Organisation
Governance and Social Development Resource Centre (GSDRC)
Governance information resources
The Governance and Social Development Resource Centre (GSDRC) was established by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) in 2005. We provide high quality, timely information to support international development project and programme planning, policymaking, and other activities in the field.
In July 2009 the GSDRC was also awarded a contract to provide the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) with access to our research services. By supporting multiple donors, including the European Commission, the OECD, the UNDP, the World Bank and the Commonwealth Secretariat, the GSDRC contributes to the harmonisation agenda. We help share knowledge across agencies, and where research requests from different agencies are similar we help avoid duplication and build on existing work, providing an enhanced resource hub on cutting-edge issues. The GSDRC is the successor to the Governance Resource Centre (GRC), established in 2001.
The website offers access to selected research and training available in governance, conflict and social development as well as advice on demand, including rapid response research and consultant finding. The following services are available to DFID and the wider development community:
In July 2009 the GSDRC was also awarded a contract to provide the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) with access to our research services. By supporting multiple donors, including the European Commission, the OECD, the UNDP, the World Bank and the Commonwealth Secretariat, the GSDRC contributes to the harmonisation agenda. We help share knowledge across agencies, and where research requests from different agencies are similar we help avoid duplication and build on existing work, providing an enhanced resource hub on cutting-edge issues. The GSDRC is the successor to the Governance Resource Centre (GRC), established in 2001.
The website offers access to selected research and training available in governance, conflict and social development as well as advice on demand, including rapid response research and consultant finding. The following services are available to DFID and the wider development community:
- document library supporting independent research needs
- rapid response research service for short desk-based research needs
- find a consultant service for efficient contracting of consultants to carry out consultancy, desk-based research, and training
- topic guides providing overviews of current knowledge in various thematic areas
- organisations directory with contact information for organisations active on relevant issues
- conferences and training directory to support professional development needs
- email bulletin with announcements of new publications and other news
Published Documents
- Interventions to increase levels of trust in society
- R. Carter / Governance and Social Development Resource Centre, 2013
- This literature review aims to detail interventions that have attempted to increase levels of trust in society. It also looks at what the interventions have tried to do and if they were effective. The focus is on ‘trust’ f...
- Violence against women and girls in Timor-Leste
- H. Haider / Governance and Social Development Resource Centre, 2012
- The high prevalence of gender-based violence, particularly domestic violence, in Timor-Leste is considered to be a key challenge for the country. There is recognition that incidents of intimate partner violence and family violence hav...
- Does election monitoring reduce election-related violence?
- Governance and Social Development Resource Centre, 2012
- This report addresses the links between election monitoring, voter education and election-related violence. It finds little generalisable evidence to show that election monitoring or voter education consistently lead to a reduction in...
- Evidence on microcredit for the ultra-poor: GSDRC Helpdesk Research Report
- B. Carter (ed) / Governance and Social Development Resource Centre, 2013
- There is a paucity of rigorous evidence on the impact of microcredit for the ultra-poor. Studies on microcredit do not tend to explore what, how and why different types of solutions work best for different types of clients. The availa...
- Evidence about the effectiveness of child protection programmes in developing countries: GSDRC Helpdesk Research Report
- E. Combaz (ed) / Governance and Social Development Resource Centre, 2013
- There is little evidence on the effectiveness of child protection programmes in developing countries. Furthermore, some of the available evidence does not provide information on links between specific practices on the one hand and imp...
- Conflict and Stabilisation in Mali and the Sahel region: GSDRC Helpdesk Research Report
- Sumedh Rao (ed) / Governance and Social Development Resource Centre, 2013
- The report covers factors including: Islamist terrorism; criminal networks and trafficking (of arms, drugs, cigarettes, and vehicles); and Tuareg rebellions against the Malian government. It also considers state weakness, including th...
- Theory-based evaluation approach: GSDRC Helpdesk Research Report
- Becky Carter (ed) / Governance and Social Development Resource Centre, 2012
- There is a wealth of literature available on theory-based evaluation and impact evaluation (TBE), but experts disagree on whether TBE is a common and clearly defined approach. Some think a common conceptual and operational understandi...
- Impact evaluation: combining qualitative and quantitative methods
- S. Garbarino; J. Holland / Governance and Social Development Resource Centre, 2009
- This paper reviews the case for promoting and formalising qualitative and combined methods for impact evaluation as part of a broader strategy amongst donors and country partners for tackling the evaluation gap. The paper thus contrib...
- Power and drivers of change analyses: a review
- T. Dahl-Østergaard; S. Unsworth; M. Robinson / Governance and Social Development Resource Centre, 2005
- This review compares and contrasts different donor approaches to conducting Power and Drivers of Change (DOC) analysis, and looks at what is being done with the findings, in order to learn lessons for future work. It draws mainly on s...
- Does conflict lead to violence and sexual violence against women?
- H. Haider / Governance and Social Development Resource Centre, 2009
- In this document the author seeks to respond to the critical question: Conflict has often been associated with rape. Has conflict inevitably been associated with increases in violence against women (including domestic violence)? ...
