18336 research outputs found
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Rapid Scoping Review 2025: Mexico
No full textIn Mexico, significant progress has been made in promoting gender equality. This includes the enactment of national laws, increased public funding for gender equality, and the strengthening of gender-focused institutions. Mexico has implemented key policies and legal frameworks to protect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and more (LGBTQI+) individuals. Despite these advances, organisations operate in an environment that remains adverse for women and LGBTQI+ people, especially in the face of increased polarisation, neoliberalism, and austerity measures. Conservative and religious groups, under the banner of the ‘blue wave’, have also mobilised to challenge progress on reproductive rights. They organised protests during key political debates aimed at expanding access to abortion at both national and local levels. Neo-conservative groups have also mobilised against the nationwide inclusion of SRHR in school curricula. Given this context, this document examines the strategies employed by eight collectives to counter rollback against women’s rights and LGBTQI+ rights. It explores the context of rollback, the landscape of anti-rollback actors, counter-rollback strategies, and gaps and areas for future research and work.</p
Six Guiding Principles to Support Equity in Global Health Programmes
No full textHealth equity is about recognising and addressing people’s different health needs. To support this, it is critical to understand how wider systems and structures have led to unequal allocation of resources, power and opportunity, driving avoidable and unfair differences in health outcomes. It is more important than ever to consider how health systems, policy and programmes reach and impact people with different characteristics in different circumstances. Thinking about principles can help guide decision-making on where to invest resources to maximise the benefit for the most vulnerable and help build a fairer world.This K4DD Fact Sheet shares six guiding principles to support equity in global health programmes.</p
Effectiveness of the African Union in Conflict Response
No full textThis rapid literature review finds that while the African Union (AU) has successfully established a framework for peace and security and demonstrated diplomatic influence, its effectiveness is mixed. Evaluations indicate partial success in addressing a portion of violent conflicts through diplomacy and peace operations. Strengths include its legitimacy, comprehensive approach to peacebuilding, and willingness to mandate civilian protection in peace support operations. A 2018 EU Court of Auditors evaluation found the AU's African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) framework addressed a significant portion of violent conflicts in Africa through diplomatic, mediatory, or peace operation interventions. Of these, a substantial majority achieved some level of success in preventing or de-escalating the violence.</p
La politique d’harmonisation fiscale au sein de l’Union Économique et Monétaire Ouest Africaine : Analyse et perspectives
No full textDepuis 1994, l’Union Économique et Monétaire Ouest Africaine (UEMOA) s’est engagée dans un ambitieux projet d’harmonisation des systèmes fiscaux nationaux de ses États membres. Incluant la fiscalité directe et indirecte, ce projet a ciblé la taxe sur la valeur ajoutée (TVA), les droits d’accises, l’impôt sur les sociétés, l’impôt sur le revenu des capitaux mobiliers et les règles relatives à la double imposition.La présente étude s’intéresse aux organes de l’UEMOA chargés de l’élaboration et de la mise en oeuvre des normes d’harmonisation fiscale. L’étude détaille également les objectifs assignés à cette politique d’harmonisation fiscale en vue de pouvoir mieux l’évaluer.Résumé du document de travail no. 200 de l’ICTD.</p
Glossary: Environmental Change, Development Challenges – Revisited
No full textThis is the Glossary for IDS Bulletin 56.1A, 'Environmental Change, Development Challenges – Revisited'.</p
Drivers of Responsible Business Conduct in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Systematic Literature Review
No full textThis report synthesises recent empirical evidence on the drivers of Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), based on a systematic literature review and detailed analysis of five key sectors: mining, agrifood, textiles, information and digital technologies, and finance. RBC involves preventing harm to people and the environment while contributing to broader economic and social progress. After briefly introducing the core concepts and analytical framework, the report maps the most commonly studied areas of RBC, identifies drivers that have proven effective, assesses their sector-specific relevance, examines the enabling conditions and structural barriers affecting their operation, and distils key policy implications.</p
Current Status and Challenges of the Japanese Antimicrobial Drug Discovery Ecosystem
No full textAntimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a phenomenon in which microorganisms, such as bacteria and viruses, become resistant to antimicrobial agents, thereby reducing the efficacy of existing therapies. The spread of resistance increases the risk of severe infectious diseases and death; consequently, AMR is considered a serious public health threat worldwide. The O’Neill report, published in 2016, predicts 10 million deaths per annum due to AMR by 2050. Hence, preventive measures are a pressing global challenge.This report describes AMR measures and the environment surrounding antimicrobial drugs in Japan and discusses the challenges of the antimicrobial drug discovery ecosystem. The Japanese antimicrobial drug discovery ecosystem has multilayered challenges, including a weak R&D infrastructure, the absence of startups, inadequate market formation, and fragmented policy. To solve these problems and build effective systems, integration of the following strategic efforts is required.</p
