Governance and Social Development

The Governance and Social Development Resource Centre (GSDRC) provides knowledge services to help reduce poverty by informing policy and practice in relation to governance, conflict and social development.

The GSDRC provides knowledge services on demand and online. It aims to help reduce poverty by informing policy and practice in relation to governance, conflict and social development. By supporting multiple donors, including the European Commission and the Commonwealth Secretariat, the GSDRC contributes to the harmonisation agenda. It helps share knowledge across agencies, and where research requests from different agencies are similar we help avoid duplication and build on existing work, providing an enhanced resource hub on cutting-edge issues.

Our services

• Document library - A collection of the most credible publications available on governance, conflict and social development issues. This includes brief, policy-oriented summaries of each document highlighting the major findings and implications in an easy to read format, plus links to the full text online or by document delivery.
• Research helpdesk - Rapid response research service for short desk-based research needs. Most helpdesk reports are publicly available on our website.  
• Emerging issues research service - A more in-depth research service for emerging policy areas.
• Consultancy services - Efficient contracting of consultants to carry out consultancy, desk-based research, and training.
• Topic guides - User-friendly guides to key topics in governance, conflict and social development to bring you up to date on the key debates and critical issues in each topic area. Guides are produced by our researchers in close collaboration with external experts and practitioners in DFID.
• Gateway guides - Guides to the most useful, credible and up-to-date resources available on the internet in relation to a number of governance and social development topics.
• Email bulletin - A monthly bulletin including the latest governance and social development news, as well as overviews of new publications and the latest research from the helpdesk.