Directors
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, Senior Researcher
Ms. Ingrid van Niekerk is an Executive Co-Director and Senior Researcher at EPRI, as well as the Chief Executive Officer.
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.
Team Leaders
Preksha Golchha
Lead Social Policy Advisor
Preksha is a lead social policy advisor at EPRI with over 11 years of social policy advisory, development, advocacy, strategic planning, evaluation and evidence-generation experience in over 35 countries focused 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 Dr. Claudia Haarmann and Rev Dr. 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) that aims to build advocacy campaigns for economic justice and peace-building. This works through local churches that are empowered through the global communion to become agents of decisive, tangible change on local and national level, and beyond.
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.
