UNRISD Collaborates with Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies on Student Project in Geneva

UNRISD Director, Sarah Cook, and Research Coordinator, Katja Hujo, are taking part in joint seminars with students from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (GIIDS) in Geneva's Palais des Nations from October to December 2010.

It is the first time that UNRISD collaborates with the GIIDS on such a project. The research seminars are a compulsory component of the second-year Masters course in the Development Studies curriculum – the students chose to work with UNRISD because of its on-going activity in social policy and human social development.

The collaboration will culminate in a report focused on the politics behind the introduction, expansion and contestation of social pensions in Asia, as well as the role of civil societies, governments, and non-governmental and international organizations in pension schemes.

UNRISD is involved in similar research on the same topic with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which may benefit from this collaboration with GIIDS.