Completed Projects
2006 - 2008: Capacity Building at the Centre for Economic Reforms in Azerbaijan, Asian Development Bank
CDPR was awarded a contract for USD 750,000 by the Asian Development Bank for Capacity Building at the Ministry of Economic Development in Azerbaijan. The goal of the technical assistance project is to support the Government's efforts to create a policy environment conducive to broad-based, socially equitable, and sustainable economic growth. Its purpose is to help the Government build capacity for economic policy analysis and advice at the Centre of Economic Reforms in Baku, Azerbaijan.
2005: Economic Policies In Support of MDGs and Poverty Reduction, UNDP
CDPR was invited by the UNDP-Regional Bureau for Africa to present two papers on Macroeconomic and Adjustment Policies in Africa for the Launching Workshop of the Project on Economic Policies in Support of Millennium Development Goals and Poverty Reduction held in Kigali, Rwanda in 21 - 23 March 2005. Professor John Weeks and Dr Degol Hailu presented the papers. Currently, they are contracted to edit about ten of the workshop papers for publication for a forthcoming book to be published by the UNDP.
2004 – 2005: Economic Policies for Growth, Employment and Poverty Reduction: Moldova in Transition
This project was part of a UNDP programme on pro-poor growth in developing countries. The policy entry points in the study were fiscal policy, monetary policy, exchange rate policy, migration, debt management, and the trade regime. The report identifies measures which the government could take to increase the elasticity of poverty reduction with respect to growth. The recommendations place emphasis on the role of public investment, the need to diversify exports, and policy adjustments at the macro level implied by the government’s policy of European integration.
2005 UNDP Regional Training Workshop in Dar es Salaam , Tanzania
UNDP awarded CDPR the contract to prepare training manuals for the Regional Training Workshop which was part of the RBA Regional Project on Economic Policies in Support of MDGs and Poverty Reduction. Under this project, CDPR has written training manuals on Pro-Poor Growth, Employment and Poverty, and Fiscal and Monetary Policies. In addition, it edited a module on fiscal space written by Rathin Roy of UNDP. Subsequently, the modules were reviewed in seminar in Dar es Salaam in June 2005, and second drafts will be completed in August. At the meeting, the Regional Bureau judged the four modules of sufficient merit and relevance that consideration is given to increasing their number, to cover other central issues related to poverty reduction. The new modules under consideration include, Monetary Policy and the Financial Sector, Trade and Industrial Policy, and Public Expenditure.
2004 – 2005: Economic Policies for Growth, Employment and Poverty Reduction in Zambia
Beginning in January 2002, UNDP supported an Asia-Pacific regional programme on the “Macroeconomics of Poverty Reduction” that focussed on reviving discussion on integrating poverty reduction objectives into national economic policy making and general socio-economic development strategies. As a result of the success of the regional programme in Asia and the Pacific, the Regional Bureau for Africa is seeking to initiate a similar programme in 2005. In order to provide a precedent for the studies planned for the Africa regional programme, the Bureau for Development Policy contracted the CDPR to prepare the first study on Zambia.
2004-2005: Patterns of Labour Supply
The CDPR was awarded a consultancy project funded by the World Bank entitled Patterns of Labour Supply as part of the Regional Stocktaking Review on Employment Issues for Africa. The basic objective of this program was to deepen understanding of the causes and consequences of poor employment performance, with particular attention to the linkages between policy, growth, job creation and poverty reduction. The paper produced by CDPR consultants was part of the larger project which consists of 4 papers.
2004: Implementation of Poverty Reduction Strategies in the NIS
CDPR was contracted by the EC's Poverty Reduction Effectiveness Programme to carry out a study on the 'Implementation of Poverty Reduction Strategies in the NIS.' The project includes seven country studies - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – as well as a comparative study drawing on experiences in Africa and lessons for the NIS, and a synthesis report. Two of the studies werecarried out by national consultants in the Kyrgyz Republic and Armenia while the others were completed by consultants from SOAS.
