This article synthesises evidence from four recent ‘community-driven development’ field experiments in countries affected by violent conflict. Conflict-affected settings are presumed to combine extraordinary need and opportunity for building institutions. The substantive and methodological consistency of the field experiments (Afghanistan, DRC, Liberia, and Sierra Leone) ...» 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.
Legal Frameworks and Political Space for Non-Governmental Organisations
This study examines the legal frameworks and political space for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to operate in selected countries in order to suggest appropriate approaches for supporting civil society in difficult political contexts. The study is motivated by growing concern over the ability of civil society to fulfil its core functions, especially in the areas of ...» more
Rapid Outcome Mapping Approach (ROMA): A guide to policy engagement and influence
The RAPID Outcome Mapping Approach (ROMA) is an approach to improving policy engagement processes, to influence change. It comprises a suite of tools that any organisation can use at any stage in their policy engagement process to improve how they diagnose the problem, understand the types of impact their work could have on policy-making, set realistic objectives for policy ...» more
Elite Attitudes Towards Cash Transfers and the Poor in Malawi
This paper argues that the planning of cash transfer (CT) programmes needs to involve more consideration of the country-specific attitudes of elites. It is members of a country’s elites who are often expected to implement – and in the long term, allocate domestic funding to – such programmes. The paper presents findings from primary research in Malawi that examined elites’ ...» more
Practice Without Evidence: Interrogating conflict resolution approaches and assumptions
This paper reviews the evidence base that underpins contemporary approaches to the resolution of violent conflict. By means of a systematic literature review the paper explores academic work as well as grey literature that engages with the experiences of the “end-users” of conflict resolution efforts. It finds that current approaches to conflict resolution are often based on ...» more
The Middle Eastern Youth and the Arab Spring: Cross-National Variation and Trends in Values
This paper analyses the data from the values surveys carried out in the region since in the past decades in order to assess cross-national variation and trend in the values and perceptions of the youth in several Middle Eastern countries. Based on this analysis, the study also assesses the extent to which the Arab Spring signifies the ushering in of a new cultural episode in ...» more
Examining Inclusion: Disability and Community Driven Development
This note discusses the varied strategies adopted by Community Driven Development (CDD) programs to ensure the inclusion of disabled people. It is based on five case studies, which represent a wide spectrum of approaches ranging from micro interventions for building social capital and community-based rehabilitation, to macro strategies for policy reform and advocacy efforts ...» more
Politics Meets Policies: The Emergence of Programmatic Political Parties
This publication is about programmatic political parties: parties that provide citizens with meaningful choice over policies by reaching out to them through coherent political programmes. It explains what programmatic parties are, in which environments they are likely to emerge and how they come about.A Survey of Dimensions and Explanations in the LiteratureSignificantly more ...» more
Small Arms Survey 2014: Women and Guns
The Small Arms Survey 2014: Women and Guns considers the multiple roles of women in the context of armed violence, security, and the small arms agenda. It covers the topics of violence against women and girls, the recent convergence of the small arms agenda with that of women, peace, and security and the potential impact of the Arms Trade Treaty, among others. It also includes ...» more
Accountability for Civil Society by Civil Society: A Guide to Self-Regulation Initiatives
Civil society organisations across the world are being asked to be more and more transparent and demonstrate their accountability. The pressures come from multiple angles, from greater scrutiny over how public money is spent to more sophisticated impact analysis and to increasing demands to demonstrate ‘value for money’. This guide is intended for reflection on CSOs’ ...» more
Community Security handbook
Saferworld has developed an approach that explains the principles underpinning Community Security interventions, and suggests practical implementation strategies that draw on our work and the work of a select number of agencies. The handbook is aimed at both policy makers and practitioners – particularly programme managers – and intends to help them work through the steps ...» more
The State of Social Safety Nets 2014
This publication begins a series that will monitor and report on social safety nets in developing countries. This first report in the series provides key social safety nets statistics and explains trends using information from 146 countries, including detailed household survey data from 69 countries in the World Bank's Atlas of Social Protection: Indicators of Resilience and ...» more
The State of the World’s Children 2014 In Numbers: Every Child Counts
This UNICEF report presents data on the current state of children in the world. Data continue to support advocacy and action on behalf of the world’s 2.2 billion children, providing governments with facts on which to base decisions and actions to improve children’s lives. New ways of collecting and using data will help target investments and interventions to reach the most ...» more
What do women want? Gender, perceptions data and development priorities
This report looks at the people’s development priorities from a gendered perspective using the UN’s MY World survey and examines what it is that women prioritise in development. It finds that although there is considerable variation across countries, there are few gender-based differences in the most important development priorities, particularly in poorer countries. However, ...» more
Security and Justice: Towards Politically Informed Programming
There is a consensus amongst academics and practitioners that security and justice are intrinsically political. When providing assistance in this sector, donors are engaging with the fundamentally political nature of the state. This paper therefore explores what the literature tells us about the following questions: How do politics and power intersect with the provision of ...» more
Donors Doing Political Economy Analysis™: From Process to Product (and Back Again?)
This paper argues that the process of political economy analysis (PEA) is not fundamentally flawed and indeed agrees with PEA advocates that success in future development programmes requires a wholesale re-thinking of the relationship between politics and international development. However, the paper argues that PEA has today become a tool or product ‘sold’ to donors and ...» more
From Political Economy to Political Analysis
This paper argues that existing political economy approaches lack the analytical tools needed to grasp the inner politics of development. Political economy has come to be seen narrowly as the economics of politics – the way incentives shape behaviour. Much recent political economy work therefore misses what is distinctively political about politics – power, interests, agency, ...» more
Findings from the SASA! Study: a cluster randomized controlled trial to assess the impact of a community mobilization intervention to prevent violence against women and reduce HIV risk in Kampala, Uganda
Intimate partner violence (IPV) and HIV are important and interconnected public health concerns. While it is recognized that they share common social drivers, there is limited evidence surrounding the potential of community interventions to reduce violence and HIV risk at the community level. The SASA! study assessed the community-level impact of SASA!, a community mobilization ...» more
Political Parties in Africa through a Gender Lens
The aim of this analysis is to determine the extent to which the policy documents of political parties in 33 countries in Africa include commitments to promoting gender equality and the equal participation and representation of men and women in political leadership, elective positions of power and decision making. With a specific focus on political parties as the institutions ...» more
National Dialogue in Sudan: Past Experiences and Current Challenges
Since independence, Sudan has undergone a number of national peace agreements, some of which were observed and honoured for short periods. The net result of broken agreements has driven the country into deep conflict, leading to the secession of South Sudan in 2011, and creating a crisis which still threatens the country with further violence and dismemberment. While Sudan ...» more
