This practical note explores how an awareness of gender and diversity issues can enable work in strengthening civil society to achieve lasting impact on the lives of women and men living in poverty. Understanding that people are poor because of their gender or diversity identity enables CSOs to be relevant. If work to strengthen civil society is to contribute to long-term social inclusion and greater social justice and equality, it must start from an analysis of who is excluded and why; here gender and diversity contextual analysis is indispensable, as is action on how civil society initiatives can help to level the playing field.

Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) is a widespread feature in sub-Saharan African cities, and has become particularly important in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Recent surveys have revealed the importance of UPA in Freetown as a method for generating food, income, and employment. Government and NGOs have encouraged urban farmers to group together into farming associations so that advice and inputs can be provided. Little information currently exists about the functioning of these associations, and whether their effectiveness might be improved. This paper draws upon recent field-based research in which the experiences of members in six different farming associations were investigated.

While NGO accountability is widely discussed in the literature, there has been little work done on how accountability systems operate in practice. This article aims to address this gap by using qualitative empirical data to provide a case study of one NGO’s initiative in this area. ActionAid has made substantial, high-profile efforts to improve its downward accountability since 2000. Using data from fieldwork conducted in Uganda and internationally, the article reveals the operational obstacles which have hindered ActionAid in its attempts to strengthen its accountability to intended beneficiaries at the community level, and reviews ActionAid’s ongoing commitment to this goal.

This article reports on an indicator model to assess sustainability at the community level that was developed by an interdisciplinary work group. We applied this model in a case study of the Mixteca region in Oaxaca, Mexico, and provided a tool guide to measure the effectiveness of community-based actions. Two innovative aspects are presented: an iterative process with the community to develop a locally appropriate set of indicators drawn from the literature, and a baseline diagnostic assessment of the community’s performance on these indicators. This assessment may serve as a basis for future research and community-driven projects.

In the West, Ukraine is known as country of wasted potential, and most recently the scene of a proxy war between the West and Russia. What is often missing in the analysis is that, internally, the country faces serious nation- and state-building challenges. These call for development of institutions, values, and behaviours that could sustain an open democratic system of governance. A strong and sustainable civil society is an integral part of such a system. In 2013 a popular uprising toppled the corrupt regime of Victor Yanukovych. This triggered the Russian annexation of Crimea and unleashed a violent separatist movement in Ukraine’s industrial heartland, the Donbass. Since 2014 Ukraine has been both under external attack and simultaneously trying to reform its corrupt and captured political system.

In September 2015, the UN General Assembly formally adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that aim among other things, to end poverty and hunger, protect the planet, and promote prosperity by 2030. The SDGs were, however, adopted at a time when an increasing body of research is drawing attention to a series of game-changing trends in international development and funding landscapes. This article considers the ways in which the changing development landscape is affecting the ability of NGOs to perform their expected roles towards the attainment of the SDGs. Drawing on in-depth qualitative interviews with NGOs in Ghana, the article contends that expectations of the roles of NGOs in advancing the cause of SDGs in Ghana are being affected by three main factors: (i) uncertainty of income generation and funding sources; (ii) changing operational capacity; and (iii) changing NGO identity.

This article reports on a study that examined the effect of key entrepreneurial traits on the performance of micro-enterprises owned and managed by Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) women micro-entrepreneurs in Malaysia. This study adopted a cross-sectional design and a quantitative approach, and collected data from 407 micro-entrepreneurs. The study findings revealed that an ability to identify and tap into entrepreneurial opportunity is the key entrepreneurial trait that has a significant positive effect on the performance of micro-enterprises. AIM should therefore focus on designing enterprise development training programmes to improve entrepreneurs’ ability to identify and tap into entrepreneurial opportunity.

This article empirically examines one of the most important causes of the non-implementation of human rights-based approaches to development (HRBAD): their alleged limited relevance for actors on the ground. The article argues that claims about local relevance can only be made after meaningful consultation with local rights-holders. Consulting local rights-holders in order to ensure responsive planning is not only relevant for HRBADs, but for development interventions more generally. The article presents new material on the Sanitized Villages programme in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to assess whether and how rights-holders are consulted, and identifies four mechanisms that can facilitate meaningful consultation.

This article identifies and examines the role of actors involved in the process of large-scale land acquisitions in Cameroon. It is based on primary data from interviews conducted among principal actors. Findings reveal that government, chiefs, and to some extent elites, play key roles in formal and informal processes that grant land to investors. However, both processes neglect women and affected communities because there are no mechanisms to hold actors accountable to them, especially to women who depend on land for their livelihood. The article concludes that a legal framework that makes the process transparent and promotes accountability and gender inclusiveness is indispensable.

Medical aid missions involve travel to conflict or danger zones, posing safety risks in addition to the usual occupational risks arising from daily medical work. The note reports on a volunteer mission, using personal reports, anecdotal experiences, and the formal annual report to undertake an assessment similar to worksite assessments for hazards and control measures. Hazards were found to be prevalent, including physical noise and heat, infectious exposure from patients and local vectors, poor water sanitation, and psychosocial stress from unfamiliar environments and large patient numbers with limited means. Implementable preventative measures include increasing awareness with appropriate protective equipment usage and safety guidelines. Mission planning and management should also involve occupational health input.