Much of the literature agrees that violence against civilians is the primary driver of displacement. However, while a few causalities can be considered established, authors frequently note that findings are either correlations (rather than causalities), or that the causalities need clarification. High-quality literature on population movements has long demonstrated that, even ...» more
Primary and secondary prevention of child protection violations
While the knowledge base on the prevention of child protection violations in low- or middle-income countries (LMICs) is limited, there are robust, promising findings. The majority of findings suggest that if the core elements of interventions are preserved, the translation of interventions from high-income countries (HICs) to LMICs can be effective. For instance, parenting ...» more
Donor interventions on women’s political empowerment
The evidence base on donor interventions for women's political empowerment (WPE) in low- and middle-income countries is rigorous overall, but limited in size and scope. Feminist scholarship and practice have long emphasised that WPE is a multifaceted, complex process. However, evidence suggests that most donors have tended to build their approaches on oversimplified models of ...» more
Political economy of conflicts in Kyrgyzstan since the 2000s
A fundamental finding, widely shared among authors, is that it is not only the national level that matters, but also regional and local ones, in violent and non-violent conflicts. In recent and older history, local conflicts sometime develop into national ones. Other key findings of the literature review include: The root causes of both conflicts are largely similar and ...» more
Perceptions of different modalities of social assistance in the Levant
Major international aid actors worldwide have been moving away from in-kind food aid and turning towards food vouchers and cash transfers. International agencies working in the Levant – i.e. the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria – have tried to reconcile this general shift with the historical, political and social specificities of social ...» more
Subnational disaster risk management involving communities in Nepal
In a bid to better tackle risk (exposure and vulnerabilities) and its management (capacities and resilience), domestic and foreign actors have promoted disaster risk management (DRM) that involve communities at the levels of regions, districts, municipalities, wards, or smaller-scale units such as schools. Key findings of the literature review include: Successful ...» more
Extremist radicalisation towards non-state political violence in Jordan
Within available evidence, there are a number of knowledge gaps on issues, social structures (such as gender), and geographic areas. To reflect this state of knowledge and to be precise about the sources of specific findings, this report presents references in the form of an annotated bibliography. Key findings and themes include: There has been little non-state ...» more
Links between the rule of law and conflict and peace in Afghanistan
A plurality of legal and judicial institutions exist in contemporary Afghanistan, but none meet minimal definitions of the rule of law – this is a matter of consensus. In particular, formal and informal laws and mechanisms do not enforce common rules equally over both elites and the less powerful, and men/boys and women/girls. The State only has a very limited presence, ...» more
Urban governance in Tanzania
Urbanisation has been increasing quickly in Tanzania with population growth in cities twice that of the national rate. Despite this, there is a small body of knowledge about urban governance comparative to the large number of references on urbanization in the country. This literature predominantly focuses on Dar es Salaam, and fails to disaggregate findings through the lens of ...» more
Implementing integrated financial management information systems
What do we know about what has worked, what has failed, and why? What lessons does the literature identify? Expensive integrated financial management information systems (IFMIS) have frequently failed to realise the promised benefits of reforming public financial management (PFM). There is a dearth of conclusive evidence to explain why this is the case. IFMIS are complex, ...» more
Impact of external assistance on local-level peace settlements in the Middle East and North Africa
Armed conflicts have inflicted massive suffering and material losses on the populations of several MENA countries since 2011 (or earlier). At the same time, local peace settlements in delimited geographic areas have been reached in several of these contexts. This rapid review of the literature presents evidence on positive and negative impact in MENA. Available knowledge shows ...» more
Non-state provision of skills development in South Asia
Development practitioners increasingly see skills development as a way to improve the employment and incomes of the poor. However, findings on the effectiveness of such trainings are typically mixed. Only programmes that entail linkages with the labour market have had a significant impact. Even with such linkages in place, what has worked and what has failed in implementation ...» more
Donor action on women’s employment in ASEAN countries – update
This report updates on an earlier report on the same topic. It confirms that donor action on women’s employment and entrepreneurship has been limited or very recent in ASEAN countries. The ILO is the major aid entity involved. Other major ones include the Asian Development Bank, UN Women and the International Finance Corporation. Limitations and gaps in the literature are ...» more
Donor action on women’s employment in ASEAN countries
Donors have attempted little to improve women’s participation and conditions in the ASEAN workforce. Isolated cases highlight some findings: Success stories include donors action through: national policies (Cambodia); mandatory monitoring of working conditions (Cambodia); gender-sensitive design and evaluation of projects (Viet Nam, Cambodia); capacity development for ...» more
Key actors, dynamics and issues of Libyan political economy
The scene of actors in Libya is highly fragmented, localised and fluid. The main division seems to have been between forces that support continued changes (‘pro-revolution’) and others that do not (‘anti-revolution’). Community actors: - Geographic communities. Beyond differences between Cyrenaica, Tripolitana and Fezzan, local communities have been the fundamental actors. ...» more
Practical guidance to integrate gender into public financial management
A medium-sized body of rigorous literature provides guidance on how to integrate gender into PFM systems successfully. Guidance on effective approaches: - Overall requirements are: securing the known enabling factors (such as sustained political support, sufficient capacities and conducive institutional arrangements); adapting to context; involving a range of stakeholders ...» more
Disaster resilience
The impacts of disasters on development, poverty and vulnerability have led to calls for improving disaster resilience – the capacity to cope with and adapt to shocks and stresses associated with natural hazards. What do we know about what can enable or constrain disaster resilience? This Topic Guide for policymakers and practitioners synthesises the evidence, approaches and ...» more
Political economy of Libya after the Qadhafi regime
Libya lacks a stable, unified and inclusive state. Qadhafi wielded oil-funded patronage and repression to weaken the state and any social counterweight to his power. The predominant social and political dynamic is fragmentation based on multiple interests, identities and loyalties. The major ones are cities, regions, tribes (including factions and families), political ...» more
Community-based disaster risk management in Pakistan
Disaster risk management (DRM), including disaster risk reduction (DRR), has received increased attention - particularly community-based DRM (CBDRM). Despite limited implementation and very limited evidence, some findings emerge: Factors of success have included: - Work that is multi-sectoral, integrated and multi-hazard. - Good programming, with high-quality analysis, ...» more
Regional development programmes and poverty reduction
This report looks into the actual performance, and possibly impact, of regional development programmes on national-level poverty reduction and associated factors such as ‘good governance’. The evidence base presents some strengths, such as the availability of diverse and rigorous evaluations, but also significant difficulties, most notably the lack of clear data on impact, ...» more
