Development is not just economic issue or improvements in GDP and household incomes; it is also about social protection and how power and social differences are organised and manages for the benefit of all. With insights on Sierra Leone and wider Africa contexts, the 45 essays in this volume throw light on the challenges of building developmental, democratic and cohesive states and societies. Issues as diverse as poverty, inequality, employment, natural resource governance, social policy, financing development, state reform, gendered development, Ebola, female circumcision, electoral politics, the Arab spring ethnicity, civil war and security are treated fresh and engaging insights.