Breaking the vicious circle of poverty and ill-health

An international consortium consisting of five universities addresses the question of whether social benefit transfers and public health insurance strategies supplement each other.  The aim is to develop evidence-based recommendations for decision-makers in the areas of social and economic policy.

Since May 2015, the project has received funds totalling €300,000 for a two-year period from the WOTRO Division, which is part of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research. At Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University, the project is run by Professors Katja Bender from the International Centre for Sustainable Development (IZNE) and Esther Schüring from the Department of Social Security Management.

In real terms, the researchers want to learn more about the efficiency of various combinations of social security measures based on the examples of Ghana and Kenya. The focus is on poverty reduction and support for inclusive growth processes which also involve the poor. Various measures are being tested for their impact on health and health-related issues, such as involvement in the labour market or wealth creation. Special attention is paid to the impact of poverty on women and children.

The consortium is headed by the University of Amsterdam. Further members include, alongside Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University, the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI, Bonn), the University of Nairobi in Kenya, the University of Ghana in Accra and the University of Development Studies in Tamale, Ghana. To ensure knowledge transfer between politics and research, the scholars collaborate with Ghana’s Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Kenya’s Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Services as well as two non-governmental organisations – the Social Enterprise Development Foundation of Western Ghana (SEND) and the Kenya Community-Based Health Financing Association (KCBHFA).

An additional trilateral development project

The aforementioned project is an excellent addition to Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University’s portfolio of activities involving Africa. A joint project on ‘Entrepreneurship in Africa’ with Cape Coast University, Ghana, has led to the development of a trilaterial partnership, which also includes the University of Nairobi (Kenya). This project started in January 2015 and is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). The universities are developing a platform in order to support and promote established SMEs and founders of new businesses alike.