This is the final publication arising from an ELLA award to support an online course on masculinities, under the ELLA work stream on Domestic Violence. The report has been edited by the ELLA awardees, Ana Palazessi and Leonardo Garcia, who organised and ran the online course

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This Annotated Bibliography reviews the literature on "Community participation in community-based crime prevention experiences in Latin America and Africa"

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This Annotated Bibliography reviews the literature on "Informality and Inclusive Growth"

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This Annotated Bibliography reviews the literature on "Beyond Domestic Violence Laws: What Else Makes Responses to Domestic Violence Effective".

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This Annotated Bibliography reviews the literature on Collective Land Access Rights for Enhancing Smallholder Livelihoods

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This Annotated Bibliography reviews the literature on Determinants of Gaps in Horizontal Accountability of Executive to Legislative Bodies in Latin America and Africa

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This Annotated Bibliography reviews the literature on Local Content Frameworks in Latin American and African oil and gas sector.

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This Policy Brief uses studies by the University of Ibadan, Nigeria and FundaUngo, El Salvador to explain how contextual variables such as trust, willingness to act together and social ties define, influence and condition CBCP outcomes in the two countries in their efforts to tackle crime.

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This brief proposes that, considering communal or condominium land tenure regimes enable sustainable pastoral production systems, public policy should be re-oriented to support pastoralist families’ collective land right access.

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Given that pastoral communities reside in areas characterised by arid and semi-arid conditions, and where alternative uses of land such as crop farming may not be possible, this brief argues for the maintenance of collective land tenure as it enhances the sustainability of pastoral productive systems.

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This policy brief focus on why some communities are better able to confront high rates of crime compared to others. And, given that Community Based Crime Prevention (CBCP) operates in contexts that are far from uniform, the brief also seeks to understand what can be learnt about what drives better results in communities suffering high levels of insecurity.

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This policy brief aims to explore key factors that secure the implementation of policies to tackle domestic violence, contrasting the cases of Mexico and Ghana.

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This policy brief uses the case studies of South Africa and Colombia to argue that the relationship between informality and inclusive growth depends on the type of informality in question.

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Este documento realiza un análisis de la calidad de información que contienen los Informes sobre el Estado de la Nación de Argentina durante los mandatos presidenciales que tuvieron lugar entre 1996 y 2015. El estudio permite identificar los sectores de política que priorizan los presidentes: empleo, producción, educación, salud y desarrollo social cuando rinden cuentas; educación, obra pública y vivienda y justicia cuando hacen propuestas.

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This policy brief seeks to explain the difference the in implementation service provision for survivors of domestic abuse in two countries that passed domestic violence legislation in 2007: Ghana and Mexico. The key difference between the two countries lies in the nature of the women’s caucus in parliament.

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This policy brief aims to identify common factors in successful local content strategies by comparing the experiences of countries that have achieved reasonable positive local content outcomes.

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Based on a Comparative Evidence Paper, this infographic explores why Nigerians feel less safe in comparison to Salvadorians though they experience similar levels of crime.

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What are the main challenges we face when aiming to hold state owned enterprises accountable? How may we overcome them?

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Will sustaining pastoral production systems improve the livelihoods of pastoralist communities? This infographic is based on joint research on pastoralism and land tenure between Kenya and the andean altiplano.

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This infographic explores the differences between informal labour markets in Colombia and South Africa and how different local contexts result in different types of informality and policy implications.

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What are the keys to success on oil and gas local content initiatives? This infographic analizes LC examples in Africa and Latin America, and proposes a series of policy recommendations.

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What are the componentes of a domestic violence legislation? What can we learn by comparing the cases of Mexico and Ghana?

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This study seeks to answer why some communities who engage in community-based crime prevention practices are able to withstand high rates of crime and others are not through a comparative analysis of communities located in severe crime zones in El Salvador and Nigeria.

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This paper argues that differing levels of gender institutionalisation Mexico and Ghana explain divergent outcomes in the implementation of domestic violence legislation in each country.

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This paper attempts to understand the nature of the impact that labour informality has on inclusive growth, by comparing the cases of Colombia and South Africa: two upper-middle income countries with very different views and government approaches to the issue.

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This paper compares the experience of seven Latin American and seven African oil and gas producing countries, in order to identify the common factors that can help explain the achievement of positive outcomes from Local Content policy

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This paper analyses the relationship between pastoral land tenure systems and the sustainability of pastoralism as a production system in two regions in particular: the Andean Altiplano and the Kenyan Savannah. There, it identifies five types of collective land regimes.

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This paper aims to provide understanding about the determinants of the performance of horizontal accountability in Argentina and Kenya and the institutional conditions under which we could expect to see more or less horizontal accountability.

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How can we find solutions to domestic violence? Can we learn from initiatives from other regions? A group of experts from Africa and Latin America met in Mexico during November 2016 to discuss these questions and to learn more about the way this country is trying to address domestic violence, both through laws and protection services.

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Infographic developed based on the Research Paper "The Deficits in Horizontal Accountability in Argentina: A Tale of two worlds"

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Infographic developed based on the Research Paper "Beyond Domestic Violence Laws in Latin America: Challenges for Protection Services for Survivors".

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Infographic developed based on the Research Paper "Explaining the Effectiveness of Community-Based Crime Prevention Practices in Nigeria".

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Infographic developed based on the Research Paper "Collective Land Access Regimes in Pastoralist Societies: Lessons from East African Countries".

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Infographic developed based on the Research Paper "The Evolution of Collective Land Tenure Regimes in Pastoralist Societies: Lessons From Andean Countries".

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This brief analyses the implementation of Mexico’s law on domestic violence and sets out recommendations on how to improve implementation.

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This brief is based on new research examining the accountability of the Executive to the Legislature in Argentina, leading to a set of specific recommendations to improve ‘horizontal accountability’.

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Based on an in-depth study of one of only two shelters for domestic violence survivors in Ghana, this brief identifies policy interventions to improve protection services in the country, and recommends a model for shelters that is more suited to survivors’ needs.

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This brief is based on new research into community-based crime prevention in Latin America, focused on the case of El Salvador, identifying how actions to strengthen social ties, trust, and the willingness to act to confront crime are likely to be key to the effectiveness of such programmes.

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This brief explores how urbanisation, large public investments and agriculture have put pressure on pastoralist systems in East Africa, with a focus on the case of Kenya, proposing new policies to improve the sustainability of pastoralists’ production systems.

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This brief is based on research into the oil and gas Local Content policies of Latin America countries, and identifies some key policies that are more likely to be successful in promoting economic diversification.

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This brief is based on new research into oil and gas Local Content policies in Africa, exploring successes with reference to Chad and Angola, and making the case for African countries to establish networking and training hubs to develop small and medium enterprises.

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This brief analyses how informality affects inclusive growth, studying informality by different socio-economic groups, and presents policy recommendations for each of these groups.

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Infographic developed based on the Research Paper "Local Content Frameworks in Latin American Oil and Gas sector: Lessons from Ecuador and Colombia."

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This brief explores the relationship between informal employment and inclusive growth in sub-Saharan Africa, focused on the case of South Africa, with recommendations on how to address different types of informality.

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Based on new research, this brief sets out a framework to improve the accountability of the Executive to the Kenyan parliament.

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This brief provides public policy recommendations to support the sustainable development of pastoralist societies in Andean countries, based on new research insights on collective land tenure and the sustainable management of resources.

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This Policy Brief uses new research by the University of Ibadan to explore the introduction of complementary, community-based crime prevention models in Nigeria’s largest metropolitan areas: Ibadan.

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Infographic developed based on the Research Paper "Beyond Domestic Violence Laws: Women’s Experiences and Perceptions of Protection Services in Ghana."

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Infographic developed based on the Research Paper "Horizontal Accountability of the Executive to the Legislature in Africa: A Case Study of Kenya."

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Infographic developed based on the Research Paper "Informality and inclusive growth in sub-saharan Africa".

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Infographic developed based on the ELLA Research Paper "Local Content Frameworks in the African Oil and Gas Sector: Lessons from Angola and Chad".

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This paper examines the effectiveness of community-based crime prevention (CBCP) and the reasons behind it in Nigerian communities, conceptualising effectiveness in terms of citizens’ perception of their safety, crime level in their community and extent to which they attribute these two to the CBCP.

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This research reviews the response to Domestic Violence in Africa, focusing in on Ghana, and asks ‘What are women’s experiences and perceptions of protection services provided to survivors of domestic violence in Ghana?’ based on interviews at a shelter in Accra.

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This study examines the evolution of collective land tenure regimes in East Africa including how they affect pastoral communities living on these lands. Specifically, we attempt to identify the drivers and impacts of changes in collective land access since the 1900s.