2004: Transnational Consumption in a Global Economy
Funded by a grant from the UK-based Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the research examines the economic and social aspects of the dramatic expansion and globalisation of the khat trade. The research provides the first analytical study of the chain of production, distribution and transnational consumption. The aim is to locate khat in the context of agricultural development and its increasing importance as a significant foreign exchange earning export for Ethiopia, Yemen's largest domestic crop, Djibouti's single most valuable item of trade, and Kenya's expanding production and consumption. The research is a collaborative between CDPR and St. Antony's College, Oxford University. The principal output will take the form of a jointly authored book.
2003-2004: Comparison of PRSP and National Development Strategies in Asia
The UK's Department for International Development (DFID) has contracted CDPR under the project Comparison of PRSP and National Development Strategies in Asia. The assignment is a study of how the PRSP process links to existing national development strategies in Vietnam and Nepal. A study of India's national strategy is also a major component of the project, manly as a basis for assessing the PRSPs in the other two countries under study.
2003: Macroeconomic Research and Modelling Project (MRMP)
The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MOFED), Ethiopia, awarded CDPR the Macroeconomic Research and Modelling Project (MRMP). The project consisted of: 1) A study of the government's long-term strategy - the Agriculture-Led Development Strategy (ADLI). The results of the study were used to enhance the ADLI; and 2) Build a short run macroeconomic model. The model is used by MOFED for forecasting various policy alternatives. The model is constructed in collaboration with Micro-Macro Consultants (MMC), based in Netherlands.
2001-2002: Sida-funded Ownership Evaluations Project
SOAS/CDPR have been contracted by Swedish Sida/UTV to undertake an evaluation study of ownership issues in programmes and projects supported by Sida. The objective of the evaluation project is to assess whether the activities financed by Sida accord with Swedish and Sida policies regarding partner country ownership. The point of departure in this evaluation is Sida's long held view that partner countries have the main responsibility for their development and that Sida assists in the creation of pre-conditions for development, that it does not directly drive the process of change, and that the primary responsibility for improving living conditions in partner countries rests with the partner countries themselves. The evaluation was based on case studies of Swedish development co-operation with Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.
2000-2002: Macroeconomic Policy Analysis Capacity Building Project in Ethiopia
The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) funded this four-year project. Throughout the project cycle SOAS experts worked with the Ministry of Economic Development and Co-operation (MEDaC), Ethiopia and the Addis Ababa University. This was a training program under 13 macroeconomic topics in which 500 civil servants from various federal ministries and regional bureaus benefited.
Rural Labour Markets and Poverty in Mozambique
The Ministry of Planning and Finance (MPF) and UNDP, Mozambique, fund the research under Rural Labour Markets and Poverty in Mozambique. This research is a collaborative project between CDPR/SOAS and the research unit of the Planning and Budget Directorate of MPF. The research involves a survey of 3,000 seasonal and casual rural workers (agricultural and non-agricultural), their households, large and small agricultural employers, and female workers. The project will also produce a documentary film based on the lives of rural workers. The research outputs will inform the poverty monitoring system in Mozambique and the future revisions of the PRSP.
Short-term training for the Ministry of Agriculture, Ethiopia
Two senior members of the Ministry attended the training in Agricultural Policy Analysis and Formulation, which was held at the School.
Regional Road Sector Study, China
The CDPR in collaboration with Symonds Travers Morgan Ltd was involved in consultancy services for the Road Sector Study that covered the South-West Region of China. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of People's Republic of China commissioned the study. CDPR provided technical assistance in Socio-economic Impact Assessment. Dr Ajit Bhalla who has a valuable experience with international organisations and a considerable knowledge of rural development, poverty alleviation and gender issues in China represented CDPR.
Policy Guide for FAO Professionals
The CDPR completed a policy manual to serve as a guide to non-economists in the Food and Agricultural Organisation, and which summarises the major issues related to macro, sectoral and micro policies as they affect agriculture in developing countries.
