. This report reviews the Department of Social Welfare’s Care & Protection Allowance, highlighting that its current impact is limited by low coverage and the exclusion of beneficiaries from receiving other social security. The report recommends extending ...» more
Where have all the textbooks gone? Towards sustainable provision of teaching and learning materials in Sub-Saharan Africa
This study is based on the multiple experiences of over 40 years’ of working in the education sector in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It takes an evidence-based approach as it seeks to explain why adequate and effective TLM (Teaching and Learning Materials) provision has remained so elusive despite decades of funding, and suggests what needs to be done to make quality TLM ...» more
Beyond fragility and inequity: Women’s experiences of the economic dimensions of domestic violence in Timor-Leste
This report challenges assumptions about violence against women and highlights the need for a more nuanced understanding of the economic dimensions of domestic violence. It concludes with a call for further research into women’s creativity and determination in economic resilience post-separation. The report consists of primary data collected in three districts in the country ...» more
All under one roof: Disability-inclusive shelter and settlements in emergencies
This technical guide aims to bridge the gap between good intentions and practical implementation for disability-inclusive shelter and settlement support in emergencies. Although the primary audience is staff and volunteers from across the IFRC Movement, this guide looks to transform the way humanitarian organisations approach inclusion and accessibility in their shelter and ...» more
Refugee innovation: Humanitarian innovation that starts with communities
How can people’s own creativity and ideas be supported rather than undermined by expensive ‘top-down’ innovations brought in from the developed world? This paper highlights how people engage in creative problem-solving in the most challenging environments and calls for a more people-centred approach to humanitarian innovation. Case studies illustrate how people’s creativity and ...» more
A new climate for peace: Taking action on climate and fragility
This independent report commissioned by members of the G7 calls for action on climate and fragility risk. It highlights risks and policy gaps that pose serious threats to the stability of states and societies in three key sectors: climate change adaptation; development and humanitarian aid; and peacebuilding. The report suggests concrete action from G7 member countries is ...» more
Deliberation and development: Rethinking the role of voice and collective action in unequal societies
Deliberation is the process by which a group of people, each with equal voice, can - via a process of discussion and debate - reach an agreement. This edited book aims to do two things: rethink the role of deliberation in development and demonstrate that taking deliberation seriously calls for a different approach to both research and policy design. It highlights that much ...» more
Political economy of citizenship regimes: Tax in India and Brazil
Both Brazil and India have deepened their democracies over recent years, but with different impacts on state capacity. This paper evaluates changes to state capacity in both countries by looking at the political economy of citizenship regimes and tax. It finds that the distinct evolution of revenues and other policies reflects changes in each country’s citizenship ...» more
10 common principles for multi-purpose cash-based assistance to respond to humanitarian needs
This paper outlines 10 principles for multi-purpose cash-based assistance to respond to humanitarian needs. The principles apply to humanitarian assistance as a whole, but take food assistance as the starting point. This is due to the scale of food assistance in humanitarian contexts, the perception by beneficiaries of food assistance as a means to meet other basic needs, and ...» more
Improving development aid design and evaluation: Plan for sailboats, not trains
How do reforms that require political engagement differ from traditional technical reforms? Why is political engagement different, and what are the implications for design and evaluation? How should development programmes that engage politics be designed? And how can those who fund or implement such programmes evaluate whether their efforts are contributing to reform? This ...» more
Causes and consequences of income inequality: A global perspective
This paper aims to show why policymakers need to focus on the poor and the middle class. Earlier IMF work has shown that income inequality matters for growth and its sustainability. This paper suggests that the income distribution itself matters for growth as well. Specifically, if the income share of the top 20 percent (the rich) increases, then GDP growth actually declines ...» more
Generating employment in poor and fragile states: Evidence from labor market and entrepreneurship programs
This paper summarises the evidence on the effectiveness of employment programmes, and on whether employment programmes can reduce crime and violence. This evidence comes from impact evaluations that compare program participants to comparison groups, often tracking impacts for years, and including some randomized control trials. The paper finds that the literature shows some ...» more
Exploring coordination in humanitarian clusters
In most crisis situations, a large number of organisations will be working to provide support in the same area. This study attempts to identify the factors that contribute to effective coordination. It concentrates on the IASC ‘Clusters’, a formal humanitarian coordination forum for ‘sectors’ of the response at the country level. Using a mixed methods approach combining a ...» more
Unlocking innovation: Enabling and blocking factors in developing innovative programmes in Oxfam GB
The aim of this research is to explore uncommon but successful behaviours or strategies that have enabled certain teams in Oxfam GB to find better solutions to problems. The researchers undertook semi-structured interviews with respondents across 13 innovative initiatives. The researchers chose these projects based on a review of a wider set of Oxfam programmes, choosing those ...» more
Financing in Crisis? Making humanitarian finance fit for the future
This paper expands on the Future Humanitarian Financing initiative’s recommendations about how to close the humanitarian funding gap. It summarises good practices by DAC members and attempts to find solutions to common challenges: Predictable funding for predicable costs. Funding for longer-term – protracted – crises that helps boost the resilience of crisis-affected ...» more
Do men and women have different policy preferences, and if so, why? Determinants and implications of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ gender gaps in Africa
This paper evaluates the presence of gender-based differences in political preferences in a cross-section of 19 African countries, using nationally representative data culled from Afrobarometer. Specifically it focuses on whether female and male constituents differ in their policy priorities across 10 meaningful policy areas (economy, poverty, infrastructure, health, ...» more
