The goal of this document is to improve the effectiveness of DFID programmes and the measurement of their impacts by providing DFID Advisers with the practical skills to develop high quality theories of change, to understand the role they play in programme design and assessment. It is intended for DFID advisors to more clearly and explicitly articulate their theories of change ...» 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.
Transitioning Fragile States: A Sequencing Approach
This article examining case studies of three types of fragile states: those that are stuck in a fragility trap, those that have exited fragility and are now emergent and stabilised, and those that have moved in and out of fragility—all between 1980 and 2010. The study was premised on the idea that state fragility is a convergence of structural changes and events that might ...» more
New technology and the prevention of violence and conflict
This report explores the ways in which ICTs and the data they generate can assist international actors, governments, and civil society organizations to more effectively prevent violence and conflict. It examines the contributions that cell phones, social media, crowdsourcing, crisis mapping, blogging, and big data analytics can make to short-term efforts to forestall crises and ...» more
Report of the Secretary-General on Women, Peace and Security
This is the Secretary General’s 2013 report (S/2013/525) on Women, Peace and Security (WPS). It notes there were measurable advances in all areas of the women, peace and security agenda. It stresses numerous good practices while also outlining several deficits, notably lack of women’s leadership, poor provision of resources necessary for addressing women’s rights and needs, and ...» more
Gender, Conflict and Peace
Women and girls are marginalised within most societies. That, coupled with the violence of conflict and its gendered dimensions, can often lead to increased vulnerability and to particular kinds of loss, violence and harms. We can clearly see the trends in women and girls’ reduced access to resources, livelihood inputs and basic services; increased family and social ...» more
UN Convention against Corruption: Progress Report 2013
The UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) requires countries to report back on corruption every five years. This report provides an overview of the country review process after its first three years of implementation. It highlights areas for improvement in the process, including follow-up on country reviews, delays, transparency, increasing NGO participation, and quality of ...» more
Corruption Perceptions Index 2013
How bad is corruption, and what can be done? Based on expert opinion, the Corruption Perceptions Index 2013 covers 177 countries. While a handful perform well, not one country gets a perfect score. More than two-thirds score less than 50. The need for greater accountability is clear, and leaders cannot look the other way. But recognising the problem is only the first step – ...» more
The BRICS and international peacebuilding and statebuilding
This report examines BRICS engagement with interventionary forms of development, peacebuilding, statebuilding, and their related institutions and practices. The BRICS can be both “status-quo” and “critical” peacebuilding and statebuilding actors. On the one hand, they all engage with the liberal peace paradigm and its often-neoliberal agenda that allows them to protect ...» more
Adolescent Pregnancy: A Review of the Evidence
This report presents an update on the current situation of pregnancies among girls less than 18 years of age and adolescents 15-19 years of age. The girls most likely to have a live birth before age 18 reside in rural and remote areas, have little or no education, and live in the poorest households. The report also covers trends during the last 10 years and variations across ...» more
Women and Natural Resources: Unlocking the Peacebuilding Potential
What is the relationship between women and natural resources in conflict-affected settings? This report discusses how the management of natural resources can be used to enhance women’s engagement and empowerment in peacebuilding processes. Part I of the report examines the relationship between women and natural resources in peacebuilding contexts, reviewing key issues across ...» more
The Contested Corners of Asia: Subnational Conflict and International Development Assistance
The purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive and critical examination of the enduring subnational conflict in Asia, and international efforts to help through official development aid. A clear understanding of the unique challenges in subnational conflict-affected areas is needed to adapt development approaches and improve their relevance and ...» more
Climate change and conflict: A systematic evidence review
This paper aims to analyse the evidence for the connections between climate change and violent conflict. The paper presents two main levels of analysis. The first level reports what academic research says is happening about climate change and violent conflict. The second level then considers how these studies make their arguments for linking climate change and conflict. ...» more
Addressing horizontal inequalities as drivers of conflict in the Post-2015 development agenda
This paper analyses how inequalities, violent conflicts, and the relation between them, are holding back development, adding to the arguments for addressing them in the post-2015 framework.The paper reviews evidence that various inequalities – economic, political, cultural, gender and those related to security, justice and social services – can heighten group grievances and ...» more
Women, Custom and Access to Justice
Largely based on presentations made during a symposium, this issue of Perspectives provides insight into some of the following country-specific challenges and controversies with regards to women’s access to justice in selected sub-Saharan African states. How does customary law, and the way in which the national legislative process is used, entrench gender inequalities, ...» more
Working with the politics: How to improve public services for the poor
Beyond recognising that institutions matter for development, how should governments that are striving to achieve more equitable and efficient service delivery approach the challenge of institutional reform? This policy briefing discusses two major themes. First, recent research has moved beyond the recognition that ‘context matters’ to specify just how it matters and what ...» more
Investing in Women’s Employment: Good for Business, Good for Development
Investing in women’s employment is key to unlocking growth in emerging and developing economies. It makes business sense to support better employment opportunities for women beyond minimum statutory compliance. This report has been developed as a guide for companies operating in emerging and developing economies and is intended to inform and encourage further progress on ...» more
Delivering good aid in hard places: The Yemen Social Fund for Development approach
This paper draws on first-hand experience with the Yemen Social Fund for Development (SFD) and on a review of results from rigorous impact evaluations to examine the four factors behind SFD’s success in delivering good aid in hard places. The factors include: 1) stakeholder ownership over projects due to its close work relationship with local communities following a ...» more
Within and Without the State: Governance and Fragility: What we know about effective governance programming in fragile contexts
This paper reflects much of the programme experience gathered from Within and Without the State (WWS) over the last two years.WWS is a programme piloting approaches to working with civil society to promote more accountable governance in fragile contexts. WWS is working in four countries – South Sudan, Yemen, Afghanistan, and the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel (OPTI) ...» more
DFID’s Empowerment and Accountability Programming in Ghana and Malawi
This review assesses one of DFIDs empowerment and accountability programmes that aims to strengthen citizen engagement with government. It looks at two contrasting African countries, Ghana and Malawi.The review examines two grant-making funds for civil society organisations (CSOs) and a project that supports community monitoring of local services. These programmes support a ...» more
Thinking and Acting Politically: Supporting citizen engagement in governance: The experience of the State Accountability and Voice Initiative in Nigeria
Building on lessons learned in programmes funded by DFID Nigeria over the past decade, the State Accountability and Voice Initiative (SAVI) is succeeding in supporting more responsive state governance. A sustained pattern of constructive engagement between citizens and state governments is beginning to emerge. This paper has been written to share some of the working methods, ...» more
