The Justice and Security Research Programme (JSRP) and The Asia Foundation (TAF) are collaborating on a research project exploring Theory of Change (ToC) approaches to international development practice. The project was launched in April 2012 and involves staff from both organisations. The research and outputs from the collaboration aim to provide a basis for development organisations to produce more empirically-grounded theories of how change happens, leading to improved development programming. The collaboration between a research consortium and an NGO should also allow for better integration of wider social science research findings into tangible meanings for field practitioners.
A key output from the collaboration is a series of Theories in Practice working papers that will critically interrogate specific interventions by TAF and other development practitioners within the framework of their associated ToC approaches. Companion papers will explore aspects of the wider literature on ToC thinking and the ways in which this is being used in current aid programming.
Researchers from JSRP have so far been hosted by TAF country offices in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste, Philippines, Cambodia and Pakistan and papers from the collaboration are listed below.
Adam, Jeroen, Verbrugge, Boris and Vanden Boer, Dorien, ‘Hybrid Systems of Conflict Management and Community-Level Efforts to Improve Local Security in Mindanao’, JSRP Paper 13 (March 2014).
Adam, Jeroen, Verbrugge, Boris and Vanden Boer, Dorien, ‘Peacemaking and State-Society Interactions in Conflict-torn Mindanao, Philippines’, JSRP Paper 18 (August 2014)
Babovic, Marija and Vukovic, Danilo, ‘Social Accountability in Cambodia‘, JSRP Paper 19 (August 2014)
Djurdjevic-Lukic, Svetlana, ‘Community Policing and Community Security: Theory and Practice in Timor-Leste’, JSRP Paper 16 (June 2014).
Jayasundere, Ramani and Valters, Craig, ‘Women’s Experiences of Local Justice: community mediation in Sri Lanka‘, JSRP Paper 10 (January 2014).
Khanal, Mukesh and Thapa, Preeti, ‘Community Mediation and Social Harmony in Nepal’, JSRP Companion Paper (October 2014)
Kirk, Tom, ‘Legal Aid Lawyers and Paralegals: Promoting Access to Justice and Negotiating Hybridity in Timor-Leste‘, JSRP Paper 14 (June 2014)
Kirk, Tom, ‘Citizen-Led Accountability and Inclusivity in Pakistan‘, JSRP Paper 20 (December 2014)
Rowland, Nicholas and Smith, Claire Q., ‘Rebuilding State-Society Relations in Post-War States: Assessing a Theory of Change Approach to Local Governance Reform in Timor Leste‘, JSRP Paper 15 (June 2014).
Stein, Danielle, ‘Community Mediation and Social Harmony in Nepal‘, JSRP Paper 5 (May 2013).
Stein, Danielle, and Suykens, Bert, ‘Land Disputes and Settlement Mechanisms in Nepal’s Terai’, JSRP Paper 12a (March 2014).
Stein, Danielle, and Valters, Craig, ‘Understanding “Theory of Change” in International Development‘, JSRP Paper 1 (July 2012).
Suykens, Bert, and Stein, Danielle, ‘Neutrality, Party Politics and Community Mediation in Central and West Terai, Nepal’, JSRP Paper 12 (March 2014).
Valters, Craig, ‘Community Mediation and Social Harmony in Sri Lanka‘, JSRP Paper 4 (May 2013).
Valters, Craig, ‘Theories of Change in International Development: Communication, Learning or Accountability?‘, JSRP Paper 17 (August 2014)