WHAT WE DO
THE ISSUE: Asia and Africa are enjoying unprecedented economic growth and, in many countries, greater political stability. But in many countries, growth has largely been without development. Income inequality has risen, under-employment is high and progress towards the MDGs uneven. Current population and urbanisation trends, if ignored, could lead to fragmentation and social exclusion.
WHAT WE DO: We help design stabilisation and growth strategies in fragile states and societies, political transitions and other sensitive contexts.
- Our programme design is based on SWOTs, logical frameworks and theory-of-change approaches, political economy analysis and (where applicable) conflict analysis.
- Our evaluations look at both correlations and possible contributions, and are fit for socially-divided and data-poor contexts.
- Research, policy, programming, evaluation, facilitation and training: we offer our clients the full package.
TRACK RECORD: Established in 2013, we have earned the trust of recurrent clients such as the UK Department for International Development, the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European Union, the African Development Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the UN. Here are some recent projects.
Evaluation of EU joint programming with member states
Mission: Evaluation
Brussels, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Mali 2016 (ongoing).
Evaluation of the relevance and effectiveness of joint programming between the EU and Member States, based on 14 country cases and headquarter visits. With ADE.
Danish support to social cohesion in Mali
Mission: Programme Design; Quality Assurance
Mali, 2016 (ongoing)
Support to the Embassy to develop a proposed programme for Danish support to social cohesion in Mali, after the 2015 Accord d'Alger. With PEMConsult.
Evaluation of EU support to demobilisation and reinsertion of ex-combattants in Côte d'Ivoire, 2013-2016
Mission: Evaluation
Côte d'Ivoire, 2016 (ongoing).
Thinkpiece on conflict and fragility for the President Advisory Panel of the Islamic Development Bank
Mission: Research and Recommendations
2016
Thinkpiece to help the President Advisory Panel discuss how the IDB can help its 56 member countries move from fragility to resilience:
- What are the main elements of fragility, and trends affecting IDB countries?
- What opportunities can the IDB seize, particularly those brought by digital technologies in terms of jobs, access to services, Government accountability, and social cohesion?
- How can its business model be adapted to ensure these countries are not left behind and do not pose a threat to peace and prosperity?
Evaluation of EU cooperation with Pakistan 2007-2014
Mission: Evaluation
Pakistan, 2015-2016 (ongoing)
With responsibility for governance and human rights, evaluation of EU support to Pakistan between 2007-2014. With ADE.
African Development Bank support to countries in fragile situations: Burundi, DR Congo,Togo (2004-2013)
Mission: Evaluation
Burundi, DR Congo, Togo, 2015-16
Analysis of each country's trajectory (2004-2013) in terms of state capacity and legitimacy and societal resilience; and of AfDB's contribution to this trajectory. Recommendations for future support to countries in fragile situations. With ADE.
Conférence internationale pour la relance économique et le développement du Mali
Mission: Conference
Paris, October 2015
Support to conference bringing together the Government of Mali, signatories to the Alger peace accord, civil society and delegations from 64 countries and organisations: conference documents, messages for media and final communiqué.
Danish support to security in Burkina Faso
Mission: Programme Design; Quality Assurance
Burkina Faso, 2015
Quality assurance of a proposed programme for Danish support to the security system in Burkina Faso, with interviews and focus-group discussions in Ouagaoudou, Ouhigouya and Bobo-Dioulasso. Revisions to take into account the risks and opportunities of the ongoing transition (after the October 2014 regime change). With PEMConsult.
Survey on donor support to security and justice
Mission: Research
Paris, 2015
Synthesis report on an OECD survey gathering DAC members' views on their support to security and justice: aid and non-aid allocations, thematic priorities and geographic priorities (current and future), existing policy guidance and future needs.
UK and EU electoral support to Zambia
Mission: Programme Design
Zambia, 2015
Co-drafted the contours of UK and EU joint electoral support (channeled through UNDP) for 2015-2018: context analysis, theory of change, programme components, programme management, budget.
Development Effectiveness in Uzbekistan
Mission: Research and Operational Recommendations
Uzbekistan, 2015
Based on interviews with government officials and development partners, produced an analysis of the development finance landscape and aid effectiveness in Uzbekistan, and presented recommendations to improve the development impact of aid at an inter-ministerial meeting.
