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
Australian Government (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade)
The GSDRC began providing international development research services to the Australian government in 2008, under the former agency AusAID and then more recently to the aid programme housed within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The GSDRC publications listed below have been commissioned by the Australian government.
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
Participatory methods for community consultation
This annotated bibliography identifies literature about specific participatory methods and tools for community consultation. Key findings Some donors have used particular participatory methodologies to inform country level strategy – such as Participatory Poverty Assessments by the World Bank and a donor staff immersion approach by the Swiss Agency for Development and ...» more
New thinking on technical assistance to resolve knowledge and capacity gaps
There is a wide and diverse literature on technical assistance, much of which refers to addressing knowledge and capacity gaps in lower- and middle-income countries. This report identifies some novel or emerging approaches which appear to move away from the traditional approaches that commonly centre on short-term filling of capacity gaps and being primarily ...» more
Electoral compliance units
The term ‘electoral compliance units’ is not widely understood by electoral scholars or practitioners in the field of electoral assistance. In the absence of a more concrete definition, this report understands ‘electoral compliance units’ to mean agencies or mechanisms that investigate and prosecute election-related fraud and breaches of law. Experts indicate that, rather than ...» more
Aid to national human rights institutions
National human rights institutions (NHRIs) are institutions with a constitutional and/or legislative mandate to protect and promote human rights – they often take the form of human rights commissions, ombudsmen or specialised institutions that protect the rights of a particular group (UNDP-OHCHR 2010). Key findings Most NHRIs have been established over the past 20 years - and ...» more
Incentivising governments to improve service delivery
Although there is substantial research on service delivery, empirical research into how development activities incentivise better service delivery is fragmented (Tavakoli 2012; Joshi 2010). It is increasingly recognised that increasing technical or financial capacity does not automatically translate into improved service delivery performance or better development results (World ...» more
Electoral monitoring, voter education and election-related violence
There is little evidence to show that election monitoring or voter education consistently leads to a reduction in levels of election-related violence. On the contrary, some cross-country quantitative studies suggest that in certain contexts, election monitoring may actually promote violence. This report outlines a number of methodological difficulties with establishing a ...» more
PNPM/Community-driven development in Indonesia
Key findings: The National Program for Community Empowerment Mandiri (PNPM Mandiri) was launched by the Government of Indonesia in 2007. It is a national programme within the overall policy framework established to implement programmes aimed at poverty alleviation, and strengthening local governance and service delivery. PNPM adopts a community-driven development (CDD) ...» more
Mobile Telephony for Improved Health Service and Data Management
Key findings: There is significant potential for the use of mobile telephony to improve health service outcomes and data management. Opportunities include: serving as a less costly substitute for existing interventions; providing interactive functions that multiply the power of existing interventions; and serving entirely new functions. Countries recovering from conflicts and ...» more
Monitoring and evaluation of electoral support
Key findings: Electoral support interventions by international actors comprise primarily of electoral observation and electoral assistance. Electoral observation should be of an impartial nature based on the principle of non-interference. Electoral assistance, in contrast, is of an advisory nature and refers to technical or material support to electoral processes. It may be ...» more
Social Exclusion Approaches to Poverty Analysis
This report identifies and reviews a selection of tools and methods used by bilateral, multilateral and non-governmental development agencies to conduct social exclusion and other social approaches to poverty analysis. In recent years, development agencies have grown increasingly dissatisfied with income-only approaches to understanding poverty, and have begun to focus on the ...» more
Economic Benefits of Disability-Inclusive Development
Key findings: The economic benefits of adopting a disability-inclusive approach to development are widely acknowledged, but these benefits are complex and difficult to quantify. As a result, few empirical studies provide a sustained analysis of them. Furthermore, there are few reports or evaluations from implementing agencies that present evidence on the economic impacts of ...» more
Violence against women and girls in Timor-Leste
Key findings: The high prevalence of gender-based violence, particularly domestic violence, in Timor-Leste is considered to be a key challenge for the country. Not only is the extent of gender-based violence a serious concern, but also the severity of the violence. Most of the available information on Timorese women and girls from 1975 to 1999 concerns experiences of sexual ...» more
Signature and Compliance with the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)
There is an abundant literature which documents the process of signing and complying with the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), as well as the benefits of doing so. However, with the exception of a detailed case study on Nigeria, few studies examine the political, economic and social factors that have led governments to sign and comply with the EITI. Expert ...» more
Humanitarian work in Syria and Yemen
Syria and Yemen are both experiencing immense humanitarian and development challenges. Violent conflict, political and civil unrest, rising food and fuel prices, mass unemployment and breakdown in social services have contributed to massive displacement, food insecurity and acute malnutrition, difficult living conditions, lack of basic services and poor housing. Neighbouring ...» more
Women’s Economic Empowerment in the Pacific
Much of the available evidence on women’s economic situation in the Pacific comes from household income and expenditure surveys (HIESs), which do not usually disaggregate on the grounds of gender. While there are some data about women’s income, most analysis of expenditure is conducted at the household level and it is therefore difficult to examine trends in women and men’s ...» more
Theory of Change Approaches to Post-conflict Governance Programming
In its simplest form, Theory of Change (ToC) can be defined as, ‘the description of a sequence of events that is expected to lead to a particular desired outcome’ (Davies 2012). This research report considers the application of ToC to governance programmes in post-conflict and fragile states. It should be noted that, because of what information is available, the examples ...» more
Changing attitudes and behaviours in relation to gender equality
This helpdesk report surveys literature on strategies and initiatives designed to increase awareness and to change attitudes and behaviours in order to promote greater gender equality. The structure of the report is based on the following areas: religious influences; community-level processes, alongside media and social campaigning; and activities targeting men’s attitudes and ...» more
Measuring and Evaluating Women’s Economic Empowerment
Women’s economic empowerment is a complex process involving improvements in the economic resources and skills available to them, their access to economic institutions, their ability to make decisions for themselves, and the degree of control they possess over key resources (Kabeer 2001, McDevitt 2010, Golla et al 2011, Mahmud et al 2011). Section two of this report provides a ...» more