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This paper assesses the legislative, representative, financial control and oversight roles played by parliaments in Africa, with Kenya as the main case study in a context of accountability.

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This paper aims to analyse how land tenure regimes of pastoralist societies living in the Andean altiplano have transformed over the last 50 years and discusses the implications of these transformations for the sustainability of resource management in these areas.

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This research seeks to explore the relationship between the different types of informal employment and inclusive growth in sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular focus on South Africa.

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This paper looks at the executive-legislative relationship and horizontal accountability, with the objective of finding out what are the determinants of the low performance of horizontal accountability mechanisms in Latin America, especially in the case of Argentina.

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This paper seeks to identify the main characteristics and outcomes of local content frameworks (LCFs) in African oil and gas producing countries.

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This paper provides an analysis of local content frameworks and their outcomes in seven oil and gas producing countries in Latin America.

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This research seeks to understand the impact of informality on inclusive growth in Latin America, particularly in Colombia, taking into account the different types of informality and their causes.

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This research reviews the response to Domestic Violence in Latin America, focusing in on Mexico, and uses a series of in-depth interviews with survivors of domestic violence living in a shelter in Mexico City, to review their experience of the protection services that they received.

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This paper seeks to explore the extent to which crime and violence prevention initiatives that promote social capital and collective efficacy are successful in reducing crime and violence in Latin America, more specifically through a case study of El Salvador.

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This paper is sketches an agenda to study the determinants of and the process by which strong policymaking institutions develop, with special focus on the potentially most central policymaking institution in a democracy: Congress

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This paper analyses the labour effects of taxes and explores empirically the effects of payroll taxes, the VAT and corporate income taxes. It uses national-level data of labour variables for 15 Latin American countries

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This systematic meta-review analyses a wide array of evidence on programmatic interventions on reducing community violence in Central America.

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The review of the literature on pastoralist economics is a contribution to the global learning on the importance of mobile pastoralism as a form of productive and sustainable land management. The review is intended to highlight existing knowledge on the value of pastoralism, the gaps in this knowledge, trends in pastoral economies and policy options that can support drylands economies most effectively.

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This study analyses the future effect of the changes in the hydrocarbon sector on the mining sector in Mexico, with emphasis on existing and potential linkages between the two sectors stemming from local content policies.

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This Paper analyses the role women play in promoting more effective legislations to confront Domestic Violence. It analyses their role in monitoring policies too, and highlights key action on how to accomplish this based on real examples.

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Los territorios rurales atraviesan procesos de envejecimiento y una de las causas principales es la emigración de los jóvenes a los centros urbanos. Las razones para dejar el campo y la agricultura son en parte las barreras que enfrentan al insertarse social y productivamente en sus comunidades y el acceso seguro a la tierra es el factor clave.

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¿Por qué comunidades que son comparables en términos de desigualdad social y económica y exclusión sufren diferentes niveles de violencia? Esta investigación (El Salvador y Costa Rica)plantea que en territorios urbanos marginales, comparables en términos de exclusión social, puede haber distintos niveles de violencia por las diferencias de capacidades de la acción comunitaria para afrontar el fenómeno de la violencia.

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This publication explores the commonalities between the existing and proposed paradigms and approaches to development that ensures well-being and respect for nature. It also analyses and the concept of green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication.

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Taking account of the substantial increase in female labour market participation that has occurred throughout the Latin American region, this article describes policies adopted with the aim of reconciling work and family responsibilities between 2003 and 2013, and the implications of their design for socioeconomic and gender equity.

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Esta investigación busca establecer si las diferencias de ingresos entre los trabajadores con empleo formal e informal pueden ser explicadas por los atributos productivos de la mano de obra o si, por el contrario, son resultado de una segmentación del mercado laboral.

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This paper, Monitoring the Climate Change Impacts of Urban Agriculture in Rosario, Argentina, examines the city’s urban agriculture programme, the contribution of green areas to reducing the Urban Heat Island, the transportation and conservation of food and the effects of UPA on run-off and infiltration of storm water.

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Esta compilación de 10 artículos brinda otra mirada a la seguridad ciudadana en América Latina. Ofrece una revisión a las políticas de seguridad y su eficacia para reducir el delito y la violencia, así como un análisis al problema de las drogas, sus causas y efectos económicos, sociales y políticos.

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In 2009 Argentina implemented a major cash transfer programme for children and adolescents called Universal Child Allowance for Social Protection, which extended the coverage of the contributory family allowance programme to new segments of the population. This research assesses its impact on adult labour participation.

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The Colombian case is an example of progress in women’s empowerment in the face of formidable and continuing challenges. Progress is identified in relation to: legal gains for women’s rights and gender equality; women’s presence and representation in public and elected positions; the advancement of a gender-responsive approach to addressing the legacies of conflict and associated mechanisms of memorialisation, reparations, restitution and transitional justice.

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Different views have been put forward to explain why most firms in developing countries operate informally. One argues that informal-business owners are people trying to make a living while searching for a wage job. Another argues that they do not register their firms because of complex regulation processes. This paper contributes to recent literature that argues that both factors are at work.

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This research design and methods paper is a working document, and the first stage in the conduct of a joint comparative research in the topic of community-based crime prevention experiences in Latin America and Africa.

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This research design and methods paper is a working document, and the first stage in the conduct of a joint comparative research in the topic of local content frameworks in the oil and gas sector. 

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This design and methods paper sets out how the authors will explore the conditions under which legislative bodies succeed or fail in holding accountable public agencies of the executive as well as the executive’s own capacity for being accountable.

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This paper is a working document, and the first stage in the conduct of a joint research in the topic collective land access rights for enhancing smallholder livelihoods. The research will study the cases of Peru and Kenya and analyse to what extent these lessons can be applied to other countries in Africa and Latin America. 

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This research design and methods paper is a working document, and the first stage in the conduct of a joint comparative research in the topic of effective responses to domestic violence. The research will study the cases of Ghana and Mexico and analyse how and to what extent these lessons can be applied to other countries in Africa and Latin America.

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This design and methods paper sets out how the authors will explore the transitions between unemployment, informality and formal employment and how they might affect or promote inclusive growth at both individual and macroeconomic level.

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This Briefing Paper from IIED looks at the Peruvian government's attempts to formalise small-scale farmers, offering lessons applicable in Peru and beyond.

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In this paper Dr. James David Bowen argues that stable democracy must rest on three pillars: capable state institutions, the autonomy of these institutions from powerful actors both within and outside the state, and the existence of meaningful institutions of accountability.

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This Working Paper from the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) describes a case study piloting the use of Participatory Video (PV) methodologies to build capacities and empower young women and men in rural communities.

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In Peru, indigenous children obtain lower scores on academic tests, on average, than non-indigenous children. In this study, the authors investigate whether a test score achievement gap is found by the age of 5 and whether this gap increases by the age of 8.

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The city of Montevideo was the first city in Latin America to set up an Open Data policy. This work analyses the emergence an evolution of Montevideo's open data policy as well as the early uses of data by civil society, private entrepreneurs and the state itself.

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This paper studies the relationship between minimum wage and employment in Ecuador. In particular it investigates whether or not, and if so, to what extent changes in the minimum wage influence changes on the formality and informality rates, and the level of wages.

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This report from Rainforest Foundation Norway investigates an alarming increase in human rights violations in the Amazon region. Human rights defenders, environmental activists and indigenous peoples are facing attacks and are being put under systematic pressure; and rights to land and to consultation are regularly encroached.

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This report from the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) and the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) offers a complete overview of the evolution of the microfinance industry in the LAC region between 2008 and 2013.

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The authors of this paper estimate the impact of Brazil’s Bolsa Família, one of the largest conditional cash transfer programs in the world, on a range of education outcomes, including school participation, grade progression, grade repetition, and dropout rates.

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This report from Amnesty International provides a summary of the national and international legal human rights framework that should be underpinning the efforts of the Colombian state to return illegally acquired land to its rightful occupants and examines in detail the many obstacles that land claimants are still facing in their struggle to return home in a sustainable manner.

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Drawing on the knowledge and experience of over 30 partners, including the private sector, academia, multilaterals, and NGOs, this policy paper offers a compelling multi-stakeholder set of issues, recommendations and action items for governments and policy makers, the donor community, farmers, agribusiness, and civil society aimed at supporting global food security.

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This document aims to provide an overview of the Open Government Data initiative in the City of Buenos Aires. This research is part of a broader initiative on Open Government Data policies in local governments in 3 important cities in the Southern Cone of Latin America: Buenos Aires, Montevideo and Sao Paulo.

