This report provides information on the strategy documents that frame different donors’ and humanitarian agencies’ approaches to protection, and highlights the key focus of each document. Many definitions of humanitarian protection exist, with many donors supporting, and agencies undertaking, protection activities. These are mostly in situations of conflict, or as a result of ...» more
Poverty and wellbeing indices
The Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress was created in 2008 to explore the limits of GDP as an indicator of economic performance and social progress. Much literature in the past has critiqued the inadequacy of income measures. The Commission was also tasked with considering additional information and tools required to produce a more ...» more
How have social protection systems contributed to social and economic development in Indonesia?
Social protection systems were introduced in Indonesia in the wake of the 1997 financial crisis, which had devastating consequences for the national economy and society. This report reviews the introduction of social protection systems in Indonesia, how they have developed over time and the programmes that are involved. It also looks at how social protection systems have ...» more
How have social protection systems contributed to social and economic development in Singapore?
The social protection system in Singapore is based around the compulsory retirement savings scheme, the Central Provident Fund (CPF), introduced in 1955 as the national funded pension scheme under the British colonial government. In 1968, three years after Singapore became independent from the Malaysian Federation, the government introduced legislation to allow citizens to use ...» more
How have social protection systems contributed to social and economic development in China?
After the formation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, social protection systems were gradually introduced and now cover many contingencies, including old age, unemployment, healthcare, maternity and occupational injury. However, despite having a comprehensive system for its ‘legal’ urban population, China is only recently extending this system to the much larger rural ...» more
Evidence for the Effectiveness of a Process Approach
This report examines effectiveness of development initiatives that have employed a ‘process approach’ or key features of this approach. This report examines the wider literature on the process approach, looking more broadly at the evidence for the effectiveness of this approach in a variety of development interventions. Section two assesses the evidence on the effectiveness of ...» more
Effects of political quotas for women
Many countries have introduced gender quotas (or political reservations), in order to increase female participation in policy-making. This helpdesk report surveys research on the effects of political quotas for women on (1.) political processes; (2.) service delivery; and (3.) social processes. There is limited empirical evidence on these issues and research that does exist has ...» more
The impact of Area-Based Programming
Area-Based Development (ABD) approaches use the geographic ‘area’ as the main entry point for intervention, rather than a sector or target group. Area-based programming is widely used in conflict-affected parts of Europe, the Middle East, South and Central Asia. ABD has been less commonly used in Africa, and where it has been applied, the programmes tend not to be as ...» more
Vulnerable groups in Burma and access to services
Key fndings: This report focuses on vulnerable groups in Burma and access to basic services. The first part of the report outlines groups considered to be vulnerable and marginalised. These include minority ethnic groups (such as the Chin, Kachin, Karen, Karenni, Mon, Rohingyas, Shan). In some cases, minorities’ ethnic identity is closely linked with a religion other than ...» more
Time use studies and women’s empowerment
Time use studies aim to provide information on the work performed by women and highlight the time they spend on unpaid activities including domestic chores, the care of children, the elderly and the sick, water and fuel collection, and voluntary community-oriented work. In so doing, they seek to address the problem of the ‘invisibility’ of women’s unpaid work, and draw ...» more
Women and Girls in the MENA Region
Women in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have seen positive changes in their economic and political rights between 2005 and 2010. According to research carried out by Freedom House, 14 out of the 17 MENA countries recorded some gains in the status of women. The Gulf States recorded the highest degrees of improvement, with women becoming more visible participants in ...» more
Conflict dynamics in West Africa
Of the 16 countries that make up the West African sub-region , four have had large scale civil conflict and at least seven have experienced significant low-scale conflicts within the last 25 years, a consequence of multiple interrelated factors. These include: political system failures social exclusion persistent poverty and low levels of economic development poor ...» more
Girls’ access to economic assets
The literature suggests that increasing girls’ access to and use of economic assets has potentially far-reaching impacts on other aspects of their lives. However, to date, there have been few rigorous evaluations of girls’ economic empowerment programmes, particularly those which provide tangible productive/financial assets. The few evaluations available suggest that ...» more
The Arab Spring and its impact on human rights in the MENA region
The Middle East and North Africa region is large and diverse, and it is difficult to make regional generalisations about the impact of the Arab Spring on human rights. Long-standing authoritarian rulers have been overthrown in Tunisia and Egypt, and in Libya, a new interim government controls much of the country. In other countries, changes have been less radical but ...» more
Examples of successful fuel subsidy removal
Where fuel prices are controlled and subsidised by the government, price increases have often met with broad public opposition and, in some cases, violent demonstration. Where governments have been successful they have needed to ensure that reform was politically feasible and the impact on influential groups was mitigated. There are a number of countries which have instituted ...» more
IFIs, economic reform and inclusive growth in Egypt
In 2004 Egypt began to implement bold economic reforms, supported by its main donors and the International Finance Institutions (IFIs). The reforms, which included macroeconomic policies; financial sector reform; privatisation and structural reforms in trade, taxes and subsides, contributed to a rapid acceleration of growth, making it one of the Middle East and North Africa's ...» more
Multi-Year Funding to Humanitarian Organisations in Protracted Crises
There has been growing consensus amongst donors that multi-year funding is a critical tool for improving the allocation and effectiveness of humanitarian aid to protracted crises. A number of donors have developed mechanisms to allocate funding in these contexts on a multi-year basis, channelling funding directly to NGOs, the UN and other multilateral agencies, and to ...» more
Policies on Displacement and Resettlement
Displacement can be caused by a number of factors, including conflict, natural disaster and development. Most donor and NGO policy appears to focus on conflict-induced and natural disaster-induced displacement. Multilateral agencies, however, have generated more comprehensive guidelines and principles to address issues relating to development-induced displacement and ...» more
The impact of decentralisation on economic growth
Democratic decentralisation is advocated as a means of providing more appropriate, efficient and accessible public services, and of achieving a variety of interrelated socio-economic objectives, including poverty reduction and economic development. Few studies, however, empirically explore the links between decentralisation and economic development partly because it is ...» more
Conflict, Violence, Security and Justice Statistics
This report provides some global statistics relating to armed conflict, armed violence and security and justice. These figures may be useful for the following: highlighting the link between poverty and conflict, security and justice providing international comparisons of national-level issues offering examples of success in relevantly similar contexts acting as measures and ...» more
