This project will undertake research on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the livelihoods of vulnerable populations in Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, and Zambia.
While there is a growing body of information available about child marriage globally, relatively little comparative work has been done to examine its different manifestations, experiences and impacts in different settings.
Globally, the evidence to increase access to justice is sparse, especially compared to other essential services like education and health.
Like many West African countries, Sierra Leone has identified large-scale land investments as a key pathway for economic growth.
The aim of this project is to enhance the understanding of the complexities of child marriage and parenthood to inform policies and programming.
IDRC's Democratic Governance, Women's Rights and Gender Equality initiative is supporting a body of comparative research on whether and how democratic processes and institutions are responding to women's rights and gender equality.
In the aftermath of war and conflict, state security forces and institutions are often severely weakened or decimated. When this happens, multiple state and non-state security actors and governance structures emerge to fill security vacuums.
In West Africa, peace agreements have generally proven fragile and volatile (on average, they do not last more than five years). This cycle of ever-changing conflict and violence hinders development significantly.
To date, more than 40 countries have signed the New Deal for Engagement in Fragile States, which places peacebuilding and state-building as two central and mutually reinforcing goals to promote development in fragile and conflict-affected states.
In 2006, the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) undertook a project entitled Regulation of the Private Security Sector in Africa that was supported by IDRC under project 103396.