The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is a non-departmental public body established under the Equality Act 2006. It began its operations on 1 October 2007. It brings together the work of the three previous equality commissions - the Disability Rights Commission (DRC), Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) and Commission for Racial Equality (CRE). The EHRC also takes ...» more
Identity Politics in Nepal
In 1990, the 30 year-old Panchayat regime was overthrown, a new Constitution written and a multiparty system re-established. Although these reforms did not properly address the exclusion of marginalised groups and ethnic centralisation continued, they did provide the space for such grievances to be mobilised and heard – resulting in the emergence of ‘identity politics’.There ...» more
Reintegration in Aceh/Post-conflict Environments
The situation in Aceh differs from other conflict environments in that most combatants have remained close to their communities during the conflict, with some never having left their villages. As such, minimal tensions are reported between former combatants and ‘receiving communities’. Reintegration measures have thus focused more on economic reintegration rather than social ...» more
Post-conflict Rehabilitation of Education Services
Education systems can contribute to conflict. In Rwanda, for example, the education system was used as an instrument in fomenting exclusion and hate. In many post-conflict settings, rehabilitation of the education sector requires not re-establishing the system that existed prior to the conflict but rather reforming the whole system. Education rehabilitation goes beyond ...» more
Participation of Excluded Groups in Local Governance
There are various methods of ensuring and allowing the participation of excluded groups in local governance. They fall under two broad categories: 1) promoting the representation of excluded groups in local government, including in leadership positions, and 2) promoting the participation of excluded groups in local meetings to discuss planning, budgeting and development ...» more
Election-related Conflict
Election-related conflict or violence can occur at any stage of the electoral process – from pre-election registration, candidate nomination and campaigning to election day balloting to post-election results. Although election-related conflict is an under-researched area, there is a small body of literature that addresses its potential causes and methods of prevention and ...» more
Demand Driven Technical Assistance
The most common demand-driven technical assistance (TA) mechanism discussed in the literature is the Capacity Building Grant (CBG) or Capacity Building Fund (CBF) - a form of discretionary budget support which gives local authorities the flexibility to determine, finance, and manage training and technical assistance according to their needs. This assistance has thus far ...» more
Electoral Assistance Lessons
Since the 1990s, there has been a movement away from viewing elections and electoral assistance as one-off events, towards viewing them as an integral component of democratic transition and governance. Much of the literature notes that whilst electoral assistance has generally been successful in establishing and promoting the technical aspects of elections, such technical ...» more
Intangible Heritage and Post-Disaster Protection
Key findings: The protection of intangible cultural heritage has increased in prominence in recent years. Natural disasters and man-made disasters have destroyed and threatened much tangible and intangible cultural heritage (e.g. building typologies and skills, handicraft traditions, communal livelihoods and traditions, social relationships and ecological balances). Much of ...» more
Carbon Trading and Local Governance
Although current schemes do not particularly cater to their inclusion, it is possible for local government and local communities to participate in and benefit from carbon markets. This can be done through the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which provides for carbon offset projects in developing countries. Local authorities can register and own CDM ...» more
Political Party Financing
The methods of party financing used in Africa are primarily individual donations (membership fees and fundraising); private sector donations (corporate contributions); public funding (cash subsidies, in-kind or indirect assistance); and foreign donations (foreign governments, diaspora communities).There are advantages and disadvantages to each. In general, it is considered ...» more
Organised Crime and Development
Key findngs: Given the nature of organised crime, it is difficult to monitor and accurately measure its prevalence and economic impact. Some of the literature notes that while levels of organised crime have increased in some regions/countries and decreased in others, its global scale remains roughly the same. However, some experts claim that organised crime is on the increase ...» more
Equatorial Guinea and São Tomé and Principe
The two small island countries of Equatorial Guinea (EG) and São Tomé and Principe (STP) have experienced several governance problems over the years, recently compounded by the discovery of oil and the prospect of oil revenues. Fears of the ‘resource curse’ and the potential for conflict have resulted in a series of reforms projects.There is little documentation available on ...» more
Climate Change and Social Protection
The primary coping strategies and protection measures identified from this Helpdesk research are: Compensation mitigation measures, such as microinsurance and weather-risk crop insurance. In some cases, safety net approaches (e.g. public works, school feeding programmes) are linked to insurance payouts. Ex-ante adaptation measures, such as crop diversification (e.g. technical ...» more
Migrants/Diaspora and Integration
Rising interest in the area of 'transnationalism and integration' has resulted in an increase in research studies in recent years. Most of these studies find that migrant/diaspora involvement in their home countries is not a threat to their integration in host countries. Rather transnationalism and integration can comfortably coexist. Further, some studies have found that ...» more
Quotas for Women’s Representation in Africa
The success of quota systems in many African countries is largely attributed to: strong and active women’s movements; regional bodies such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) that have adopted gender balanced representation and set quota targets for member countries; and opportunities in post-conflict and transition societies, which allowed for advances in ...» more
Underdevelopment and Radicalisation in Bangladesh
While some experts cite poverty as a contributing factor to radicalisation, the vast majority of experts and the literature focus more on political underdevelopment and poor governance; rampant violence, criminality and corruption; non-state service provision by Islamist groups, particularly in education with the expansion of madrassas (religious schools); and the lack of ...» more
Political Economy Methodologies
Traditional concepts of political economy have focused on top down, macro-level approaches that examine institutions and its rules. More recently, ‘institutional economics’ and other methodologies have emphasised the need for a bottom up, micro-level, ‘game theory’ approach that looks at individual interactions and individual incentives to follow institutional rules. This is of ...» more
Stability and Development in Sudan – Three Areas
While there has been progress in the Three Areas (relative peace and stability; economic recovery in agriculture; the return of skilled and educated refugees and IDPs), the region remains volatile. Security is still an issue and the presence of land mines hinders recovery and development. Distrust of central government has persisted.The inadequate state of social services and ...» more
M&E in Fragile States
There is a general consensus on the need to move M&E beyond the project level to the sector and strategic level in fragile states. It is important to assess the overall impact of interventions on stabilising fragile states and promoting sustainable peace. Joint evaluations and agreed upon objectives, among government departments (in the case of ‘whole-of-government’ ...» more
