Workshop on Social Policy in Mineral-Rich Countries

UNRISD is holding a two-days closed workshop on ‘Social Policy in Mineral-Rich Countries’, starting on 24 April in Palais des Nations, Geneva. The project is part of the research project “Financing Social Policy”, which explores the mechanisms of financing social policy in a sustainable economic and democracy friendly way.

The workshop will explore the links between mineral wealth and social development in mineral-rich developing countries, which should be presumably fortunate and should be able to ensure both economic progress and social protection. The reality is far from this: only some mineral-rich countries have managed to combine economic and social development. From this consideration, the workshop aims at addressing the following questions:

- What are the factors that impede resource-rich countries in the South from investing more of their wealth in social development?
- Can boosting mineral rents open fiscal space for transformative social policies while at the same time promoting democracy, social inclusion and economic development?

During the workshop, four thematic papers and four country overviews –including Norway, Chile, Nigeria and Indonesia- will be presented.
The results will soon be available to download free of charge from UNRISD website.

Meeting Schedule
24 April 2008 – Palais des Nations
Opening Session: Thandika Mkandawire and Katja Hujo, UNRISD
Presenters:
Samuel Asfaha, South Centre
Thorvaldur Gylfason, University of Iceland
Evelyn Dietsche, University of Dundee
Leonith Hinojosa-Valencia, Anthony Bebbington, and Armando Barrientos, University of Manchester; Tony Addison, United Nations University's World Institute for Development Economics Research

25 April 2008 – Palais des Nations
Presenters:
Halvor Mehlum, and Karl Moene, University of Oslo; Ragnar Torvik, Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Juan Carlos Guajardo, Estudios Comisión Chilena del Cobre
William Ascher, Claremont McKenna College
Jimi O. Adesina, Rhodes University