Welcome to Social Development Direct


Social Development Direct is a leading international provider of social development consultancy and research services. SDDirect is based in London and was established in 1999 as a small network of leading independent consultants and researchers committed to working with government and non-governmental organisations to improve the quality and impact of development assistance. We are committed to the eradication of poverty, global inequality and injustice and work with development partners in the north and south to this end. SDDirect is now an international network of over 200 professionals with expertise in social development, gender, human rights, political science, conflict and peace building, and governance with an in-house team of 10 social development specialists.


News >>SDDirect appoints first Chief Executive

It is with great pleasure that we announce the appointment of our first Chief Executive for SDDirect, Sarah Maguire, an international lawyer with a wealth of development experience. Sarah worked as a criminal defence, immigration and asylum barrister for ten years before joining DFID in 1999 as a Senior Human Rights Adviser in the Conflict and Humanitarian Affairs department. In 2003, she established herself as an independent justice and human rights advisor, working extensively with UN entities, NGOs and the UK government.

Meet our Chief Executive >> Sarah Maguire

Sarah Maguire, SDDirect's first Chief Executive is featured this month in our regular one-to-one interviews with our consultants. She talks about how the protection, realisation and promotion of human rights underpins all her work - both past and present. She discusses her work in the justice sector, gender and conflict, child protection, stabilisation and forced migration in relation to this.

Opinion >> Bringing in an extreme poverty focus

Sue Phillips argues that measures to empower the 'urban poor' through supporting or developing community-based structures need to be challenged. She asks whether they bring real benefits to the extreme poor, or whether the rules of engagement either prevent or make it difficult for the poorest to access programme benefits.

News>> Working with the Security Sector to End Violence against Women and Girls

SDDirect has just begun an exciting new project for the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) to develop an online knowledge module on Working with the Security Sector to End Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG). This will form a part of UNIFEM's Virtual Knowledge Centre to End Violence Against Women and Girls, which brings together good practice case studies, tools and guidance from across the world to provide a key resource for policymakers, programme implementers and practitioners working to address VAWG. Read more to find out how you can get involved.