Employment Creation and Inclusive Development
Abstract
Consolidating EPD's proven expertise in the social economy is the third proposal in this submission. The intention is to draw together the findings of several recent projects that evaluated Public Employment Programmes into a book publication that will enhance the reputation of key EPD researchers among other academics and policy-makers. South Africa has accumulated enormous experience of public works programmes over the last two decades. This provides rich material and ideas with which to contribute to international debates about the design and implementation of active labour market policies and social protection. The provisional title of the book is "Public Employment Programme Innovations for the Challenges of the 21 Century". EPD staff will collaborate with an international expert to plan and prepare the material for the book. The book will also involve three other national and international experts on public employment programmes, thereby strengthening EPD???s networks and enhancing its profile. The funding will go towards the travel and subsistence costs of the collaborators, along with a small contribution to the costs of their time. The appetite for the book is expected to be considerable bearing in mind the growing commitment of governments around the world to these kinds of schemes offering guaranteed employment as a last resort, given the failure of the labour market to create sufficient opportunities for people.
