Anke Hoeffler is a Research Affiliate at ISDC. Her research is in the areas of development and security. She is one of the most widely cited social scientists and received an Alexander von Humboldt professorship, Germany’s highest award for international research. In February 2019 she left the University of Oxford and moved to the University […]
Andrej Smirnov
Andrej Smirnov is a Research Assistant at ISDC. His Research interest include the interaction between inequality and growth, migration and economics of conflict. At ISDC, Andrej works on the “Gendered Dimension of Forced Displacement” project and assists with data analysis in the “Life with Corona” survey. Previously Andrej held Research Assistant positions at DeZIM-Institute (German […]
Laura Peitz
Laura Peitz is a Researcher at ISDC and a PhD Researcher at The Hertie School in Berlin as part of the Berlin Graduate School for Global and Transregional Studies (BGTS). Her research interests include UN peacebuilding efforts, micro-level dynamics of violence, development finance, Multilateral Development Banks and private sector engagement in development. Among others, Laura […]
Rebecca Wolfe
Dr. Rebecca J. Wolfe is a Research Affiliate at ISDC. She is a lecturer at the Harris School for Public Policy at the University of Chicago, where she is an associate at the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts. She is a leading expert on political violence, conflict and violent extremism. […]
Agricultural Transformation in Syria: Impact Evaluation of FAO’s Smallholder Support Program
An impact evaluation to study the economic, behavioural and institutional impacts of FAO’s smallholder support programme in Syria.
Inequality and Governance in Unstable Democracies: The Mediating Role of Trust
A multi-partner project that seeks to provide new theoretical insights and empirical evidence on how various forms of trust shape the relationship between economic inequality and governance.
What Works And What’s Next For Social Stability In Jordan?
The Syrian refugee influx into Jordan has heightened risks of conflict and insecurity in what has long been considered a bastion of stability in the region. Tensions between host and refugee populations over already- limited public services and employment opportunities have exacerbated existing grievances Jordanians hold against the government, and increase the risk of civil […]
The World Food Programme’s Contribution to Improving the Prospects for Peace in Kyrgyzstan
The study contains detailed findings from the field research in Kyrgyzstan and is part of a wider knowledge partnership between SIPRI and the WFP, which aims to better understand and strengthen WFP’s contribution to improving the prospects for peace. In the light of its complex context—where humanitarian, development and peace agendas intersect—Kyrgyzstan was selected along with […]
Lea Ellmanns
Lea Ellmanns is a Junior Researcher at ISDC. Lea’s varied research interests include conflict and peacebuilding, post-conflict stabilisation, global health security, as well as the law of armed conflict. Geographically, her interests lie in Asia and the Middle East. At ISDC, she is working on the “Financing Peace Processes” project, implemented jointly with Swisspeace. Previously, […]
Can employment build peace? A pseudo-meta-analysis of employment programmes in Africa
We link employment to stability in five African countries to test if standard interventions influence complex outcomes. We show positive impacts on some indicators but negative externalities also arise. There are, thus, grounds for optimism but further work is required.
Call for Sessions and Papers: 5th Annual ‘Life in Kyrgyzstan’ Conference
Call for Papers and Sessions is open for the 5th Annual ‘Life in Kyrgyzstan’ Conference that will be held in Bishkek on 23-24 October 2019. The deadline is 16 June 2019.
On the Legacies of Wartime Governance
This paper explores the long-term impact of individual exposure to ‘wartime governance’ on social and political behavior.
Can Jobs Programs Build Peace
Over $10bn has been spent on programmes that assume that building employment also builds peace. We show that while there are good reasons to think this money is not spent fruitlessly, there remains a structural lack of empirical confirmation of these theories.
Activity Choices of Internally Displaced Persons and Returnees: Quantitative Survey Evidence from Post-War Northern Uganda
We investigate post‐war economic activity choices of displaced and just‐returned individuals. In particular, the effect of living in an internally displaced persons camp on the choice of economic activities is analysed. Because individuals relocating away from camps may be different from those staying in them, a recursive bivariate probit procedure is used to control for […]
On the Return on Investment of Security Sector Assistance and Peacebuilding Assistance
Peacebuilding assistance and security sector assistance both aim at the same outcome – reductions in political violence. In this exploratory article, we show only the former has its desired impact, with security sector support apparently acting to increase violence.
Analysis, Design, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (ADMEL): Designing a Process for Learning from Employment for Stability Programming
Often, development organisations engage in “big push” ex post impact evaluations, where significant amounts of bespoke data are collected at the end of the programme. In this short paper, we argue that such funds can be used better by integrated an on-going learning component into standard ADME.
Jobs Aid Peace: Review of the Theory and Practice of the Impact of Employment Programmes on Peace in Fragile and Conflict-affected Countries
Over $10bn has been spent on programmes that assume that building employment also builds peace. We show that while there are good reasons to think this money is not spent fruitlessly, there remains a structural lack of empirical confirmation of these theories.
Money can’t buy love but can it buy peace? Evidence from the EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation (PEACE II)
While randomisation is often eschewed in bottom-up peacebuilding contexts in favour of more targeted programming, there is no guarantee that targeted spending gets to those who need it most. In this article, we discuss the apparent failure of one such targeted rollout – that of the PEACE II programmes in Ireland.
Analyzing the Link Between Employment Programs and Social Stability – Phase II
A short- and medium-term impact evaluation of Mercy Corps’ DSH-ARC funded TVET programs for host and displaced communities in Lebanon and Syria, with the dual focus on boosting the employment prospects and improving intergroup perceptions of program beneficiaries.
On the Return on Investment of Security Sector Assistance and Peacebuilding Assistance
An empirical analysis of the differential impacts of military and civilian peacebuilding assistance, and associated return on investment.