PAN

The Policy > Action Network (P>AN) is hosted by the Research Use and Impact Assessment Unit (RIA) at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and is supported by the Department of Science and Technology.

P>AN supports the policy community by sourcing information on social policy with the aim of contributing to rigour in policy making and greater participation in policy processes. This site contains a range of resources including case studies, policy briefs, research reports, events info and ‘how-to’ info on getting research into policy, and getting policy into action.

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Latest publications

The South African education environment: A right in practice or a right on paper?

All countries in the world acknowledge the universality of the right to education and South Africa (SA) is no exception. According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) as Resolution 44/25 of 20 November 1989,(2) every child has a right to free and compulsory basic education. How successful has SA been in ensuring the realisation of this right? Does the legal, political, economic and social environment in the country promote or constrain this right? Above all, based on what is currently happening in the country, can it be convincingly concluded that the state is committed to the fulfilment of this right for every child? This CAI paper looks at the current South African education environment and examines if such an environment promotes or constrains the realisation of the right to education. CONTINUE READING

The feasibility of the democratic developmental state in the south
Link: The feasibility of the democratic developmental state in the south

The study examines the prospects of the rise of a democratic developmental state in Latin American, African and Asian countries, which are collectively referred to in this work as the ‘South’. Within this context, it analyses unresolved critical issues in the state-development discourse such as the re-conceptualization of the developmental state, democratization, elections, embeddedness, indigenous entrepreneurial class, political parties and South-South cooperation.

Improving teaching and learning through the South African Annual National Assessment: Challenges, possibilities and solutions

Link: Improving teaching and learning

This policy brief argues for a policy direction to develop a culture of formative assessment through what is termed ANA Professional Development (ANA_PD) programmes.

Fast-tracking value-added analysis to ensure fairer assessment: A South African perspective
Link: Fast-tracking value-added analysis to ensure fairer assessment:

South Africa has a high enrolment rate and a high investment rate in education (about 5 per cent of GDP), but education is still of unsatisfactory quality. This policy brief proposes wider usage of value-added assessment (VAA) and analysis (which provides a more reliable estimate of the value added – the extent to which schools make a difference in their learners’ achievement levels) in policy decision-making.

Enhancing the voices of the poor in urban housing: Durban and Johannesburg
Link: Enhancing the voices of the poor in urban housing

This project examined how municipalities interact with marginalised residents in terms of the housing strategies adopted and attempted to explore alternative options for community participation relating to these. The goal was to improve communication between local government authorities and marginalised residents and to ensure that the strategies, policies and actions of local authorities reflect the views of the marginalised. This involved working with both city officials, representatives of civil society, and residents.

Training manual for economic and social policy in Africa for trade unions

Link: Trade union training manual on economic and social policy in Africa

This training manual is divided into five modules. Each module states clearly its objectives and the various aspects it addresses. The first module deals with industrial relations and trade union economic and social priorities. The second module presents the trade union research methods and procedures. Statistics for trade union actions are discussed in Module Three. The fourth module is devoted to the various aspects related to the functioning of the national economy. The fifth and last module discusses contemporary issues related to economic and social development in Africa.

OECD economic surveys: South Africa
Link: OECD economic surveys: South Africa

Annual country review with the following key findings:

South Africa is advancing, but failing to fully achieve its considerable potential, the macroeconomic policy mix has been insufficiently supportive of growth while allowing large budget deficits to persist, the interaction of weak competition in product markets and dysfunctional labour markets is holding back growth and aggravating unemployment, education is a critical problem, and, greater use of market instruments can help deal with long-term environmental challenges at least cost and with limited demands on scarce administrative capacity.

The Africa Platform for Social Protection
Link: The Africa Platform for Social Protection

The Africa Platform for Social Protection (APSP) is a network of individuals and organizations operating at grassroots, national and regional levels, with a commitment to promoting a strengthening the social contract between states and citizens.To achieve this, the APSP promotes active engagement of civil society organizations (CSOs) in the shaping of social protection policies, programmes, and practices in Africa.

Active citizenship matters
Link: Active citizenship matters

The fifth edition of the State of Local Governance from the Good Governance Learning Network which argues that people can and should be in control of their own development, not in isolation from the state or other civic actors, but in direct conversation or, at times, in contestation with these other actors. This requires the design of well-constructed, yet organic, processes that are able to mediate power, difference and diversity in a manner that brings forth transformative outcomes. This publication aims to demonstrate such processes at grassroots level. This edition is dedicated to a subject considered a building block in the national government’s vision for the country and explores how the notion of active citizenship can serve as an analytical concept to review the nature and quality of participatory local democracy in South Africa.

Civil society at crossroads: Shifts, challenges, options
Link: Civil society at crossroads: Shifts, challenges, options

The global synthesis report of the Civil Society at a Crossroads initiative - a collective reflection process about the future of civil society around the world. The initiative is being undertaken by a consortium of civil society support organisations - PRIA, CDRA, PSO, INTRAC, EASUN, and ICD. The report covers the trajectories and events in the 21st century that have brought civil society to a crossroads, the key questions that arise for the future of civil society, and responses to these from civil society actors across the globe. Emerging lessons and implications for civil society are also covered.  A cartoon version is available from the CDRA.