The objective of the first phase of the Facility was twofold:
- To better understand socio-economic inequalities, their determinants, their evolution and their effects in order to better respond to them in terms of public policies
- Promote common strategies on inequalities between EU Member States, in the framework of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. The final objective was thus to better coordinate the various European strategies and to strengthen the contribution of the European Union's development cooperation agencies to the reduction of inequalities.
Within this framework, the following activities were carried out:
- Conducting thematic and global research on the determinants and dynamics of socio-economic inequalities in developing and emerging countries, in partnership with research centres.
- Implementation of research projects in partnership with research centres and governments in selected countries and cities to meet the needs of the countries studied and to create an opportunity for policy dialogue with partner governments on the subject of inequality.
- AFD supports partner countries and development institutions in integrating research results into national policies and development cooperation strategies.
New funds granted by the European Commission to AFD in 2020 through the addendum will also enable the activities carried out during the first phase to be expanded. The aim of this addendum is twofold:
- To finance new research based on the methodologies developed under the first phase of the Facility (tools projects);
- To encourage the development of a common vision on the fight against inequalities between the Member States of the European Union in the context of the 2030 Agenda. A call for research proposals entitled "Advancing the inequality agenda through collaborative research: identifying the priorities for a Global Team Europe Approach on inequalities" has been launched by the Strategic Committee of the Research Facility to this end.