GSDRC newsfeed on Asia

DFID Social Transfers Evaluation Summary Report

Mark Davies et al — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

What can be learned from DFID-supported social protection and social transfer programmes? This review of 24 programmes in 16 countries across Africa, Asia and Europe finds that outcomes and impacts vary greatly relative to the unique conditions applied in specific contexts. A set of generalised findings can be identified, but these are not prescriptive policy options, and should be examined further in specific contexts. The effectiveness of social transfers is largely dependent on their level and regularity.

Labour Market Regulation and Economic Performance: A Critical Review of Arguments and Some Plausible Lessons for India

Praveen Jha and Sakti Golder — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

What are the effects of labour market regulation on economic performance? Does enhanced labour market flexibility lead to improved economic outcomes? This paper examines the theoretical and empirical arguments regarding the causal connections between labour market reforms and economic performance, with a focus on India. It finds little evidence that labour market regulation is a major impediment to economic performance. It also argues that India should draw on current European debates on the need to balance flexibility and security, but within an adapted framework.

Protecting Pacific Island Women and Children During Economic and Food Crises

Will Parks and David Abbott — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This report provides a synopsis of the food price rise and global economic crises together with their known and potential impacts on children and women. In outlining lessons and recommendations it argues that now is a critical time for government investment in social interventions, which when well-designed can boost economic growth and make growth more pro-poor. In particular, gender-based policies that build on women's roles as economic agents and their preference for investing resources in child well-being can help to mitigate the effects of economic crises. Child protection mechanisms should be integrated into expanded social protection programmes.

Social Assistance - Theoretical Background

Fiona Howell — Mon, 01 Jan 2001 00:00:00 GMT

What is social assistance and how should such programmes be designed? This chapter defines social assistance as government and non-governmental action to transfer resources to people whose vulnerability warrants some form of entitlement. Social assistance should be seen as a means to reduce poverty and to develop the capabilities of the most vulnerable, increasing social and economic participation and equality of opportunity. Programme design needs to balance the goals of: a) preventing shocks which will have a negative impact on the poor; b) reducing the impact of shocks; and c) helping vulnerable groups to cope with shocks.

Social Protection in South Asia: A Review

Gabriele Köhler, Marta Cali and Mariana Stirbu — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

How can social protection interventions help to achieve the Millennium Development Goals with equity in South Asia? What are the recent trends and future orientations of social protection in the region? This review finds that social protection needs to be scaled up and made more systemic in South Asia. Social protection strategies must respond to the multidimensional and dynamic nature of poverty by focusing on risk, vulnerability, social exclusion and political voice. Children should be at the heart of social protection in order to break the inter-generational cycle of poverty.

Capacity and Capacity Development: Coping with Complexity

Derick W. Brinkerhoff with Peter J. Morgan — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

What has been learned about capacity and capacity development (CD), and their relationship to achieving sustainable results? What are the implications for analysis and practice? This introductory article to a symposium on capacity and CD highlights: the benefits of viewing capacity and CD through systems lenses; the salience of politics; and the need for new approaches to the practice of CD. Outsiders may be able to assist in developing capacity, but sustained capacity results when endogenous actor-led processes stimulate the creation and strengthening of five core capabilities.

Horizontal Inequality: Two Types of Trap

Frances Stewart — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Why do group inequalities often persist over the long term, and how can they be addressed? Group membership matters because well-being is affected both by individual circumstances and how well the group is doing. Strong complementarities among (1) capabilities and (2) capitals explain persistent group inequality. Multiple deprivations in capabilities and assets prevent catch-up without special interventions. Addressing HIs therefore requires governments to go beyond eliminating current, formal discrimination: the weak asset and capabilities base arising from past discrimination must also be tackled. As social and cultural capital inequalities cannot be eliminated by policy, strong affirmative action in other areas such as education and employment is justified.

Contested Lands: Israel-Palestine, Kashmir, Bosnia, Cyprus, and Sri Lanka

Sumantra Bose — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT

How can peace be made between warring groups with seemingly incompatible aims? The concluding chapter of this publication examines five case studies of recent peace processes in Israel-Palestine, Kashmir, Bosnia, Cyprus and Sri Lanka in search of an answer. It argues that in order to resolve ethno-national conflicts, peace processes should address border issues directly, use third parties and adopt a fast-track approach to peacemaking.

Monitoring and Evaluation of Peace Operations

Cedric de Coning and Paul Romita — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Peacekeeping and peacebuilding operations are tasked with increasingly complex and ambitious mandates, demanding integration and system-wide coherence, and resulting in the development of many sophisticated monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems. What are the critical challenges for M&E practitioners, and how can they strengthen research and practice? Peace operation M&E is promoting a culture of collaboration and knowledge sharing in governments, research institutions, and regional and international organisations. However, much more could be achieved with a common vocabulary and approach, and a higher profile for M&E.

In Search of the Textbook Mediator

Antonia Potter — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT

While there has been a growing literature on conflict resolution and mediation, there are few studies that specifically examine the experience of individual mediators. This concluding book chapter examines the 'art' of mediation in armed conflict. Drawing on the experience of high-level mediators in Iraq, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Cyprus and Aceh, it argues that the character and actions of mediators are critical variables in determining the outcome of peace negotiations.

