Somalia is a country of origin, destination, transit and return for a large number of people moving across the Horn of Africa region and beyond. Somalis have fled the country in large numbers since the late 1960s as a result of war, poverty and a lack of freedom. Protracted conflict and the absence of a functioning government have produced a diaspora of between 1 and 1.5 ...» more
Rapid fragility and migration assessment for Ethiopia
Migratory context and drivers: Until the early 1990s, Ethiopia was one of the largest sources of refugees and migrants in Africa; since then it has become the largest refugee-hosting country in Africa. Compared with many other countries in Africa, Ethiopia has a relatively low international migration rate. Analysis anticipates Ethiopia may experience rising outward ...» more
Rapid fragility and migration assessment for Eritrea
Eritreans have fled the country in large numbers since the 1960s as a result of war, poverty and a lack of freedom. The 30-year long Independence war produced a diaspora of over a million people, mostly based in Sudan, the Middle East, Europe and the US. Significant numbers displaced during this war returned after Independence in 1993 and throughout the remainder of the ...» more
Rapid fragility and migration assessment for Sudan
Sudan is a source, transit, and destination country for migrants. Sudanese migrants are a mixed group of refugees and asylum seekers, economic migrants and, to a lesser extent, foreign students. The majority are men aged 25–40, and they come from a wide range of socioeconomic and educational backgrounds. The majority of refugees and asylum seekers are in neighbouring ...» more
Violent extremism
‘Violent extremism’ is rarely defined: neither the United Nations nor the European Union has an official definition. USAID defines it as “advocating, engaging in, preparing, or otherwise supporting ideologically motivated or justified violence to further social, economic or political objectives”. However, this apparently simple and obvious statement conceals a great deal of controversy and uncertainty….» more
Human rights
Human rights emerged as a new field in international development in the 1990s. By 1997, the UN Secretary-General had called on all UN development agencies to mainstream human rights (1997), while development donors and NGOs increasingly committed themselves to a human rights approach. Diverse factors explain this seeming breakthrough of human rights. First, a growing…» more
Supporting reconciliation in post-conflict situations
The key literature on reconciliation approaches is not very recent. However, there is a reasonable body of more recent evidence, particularly from Africa, of on-ground experience of implementing diverse reconciliation mechanisms. Given that reconciliation must be an indigenous process, one which donors can support but not lead/impose (see below), the literature says little ...» more
Webinar video: Social norms and violence against women and girls
Dr Lori Heise (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) and Emma Fulu (the Equality Institute) gave short presentations on social norms and violence against women and girls. They drew on their experience and research to reflect on comments and questions raised by participating development practitioners. Download the presentations here and here. The webinar was held on…» more
Building social cohesion in post-conflict situations
The approaches covered in this report include community-driven development, job creation, social protection and education. Whilst in theory there are strong links between these and social cohesion, there is very little rigorous empirical evidence to verify these links. More specifically, the literature highlights that: Community-driven development (CDD) programmes promote ...» more
Gender roles and opportunities for women in urban environments
Key findings include: Urban women, on the whole, have greater access to services and infrastructure, more opportunities to engage in paid employment, and are subject to fewer sociocultural restrictions than women living in rural areas. However, they do not benefit equally with men in urban environments. They are disadvantaged in income poverty, asset poverty, time and ...» more
Economic impacts of humanitarian aid
This review argues that few studies look at all aspects of economic impact of humanitarian aid. Individual studies tend to focus on one or two specific effects (e.g. on food inflation) rather than give an overall perspective of economic impact. The exception is humanitarian aid given in response to the recent Syria crisis, for which a number of studies look at a wide range of ...» more
Violence against women and girls
Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is considered one of the most pervasive human rights abuses of our times, affecting more than one in three women globally. VAWG is most likely to be perpetrated by someone known to the victim, such as a family member or intimate partner, and takes many different forms. This includes,…» more
Social norms
In recent years the development community has witnessed an upsurge of interest in the role that social norms may play in perpetuating a host of harmful practices, especially practices affecting women and girls. There has long been interest in how deeply held beliefs, attitudes, and norms can justify male dominance and reinforce behaviour and institutions that…» more
Perceptions of different modalities of social assistance in the Levant
Major international aid actors worldwide have been moving away from in-kind food aid and turning towards food vouchers and cash transfers. International agencies working in the Levant – i.e. the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria – have tried to reconcile this general shift with the historical, political and social specificities of social ...» more
Religion and conflict
The role of religion in international relations and its relationship with conflict and with peacebuilding is increasingly acknowledged but remains disputed. Secular resistance to incorporating religion in public affairs has given way to numerous academic publications, discussion forums and public initiatives. Governments and international organisations are increasingly willing to examine religion and incorporate it, to…» more
Economic and market resilience before and after shocks
This report focuses on humanitarian and disaster risk reduction interventions that aim to reinforce economic resilience to anticipated shocks and support economic recovery after a shock, both in situations of natural disasters and conflict. There is limited evidence on the economic impacts of indirect market support interventions because: Providing indirect support to ...» more
Evidence on the comparative cost efficiency and effectiveness of varying social assistance modalities
There is limited literature that rigorously measures cost efficiency of programme modalities, or that compares modalities. The key points raised in the literature include the following: Transfer appropriateness is context-specific and determined by multiple factors including programme objectives Cash transfers are generally found to be the least-cost modality – which ...» more
Women and girls with disabilities in conflict and crises
People with disabilities have been found to ‘form one of the most socially excluded groups in any displaced or conflict-affected community’ (Pearce et al, 2016: 119). They may have difficulty accessing humanitarian assistance programmes, due to a variety of societal, attitudinal, environmental and communication barriers, and are at greater risk of violence than their ...» more
Private sector engagement in fragile and conflict-affected settings
The private sector and private sector development (PSD) are considered to have a crucial role to play in contributing to economic recovery and addressing a number of drivers of fragility. Key findings of the review include: Fragile and conflict-affected settings pose challenges for engaging with the private sector. Significant internal and external imbalances are ...» more
Urban poverty in Nepal
In presenting urban poverty trends and data in Nepal, key findings include: Urban poverty is becoming more pervasive in Nepal: The poverty rate is increasing in urban areas, whilst it is declining in rural areas (ADB, 2013; UNDP, 2014). Urban poverty rates vary substantially across Nepal: Urban areas in the hill ecological zone are the least poor with a poverty incidence ...» more
