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Governance and Inclusive Societies

Our societies are marked by stark inequality and the exclusion of different people, including women and girls, people with disabilities, LGBTQI+ people, and ethnic and religious minorities.  

At SDDirect, we work with communities, civil society, governments, businesses and others to foster a culture of active citizenship and greater accountability of all those who hold power.  

Young woman holds sign at protest which reads: I fight like a girl for my rights

What is Governance and Inclusive Societies?

 

We work to build inclusive societies where every citizen and community is valued and empowered to make their own choices about their development, act on these choices, and hold duty-bearers to account.  

By applying a gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) lens, poor and socially excluded people can be better supported to access and claim knowledge, resources, rights and services. This allows them to participate in public life and build fairer, more inclusive communities and become active agents of change.  

Our work in this area 

 

Our work is technically focused and grounded in practice which is objective and unbiased. Key products and services include:  

  • Gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) analysis, strategy development, training and implementation support 

  • GESI-aware political economy analysis (PEA), including SDDirect’s Gender, Inclusion, Power & Politics (GIPP) analysis 

  • Design and advisory support to active citizenship, community voice and participation, and social accountability initiatives   

  • Fast response ‘helpdesk’ facilities to provide the latest available evidence and analysis on key issues and questions 

  • Disability inclusion mainstreaming, research, review, and analysis 

  • Facilitation and advisory support to more inclusive and equitable development partnership-building   

  • Development of ethical, ‘do no harm’ and safeguarding frameworks  

  • Stakeholder mapping, engagement, and facilitation of multi-stakeholder dialogue 

  • Monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) for governance-related programmes 

  • Inclusive services, including promoting access to education and health services, including sexual and reproductive health and rights.  

We provide technical leadership on GESI in governance programmes, including developing GESI strategies and promoting GESI mainstreaming throughout programmes. We take an innovative ‘looking inwards and outwards’ approach, working on GESI inclusion within our partnerships and consortiums as well as our programme work.   

We deliver GIS programming in a diverse range of country contexts, including development and emergency settings. We take an intersectional approach to understanding and challenging the structural barriers that people face to social inclusion, including discrimination based on gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, and other factors. 

“In my engagements with the Disability Inclusion Helpdesk – both in preparations for and delivery of products – I found the service to be of brilliant quality. It certainly provided a wide range of people with increased knowledge and understanding of the issues and was always able to consider how best to support colleagues in the FCDO, to put information and evidence into practice.”
Emma Žaja
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)

If you would like to hear more about our work on Governance and Inclusive Societies (GIS), please reach out to Emma Haegeman, Head of Governance and Inclusive Societies Portfolio, EmmaHaegeman@sddirect.org.uk 

Evidence and Collaboration for Inclusive Development (ECID)

The Evidence and Collaboration for Inclusive Development (ECID) programme (2018-2021) was funded through UK Aid Connect (UKAC)’s Strengthen Civil Society Effectiveness pillar. UKAC was set up by the Department for International Development (DFID) to deliver lasting change to poor people’s lives by supporting consortia of diverse organisations to come together and create innovative solutions to complex development challenges.

Looking inwards

Being accountable and modelling the change we want to see in others

In the international development sector, it is easy (and harmful) to assume that everyone is on the same page. Yet we all come with our own personal values and experiences that shape our attitudes on gender equality and social inclusion, and towards others.

Barriers to women and youth in peacebuilding in Yemen: What are they and how can they be overcome?

An inclusive peacebuilding process in Yemen will have a greater chance of leading to sustainable peace. In support of this aim, this learning brief explores the barriers faced by women and youth peacebuilders in three governorates in Yemen. Drawing on qualitative evidence from interviews with women and youth peacebuilders, it proposes steps that donors can take to ensure that both groups play meaningful roles in shaping a peaceful future for Yemen.  

Gender Inclusion Power and Politics (GIPP) Analysis Toolkit

The SDDirect-Christian Aid Gender Inclusion Power and Politics (GIPP) analysis toolkit was developed as part of the UK Aid Connect Evidence and Collaboration for Inclusive Development programme implemented in Nigeria, Myanmar, and Zimbabwe. It integrates traditional Political Economy Analysis (PEA) with Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) analysis and involves several lines of enquiry including problem identification, contextual analysis, systemic analysis, systems mapping, stakeholder dialogue, power, and exclusion analysis.

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