Introduction: Negotiating Empowerment

Andrea Cornwall and Jenny Edwards — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Why are conventional interventions that seek to promote women�s empowerment insufficient? This article highlights the choices, negotiations, narratives, and context of women�s lived experience. It finds that empowerment is a complex process of negotiation rather than a linear sequence of inputs and outcomes. Governments and development agencies need to give more consideration to the structures perpetuating gender inequality. They should invest in creating an enabling environment for women�s empowerment, and should support those who are tackling deeply rooted issues of power impeding transformative change.

Political Economy Reforms: Learning from the Delhi Water Experience

Avjeet Singh — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

How do you introduce and sustain change in a society, like India, where there is a strong indigenous tradition and deep-rooted corruption? This research from the World Bank looks at efforts to reform the water sector in Delhi. It suggests that moving from policy rhetoric to its acceptance is always difficult. But instead of simply blaming the system for problems of implementation, it is important to analyse and work with the underlying reality.

Community Participation in Public Schools: Impact of Information Campaigns in three Indian states

Priyanka Pandey, Sangeeta Goyal, Venkatesh Sundararaman — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

What impact can community-based information campaigns have on school performance? This article from Education Economics finds that providing information through a structured campaign has a positive impact on school outcomes. A cluster randomised control trial of 610 villages across three Indian states provided public meetings about community roles and responsibilities in school management. A survey between two and four months later identified positive impacts on process variables such as community participation, provision of student entitlements and teacher effort. Impacts on learning were modest, however, and there were differences between states. Impacts need to be measured over a longer time period.

The Right to Information and Societal Accountability: The Case of the Delhi PDS Campaign

Suchi Pande — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

To what extent can tools like the Right to Information (RTI) help ensure transparency and accountability? This article from the IDS Bulletin draws on the example of Parivartan, a Delhi-based citizens� group working on issues of corruption and accountability. This group has used the RTI to mobilise poor people and has used information to generate awareness through the media, holding government to account. The combination of a dedicated grassroots activist organisation and a RTI Act was necessary for achieving successful accountability.

A New Approach to Post Conflict Reconstruction

Fredrik Galtung and Martin Tisné — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

How can post-war reconstruction support democratisation and prevent the early entrenchment of corruption? This study published in the Journal of Democracy examines democracy assistance in eight countries recovering from war: Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Lebanon, Mozambique, the Palestinian Authority, Sierra Leone and Timor-Leste. It argues that citizens need to be involved in the allocation of the public resources that affect their lives. Community-driven accountability can stem corruption and re-engage people in the democratic process. Such measures can begin in the earliest post-war stages, building on local skills and resources.

The Political Economy of Government Responsiveness: Theory and Evidence from India

Timothy Besley and Robin Burgess — Tue, 01 Jan 2002 00:00:00 GMT

What makes government responsive to citizens� needs? This paper from the London School of Economics and Political Science highlights the importance of information flows about policy actions. Having an informed and politically active electorate strengthens incentives for government responsiveness. Evidence from India shows that state governments are more responsive where newspaper circulation is higher and electoral accountability greater; there is a role for both democratic institutions and mass media in ensuring that citizens� preferences are reflected in policy.

Afghanistan's Parliament in the Making: Gendered Understandings and Practices of Politics in a Transitional Country

Andrea Fleschenberg — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

How can a viable Afghan parliament be developed that will serve citizens� interests and promote peace and reconstruction? What are possible entry points for parliamentary institution-building, particularly regarding female parliamentarians (MPs)? This report from Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung and UNIFEM is based on extensive interviews with Afghan parliamentarians during 2007-2008. Women�s parliamentary participation is of the utmost importance, but is largely dependent on the overall gendered political and security context as well as the progress of and challenges to state- and institution-building. Nevertheless, female MPs� political effectiveness could be increased through mutual cooperation and networking.

Society in State-building: Lessons in Improving Democratic Governance - Synthesis Report

Edward Bell — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

What is the best way to promote democratic governance in fragile and conflict-affected countries? By directing attention to interactions between state and society, this Initiative for Peacebuilding report aims to help external agencies and conflict-affected societies generate a culture of democratic politics. Drawing on analyses of Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Georgia and Pakistan, the paper recommends using the potential that is inherent in all development assistance to improve governance. This includes using the processes for defining development strategies to widen and deepen ownership by society as a whole.

Do No Harm: International Support for Statebuilding

OECD DAC — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

How can donor interventions hinder or assist statebuilding processes? This report from the OECD's Development Assistance Committee draws on country case-studies to examine five key areas of statebuilding. Donors operating in fragile states need to analyse where their own countries� strategic objectives contradict statebuilding objectives and where statebuilding objectives are themselves at odds. Donors can assist statebuilding by promoting: (1) inclusive political processes; (2) state legitimacy; (3) constructive state-society relations; (4) social expectations that are realistic but push states to do more; and (5) the development of sustainable capacities to carry out state functions.

How to Bring About Change in the Bangladesh Civil Service? Attempts to Change Mindsets, Behaviours and Practice

Colin Jacobs — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

What is the way forward for civil service reform in Bangladesh? This article from Public Administration and Development looks at the role that the Bangladesh civil service might play in enabling pro-poor reform and growth. It explores how a senior leadership programme, such as Managing at the Top (MATT2), can create a critical mass of reform minded civil servants. Developing leaders, reforming their attitudes and providing practical skills are all critical aspects of enabling change. However, a single programme is unlikely to be successful. Furthermore, while an incremental approach to reform may be realistic it should not fall into an acceptance of the current status-quo.