Few international entities working in international development, humanitarian aid, or similar sectors, are systematically implementing gender-sensitive procurement (GSP) in their own operations, a rapid survey of 40 such multilateral, bilateral, and non-profit organisations conducted for this report shows. Of the 15 organisations that responded with information by email, the ...» more
Mapping Women’s Economic Exclusion in Tanzania
Tanzania is one of the best performing economies in East Africa in recent years, which is reflected in improved human development. However, inequalities – including gender inequalities – persist. This report maps evidence for economic exclusion of women in Tanzania. The main source of data used is the 2014 Integrated Labour Force Survey (ILFS), the most recent to be conducted. ...» more
Effects of Violence in the Home on Children’s Mental Health and Psychosocial Wellbeing During Conflict
Being exposed to violence in the home during war increases children’s risk of developing problems in mental health and psychosocial wellbeing (MHPSW), a small but robust evidence base shows. Conversely, this evidence shows that supportive parenting can be a protective factor against the demonstrated negative effects of war on children’s MHPSW. Evidence from multiple sources ...» more
Indicators and Methods for Assessing Entrepreneurship Training Programmes
Entrepreneurship training programmes are an important component of demand-side job creation strategies in developing countries (Fox and Kaul, 2017). Assessments of such programmes are constrained by variations in the programme content, as entrepreneurship training is often combined with grants, life-skills training, internships and mentorship. The targets of these programmes ...» more
The Impact of Entrepreneurship Training Programmes
Entrepreneurship training programmes generally have a positive impact on existing and aspiring entrepreneurs, especially in terms of promoting better business practices. Programmes which provide training for entrepreneurs often include other interventions such as micro-finance, grants, internships or mentorship (McKenzie & Woodruff, 2013). The varied content of the ...» more
Institutional partnerships and twinning between civil service organisations
‘Twinning’ typically entails a form of formalised partnership between similar institutions in the North and South for an indefinite period (Jensen, 2007; Baud et al., 2010), with the aim of strengthening the capacity of partners in developing countries (Jones and Blunt, 1999; Ouchi, 2004). Institutional twinning inherently implies that the primary focus of the capacity ...» more
Conflict, instability and resilience in Nigeria
This paper analyses the structural challenges, root causes and dynamics of conflict, instability and resilience in Nigeria. The first half of the paper explores the overall socio-economic, socio-cultural, political and environmental factors that shape conflict, instability and resilience in Nigeria. The second half of the paper explores the specific regionalised conflicts in ...» more
Mapping of stakeholders engaged in Public Works Programmes (PWPs)
Public works programmes (PWPs) have received increasing attention as a social protection intervention due to their perceived benefits of tackling poverty by addressing basic consumption needs whilst improving public goods and community infrastructure. This helpdesk report maps organisational and individual actors engaged in PWPs in development and humanitarian contexts from a ...» more
Regional cooperation and political stability and prosperity
Regional cooperation takes a number of forms. Types of formal regional cooperation include preferential trade agreements, free trade agreements, customs unions, common markets, economic unions, economic and monetary unions, full economic integration, and political unions (Marinov, 2015, pp. 24-25). The literature identifies a number of benefits and risks of regional ...» more
Using Zakat for international development
This review focuses on Zakat, a particular form of almsgiving within Islam. The value of Zakat is estimated to range from US$ 200 billion to US$ 1 trillion per annum across the world (Stirk, 2015) or around US$ 187 million among countries in the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (Shaikh, 2016). Therefore, interest in mobilising Zakat for poverty alleviation in Muslim ...» more
Inclusive and Green Growth in Developing Countries
This rapid review explores the potential trade-offs involved in supporting Inclusive and Green Growth (IGG) in developing countries. The International Institute for Environment and development comments that to bring about real transformation towards IGG will require leadership, to generate societal demand, including by poor women and men, and to supply supportive governance ...» more
Jobs in Kenya: opportunities and challenges
This report examines job opportunities in Kenya and challenges to their expansion. Job opportunities are measured on three levels: quantity, quality and inclusiveness. All three outcomes matter for a country’s development; “just having jobs is not enough” (World Bank, 2017). For individuals, the quantity, quality and inclusiveness of jobs determine living standards, since jobs ...» more
Disability in South Sudan
Decades of conflict in South Sudan, pre and post-independence in 2011, poverty and poor access to services have increased the rate of disability and rendered people with disabilities more marginalised and excluded as a result of the numerous attitudinal, environmental, and institutional barriers they face, and the lack of concerted efforts to include them. This rapid review ...» more
M&E methods for local government performance
A range of methods can be used to monitor and evaluate whether a programme/workstream has contributed to change in local governance, service delivery and economic development, and to generate understanding and knowledge that can be shared with others to support better governance, service delivery and economic development in a decentralised government system. This report ...» more
Youth initiatives supporting citizen engagement with government
There is a large volume of literature on youth participation in development, including on the benefits of involving young people in local, national, regional and global governance initiatives. Although not as voluminous, there is also a significant body of work on youth participation in civic life, though much of this focuses on issues of education and employment (Oxfam 2016) ...» more
Donor funded alliances promoting regional cooperation
There are a significant number of donor funded regional cooperation arrangements across a broad range of thematic areas. However, the level of their success varies considerably, and the literature search carried out for this report did not identify any unqualified successes. Areas of cooperation include defence, environmental issues and economic integration. There is a ...» more
Aid Absorption: Factors and Measurements
Absorptive capacity refers to ‘the ability to use additional aid without pronounced inefficiency of public spending and without induced adverse effects’ (Bourguignon and Sundberg, 2007, 640). An absorptive capacity limit is a point at which a country can no longer absorb or spend aid efficiently and aid is then subject to diminishing returns (IES, 2017; Dornan and Pryke, ...» more
Lessons Learned from Youth Employment Programmes in Developing Countries
Youth employment programmes are varied but meta-analysis and systematic reviews of impact assessments of these programmes indicate that some interventions have an overall positive effect on employment and earnings. Assessments of programmes which support youth job creation in the private sector find that larger businesses are more likely to generate jobs than micro-enterprises. ...» more
Youth employment programmes in developing countries
Youth employment programmes are varied but meta-analysis and systematic reviews of impact assessments of these programmes indicate that some interventions have an overall positive effect on employment and earnings. Assessments of programmes which support youth job creation in the private sector find that larger businesses are more likely to generate jobs than micro-enterprises. ...» more
Communication interventions supporting positive civic action in Lebanon
This rapid review synthesises data from academic, policy and NGO sources on the role media can play in creating/easing tensions between refugees and the host community, and within the host community itself. Acknowledging the importance media can play in perceptions, and considering the confessional and political nature of the media, the review also maps the media/social media ...» more
