IDLGroup

VISIT FRR

Social Development

 

Portfolio Team Members

 

Our Approach

At theIDLgroup we believe that social exclusion, inequality, and inequitable access to basic services require urgent action. Our work in social development embodies our commitment to social justice, poverty eradication and empowerment. We consistently look for ways to facilitate meaningful participation of stakeholders and their representatives in the key processes that influence their lives – to enhance their ‘voice’.

We see social development analysis as an essential component of any successful development intervention. Poverty cannot be tackled effectively without rigorous contextual analysis. The poorest cannot be effectively reached without a sophisticated understanding of vulnerability and social differentiation, and service delivery institutions will not be effective unless they are accountable to poor people. The work of the Social Development portfolio is therefore cross-cutting, and we work closely with our colleagues in theIDLgroup’s other four portfolios.

At the same time theIDLgroup’s Social Development portfolio has sector-specific skills in health and in education, and an important component of our work is to focus on increased access to these basic services.

 

The way we work

Women's meeting in Orissa, India

theIDLgroup works to address inequality and social exclusion by combining our academic and field research experience with substantial policy and programme design skills. At the micro-level we use participatory research methods and field-based livelihoods assessments to improve existing policies and to inform new ones. At the meso level we develop approaches that create functional relationships between citizens, the state and service providers. At the macro level we support national governments and international agencies to develop pro-poor policies and programmes. Using our social analysis and sector specific skills, and an in-depth understanding of aid instruments, development processes and political economy, we work to build lasting relationships that will deliver positive change for poor people and enable them to chart their own futures.

 

Core Competencies

Our core competencies include innovative programme design, monitoring and evaluation, training and facilitation, as well as qualitative and quantitative research skills that span pro-poor policy, social analysis and gender. Specialist skills within the theIDLgroup’s social development consultants include poverty and social impact analysis, vulnerability and social protection, community-driven development, gender, civil society, and improving participation, voice and accountability.  Our consultants have provided social development inputs to a wide range of sectors, including health, education, HIV/AIDS, agriculture, livelihoods, social inclusion, anti-corruption, and women’s empowerment.

 

 

For more information on the Portfolio's work please see our Publications Page.