Programme to Support Pro-Poor Policy Development

The Programme to Support Pro-Poor Policy Development (PSPPD) is a partnership between the Presidency and the European Union (EU). The PSPPD promotes evidence-based policy interventions which address poverty and inequality. One of the ways in which it does this is by providing platforms for critical engagement between policy-makers and researchers.

The PSPPD recently held a two-day reflective event entitled “Is evidence the answer? It depends...” to critically examine what role evidence plays in policy-making. A Mail and Guardian supplement on 9 December provides an interesting account of proceedings but below are links to some of the issues that were debated:

The case study on South Africa’s child support grant (CSG), an example of the power of cash transfers in breaking the poverty trap and one of government’s most successful poverty reduction programmes. The Children’s Institute at the University of Cape Town is one of PSPPD’s partners and more information is available on their site.

The issue of violent crime in South Africa was the subject of a Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) commissioned by the PSPPD with the objective of answering the question “why is crime in South Africa so violent?” This REA examined a number of existing research studies on crime and violence, including the much referred to Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) report The Violent Nature of Crime in South Africa.

Over the next few weeks more documents will be loaded onto this website, both from the workshop and research commissioned over the past few years. If you have any queries or would like to access information please contact Nathalie@po.gov.za