Ms Diana Sanchez Betancourt
Diana is a Chief Researcher within the Impact and Research Development division at DCES . She is from Colombia but has spent several years in Africa and studied in various countries, gaining knowledge and experience from various disciplines and approaches. She is passionate about trans-disciplinary research and collaborations, community-based research and implementing action research initiatives that hold transformative power.
She holds an MA in social sciences from the Department of Peace and Conflict at the University of Uppsala in Sweden, a BA in finances, government and international relations from Universidad Externado in Colombia, was an exchange student at the Faculty of Political Science of the University of Calgary, Canada and has attended various fellowships and short courses through organisations like APISA, CLACSO and the ISSC.
Before joining the HSRC Diana's work trajectory included working for the Colombian Government monitoring multi-stakeholder collaborative mechanisms to assist IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) and populations at risk in conflict areas, and as a researcher for the Swedish NGO Diakonia, Regional Office for Southern Africa. At the HSRC Diana has managed and participated in projects dealing with urbanisation processes, transforming governance systems, social accountability methodologies, south-south comparative research, the challenges of socio-economic transformation and community based and participatory action research. She is an International Social Science Council (ISSC) World Social Science Fellow on sustainable urbanisation, and in 2014 was selected as part of the "100 Colombians around the world" initiative to portray her trajectory. She is an active citizen participating in various local development network and is a co-founder and board member of the urban NGO Open Streets Cape Town.
Some of her work includes; thematic leader of the citizen engagement governance work stream of National Treasury's Cities Support Programme; field work and participatory research coordinator of the international comparative project(South Africa - Brazil) funded by the Safer and Inclusive Cities programme; thematic coordinator for two inter-continental learning alliances (on Citizen Oversight and Human Rights) for the Evidence and Lessons from Latin America Programme- ELLA, and project coordinator of smaller projects looking at socio-economic transformation in South Africa through BEE, SMMEs and the Corporate Social Responsibility of South African companies in the region.
Her publication record includes the authoring and co-authoring of conference presentations, research articles and book chapters on the subjects outlined above. Similarly, she has directed the production of short videos and multi-media outputs for disseminating research material in non-academic audiences
e-Participation and Policy Modelling South Africa (e-PPMOSA)
To establish a South African platform for e-participation in policy making and modelling through a series of pilot projects. The pilot projects will h....
Langa Turning 100: Looking back and Forward through the lens of Social, Economic and Political History
This study aims to examine transformations in social, economic and political circumstances and the impact of these changes in Langa over the last 100 ....
LeaPPTS Engagements
Research-related engagement with community members and / or civil society forums The engagement may involve consultation on an issue relevant to re....
The Evaluation of the National Education Trust (NECT)
The purpose of the evaluation is to conduct an evaluation of the NECT on behalf of FREF (through Tshikululu Social Investments), a core funder of the ....
Public Officials Skills and Capacity Audit
The purpose of the project is to conduct a skills and capacity audit to understand the capacity realities and support requirements of entry, mid and s....
Improving Active Citizenship Programme
The overall objective is to assist the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development to draft the National Policy Framework for promoting Activ....
Improving Electricity and Water Service Delivery in Gugulethuby strengthening Citizen Engagement (Cape Town) using the Community Scorecard approach
The overall objective is to use the Community Scorecard methodology to improve electricity and water service delivery in Cape Town municipality throug....
Governance Index Implementation Plan
The HSRC seeks to develop a Good Governance Index for South Africa that would operate as a policy monitoring instrument and a tool for generating evid....
BCURE Consortium
The question that this study needs to answer is: how can DEA implement an evidence-based process for environmental policymaking in the context of a de....
Social Cohesion: The Missing Link in overcoming Violence and Inequality
The overall purpose of the project is to deepen our knowledge of violence, and consequently our ability to respond to it in Cities in the Global South....
Cities Support Programme
Background: The CSP is an initiative of National Treasury in collaboration with key government departments to address spatial inequalities and dev....
Evidence & Lessons From Latin America
Practical Action Consulting Southern Africa (PAC SnA) is implementing the final phase of the project Evidence and Lessons from Latin America (ELLA). T....
A Global Dialogue on Sustainable Development: Rio +20 Earth Summit
The main goal of this project is to collate the voices of South Africans and Africans living in the country through interviews, focus groups and/or pu....