Implementation of International Tax Standards in Lower- and Middle-Income Countries: The Experience of Uganda
No full textEven though lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are most affected by the challenges associated with the taxation of cross-border transactions and the digital economy, their representation and participation in global tax reform efforts have so far been very minimal. LMICs are often expected to implement the international tax rules and standards that are developed by rich nations. Using the example of Uganda, this study seeks to assess the suitability of international tax rules and standards, and whether they are able to address the needs and challenges of LMICs – especially those that arise in the taxation of cross-border transactions and the digital economy. The study is part of a comparative research project implemented by the International Centre for Tax Development (ICTD) – ‘Comparative Perspectives on International Tax from the Global South’. The assessment is undertaken through the lens of three major indicators – the integrity of the tax treaty environment, strengths of available exchange of information mechanisms, and effectiveness of the digital services tax.Overall, the study findings show that Uganda has adopted, and in some cases implemented, international taxation standards relating to tax transparency, such as the Exchange of Information on Request (EOIR). Uganda has also ratified the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Council of Europe Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (MAAC). More recently it has adopted legislation for implementation of the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI). Although not a member of the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (Inclusive Framework), Uganda has been inspired by the evolving global tax standards to initiate reforms, and in some instances to renegotiate existing bilateral tax treaties (BTTs), with the objective of limiting tax avoidance and tax evasion. The decision to adopt specific international tax standards is mainly motivated by the broader strategy to boost revenue mobilisation – a step needed to ease current budgetary deficits and control the growing public debt amidst dwindling aid from donors. It is for this same reason that Uganda introduced a digital services tax in 2023. This unilateral action shows that the country is ready and willing to depart from international tax rules and standards if they do not align with its revenue mobilisation goals.</p
Does Women's Education Improve the Sex Ratio at Birth? Gender, Agency and Sex-selective Abortion in South and East Asia: a Critical Literature Review
No full textThe increasingly skewed sex ratio at birth, a result of son preference and sex-selective abortions, is a pressing concern in development. It appears that many aspects of development (such as economic growth, technological development, and women's increasing economic independence and voice) are occurring alongside a growing number of ‘missing’ girls and women, with various adverse social and economic consequences.A perplexing dimension is that women's education apparently has no clear relationship to the sex ratio at birth, and in some contexts appears to increase the propensity for sex selection. However, so far, studies have tended to use basic measures such as level or years of education, which do not explain whether and how educational experience affects traditional patriarchal norms and the relative value afforded to boys and girls. Drawing on a capabilities perspective on education, this article argues for a more nuanced concept of agency (which incorporates social structures and norms), and the need to integrate critical perspectives on the relationship between education, agency and empowerment. Finally, it makes a case for innovative measures of gender and education, which would allow comprehensive empirical exploration of how different forms of education affect women's capabilities and agency in relation to sex selection.</p
Biometric Digital-ID in Africa: Progress and Challenges to Date – Ten Country Case Studies
No full textThis report provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date account of digital-ID across Africa. It addresses the critical governance challenges of digital identification (digital-ID) systems currently unfolding across the continent. The findings in this synthesis are drawn from ten country reports produced by African researchers from across the continent in a study coordinated by the African Digital Rights Network (ADRN) in collaboration with Paradigm Initiative. The ten country case studies form an integral part of this report and feature Botswana, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Egypt, Ethiopia, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, Senegal, and Tunisia.Each country report provides the most detailed documentation to date of the evolving digital-ID system in that country. Key milestones in the development of the country’s digital-ID system is outlined and its key characteristics documented in detail. At the heart of the report is a systematic assessment of each digital-ID system against 15 tests derived from the comprehensive Framework for Evaluation of Digital Identity designed by the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS). Each country report concludes with actionable recommendations for policy, practice, and further research.</p