30 years of excellence in designing, implementing and evaluating social protection programmes, providing capacity building, and policy advisory services to government and civil
society for pro-poor, equitable and inclusive economic growth
EPRI is a top-ranked global research institute located in Cape Town, South Africa.
As a not-for-profit institution incorporated under section 21 of the Companies Act, we equip governments, development partners, and civil society institutions with the knowledge to design, implement, monitor, and evaluate strategies, policies, and programs that support inclusive social development and equitable economic growth.
We have more than 25 years of experience in best practice solutions that strengthen social protection systems through integration with effective and equitable policies on sustainable development, decent work, and equitable economic growth.
Our mission is to promote South-South cooperation and develop local knowledge by building and sharing an evidence base on social protection through economic analysis and global lessons of experience. We achieve this by conducting research, providing capacity-building services, and offering technical assistance to support country-led policy formation.
Our vision is to offer research, capacity building, and advisory services that shape policies to safeguard the most vulnerable sectors of every society.
We conduct global research in social protection. Current and recent projects include:
We primarily focus our current research on social protection policies and programs that aim to reduce poverty and vulnerability. We provide assistance to groups in need of special care and we help people protect themselves against hazards and loss of assets/income.
Our research is dedicated to promoting poverty reduction through equitable, and inclusive economic growth that prioritizes social protection for vulnerable individuals.
We have supported and advised various national governments, non-governmental organizations, and international entities, including DFID, UNICEF, the World Bank, UNFPA, AusAID, GTZ, and Irish Aid, on six different continents.
We are dedicated to capacity building and the promotion of South-South learning. To this end, we offer social protection courses to policymakers, government officials, program practitioners, and representatives from multilateral agencies and non-governmental organizations.
FEATURED FLAGSHIP COURSE
Flagship executive course for social policy advisors, government leaders, development partners, civil society and non-profit organisations.
EPRI is dedicated to building capacity and promoting South-South learning. To achieve this goal, EPRI offers a range of social protection courses to policymakers, government officials, and program practitioners from multilateral agencies and non-governmental organizations.
Courses cover various topics such as social program design, microsimulation, monitoring and evaluation, and policy brief writing. These courses range in duration from day-long seminars to two-week accredited courses and are designed to incorporate the latest developments in social protection systems.
Dr Michael Samson
Director of Research
Michael Samson is the Research Director of the Economic Policy Research Institute (EPRI), a global research institute in Cape Town, South Africa.
With more than 15 years of experience in social protection policies and programs, Michael has led various international projects and initiatives across Asia and the Pacific. He spearheaded the evaluation of Thailand’s Child Support Grant and designed a long-term capacity development program for social protection trainers in Vietnam. Additionally, he has worked on multiple projects in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka.
Michael has authored several policy guides, including three editions of “Designing and Implementing Social Protection Systems” and the OECD’s policy guidance on social protection. He also teaches courses globally on this topic, including the Sida-funded International Training Programme in Social Protection for Sustainable Development in ten countries across Africa and Asia. Michael’s current research focuses on how social protection can effectively respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and support the Sustainable Development Goals.
In addition to his work with the Economic Policy Research Institute, Michael is also on the economics faculty at the Williams College Center for Development Economics in the United States. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford University and frequently lectures at policy conferences and training workshops around the world.
Ms. Ingrid van Niekerk
Executive Director
Ms. Ingrid van Niekerk is an Executive Co-Director and Senior Researcher at EPRI, as well as the Chief Executive Officer.
She has managed and carried out research projects for the Department of Social Development in South Africa as well as the inter-ministerial Committee of Enquiry for Comprehensive Social Security.
Preksha Golchha
Lead Social Policy Advisor
Preksha is a lead social policy advisor at EPRI with more than 11 years experience in social policy advisory, development, advocacy, strategic planning, evaluation and evidence-generation.
She has worked with more than 35 countries, focusing on poverty reduction and inclusive development.
Preksha has extensive experience in conducting research and providing policy advice across diverse regions such as South Asia, Africa, the Middle East, East Asia and the Pacific, and Central Asia and Europe.
