This Topic Guide aims to answer the question ‘What is the interaction between social development issues and human development outcomes?’ An individual’s right to lead a long and healthy life, to be educated and to enjoy a decent standard of living cannot be realised without addressing social development issues. This is because these issues determine individuals’ access to resources –who gets what, where, and how. This in turn affects whether human development is inclusive and equitable or perpetuates inequalities and exclusion. Two main rationales for considering social development emerge from the literature. Without understanding and addressing social drivers of development, human rights will not be realised and development gains will be undermined. Secondly, by taking social development issues on board, development actors will achieve better results and better value for money. This guide provides an overview of available evidence on how social development influences human development outcomes. It focuses on five social development issues (human rights, accountability, gender inequality, age and social exclusion) and their influence on four human development sectors: 1) health; 2) sexual and reproductive health (SRH); 3) education; and 4) water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).

Social Development and Human Development: Topic Guide

Resource Key: KHQ54WC7

Document Type: Report

Creator:

Author:

  • Evie Browne
  • Kerry A. Millington

Creators Name: {mb_resource_zotero_creatorsname}

Place: University of Birmingham, Oxford, UK

Institution: GSDRC and HEART

Date: 2015

Language:

This Topic Guide aims to answer the question ‘What is the interaction between social development issues and human development outcomes?’ An individual’s right to lead a long and healthy life, to be educated and to enjoy a decent standard of living cannot be realised without addressing social development issues. This is because these issues determine individuals’ access to resources –who gets what, where, and how. This in turn affects whether human development is inclusive and equitable or perpetuates inequalities and exclusion. Two main rationales for considering social development emerge from the literature. Without understanding and addressing social drivers of development, human rights will not be realised and development gains will be undermined. Secondly, by taking social development issues on board, development actors will achieve better results and better value for money. This guide provides an overview of available evidence on how social development influences human development outcomes. It focuses on five social development issues (human rights, accountability, gender inequality, age and social exclusion) and their influence on four human development sectors: 1) health; 2) sexual and reproductive health (SRH); 3) education; and 4) water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).

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