Analysis of intersecting social inequalities is key to effective, inclusive interventions in crisis settings. Gender equality and social inclusion analytical frameworks provide key research questions and participatory methodologies which seek to understand: Who is excluded? How are they excluded? Why are they excluded? What can be done to address this and support greater ...» more
Donor Support for the Human Rights of LGBT+
This rapid review synthesises evidence on the bilateral and multilateral donors promoting and protecting the human rights of LGBT+ people on a global scale. It focusses on those donors that have policies, implementation plans and programmes on LGBT+ rights. This review also examines the evidence on the impact of their work. The bilateral donors providing the most ...» more
Interventions to Address Discrimination against LGBTQi Persons
Most of the programmes and interventions that are mentioned in the literature address LGBTQi rights by ensuring that men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender people have access to healthcare that is funded by international aid. The other main conduit of support is to use aid funds to provide financial and technical support to organisations and activists who advocate for ...» more
Documentation of survivors of gender-based violence (GBV)
Documentation of gender-based violence (GBV) cases is important in allowing survivors to access support services and secure justice, and – on a wider scale – for analysis and improvement in GBV responses. GBV documentation carries significant risks for survivors and others, and hence must be taken with care. Key principles include: do no harm, take a survivor centred approach, ...» more
Increasing Birth Registration for Children of Marginalised Groups in Pakistan
This review looks at approaches to promote birth registration among marginalised groups, in order to inform programming in Pakistan. It draws on a mixture of academic and grey literature, in particular reports by international development organizations. While there is extensive literature on rates of birth registration and the barriers to this, and consensus on approaches to ...» more
Maintaining basic state functions and service delivery during escalating crises
This rapid literature review explores how to maintain essential state functions and basic service delivery during escalating conflict situations. It draws on literature and ideas from various overlapping agendas including development and humanitarian nexus; development, humanitarian and peacebuilding nexus (the “triple nexus”); fragile states; state-building; conflict ...» more
Interaction Between Food Prices and Political Instability
This report reviews the literature on links between international food prices and political instability (including protests, riots and social unrest). The literature on food prices and protests, riots, unrest, or violent incidents consists mainly of peer-reviewed scholarly articles that utilise econometric modeling. Some early studies examined the links between international ...» more
Role of Faith and Belief in Environmental Engagement and Action in MENA Region
Almost all religions reflect on the creation of the universe, or universes, in different forms and with varying degrees of clarity or detail. Common across most religions is an agreement that “creation” is an act of God and should be treated as such. This rapid literature review collates evidence on the role of faith and belief in environmental engagement and action in MENA ...» more
Donor Support to Electoral Cycles
This rapid literature review explains the stages of an election cycle, and how donors provide support to electoral cycles. It draws mainly on policy guidance websites and papers due to the questions of this review and the level of analysis taken (global-level, donor-level). It focuses on publications from the last five years, and/or current/forthcoming donor strategies. The ...» more
LGBT rights and inclusion in Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
This review looks at the extent to which LGBT rights are provided for under law in a range of SIDS, and the record on implementation/enforcement, as well as approaches to promote LGBT rights and inclusion. SIDS covered are those in the Caribbean, Pacific, and Atlantic-Indian Ocean-South China Sea (AIS) regions. The review draws on a mixture of grey literature (largely from ...» more
Areas and Population Groups in Pakistan Most Exposed to Combined Effects of Climate Change, Food Insecurity and COVID-19
This rapid review looks at areas and population groups in Pakistan most exposed to the combined effects of climate change and natural disasters, food insecurity and malnutrition, and COVID-19. The review draws on a mixture of academic and grey literature, including reports by development organisations. While considerable information was found about the diverse effects of ...» more
COVID-19, governance, and conflict: emerging impacts and future evidence needs
This paper reviews emerging evidence of the impact of COVID-19 on governance and conflict, using a “governance and conflict first” approach in contrast to other research and synthesis on COVID-19 in the social sciences that tends to be structured through a public health lens. It largely focuses on evidence on low- and middle-income countries but also includes a number of ...» more
Water in Sustainable Agriculture Standards
Sustainable agricultural standards, hereafter standards, is a broad term encompassing certification schemes, tools, and programmes. The International Trade Centre’s Sustainability Standards Map includes 166 agricultural standards. However, there is a smaller number of prominent standards that are popularly used by major retailers or for particular commodities. Two studies ...» more
Promotion of Freedom of Religion or Belief
Freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) is a fundamental human right. However, the general global the trend in recent years is towards increased FoRB violations by both government and non-government actors. Notable exceptions are Sudan and Uzbekistan, which have shown significant improvement in promoting FoRB, while smaller-scale positive developments have been seen in a number ...» more
Trends in Conflict and Stability in the Indo-Pacific
This report looks at trends in conflict and instability in the Indo-Pacific region, focusing on climate change effects and a number of civil liberties. The Indo-Pacific region is both highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and already facing significant security risks and challenges, many of which will be exacerbated by the impact of climate change. There are ...» more
Gender, countering violent extremism and women, peace and security in Kenya
Kenya ranks 109 out of 153 countries in the Global Gender Gap Report 2020, with a score of 0.671. There are significant inequalities between males and females in education attainment, health outcomes, representation in parliament, and labour force participation. This Factsheet outlines some of the top-line information on gender, countering violent extremism and women, peace and ...» more
Border Disputes and Micro-Conflicts in South and Southeast Asia
This rapid literature review presents the key literature on border disputes and micro-conflicts in South and Southeast Asia. The focus is on recent ideas that are prevalent in literature from post2010. The literature review draws on both academic and grey literature. The report finds that conflicts have become more complex and protracted often linked to global challenges ...» more
Donor Support for Climate Change Initiatives in the Middle East and North Africa
Donors in the Middle East and North Africa’s (MENA) climate and environment space include both bilateral donors such as France and Germany, multilateral development banks and multilateral climate funds. France and Germany are key bilateral donors to the region, supporting both single country and regional programmes. Many donors, including the EU, France, Germany, the ...» more
Gender and countering violent extremism (CVE) in the Kenya Mozambique region
This evidence synthesis drew on a mixture of academic and grey literature. While the literature on Kenyan women and Al-Shabaab was quite extensive (albeit with gaps, e.g. on returnees), nothing was found on women and Ansar al-Sunnah/violent extremist groups operating in northeastern Mozambique and the Mozambique-Tanzania cross-border region. This report should be read in ...» more
The Development Impact of Chinese Development Investments in Africa
This Emerging Issues report examines a number of popular narratives about the impacts of Chinese investment on economic development in Africa. Popular narratives include Chinese infrastructure investments that have weak links to growth, Chinese investment leads to limited job creation in host countries, and Chinese development projects lead to environmental degradation ...» more
