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
Women’s networks in MENA
There is a large number of women’s networks in the region, ranging in size and influence. Grassroots networks exist alongside high-level political and policy networks. Most are focused on women-only activities. The key areas of activity are: improving women’s entrepreneurship and developing women as business owners and business leaders; peacebuilding; reducing violence ...» more
Impact of external assistance on local-level peace settlements in the Middle East and North Africa
Armed conflicts have inflicted massive suffering and material losses on the populations of several MENA countries since 2011 (or earlier). At the same time, local peace settlements in delimited geographic areas have been reached in several of these contexts. This rapid review of the literature presents evidence on positive and negative impact in MENA. Available knowledge shows ...» more
Non-state provision of skills development in South Asia
Development practitioners increasingly see skills development as a way to improve the employment and incomes of the poor. However, findings on the effectiveness of such trainings are typically mixed. Only programmes that entail linkages with the labour market have had a significant impact. Even with such linkages in place, what has worked and what has failed in implementation ...» more
Political economy of energy in southern Africa
Some African states, with encouragement from international donors, have developed regional power sharing arrangements as a strategy to deal with the continent’s energy problems. Power pools aim to balance electrical loads over a larger network, lower electricity prices, and expand access by encouraging trade and investment in the sector. The Southern African Power Pool ...» more
Crisis management models in Africa
The rapid review uncovered very little literature detailing general crisis management models in Africa. It found almost no literature on the experience of using such crisis management models in relation to crises such as public disorder, political unrest, and epidemics. However, some independent evaluations of crisis management models used to respond to food security crises ...» more
Multi-agency stabilisation operations
While there is as yet limited empirical evidence of what works best in multi-agency – or ‘whole-of-government’ – approaches to stabilisation, the literature does identify some lessons learned and principles of good practice. These include: Overcoming common challenges: establishing transparent processes to identify and manage tensions and trade-offs between neutral humanitarian ...» more
Relationship between humanitarian and development aid
There are various approaches to understanding the relationship between humanitarian and development aid. Some literature points to a specific time period; envisaging the humanitarian-development gap as a temporal period when a humanitarian operation is about to be completed, and development and reconstruction projects are about to begin. Others refer to an institutional gap ...» more
Improving access to justice through information and communication technologies
Legal empowerment aims to enable citizens to actively use the law and shape it to their needs. Examples of awareness-raising and legal education initiatives using ICTs include: using television and radio talk shows to build links between the formal and informal justice systems; broadcasting documentaries on local television stations to promote gender equality; etc. Many ...» more
Conflict early warning and early response
Lessons emerging from the literature include: Linking warning and response: The biggest challenge for conflict early warning systems is that they have not yet been effectively transformed into a preventive response. Specific response plans must be developed as part of the early warning system. Preventative interventions to reduce the potential for violence should: i) ...» more
Social media and governance
The literature suggests that social media has a lot of potential to be used for governance purposes, but that this is not capitalised on in most contexts. Many governments are using e-government strategies and disseminating information through online channels, but not soliciting citizen feedback. Where there are two-way channels, it is very unclear whether citizen feedback is ...» more
Policy approaches and lessons from working with non-state actors in security and justice
DFID has a rule of law policy approach. Programming decisions are made by a context-based, problem solving approach and therefore the policy does not identify overarching actors or themes for engagement. Is one of few donors to have published a briefing (DFID, 2004) entirely focussed on engaging with non-state security and justice actors. Engaging with non-state actors is also ...» more
Grievance Redress Mechanisms in Bangladesh
The rapid literature review identifies literature on types of grievance redress mechanisms (GRM) in Bangladesh. Many current and proposed grievance redress mechanisms in Bangladesh have a number of similar features including: An assigned focal point or grievance redress officer who manage the grievance redress mechanism. There are different focal points for different levels ...» more
Donor policy approaches to security and justice
This rapid policy mapping gives an overview of security and justice policies from the following donors and development agencies: DFID; European Commission; USAID; AFD; SIDA; World Bank; BMZ; and JICA. In terms of the differences and similarities to DFID’s approach, it finds that DFID is one of the only donors that conceptualises security and justice as a joint policy area, ...» more
Radicalisation of diaspora communities
Much of the literature emphasizes that radicalisation cannot be attributed to any one factor, but is rather the outcome of a multiplicity of factors. Individual and community influences (micro level) include: Identity crisis: second and third generation immigrant and diaspora communities may experience ‘cultural marginalisation’ in terms of alienation and lack of ...» more
Lessons from Female Engagement Teams
Evaluations of Female Engagement Teams (FETs) used by the military to engage with women in Afghanistan that are available indicate that: Female soldiers have had a deescalating effect as Afghan males generally accepted females being searched as long as it was done by other females. FETs have had positive engagement with both women and men and were viewed as a kind of ‘third ...» more
Examples of PFM impacts on gender equality
Research for this report was unable to find conclusive cases where public financial management (PFM) reform led to impacts on gender equality. This is because PFM reform does not necessarily lead to gender equality impacts, and conversely improvements in gender equality do not always require, or follow on from, PFM reform. It may also be that gender impacts are rarely covered ...» more
Inclusive growth
Absolute poverty has fallen substantially over the last 30 years, with most of this reduction attributable to rapid economic growth in developing countries. Yet growth often does not meet the needs of the poor. Economic growth in the absence of measures to ensure the sustained equitable distribution of its benefits has frequently perpetuated the concentration of wealth in the ...» more
Social media and conflict management in post-conflict and fragile contexts
Some of the roles social media has played in conflict management include: In some cases social media and other new media tools have been used to help hold governments accountable, bring citizens together to protest violence, coordinate relief efforts, empower citizens, provide information to reduce tensions, and build bridges of understanding across boundaries. In other cases ...» more
