This paper seeks to motivate and encourage humanitarian evaluators by highlighting and discussing concrete ways to address the challenge of poor or ineffective use of evaluation. The use of insights and case studies from evaluation colleagues in the humanitarian sector is designed to reinforce the sense that much is possible. It is hoped that this framework will contribute to ...» 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.
Aid for trade facilitation in lower-income countries: the role of institutional quality
This study investigates the impact of aid for trade (AfT) for trade facilitation (henceforth aid for trade facilitation) on export performance in a sample of 58 low-income and lower-middle-income countries over the period 1996-2011. This was done using panel data techniques and by assessing the extent to which recipient countries’ institutional quality may affect the ...» more
Social Protection and HIV: Global Literature Review
This literature review identifies and outlines the international literature on access to and the impact of social protection programming on people living with or affected by HIV (PLHIV) and their households in low- and middle-income countries. It explores 26 studies identified through a modified systematic review process. These studies are rigorous and in many instances ...» more
Transparency for what? The usefulness of publicly available budget information in African countries
This report considers whether the budget documents released by African governments are sufficiently comprehensive to answer basic questions about budget policy and performance. It spotlights those African governments surveyed in the Open Budget Survey (OBS) with the strongest transparency records, and looks at: i) whether their budget reports are accessible online; ii) the ...» more
Regional organisations and humanitarian action
This Working Paper examines the literature on regional organisations’ humanitarian priorities and activities. It examines key concepts applicable to regional organisations, offers a short review of the emergence of regional organisations’ humanitarian institutions, and addresses the activities of regional organisations in crisis-affected contexts. Given the breadth of ...» more
INEE Guidance Note on Conflict Sensitive Education
This INEE Guidance Note on Conflict Sensitive Education aims to contribute a reference tool for education practitioners and policy makers on how to provide education in ways that are conflict sensitive. The strategies mentioned are designed to provoke thought rather than indicate prescriptive measures, as one of the keys to conflict sensitivity is adaptation to each unique ...» more
Monitoring and evaluating conflict sensitivity: methodological challenges and practical solutions
This document gives practical guidance on how to monitor and evaluate the interaction between an intervention and conflict. It includes a discussion of the methodological questions that arise when embarking on a process to monitor and evaluate for unintended interactions with conflict, as well as a range of practical and field-tested tools. This document aims to help those ...» more
Development Co-operation Report 2013: Ending Poverty
The world has probably already met the MDG target of halving the share of the population living in extreme poverty (USD 1.25 per day). Yet progress towards the MDGs across countries, localities, population groups and gender has been uneven, reflecting a fundamental weakness in current approaches.This report shows that ending poverty does not only mean meeting the target of ...» more
Adolescent girls and gender justice: Understanding key capability domains across a variety of socio-cultural settings. Lessons learned and emerging issues from year 1
Understanding how discriminatory social norms operate in different forms and at different levels is important for both strategic and practical policy and programme development, as is an understanding of potential entry points for positive change. In this paper, a multi-year, multi-country study is undertaken to explore the complex ways in which adolescent girls’ capabilities ...» more
Guidance Note: Human Rights and Do No Harm
When practitioners are using the Do No Harm (DNH) frameworks they often encounter issues around human rights. This is not surprising when looking at conflict situations. While DNH is not explicitly a human rights ‘tool’, human rights are implicitly included in the DNH frameworks through the analysis of Dividers and Connectors and in the ABCs. Because human rights violations ...» more
Manual: 3 steps for working in fragile and conflict-affected situations
This manual provides a practical approach tailored for project management in fragile and conflict-affected situations; it was developed over several years of experience, as well as workshops, meetings and discussions with fieldworkers. The 3-Step approach focuses on aspects of violence and fragility that are relevant to development programmes or projects. It promotes a ...» more
Conflict Dimensions of International Assistance to Refugees from Syria in Lebanon
This discussion paper explores a selected number of key areas of potential interaction of international assistance provided to refugees from Syria with conflict dynamics in Lebanon. It focuses on international assistance delivered inside Lebanon and does not cover aid programmes destined for Syria or other neighbouring countries. It aims to facilitate a discussion among policy ...» more
Localising Aid: Is it worth the risk?
This report sets out an approach for assessing the risks associated with choices of aid instruments. These risks are specific to the instrument and the recipient country. The methodology involves subjective assessments of as many as 29 risks, their outcomes, probabilities (on a 6-point scale) and risk factors. It also identifies potential mitigation strategies and the ...» more
Informal Workers in Global Horticulture and Commodities Value Chains: A Review of Literature
This paper presents and analyses the key findings from a comprehensive review of value chain-related studies on the commodities and horticulture sectors, focusing on what this literature reveals about the conditions of informal workers. The literature review was underpinned by two key research questions, which addressed both empirical and methodological concerns. Overall, 49 ...» more
Women political leaders, corruption and learning: Evidence from a large public program in India
This study used the nation-wide policy of randomly allocating village council headships to women to identify the impact of female political leadership on the governance of projects implemented under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in India. Using primary survey data, the paper finds more programme inefficiencies and leakages in village councils reserved for women ...» more
Path-Breakers: How Does Women’s Political Participation Respond to Electoral Success?
This paper analyses the effect of a woman’s electoral victory on women’s subsequent political participation. Using the regression discontinuity afforded by close elections between women and men in India’s state elections, the study find that a woman winning office leads to a large and significant increase in the share of female candidates from major political parties in the ...» more
Local embeddedness and economic and social upgrading in Madagascar’s export apparel industry
Madagascar is different to the other main Sub-Saharan African (SSA) low-income country apparel exporters given its more diverse end markets and ownership structures and the political instability that led to the loss of African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) status at the end of 2009. This paper assesses the development of Madagascar’s export-oriented apparel industry and ...» more
What works for market development: A review of the evidence
This study serves two main purposes: i) to inform Sida of the evidence of what works for market development and the results frameworks and results chains derived from it; and ii) to identify the gaps in evidence and recommend what Sida should focus on in evaluating its market development portfolio. It focuses on private sector development (PSD), financial sector development ...» more
Gender and Statebuilding in Fragile and Conflict-affected States
Integrating a gender perspective into international support to statebuilding is key to improving the quality of international engagement in fragile states. However, statebuilding theory and practice currently neglect the importance of gender relations. This policy guidance aims to fill this gap by providing an overview of the challenges, opportunities and prospects for more ...» more
The Other Side of Gender: Men as Critical Agents of Change
Better understanding of how experiences in war change men’s roles and identities can lead to better interventions to help men deal with the trauma of war violence, to combat gender-based violence, and equip men as agents of peace in their post-conflict communities. Based on their review of existing work to help men in post-conflict settings, five leading experts recommend a ...» more