Her expertise lies in action-oriented policy advisory and mobilization, as well as the development of national strategies, implementation plans, and the design, implementation, and evaluation of social protection policies, programs, and delivery systems.
Over the past decade she has led more than 50 projects focused on policy development, design, implementation, support, and evidence generation for various organizations such as Asian Development Bank, Ausaid, ILO, MaxwellStamp, OECD, Save the Children, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF, UKaid, WFP, the World Bank and various government ministries.
Nard Huijbregts
Lead Social Policy Advisor
Nard Huijbregts is EPRI’s Lead Social Policy Advisor. He has conducted research and provided policy advice to over 40 countries, primarily in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and the Middle East.
Nard has worked on projects for the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, UNICEF, ILO, FCDO, UNDP, UN-Women, WFP, UNAIDS, Save the Children, the African Union and various government ministries.
He specializes in the design, implementation and evaluation of social protection policies, programmes and delivery systems.
Rev Claudia and Rev Dirk Haarmann
Project Leads
Claudia and Dirk are the Project leaders of the EPRI GRAPE Training programme.
The GRAPE programme is a global initiative of the World Communion of Reformed
Churches (WCRC) together with EPRI. It delivers an advanced training and support
programme tailored for the Global Reformed Advocacy Platforms for Engagement
(GRAPE) and their campaigns. This program brings together churches, NGOs and other
activists in the field of economic and climate justice. It aims to bring about tangible change
from LOCAL to GLOBAL to LOCAL.
Claudia and Dirk are EPRI’s regional coordinators for the International Training Programme on Social Protection for Southern Africa since 2019.
Both are social policy advisors who hold a Ph.D. in Social Development from the University of the Western Cape (UWC). They are ordained pastors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia (ELCRN). Currently, they serve two reformed congregations in the Swiss Alps.
In the 90s and early 2000s, they played a crucial role in two significant social security policy debates in South Africa, namely the Child Support Grant (CSG) and the proposal of a Basic Income Grant (BIG). They developed the first micro-simulation model on social protection in a development context from 1996 to 1998.
Their model and calculations were the basis for the civil society campaign for the CSG in South Africa and informed the ANC portfolio committee on social development in parliament. In 1997, their research for the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) on a ‘Comprehensive Social Security System for South Africa’ developed the concept and modelled the costs and benefits of a BIG for South Africa. They continued to produce economic background research for the Taylor Cabinet commission in SA with the support of EPRI.
From 2004 to 2009, they jointly coordinated the implementation and impact assessment of the Basic Income Grant (BIG) and the world’s first BIG Pilot Project in Otjivero, Namibia (www.bignam.org). In 2013/14, they organized the Namibian Drought Relief Cash Grant of the Lutheran churches and the ACT-Alliance.
EPRI has maintained its position as the third top small think tank in the Global Go To Think Tank Index (GGTTI) 2019 in the category of “Top Think Tanks with Annual Operating Budgets of Less Than USD $5 million.”
Within this category, EPRI has been ranked as the best small think tank with significant operations in Southern Africa and Asia.
EPRI’s research, titled “Financing the Child Centered Sustainable Development Goals in Ethiopia” for UNICEF Ethiopia, was selected as a finalist for the Best of UNICEF Research 2019. The study used innovative methodology to estimate the cost of achieving child-sensitive SDGs in Ethiopia, and was recognized for its groundbreaking approach.
EPRI played a pivotal role in the creation of South Africa’s award-winning policy on Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), which was recognized with a bronze award at the 2019 Future Policy Awards. These awards are organized by the World Future Council, the United Nations Development Programme, and the Inter-Parliamentary Union, with the goal of showcasing the most effective policies that empower young people.
Ms Ingrid van Nierkerk’s presentation addressed universal basic income in the conference “Investing in gender equality: Parliaments ensuring social protection, public protection, public services and infrastructure delivery for women and girls.”
Ms Ingrid van Nierkerk’s presentation addressed universal basic income in the conference “Investing in gender equality: Parliaments ensuring social protection, public protection, public services and infrastructure delivery for women and girls.”
Contact Info:
Phone: +27216713301
Email: courses@epri.org.za
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