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Against the backdrop of striking teachers shutting down transportation and blocking airports, Mexican legislators are being hailed for approving a set of powerful laws on national education reform.

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Women’s World Banking argues that serving rural women in Latin America is important for rural families and viable for financial institutions, but that it will take much more than replicating a loan or savings product that has been successful in an urban setting.

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Using econometric techniques, complemented by qualitative analysis, the authors of this Working Paper conclude that particpatory budgeting does not achieve an improvement in water and sanitation coverage and service quality in Peru.

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This review analyses experiences and key lessons learned over 30 years following the introduction of legal and policy reforms supporting community rights over forests as well as community involvement in the management of forests.

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Peru’s canon minero program requires distribution of substantial EI tax revenues to regional and local governments, yet social gains are inconsistent across the country.

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This study explores the issues of widespread illegal occupation of indigenous lands on a national scale. Approximately 6000 non-indigenous persons are occupying at least 43% of the areas belonging exclusively to indigenous peoples.

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This report from the International Institute for Environment and Development discusses the opportunities presented by the Amapá State government’s intention to make the transition to a green economy.

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This policy brief from the Stockholm Environment Institute looks at why deforestation reduction in Brazil has stalled in recent years and suggests new strategies for decision-makers’ consideration.

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This paper from the International Land Coalition examines the paradoxes of land governance in Brazil by putting them into their historical context, highlighting in particular the continuing subordination of peasant farmers’ interests to those of large landholders.

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This exploratory research from the Brazilian Institute for Socioeconomic Studies is designed to contribute to increasing knowledge about open data in Brazil. The research is divided into two stages, namely, a quantitative and a qualitative stage.

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In this paper, published in the Nordic Journal of Human Rights, Dr. Cecilia Bailliet examines the implementation of resolutions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights relating to the accountability of the military for human rights violations in Latin America.

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This report from Oxfam argues that public policy in Guatemala gives preferential support to large-scale farming investments through tax breaks. The limited support given to small-scale producers in public policy is restricted to issues such as land, credit and the supply of inputs at subsidised prices; it rarely covers productive infrastructure.

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Climatescope is a comprehensive index and report assessing the environment for low-carbon investment in Latin America and the Caribbean, developed by the Multilateral Investment Fund, part of the Inter-American Development Bank, and Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

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This Working Paper from the Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research addresses public policies and social mobilizations in informal settlements (favelas) of Rio de Janeiro.

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This report from Amnesty International highlights both the enormous progress that human rights defenders in the Americas region have helped bring about, and the dangers that they continue to face.

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This paper from the IDB includes a detailed analysis of the progress of open government strategies within Latin America and the Caribbean, based on an in-depth review of the action plans of 14 of the 15 current Open Government Partnership (OGP) members in the region.

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This paper from IIED analyses the barriers to formalisation for artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) in Colombia and offers approaches to overcome them.

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This report from Global Witness highlights the Ashéninka’s struggle to gain legal recognition of their rights to their ancestral land, and their failed attempts to solicit support and protection from Peru’s authorities.

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In an effort to inform social policy in Mexico, this Discussion Paper from the International Food Policy Research Institute analyses the effects of a major social program on school attendance and household income distribution, accounting for its partial and general equilibrium effects.

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This report highlights the existing impacts of the Camisea gas project in the south-east Peruvian Amazon on indigenous peoples living in ‘voluntary isolation’ (‘isolated peoples’) in the Kugapakori-Nahua-Nanti and Others’ Reserve.

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We are pleased to announce that the Guide and Briefs on this theme have been translated into Spanish and are now available on the website.

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This Oxfam paper concludes that the progress made by Brazil in the fight against hunger and poverty resulted from the combination of the interests of government and civil society through a process of collective, participatory and democrtic construction.

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This study by IIED explores the challenges of determining people’s preferences in the context of the Bolsa Floresta Programme (BFP) in Brazil, which is one of the largest REDD+ pilot projects in the world.

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We are pleased to announce that the Guide and Briefs on this theme have been translated into Spanish and are now available on the website.

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This report highlights Agricultural Value Chains Financing products and structures that various lead firms, agro-processors, banks, and non-bank financial institutions have designed and implemented to provide financing to producers either directly or through producer organizations, cooperatives, etc.

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This study from CIPPEC compares the availability, accessibility, sustainability, re-usability and relevance of a number of different kinds of judiciary data in three Latin American countries, including budget allocations, performance statistics, court rulings, selection and removal of magistrates, and hiring and personnel details.

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Greater investment in agriculture is needed to reduce rural poverty and improve food security; but how investment is made, its context and conditions, is at least as important as how much is invested, the authors of this Oxfam Briefing Paper argue.

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We are pleased to announce that the Guide and Briefs on this theme have been translated into Spanish and are now available on the website.

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This article in Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) 66 describes the process of community engagement in two urban redevelopment projects located in an eastern commune of Santiago, Chile.

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In Latin America, public-private partnerships have proven to be a successful tool for promoting rural development. Adequate coordination and involvement of stakeholders at the local level has been fundamental in achieving positive results.

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This Working Paper from the German Institute of Global and Area Studies looks at the Guaraníes' participation in Bolivia's gas sector and explains the reasons for the conflicts that have arisen.

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New institutions, differential policy and public-private partnerships are just some of the mechanisms being used by Latin American governments to promote sustainable development among smallholder farmers.

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We are pleased to announce that the Guide and Briefs on this theme have been translated into Spanish and are now available on the website.

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The authors of this Working Paper examine the allocation of total disaster risk reduction public spending among regions in Peru in order to identify the main determinants of the distribution of these resources.

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Latin American countries have implemented a range of strategies to boost the rural nonfarm economy, with positive impacts on local economic growth and poverty reduction.

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This new and extensive study from the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) models future climate projections up to year 2100 and takes a close look at how Central and South America's most commonly grown crops will be affected by rising temperatures and unpredictable rainfall.

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We are pleased to announce that the Guide and Briefs on this theme have been translated into Spanish and are now available on the website.

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This issue of 'Employment Situation in Latin America and the Caribbean' by ECLAC and ILO looks at Latin American conditional cash transfers in the context of the labour market.

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We are pleased to announce that the Guide and Briefs on this theme have been translated into Spanish and are now available on the website.

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The authors of this Working Paper from the Inter-American Development Bank use evidence from Peru to look at how abundance of natural resources affect socio-economic performance

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We are pleased to announce that the Guide and Briefs on this theme have been translated into Spanish and are now available on the website.

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Forming part of a wider study on the Hidden Corners of Public Finance, this case study examines what information on state-owned enterprises in Brazil is publicly available, and what oversight mechanisms are in place, to assess the transparency and accountability of public spending in this area.

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This publication from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean aims to document current urban climate change adaptation practice in Latin America by summarising the three workshops of the ClimateAdaptationSantiago project (CAS).

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We are pleased to announce that the Guide and Briefs on this theme have been translated into Spanish and are now available on the website.

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The authors of this Working Paper from the Inter-American Development Bank examine the case of Paraguay to test hypotheses on the effects of land inequality in developing countries.

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This case study, published in the journal Conservation and Society, examines the impact of forest reforms in Bolivia on the indigenous Yuracaré people.

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This Discussion Paper from the World Bank analyses the data collected for the LAC Social Protection Database and presents key findings in the area of social assistance and labour market programmes.

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Prepared by ECLAC for the twelfth session of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, this document systematizes and describes various dimensions that shape the way the region’s women participate in the labour market, and how they access and use the different elements of the digital economy.

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This Working Paper from the Steps Centre tells the story of the Social Technology Network (STN), sharing lessons from this hybrid experiment to promote grassroots innovation in Brazil, which began in July 2004.

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In late 2013, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) conducted a multisectoral public opinion survey in five Latin American cities to better understand the way citizens perceive the quality of life, the needs of urban infrastructure and the standards of public services.

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In early 2009 Fundar, Centro de Análisis e Investigación initiated an advocacy project called Health, Citizenship, and Human Rights (Salud, Ciudadanía y Derechos Humanos, SCyDH), which aimed to improve access to and availability of health services for socially excluded groups in Mexico.

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This issue of 'Employment Situation in Latin America and the Caribbean' by ECLAC and ILO looks at the transformations taking place in national vocational training and education systems in Latin America and the Caribbean.

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We are pleased to announce that the Guide and Briefs on this theme have been translated into Spanish and are now available on the website.

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This Working Paper from the German Institute of Global and Area Studies sheds light on 26 consultations in Bolivia’s gas sector (2007–2012) and challenges simplified conceptions of prior consultation as a tool for conflict prevention and resolution.

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This discussion paper from the Inter-American Development Bank analyses the political challenges that the Open Government model poses, while also evaluating the incentives, obstacles and opportunities that the Open Government agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean will have to tackle if it is to be feasible and successful.

