Deadline: 19-Feb-21
The African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), the Economic Research Forum (ERF) and the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) are currently embarking on a collaborative research project that seeks to identify the economic sectors with the greatest potential to increase youth employment.
The AERC is a premier capacity building institution focusing on advancement of research and graduate training to inform economic policies in Africa. The AERC collaborative research program addresses topical issues of interest to Africa and brings together seasoned researchers from within and outside Africa to generate policy-oriented research.
ERF’s core objectives are to build strong research capacity in the ERF region; to lead and support the production of independent, high quality economic research; and to disseminate research output to a wide and diverse audience.
This call is for research proposals to undertake in-depth country studies to inform policy makers and development practitioners on the economic sectors with the highest multipliers and potential to create employment opportunities, and the country-specific conditions and stakeholders needed to support these sectors. The call is for research to be undertaken in a specific group of African countries: Ethiopia, Egypt, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Tunisia, and Uganda.
This collaborative research project, therefore, aims to strengthen the evidence base on youth employment, drawing on research that will be carried out to examine the growth sectors with the highest multipliers and potential to create employment opportunities. In particular, the research aims to:
- Identify promising economic sectors or value chains for job creation for young men and women in selected countries in Africa.
- Determine the country specific conditions needed for local and foreign private sectors to invest in these sectors or value chains.
- Identify the country specific actors that are needed to create these conditions that enhance or reduce investment security.
- Explore ways to promote equal access and opportunity for youth to these new sources of work and income, addressing inequality related to gender, socio-economic background, and place of residence.
Eligibility Requirements
Researchers meeting the criteria highlighted below are encouraged to submit a proposal. However, the lead investigator must demonstrate, in their CV that they have:
- a strong publication record, especially in the project theme; and
- completed at least one AERC research project (either thematic or collaborative project); and/or
- Participated in or finalized a research project on a relevant topic not necessarily funded by AERC.
- All applicants are required to attach their CVs in the submissions. Qualified women are especially encouraged to apply.
Proposal Requirements
The proposal should not exceed 15 pages and should contain the following sections:
- Objective(s): a concise and brief background discussion on the problem statement and an outline of the study’s objectives.
- Proposed methodology and data: applicants should discuss how they plan to achieve the research objectives and should describe the data that will be used to investigate the specific issue(s) they will be examining. In addition to this, it is important that the researchers demonstrate the availability and accessibility of the data they propose to use. They welcome proposals that propose the innovative use of quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods if they can demonstrate practical potential to address the research questions.
- Expected Outputs: Please note that successful applicants are expected to produce a high quality, policy relevant and publishable research report to be approved by an independent peer reviewer. A policy brief of no more than five (5) pages should also be produced. In addition to this, the researchers will be required to participate in research dissemination activities including social media engagements and encouraged to publish short blogs about their research findings.
For more information, visit https://erf.org.eg/call-proposals-work-and-income-for-young-men-and-women-in-africa/
