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Power, Trust, and Pre-Cooked Programmes: The Accountability of Social Assistance in Somalia
No full textSocial assistance in Somalia has become deeply embedded in the country’s political economy and struggles with systemic diversion and corruption, which negatively affects how programmes on accountability of aid function in practice. This paper examines systems for accountability of social assistance in Somalia. It explores how and why accountability outcomes and pathways are not working for people, particularly for marginalised groups. It is based on consultations with people receiving social assistance, community representatives and leaders, community-based organisations, local authorities, local and international non-governmental organisations, United Nations agencies, international donors, and the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. The report examines opportunities for strengthening accountability capacities and pathways based on community-generated suggestions and feedback from social assistance decision makers.</p
Multilateral Carbon Tax Treaty (MCTT)
No full textThese are the articles of the Multilateral Carbon Tax Treaty (MCTT), for discussion purposes. It is the product of the many comments received from the commentators invited to provide inputs to the MCTT. The MCTT comprises 31 articles that together establish an obligation on contracting states to tax carbon contained in fossil fuel ore or one of its byproducts, at the level of extraction. If the country entitled to tax at the level of extraction chooses not to exercise its right to tax, it allows first the country of refining or processing, and second, the country of consumption, under a secondary and tertiary allocation of rights. The MCTT identifies a minimum carbon tax, but not a ceiling. It provides for different tax rate schedules according to the country’s level of development and following the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. This is an environmental agreement that uses a tax instrument (a carbon tax) to assist countries in meeting the mitigation objective contained in the nationally determined contributions, as set forth in the Paris Agreement. In other words, it is an environmental agreement that enables countries to use a tax instrument to quantify and reduce carbon dioxide emissions in furtherance of the climate commitments assumed under the Paris Agreement
A Climate Treaty for the Global Taxation of Carbon
No full textThis paper aims to highlight the key policy considerations undertaken when drafting the articles that informed the text of the Multilateral Carbon Tax Treaty (MCTT). It is the product of the many comments received from the commentators invited to provide inputs to the MCTT. The MCTT comprises 31 articles that together establish an obligation on contracting states to tax carbon contained in fossil fuel ore or one of its byproducts, at the level of extraction. If the country entitled to tax at the level of extraction chooses not to exercise its right to tax, it allows first the country of refining or processing, and second, the country of consumption, under a secondary and tertiary allocation of rights. The MCTT identifies a minimum carbon tax, but not a ceiling. It provides for different tax rate schedules according to the country’s level of development and following the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. This is an environmental agreement that uses a tax instrument (a carbon tax) to assist countries in meeting the mitigation objective contained in the nationally determined contributions, as set forth in the Paris Agreement. In other words, it is an environmental agreement that enables countries to use a tax instrument to quantify and reduce carbon dioxide emissions in furtherance of the climate commitments assumed under the Paris Agreement
Key Themes and Considerations: Enabling Child Development in Ealing (ECDE) - Children’s Focus Groups
No full textIn July of 2023, one focus group was held with children in each of two local primary schools in Ealing borough.Each child participant had a younger sibling due to start school in September 2023. The focus groups took the form of the children working together to create an advice guide for parents.These sessions were part of a wider study on early childhood development, in which we consulted a diverse group of parents and carers to understand their lived experiences of raising young children in Ealing. This briefing highlights key themes and findings from children’s engagement in the Enabling Early Childhood Development in Ealing (ECDE) study
Finding the Missing Stone: Mobile Money and the Quality of Tax Policy and Administration
No full textDigital financial services like mobile money are increasingly prevalent in developing countries as an alternative to traditional financial services. For many governments, they have become critical components of domestic revenue mobilisation, tax administration modernisation, and broader tax reform. However, making tax administration more efficient and maximising
voluntary compliance is a very difficult task. The existing literature on the relationship between mobile money and tax performance in developing countries is limited, although it does show the potential of mobile money to improve tax performance. This paper aims to fill the gap by investigating the relationship between mobile money and the quality of tax policy and administration in developing economies and highlighting some mechanisms underlying these findings, including a lower tax compliance burden, a smaller informal sector, and lower corruption
Key Considerations: Mpox, Mining, and Vulnerabilities of Women and Children in eastern DRC
