Much attention has been directed at the international commitments to assist developing countries respond to climate change. This is reflected in the debate over the commitments made under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: at the UNFCCC negotiations in Copenhagen in 2009, developed countries committed to jointly mobilise $100 billion climate finance per…» more
Professional development reading packs
Professional development reading packs provide thought-provoking introductions by international experts to governance, social development, conflict and humanitarian topics and the emerging issues and debates within them. Most packs are accompanied by video presentations.
Acceptance strategies in conflict
Acceptance is a risk management strategy based on reducing threats to aid workers by reducing the motivation of others to harm them. The thinking is that if aid work is viewed positively, it will generate goodwill towards aid workers and allow them to work safely. Degrees of acceptance can vary, ranging from a high level…» more
Gender responsive budgeting
Gender responsive budgeting (GRB) brings together two issues that are not commonly associated with one another: gender equality and public financial management. GRB argues that gender equality principles should be incorporated into all stages of the budget process. GRB initiatives seek to improve the results of budgets in general, and gender equality and women’s empowerment…» more
Thinking and working politically
Development assistance works best, and is least liable to do harm, when the people designing it are thinking and working politically (TWP). This thought has been around for some time, but what it implies in practice has not always been clear. Big steps have been taken to encourage donor agency staff to think politically about…» more
Crime and conflict
Practitioners increasingly recognise that they need a better understanding of the link between crime and conflict. Many informal accounts suggest the political power of organised crime groups in violent and fragile contexts is growing. In the absence of functioning institutions and strong state-society relations, organised crime groups infiltrate local and national political systems to serve…» more
Legitimacy, statebuilding and conflict
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ejxkg9NkFc (This 10-minute presentation accompanying the reading pack was recorded at the GSDRC Seminar on Conflict and Development, London, 23 March 2015.) Building legitimacy is widely considered to be a central aspect of statebuilding efforts in fragile and conflict-affected states. It features prominently in the statebuilding policies of donors and the G7+ alike. In the…» more
Jobs, unemployment and violence
(This 10-minute presentation accompanying the reading pack was recorded at the GSDRC Seminar on Conflict and Development, London, 23 March 2015.) The notion that unemployment is a strong probable cause or motivating factor behind violence and violent conflict is remarkably pervasive in international development. It is believed that unemployment triggers participation in insurgencies, prompts people…» more
Decentralisation
What is meant by decentralisation and why is it so popular? Some form of public sector decentralisation is nearly universal practice. Is there clear justification? What is known about how well it works? How can policymakers and practitioners try to better design and implement decentralisation so as to reap potential benefits and limit potential problems?…» more
Horizontal inequalities
(This 15-minute presentation accompanying the reading pack was recorded at the GSDRC Seminar on Conflict and Development, London, 23 March 2015.) Civil wars are one of the main sources of state fragility, low incomes and poor human development. Hence, policies to prevent conflict must be a high priority for those concerned with promoting development in…» more
Elections and democracy support
The two main types of international elections support—technical aid for election administration and election monitoring—both got significantly underway in the second half of the 1980s and then mushroomed in the 1990s as democracy spread globally. Both remain active areas today though they are not, as many people in the developing world often think, the largest…» more
Public financial management
PFM: Why does it matter and how best to improve it? What is Public Financial Management (PFM)? PFM refers to the set of laws, rules, systems and processes used by sovereign nations (and sub-national governments), to mobilise revenue, allocate public funds, undertake public spending, account for funds and audit results. It encompasses a broader set…» more
Social policy
The development of social policy as a discipline is associated with the emergence of welfare states in European countries. This reading guide provides the user with some key texts and narrative. The development of European countries involved the progressive extension of rights, civil rights in the 18th century, political rights in the 19th century, and…» more
Gender in development
Gender inequality matters to development for two reasons. First, it is a justice problem. Ideologies of women’s inferiority are used to justify serious human rights abuses including female infanticide, child marriage, female genital mutilation, sexual violence, and deprivation of equal access to health care, education, property, employment and pay. Second, gender inequality is developmentally inefficient….» more
Gender and humanitarian issues
A wealth of academic research and UN, INGO, NGO and CSO publications document the differences between the needs, capacities and perceptions of women and men and boys and girls on the types of humanitarian assistance needed in a natural or man-made disaster. When these different perspectives are not taken into account interventions are not effective…» more
Humanitarian action
The aim of humanitarian action is to support people affected by conflict and natural disasters – to save lives, alleviate suffering and maintain human dignity during crisis. Humanitarian action can take many forms and has been conceived in many different ways over time. As enshrined in United Nations (UN) Resolution 46/182 (1991), it is associated…» more
Public service reform
The focus in this Pack is on action: on the public service reform intervention, conceived as an exercise in helping. The readings included in this pack have been chosen to be interesting and fresh rather than comprehensive; that is, to stimulate thinking rather than necessarily to ‘cover all the bases’ in public service reform as…» more
