Papers by Brigitte Rohwerder
CLEAR Synthesis Report 3, 2024
The multiple economic shocks during the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in an estimated 1.6 million pe... more The multiple economic shocks during the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in an estimated 1.6 million people falling into poverty in Bangladesh, especially in urban low-income areas, and for women, marginalised groups and those working in the informal sector. Four years later, recovery has been slow. This Synthesis Report gathers evidence from the Covid-19 Learning, Evidence and Research Programme in Bangladesh (CLEAR), looking at multiple crises, coping strategies, and their longer-term impacts. Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods longitudinal research over the course of the pandemic and afterwards in Bangladesh illustrate the different strategies people used to try and cope with the multiple shocks they faced over time, and how depleting coping strategies affected their trajectories of poverty and recovery.
K4DD Rapid Evidence Review 18, 2024
This K4DD Rapid Evidence Review explores lessons learned from post-war reconstruction programs, f... more This K4DD Rapid Evidence Review explores lessons learned from post-war reconstruction programs, focusing on case studies from Lebanon, Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Gaza Strip, with an emphasis on the Middle East and North Africa region.
It underscores the complexities of reconstruction, highlighting challenges such as political involvement, inadequate engagement with affected individuals, and insufficient international assistance. Key lessons include prioritising local involvement, building consensus on reconstruction priorities, ensuring transparency and accountability, and addressing underlying conflict causes.
The review stresses the importance of coordination, capacity-building, and long-term commitment in successful reconstruction efforts.
Institute of Development Studies, 2023
This review looks at the available evidence on disability inclusion in early childhood developmen... more This review looks at the available evidence on disability inclusion in early childhood development and education in humanitarian settings. It found that little evidence and guidance is available relating specifically to the inclusion of children with disabilities in early childhood education in humanitarian settings and there is a lack of extensive provision. However, some guidance exists and the review presents a number of case studies of disability inclusion in early childhood development and education in humanitarian settings.
K4D Helpdesk Report 1225, 2022
Older people and children and adults with disabilities are disproportionately vulnerable and over... more Older people and children and adults with disabilities are disproportionately vulnerable and overlooked in post-conflict settings as conflict exacerbates pre-existing disadvantages and they are often left out of post-conflict reconstruction processes. Their inclusion in post-conflict recovery/reconstruction is a neglected area of focus despite the increasing evidence and attention paid to their needs during conflict and humanitarian response. This rapid review looks at the available evidence on priorities for recovery/reconstruction for children and adults with disabilities and older persons from countries recovering from conflict, focusing on the emerging evidence from Ukraine and from post-conflict countries with similar contexts to it.
K4D Helpdesk Report 1097, 2022
Globally food insecurity is rising, especially for women and girls, potentially placing them at i... more Globally food insecurity is rising, especially for women and girls, potentially placing them at increased risk of sexual exploitation and abuse in their attempts to access food. Most of the existing literature focuses on sexual exploitation and abuse than on sexual harassment, and the literature focusing on sexual harassment tended not to specify the organisations involved making it hard to identify if they are in the food security sector. Most of the literature seems to focus on sexual exploitation and abuse relating to food security in humanitarian rather than other settings Sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment is widely underreported across the aid sector and data is not routinely collected indicating whether or not the case relates to food security programming. This report thus aims to discover what is known about the particular risks and incidence of sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment in the food security sector, and what learning is there on effective risk analysis and management. Several recommendations from the literature for food security actors are provided at the end of the report, including suggestions from beneficiaries for measures that could be taken to make food distribution processes safer.
IDS Working Paper 553, 2021
The unprecedented shutdown of borders and restrictions on migration in response to the Covid-19 p... more The unprecedented shutdown of borders and restrictions on migration in response to the Covid-19 pandemic have put the core principles of refugee protection to test and resulted in the erosion of the right to asylum and violations of the principle of non-refoulment (no one should be returned to a country where they would face torture; cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; or punishment and other irreparable harm). Covid-19 is being used by some governments as an excuse to block people from the right to seek asylum and implement their nationalist agendas of border closures and anti-immigration policies.
Space and Culture, Mar 6, 2023
This research investigates how COVID-19 has affected experiences of people with disabilities in l... more This research investigates how COVID-19 has affected experiences of people with disabilities in low-and middle-income contexts. A qualitative approach was used to collect data as the pandemic progressed from 75 participants in Nigeria, Bangladesh, Nepal, Kenya, and Uganda. The research aimed to be inclusive of people with disabilities by asking the participants directly about their perspectives with a narrative interview method being employed to gain each person's unique insights. A participatory thematic analysis of the data, followed by a spatial analysis process, produced rich and highly individualized accounts of the spatiocultural experiences relating to how people with disabilities had occupied both private and public space during the pandemic. Differing factors, such as the dominant culture, gender, a person's impairments, and the social environment, are shown to shape people's experiences. Across cultures, COVID-19 is shown to have presented new challenges for people with disabilities while preexisting disadvantages have been exacerbated.
