Latest Developments on Localization as PEP Committedly Promotes Southern Research Leadership

For over two decades, PEP has been a strong advocate for localization in development research, working to integrate Southern perspectives into the global policy landscape. PEP believes that local researchers possess unparalleled knowledge of the challenges on the ground, of cultural contexts and have established networks they can leverage to inform and implement policy solutions effectively. 

In line with our ongoing commitment to promoting local research leadership, PEP continues to champion the empowerment of Southern researchers—through high-impact research, active engagement in global fora, and by amplifying the voices of our research community. PEP Research Fellows led a series of studies on the subject and drew on these to launch a call-to-action (CtA) to address the persistent marginalization of voices from Southern countries. Learn more about PEP’s Call to Action. Explore some of our latest highlights from 2024 below. 

PEP’s ED and Research Fellows speak on the need for locally-led evidence on the global stage 

• Prof. Jane Mariara, PEP’s Executive Director, participated in the Closing Session of the Global Evidence Summit 2024. She spoke on “Contextualizing evidence to maximize impact: Insights from Partnership for Economic Policy”. During her presentation, she shared how PEP connects to regional and local levels through common themes, common methodological approaches, policy application across the global South countries, peer learning, mentorship and interaction between global South researchers. An audience of over 600 delegates appreciated PEP’s role in advancing local evidence and local impacts using a global model.  

• PEP Research Fellow Ana Lucia Kassouf represented PEP while presenting on ‘Overcoming Obstacles: Addressing the Underrepresentation of Researchers from Developing Countries in Development Research’ at an online seminar for Harvard University, USA. Watch the presentation and read what Ana had to say about the event on LinkedIn. 

A webinar on “Enhancing North-South Collaboration in Global Development Research and Policy” 

Building on two PEP research fellow-led studies (Fostering fair North-South research collaborations and Understanding research collaboration in development economics), the discussion brought together experts to unpack how we can foster more inclusive and equitable participation for researchers from the global South – with a focus on women researchers – in collaboration with the global North.  

The panelists included Andy McKay, Professor of Development Economics, University of Sussex Business School; Chris Barrett, Stephen B. and Janice G. Ashley Professor of Applied Economics; Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management; Ramos Mabugu, PEP Research Fellow and Professor, Sol Plaatje University, South Africa, and Veronica Amarante, PEP Research Fellow and Professor, Instituto de Economía, Universidad de la República, Uruguay. The discussion was moderated by Nisha Arunatilake, PEP Research Fellow and Director of Research, Institute of Policy Studies, Sri Lanka.  

After the discussion, PEP Research Fellows developed a holistic set of recommendations to strengthen collaboration between researchers from the North and the South. Watch the recording, here.  

PEP highlights the importance of local leadership as it supports UNICEF policy revision 

PEP supported UNICEF to revise their “Guidance to Develop the Situation Analysis”, a document to facilitate high-quality analyses of child rights. The Guidance note aligned with major shifts in UNICEF’s approach to country program planning, particularly towards sustainable, long-term changes. PEP updated the Guidance with an emphasis on engaging local researchers, institutions and stakeholders to help develop and implement the analytical methodology. 

UNICEF workers throughout the world use these analyses to identify gaps in evidence and data on children and adolescents and support stronger evidence bases and data landscapes for assessing child rights and well-being. The Situation Analysis is, therefore, an important instrument to promote actions and policies that will further the progress on child rights-related national goals. In parallel, PEP developed a note on the importance of local leadership in conducting situational analyses and other such studies to be disseminated to UNICEF country offices.  

Blogs on why Context Matters 

In line with a new blog series launched by PEP in December, 2023 called “Context Matters” to underscore the importance of leveraging local research expertise in informing local solutions, PEP published a piece on “The tenuous link between methodology and causality – studying the case of labor market regulation in the Global South”. In an interview with PEP Research Fellow, Lucas Ronconi, the piece explored how labor market regulation laws in countries of the global South need an empirical understanding that is contextualized and nuanced to reflect their reality to inform policy solutions effectively as opposed to a one-size-fits-all methodological approach. In another blog, PEP interviewed local researchers who were involved in studying the context specific barrier women face in accessing decent work across six Southern countries to highlight why policy pathways can only be shaped effectively through an informed perspective. 

New studies on the contribution of localized research 

Two new studies, commissioned to PEP research fellows, are near publication as PEP working papers. They shine new light on the unique contribution of local researchers. The first finds that Southern-authored research is more relevant to the priorities of local populations:  

Ana Lúcia Kassouf and Lucas Ronconi, “First-Hand Experience, Relevance, and Coverage in Development Economics Research. Are we studying all the topics that really matter?” 

The second shows that there has been a dramatic increase – from 15% in 2005 to 46% in 2024 – in the share of Southern-authored papers cited in policy documents: 

Filipe Lage de Sousa and Bernardo Cabral, “Locally-led or Northern-led? An examination of research citations in developing countries’ policies” 

Two new studies are currently underway to summarize and position the contribution of PEP’s past work on the themes of health/nutrition and innovation to the wider literature and policy debates, while also proposing a Southern-led, policy-driven research agenda for the future on these two themes.