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More than four years after the signing of the Guyana-Norway MoU, this special report seeks to assess the quality of treatment of indigenous peoples’ rights in Guyana’s national policies on land, low carbon development and forests.

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We are pleased to announce that the Guide and Briefs on this theme have been translated into Spanish and are now available on the website.

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This third report of the Gender Equality Observatory for Latin America and the Caribbean, published in 2013, focuses on indicators of physical, economic and decision-making autonomy. It also discusses conditional cash transfer (CCT) programmes and their role as a component of social protection systems that can serve as a means of including women as rights holders.

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In Latin America, government interventions in land grabbing processes provide some preliminary lessons on dealing with this phenomenon, while highlighting some serious threats.

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This policy brief from the Inter-American Development Bank looks at how parliamentary budget offices (PBOs) can enable parliaments in Latin American and Caribbean countries to more effectively influence budgetary matters and fiscal policy.

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In May and June of 2013, 11 human rights practitioners from Asia and Africa came on a Study Tour to Mexico to learn about different human rights experiences. This tour was organised by Fundar, a Mexican civil society organisation working on human rights and the advancement of substantive democracy.

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Forming part of a wider study on the Hidden Corners of Public Finance, this case study from the International Budget Partnership looks at the state of tax expenditures in Mexico.

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This report informs the international community on the continuum of sexual violence in Peru, current legal practices in domestic courts, and the barriers that victim-survivors face in seeking justice.

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This study by Giovanna Aguilar and Jhonatan Claussen of the Economics Department of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP) aims to assess the social efficiency of microfinance institutions (MFIs) — regulated and non-regulated — in Peru.

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We are pleased to announce that the Guide and Briefs on this theme have been translated into Spanish and are now available on the website.

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Based on interviews with experts from Quito and Mexico City regarding their experiences with city level climate change planning, practitioners from Africa, Latin America and Asia discussed local realities, and considered means of enhancing urban climate plans and policies.

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Two Brazilian experts involved in climate vulnerability and risk mapping showed participants how such exercises have been carried out in large cities in the country, and why they are so important. Practitioners from Africa, Asia and Latin America discussed whether risk mapping has been carried out in their cities, whether there has been a climate focus and the challenges that need to be overcome for mapping to be more effective.

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Interviews with experts from Montevideo, Uruguay and Cartagena, Colombia provided details of how climate change considerations have been successful integrated into urban land-use planning. Practitioners from Africa, Asia and Latin America discussed how these and other methods might be adopted in their respective cities.

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This online discussion brought together a range of African, Asian and Latin American experts to debate urban climate disaster risk reduction (DRR) strategies, and analyse the importance of political and financial support in effectively reducing climate risk.

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Based on case studies of Brazilian, Colombian and Bolivian experiences with early warning systems (EWS) for sudden-onset extreme weather events in urban areas, experts from Africa, Latin America and Asia examined how EWS may be enhanced in their cities.

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Based upon successful example of community participation in urban DRR in Latin America, experts from Africa and Asia discussed existing practices in their cities and how community involvement might be enhanced.

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Experts from Africa, Asia and Latin America discussed infrastructural weakness in cities that are exacerbated by climate change, considered the causes for such weaknesses and possible means of overcoming these. Examples of successful programmes related to energy, housing, waste management and water management in Latin American cities were shared with Learning Alliance participants.

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This discussion encouraged participants to share examples of laws, programmes and projects that have improved the resilience of commercial and residential buildings to climate change. In particular, participants discussed the concept of green building, urban upgrading in informal settlements and green roofing.

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Based on successful Latin American practices in low-carbon transport, energy efficiency and waste management, experts from Africa, Asia and Latin America discussed the current state low carbon development strategies in their cities, and the need for further actions.

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This "FIELD Brief" is part of a series produced by the Financial Integration, Economic Leveraging and Broad-Based Dissemination (FIELD)-Support LWA Program. This brief was written by Stephanie Grell Azar from World Council of Credit Unions.

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The advancement of human rights is a persistent challenge in the global South. Participants in an online learning programme from Asia, Africa and Latin America reflected on the usefulness of establishing and enforcing legal frameworks to protect and defend human rights.

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Participants from Asia, Africa and Latin America reflected on mechanisms for promoting and guaranteeing human rights, and how these could be adapted to their own contexts.

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Practitioners from Africa, Asia and Latin American reflected on ways to respect and protect collective and ethnic minority rights.

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We are pleased to announce that the Guide and Briefs on this theme have been translated into Spanish and are now available on the website.

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This Learning Alliance guided members in an exploration of Latin American policies and practice promoting small-scale sustainable farming, and promoted exchange of experiences with other countries on key issues such as food security and integrating small-scale farms into large-scale agribusiness.

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Participants discussed Latin American experiences with market reforms introduced during recent decades. With a focus on the impacts on small-scale farming, participants shared their own perspectives and assessed how Latin American experience and knowledge could be adapted to their own regions.

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Participants learn about the territorial approach to rural development applied in Latin America and exchange experiences from their own countries.

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The Moderator aimed to share knowledge and foster debate on three main policy issues regarding sustainable small-scale farming. Participants exchanged their own perspectives and assessed how such policies could be adapted to their own regions.

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We are pleased to announce that the Guide and Briefs on this theme have been translated into Spanish and are now available on the website.

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Based on a wide breadth of experiences with climate change impacts and adaptation strategies, practitioners from Africa, Asia, and Latin America discussed their local climate realities, identifying shared challenges and exploring what could be learned from one another to improve upon current climate change adaptation in semi-arid and arid regions.

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Based on a wide breadth of experiences with climate change impacts and adaptation strategies, practitioners from Africa, Asia, and Latin America discussed their local climate realities, identifying shared challenges and exploring what could be learned from one another to improve upon current climate change adaptation in semi-arid and arid regions.

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Based on a wide breadth of experiences with climate change impacts and adaptation strategies, practitioners from Africa, Asia, and Latin America discussed their local climate realities, identifying shared challenges and exploring what could be learned from one another to improve long-term considerations of climate change adaptation in arid and semi-arid lands in developing regions.

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This new FAO report – in English and Spanish – looks at the progress that has been made toward realising 'greener cities' in which urban and peri-urban agriculture is recognised by public policy and included in urban development strategies and land-use planning. It is based on the results of a survey in 23 countries and data on 110 cities and municipalities.

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The City Footprints project focuses on assessing the carbon and water footprints of each municipal government and of each participating city, and on promoting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions and water management measures that contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation respectively.

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Module 1 of the Learning Alliance on Citizen Oversight discussed howFreedom of Information Acts, regional institutions and civil society initiatives have helped advance the right to information and set strong bases for civil society to work on improving social justice.

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Module 2 discussed examples of innovative measures for promoting citizen oversight in Latin America, and participants reflected on how elements of these practices could be replicated in their own countries.

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Module 3 discussed how Latin American participatory mechanisms have improved government accountability, increased involvement of civil society in decision-making processes and strengthened alliances between citizens and their representatives.

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Practical Action requests applications from flooding and disaster risk management experts in Latin America. The proposed study focuses on flooding in urban areas of river basins in the region.

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We are pleased to announce that the Guide and Briefs on this theme have been translated into Spanish and are now available on the website.

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In 1996, the tiny country of Costa Rica took bold steps to initiate one of the first nationalised ‘payments for ecosystem services’ (PES) programmes. The programme has grown tremendously, as the first chapter of this paper will show. It has been the envy of many – as well as the target of often undue criticism, as is frequently the case for pioneers.

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Participants gained knowledge of a range of Latin American experiences of policy and practice that promote responsible investments in extractive industries, to examine the potential for application in their own country contexts.

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Module 1 of the Learning Alliance on Extractive Industries aimed to share knowledge on a range of issues regarding land use planning and access in the context of extractive industries. Participants exchanged their own perspectives and assessed how such knowledge could be adapted to their own regions.

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Module 2 of the Learning Alliance on Extractive industries aimed to share knowledge on a range of issues regarding environmental protection and mitigation in the context of extractive industries. participants exchanged their own perspectives and assessed how such knowledge could be adapted to their own regions.

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Module 3 of the Learning Alliance on Extractive industries (LEA1) aimed to exchange knowledge on a range of issues regarding extractive industries and social conflicts. participants exchanged their own perspectives and assessed how such knowledge could be adapted to their own regions.

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Using data from Brazil’s largest cities over the last 20 years, Michael Touchton and Brian Wampler evaluate the role of a new type of democratic institution, participatory budgeting (PB), for improving citizens’ well-being.