EU support to the COMESA region 2014-2020
Mission: Facilitation and Programme Design
Zambia, 2014
Facilitation and consultation-based design of EU support to the COMESA region 2014-2020, focused on:
- Reduced cost of cross-border trade through removal of internal barriers
- Increased SME participation in global value chains
- COMESA common investment area signed and implemented
-Enhanced COMESA Secretariat capacity to ensure compliance of COMESA commitments
DFID's scale up of aid to fragile states
Mission: Review
2014
Member of Advisory Panel for the UK Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) review of the UK's scaling-up of aid to fragile states. With KPMG.
Personal security in Timor-Leste
Mission: Research
Timor-Leste, 2014
Research on the extent to which security improved since Timor-Leste's restoration of independence, and correlation with sources of domestic and international finance. Part of Development Progress, a four-year research project supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
EU Staff Handbook for Operating in Situations of Fragility
Mission: Research and Operational Guidance
Brussels, 2013-14
Consultations at Delegations and Headquarters, and development of an EU Handbook for Staff Operating in Situations of Fragility and Conflict. With ADE.
Evaluation of EU and EU Member States support to Burundi 2005-2011
Mission: Evaluation
Burundi, 2013
With responsiblity for governance and security issues, conducted Joint Evaluation of European Union, Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden and UK engagement in Burundi between 2005-2011.
Access to Security and Justice in Sierra Leone
Mission: Evaluation
Sierra Leone, 2013
Mid-term review of the DFID Access to Security and Justice Programme in Sierra Leone, a holistic Programme engaging with formal and customary institutions, civil society and community-based structures. With DAI.
EU support to Zambia 2014-2020
Mission: Facilitation and Programme Design
Zambia, 2013
In 2014, led drafting of the Multi-annual Indicative Programme for the period 2014- 2020, based on facilitation of dialogue among Government of Zambia ministries and the EU Delegation to Zambia, and on available sector analyses (Governance, Agriculture and Energy).
UNDP Regional Programme for Africa 2014-2017
Mission: Programme Design
New York, Addis-Abbaba, Pretoria, Libreville, Gaborone, Lusaka, 2013
Based on consultation with African leaders (Governments, civil society, African Union, NEPAD and Regional Economic Communities), and with responsibility for Governance issues, developed a concept note and the UNDP Regional Programme for for Africa.
WHO WE ARE
Deborah Alimi
Researcher
Deborah Alimi is a researcher in international relations, focused on governance, international development, and international strategies and policies regarding transnational organized crime and illicit practices.
A member of the European Center for Sociology and Political Science, she is pursuing a PhD in Political Science at Sorbonne. She analyses the evolutions and strategic reformulations of international drug policy and agenda.
Prior to her PhD, Deborah served as Policy Analyst in the OECD’s Network on Governance (GOVNET), focusing on anti-corruption and accountability. Before that, she was a research assistant on democratic governance and human rights issues for organisations such as UNPD and the Washington–based Centre for Development and Population Activities.
A French native, Deborah holds an MA in Democracy and Governance from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., as well as a Maîtrise in Political Science from Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne in Paris. She speaks English and Spanish, and has some knowledge of Russian.
Juana de Catheu
Founder & Governance Advisor
Franco-Singaporean Juana de Catheu is a governance and security advisor, with 15 years of experience designing, implementing and evaluating programmes in transition contexts.
She founded Development Results in 2013 and Ebola Watch in 2014, and is a Conflict & Stabilisation Advisor for the UK Stabilisation Unit.
She is former Team Leader of the OECD International Network on Conflict and Fragility (INCAF) and DAC focal point on responsible supply chains of minerals (2007-2013).
Before that, she assisted the DR Congo government in demobilising and reintegrating 150,000 combatants; and the government of Aceh (Indonesia) in implementing the Aceh peace agreement (2004-2006). Prior, she was a Conflict Specialist at the World Bank, where she received three awards for the design and implementation of recovery programmes in Indonesia, DR Congo, and Burundi, and her analysis of the conflict in Burundi, with US Special Envoy Ambassador Wolpe (2001-04).
A native French and English speaker, she holds an MA from Sciences Po Paris, an MBA from ESSEC Business School and an MSc in Foreign Service from Georgetown University (Fulbright).
Edward B. Rackley
Senior Advisor
Ed Rackley is a security and governance adviser to leading multilateral and bilateral institutions (World Bank, UN, DFID, USAID...), as well as INGOs (MSF), with over 20 years living and working in conflict-related emergencies and fragile states, notably in the Horn, Great Lakes, Sahel and West Africa. He also has programming and research experience in LAC, Balkans and SE Asian transitional contexts. In 2008 he co-founded Prism Partnerships in Nairobi to support community-led reconstruction initiatives in conflict-affected areas of East and Central Africa. He speaks English, French, Kikongo and Lingala.
