This weekly Covid-19, Conflict, and Governance Evidence Summary aim to signpost DFID and other UK government departments to the latest evidence and opinions on Covid-19 (C19), to inform and support their responses. This week, features resources on democratic backsliding under C19; how C19 is increasing gender inequality in conflict affected contexts and is increasing domestic…» more
E-Learning
These 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.
Covid-19, Conflict, and Governance Evidence Summary No.6
This weekly Covid-19, Conflict, and Governance Evidence Summary aim to signpost DFID and other UK government departments to the latest evidence and opinions on Covid-19 (C19), to inform and support their responses. This week, features resources on public perceptions of government responses to C19 (comparing views from democracies and non-democracies) and how C19 is shaping…» more
Covid-19, Conflict, and Governance Evidence Summary No.5
This week, features resources on virtual parliaments and virtual qualitative research methods; and how C19 is affecting positive peace, conflict dynamics, and peacekeeping. Many of the core C19 themes continue to be covered this week, including increasing gender-based violence and hunger, C19-related media suppression, the evolving new world order (or ‘disorder’), and corruption. The summary…» more
Covid-19, Conflict, and Governance Evidence Summary No.4
This weekly Covid-19, Conflict, and Governance Evidence Summary aims to signpost DFID and other UK government departments to the latest evidence and opinions on Covid-19 (C19), to inform and support their responses. This week, features resources on: the gender gap in C19 responses; questions to ensure conflict sensitivity in C19 responses; how to protect children…» more
Covid-19, Conflict, and Governance Evidence Summary No.3
This weekly Covid-19 Conflict and Governance Evidence Summary aims to signpost DFID and other UK government departments to the latest evidence and opinions on Covid-19 (C19), to inform and support their responses. This week features resources on why we need ‘leader-centred’ analysis to understand how individual leaders’ choices have shaped the effectiveness of C19 responses…» more
Covid-19, Conflict, and Governance Evidence Summary No.2
This weekly Covid-19 Conflict and Governance Evidence Summary aims to signpost DFID and other UK government departments to the latest evidence and opinions on Covid-19 (C19), to inform and support their responses. This week, key focus issues and themes include: the impact of C19 in Latin America, as it now appears to be the epicentre…» more
Covid-19, Conflict, and Governance Evidence Summary No.1
This weekly Covid-19 Conflict and Governance Evidence Summary aims to signpost DFID and other UK government departments to the latest evidence and opinions on Covid-19, to inform and support their responses. This week, many of the key themes that emerged at the start of the Covid-19 continue to be discussed, including: allegations of corruption related…» more
Implementing Public Financial Management Reform
Changing existing governance systems can be challenging, especially if communication of the changes, the reasons behind them, and the planned or expected results to be achieved are lacking. In fragile and conflict-affected states (FCAS), this can be further complicated by the involvement of international agencies and their relationships with country governments, as well as by…» more
Poverty and conflict
Poverty and conflict are widely understood to be closely interconnected; with poverty making countries more prone to civil war, and armed conflict weakening governance and economic performance, thus increasing the risk of conflict relapse (Goodhand 2001). The selected readings in this pack move beyond reductive and harmful assumptions about ‘pathologies’ of poverty to examine the…» more
National climate governance and politics
In the wake of the Paris Agreement on climate change, multilaterals and aid agencies are shifting significant attention to the national arena, where the fulfilment of climate commitments will depend upon new legal and regulatory frameworks, supporting institutions, and the political support within and outside the government. The characteristics of climate change—complexity, uncertainty, irreversibility, and…» more
Humanitarian learning resource guide
This 12-page guide is designed to provide DFID staff and other interested parties with information about free online courses and materials they can use to develop or refresh their humanitarian technical competencies. It is not an exhaustive list, but provides a starting point for those working to support DFID’s humanitarian objectives. Further resources may be…» more
Social movements
Social movements as contentious politics Social movements are large, often informal groupings of people who come together against power holders around a common cause, in response to situations of perceived inequality, oppression and/or unmet social, political, economic or cultural demands. At their core, social movements are not about “polite debate” or “invited spaces” of interaction between…» more
Social protection systems
A social protection system, in an international development context, is broadly understood to be an integrated national portfolio of interventions which aims to serve four basic functions for households and individuals: protection of a minimum standard of living, prevention of deprivation through increasing resilience to shocks, and promotion of sustainable livelihood improvements. At a societal…» more
Governance, politics and growth
In recent years, there has been an increasing realisation that political institutions and governance matter when explaining economic growth in developing countries. Here, political institutions refer to the process of collective decision-making and the checks on politicians and politically and economically powerful interest groups. Governance refers to the capability of the state to provide public…» more
Stabilisation
What is stabilisation? Stabilisation efforts have become a common policy component of intervention in conflict response throughout the world. In recent years, there have been significant stabilisation interventions in places such as the Western Balkans, Haiti and Mali, among others. The concept of stabilisation, understood as the requirement to meet basic humanitarian and development needs…» more
Urban governance in fragile cities
The planet is urbanising at a rapid pace. There is no agreed definition of what constitutes a city, however the world’s new geography includes dozens of super cities (population of 40 million+), hyper-cities (population of at least 20 million), conurbations and more. While a number of the world’s largest cities still reside in North America…» more
Webinar: Urban governance
On July 13 2016, Dr Robert Muggah (Igarapé Institute), and Dr Jaideep Gupte (IDS) joined GSDRC Research Fellow Dr William Avis to discuss key issues on urban governance, including urban governance in fragile cities. An audio-only version is available here.
Security and justice
Security and justice are priorities for poor people, are core functions of the state, and frequently considered prerequisites for economic and social development and prevention of violent conflict. The creation of spaces where people feel safe and secure are also at the heart of statebuilding. However, approaches to security and justice remain heavily contested, overlapping…» more
Identity
What is identity? Identity is as much about how people describe themselves and others as it is inherently about difference – defining a group with regards to dissimilarities in cultural, gendered, sexual, ethnic or national markers among others. Questions relating to identity may also be buried in other terms and framing depending on context –…» more
Taxation, governance and growth
Historically, tax research has been dominated by two questions: how to enhance revenue collection in order to finance redistribution and public goods and services, and how to design tax policy to strengthen incentives for economic growth (Joshi et al. 2014; Moore 2013). However, the past decade has witnessed surging interests in a third possibility: that…» more
