About the Course
Around the world, developing countries are increasingly recognising the value of social transfer programmes in reducing extreme poverty, with success stories in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The Economic Policy Research Institute (EPRI), together with the UNU– MERIT/ Maastricht Graduate School of Governance and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), is offering a two-week course including a number of specialised modules aimed at providing participants with an in-depth understanding of the conceptual and practical issues involved in the development of social transfer programmes. Participants will acquire tools required for the appropriate identification and successful design and implementation of these programmes.
Who is it for?
The course aims to build the capacity of government policymakers and officials, representatives from bilateral and multilateral agencies, programme practitioners, researchers, project managers and staff members from nongovernmental organisations. The course will serve those who want to more effectively design, implement and manage social transfer programmes with the goal of reducing poverty and better achieving the Sustainable Developmental Goals.
How participants will benefit
At the end of the course, the successful participant will better understand the comprehensive approach to social protection and how appropriate social protection instruments can reduce poverty and vulnerability and promote developmental outcomes. The course will reinforce the skills required to identify, design and implement effective social protection programmes. The programme attracted over 500 participants from over 40 nationalities and diverse professional backgrounds including business, public policy, and NGO’s. The diversity in the classroom enables interaction with a wide range of perspective and creates a global experience for participants on the programme. A team of international experts, skilled professionals and leaders in the field will teach the course. The certificated course will be jointly accredited by the UNU-MERIT/ Maastricht Graduate School of Governance and the Economic Policy Research Institute.
“The course has helped my social protection knowledge and awareness of African issues. The course has also shown me a beautiful city that I got to experience in a unique way.” - 2016 participant
Presenters
“The course had excellent and engaging presentations covering a large range of topics, a good mix of lectures and group exercises that encouraged a peer learning experience. A great overall experience.” - 2016 participant
Dr. Michael Samson
Director of Research, Economic Policy Research Institute
Dr. Michael Samson is the Director of Research at the Economic Policy Research Institute, based in Cape Town, South Africa. He is also an Associate Professor of Economics at the Williams College Centre for Development Economics in the United States. He holds a PhD in Economics from Stanford University. Dr. Michael Samson has 31 years of experience working in social protection with a focus on designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating the impact of social protection programmes. Dr. Samson has supported the design, implementation and evaluation of social protection systems and programmes in over forty countries around the world.
He also has over two decades of experience in providing instruction in social protection capacity building courses around the world. Dr. Samson designed EPRI’s flagship two-week course on social transfers called Designing and Implementing Social Protection Programmes, that is hosted in Cape Town, South Africa and in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Furthermore, Dr. Samson has designed various country-specific social protection courses including the ones described above for the Governments of Nepal, Tanzania, Thailand, India and Zambia.
“A very good course and educational, very practical to real life situations back home.” - 2014 participant
Dr. Stephen Devereux
Institute of Development Studies
Dr. Stephen Devereux is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, UK, where he is a Co-Director of the Centre for Social Protection. He is also the NRF–Newton Fund SA-UK Research Chair in Social Protection and Food Security, affiliated to the DST–NRF Centre of Excellence in Food Security and the Institute for Social Development at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa.
As a development economist, he has 25 years of experience in food security, poverty and rural development in 13 African countries, including 3 years heading a Rural Research Programme at the University of Namibia and one year researching household drought responses in northern Ghana. He has been a Fellow of the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) at the University of Sussex since 1996. He has (co-)authored or (co-)edited 9 books on food security, famine and social protection, and has published articles in more than 20 journals. He has worked for numerous international agencies and has provided policy advice to many African governments. He has delivered lectures and seminars at several universities and has presented sessions on over 50 training courses.
Dr. Franziska Gassmann
Professional Fellow/Senior Researcher UNU-MERIT/MGSOG
Dr. Franziska Gassmann leads the research theme on Poverty, Public Policy and Inclusive Innovation. Dr. Gassmann has 20 years of experience as consultant and adviser to Governments and international organisations on social policy issues in Central and Eastern Europe, countries of former Yugoslavia, the Caucasus, Central Asia and South-East Asia. She has project experience in more than 15 countries in Europe, Asia and Africa. Dr. Gassmann is experienced in the development of monitoring systems, indicators and data collection methods that allow the regular assessment of poverty and the effectiveness and efficiency of social protection policies, using microsimulation, policy impact assessments, benefit incidence and cost-benefit analysis. Dr. Gassmann is regularly teaching in graduate programmes (MSc, PhD) in the field of welfare state economics and public policy analysis (certified university teacher BKO), executive training programmes, and she currently supervises seven doctoral candidates.
