Governance and conflict research

Preventing conflict and supporting the establishment of security and good governance are crucial to reducing poverty. Without security and access to justice, a country’s economy and public services cannot function and peace is unlikely to be sustainable. Conflict and violence have a particularly negative impact on women, children and young people.

Development and humanitarian agencies devote a large part of their resources to conflict affected and fragile states, yet remarkably little is known about fundamental governance and social development questions in such states. In order to address this gap in knowledge, DFID has funded long-standing research programmes on governance, conflict and social development that have deepened what we know about the political dimensions of poverty and development. For example, DFID-funded research has provoked a major rethink of international approaches to governance. It is promoting a shift from thinking about how aid can build better formal, public institutions, to how it can create incentives to support pro-poor policies.

DFID’s research aims to understand the dynamics of poverty and exclusion, and to provide practical policy solutions. We have also carried out research into conflict, recovery from conflict, inequality, human security and ethnicity but we still need to know more about what causes high levels of social exclusion and why it leads to conflict in some contexts and not others.

Key findings from research we have funded include:

• Contrary to conventional wisdom, it is informal exchanges between business and government in some countries which help generate trust and increase private investment, rather then formal legal and regulatory changes.
• DFID funded research suggests that conflict is three times more likely where there are significant inequalities between different ethnic, religious and social groups. Therefore promoting inclusive and equitable growth is a significant factor in delivering stable political settlements.
• Citizen engagement is necessary to build accountable and responsive states. Even in the most fragile settings, such as Angola, participation can improve the delivery of key services, such as water, and contribute to building more peaceful and stable societies.

Our future research into governance in challenging environments will look closely at the links between power, politics and poverty. It will investigate how poor people can be included in political processes. DFID will focus on the most challenging governance environments we work in and the most difficult social development problems that poor countries face.