The aim of this initiative is to help the European Union refine its vision of development and enrich its policies on the basis of knowledge, innovation, and the building of common ground between the European research community, policymakers, and a broad public.
The ERD is aimed at stimulating debate and research on development issues and amplifying the EU’s voice internationally. The ERD provides linkages and synergies between rich expertise in development-related issues in research and academic institutions and policymaking throughout Europe. It also serves as a focal point for researchers in European countries and various regions of the world, facilitates discussions with policymakers and civil society, and stimulates interaction between various European national agencies.
Key output
The ERD explores a topic of major relevance in development, which then serves as the focus of an annual flagship publication, as well as the content of a series of conferences and meetings. The proceedings of these activities (background and conference papers, along with detailed summaries of the discussions in the various conferences and workshops and the related main findings) are available on the ERD website.
The ERD complements other reports on development, reflecting the diversity of views that co-exist on various issues and—where relevant—specific European approaches, based both on Europe’s political and social values and on its own history and experience.
Core structure
The report is based on a process that is participatory, consultative and peer-reviewed. Overseeing the excellence of work is the ERD Steering Committee, which is composed of representatives of the European Commission and of the six EU Member States that are currently co-funding this initiative. The core team, which is made up of internationally known experts in a particular field, contributes to the main content of the report. The teams are complemented by project assistants and additional administrative support staff, which contribute to the daily operations of the program.
The ERD 2010 deals with the issues of poverty, inequality and social protection, with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. Many African countries are stuck in a situation of chronic poverty and are increasingly vulnerable to external shocks, such as climate change, food and fuel price volatility, or the recent financial crisis. These shocks are undermining progress towards the MDGs, and increasing demand for new and more substantive social protection programs in many African countries. Social protection – which is increasingly recognized as an effective tool to protect people from risks and reduce vulnerability – is thus rapidly becoming a priority in the development agenda, both for donors and local governments.
The ERD 2010 focuses on the role of formal and informal mechanisms of social protection as a means to enhance the resilience of Sub Saharan countries when faced with shocks (short term) and structural vulnerabilities such as poverty traps (long term). Specific interventions targeting the most vulnerable sectors of the population are increasingly considered necessary complements of more traditional pro-growth policies – especially when dealing with emerging unstable global socio-economic scenarios.
Social protection is usually defined as the set of public and private mechanisms which prevent individuals and households from suffering the worst consequences of some negative shocks and/or chronic need. It is often considered a double-dividend policy for development: it is an effective input for economic growth and directly reduces poverty, thus making growth more pro-poor.
http://erd.eui.eu/media/2010/ERD2010_Advanced_copy.pdf
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