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
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).
Post-2015 accountability mechanisms
Key messages: The Post-2015 Development Agenda refers to a currently ongoing process of defining the future global development framework, which will succeed the United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The details and wording are yet to be agreed, but there are, however, a significant number of proposals for goals and targets, and with them descriptions, in some ...» more
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex rights in national human rights institutions
NHRIs almost unanimously take a universal human rights stance which is validated and backed up by the UN. This institutional support allows NHRIs to criticise governments for failing to support certain human rights. NHRIs often emphasise that LGBTI rights are contained within existing UN rights principles, particularly the rights to privacy, health, life, freedom from ...» more
Evaluations of scaling up
Factors that affect the success of scaling up include: Politics: A number of evaluations suggest that political support is a key success factor, and offer recommendations on how to build this support. Demonstrating how the programme will help achieve key government goals, as well as building personal connections with government officials. Decentralisation can make scale up ...» more
Urban humanitarian crises
The degree to which a city is vulnerable to humanitarian crises depends on location-specific physical, social, economic and environmental factors. The literature suggests that geographically, cities in Asia are the most vulnerable to natural disasters. Asian cities also experience the most diverse range of natural disasters. The main causes of urban vulnerability are often ...» more
Working with members of parliament’s constituency funds
The key points from this rapid literature review include: CDFs are a relatively recent phenomenon (with most being established from the 2000s onwards), and they are relatively few in number (Barkan & Mattes, forthcoming). As a result, little is known about them. Countries that have used CDFs include: South Sudan; Philippines; Honduras; Nepal; Pakistan; Jamaica; Solomon Islands; ...» 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
Problem-driven iterative approaches and wider governance reform
A problem-driven, iterative approach to institutional reform involves (i) solving defined performance problems through (ii) creating an environment amenable to experimentation, (iii) creating tight feedback loops, and (iv) engaging a broad set of actors. Such an approach has recently been termed as PDIA (problem-driven iterative adaptation), with analysis suggesting that ...» more
New thinking on governance issues
There is a wide and diverse literature on political economy, public administration, public financial management, procurement, and social accountability. This literature search is neither comprehensive nor exhaustive, but instead a rapid review that looks to identify literature that provides novel approaches or insights, as well as notable literature that provides a good ...» more
Evidence of impact of emergency cash transfers on gender and protection
Key messages: The major trends and gaps in the evidence in this report are: On the whole, ‘gender’ is used to refer to women. More recent papers include more analysis of how CTs impact men, especially on if they find it disempowering for women to be favoured as beneficiaries. Gender analysis is not deeply ingrained into emergency CT programme evaluation. Many papers include a ...» more
Defining social protection systems
There is no common definition and a lack of clarity among the available literature of what the selected organisations consider these to be. Some organisations advocate a child-sensitive approach to social protection (for example UNICEF and Save the Children), while others take a right-based perspective (such as SIDA and IDS). Some of the research think tanks contacted indicated ...» 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
Prioritising and sequencing public sector reform
While there is a great deal of literature that alludes to the importance on prioritising and sequencing reform, there is very little literature that defines, in detail, what order public sector reform should take place. The exception to this is within specific public sector reform areas, such as Public Financial Management (PFM), where there is significant literature that ...» more
Increasing financial investment in women and girls through gender responsive budgeting
Overall, evidence indicates that it is difficult to attribute financial change to GRB initiatives. There are a limited range of impacts attributed to GRB, however less specific details provided on why initiatives have been successful. Drawing from the literature that is available, some of the identified successes, and factors contributing to their success, include: South ...» more
Benefits of urbanisation in Asia
This report reviews selected literature on urbanisation in East, South and South-East Asia, and draws out its developmental benefits and lessons for donors. There is a strong evidence base on urbanisation and urban poverty, but mostly looking at the development challenges of increasing urbanisation. Since the literature largely takes a negative or problem-solving approach to ...» more
Electoral accountability in Indonesia
There are many different definitions of electoral accountability. For the purposes of this report, electoral accountability is defined as citizens’ ability to use electoral mechanisms to incentivise politicians to act in their interests. In his literature review on electoral institutions and local government accountability Packel (2008, p. 1) notes that that “little ...» more
Direct elections and responsiveness in Indonesia
According to Rodden and Wibbels (2012, p. 4), responsiveness refers to a situation where “candidates offer, and then implement, distinctive platforms that reflect constituent preferences or demands.” This is the definition that is used for the purpose of this report. It is difficult to establish whether direct elections are the main driver of responsiveness. This is because ...» more
Voting behaviour in Indonesia Impact of information and performance
The literature is divided on the impact of information about performance in service delivery on voting behaviour. While some authors find that performance information has an impact on voter behaviour, others find that it has no impact on the reelection of incumbents. The literature on the impact of performance in service delivery on voting behaviour in Indonesia is also ...» more
Voting behaviour of marginalised groups in Indonesia
While there is limited evidence on the voting behaviour of individual groups living in conflict-afflicted provinces, the literature provides some information about the voting behaviour of people living in ethnically and religiously diverse conflict-afflicted/post-conflict provinces in Indonesia. This rapid literature review found very little evidence on whether other ...» more
Restrictions on humanitarian aid to refugees
The evidence base for this question is extremely weak. Very little of the literature uncovered during this rapid review engages directly or in depth with the question of the impact of such aid restrictions. Even fewer analyse how the humanitarian community has responded to these restrictions. A related debate is ongoing around aid provisions to urban refugees and the ...» more
