Remittances – the money sent home by migrant workers – play a vital role in Africa. They help to pay for health, education and productive investment in agriculture. During periods of crisis they provide a financial lifeline. For many economies in the region, remittance transfers now occupy an important position in the balance of payments. Yet Africa is failing to secure all of ...» 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.
Learning from disaster: How governments gain insight and how regional and international bodies can help
This study explores how National Disaster Management Authorities (NDMAs) and other state actors learn and improve their humanitarian response activities. The study finds that NDMAs generate knowledge through a variety of methods including evaluations, AARs and formal and informal reflection. However, many lack the resources to consistently apply these methods. Among its ...» more
Freedom in the World 2014
For the eighth consecutive year, Freedom in the World showed an overall erosion in global freedom, with 54 countries registering declines and 40 earning gains in the report’s scoring system. The events of 2013 were shaped in part by authoritarian powers’ active resistance to democratic change and a crisis of confidence among leading democracies, particularly the United ...» more
Reclaiming the Streets for Women’s Dignity: Effective Initiatives in the Struggle against Gender-Based Violence in between Egypt’s Two Revolutions
This paper is about the struggle to combat gender-based violence in public space in Egypt through the sustained collective action of vigilante groups who organically formed to respond to the increasing encroachment on women in public space from 2011 onwards. The study examines the emergence of a distinct form of collective action (informal youth-led activism aimed at addressing ...» more
Extortion with Protection: Understanding the effect of rebel taxation on civilian welfare in Burundi
This study was conducted to answer the question: Does payment to rebels insure against future welfare loss and does the nature of payment matter? It tests the relationship between payments, the nature of extraction by the rebels, and welfare outcomes, by using a panel dataset from Burundi where information on protection payments during the 10 year civil war were collected. It ...» more
Undercurrents of Violence: Why Sierra Leone’s Political Settlement is not Working
Sierra Leone’s current political settlement is highly influenced by the externally imposed peace agreement that ended the civil war in 2001. Prior to this, there had been several unsuccessful attempts at establishing a new political settlement between the country’s various elites. Following the attacks by Revolutionary United Front (RUF) soldiers on UN peacekeeping forces in ...» more
Violent Conflicts and Civil Strife in West Africa: Causes, Challenges and Prospects
The advent of intra-state conflicts or ‘new wars’ in West Africa has brought many of its economies to the brink of collapse, creating humanitarian casualties and concerns. For decades, countries such as Liberia, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea- Bissau were crippled by conflicts and civil strife in which violence and incessant killings were prevalent. While violent ...» more
Medellín’s Biblioteca España: Progress in Unlikely Places
This paper explores whether improvements in state capacity and infrastructure at the local level can have a broad impact in poor and violent communities. It focuses on public works project in the city Medellín, Colombia. The survey results reveal that citizens of comunas Popular and Santa Cruz, which are served by the library park Biblioteca España, perceive their situation to ...» more
Evaluating Outside the Box: Mixing Methods in Analysing Social Protection Programmes
This paper proposes a framework for evaluating social protection programmes that (1) assesses a broader range of impacts, and (2) uses a broader range of methods in a more holistic way. It draws on a case study of an evaluation of a cash transfer pilot programme in Tigray, Ethiopia.Most evaluations of social protection programmes have two limitations. Firstly, they measure a ...» more
Ending conflict and building peace in Africa: A call to action
This report from the African Development Bank’s High-Level Panel on Fragile States draws on commissioned research on conflict and fragility in Africa and on wide consultation with African governments, civil society organisations and citizens. It calls for emphasis within the development agenda in Africa on addressing economic, social and envrironmental change – population ...» more
The impact of PFM interventions on corruption
This paper explores the linkages between PFM systems and effective anti-corruption measures. It asks: Which components of the PFM cycle are effective anti-corruption measures and what types of corruption do they address? Drawing on a variable evidence base, its findings highlight the role of PFM reforms in reducing the opportunities and incentives for corruption, over the ...» more
Peacebuilding knowledge, attitudes and skills: Desk review and recommendations
Children and adolescents can build peace. They can draw from their life experiences, natural resiliency, capacities, talents and personal, familial and cultural assets to embrace peace and introduce peaceful behaviours to their community. This report attempts to empower and equip children to assume a peacebuilding role in their schools, communities, and countries by teaching ...» more
Societal dynamics and fragility
This study departs from the dominant understanding that weak state capacity, legitimacy or will to deliver basic services underpins fragility and argues that fragility is also about relationships between state and society and within society. These relationships occur in a non-linear continuum which, when understood, can inform interventions that can help prevent societies from ...» more
Energy for all: Harnessing the power of energy access for chronic poverty reduction
Energy poverty strongly correlates with income poverty, and is most acute in the poorest households in rural areas. This guide argues that access to electricity, combined with assets, can help people escape persistent poverty. Complementary interventions, coordination, and inter-sectoral collaboration are recommended to maximise the poverty reduction potential of energy ...» more
From ‘good governance’ to governance that works
Governance needs for development in Africa is not so easily identified with the good governance template. This chapter explores how best fit examples of reforms have yet to make a clean break with conventional thinking on good governance; with a continued focus on the principal-agent framework rather than collective action. It calls for a more realistic take on governance ...» more
Climate-smart agriculture
This sourcebook is a reference tool focussing on climate-smart agriculture (CSA). It examines CSA's potential, its challenges and its limitations in the agricultural sector, including forestry and fisheries at national and subnational levels. The sourcebook aims to assist political and technical managers to understand options available for policy and planning, investments and ...» more
Just keeping them busy? Youth employment projects as a peacebuilding tool
Youth unemployment is a particular concern to the peacebuilding agenda and has resulted in the prioritisation of giving young people jobs in post-conflict countries and an increase in resources for youth employment projects. This article challenges the traditional theory of the change underpinning these projects that job creation for young people will naturally strengthen ...» more
Youth entrepreneurship in the contemporary global South
This short editorial explores the importance of entrepreneurship among youth in the global South. It offers an overview of the various ways in which young people are finding economic niches within uncertain economic landscapes. However, it warns against the ideological risks attached to celebrations of youth entrepreneurialism and calls for a focus on entrepreneurship that ...» more
Inclusivity and local perspectives in peacebuilding: Issues, lessons, challenges
Recent attention on inclusivity so far has not translated into major changes in the way international actors operationalise peace building. This paper identifies key issues, lessons and challenges that need to be taken into consideration for strengthening and deepening the uptake of diverse perspectives in peacebuilding processes. It highlights that inclusivity is about ...» more
Skills development for inclusive and sustainable growth in developing Asia-Pacific
This paper brings together views, perspectives, and insights from policy makers, practitioners, and leading experts on skills development for inclusive and sustainable growth. The volume is organized in four parts: major trends and concerns relating to skills development prominent issues and strategies that are emerging in the technical and vocational education and ...» more
