Comprehensive Social Policies - Fighting Poverty Through Investing in Social Protection

UNRISD Director Thandika Mkandawire and UNRISD Research Co-ordinator Shahra Razavi attended the “Comprehensive Social Policies - Fighting Poverty Through Investing in Social Protection” conference on the 20 November 2007 in Oslo, Norway. Both Thandika and Shahra presented during Session 1: Social Policy in a Development Context. Thandika spoke on transformative social policy in relation to the developmental state, drawing on his expertise on Africa. Shahra focused on gender and social policy on the global level. The central theme of the conference revolved around case studies and experiences from the implementation of social security systems in countries in the South.

The conference was hosted by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), which is a directorate under the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). The event took place in the Norad building at Ruselökkvn 26, Oslo, Norway. Norad’s primary goal seeks to contribute to international cooperation to fight poverty. The agency works through agreements with research institutions and expert organizations, like UNRISD, which provide consultancy services to evaluate development assistance programmes. The conference is under the umbrella program CROP (Comparative Research Programme on Poverty).