Most Somalis share the same ethnic group, genealogy, language, customary law, culture and religion. Despite possessing many characteristics of national identity, clanship and contract are fundamental for Somali political units. Somalia has many of the traits of what is defined as a nation, and also of national identity. However, the failure of the central state to provide and ...» more
Impact of gender-responsive budgeting
Gender-responsive budgeting has been applied by a few dozen developing countries since the mid-1980s, though to very different extents and in diverse forms. It is difficult to identify what its impact has been on gender outcomes and on resource distribution within government, due to a limited evidence base and to complexity in assessing and interpreting impact. Nevertheless, ...» more
Promoting social development and human rights in private sector engagement
The private sector is regarded as the driving force for job creation, economic growth and poverty reduction. For donor agencies, engaging and working with private sector actors offers a number of potential benefits, including improving the delivery. As the business community is directly involved in many of the core activities of international donors (such as anti-corruption, ...» more
Budget accountability and participation
Experts agree that the evidence base on budget transparency, accountability and participation is limited and underdeveloped. However there are a growing number of case studies and meta-analyses covering a wide geographic scope and diverse contexts, with a variety of methods and gender sensitivity. Key findings from the evidence include the following: There are examples ...» more
Political economy analysis for economic and private sector reforms
It is inherently difficult to identify how widely political economy analysis (PEA) is used to support economic and private sector (EPS) programming for a number of reasons. PEA is one of a number of factors that can influence programming and implementation and it is difficult to state categorically that a PEA had a definitive impact on reforms. It is also likely that there are ...» more
Gender dimensions of conflict drivers and stabilisation in eastern DRC
There are large knowledge gaps. Gendered evidence is very limited and problematic. The evidence available points to the following findings: On conflict drivers: - Gender is mostly discussed in relation to rape as a weapon of war (masculinity and instrumental use of gendered terror by armed groups). - Sexual and gender-based violence has led to traditional authority and ...» more
Stability and stabilisation approaches in multinational interventions
This rapid report is based on quantitative discourse analysis of stability and stabilisation approaches in all current UN, EU and NATO missions. The analysis included a total of 49 missions (covering peacekeeping, civilian and political missions) and 107 mandates/resolutions linked to these missions. Key findings:Out of a total of 49 missions examined for this report, 30 ...» more
State fragility in the Central African Republic: What prompted the 2013 coup?
In March 2013 a coalition of rebel groups – Séléka – led a violent coup in the Central African Republic (CAR), ousting the former President François Bozizé from ten years in power and instating the new President Michel Djotodia. CAR is now in the midst of a deepening humanitarian and economic crisis, compounded by violence and widespread human rights violations. This rapid ...» more
Assessing seismic risk in Kenya
This report identifies literature that assesses seismic risk in Kenya. In this report seismic risk, as a concept, is understood to be the product of seismic hazard (the probability of harmful seismic phenomena) and seismic vulnerability (the degree of loss from seismic phenomena). In terms of overall seismic risk, the presence of part of the East African Rift (which runs ...» more
Tools for participatory analysis of poverty, social exclusion and vulnerability
Among the tools reviewed are: Ranking: Commonly divided into three approaches: problem ranking, preference ranking, and wealth ranking, which enable practitioners to gain an understanding of local perceptions and preferences on a range of issues, including poverty. Seasonal Calendars: Visual tools which can be useful for identifying periods of stress and vulnerability ...» more
Current thinking on capacity development
Capacity development (CD) emerged in the 1990s from a reassessment of earlier approaches to technical cooperation. (Pearson 2011b, p. 10) It is now “gaining greater prominence in international discussions on the performance and future of development cooperation” (Keijzer et al. 2011, p. 7) and continues to be identified as key constraint in development analysis and political ...» more
Community activism in Jordan
Protests in Jordan have been largely peaceful but unsuccessful in achieving real change. They have centred on improving governance, democracy and socio-economic conditions, not on overthrowing the regime. All strata of society have been involved. Findings include the following: Most of the recent protests in Jordan revolve around the socio-economic situation. Some ...» more
Somali networks – structures of clan and society
This annotated bibliography focuses on issues of power, participation and governance in relation to Somali networks. The Somali majority belong to four patrilineal clan families: the Darod, Hawiye, Dir, and Rahanweyn. These are divided into sub-clans, which can be divided further, illustrating the complexity of the clan system. Minorities are comprised of three distinct social ...» more
Civic education approaches and efficacy
Key findings This report first presents findings on efficacy of Civic Education (CE), drawing on the work of Steven E. Finkel, who posits that CE must be repeated often; interactive; and given by a respected teacher. It then presents overviews of the approaches and efficacy of several programmes. A key finding is that the method used to deliver CE is important to its ...» more
Measuring the impact of PFM reforms on service delivery
Key findings At present there are no reliable, accurate tools that isolate and assess the impact of Public Financial Management (PFM) reforms on service delivery performance. This is due to the complex and indirect relationship between PFM systems and service delivery. A number of factors intervene in the relationship including local incentives and funding channelled outside of ...» more
Border insecurity in North Africa
The literature on border security in North Africa has several key themes: security and terrorism; migration; and goods trafficking. These issues are all intertwined. Migration and trafficking tend to follow the same geographical routes, which or may not also include weapons smuggling for extremist groups. In addition, radicalists’ movements across borders frequently interact ...» more
Interventions to increase levels of trust in society
Key findings It is possible to discern that interventions concerned with transforming state-society relations necessarily involve or require raising trust levels within society and/or between state-society. However, only a few of these interventions present trust-building as a central or explicit objective. In contrast, descriptions of trust deficits in fragile states abound ...» more
Livelihoods in fragile contexts
There is strong literature on both livelihoods in general and livelihoods in fragile contexts, presenting conclusions and lessons from programmes and synthesising evidence from other contexts. This review draws mainly on lessons learned in the field, rather than rigorous evidence of impact. There are few impact studies conducted on programmes in fragile environments, as ...» more
Multi-donor support mechanisms for civil society
The experience of multi-donor support mechanisms for CSOs is mixed. There are a number of potential advantages for donors engaging in pooled funding strategies, including working with donors who have a stronger presence and a track record in a particular context, and reducing transaction costs in the medium- to long- term. However, experts indicate that the difficulties of ...» more
The impact of integrated missions on humanitarian operations
Key findings Evidence remains scarce, problematic and contested. There is at least limited agreement on the following: Integration has had both negative and positive effects. Effects vary by individual actor, type of actor (UN agencies are more affected) and contexts (mission, country, point in time). Protection of civilians: Possible positive impacts: shared objectives ...» more