This report focuses on the social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in low- and middle-income coun... more This report focuses on the social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in low- and middle-income countries and considerations around preparedness, response/mitigation, resilience, and recovery measures taken or proposed in response.
This situational analysis (SITAN) addresses the question: “what is the current situation in relat... more This situational analysis (SITAN) addresses the question: “what is the current situation in relation to formal sector employment for persons with disabilities in Uganda?”. It has been prepared for the Inclusion Works programme (which works on disability inclusive formal employment in Bangladesh, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda), to better understand the current context and available evidence in Uganda, and will be helpful for anyone interested in disability inclusion, especially in relation to employment, in Uganda. It focuses on persons with disabilities, employers, policy, the disability movement, and partnerships.
This situational analysis (SITAN) addresses the question: “what is the current situation in relat... more This situational analysis (SITAN) addresses the question: “what is the current situation in relation to formal sector employment for persons with disabilities in Kenya?”. It has been prepared for the Inclusion Works programme (which works on disability inclusive formal employment in Bangladesh, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda), to better understand the current context and available evidence in Kenya, and will be helpful for anyone interested in disability inclusion, especially in relation to employment, in Kenya. It focuses on persons with disabilities, employers, policy, the disability movement, and partnerships.
This situational analysis (SITAN) addresses the question: “what is the current situation for pers... more This situational analysis (SITAN) addresses the question: “what is the current situation for persons with disabilities in Tanzania?”. It has been prepared for the Disability Inclusive Development programme (which works on access to education, jobs, healthcare, and reduced stigma and discrimination for persons with disabilities in Bangladesh, Jordan, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, and Tanzania), to better understand the current context, including COVID-19, and available evidence in Tanzania. It will be helpful for anyone interested in disability inclusion in Tanzania, especially in relation to stigma, employment, education, health, and humanitarian issues.
This situational analysis (SITAN) addresses the question: “what is the current situation for pers... more This situational analysis (SITAN) addresses the question: “what is the current situation for persons with disabilities in Nepal?”. It has been prepared for the Disability Inclusive Development programme (which works on access to education, jobs, healthcare, and reduced stigma and discrimination for persons with disabilities in Bangladesh, Jordan, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, and Tanzania), to better understand the current context, including COVID-19, and available evidence in Nepal. It will be helpful for anyone interested in disability inclusion in Nepal, especially in relation to stigma, employment, education, health, and humanitarian issues.
This situational analysis (SITAN) addresses the question: “what is the current situation for pers... more This situational analysis (SITAN) addresses the question: “what is the current situation for persons with disabilities in Kenya?”. It has been prepared for the Disability Inclusive Development programme (which works on access to education, jobs, healthcare, and reduced stigma and discrimination for persons with disabilities in Bangladesh, Jordan, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, and Tanzania), to better understand the current context, including COVID-19, and available evidence in Kenya. It will be helpful for anyone interested in disability inclusion in Kenya, especially in relation to stigma, employment, education, health, and humanitarian issues.
This annotated bibliography provides an overview and outlines key messages from a selected range ... more This annotated bibliography provides an overview and outlines key messages from a selected range of academic and practioner literature looking at gender and disability in low- and middle-income countries, which may help with planning for gender inclusion in programmes and projects. The papers included here are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all the relevant literature. A focus is placed literature looking at the main areas of work of the Disability Inclusive Development programme: stigma, livelihoods (which also applies to the Inclusion Works programme), education, and health, as well as humanitarian contexts. Literature which focuses solely on one of these areas has been included in the relevant sections, and those which address multiple areas are included in the first, overarching section on gender and disability. As is often the case, the literature on gender and disability in low- and middle-income countries has a tendency to focus mainly on the experiences of women and girls with disabilities. There is a lack of evidence relating to gender and disability in low- and middle-income countries, although more evidence is emerging as awareness of the importance of the issue grows. People with disabilities face exclusion and discrimination on the grounds of both their gender and their disability, as well as other intersecting factors such as age, race, class or poverty. The intersectional nature of discrimination and inequality impacts all areas of life, from access to services, personal security, livelihoods and leisure, through to individual choice and autonomy. Women and girls with disabilities are more likely to face discrimination and exclusion than people without disabilities and compared with men and boys with disabilities. Their participation in education, livelihoods, and healthcare is challenges by barriers including stigma and cultural practices resulting in discrimination and prejudice, lack of accessible services, and lack of support from family, teachers and institutions - all of which are exacerbated by poverty. Women with disabilities are also at greater risk of physical, mental and sexual abuse and because of stigmatisation, have lower marriage prospects. Therefore, it is important to ensure the meaningful inclusion of women and men with disabilities in programming.
