INCLUDE

INCLUDE: Knowledge Platform on Inclusive Development Policies

The African Studies Centre Leiden is part of the Secretariat of INCLUDE, the Knowledge Platform for Inclusive Development Policies, together with the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) and The Broker. INCLUDE is an independent knowledge platform initiated by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2012. The platform is made up of researchers, development practitioners and policymakers, promoting evidence-based policymaking for inclusive development, with a focus on Africa.

Why Inclusive Development
While most African countries have registered high economic growth in the last decades, a large number of people are excluded from this progress. Inclusive development is about ensuring that more people benefit from economic growth and development. It aims to reduce poverty and inequality, in both income and non-income dimensions.

INCLUDE’s approach
Through research, knowledge exchange and Policy Dialogues, INCLUDE works in close collaboration with its African members and networks to develop a locally relevant knowledge agenda, share evidence through accessible knowledge products and shape local and international policy discourses.

Boosting decent employment
INCLUDE’s past and ongoing work spans across a plethora of different themes such as youth and women’s employment, green and decent jobs, digitisation, digital skills and social protection, among other things. An example is the research initiative ‘Boosting Decent Employment for Africa’s Youth’ in partnership with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), under the umbrella of the Global Initiative for Decent Jobs for African Youth. The main findings from this research highlight best practices for a more just, sustainable and inclusive approach to decent jobs for young people.

African Policy Dialogues
Furthermore, INCLUDE has hosted 14 African Policy Dialogues (APDs) across 8 countries in Eastern, Southern, and Western Africa. APDs are forums created by African Platform Members to share research results with local policy actors and encourage the use of evidence-based knowledge on specific policy contributions. Among other intermediary outcomes, these in-country dialogues have successfully mobilised networks of local policy actors, leading to grassroots input for government policies on youth employment and labour externalisation in Uganda, transformation of local governments to become more developmental in Ghana, and inclusion of all learners (including those from marginal areas) through ICT in Kenya. 

To stay up to date on INCLUDE, please visit the website.