Soomin Oh, Paolo Morini, Jennifer Hudson, and David Hudson Abstract: Donor governments face the challenge of securing public support when providing aid, especially to countries ruled by unsavoury regimes or with high levels of corruption — countries that also face the most urgent development and humanitarian challenges. What shapes public opinion towards development ...» more
Publications
These publications include: short E-Learning Reading Packs by international experts; Helpdesk Reports that quickly summarise the literature on specific questions from practitioners; more in-depth Literature Reviews on key issues and Conflict Analyses of particular contexts; and broader Topic Guides providing overviews of research evidence.
Affirmative action around the world Insights from a new dataset (update)
Rachel M. Gisselquist, Min J. Kim, Simone Schotte, and Chinmayi Srikanth Abstract: Affirmative action (or ‘positive action’) measures have been adopted in dozens of countries around the world as a means of addressing group-based inequalities in educational enrolment, employment, political representation, and other areas. Although there is a large research literature on ...» more
Scaling plastic reuse models in LMICs
To read the full article Click Here This Rapid Evidence Review synthesizes the current evidence base on the design and scalability of “refill on the go” and “return on the go” plastic reuse models in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). With plastic pollution rising sharply, transitioning from single-use to reuse systems presents a significant opportunity to reduce ...» more
Investment in Refugee Education
This Rapid Evidence Review explores how investment in refugee education in Jordan and the wider Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region can contribute to deterring migration, reducing the systemic drivers of violent conflict, building resilience, and promoting greater social and economic stability. While the evidence base is mixed and largely illustrative, key findings ...» more
Pathways to Increase Rural Women’s Agency Within Social Protection Programmes
This rapid evidence review explores literature on how social protection programmes, particularly cash transfers and public works programmes, can address various dimensions of poverty and wellbeing that rural women face. This review focuses on the economic aspect of women’s livelihoods and wellbeing and examines how the design and implementation of social protection programmes ...» more
Local Perspectives on Reconciliation in the Western Balkans
This rapid evidence review explores how reconciliation is perceived and understood by local communities across the Western Balkans. Recognizing that the concept of reconciliation is inherently contested, the review synthesizes findings from academic literature, donor reports, and local studies, with a particular focus on Bosnia and Herzegovina. It identifies a broad spectrum of ...» more
Lessons From Interventions That Address Livelihoods and Cross-border Conflict Systems
This rapid literature review brings together lessons from interventions that address the link between livelihood pressures and cross-border conflict systems. There is limited literature on this exact question, thus, this paper draws together findings from: the general livelihoods literature; literature on livelihoods programming in fragile and conflict affected states (FCAS) ...» more
Responses to conflict, irregular migration, human trafficking and illicit flows along transnational pathways in West Africa
This paper explores the links between conflict, irregular migration, human trafficking and other illicit flows along transnational pathways in West Africa – focusing on Niger, Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso and Libya as well as the responses to these. The West Africa region is the site of numerous intrastate conflicts, which have transnational dimensions. Even were there is ...» more
Drivers, Barriers and Opportunities of E-waste Management in Africa
Population growth, increasing prosperity and changing consumer habits globally are increasing demand for consumer electronics. Further to this, rapid changes in technology, falling prices and consumer appetite for better products have exacerbated e-waste management challenges and seen millions of tons of electronic devices become obsolete. This rapid literature review collates ...» more
Cross-border pastoral mobility and cross-border conflict in Africa – patterns and policy responses
Pastoralism is estimated to be the main livelihood of 268 million people in Africa, and is critically dependent on mobility which facilitates the use of transient resources in areas of high and seasonal rainfall, ecological, and nutritional variability. These landscapes are not confined within state boundaries but require cross-border movement. This rapid literature review ...» more
Incorporating Gender Perspective in Peace Operations since 2018
This rapid literature review collates evidence from academic, policy focussed and grey literature on progress on incorporating gender perspectives in peace operations since 2018, including the deployment of female peacekeepers, and the emerging issues in this field. Key messages that emerge from this review include: The focus on women’s participation in peace processes has led ...» more
Intersecting social inequalities
Analysis of intersecting social inequalities is key to effective, inclusive interventions in crisis settings. Gender equality and social inclusion analytical frameworks provide key research questions and participatory methodologies which seek to understand: Who is excluded? How are they excluded? Why are they excluded? What can be done to address this and support greater ...» more
Donor Support for the Human Rights of LGBT+
This rapid review synthesises evidence on the bilateral and multilateral donors promoting and protecting the human rights of LGBT+ people on a global scale. It focusses on those donors that have policies, implementation plans and programmes on LGBT+ rights. This review also examines the evidence on the impact of their work. The bilateral donors providing the most ...» more
Interventions to Address Discrimination against LGBTQi Persons
Most of the programmes and interventions that are mentioned in the literature address LGBTQi rights by ensuring that men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender people have access to healthcare that is funded by international aid. The other main conduit of support is to use aid funds to provide financial and technical support to organisations and activists who advocate for ...» more
Documentation of survivors of gender-based violence (GBV)
Documentation of gender-based violence (GBV) cases is important in allowing survivors to access support services and secure justice, and – on a wider scale – for analysis and improvement in GBV responses. GBV documentation carries significant risks for survivors and others, and hence must be taken with care. Key principles include: do no harm, take a survivor centred approach, ...» more
Increasing Birth Registration for Children of Marginalised Groups in Pakistan
This review looks at approaches to promote birth registration among marginalised groups, in order to inform programming in Pakistan. It draws on a mixture of academic and grey literature, in particular reports by international development organizations. While there is extensive literature on rates of birth registration and the barriers to this, and consensus on approaches to ...» more
Maintaining basic state functions and service delivery during escalating crises
This rapid literature review explores how to maintain essential state functions and basic service delivery during escalating conflict situations. It draws on literature and ideas from various overlapping agendas including development and humanitarian nexus; development, humanitarian and peacebuilding nexus (the “triple nexus”); fragile states; state-building; conflict ...» more
Interaction Between Food Prices and Political Instability
This report reviews the literature on links between international food prices and political instability (including protests, riots and social unrest). The literature on food prices and protests, riots, unrest, or violent incidents consists mainly of peer-reviewed scholarly articles that utilise econometric modeling. Some early studies examined the links between international ...» more
Role of Faith and Belief in Environmental Engagement and Action in MENA Region
Almost all religions reflect on the creation of the universe, or universes, in different forms and with varying degrees of clarity or detail. Common across most religions is an agreement that “creation” is an act of God and should be treated as such. This rapid literature review collates evidence on the role of faith and belief in environmental engagement and action in MENA ...» more
Donor Support to Electoral Cycles
This rapid literature review explains the stages of an election cycle, and how donors provide support to electoral cycles. It draws mainly on policy guidance websites and papers due to the questions of this review and the level of analysis taken (global-level, donor-level). It focuses on publications from the last five years, and/or current/forthcoming donor strategies. The ...» more
