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Home»Helpdesk Reports

Helpdesk Reports

These rapid-response reports provide digests of key research findings, lessons and expert thinking on specific questions from development practitioners and policymakers. If your question is not already covered below, ask us for a report (free for staff of agencies that we have existing arrangements with).

Impacts of Covid-19 on Inclusive Economic Growth in Middle-income Countries

Helpdesk Report
  • Brian Lucas
May 2020

Covid-19 is likely to cause much greater economic damage than any recent disease outbreak or economic crisis (Shretta, 2020). As of April 2020, the IMF is forecasting that the global economy is likely to contract by -3% in 2020 (IMF, 2020c, p. 1) and that ‘the cumulative loss to global GDP over 2020 and 2021 from the pandemic crisis could be around 9 trillion dollars’, making ...» more

Coping mechanisms in South Sudan in relation to different types of shock

Helpdesk Report
  • William Avis
May 2020

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

Water for the urban poor and Covid-19

Helpdesk Report
  • Rachel Cooper
May 2020

Water, sanitation and hygiene are vital for the suppression and treatment of Covid-19. To maintain and increase access to water for the urban poor and other groups during the crisis, eleven African governments have announced various forms of free water. This includes governments paying users bills in some contexts (e.g. Ghana) and provision of water for vulnerable communities ...» more

Water security beyond Covid-19

Helpdesk Report
  • Rachel Cooper
May 2020

Strengthening water security is essential for preventing and combatting future pandemics. Measures to supress the Covid-19 pandemic, including hand-washing, selfisolating and lockdowns assume that societies, communities and households have sustainable access to acceptable amounts of adequate quality water. However, across developing countries, water insecurity is increasing, ...» more

Media/communications on peacebuilding/social cohesion/changing prevailing narratives on conflict

Helpdesk Report
  • Iffat Idris
May 2020

The media can play a positive role in peacebuilding/conflict prevention. Recognition of this has led to increasing programmes on media/communications and peacebuilding, with common interventions including training of journalists, and development of pro-peace programme content. However, there are significant challenges in designing and implementing such programmes, and even more ...» more

Biodiversity conservation and restoration and Poverty Reduction

Helpdesk Report
  • Rachel Cooper
May 2020

Reconciling the twin goals of biodiversity conservation and restoration, and poverty reduction is difficult. A number of factors seem to influence effectiveness across intervention types including context, intervention design, governance and management quality, community engagement and participation, and intervention or programme length. This report largely focuses on outcomes ...» more

Justice systems in the Sahel

Helpdesk Report
  • Iffat Idris
May 2020

This review looks at justice provision in four countries in the Sahel: Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad. All feature formal (state) justice systems alongside customary/religious justice, with the latter typically being seen by citizens as more accessible, cheaper and less corrupt. State justice systems in all the countries face similar challenges: corruption, resource and ...» more

The use of fossil fuels in the Middle East and North Africa

Helpdesk Report
  • William Avis
May 2020

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

Responding to popular protests in the MENA region

Helpdesk Report
  • Iffat Idris
April 2020

This review looks at government responses to violent protests in a selection of countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Focusing on the 2011 Arab Spring protests, it finds that the initial response of most regimes was violent repression – Tunisia where the president stepped down, and Morocco and Jordan where the respective monarchies promised reform, are the only ...» more

International Actors’ Support on Inclusive Peace Processes

Helpdesk Report
March 2020

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 and behaviour change communication interventions in Mozambique

Helpdesk Report
  • Rachel Cooper
February 2020

Social and behaviour change communication (SBCC) is the use of communication to change behaviours by positively influencing knowledge, attitudes and social norms at the individual and community level. Approaches to SBCC include, but are not limited to: media campaigns, peer educators and mentors, small group sessions, community dialogues and events, and digital tools. This ...» more

Fossils fuels and job creation in Africa

Helpdesk Report
  • Rachel Cooper
January 2020

Fossil fuel development, including oil, gas and coal, can provide or support employment in a number of different ways. Estimates for Africa’s extractive sector as a whole put it as employing less than 1% of Africa’s workforce (Fine et al., 2012). However, it is hard to determine the number of jobs supported directly or indirectly by the fossil fuels industry in different ...» more

Integrated approaches to refugee management in Uganda

Helpdesk Report
  • Iffat Idris
January 2020

Uganda has been a global leader in implementing an integrated approach to refugee management in which refugees enjoy essentially the same rights and access to jobs and services as locals. This approach has benefited both refugees and host communities: the former have land and (limited) livelihood opportunities, the latter benefit from improved services for all and the positive ...» more

Aid and non-state armed groups

Helpdesk Report
  • Siân Herbert
January 2020

This rapid literature review collates lessons related to aid (conditionality) and non-state armed groups (NSAGs). This is a companion paper to Herbert (2019)1 which looks more broadly at lessons from the use of aid conditionality in peace processes, that paper includes greater detail on what conditionality is. While the question posed sought to find information on where ...» more

Conditionality and other approaches to secure women’s rights provisions in peace processes

Helpdesk Report
  • Iffat Idris
January 2020

This rapid literature review found no examples of the use of aid conditionality specifically to ensure inclusion of women’s rights provisions in peace process outcomes but did identify other effective approaches, notably mobilisation of women, external pressure by mediators/international development partners, and funding and capacity building support for women’s groups. There ...» more

Lessons from the use of aid conditionality in peace processes

Helpdesk Report
  • Siân Herbert
January 2020

This rapid literature review collates lessons from the literature on peace conditionality. This is a companion paper to Herbert (2019)1 which looks more specifically at lessons related to aid (conditionality) and non-state armed groups (NSAGs). While there is literature on peace conditionality more generally – e.g. being used for a range of purposes, and at different ...» more

Lessons from stabilisation, statebuilding, and development programming in South Sudan

Helpdesk Report
  • Siân Herbert
January 2020

This rapid literature review collates lessons from major evaluations and learning reviews from development, state-building and stabilisation programming in South Sudan since independence in 2011. Key findings include:  Donors in South Sudan have had to transition from humanitarian to development aid and back and forth a number of times as conflict has broken out. Donors ...» more

Development Characteristics of Small Island Developing States

Helpdesk Report
  • Siân Herbert
December 2019

This rapid literature review explores whether there are specific characteristics of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), or a subgroup of SIDS, which mean that income alone is an inaccurate measure of development. The SIDS classification is a technical and political term used to identify those countries that are considered to face specific and increasing challenges due to ...» more

Engaging new governments on development priorities

Helpdesk Report
  • Rachel Cooper
December 2019

This rapid literature review considers donor engagement with newly elected governments in aid recipient countries. It sought to focus on the immediate period after a new administration is elected and takes office. However, despite the importance of donor-government engagement, few studies were located during the timeframe of this review that focuses on how donors should engage ...» more

Support for civil society engagement in peace processes

Helpdesk Report
  • Iffat Idris
December 2019

There is a widespread acknowledgement of the importance of civil society engagement in peace processes (Inclusive Security, 2013; Peace Direct, 2019). This is reflected in the wide range of interventions being carried out by various donors to support such engagement. This review looks at the effectiveness of interventions specifically aimed at supporting civil society groups ...» more

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