He holds doctoral and master’s degrees in political philosophy from the New School for Social Research, New York. His doctoral dissertation addressed the moral logic of humanitarian intervention, a critique of the humanitarian presumption that inaction before human atrocity amounts to complicity. He is a contributing author and co-editor of Catastrophe: Law, Politics and the Humanitarian Impulse (2009) and R.D. Congo: Silence, On Meurt (2002), and has published in Disasters, Multitudes, The Christian Science Monitor, Graduate Faculty Philosophy Journal, Sustainable Security, and 3QuarksDaily.
Colin Scott
Senior Advisor
Colin Scott is a Development Finance specialist, with over 30 of experience with development banks, UN agencies and international NGOs.
Until 2015, he was Lead Specialist in the Operations Risk Management team of the World Bank’s policy and country services vice presidency, where he specialised in environmental and social safeguards and was task leader of the Bank’s corporate review of safeguard policies. Prior to that he spent seven years in the Bank’s Middle East and North Africa region specialising in conflict-affected and fragile states, and leading the team producing a regional study, “Reducing Conflict Risk”. Prior, starting in 1996, he worked on social risk, conflict and development at the World Bank including six years as administrator of the Bank’s Post Conflict Fund.
Previously, he was a policy and communications consultant working on conflict and development issues for NGOs, UN agencies and independent institutions such as the Humanitarianism and War Project at Brown University. He served as senior press officer with Save the Children UK and managed its assistance programs in Mali, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Prior to that he worked in local government and the voluntary sector in the UK in social welfare policy, services and communications.
He has an MSc. in International Relations, an LLB in law, and a professional qualification in social work.
Claudia Seymour
Senior Advisor
Claudia Seymour is an applied researcher with 15 years of experience, working primarily in conflict-affected environments in sub-Saharan Africa.
Her research specialisations include youth, child protection, resilience to armed violence, humanitarian assistance, and security sector reform.
She has served with a range of UN bodies, including the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, UNICEF and the UN Group of Experts on the DRC and has led in-depth assessments, studies and evaluations for a variety of international and non-governmental organisations, in countries including Burundi, Central African Republic, DRC, Kenya and Liberia.
She is currently a Research Associate with the Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, and the Department of Development Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.
She holds a PhD in Development Studies from SOAS, and an MA in International Relations and Economics from the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University.
NEWS AND EVENTS
01/06/15—Political and Economic Governance in Africa 2015
Africa saw some major advances in democracy in 2014, and the continent remains on its long-term trajectory of improved governance.
Since the 2008 crisis, however, main governance gains have been in the area of political participation, and not in much else. In 2014, several countries experienced instability, terrorism or conflicts, threatening some hard-fought gains.27/1/15—East Timor has surprised us — and will continue to surprise
East Timor has journeyed from political violence to personal security, and the recent resignation of Prime Minister Gusmao may signal that the clash of the "buffaloes" may indeed give way to less personalised politics. See the infographic, animation, listen to our talk, or read our paper.
24/9/14—Eradicating Ebola is a political challenge too
The current response, focused on the emergency health response and fundraising, has to factor in the need for a much-missing commodity: trust.
The fight against Ebola can only be won with the people concerned – not without or, even worse, against them.
28/2/14—Burundi: better security, mixed governance
There are results in parliamentary and judicial capacity, the army and police perform better, and there was none of the episodes of mass violence that marked1965-2003. However, the causes of the conflict (extreme poverty, extreme concentration of power, systemic social exclusion) are still present. New sources of insecurity are emerging (rapid population growth, joblessness, youth radicalisation), against the backdrop of a lack of progress re. an independent judiciary, access to justice, and constructive government-civil society dialogue.
1/1/14—A deafening silence: Burundi and Rwanda
In Burundi, things have taken a turn for the worst as early as 2010. Politically-motivated killings peaked at 60-70 cases in 2011. There is a bonfire waiting for a spark, with the convergence of 1) the swelling ranks of jobless, urbanised and knowledgeable youth; 2) a network of radicalised youth groups such as the ImboneraKure; and 3) general elections scheduled in 2015. In spite of the 80 experts we interviewed who supported that the risk of a return to mass violence was minor, the elements for a perfect storm are gathering.
DEVELOPMENT RESULTS IN PICTURES
Encounters along the way.
