Secure Livelihoods Research ConsortiumGenerating stronger evidence on conflict situations
The Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium (SLRC) aims to generate a stronger evidence base on how people in conflict-affected situations (CAS) make a living, access basic services like health care, education and water, and perceive and engage with governance at local and national levels.
At the center of SLRC’s research are three core themes, developed over the course of an intensive one-year inception phase:
- State legitimacy: experiences, perceptions and expectations of the state and local governance in conflict-affected situations
- State capacity: building effective states that deliver services and social protection in conflict-affected situations
- Livelihood trajectories and economic activity in conflict-affected situations
The Overseas Development Institute (ODI) is the lead organization. In addition to Feinstein, other SLRC partners are the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU), the Center for Poverty Analysis (CEPA) in Sri Lanka, Focus1000 in Sierra Leone, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Humanitarian Aid and Reconstruction of Wageningen University (WUR) in the Netherlands, the Nepal Center for Contemporary Research (NCCR), and the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in Pakistan.
Dyan Mazurana is the team leaders for SLRC, Uganda. She is also the overall lead on gender analysis for the SLRC.
Daniel Maxwell is the team leader for SLRC, South Sudan.
Dyan and Daniel are co-leads on overall livelihoods analysis for SLRC.
Recovery in Northern Uganda: Findings from a panel study in Acholi and Lango sub-regions
This report describes household recovery in northern Uganda from the 20 years of conflict between the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Government of Uganda (GoU) by following the same...
Schools out: Why northern Uganda’s girls and boys are not getting an education and what to do about it
This working paper presents findings from research examining the sharp decrease in girls and boys school attendance that was witnessed between 2013–2018 in northern Uganda.
‘She told me that life here is so easy’: Urban migration of Acholi youth, Uganda
This working paper presents findings on the migration of youth from Acholi, Uganda to the urban areas of Gulu and Pabbo in northern Uganda, and to the Acholi Quarter neighborhood in Kampala.
The state of the war-wounded in northern Uganda
This large-scale study from northern Uganda investigates how experiences of alleged war crimes or crimes against humanity relate to victims’ disability and how these experiences affect food security, wealth and access to basic services, including their access to basic and therapeutic healthcare over time.
Tracking change in livelihoods, service delivery, and governance: evidence from a 2013-2015 panel survey in Uganda
This report presents a series of challenges to conventional thinking around livelihood recovery for war-affected populations.
Livelihood strategies and interventions in fragile and conflict-affected areas: assessing trends and changes from 2012 to 2016
This publication explores the evolution of the "livelihoods approach" to development and humanitarian assistance.
Youth on the margins: in search of decent work in northern Uganda
Through a case study in Uganda’s second largest town, Lira, the research sets out to examine what the dynamics of young people’s work look like.
Trading, power and politics in a northern Uganda marketplace
Through a case study of one recently redeveloped marketplace in northern Uganda, this study sets out to shed some light on what happens when attempts to modernize and formalize economic activity come into contact with the local realities of how trading, power and politics actually work
Key Lessons Learned on International Engagement
This paper explains that aid actors in South Sudan have largely failed because they applied technical solutions to political problems.
Livelihoods and conflict in South Sudan
This briefing paper recommends a rethink in the way that aid actors approach questions of recovery and livelihood. Rather than a simplistic either/ or approach, what is needed is a much more localized and deeper analysis of conflict, inter-communal grievances and inter-communal relations.
Complexities of Service Delivery and State Building
This paper describes the findings from research carried out in several areas of South Sudan in the context of armed conflict and raiding. The findings show that despite state-building efforts, service delivery remained inadequate in remote areas and that the interface between service delivery and people’s perceptions of the state is complex.
Trajectories of international engagement with state and local actors: Evidence from South Sudan
What can international aid policymakers and practitioners learn from the history of international engagement with South Sudan prior to and during the current conflict? This paper traces international engagement shifts...
Change the context not the girls: Improving efforts to reduce teenage pregnancy in Sierra Leone
In 2013 Sierra Leone ranked among the ten nations with the highest rates of teenage pregnancy in the world. If the Government of Sierra Leone’s renewed National Strategy for the Reduction of Teenage Pregnancy is to succeed, a more contextually tailored approach is needed. This report makes five recommendations.