How to Apply
FEES AND PAYMENTS
Participants can register for either the one-week main course, specialised topics module (electives) or for the full two-week course (main course and a specialised topic module). The tuition fees for the course are the following:
Full two-week course tuition (main course + specialised topic module) is £2, 990.
One-week course tuition (either main course or specialised topic module) tuition is £1, 690.
Tuition fees include travel on schedule visits and hands-on computer based skills workshops.
GROUP DISCOUNTS
For groups of five or more full paying participants (tuition and accommodation), we will waive the tuition fees of the fifth person, with a 20% discount on tuition for every full paying participants thereafter. For a group of four full paying participants (tuition and accommodation package), there is a 15% discount on tuition for the group.
ACCOMMODATION AND FACILITY FEES
The comprehensive accommodation and facilities fee includes accommodation in a four-star facility, three meals per day and teas, per diems, airport transfers, use of included facilities and recreational activities and tours. The fees do not include international travel to and from Cape Town, South Africa.
FEE BREAKDOWN
Two-week course - £2990 (13 nights in a four-star accommodation)
One-week course - £870 (6 nights in a four-star accommodation)
For those participants who wish to arrange their own accommodation, the course facilities fee is £540 for the two-week course and £300 for the one-week course. The facilities fee covers your conference package, scheduled dinners and associated elements.
FEE PAYMENT
The payment of fees must be received by the deadline stipulated in the offer letter, usually four weeks prior to the course in order to secure a place on the course. Payments are made using bank transfer. Full receipts are provided for all payments.
MORE INFO...
Contact courses@epri.org.za for more information.
Admission is on a rolling basis. Space is limited. Early application is strongly advised.
Fill out the form in the button below to apply.
The Programme
This innovative course combines the strengths of EPRI, IDS and UNU-MERIT in social protection. The course is taught by leading experts in the field, who hold a position at one of these world-class institutions. The course includes coordinated series of theme-oriented sessions, practical skills building workshops, field trips to visit social protection sites and relevant technical skills training.
The course will be taught using formal lectures, practical case studies and hands-on exercises. The course can be taken as a full two-week course or each week can be taken as a standalone course. Topics covered in the course will include:
-
The role of social protection in reducing poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion;
-
The identification of appropriate social protection instruments for specific country contexts;
-
The design of social protection and cash transfer programmes;
-
Implementation issues, including registration, targeting, payment and information systems;
-
Monitoring and evaluation approaches for social protection systems;
-
Case studies of successful programmes around the world;
-
Field trips to see South Africa’s social protection system in action.
SPECIALISED TOPICS
During the second week of the course, participants choose one intensive five-day module on a specialised topic. Offerings may vary based on demand and enrollment numbers, but typical options include:
SOCIAL PROTECTION POLICY
This module exposes the participants to the policymaking process for social protection. Drawing on case studies and policymaking theory, participants will discuss the different components of policy documents, taking into consideration the political economy, policy-relevant evidence, and other contextual issues. The module equips participants with a framework for developing and analysing social protection policies and lets them view such policies in an international perspective.
FINANCIAL INCLUSION AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY: LINKAGES TO SOCIAL PROTECTION
This module provides participants with an in-depth and practical understanding of how new and existing social transfer programmes can be designed and implemented so as to promote livelihoods, increase financial inclusion, and achieve developmental outcomes. The module will detail successful international case studies and this will be applied within an evidence building framework to identify workable approaches for different country contexts.
MONITORING AND EVALUATING SOCIAL PROTECTION PROGRAMMES (with Microsimulation Modelling using AdEPT)
This course offers its participants and indepth practical understanding of how monitoring and impact assessment can be used to evaluate programme success. Participants will consider alternative monitoring and evaluation designs including quantitative, qualitative and integrated approaches. They will study evidence building pilots as tools for policy innovation, how evidence from monitoring and evaluation exercises can be communicated to key decision makers to build support for programmes, and the use of technology to improve M&E outcomes.