Welcome to the latest edition of the Inclusive Growth Bulletin!

October brings a full selection of new publications, ranging from the new issue of the International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG)’s flagship publication—the Policy in Focus magazine, dedicated to the themes of food and nutrition security and sovereignty, to articles on the child grant programme in Zambia and family farming in Latin America and the Caribbean.

We also bring you the latest news and updates on the Centre’s activities, including its participation in events in Malawi, Mexico, Panama and Zambia, among others.

We hope you enjoy your reading!

The IPC-IG Team

We are pleased to present you the new edition of the Policy in Focus magazine, titled “Food and nutrition security: towards the full realisation of human rights”. This special issue features 12 articles tackling the challenges involved in the attainment of the human right to adequate food and nutrition, and food and nutrition sovereignty in African countries and in Brazil.

While there has been evidence of a significant reduction in hunger and malnutrition worldwide, it is observed that this phenomenon has not occurred at the same pace in sub-Saharan Africa and in some regions of Brazil. At the same time, there has been a rapid increase in the rates of overweight, obesity and related illnesses, such as diabetes, cardiac disease, various types of cancer, etc.

In this light, the contributing guest editors of this issue have sought to present readers with a selection of authors and articles that share a broad interpretation of the human right to adequate food and nutrition. This edition was prepared as part of the project "Brazil & Africa: Fighting Poverty and Empowering Women via South-South Cooperation", financed by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID), and is available for download in PDF and smartphone/tablet-friendly formats.

New Publications

In the Policy Research Brief “Youth and adult literacy and education: a good practice analysis”, Gianna Moretti (Consultant) explains why the effectiveness of literacy and adult education initiatives is relative and depends on many factors, such as different local socio-economic realities, the competence of educators, the responsibilities and motivations of students, etc. This publication is available in English and Portuguese.

In the Working Paper “Effects of domestic worker legislation reform in Brazil”, Joana Simões de Melo Costa (Institute for Applied Economic research—Ipea), Ana Luiza Neves de Holanda Barbosa (Ipea), and Guilherme Hirata, (IDados, Alfa e Beto Institute) investigate the impact of the improvement of labour rights on the formalisation rates, working hours and wages of Brazilian domestic workers. This publication is available in English, and an associated One Pager is also available in English and Portuguese.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the IPC-IG are glad to present the One Pager “Regional perspectives of family farming”, introducing a series of six forthcoming Working Papers prepared by scholars and experts, following up on the International Year of Family Farming. This introductory One Pager is available in English.

The first in the series is the Working Paper “Family farming in Latin America and the Caribbean: looking for new paths of rural development and food security”, by Sergio Schneider (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS). It presents an analysis of the characteristics of family farming in Latin America and the Caribbean and discusses what might be its role in overcoming some of the major challenges to the development of this region. This study is available in English.

In the One Pager “Public works programmes for protection and climate resilience: theory of change and evidence in low-income countries”, Rodolfo Beazley, Anna McCord and Ana Solórzano (Oxford Policy Management—OPM)present a broad Theory of Change, showing how public works programmes could potentially increase resilience to climate change. This publication is available in English.

The One Pager “Transformative social protection: findings from the Zambian child grant and farmer input support programmes” draws on evidence from the Child Grant Programme (CGP) and the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) in Zambia to argue that there are potential untapped synergies between social and economic policies that welfare programmes have productive effects, and that productivity enhancing policies could be more effective when including poorer recipients. This publication is authored by Anna Wolkenhauer (University of Bremen), and is available in English, French, and Portuguese. It was prepared as part of the DFID-financed project "Brazil & Africa: Fighting Poverty and Empowering Women via South-South Cooperation".

New translations

The One Pager "Does Community-Based Targeting Really Work in Cash Transfer Programmes in Africa?", by Nicola Hypher (SCUK) and Fábio Veras (IPC IG), is now available in Arabic.

The One Pager "A Methodology for Local Economy-wide Impact Evaluation (LEWIE) of Cash Transfers", by J. Edward Taylor and Karen Thome (Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Davis) is now available in Portuguese.

See our full list of publications here

New Partnership on Social Protection

The IPC-IG is pleased to be one of the development partners supporting the new Global Partnership for Universal Social Protection, as announced by world leaders and representatives of the World Bank Group and the International Labour Organization (ILO) during the United Nations General Assembly, on 21 September. The new partnership “aims to help countries reach all poor and vulnerable groups with a variety of measures to ensure that nobody lacks access to key forms of support when needed”. Read more here.