This helpdesk report looks into the impacts of approaches and initiatives designed to either redu... more This helpdesk report looks into the impacts of approaches and initiatives designed to either reduce conflict risk or maximise peacebuilding and developmental opportunities, associated with increased natural resource extraction – with a particular focus on non-renewable extractive resources such as minerals, oil and gas – in fragile and conflict-affected states.
Consociationalism arrangements, a form of power-sharing, have been used in violently divided soci... more Consociationalism arrangements, a form of power-sharing, have been used in violently divided societies as a means to end wars and build peace. However, many deeply divided countries have struggled to implement their power-sharing arrangements and the transition to more ‘normal’ politics is difficult. Research into reform of consociationalism arrangements in deeply divided societies is scarce and there is little focus or detail provided about the factors which affect the outcomes of these reforms. The few papers found on the subject are from academic sources. This review synthesises literature on the examples of countries undertaken or are undertaking reform of consociationalism arrangements, especially those which moved towards other forms of democracy. The first section of this report elaborates the term consociationalism and its four key institutional arrangements outlined by Lijphart, the the leading authority on consociationalism: executive power-sharing (grand coalitions representing different societal groups); proportionality rules in political representation; mutual vetoes, allowing communities to contest decisions against their interests; and group autonomy, or right to run their own affairs. The second section of this report outlines several case studies of peace agreement consociationalism arrangements in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lebanon, and Burundi which illustrate the various pathways away from consociationalism arrangements. None of these deeply divided countries has made a full democratic transition away from consociationalism yet, but reforms (and attempts at reforms) have been made to their consociationalism arrangements.
This guide is designed to provide FCDO staff and other interested parties with information about ... more This guide is designed to provide FCDO staff and other interested parties with information about free online courses and materials they can use to develop or refresh their humanitarian technical competencies. It is not an exhaustive list but provides a starting point for those working to support FCDO’s humanitarian objectives. Further resources may be added. The listing does not attempt to provide a sector by sector guide. It briefly explains what each course or resource is, what it covers, and how long it takes (where information is available). The courses and resources are mostly aimed at people with a general level of knowledge about humanitarian response or development. Most online courses require registration and can be started whenever the user wants. Inclusion in this list does not mean that courses or resources are officially endorsed by FCDO or K4D.
This report draws on and expands previous work by Brigitte Rohwerder looking at disability stigma... more This report draws on and expands previous work by Brigitte Rohwerder looking at disability stigma in developing countries (written for K4D) and information on stigma in the situational analyses and labour market assessments of the four Inclusion Works programme countries.
This report draws on and expands previous work by Brigitte Rohwerder looking at disability stigma... more This report draws on and expands previous work by Brigitte Rohwerder looking at disability stigma in developing countries (written for K4D) and information on stigma in the situational analyses of the six Disability Inclusive Development (DID) programme countries.
Children born of wartime rape, and their mothers, are often stigmatised by their own communities,... more Children born of wartime rape, and their mothers, are often stigmatised by their own communities, due to their associations with political, ethnic or religious enemies. Their identity and sense of belonging are contested, which creates dangers for their physical security and emotional wellbeing. Children born of wartime rape are at risk of violence, abuse, abandonment, discrimination and marginalisation, at the hands of both families and communities. They often have less access to community resources, family protection and education or livelihood activities, and are likely to grow up in poverty. They can face challenges in registering their birth and their right to citizenship. The experiences of children born of wartime rape can result in a lifetime of detrimental consequences, and the stigmatisation they experience has continued long into the post war period. Their experiences differ as a result of gender, perceived ethnicity, social and economic status, as well as structural gender discrimination, especially in patriarchal and patrilineal societies. This rapid literature review looks at some of the available evidence on the experiences of children born of wartime rape in several different countries (Bosnia, Rwanda, Uganda, and Iraq) and lessons learned from efforts to support and reintegrate them into communities.
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Papers by Brigitte Rohwerder
It underscores the complexities of reconstruction, highlighting challenges such as political involvement, inadequate engagement with affected individuals, and insufficient international assistance. Key lessons include prioritising local involvement, building consensus on reconstruction priorities, ensuring transparency and accountability, and addressing underlying conflict causes.
The review stresses the importance of coordination, capacity-building, and long-term commitment in successful reconstruction efforts.
It underscores the complexities of reconstruction, highlighting challenges such as political involvement, inadequate engagement with affected individuals, and insufficient international assistance. Key lessons include prioritising local involvement, building consensus on reconstruction priorities, ensuring transparency and accountability, and addressing underlying conflict causes.
The review stresses the importance of coordination, capacity-building, and long-term commitment in successful reconstruction efforts.