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This Policy Brief from the Inter-American Development Bank analyses the experience of six Latin American countries and attempts to identify important lessons for countries that have recently started or that are currently considering the introduction of a CCT.

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Latin American countries are implementing innovative mechanisms to address different forms of gender violence, including establishing a regional convention, national laws against femicide, programmes aimed at creating safer cities for women and gender observatories.

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Latin American countries have been implementing some innovative market incentives to catalyse the expansion of the green economy, in particular in relation to natural resource conservation and development of greener energy and infrastructure. This Guide explores these experiences to identify useful lessons for other regions of the world.

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The publications presented in this Spotlight cover some of the key issues related to city-level climate change mitigation and adaptation in Latin America, with a particular focus on: the prominent role of cities in Latin America; city-level climate mitigation and adaptation in Latin America; greenhouse gas inventories; waste; transportation; disaster preparedness; health; and poverty.

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This article argues that the low levels of descriptive representation of women in local political office in Mexico and Latin America is much more than a problem of the purported patriarchal cultures of indigenous and rural communities.

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In Latin America, payments for environmental services schemes are the preferred market mechanism for forest conservation and reforestation. Success stories from the region provide a range of valuable lessons for other countries still struggling to curb deforestation.

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Latin America as a laboratory for conditional cash transfers, fast becoming the hegemonic social-protection paradigm for the Global South. In a comparative survey, Lena Lavinas reveals the CCT model as a strategy for the financialization—not abolition—of poverty.

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This Spotlight presents an overview of some of the most important organisations supporting climate change adaptation and mitigation in Latin American cities.

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The Intervention Protocol for Harassment and Sexual Harassment is a pioneering attempt from the Mexican Federal Government to transform the structural causes of institutional violence within the public administration. Initiated in 2009, the Protocol has been implemented in over 30 state institutions, with replication now taking place at local level.

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Latin American countries are implementing innovative policy and market mechanisms to catalyse the development of nonconventional renewable energy sources. This Brief presents some of the region’s success stories.

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Latin American cities are under increasing pressure from rapid urbanisation, while current impacts and potential threats from climate change are further exposing municipal vulnerabilities. City planners are responding to these twin pressures with innovations in climate-related policies and are making big strides in terms of climate change mitigation and adaptation.

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This new study published by Chatham House aims to provide both host-country and company stakeholders in the extractives sector with a clearer understanding of the characteristics of the relationship between companies and host governments, and the factors that cause and influence disputes between them. Although not specifically about Latin America, it contains many references to extractive industry experiences from the region.

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Amidst rapid urbanisation, Latin American countries have been scaling-up green building, in some cases achieving significant reductions in energy consumption, water use, carbon dioxide emissions, and solid waste. This Brief explores how.

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This new study from the International Land Coalition assesses the international instruments, mechanisms, UN bodies, and other regional and global initiatives that address concerns relating to indigenous lands, territories, and resources. In addition, it carries out an extensive regional review, showing how the situation of indigenous peoples varies across regions and countries.

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The green economy is a development model based on principles of ecological economics and sustainability. Some countries have made substantial progress towards transforming specific sectors, with Latin America leading some of these efforts. The publications featured in this Spotlight provide information on how this has been achieved.

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This Spotlight highlights some of the key organisations in Latin America working on themes such as forest-based payment for ecosystem services, water pollution abatement and watershed conservation, promotion of renewable energy infrastructure and green building development, and new institutional partnerships that are helping to support national transitions to greener economies.

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Latin American countries are reducing gender gaps by adopting innovative measures to strengthen women’s autonomy while also tackling the structural causes of inequality.

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The city of Rio de Janeiro has developed a highly efficient early warning system (EWS) that is having an impressive impact after just three years in operation. The measures employed are innovative, inclusive and non-resource intensive, and are thus highly applicable to cities in other developing regions.

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Within just 3 years of its creation, the Observatory of Maternal Mortality in Mexico is already making some important contributions to reducing maternal mortality.

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What are the success factors behind Latin America’s use of economic instruments to improve water quality and generate new revenue for abatement?

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In Latin America, active labour market policies are helping to improve access to decent jobs by disadvantaged workers and are also demonstrating the potential to reduce informality, underemployment and inequality.

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Latin America is leading the way in gender-responsive budgeting and is producing some insightful lessons for other regions of the world.

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The publications presented in this Spotlight represent some of the key resources dealing with issues related to labour market policies in Latin America.

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By reforming national penal codes and enacting special laws, Latin American countries are taking first steps towards eradicating femicide in the region.

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Here Dr. Jürgen Weller, Senior Economic Affairs Officer at the Economic Development Division of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), offers his perspective on the ELLA knowledge materials on Active Labour Market Policies.

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This Spotlight presents some of the most important publications documenting the various manifestations of violence against women in Latin America. In particular, these publications provide an overview of gender violence in different spheres (domestic, urban, etc.), the impacts of violence on women’s lives, and different measures adopted by Latin American countries to prevent, address and eradicate violence against women.

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This Spotlight highlights some of the key organisations working on labour market issues in Latin America, including labour policy in general, social protection, employment, youth employment, labour training, labour migration, and labour intermediation.

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Systemic discrimination is a key driver of gender-based violence in Latin America. So how is a key ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights helping to improve the protection of women’s rights across the region?

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This study presents results from a quantitative impact evaluation of the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programme, Juntos, in Peru. Using instrumental variable techniques, it estimates the overall impact of Juntos five years after its initial rollout and explores the differential impacts among beneficiaries according to the length of time they spent in the programme.

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The publications included in this Spotlight provide an overview of the magnitude and dimensions of femicide in Latin America, including the important factors that produce and sustain this phenomenon such as socio-economic context, and discrimination.

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Energy insecurity in the 1970s led the Brazilian government to drive forward the development of the world’s strongest national biofuels industry. So just how has Brazil become the world’s largest producer of sugarcane ethanol and what lessons can the country’s experience provide for other regions?

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Since 1991, fourteen Latin American countries have implemented gender quotas. These have enabled the region to establish one of the highest levels of women’s representation in political decision-making structures around the world.

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Here Dr. Fernando Aragón-Durand, an expert member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, offers his perspective on the ELLA knowledge materials on Disaster Risk Management in cities, drawing in particular on the case of Mexico.

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This Spotlight presents key publications documenting sexual violence perpetrated against women in the context of armed conflicts in Latin America. As well as providing an overview of gender-based violence in the region, these publications draw on specific case studies in order to identify the various underlying causes and institutional weaknesses responsible for perpetuating these human rights abuses.

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This Spotlight highlights some of the key publications that study, analyse and document Brazil’s ethanol programme. The publications focus on the following specific issues: Brazilian government policies to promote the sector; sustainability issues; expansion, land use and agro-ecological zoning of sugarcane; bagasse, cogeneration and bioelectricity; and advanced biofuels.

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The publications presented in this Spotlight provide an overview of some of the key issues related to gender equality in Latin America, including sexual and reproductive health, gender mainstreaming in the labour market and institutional mechanisms for promoting women’s empowerment.

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How is adopting a gender approach enabling National Courts in Colombia and Mexico to drive forward important changes in legislation and practice to tackle root causes of sexual discrimination and inequality?

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Energy efficient modes of transport - like Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems, bicycles and electric taxis - are providing an effective means for reducing urban greenhouse gas emissions in Latin American cities.

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In recent years, governments worldwide have been implementing gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) to contribute to the advancement of gender equality and the fulfillment of women’s rights. This Spotlight highlights key publications on GRB, focusing particularly on Latin American experiences.

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How can Labour Market Information Programmes improve the coverage, quality and efficiency of labour markets? This Brief provides key insights by drawing on experiences from across Latin America.

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Through ground-breaking rulings, judges in Latin America are driving social change by ordering governments to restore and enforce human rights.

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Managing and reducing urban climate disaster risk is an increasing concern to city authorities and urban dwellers alike. A study tour involving experts from Africa and Asia showed that much can be learned from the coordinated efforts of actors in Rio de Janeiro.

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From innovative methodologies for investigating and documenting sexual violence, to legal reforms and CSO-led support initiatives, Latin American countries are having success in improving access to justice for women victims of sexual violence.

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Peru’s ProJoven programme has successfully supported younger and more economically disadvantaged generations to gain the necessary qualifications to secure better quality jobs.

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Boosted in part by the region’s democratic transitions, citizen participation initiatives in Latin America have become increasingly common. This Spotlight highlights some of the key regional networks and national organisations working on and supporting citizen participation initiatives in Latin America.

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This selection of publications highlights key resources documenting and analysing some of the main aspects of the Latin American experience with disaster risk management (DRM) in cities.

