This paper from the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) calls for a specific commitment to achieving gender equality, women’s rights and women’s empowerment in the post-2015 development framework and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as robust mainstreaming of gender considerations across all parts of the framework. A ...» 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 technical is political: understanding the political implications of sector characteristics for education service delivery
This brief, the first in a series, attempts to help bridge the gap between governance and sector specialists by examining the politics and governance of education through a technical, ‘sector characteristics’ lens. The characteristics of specific sectors have largely been considered as technicalities, but new research illustrates that they also have political implications. This ...» more
Getting to Rights: The rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons in Africa
This study takes its point of departure in human rights, equality and personal freedom, including support for the rights of LGBTI persons. Its intention is to combine these principles with respect for African communities, cultures, and the fortitude with which Africans face many challenges. Human rights law demands that people be protected against human rights violations ...» more
The Capacity of National Human Rights Institutions to Address Human Rights in Relation to Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and HIV
This report documents progressive initiatives and good practices of national human rights institutions (NHRIs) and other human rights advocacy bodies in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Timor-Leste to protect and promote the rights of these highly marginalized individuals. Building upon the recommendations of the Global Commission on HIV and ...» more
Multiple pathways to gender-sensitive budget support in the education sector
In order to correct for the initial gender blindness of the Paris Declaration and related aid modalities as general and sector budget support, it has been proposed to integrate a gender dimension into budget support entry points. This paper studies the effectiveness of (joint) gender working groups and the integration of sex-disaggregated indicators and targets in performance ...» more
Taking anecdotal evidence seriously: An alternative view of peace indicators
A car journey uninterrupted by a police checkpoint. The ability to visit a shopping centre in an area that you previously avoided. Less sectarian graffiti in the town centre. Catholics and Protestants joining more regularly in joint cultural activities. Tescos and Sainburys opening stores. These are everyday indicators of change in Northern Ireland after the ceasefires of the ...» more
Revolution and its discontents: State, factions and violence in the new Libya
Libya has come to exemplify the tortuous route out of dictatorship in North Africa. Establishing how donors and multilateral agencies might best help in this process requires more than a standard set of guidelines to political transition. This paper illustrates the need to base strategy on a deep, context-specific understanding of different political and armed groups, the ...» more
Examining Protection and Gender in Cash and Voucher Transfers
This study investigates whether cash and voucher transfers work towards improving protection of (or at least doing no further harm to) beneficiaries, and what impact they could have on gender and community dynamics. It draws on qualitative data from eight case studies in situations ranging from emergency relief to development across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle ...» more
Making the Urban Poor Safer: Lessons from Nairobi and Maharashtra
Mumbai and Nairobi have acutely unequal urban development, with respectively 40 per cent and 60 per cent of their urban population living in slums. The most impoverished neighbourhoods are characterised by severe lack of service provision and poor access to employment opportunities. Urban violence is deeply rooted in the multiple vulnerabilities experienced by slum-dwellers, ...» more
No Accident: Resilience and the Inequality of Risk
This paper argues that a new approach is needed for risk and poverty reduction. Major external risks, such as climate change and food price volatility, are increasing faster than attempts to reduce them. Many risks are dumped on poor people, and women face an overwhelming burden. A new focus on building resilience offers real promise to allow the poorest women and men to thrive ...» more
Women, girls and disasters – A Review for DFID
This review sets out evidence of the impact that disasters have on women, adolescent girls and girls. It identifies initiatives and investments that have been developed to address or mitigate these. Available data, though limited, indicates that women are more likely to die than men after a large scale disaster. This is due to social and cultural reasons and existing gender ...» more
Research gaps in cash transfer programming
This study was commissioned by the Cash Learning Partnership in advance of defining potential research topics for 2014. Its aim was to:Understand what action and evidence-based research is currently available. Find out who the key research actors are, and how research findings and recommendations are used and shared, and research impact monitored. Identify and prioritise gaps ...» more
The Care Connection: The World Bank and women’s unpaid care work in select sub-Saharan African countries
With the aim of reducing women’s greater unpaid care work than men’s and increasing women’s paid employment, this paper examines the extent to which World Bank investments address unpaid care work. Based on in-depth gender analysis of 36 Bank projects, our research concludes that only three (8%) of the 36 reviewed projects explicitly seek to reduce women’s care-related time ...» more
Governments Falter in Fight to Curb Corruption
A majority of people in 34 African countries condemn their governments' anticorruption efforts, according to Afrobarometer surveys of more than 51,000 people between October 2011 and June 2013. Fifty-six percent of people said their governments have done a 'fairly” or “very bad' job of fighting corruption; while just 35% say their governments have done this 'fairly” or “very ...» more
The Partnership of Free Speech & Good Governance in Africa
Freedom of speech is not just valuable as a democratic end in itself. It is strongly linked to popular perceptions of both media effectiveness and good governance, according to new data from Afrobarometer, collected during face-to-face interviews with 51,605 people in 34 countries during 2011-2013. Key Findings:Just half of Africans (49%) across 34 countries say that they are ...» more
Talking to the other side: Humanitarian negotiations with Al-Shabaab in Somalia
Somalia is one of the most dangerous environments in the world for aid workers and humanitarian organisations. One of the largest obstacles to reaching people in need of humanitarian assistance is the militant armed group Al-Shabaab. Al-Shabaab’s sophisticated system for monitoring and controlling aid, the demands placed on aid agencies and the consequences of failed ...» more
The technical is political – Why understanding the political implications of technical characteristics can help improve service delivery
This brief explains why and how technical characteristics of particular sectors influence the incentives for politicians, service providers and service users, and the relationships between these groups. While sector experts often intuitively understand specific blockages in their sector, the approach presented here structures this understanding in a way that allows for ...» more
Political Settlements and State Formation: The Case of Somaliland
This paper asks why large scale violence was resolved in the internationally unrecognised ‘Republic of Somaliland’ but not in the rest of Somalia. The case of Somaliland offers insights into why some domestic power struggles – including violent ones – build the foundations for relative political order while others perpetuate cycles of economic malaise and political violence. ...» more
World Development Report 2014: Risk and Opportunity—Managing Risk for Development
The World Development Report (WDR) 2014 focuses on the process of risk management, addressing these questions: why is risk management important for development, how should it be conducted, what obstacles prevent people and societies from conducting it effectively, and how can these obstacles be overcome? It suggests five principles of public action for better risk management:Do ...» more
The rule of law and international development
This reports aims to answer the question of why, and to what extent, do different dimensions of the rule of law impact upon developmental processes. It reviews the evidence for the following five categories:International legal frameworks: The ability of international humanitarian law to provide protection for both refugees and internally displaced persons is at best, ...» more
