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To contribute new perspectives and contextualized policy solutions to socioeconomic development challenges worldwide.

The Partnership for Economic Policy (PEP) is an international organization that links researchers globally to enhance capacity for development policy analysis in developing countries. PEP research contributes to informing national and international debates related to economic policy, poverty, gender and sustainable development.

The core mission of PEP is to provide training and support for developing country researchers to produce reliable scientific evidence and inform relevant policy debates. Find out more through the PEP Vision, Mission and Strategy Document (PDF - 397ko).

PEP's unique “Grant Plus” research support mechanism enables developing country researchers to overcome the usual impediments to the conduct of state-of-the-art research within their home countries, despite an often severe lack of resources. PEP also provides the necessary infrastructure for these experts to participate in (and bid for) major international initiatives; which, in turn, contributes to establishing their national and international reputations, as well as to level the playing field with their Northern counterparts. By catalyzing their in-depth knowledge of local contexts, PEP research provides contextualized policy solutions, while favouring new and more relevant perspectives on major development challenges.

Moreover, with the continual support and interaction of world-leading experts and institutions - globally-linked through this venture - PEP has also become a veritable hub of expertise, knowledge and innovation in the field of economic and development policy analysis in developing countries.

Find out more through the following sections...
 

Global scope and institutional linkages

Since its creation in 2002, PEP has evolved into a truly global partnership, with regional partner institutions based in Asia, Africa, Latin America and North America, collaborating to manage its activities worldwide.

To this day, PEP has contributed to building the scientific expertise of nearly 787 developing country researchers, through the support of 256 projects in 58 developing countries – mostly in Africa, Asia and Latin America, but also in Eastern Europe and the Middle-East. In 2016, over 12,000 people had registered on the PEP website, i.e. to participate in and follow PEP news and activities.

The geographic scope of PEP activities, combined with a "networking" type of organizational structure, provide a unique opportunity for local-based, and usually isolated, Southern researchers to share and learn from experience with international peers.

International non-profit organization

In 2014, PEP was legally incorporated as a non-profit international organization, registered in the USA and recognized as an IRC Sec. 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, with public charity status under Sec. 509(a)(1) of the US Internal Revenue Service.  As a legally registered and tax-exempt public charity organization, PEP is qualified to receive tax-deductible funds, bequests, gifts and transfers for its non-profit research and capacity building activities. Soon after, it was also granted residence by the Government of Kenya, based on a comprehensive host-country agreement, to establish a new PEP global head office in Nairobi.

In recent years, PEP has also expanded in terms of institutional networking and sources of funding, with a growing list of donors including AusAID, CIDA, DFID (or UK Aid), IADB, IDRC, IFPRI, ILO, UNDP, UNICEF, UN Women, etc.
 

Development research and expertise

From building to promoting Southern-based expertise

As mentioned above, the mission of PEP goes beyond its core capacity building activities to support and promote the mobilization of local experts in key national and international research initiatives.

These special, often large-scale projects – usually focused on emerging development policy issues – are conducted either through joint research initiatives, in collaboration with specific donors, and/or as commissioned studies deputed by national or international institutions. In all cases, they are the result of institutions calling on PEP’s unique expertise and extensive experience in managing international projects of high-quality research, producing reliable evidence for policy advocacy, providing scientific support and/or building related local capacity.

Using a variety of cutting-edge methodologies

Among the several peerless features of PEP is the breadth of analytical perspectives, tools and techniques in which PEP-affiliated experts and resource persons specialize, and that granted researchers can choose to apply and be trained in via PEP support. Here are the four main categories of methodologies applied in the context of PEP research - the “PEP toolbox”

  • Community-based monitoring systems (CBMS program)
  • Macro-micro development policy modeling (MPIA program)
  • Impact evaluations - including randomized controlled trials (PIERI program)
  • Microeconomic analysis of poverty, gender and inequality (PMMA program)

Several of these tools - which are acknowledged worldwide as some of the most valuable tools in the field of applied development research – have emerged directly from PEP research. They are based on extensive experience in the analysis of poverty, gender and economic development in the specific context of developing countries.

To address a broad range of socioeconomic issues and challenges

Through these various approaches, PEP research can explore a broad range of policy issues related to development and poverty reduction  - from education and youth employment to agriculture, food security, fiscal policies, inclusive growth, health, nutrition, income, and many other dimensions of welfare  - while producing both comprehensive and disaggregated analyses to address specific knowledge gaps and policy needs in terms of evidence base.
 

Policy linkages, engagement and influence

To ensure policy responsiveness and impact of each project, PEP devotes extensive resources to assist its researchers in creating strong policy linkages and implementing effective influence strategies.

Ongoing consultation with relevant policy makers and stakeholders, especially at the national level, is a fixed component of PEP research (all throughout project cycle). Supported researchers are also provided with both continual guidance and a series of complementary grants to organize or participate in related activities (national policy conferences, international conferences, publications, etc.). Find out more

In addition to ensuring wider and more effective dissemination of their research findings to inform policy, the same activities contribute to increasing the researchers’ exposure, and thus building their reputation as experts in the field, both at the national and international levels.

PEP impact

According to results from periodical surveys conducted with PEP-supported research teams,

  • 74% of the surveyed researchers have experienced important career-promoting events due to their involvement in a PEP project - with 23% leading to increased involvement in policymaking.
  • 93% of all surveyed projects were designed and conducted in direct consultation with national policy makers and other stakeholders, and
  • 42% of completed projects have resulted in findings and recommendations taken up to inform policy formulation or program design at the national level.

Follow this link to find a sample of PEP impact stories in developing countries.
 

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