EU-AFD Research Facility on Inequalities Final Conference

What do we know about socio-economic inequalities in emerging and developing countries? How are they changing? What are the causes and consequences ? How can they be reduced? How can they be taken into account in development policies in the current context, where the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbates them?
After three years of research, the EU-AFD Research Facility on Inequalities will hold its final conference which will take place online from March 22th to the 25th 2021.

The conference
Publications
Agenda
Replay

The Research Facility on Inequalities, a program funded by the European Commission's Directorate General for International Partnerships and carried out by the AFD, was designed to deepen the understanding of socio-economic inequalities in low- and middle-income countries and analyze the public policy and development policy levers for reducing them.

23 research projects focused primarily on economic and social inequalities while exploring various topics such as health, education, taxation, and perceptions on inequalities. These projects were conducted jointly with research centers around the world in coordination with partner governments and development cooperation institutions.

Why such a conference? To share the results of the Facility’s studies, discuss them with a wide audience and spark debates on the strategies to reduce inequalities.

Who will participate? Partner researchers, academic experts, practionners and policymakers will exchange views on these results and in particular discuss implementation of policies that can contribute to the reduction of inequalities. The Conference will also be an opportunity to highlight other initiatives around the topic of inequality and to present the second phase of this Facility.

It will be organized with the support of the European Commission.

Funded by the Directorate-General for International Partnerships of the European Union

Read the final synthesis of the Research Facility on Inequalities and find out more about some of the emblematic projects of this program:

CITY STUDIES

Water: Inequalities in urban water services, La Paz, El Alto (Bolivia)

COUNTRIES STUDIES

Labor market: Understanding the dynamics of the earnings distribution, South Africa

Social policies: Analyzing inequalities from the perspective of health, education and employment trajectories, Burkina Faso

Social mobility: Inequalities, social mobility and perceptions, Mexico

GLOBAL RESEARCH PROJECTS

Taxation: Understanding the role of taxation in the fight against inequalities, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Senegal

Social protection: The distributional impact of social protection: short- and longer-run inequalities, Ethiopia, India, Peru

Regional policy: Analysis of multidimensional inequalities and impact of regional policies on inequalities, Central America, West Africa

Climate change: Climate variability and inequalities, Vietnam, Indonesia

TOOLS

Diagnostic: Inequalities diagnostics: A tool for analyzing inequalities in Africa, South Africa, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya

Want to read more

Download the detailed agenda

Day 1- March 22nd, 2021

15h-15h30: Keynote speeches

Jutta URPILAINEN, EU Commissioner of the Directorate-General for International Partnerships (INTPA), European Commission
Clément BEAUNE, French Secretary of State to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs

15h30-15h35: Release of a short video on the EU reference document on inequality

15h35-17h: High-level panel on “Inequalities in a world in crisis”, moderated by Nozipho TSHABALALA

Branko MILANOVIĆ, Senior scholar - the Stone Center on socio-economic inequality
Gabriela BUCHER, Executive Director - Oxfam International
Koen DOENS, Director General - Directorate-General for International Partnerships (INTPA) European Commission
Rémy RIOUX, Director General – Agence Française de Développement (AFD)
Nora LUSTIG, Founding director – Commitment to Equity Institute (CEQ)
Magdy MARTINEZ-SOLIMAN, Director General - Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) - pre-recorded video

Day 2- March 23rd, 2021

10h-12h: Session 1.1 - African inequalities, moderated by Krisztina BOMBERA

Murray LEIBBRANDT, Director - University of Cape Town, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit (SALDRU) - African Center of Excellence for Inequalities Research (ACEIR)
Vimal RANCHHOD - University of Cape Town, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit (SALDRU)
Robert OSEI - University of Ghana, Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER)
Damiano MANDA KULUNDU - University of Nairobi
Vera SONGWE, Executive Secretary – Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) (TBC)
Cécile VALADIER, Deputy Director - Economic Analysis and Public Policy Department – Agence Française de Développement (AFD)

10h-12h: Session 1.2 - Climate change, natural resources and inequality, moderated by Suyin AERTS

Carlos GRADIN, Research fellow - United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER)
Grazia PACILLO - International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)
Linh HUYNH - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)
Moussa SALL - Institut sénégalais de recherche agricole (ISRA), Université de Thiès
Stefano SIGNORE, Head of Unit - F1. Climate change and Sustainable Energy; Nuclear Safety – Directorate-General for International Partnerships (INTPA) – European Commission

15h-17h: Session 2.1 - Tools, moderated by Krisztina BOMBERA

Anda DAVID – Scientific Coordinator EU-AFD Research Facility – Agence française de développement (AFD)
Jon JELLEMA (TBC) - Commitment to Equity Institute (CEQ), Tulane University
Murray LEIBBRANDT - African Centre of Excellence for Inequality Research (ACEIR)
Ana CLAVER - Oxfam Intermón
Christian MORABITO - Escuela de Alta Dirección y Administración (EADA)
Philippe GALLAND, Deputy Head of "Social Link" Division - Agence Française de Développement (AFD)
Udo BULLMANN, Member of the European Parliament

