In post-conflict environments, the international community plays an important role in supporting successful planning, delivery, and embedding of elections within a wider context of support to political systems and democratisation. This rapid review provides an overview of lessons on developing more inclusive politics through sub-national electoral processes in recent academic, ...» more
The COVID-19 Pandemic and Response on Violent Extremist Recruitment and Radicalisation
This rapid evidence review provides evidence on the potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and response on violent extremist recruitment and radicalisation. It draws on a mixture of academic and grey literature from multinational and bilateral institutions as well as nongovernment organisations (NGOs) and think tanks. Given the rapidly developing global context, it also ...» more
Coping mechanisms in South Sudan in relation to different types of shock
This rapid evidence review provides an assessment of negative and positive coping mechanisms of different groups (based on wealth (below the poverty line/elites), gender, age, (dis)abilities, geographies (rural/urban), and ethnicity of people in South Sudan in relation to different types of shock. It draws predominantly on a range of grey literature from multinational and ...» more
The use of fossil fuels in the Middle East and North Africa
This rapid literature review collates evidence from academic and grey literature on the use of fossil fuels in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). MENA, for much of its recent history, has been known for its energy wealth. The region is, however, significantly diverse, not only in terms of economic and political structures, but also in terms of energy resource and ...» more
International Actors’ Support on Inclusive Peace Processes
This rapid literature review collates evidence from academic and grey literature on support on inclusive peace processes. The review identified limited evidence based on robust evaluations, there is, however, a wide range of reviews (principally case studies) of peace processes and national dialogues that have been collected and collated to distil lessons on what works and ...» more
Social protection
Social protection is commonly understood as ‘all public and private initiatives that provide income or consumption transfers to the poor, protect the vulnerable against livelihood risks and enhance the social status and rights of the marginalised; with the overall objective of reducing the economic and social vulnerability of poor, vulnerable and marginalised groups’ (Devereux ...» more
Urban Expansion in Nigeria
This rapid literature review surveys the available literature on urban expansion in Nigerian cities/towns over the coming decades. It presents information on population growth, geographic expansion and urban density to illustrate that urban centres in Nigeria are expanding at different rates which are dependent on the aspect of urbanisation considered. Rapid urbanisation is ...» more
Challenges Religious Minorities Face in Accessing Humanitarian Assistance
This rapid literature review, surveys evidence regarding the challenges specific religious minorities face in accessing humanitarian assistance. This review acknowledges that there remains a paucity of research on the presence, scale and diversity of religious groups, experiences, values, motivations and engagements in a range of humanitarian contexts and how these intersect to ...» more
Current Trends in Violent Conflict
This rapid literature review presents the key literature that discusses current trends in violent conflict. The focus is upon recent ideas that are prevalent in literature from post-2015. The literature review draws on both academic and grey literature. The review includes both quantitative analyses of conflict data sets (Szayna et al, 2017a; 2017b; Watts, 2017) and qualitative ...» more
Place-based approaches to aid investment and development impact
This rapid literature review surveys the available academic and grey literature on place o area-based approaches to aid investment and its role in the delivery of effective and coherent development impact1. Place- or area-based approaches to aid investment and development refer to a broad array of interventions under which a place or area is identified as the main entry point, ...» more
Rebuilding Pastoralist Livelihoods During and After Conflict
The impacts of different approaches to protecting and promoting/rebuilding pastoralist livelihoods during and after conflict is mixed, complicated by the evolving nature of the conflict (including its different forms), the range of pastoral groups operating across African contexts and the supranational nature of their activities. This rapid review synthesises findings from a ...» more
Joint Operating Principles among Humanitarian Actors to Improve Access
This six-day helpdesk review provides an overview of academic, policy and practitioner literature that explores lessons or evidence from efforts to establish joint operating principles agreed by humanitarian actors to improve humanitarian access and factors that contributed to their success or failure? While there is some general guidance on strategies to address access ...» more
Inclusive and Green Growth in Developing Countries
This rapid review explores the potential trade-offs involved in supporting Inclusive and Green Growth (IGG) in developing countries. The International Institute for Environment and development comments that to bring about real transformation towards IGG will require leadership, to generate societal demand, including by poor women and men, and to supply supportive governance ...» more
Livelihood Options and Pathways out of Poverty in Nepal
This rapid review synthesises findings from a rigorous academic, practitioner, and policy references published in the past 10 years that discuss livelihood options and pathways out of poverty for households in Nepal. The World Bank (2016) highlights that in 1991, circa 40% of the Nepali population were identified as poor. Further rounds of the Nepal Living Standard Surveys ...» more
Scenario thinking and usage among development actors
Scenario thinking is a strategic planning method that organisations use to make flexible long-term plans. Recent discussions of this method offered by the Foresight Horizon Scanning Centre (2009) define scenario thinking (they refer to it as scenario planning) as ‘a futures technique for medium to long-term strategic analysis and planning used to develop policies and strategies ...» more
Digital tools and changing behaviour in relation to violence against women
The advent of technology-based solutions brings with it both opportunities and challenges. On the one hand, technology has the potential to play a key role in transforming gender inequality and unequal social relations; on the other, it may encourage new forms of violence against women. A number of factors have been identified that contribute to the success of digital ...» more
Criminal networks and the illicit wildlife trade
This five day help desk review provides an overview of academic, policy and practitioner literature that examines the illicit wildlife trade and criminal networks. Whilst there is a broad consensus that the illegal wildlife trade is a pressing and growing concern, there is much debate as to what this trade entails and who the key actors are. It is important to highlight that ...» more
Data on the prevalence of the worst forms of child labour
This rapid review synthesises findings from rigorous academic, practitioner, and policy references published in the past fifteen years that discuss the prevalence of the worst forms of child labour. Globally, children are routinely engaged in paid and unpaid forms of work that are considered not harmful to them. They are classified as child labourers when they are either too ...» more
Mapping donor activities in support of tax capacity
Domestic resource mobilisation has become a high priority on the international development agenda, with building tax capacity integral to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the G20’s Tax agenda. This rapid review provides a mapping of the most prominent agencies and initiatives working on tax capacity building, identifying key work streams and ...» more
Drivers of conflict in the Swat Valley, Pakistan
There is a substantial body of literature that explores drivers of conflict in the Swat Valley, but assessments of the impact of interventions are more limited. While the drivers of conflict in the Swat Valley have some unique characteristics, it is difficult to separate these from the genesis of militancy in the wider Afghanistan/Pakistan border region given their shared ...» more