Comprehensive Social Protection Conference

The IPC-IG will participate in the international conference on ‘Comprehensive Social Protection in the SADC’, organised by the Southern African Social Protection Experts Network (SASPEN) and the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation (FES), in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 18-19 October. The Centre's Research Associate, Mario Gyoeri, will deliver a presentation, "Linking agricultural support programmes to social protection initiatives—Monitoring and Evaluation results of PAA Africa". IPC-IG's Research Associate Raquel Tebaldi will deliver a presentation on "Gender-sensitive social protection systems in Brazil and Africa: opportunities for South-South Cooperation". The themes of comprehensive social protection systems, social policies and vulnerability analysis will be at the top of the event’s agenda.

International Symposium on Conditional Cash Transfer Programmes

The IPC-IG participated in an international symposium on the contribution of conditional cash transfer programmes in building social protection systems with a human rights approach, organised by the Government of Mexico and the World Bank. The symposium was held in Mexico City, on 28-30 September.

IPC-IG’s Research Coordinator, Fábio Veras, joined the panel of experts to discuss the theme “Cash transfer programmes today: progress, risks and challenges”, delivering a presentation on the evidence from exit strategies of cash transfer programmes. Read the presentation here (in Spanish). Ipea Researcher, IPC-IG Research Associate and former Brazilian National Secretary of the Bolsa Familia Programme (2012-2015), Luis Henrique Paiva, joined the panel and delivered a presentation titled “Evidence on the contribution of conditional cash transfers to human capital: scope and limitations”.

Global Goals and Social Protection

IPC-IG' Research Coordinator, Rafael Osório, participated in the Seminar on Global Goals and Social Protection, organised by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Include and UNICEF Nederland, on 29 September, in The Hague. On the following day, Mr. Osório joined the seminar titled "How to make development policies in Africa more inclusive? A research-policy dialogue", also organised by Include, at Leiden University.

News

Upcoming webinars on socialprotection.org

socialprotection.org is pleased to present the webinar "From shock response to long-term resilience: What is the role of social protection?”, on 18 October (register here). Also not to be missed is the webinar “Fiscal space for social protection: social compacts for sustainable financing of social protection systems" on 28 October, with Dr. Armando Barrientos (University of Manchester), Dr. Michael Herrmann (United Nations Population Fund), and Dr. Daniel Horn (HelpAge International). Register here.

Earlier this month, IPC-IG’s Research Coordinator Fábio Veras and socialprotection.org’s Senior Project Officer, Mariana Balboni, attended the Experts’ Meeting on Social Protection Assessment Tools and Methodologies, held at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Headquarters, in Paris, France, on 13- 14 October.

Last month, the socialprotection.org team participated in the 8th Social Protection Inter-agency Cooperation Board (SPIAC-B) meeting, in New York City, on 22 September. Ms. Balboni presented the achievements of the first year of socialprotection.org, an online platform dedicated to social protection. A day earlier, she attended the high-level launch of the Global Partnership for Universal Social Protection, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

Mission to Malawi and Zambia

IPC-IG’s Research Associate, Pedro Arruda, undertook a mission to Malawi and Zambia as part of a study on the HIV-inclusiveness of social protection systems in those countries, from 4 to 11 September. This study intends to document and assess which cash transfer-related policy designs in those countries can potentially lead to enhanced reach and improved coverage of HIV infected and affected households, among other issues. During his stay, Mr. Arruda met with key social assistance and health stakeholders, ranging from civil society, to local and central government representatives, to donors and international organisations.

Internship and Fellowship Programmes
The IPC-IG is accepting applications from outstanding students for its 2016 Internship and Fellowship Programme. We are looking for graduate-level students who are passionate about international development and who believe that inclusive growth, the dissemination of knowledge and social development have the power to transform societies. Requirements and information on how to apply are available here. If you know someone who would be interested in joining these programmes, help us spread the word.

Now it's your turn!
We would like to hear your opinion about the Inclusive Growth Bulletin. Please send us your comments and suggestions about the newsletter as well as topics you would like to read here at: ipc@ipc-undp.org