ESRC-Funded Project on Poverty Reduction and Regional Integration

The international research project on ‘Poverty Reduction and Regional Integration: a Comparative Analysis of SADC and UNASUR Health Policies’ is funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) in collaboration with the UK Department for International Development and is led by Professor Nicola Yeates (Open University, UK). Further project partners include: the University of Southampton, the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), and FLACSO Argentina.

The project aims to establish in relation to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) what institutional practices and methods of regional policy formation are conducive to the emergence of embedded pro-poor health strategies, and what national, regional and international actors can do to promote such practices and methods. To this end, the project examines and compares SADC and UNASUR institutional mechanisms and policy development methods and practices; investigates how regional and national levels of authority are co-produced and are connected by these; and develops policy monitoring instruments (Toolkits) to assess regional policy change and success in relation to impoverished populations' access to health care in Zambia and Swaziland in Southern Africa, and Bolivia and Paraguay in South America. A significant feature of the project is its high level of engagement with policy stakeholders throughout the lifetime of the project.

For further information, please consult the PRARI-website.

Persons of reference: Stephen Kingah and Ana B. Amaya