The members of the ADAPTED Work Package 3 'Optimizing the Impact of Poverty Reduction Policies', Natalia Zakharchenko, Irene Among, Ahmed El Assal, Petronilla Wandeto and Guido Maschhaupt have convened a roundtable discussion at the 2023 EADI General Conference on July 13, in Lisbon, Portugal. The title of this year's EADI's General Conference was 'Towards New Rhythms of Development', the roundtable convened by WP3 was titled 'Politics of Social Protection in Sub-Saharan Africa.'
The roundtable discussion discussed new rhythms of development in the recent wave of diffusion of social assistance initiatives in Africa, particularly around the tensions and synergies emerging from the politics of patronage and dynamics of ‘rightful claims’. In particular, together with speaker Prof. Andrew Fischer, participants have discussed the question in how far different political, legal, and institutional conditions provide explanations for the divergence in regime commitments to social protection programs as well as their complex socio-political outcomes.
Apart from convening an own roundtable discussion, ESRs attended panel discussions and public lectures. Also, the ESRs had the opportunity to discuss their research and current trends in development studies with both academics and practitioners. Furthermore, ADAPTED consortium member Prof. Wil Hout convened a panel discussion on "the Global South and the return of geopolitics" discussing implications of geopolitical dynamics across the global South, including the implications that these dynamics may have for the development strategies and prospects of individual countries and regions in Africa, Asia and Latin America.