News
The importance of investing in and educating Africa’s large youth population as a critical component in unlocking untapped productivity and innovation was also foregrounded at a recent Duke University forum on “Inequalities and the erosion of social cohesion in post-apartheid South Africa”. The PII’s Prof. Murray Leibbrandt and former PII visiting professor Prof. Hiroyuki Hino – both visiting research scholars at the Duke University Centre for International and Global Studies – led the discussions with their presentations, followed by input from two Duke scholars who conduct research in Togo and Nigeria respectively.
Health economist Emeritus Prof. Di McIntyre, who served on the PII planning group until her retirement in 2018, has recently received the François Diop Award for her lifetime contributions to the advancement of health economics in Africa, and globally. She received this recognition at the 5th Africa Health Economics and Policy Association conference which was held in Accra, Ghana. Joining her in the celebrations was UCT’s Dr Leanne Brady, from the Division of Health Policy and Systems in the Faculty of Health Sciences, who received an award for an innovative and participatory approach that assists decolonising health policy and systems research.
Inequality has emerged as one of the key challenges of our times. Since 2000, the average inequality within countries has been rising, pointing to the challenge to realise the Sustainable Development Goals’ principle of “leaving no-one behind” by 2030. This year, the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Report (HDR) will provide a comprehensive picture of the many forms of inequality that are shaping the 21st century. One of the experts recently appointed to provide intellectual advice and guidance to the HDR Office is Prof. Haroon Bhorat, director of the Development Policy Research Unit and a member of the PII.
The practice of policymaking and implementation – that is the focus of The Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance’s first fulltime masters semester course which concluded recently. The Mandela School promotes the development of strategic public leadership, including a strong emphasis on public sector reform, accountability and trust in governance. The course brought together students from five different countries and disciplines.