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Here Dr. Felipe Hevia, Professor and Researcher at CIESAS, Mexico, offers his reaction to the ELLA knowledge materials on Citizen Participation.

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Latin America’s approach to labour training programmes changed dramatically in the 1990s, shifting from a supply-driven to a demand-driven model. Many of these programmes have been rigorously evaluated, yielding useful lessons for other regions.

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This list of key publications presents various cases from the region and provides insight into the role of the judiciary and other actors – such as public agencies, legislators, plaintiffs, civil society, scholars, and activists – in implementing, enforcing and monitoring compliance of judicial rulings.

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Women-only transportation has become a popular option for urban women around the world who are tired of being groped and harassed in buses, subways and taxis. This article shows how women’s organisations in Mexico City use women-only transportation to create a safe place for female commuters.

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This Spotlight presents key publications that analyse women’s opportunities to participate in politics in Latin America. It begins with a selection of publications that provide an overview of women’s participation in politics in the region. It then focuses on gender quota laws, gender mainstreaming in parliaments, practices for improving women’s representation and participation in political parties, and finally, the role of the media in electoral campaigns and women’s political participation.

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How have Latin American countries been using Environmental Impact Assessments in order to build more sustainable extractive industries? A focus on Peru provides some interesting lessons.

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This Spotlight presents some of the most important Latin American organisations working in innovative ways to promote women’s rights and to prevent violence against women. These organisations play a key role in developing a research agenda and monitoring public policies, as well as providing legal advice, psychological and emotional support and a place of refuge for women victims of violence.

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Here Enrique Peruzzotti, Professor in the Political Science Department of Di Tella University and Researcher at CONICET, Argentina, offers his reaction to the ELLA knowledge materials on Citizen Participation.

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Complex interactions between urban population dynamics, social processes and a wide variety of natural hazards are increasing the vulnerability of Latin American cities to disaster risk. So how are cities in the region aiming to strengthen disaster risk management?

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In this ground-breaking case, victims of human rights violations formed a united front to demand integral redress from a government responsible for past abuses and crimes, highlighting how an integral approach to redress can happen in practice.

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This Spotlight highlights some of the most influential organisations that focus on biofuel production, consumption and environmental impacts. Most of the organisations are Brazilian, though the Spotlight also includes groups from elsewhere in Latin America and Europe.

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This Spotlight presents an overview of some of the most important organisations supporting indigenous peoples’ access to justice in Latin America. These organisations contribute to enhancing indigenous rights through research, advocacy and capacity building activities.

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Here Dr. Antonio Oviedo, PhD, Programme Officer of the Amazon Programme at WWF-Brazil, offers his perspective on the ELLA knowledge materials on Climate Change Adaptation in Semi-arid Regions.

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This literature review by J. Ricardo Tranjan at the Centre for Public Policy Research at the University of São Paulo examines studies of participatory budgeting, presents research on policy councils and offers an analysis of studies that treat citizen participation as a constitutive part of the representative system.

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Drawing on case study material from across Latin America, the following publications present and analyse progress made on the right to consultation at the regional and national levels, on-going challenges and key lessons learned.

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Waste management is typically viewed as a resource intensive activity. Yet some urban areas in Latin America have managed to turn this idea on its head by converting waste into energy and profit.

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This multimedia publication from IIED uses video, audio, images and text to describe how indigenous communities are drawing on their knowledge and cosmovisions to rethink the priorities and governance of food and agricultural research in the Andean Altiplano of Bolivia and Peru.

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From small communities in rural Mexico to urban metropolises in Brazil and Colombia, citizen participation initiatives have emerged to improve policies, laws and the public agenda to ultimately enhance accountability and social justice.

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This Spotlight presents some of the key Latin American organisations working to promote gender equality in the region. These national-level organisations - based in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Peru and Mexico - are playing a key role in ensuring the advancement of women in their own countries and in the wider region.

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This Spotlight highlights some of the key organisations working on disaster risk management (DRM) in cities across Latin America. Together these organisations cover a wide range of themes, such as social development, urban risk and urbanisation, and earth sciences, and implement a variety of initiatives, from research and funding to policy and advocacy.

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This article argues that the microfinance model that arrived in Latin America in the 1970s has proven, as elsewhere around the world, to be an almost wholly destructive economic and social policy intervention.

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Here Marius Keller of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) offers his perspective on the ELLA knowledge materials on Climate Change Adaptation in Mountain Environments.

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The publications presented in this Spotlight cover some of the key issues related to indigenous and ethnic minority rights in Latin America, with a particular focus on: the evolution and character of indigenous movements; ethnic minority rights; legal reforms for formally recognising collective rights; intercultural education policies; and access to justice.

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As ethanol production becomes increasingly lucrative, how can nations ensure that expansion is environmentally sustainable? Brazil’s experiment with sugarcane agro-ecological zoning may provide some answers.

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Many Latin American countries have begun recognising indigenous and ethnic minority rights as part of a new, broader definition of citizenship by adopting innovative and inclusive legal frameworks and public policies. What are the main features and successes of the Latin American experience?

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Mexico’s oil and mining sectors are highly significant sources of economic development for the country with profound impact on the daily lives of the nation’s people. It is therefore crucial to have timely, comprehensive information that allows citizens to hold the government and companies accountable.

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The publications presented below represent some of the key resources dealing with a variety of issues related to rural development and small-scale farming in Latin America.

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Strong national human rights institutions, an active regional human rights court, a human rights approach to budgeting and strategic litigation by civil society: these are just some of the innovative approaches Latin American countries are taking to improve human rights across the region. The publications presented in this Spotlight provide insight into some of the key issues and experiences from Latin America.

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Conditional cash transfers (CCTs) have been shown to increase health service utilization among the poorest, but little is written on the effects of such programs on maternal and newborn health. The authors of this CGD Policy Paper carry out a systematic review of studies on CCTs that report maternal and newborn health outcomes, including studies from six Latin American countries.

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Here Prof. Janina León Castillo of the Catholic University of Peru, offers her perspective on the ELLA research conducted on Latin America’s experience with microfinance.

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Communal Councils (CCs) in Venezuela are deemed as part of a greater project of social transformation under a radical approach to participatory democracy.

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The following selection presents some of the key publications focusing on the microfinance sector in Latin America. They address a variety of issues related to microfinance in the region, and highlight examples from a diverse group of Latin American countries.

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This report from UNISDR responds to growing concerns about the higher incidences and impacts of disasters on the population and economy in urban areas of the region. Governments in Latin America and the international community have increased efforts to create forward-looking, corrective and prospective risk management strategies.

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Intercultural health policies have been implemented at the regional and state level, making important initial advances in recognising a health model that is pertinent to indigenous peoples’ culture and customs.

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This Working Paper from the German Institute of Global and Area Studies argues that new legislation in Peru will not help to turn prior consultations into a tool for conflict resolution as long as the normative framework itself is contested and the necessary basic conditions are not in place.

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This selection of publications that focus on intercultural health policies includes documents that explain how policies with an intercultural approach can be designed and implemented.

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Strengthening women’s access to land and control over its use is not just a matter of agricultural development and food security, but a question of human rights and justice for women.

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This document highlights some of the key organisations that focus on small-scale farming in the Latin American context. Together, these organisations cover a wide range of themes, including institutional rural development, land access and use, market access, value chains, food security, and smallholder market integration, and a variety of issues related to rural life, such as access to finance, poverty fighting and infrastructure.

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Indigenous knowledge plays an important role in the way communities interact with their climate in many countries, particularly in Bolivia. It contributes to weather forecasting at the community level, and to the preservation of vital ecosystem functions that help to buffer communities against climate change impacts.

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The experience of Peru’s Cajas Municipales illustrates a potential growth path for microfinance firms and points to key lessons for sector development overall.

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In 2012, the City of Lima successfully launched an integrated DRM strategy, creating a budget of US$ 200 million for specific DRM actions benefiting 3.5 million of its most vulnerable inhabitants.

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This IDB paper discusses the current tensions and conflicts surrounding water use in the tropical Andes from a social and economic perspective. It also focuses on the challenges ahead and possible solutions for more-sustainable and equitable future water use in the region.

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Unique features of Latin America’s recent microfinance evolution - including innovations in regulations and technology - reflect lessons learned that may be interesting for other regions.

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Judicial control of budget allocations and public policies is one of the most promising tools to advance and enforce social, economic, cultural and environmental rights.

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This document highlights some of the key organisations that focus on microfinance in the Latin American context. Together these organisations cover a wide range of themes, such as institutional innovation, rural microfinance and microfinance technology, and implement a variety of initiatives, from research and funding, to policy advocacy.

