Social development skills are now recognised as an essential component of almost any well-considered development intervention. Poverty cannot be tackled effectively without sound social and poverty analysis, the poorest cannot be reached without a sophisticated understanding of vulnerability and social differentiation, and service delivery institutions will not be effective unless they are made accountable to poor people.

theIDLgroup staff share a commitment to social justice, poverty eradication, participation and empowerment . The focus of all our social development work is to improve efforts to fight poverty. At a micro level, we use participatory research methods and field-based livelihoods assessments to ‘ground truth’ existing policies and to inform new ones. At a macro level, we use sound social analysis and our understanding of aid instruments, development processes and political economy to build lasting relationships that will both deliver for the poor and enable poor people to chart their own futures.

Our core competencies include innovative programme design, monitoring and evaluation, training and facilitation, communications for development, and research skills that span pro-poor policy, social analysis and gender. Specialist skills within the theIDLgroup social development portfolio include poverty and social impact analysis, poverty reduction strategies, vulnerability and social protection, human rights, civil society, and improving participation and accountability.

Two social development themes are currently of particular interest to theIDLgroup. First, we consistently look for ways to facilitate the meaningful participation of stakeholders and their representatives in the processes that influence their lives – to enhance poor people’s ‘voice’ and agency.

Second, we see increasing inequality and social exclusion as an issue requiring urgent action. TheIDLgroup has consistently combined our academic and research skills with substantial field experience. In our ‘Hands not Land’ work, for instance, theIDLgroup partnered with the Bangladesh Institute for Development Studies to analyse the most important changes impacting the lives of the poor and very poor rural people. We then translated those findings into concrete policy and programme recommendations for a major bilateral donor. We are currently taking this work one step further, exploring the factors affecting the status of women and girls in rural Bangladesh.

Our clients include international development agencies, non-governmental organisations, developing country governments, and community development agencies. Our consultants have provided social development inputs to a wide range of sectors, including health, education, HIV/AIDS, agriculture, microfinance, anti-corruption, and women’s empowerment.

Examples of Relevant Experience

• Poverty and social impact analysis in Ghana: What does the ‘modernisation’ of agriculture mean for poor people?
  
• Livelihoods and poverty training for Save the Children Fund’s child trafficking programmes in Laos, Thailand and Cambodia
  
• Hands not Land, a research and policy project examining the dynamic factors determining people’s livelihoods in rural Bangladesh
  
• Enhancing citizen participation and voice in a long-term inner city infrastructure development programme in London associated with the Channel Tunnel (for the King’s Cross Development Trust)