Elite capture is a significant concern. The evidence is clear that 'uncontrolled' CDD will not necessarily benefit women, the poor and other disadvantaged groups. Women's participation is a central problem as they do not usually have the time and/or confidence to contribute to village planning processes. To reach women and other disadvantaged groups, CDD needs to have explicit ...» 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).
Transparency and accountability
More and better data is thought to be a necessary but not sufficient condition for increasing citizens’ access to that data. Likewise, increased access to more and better data is seen as a necessary but not sufficient condition for strengthening a government’s political accountability to its citizens. To date, however, there is limited understanding of exactly how, where and ...» more
Cost of elections in fragile states
There is limited literature available on this topic. A lot of the information that is available only provides the cost of certain elements of the election, mainly in relation to voter registration. In addition, there appear to be inconsistencies in the costings provided by the available sources. The most comprehensive source currently available is “CORE: A Global Survey on ...» more
Assessing seismic risk in Ethiopia
There is limited literature available in this area. Abeye (2012) argues that an updated seismic hazard map of Africa is long overdue. In a case study analysis of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, a 1999 UNIDSR report identified as challenges an absence of previous seismic risk assessment, few specialists and limited practice in seismology and earthquake engineering, low ...» more
Gender in Political Economy Analysis
An initial review of the literature indicates that gender is not systematically included in PEA. This was also conveyed by a number of experts consulted for this report, who stated that few if any PEAs to their knowledge had included a gender analysis, with the issue usually treated only in passing. The report nevertheless highlights the existing examples of gender-oriented ...» more
Disability inclusion in social protection
Key Findings: Three types of programmes: i) targeted specifically at people with disabilities; ii) mainstream programmes; and iii) targeted mainstream programmes explicitly including people with disabilities. Targeting: programmes can target all disabled people, or be means tested for a particular level or type of disability, or targeted at children with disabilities. ...» more
State legitimacy in Afghanistan and the role of the international community
The literature identified through this rapid literature review highlighted a number of factors that support or undermine the legitimacy of the Afghan state, including: local governance structures; corruption; service delivery; legitimising ideologies of the Afghan state; accountability deficits; and the 2001 Bonn Agreement. In terms of evidence of international community ...» more
Social transfer evaluation syntheses
This paper includes cash transfers, cash-for-work, asset transfers and pensions. It excludes all other types of social protection, such as microfinance, food-for-work, school feeding, vouchers, and insurance. It lists meta-analyses, systematic reviews, syntheses and meta-evaluations, and excludes single programme evaluations. This report does not include primary research ...» more
Sending messages to reduce violent conflict
Key findings Research for this helpdesk report did not find a specific body of literature focused on sending messages to change attitudes, norms and behaviour about violent conflict. Rather, there is a wide range of literature that covers interventions to address conflict, which include the sending of messages in one form or another, and often as part of a wider strategy. This ...» more
Preventive diplomacy and conflict prevention
This report provides an overview of the literature on preventive diplomacy and conflict prevention, with particular emphasis on regional approaches to preventive diplomacy. The last few years have seen a renewed interest in both preventive diplomacy and conflict prevention. Regional initiatives are playing an increasingly important role in preventive diplomacy and conflict ...» more
The shadow economy in conflict-affected countries
Approaches which can be used to leverage the positive social function that shadow economies provide to conflict-affected populations include: Using humanitarian aid to complement people’s coping strategies (Goodhand, 2006). Understanding the relationship between different aspects of the economy through stakeholder assessments can reduce the risk that interventions have ...» more
Measuring disaster resilience
Several agencies have developed guidance for measuring disaster resilience. One of the most comprehensive and widely-cited frameworks is Twigg’s (2009) ‘characteristics of resilience’ framework. Based on five dimensions of resilience identified in the Hyogo Framework for Action (governance, risk assessment, knowledge and education, risk management and vulnerability reduction, ...» more
Stakeholder effectiveness in natural resource management
Countries that are rich in natural resources, both renewable resources such as forests and fisheries, and non-renewable resources such as oil and minerals, have not produced more positive development outcomes than non-resource rich countries. To improve development outcomes and avert several types of harmful effects – often grouped together and termed the ‘resource curse’ – ...» more
Peacebuilding and economic growth
This report provides an overview of the literature on the relationship between peacebuilding and economic recovery and growth in fragile and conflict affected states, with particular emphasis on the Asia-Pacific context. The majority of the conflicts occurring in the Asia-Pacific region take place at the sub-national level. There is evidence to suggest that while many of the ...» more
Post-graduation from social protection
This paper reviews the results of social protection graduation programmes. It highlights whether people who leave the programmes are lifted sustainably out of poverty, and what changes they experience in their lives and livelihoods. The first part of the report reviews general lessons about how graduation happens and whether there are any impacts on employment, and the second ...» 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
PEA in the mining/extractives sector
Political economy analysis (PEA) is a form of analysis concerned with understanding the prevailing political and economic processes governing behavior in society – specifically, how these processes affect the incentives of different actors, and the distribution and contestation of power between them. It is intended to support more effective and politically feasible development ...» more
Democratic Republic of the Congo internally displaced persons and refugees’ relations with host communities
This is a relatively unexplored area with the literature limited mainly to NGO reports. However a few studies have looked at the questions and find that the reasons IDPs/refugees choose to stay with host communities are a combination of factors relating to their physical, emotional and spiritual security, including: They have a negative perception of the conditions in camps and ...» more
Effectiveness of sector-wide approaches in fragile contexts
There is no consistently strong evidence that sector-wide approaches (SWAps) have been effective at achieving development outcomes in fragile contexts. Available evidence is mixed, partly because of the uniqueness of each country’s context (Negin 2010, p. 5). SWAps are generally considered to be most appropriate in relatively stable low- and middle-income countries, with ...» more
Inter-state commitments on governance
This mapping gives an overview of 23 international, regional and thematic inter-state commitments on good governance. Many of the initiatives included apply to governance in general, but some have specific thematic objectives, such as anti-corruption or building state capacity. Some of the listed commitments are legally binding, such as the Rome Statute of the International ...» more