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South-South knowledge exchange is a powerful tool for sharing lessons about successful policy and practice, as this video of the citizen oversight study tour to Mexico demonstrates.

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In specific contexts of mineral booms and strong government capacity, shifting from production-based to profit-based tax regimes might be the best option. The cases of Peru and Chile demonstrate why.

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Thanks to progressive courts and the pressure of organised indigenous and social movements, Latin American countries are at the forefront of formally acknowledging indigenous justice systems.

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In June 2002, President Vicente Fox (2000－06) signed a landmark transparency bill into law. The adoption of the Access to Public Information and Transparency Law (Transparency Law) was a distinctive moment in Mexican politics.

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The scale of Brazil’s ethanol production, demand and competitiveness is largely attributable to government initiatives. The varying levels of success of such initiatives can provide interesting lessons for other countries.

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Before the 1980s, the microfinance sector was virtually non-existent in Latin America, but now it grows at two-digit rates. How have institutional innovations played a role in this expansion?

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In light of the boom in development projects in Latin America, indigenous and tribal peoples have been particularly successful in enforcing their consultation rights by bringing emblematic cases before their national and regional human rights courts.

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How are Latin American countries mainstreaming decentralised, democratic and participatory strategies to disaster risk management across public policy? Through a systems approach, the region is making important advances.

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The City of Quito is successfully mainstreaming innovative adaptation practices into development planning under a participative management platform. So how has it been possible to push forward these reforms?

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This Spotlight presents some of the key organisations working on human rights in the Latin America region. These organisations are playing a significant role in advancing human rights by providing innovative mechanisms to promote and guarantee human rights, and carrying out advocacy, research and capacity building initiatives.

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What is the current status of human rights in the Latin America region? What challenges persist and what lessons can be shared?

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Here Ezequiel Nino, Co-director of the Asociación Civil por la Igualdad y la Justicia, offers his reaction to the ELLA knowledge materials on Budgets and Public Policy.

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Latin American countries are implementing a range of innovative strategies to address the underlying causes of disaster risk, while at the same time promoting social inclusion and productive growth.

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This report, a joint effort by FAO, ECLAC and IICA, provides information and analysis, both of the current situation and context of the agri-food sector and the outlook for 2013.

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Rural finance has the potential to help poor people out of poverty, and Latin America has met that challenge in some unique ways.

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The future of many resource-rich countries no longer rests mainly on foreign aid but on the extent and effective use of the country’s own resources and how they use them. For that to occur, a focused and concrete approach to improve governance and accountability is critical.

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Over time, the rural reality in Latin America has changed, with family farmers now more integrated in markets and significantly less dependent on agriculture for income. What does this mean for family farmers today?

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Here Dr. Jorge Recharte, Director of the Andean Programme at the Mountain Institute (TMI), presents his perspective on the ELLA knowledge materials on Climate Change Adaptation in Mountain Environments.

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Strong national human rights institutions, an active regional human rights court, a human rights approach to budgeting, civil society's strategic litigation: these are just some of Latin America’s innovative approaches to addressing human rights.

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Through this ground-breaking case, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights set an important precedent: creating reparations for the entire indigenous community in the case of human rights violations against one member of that community.

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In Latin America, innovations in microfinance come not only from new technology, but by focusing on the people and processes making use of that technology, achieving important advances in scale and reach.

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Led by IDB's Institutional Capacity of the State Division (IFD/ICS), this publication presents a conceptual framework and collects different experiences and lessons learned in the design and implementation of targeted transparency and open government policies in LAC.

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Here Prof. Anthony Bebbington of Clark University offers his reaction to the ELLA knowledge materials on Extractive Industries and Conflict Management.

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Latin America has experienced substantial growth and transformation in small-scale mining, meaning it is often no longer small or artisanal, but rather characterised by high informality and an increasing potential to generate conflicts.

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This first publication of Transparencia Mexicana's 'Citizens & Markets' series aims to approach the evolving relationships among actors by analyzing trends around the globe of citizen’s participation in public procurement processes, a place where governments and companies usually were alone, and where citizens now are thriving to meet and interact.

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This Spotlight presents a selection of publications that assess the main features, history, work and impact of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) in Latin America. Selected by human rights experts at Fundar, these publications highlight a variety of Latin American experiences in which NHRIs have had a significant impact on promoting and defending human rights.

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Here Toby Mendel, Executive Director of the Centre for Law and Democracy, offers his reaction to the ELLA knowledge materials on Transparency and Access to Information.

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Argentina and the Government of Mexico City are implementing innovative administrative and public policy changes to make human rights a reality. Advances in both countries are uneven, though both experiences have important outcomes to share.

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Can rent distribution reduce extractive industries conflict? A focus on the Peruvian case helps highlight how and if these schemes could prove to be effective.

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This case study looks at how the evaluations of Ciudadanía Porteña: Con Todo Derecho, a cash transfer programme in Buenos Aires, were used to influence policy. Gabriela Agosto et al, show that the three evaluations of this programme were important for strategically sharpening social policy and improving implementation.

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How can complex budget information be transformed and presented in an easy-to-understand way? This video highlights how Venezuela and Guatemala are using Citizen Budgets to do just that.

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Over the past decade, Brazil has made important progress in legitimizing illegal settlements in big cities. However, according this new study by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Cities Alliance, the Ministry of Cities, and the Caixa Econômica Federal (CEF), the technical capabilities of Brazilian municipal governments need to be strengthened if improvements are to be integrated into housing and urban policies that can be implemented in the city as a whole.

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Through their online Budget Transparency Portals, Brazil and Peru are leading the way in enhancing transparency and accountability in public spending.

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As the sustainability of ethanol production continues to be a hot question, Brazilian attempts to improve an environmentally inefficient production process could provide pointers for those dealing with similar challenges in other countries.

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In this case study, Gala Díaz Langou and Paula Forteza look at how the dissemination of evaluation findings led to improvements in the design of Brazil's Bolsa Familia, as well as a major shift in the government’s commitment to increase funding and expand coverage of the programme.

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The increase in social and environmental conflicts as a result of the demand for extracting natural resources has pressed Latin America to look for new responses to address these conflicts, generating interesting lessons learned for other regions.

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This Spotlight presents some of the key Latin American organisations working to support the strengthening of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) in the region, and highlights some of the most important NHRIs in Latin America.

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This paper by Pedro Rodriguez, Jose Morales and Francisco Monaldi examines the possibility of adopting an Oil-to-Cash scheme in Venezuela, today the country with the largest oil reserves/head in the world.

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National Human Rights Institutions have played a key role in Latin America’s recent history and democratic transition. They have taken a distinct form in the region compared to the rest of the world, one which reflects the specific context and historical moment of Latin America.

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Are participatory budgets truly "participatory"? If not, what does this mean for participatory governance projects meant to engage those citizens that have been left behind by corrupt or inefficient representative political institutions? This paper begins to analyse these issues by exploring gender and participatory budgeting in Peru.

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Mechanisation of sugarcane harvesting in Brazil has been shown to decrease environmental impacts and waste, while also increasing efficiency, energy cogeneration and thus sector profits and national energy security. Learning from Brazil’s years of trial-and-error, other countries could build an ethanol production system with these benefits from the outset.

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How much reduction in inequality and poverty does Latin America accomplish through taxes and transfers? How progressive are revenue-collection and social-spending patterns? This new 'Inequality in Focus' Brief from the World Bank's Poverty Reduction and Equity Department explores these questions.

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The elaboration of public policy agendas and legislative initiatives through multi-actor dialogues is playing a fundamental role in strengthening democratic practices in Latin American countries. What are some of the key experiences in the region?

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Citizen participation in governance at the local level has long been acknowledged to play a role in improving public policies. The following publications analyse the experience of Latin American countries in implementing these participation mechanisms.

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Peru is rich in natural resources and the former president García believed extraction would lead to development. However, he had only limited success in spite a strong presidential system. This paper analysis social and judicial forces that limited the level of resources extraction.

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The following selected publications illustrate and analyse a variety of experiences in which citizen participation is improving oversight of CCT programmes in the Latin American context.

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The following selection of publications provides insights, cases, lessons learned and guidelines to help development practitioners, communities and civil society organisations (CSOs), among other stakeholders, access tools to activate IFIs accountability mechanisms and to actively participate in decision making about large-scale development projects in their communities.

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Even though it is widely recognised that children are the age group most affected by poverty, children’s own experiences of living in social and economic hardship are still not well incorporated into most poverty reduction strategies and programmes. The purpose of this study is to find out how children and families in three rural communities in the southern Peruvian Andes experience well-being and poverty, in order to understand what may help them to lead the kinds of lives they value instead of following others’ pre-established ideas of what is best for them.