15h-17h : Session 2.2 - Inequality drivers, moderated by Suyin AERTS

Denis COGNEAU, Professor Paris School of Economics, Research Director IRD, Directeur d'études EHESS
Mongi BOUGHZALA - Agence Nationale pour la Promotion de la Recherche Scientifique (ANPR), Université de Tunis El Manar
Koffi Christian N’DA - Laboratoire d’analyse et de modélisation des politiques économiques (LAMPE)
Isaac TAMBA - Institut national de la statistique du Cameroun (INS)
Françoise RIVIERE, Head of Economy and Strategy Unit, Africa Department - Agence Française de Développement (AFD)

Day 3 – March 24th, 2021

10h: Release of short videos with testimonies from the country projects

Manuela DE ALLEGRI, Leader of Research Unit “Health Economics and Finances” - University of Heidelberg
Dr. PHUNG Duc Tung, Director - Mekong Development Research Institute (MDRI)
Florent SASSATELLI, Head of the "Social Sectors" cluster - AFD Office in Burkina Faso
Riina KLONKA, EU Ambassador to South Africa.
Javier Marcelo ARROYO, Municipal Executive Secretary - Autonomous Municipal Government of La Paz, Bolivia

15h-17h: Session 3.1 - Public and private services, moderated by Christopher BURNS

Shahra RAZAVI, Director - Social Protection Department - ILO
Lisa CHAUVET - Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne – Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) – Centre d’Economie de la Sorbonne (CES)
Akim AL MOUKSIT - Université Mohammed VI Polytechnique - Développement, institutions, mondialisations (DIAL)
Manuela DE ALLEGRI - University of Heidelberg
Liyousew BORGA - University of Luxembourg
Jaime ARAGON FALOMIR - Université des Antilles - Centre Population et Développement (CEPED)
Holger KUHLE, Policy Advisor - Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

15h-17h: Session 3.2 - Spatial inequalities, moderated by Krisztina BOMBERA

Raymundo CAMPOS, Professor-researcher - Centro de Estudios Económicos (CEE), Colegio de México (COLMEX)
Sarah BOTTON – Agence Française de Développement (AFD)
Ivan TUROK - Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC)
Jean-François KOBIANE - Institut Supérieur des Sciences de la Population (ISSP)
Aurora RAMIREZ and Roberto VELEZ, Colegio de Mexico (COLMEX) and Centro de Estudios Espinosa Yglesias (CEEY)
Palesa RYAN, Head: Social Health and Education - Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA)

Day 4 – March 25th, 2021

15h-16h: Keynote and discussion

Thomas PIKETTY, Director - World Inequality Lab (WIL)
Minister Arturo HERRERA GUTIERREZ, Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, Mexico

16h-17h: Closing panel discussion, moderated by Nozipho TSHABALALA

Minister Arturo HERRERA GUTIERREZ, Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, Mexico
Lucas CHANCEL, Co-director - World Inequality Lab (WIL)
Martin SEYCHELL, Deputy General Director - Directorate-General for International Partnerships (INTPA), European Commission
Tanya COX, Director – Concord (TBC)
Thomas MELONIO, Director of Innovation, Research and Knowledge Division – Agence Française de Développement

Opening session - Keynote speeches and High-level panel on “Inequalities in a world in crisis”

The 2020 UNDP report on “Covid-19 and Human Development” argues that crises, even of short duration, have unequally distributed long-term effects on human development. The impact of the current health crisis is economic and social, but weights more on the most vulnerable households. The aim of this panel was to discuss the implications of this crisis for the reduction of inequalities and for international solidarity.

Speakers:

Jutta URPILAINEN, EU Commissioner for International Partnerships, European Commission
Clément BEAUNE, French Secretary of State to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs
Branko MILANOVIĆ, Senior scholar - the Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality
Gabriela BUCHER, Executive Director - Oxfam International
Koen DOENS, Director-General for International Partnerships (INTPA), European Commission
Rémy RIOUX, Chief Executive Officer – Agence Française de Développement (AFD) - Chairman – International Development Finance Club (IDCF)
Nora LUSTIG, Founding director – Commitment to Equity Institute (CEQ)
Magdy MARTINEZ-SOLIMAN, Director - Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) – pre-recorded video

Parallel session - African inequalities

The aim of this session was to discuss inequality in Africa, building on the results of three studies conducted in Ghana, Kenya and South Africa under the aegis of the African Centre of Excellence for Inequality Research. The discussion was an opportunity to present an overview of inequalities in Africa and to review specific topics tackled in these research projects, such as fiscal policy, vulnerability and inequality of opportunity.