The Vulnerability Assessment Framework (VAF) is a tool developed by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, in Jordan to track changes in refugees’ living situation over time. In 2023, ISDC was tasked with supporting the development of a new module to this framework that can measure climate vulnerability: the climate change vulnerability index. This index would […]
ISDC is pleased to announce the publication of a new research article titled “Short- and Medium-Term Impacts of Small-Scale Vegetable Support on Food Security: Evidence from Syria.” Written by Ghassan Baliki, Melodie Al Daccache, Hala Ghattas, and Tilman Brück, this article provides critical insights into the effectiveness of small-scale agricultural interventions in conflict settings. Key […]
Announcing the publication of a special feature on Social Cohesion and Forced Displacement in the Journal of Conflict Resolution Sarah Langlotz, Philip Verwimp, Patricia Justino and Tilman Brück, guest co-editors Today we are happy to announce the publication of a selection of papers analysing social cohesion and forced displacement in conflict contexts. Each paper is […]
This report presents our findings on LEAD 2’s effects on new start-ups and existing SMEs, thereby assessing the efficacy of jobs-based programming in promoting stability and economic development in the region.
New ISDC research delves into the intersection of the COVID-19 pandemic and food insecurity, uncovering alarming insights into their collective impact on mental health across Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Uganda. The study, titled “COVID-19 Pandemic and Food Insecurity Fuel the Mental Health Crisis in Africa” was conducted cooperatively with researchers from ISDC, the University […]
We are pleased to announce the release of UNHCR’s Engagement inHumanitarian-Development Cooperation Post-2021: How to Stay the Course – a report examining the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) engagement in humanitarian-development cooperation. It is a result of the collaborative effort between experts from ISDC, the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi), and colleagues at […]
Peacebuilding Research Program Director Neil Ferguson’s newest article with Alicia Barriga, Nathan Fiala, and Martin Leroch has been published in the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics. The article, titled “Ethnic Cooperation and Conflict in Kenya,” examines the effects of ethnic divisions and violence on social capital and economic interactions in Kenya. The authors conducted […]
Globally, one in three women experience intimate partner violence (IPV) over their lifetimes. Yet, the factors that cause men to commit IPV remain poorly understood. In a newly published open access paper in the Journal of Development Economics, Wolfgang Stojetz and Tilman Brück propose a causal long-term link from past exposure to gender-based collective violence […]
Ghassan Baliki, Dorothee Weiffen, Tilman Brück, and Gwendolyn Moiles‘ paper ‘Home garden interventions in crisis and emergency settings’ has been published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. While home gardens are popular among donors and NGOs, the evidence base for their impacts is weak. Using a three-pronged approach (triangulating evidence from academic literature, expert discussion […]
Damir Esenaliev’s research on welfare effects of export participation by household farms in Kyrgyzstan is published at The Journal of Development Studies. In this article, Damir uses the Life in Kyrgyzstan data for 2010-13 and analyses if small farms in Kyrgyzstan improve their welfare by selling their products to export markets. He finds no evidence […]
ISDC Director Tilman Brück‘s recent article (with Mekdim Regassa from the Leibniz Institute for Vegetable and Ornamental Crops) in Food Security is now also available in print. The article surveys efforts that track food security in Africa using phone surveys during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors recommend that the scientific community focuses on countries (and […]
Children in low income countries are expected to suffer the impact of the climate crisis on human health. A new study from Kyrgyzstan estimates the long-term consequences of extreme weather conditions on child stunting as a proxy for child development. It combines a rich three-wave panel dataset of children aged 0-59 months and location-matched weather […]
How do post-disaster humanitarian responses affect long-term food behaviour? Researchers, including Tilman Brück and Ghassan Baliki of ISDC, studied food behaviour in Nepal’s Sindhupalhok District. Their data reveal increased consumption of unhealthy snack foods in earthquake-affected regions. Findings indicate that “external shocks such as an earthquake and the subsequent humanitarian assistance, while well-intentioned and incredibly […]
“Can jobs programs build peace?” has been published in the peer-reviewed journal “World Bank Research Observer”. This review of why jobs programs might build peace and whether or not they do is the result of collaboration between ISDC and Valeria Izzi, with support from ILO, PBSO, UNDP and the World Bank. The article highlights strong social science theories that link employment programs and peace but scant real world evidence that programs have successfully delivered this promise. Until such a link and its mechanisms can be robustly established, simply running good jobs programs in the difficult situations that require peacebuilding probably makes more sense.
Laura Peitz is among the winners of the Dahrendorf Forum PhD Research Paper Award. Her paper Too Many Cooks Don’t Spoil the Broth? – Bridging Literatures on Private Sector Engagement in Sustainable Development (working title) examines how research relevant to private sector engagement in sustainable development is currently conducted disconnectedly in various disciplines and programmes and discusses the […]
Older people worry less, Americans want priority access to vaccine – Global survey reveals generational and cultural differences in how we live with the pandemic On Thursday, 1 October2020,the second round of the Life with Corona global survey is being launched, alongside a report covering key findings from six monthsof data collectionincluding: Young adults actively […]
Funding for peace negotiations is often treated as a purely technical issue. However, on closer inspection, funding is fundamentally political and, as such, has a profound impact on the architecture and the dynamics of peace negotiations. For a functioning peace negotiation process, the funding requests of the negotiation stakeholders, defined as the negotiating parties and […]
A new working paper has been published using the data from a new global Life with Corona survey. Tilman Brück, Neil Ferguson, Patricia Justino and Wolfgang Stojetz explore how trust correlates with the individual experiences of the pandemic. The authors show that those who have had contact with sick people and those that are unemployed show lower […]
In their latest op-ed, Tilman Brück and Mounir Mahmalat argue that overlapping crises are threatening the political, economic and social stability of Lebanon. As this column explains, the disaster in Syria provides insights into how grievances can accumulate to a point at which single events can trigger conflict. Elites in Lebanon must commit to a new […]
Research by Ghassan Baliki, Tilman Brück, Neil Ferguson and Wolfgang Stojetz on rural youth in the context of fragility and conflict has been published as 54 IFAD Research Series Issue. The paper was originally commissioned as a background paper for the 2019 Rural Development Report: Creating opportunities for rural youth. While conflicts are often defined […]
Dr Damir Esenaliev of ISDC has co-authored a chapter on Human Resources for Inclusive Growth in ADB’s Country Diagnostic Study for the Kyrgyz Republic. The study is an in-depth analysis of the sector reforms needed to enable the Kyrgyz Republic to achieve higher and more sustainable economic growth. The chapter presents an analysis of the recent developments in the labor market, […]
