This K4DD Rapid Evidence Review looks at the gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) dimensions of human smuggling and trafficking in five countries in East Africa: Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan (in their role as source countries), and Kenya (as a transit/destination country). It finds consistent evidence that women/girls and refugees/IDPs, in particular, as well as ...» more
Social Development
Norm diffusion: How global gender norms are adopted in low and middle-income countries
Sithandiwe Mujuru,* William Avis, Nic Cheeseman, Jonathan Fisher, Siân Herbert, Iffat Idris, Zenobia Ismail, Brian Lucas, and David Piela Abstract: As countries move towards achieving the gender equality targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, improving the rigour, relevance, and practical value of evidence on gender norm change is increasingly important. ...» more
Long-Term Positive Impacts of Cash Transfer Programmes in LMICs
This K4DD Rapid Evidence Review looks at the positive long-term impacts of cash transfer programmes in non-humanitarian contexts in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Evidence of long-term impacts is very limited. From reviews of multiple studies/cash programmes, as well as of individual programmes, long-term positive impacts are seen in relation to health and ...» more
Women and Girls’ Political Empowerment
This K4DD Rapid Evidence Review explores the evidence about the approaches have been used to support girls’ and women political empowerment (WPE), focussing on their effectiveness and constraints. It particularly explores women’s political leadership and quotas in low- and middle-income countries. WPE has improved drastically across the world since the 1700s, however ...» more
Successful Collaboration Models in Science, Technology and Innovation Ecosystems
This K4DD Rapid Evidence Review collates available evidence on successful collaboration models in science, technology and innovation ecosystems between India and other countries. The review draws upon an eclectic evidence base that includes grey literature, press announcements and Memoranda of Understanding as wall as the outputs of multi- and bilateral development actors. ...» more
Affirmative action around the world Insights from a new dataset (update)
Rachel M. Gisselquist, Min J. Kim, Simone Schotte, and Chinmayi Srikanth Abstract: Affirmative action (or ‘positive action’) measures have been adopted in dozens of countries around the world as a means of addressing group-based inequalities in educational enrolment, employment, political representation, and other areas. Although there is a large research literature on ...» more
Women and Girls in Conflict and Displacement in Muslim Settings
Policy Briefing - August 2025 This report sheds light on the urgent and often overlooked realities faced by displaced women and girls across Muslim-majority regions, including the Middle East, the Horn of Africa, and the Sahel. As global displacement reaches record levels—over 120 million in 2025—women and girls are disproportionately affected by a complex and compounding ...» more
Pathways to Increase Rural Women’s Agency Within Social Protection Programmes
This rapid evidence review explores literature on how social protection programmes, particularly cash transfers and public works programmes, can address various dimensions of poverty and wellbeing that rural women face. This review focuses on the economic aspect of women’s livelihoods and wellbeing and examines how the design and implementation of social protection programmes ...» 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
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
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
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
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
Prevalence of health impacts related to exposure to poor air quality among children in Low and Lower Middle-Income Countries
This rapid review provides an assessment of the contemporary health impacts arising from the household (indoor) and ambient (outdoor) air pollution exposure in low income (LIC) and lower-middle-income countries (LMICs), with a specific focus upon children aged under 5 years. The review synthesises findings of key systematic reviews, as well as international and national ...» more
Key Drivers of Modern Slavery
This rapid literature review provides evidence of key drivers of modern slavery. It draws on a mixture of academic and grey literature from multinational and bilateral institutions as well as non-government organisations (NGOs) and think tanks. Given the rapidly developing global context, it also draws on emerging opinions from blog posts and journalistic reports to provide ...» more
