Marleen Dekker

Marleen Dekker is Professor of Inclusive Development in Africa at Leiden University and Director of the African Studies Centre Leiden. She is trained as a human geographer and holds a PhD in Development Economics. Marleen Dekker's research is interdisciplinary in nature and analyses the role of social norms and networks in accessing markets and local socio-economic development. The focus of her work is on behavioural determinants of access to and use of formal and informal financial services, including informal insurance networks, community-based health insurance and intra-household resource sharing.

Marleen has organised several international events, including conferences on inclusive development, seminars on land reform in Zimbabwe, women's bargaining power and economic development, and social protection. Furthermore, she has collaborated in several international research projects in Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Togo, Kenya, Zambia and Nigeria on social networks, insurance, CSO advocacy, marriage and intra-household collaboration. Since 2014, Marleen is also coordinating the Secretariat of INCLUDE, the Knowledge Platform on Inclusive Development Policies in Africa. The platform supports research, shares relevant knowledge with policy makers and practitioners and organises international policy dialogues on inclusive development themes both in The Netherlands and in African countries.