High-Level Roundtable on Improving Lives and Reducing Violence through the Provision of Services

Abstract

This high-level roundtable explored the complex links between poverty, violence, insecurity and the provision of services, drawing on four case studies from within Nairobi, Kathmandu, Mumbai and India as a whole. Access to resources, economic opportunities, and avenues for building human capital are controlled by the government and state institutions, as well as a range of actors (including armed gangs, local vigilantes and other non-governmental groups, including non-governmental organisations and citizens’ groups) who have organised themselves to fill the void left when governments fail in these provisions. Inequitable distribution of resources can result in resentment, leading to conflict and violence. Conversely, providing citizens with access to these services has been found to reduce violence and insecurity.