Safe and Inclusive Cities Final Evaluation

IDRC requests proposals for the provision of an evaluation consultant/firm to undertake a final-term formative evaluation of the Safe and Inclusive (SAIC) program.

Safe and Inclusive Cities (SAIC) is a global research program that documents the links between urban violence, poverty, and inequalities. Jointly funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), the program supports experts from around the world to find out what works — and what doesn’t — to reduce violence in urban centers.

SAIC’s primary objective is to generate high-quality evidence on the priority connections between violence, poverty, and inequalities in cities of the Global South. It also aims to identify and inform policy and practice on the most effective strategies to tackle the serious challenges posed by lethal and non-lethal violence to the well-being of individuals and communities, as well as to the legitimacy and accountability of public authorities.

The initiative’s specific objectives are to:

1. Generate a better understanding of the relationship between violence, poverty, and inequalities in urban areas, and identify the most effective strategies for tackling these challenges;

2. Contribute to the shaping of theoretical and conceptual frameworks that will guide future research on these issues;

3. Support a cadre of researchers, particularly in the Global South, to enhance their skills to design and execute cutting-edge, policy-relevant, rigorous, and gender-sensitive research projects in urban areas affected by violence in Latin America and the Caribbean, South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa; and

4. Widely disseminate project- and program-level research results among local, regional, and international stakeholders with a view to influencing policy.

As a result of a competitive call for proposals, fifteen research teams were chosen to undertake research in 40 cities across 16 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Latin America. These projects were mandated to address key gaps in knowledge and to test the effectiveness of violence reduction theories, strategies, and interventions. These include strategies to promote social cohesion and capital, fight gender-based violence, encourage urban renewal and regeneration, and enhance the protection of the most vulnerable groups. SAIC builds on knowledge gained from a range of interventions to address urban violence, such as pacification and community policing, community interventions, and slum upgrading. These projects also produced new data that has been rigorously tested to provide concrete results.

In 2015, a formative midterm evaluation of the program was completed. Evaluation questions focused on Program Effectiveness, Research Quality, Research Uptake, Ethical Practice, and Gender Analysis. Evaluation findings have informed the program’s implementation over the last 18 months.