Livelihood recovery in post-conflict northern Uganda
This study complements the larger Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium Uganda survey by providing deeper insight into processes of recovery in northern Uganda. It focuses on: The nature of ‘livelihood recovery’...
Questions and Challenges Raised by a Large-Scale Humanitarian Operation in South Sudan
This working paper analyzes the relationships between international humanitarian aid agencies and the government structures they engage with in South Sudan.
Surveying livelihoods, service delivery, and governance: baseline evidence from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Uganda
This paper shows findings from a cross-country panel survey which took place in five conflict-affected countries: DRC, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Uganda. The aim of the survey was to...
Peacebuilding and Service Delivery
The briefing paper explores the relationship between service delivery, peacebuilding, and state legitimacy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Uganda. It finds that the...
Gender, youth and urban labor market participation: evidence from the catering sector in Lira, Northern Uganda
This working paper examines the urban labor market in Lira, a large and expanding town in post-conflict northern Uganda.
Surveying livelihoods, service delivery and governance: baseline evidence from South Sudan
In 2012, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), with inputs from SLRC, implemented the first round of an original sub-regional panel survey in South Sudan aimed to produce data...
From post-conflict recovery and state building to a renewed humanitarian emergency: A brief reflection on South Sudan
Since December 2013 – only two and a half years after becoming an independent country – South Sudan has been mired in a deep political, military, and humanitarian crisis. This...
Looking back to look ahead? Reviewing key lessons from Operation Lifeline Sudan and past humanitarian operations in South Sudan
This paper reviews large-scale humanitarian operations in South Sudan, focusing on what lessons can be learnt from Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS). The paper is structured as follows: The first section...
Surveying livelihoods, service delivery and governance – baseline evidence from Uganda
In 2012/13, SLRC implemented the first round of an original sub-regional panel survey in Uganda aimed to produce data on livelihoods, access to and experience of basic services, exposure to...
Briefing Paper: Recovery in Northern Uganda How are people surviving post-conflict?
In 2012/13, the Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium (SLRC) implemented the first round of an original sub-regional panel survey in northern Uganda aimed to produce data on livelihoods, access to and...
Briefing Paper: The impact of serious crimes during the war on households today in Northern Uganda
In 2012/13, the Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium (SLRC) implemented the first round of an original sub-regional panel survey in northern Uganda aimed to produce data on livelihoods, access to and...
Briefing Paper: The war-wounded and recovery in Northern Uganda
In 2012/13, the Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium (SLRC) implemented the first round of an original sub-regional panel survey in northern Uganda aimed to produce data on livelihoods, access to and...
Livelihoods, access to services and perceptions of governance: An analysis of Uror and Nyirol counties, South Sudan
This report is based on qualitative fieldwork conducted in Uror and Nyirol Counties, Jonglei State, South Sudan and a household survey conducted by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)...
In the eye of the storm: An analysis of internal conflict in South Sudan’s Jonglei State
The violent political crisis that has engulfed South Sudan since mid-December 2013 has awakened the world to the fundamental lack of stability in the world’s newest country. Unfortunately, the situation...
Livelihoods, Basic Services and Social Protection in Northern Uganda and Karamoja
This paper synthesizes current evidence on how people are recovering their livelihoods and accessing basic services and social protection interventions in the conflict-affected regions of Uganda’s Greater North.
Disability and recovery from war in northern Uganda
This article explores the prevalence and impact of disabilities resulting from war crimes committed by parties to the conflict between the Government of Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance Army. In addition, the article considers Uganda’s promising legal framework of rights for persons with disabilities. Published in Third World Thematics in December 2016.
Trajectories of International Engagement with State and Local Actors: Evidence from South Sudan
This article investigates how international actors have engaged with the South Sudanese state and local actors in order to improve access to basic services, build state capacity to deliver those services, and provide social protection and livelihood support. The article also discusses what the impacts of such engagement have been and what aid actors can learn from the history of humanitarian and development assistance in South Sudan. Published in the Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding in October 2017.
Struggle for Recovery: Women’s Stories from Northern Uganda
Women’s lives in northern Uganda have been shaped by the decades-long war between the government of Uganda and the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The war stopped a decade ago,...
Video: Healthcare, Water, and Education in Building State Legitimacy
This video from the Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium describes findings that challenge conventional wisdom regarding basic service delivery and perceptions of government legitimacy by citizen’s living in fragile and conflict...