No full textThis brief presents considerations for contextualising and responding to the mpox outbreak in the mining towns of South Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The brief focuses on women and children living and working in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) areas. In South Kivu, in eastern DRC, most documented mpox cases have been in women (including women who engage in transactional sex) and children under the age of 15, including newborns. This brief highlights relevant socio-political contexts related to ASM, livelihoods, population mobility, and conflict and public health interventions. It discusses considerations for mpox vulnerabilities and access to healthcare for women and children. This brief draws on a SSHAP roundtable discussion on mpox in the DRC held in May 2024; conversations with experts and health actors active and/or knowledgeable in the region and outbreak; the authors’ own expertise on women’s and children’s lives in ASM areas in South Kivu; and academic and grey literature.</p
Land and Property Taxation to Finance Urban Development in Somaliland: Challenges and Prospects for Reform
No full textDespite significant economic growth, particularly in the construction sector, Somaliland faces substantial public infrastructure deficits, which hinder further economic progress and increase business costs. Critical infrastructure needs and the low base of essential public goods provision highlight the need for the government to establish stronger fiscal foundations, particularly at the local level in urban areas. While government revenue collection is low, property and land taxes represent a significant opportunity to raise local government revenue and contribute to sustainable urban development.This report examines land and property tax systems in Somaliland’s urban municipalities and focuses on the key challenges and reform opportunities to enhance revenue generation. Drawing on reform experiences from other sub-Saharan African cities, the analysis highlights strategies for effective property and land taxation in Somaliland. Emphasising the need for strong political commitment to achieve these reforms, it suggests a way forward for the implementation of progressive tax reform to finance critical urban development and set the foundations for the ambitions of the nation.</p
Financial Management, Debt and Loans
No full textThe Child Labour: Action-Research-Innovation in South and South-Eastern Asia (CLARISSA) programme uses Action Research (AR) to understand the dynamics which drive the worst forms of child labour (WFCL), and to generate participatory innovations which help to shift these underlying dynamics and mitigate their worst effects.Through 13 Action Research Groups (ARGs) in Bangladesh and 12 groups in Nepal, the programme is generating a rich understanding – particularly through children’s lived experiences – of the complex underlying drivers of harmful work and working children and their employers are themselves defining, piloting and evaluating their own innovative actions that aim to increase children’s options to avoid WFCL.This group worked on the theme 'Financial management, debt and loans'.</p
Reactivation of the Association of Massage Parlours and Spa Venues
No full textCLARISSA conducted research with small business owners operating in the adult entertainment sector in order to better understand the dynamics of running small informal businesses that contribute to the emergence and perpetuation of the worst forms of child labour. An Action Research Group was created with the business owners of massage parlours and spa venues in a tourist area in Kathmandu Valley, where the project's life story collection had gathered evidence that many children (girls) arrived from villages in Kathmandu in search of work. The Action Research Group gathered evidence on issues to address within the massage and spa sector. They renewed an association for massage and spa venues, built capacity of the newly elected association members, conducted monitoring visits to business venues, created and distributed a code of conduct, and conducted a media advocacy programme.</p
The Socio-economic Impact of the Taliban’s Poppy Ban
No full textThe Taliban’s edict prohibiting poppy cultivation and the use and trade of all types of narcotics across Afghanistan has had a profound impact on the country’s rural population, particularly in regions that saw the highest volumes of poppy cultivation. The disruption to farmers’ livelihoods comes amidst a collapsing national economy that promises few viable long-term alternatives.Poppy has long been Afghanistan’s most valuable cash crop, and saw a significant expansion during the two decades of the Republic that followed the Taliban’s late 2001 ouster. Its labour-intensive cultivation employed several hundred thousand people, pushing up wages and living standards of those directly and indirectly involved. As Afghanistan faced the worst drought in decades around the time of the Taliban’s August 2021 return to power, poppy’s resilience and relatively low water needs made it all-the-more attractive.Afghanistan’s diplomatic and economic isolation after the Taliban’s August 2021 forceful seizure of power has devastated an already struggling economy. The freezing of around US$9 billion in central bank foreign reserves, held mostly in the U.S., triggered a collapse of the local currency and a major liquidity crisis, while aid cut-offs and sanctions triggered hyper-inflation and impeded trade and other business. Without tangible Taliban commitments to basic rights and equality, especially of girls and women, any deep international economic engagement remains highly unlikely. A brutal economic crisis will only magnify the poppy ban’s impact on households.</p