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The publications presented in this Spotlight represent some of the key resources dealing with a variety of issues related to extractive industries and conflict management in Latin America. In particular, they focus on: Consultation and Free, Prior and Informed Consent; Rent Distribution; Gender; Indigenous Issues; and Social Movements. Country Case Studies addressing these themes in a cross-cutting way, as well as Practical Implementation Guides are also included.

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In the last decades, citizen initiatives formed by academia, the private sector and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in various Latin American countries have emerged seeking greater participation in social oversight of their cities’ public policies. This Spotlight on Publications focuses on the use of report cards to assess quality and access in health care services, presenting four different approaches that have been implemented in Latin America.

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This document highlights some of the key organisations that focus on extractive industries and conflict management in the Latin American context. Together these organisations cover a wide range of themes, such as arbitration, right to prior consultation, indigenous peoples and human rights, private sector human rights performance, and social and environmental conflicts.

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Throughout Latin America, citizens are using international financial institutions’ own policies to demand greater participation and accountability in the large-scale development projects that affect their communities. Here is one such story from Mexico.

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In Latin America, recognising indigenous cultural, land and consultation rights is going a long way towards reducing conflict over extractive industry projects.

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Since the 1980s, Latin American countries have used local councils formed by citizens and public authorities as an effective mechanism to create citizen participation in designing local development policies and programmes.

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Water Basin Councils and citizen participation mechanisms, terracing and ‘water raising’, innovative tools for researching vulnerability: these are just a few of the strategies Latin American countries are using to strengthen adaptation to changing water availability in their mountain regions.

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Through strategic litigation, in 2008 the Argentinean Association for Civil Rights (ADC) secured a transparency win, forcing a national-level public institution to comply with providing access to information.

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Over 50% of the world’s population depends directly or indirectly on mountain ecosystems, which are already being impacted by climate change. So how are Latin Americans that live in mountain areas strengthening their resilience to climate change?

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With their ability to shape a nation’s economic, social, and political future, national parliaments wield an incredible amount of power and influence over the citizens they represent. Yet in Latin America, public trust in the deliberative branch of government is alarmingly low.

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Traditional communities living across Latin America’s mountains possess an extraordinarily broad range of knowledge about their environment and adapting to a changing climate. From water management strategies to agricultural timing and production techniques, traditional practices are making important contributions to adaptation policy and practice.

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In implementing their Freedom of Information Acts, Latin American countries are facing challenges - but also promising opportunities – in guaranteeing transparency and access to information.

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Directed principally at policy makers in resource–rich developing countries, the Extractive Industries (EI) Source Book is intended as a guide to good-fit practice in the management of upstream oil, gas and mining sectors, across the entire EI value chain, from award of contracts to the expenditure of resource revenues.

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A wide range of organisations are working in climate change adaptation across Latin America, however only a few focus their efforts on mountain ecosystems. The following document provides information on the expertise and activities of these Latin American and international actors and describes what they can offer to stakeholders in different regions.

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Chile Solidario is an avant garde CCT in the Latin American context, introducing innovative features which are aimed at specifically addressing the multidimensional nature of poverty, considered not only as a consequence of the lack of income, but also as a result of low levels of human and social capital, and the vulnerability of a household to shocks.

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Mexico’s 2002 Freedom of Information Act was the first in the world to create an autonomous oversight body with the authority to enforce compliance with the law.

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Small-scale coffee and cocoa farmers in northern Peru are successfully adapting to the challenges of climate change and enjoying higher incomes thanks to an innovative agroforestry project.

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In 2011, Brazil joined the 65% of Latin American countries that have approved a Freedom of Information Act, making the first step in guaranteeing citizens’ right to information and in promoting government accountability.

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How can countries attract foreign direct investment in mining, while at the same time ensure environmentally and socially sustainable economic growth? The Latin American experience offers some answers.

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This case study shows how the activities of a large foreign-invested mining company on land held by the Awajun community in the northern forests of Peru have led to a characteristic cycle of state permissiveness in granting mining concessions, thus leading to social conflict.

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Citizen and community report cards are being used all over the world to benchmark public service delivery. So how are Latin American countries using the technique to improve health care?

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This selection of publications highlights key resources documenting policy and practice experiences in adaptation to climate variability in mountain ecosystems, focusing on: Adaptation Strategy and Programme Design, Country Case Studies, Practical Tools, Traditional Knowledge, and Sustainable Water Management.

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Culminating a six-year advocacy process characterised by its extensive citizen and civil society participation, in 2011 El Salvador passed one of the strongest Freedom of Information Acts in the world. This is the story of how the law got passed.

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As the combined problems of urbanization, environmental degradation, and poverty become increasingly urgent, understanding the links between sustainability and poverty reduction is imperative. A sustainable urban future for all requires raising the quality of life of the most vulnerable.

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Latin America has seen a surge in consultation processes – taking a variety of forms and pushed by different actors from the state, private companies and civil society.

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This selection highlights some of the key organisations who are doing work around extractive industries and land issues, covering a variety of themes ranging from land use planning and environmental impacts, to community and indigenous peoples’ participation in decision making and promotion of land rights.

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This Practical Guide analyzes social auditing experiences around the world and extracts important lessons that intend to provide practical guidance to United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and other United Nations agencies officers, advisers, and partners, as well as development practitioners, donors and governments. It examines the required elements for the design and implementation of social audits, explains the enabling environment that make these exercises successful, and offers practical insights based on practices and experiences.

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The following selection of publications showcases how public officials and civil society organisations in Latin America have dealt with the challenges of opening public procurement procedures and public officials’ personal assets to citizen scrutiny. These publications could be useful for those in other regions who are looking to tackle corruption by improving transparency and access to information in these two key areas.

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Latin American countries have begun to use land use planning tools to manage competing claims to land in a context of high extractive industry activity. The progress of five Latin American countries – Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru – can offer interesting lessons for other regions.

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In a number of countries, two separate, but potentially complementary policy agendas have emerged in the past five years: governments have sought to increase the use of electronic means form government payments and to promote greater financial inclusion. While the two agendas have by no means converged yet, in practice they have often been translated into a single headline objective: to increase the proportion of recipients of government social cash transfers who receive payment directly into a bank account.

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With their high levels of agrobiodiversity, Latin American countries are implementing innovative research programmes and policies to conserve native and wild crop and animal species. Their work is helping to both promote diversity and facilitate climate change adaptation.

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CDKN's Action Lab Innovation Fund is supporting the project "Promoting climate change adaptation policies through the integration of multi-stakeholder dialogues and research-led initiatives – a pilot approach from the semi-arid region of northeast Brazil."

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This Spotlight On highlights some of the key Latin American CSOs using the right to information to carry out independent assessments of policies and programmes in different sectors. CSOs from other regions could likely benefit from gaining access to the variety of creative ways these Latin American groups are using the right to information to push for accountability and reform.

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Ecuador has made an innovative promise: not to drill for oil in the Yasuní National Park in exchange for international financial support for environmentally-friendly development projects, offsetting the income it forgoes. Is this a model for the future – and will it work?

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This study evaluates the effectiveness of Transparency International Latin America and Caribbean Department (TI-LAC) Conventions Program’s strategy. This strategy tries to generate a dynamic stimulus for the effective implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption and the United Nations’ Convention against Corruption in the Americas.

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In recent decades, Latin America has opted for new approaches to land access and use by the extractive industry sector. From these experiences, the Latin America region has interesting lessons to offer.

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This selection highlights some of the key publications on Latin American FOIAs’ critical features, the challenges and opportunities of their implementation and use, and the process for adopting them. It divides the publications into two parts: Designing and Adopting FOIAs and FOIA Implementation and Use. These resources – offering access to the Latin American experience – could be useful for countries looking to develop, adopt or strengthen their own legal framework to guarantee transparency and access to information.

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Transparency and the right to access information is now a reality in many Latin American countries. So how has this been achieved?

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Questions about land use are inextricably related to decisions about where and how to engage in extractive industry activities. Latin American countries have dealt with a range of land-related challenges, from land use planning and consent for securing access to land, to special considerations for indigenous peoples and environmental conservation, all of which have important implications for governments and local communities. This selection highlights some of the key publications dealing with issues of extractive industries and land use in Latin America.

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Using transparency as a tool to fight corruption, Latin American countries have launched electronic platforms to prevent misconduct in procurements and to monitor public officials’ personal assets; so far initial results point to success.

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Latin American countries have found some interesting strategies for creating agreements between individuals, communities and private companies about accessing land for extractive industries.

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Extractive industry development in Latin America has successfully boosted the foreign investment and revenues received by Latin American governments. The Latin American experience offers interesting lessons, drawing on the diversity of its countries.

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