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.


Current Vacancies >> Social Development and Gender positions in Nigeria

SDDirect is seeking to fill two positions in the DFID-funded Education Support Sector Programme in Nigeria. The first is the Lead Specialist Social Development role, providing a strategic overview of the access and equity aspects of the programme and overseeing a number of consultancy inputs at federal and state levels. The second is the Social Development and Gender Specialist role, working at both federal and state levels as well as directly with state-based specialists to identify issues and develop solutions to strengthen access and equity in education in Nigeria.

News >> Full report on measuring change and results in voice and accountability work now available on DFID site

Support is growing for initiatives that raise the voice of people in developing countries and improve awareness of their rights so that they are able to talk with governments, and hold officials to account. Governments need to listen to communities in order to develop appropriate policies and deliver effective services.

At the cutting edge >> First international corporate evaluation of UNIFEM's work in gender-responsive budgeting

An SDDirect team has completed an evaluation of UNIFEM's efforts over five years to ensure that planning and budgeting processes take gender data and analysis into account. The evaluation was carried out in three stages over a period of eight months and involved evaluation visits to UNIFEM's work in Ecuador, Morocco, Mozambique and Senegal.

Meet our consultants>> Alice Kerr-Wilson

Alice is a Consultant with SDDirect with particular expertise in gender, rural livelihoods and community development. She has specific experience of working in countries in conflict, and has worked in Afghanistan, Nepal, Sierra Leone and Sri Lanka. Alice has also worked in the UK on issues of urban integration and empowerment in deprived areas.

Case Studies >> Participatory gender and rights audit of DanChurchAid

During the Autumn of 2009, SDDirect's Alice Kerr-Wilson and Francis Watkins, with rights specialist, Clare Ferguson and communications specialist, Gayatri Persad, conducted a Participatory Gender and Rights Audit of DanChurchAid to examine the extent to which gender and rights had been considered and integrated into the organisation's internal systems and processes. Alice Kerr-Wilson reports.