Prof. Narnia Bohler
Professor Narnia Bohler-Muller is a divisional executive in the HSRC's Developmental, Capable and Ethical State research division and acting Group Executive: Shared Services (since April 2021). She holds a Doctor of Laws (LLD) from the University of Pretoria and specialises in participatory democracy and social justice as well as gender equality and the fulfilment of socioeconomic rights.
Bohler-Muller was formerly a professor at Nelson Mandela University (then known as Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University) before she joined the Africa Institute of South Africa in 2011 as a research director. In 2012, she became the deputy executive director of the HSRC's former Democracy, Governance and Service Delivery research division. Bohler-Muller was an adjunct professor of law, University of Fort Hare (2015-2020) and is currently a research associate with the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies, University of Free State. At the HSRC, she has led numerous large projects for the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, the Department of Monitoring, Planning and Evaluation in the Presidency, the European Union Commission in South Africa, and the UK Commonwealth and Foreign Office. Bohler-Muller has also led a collaboration with the University of Johannesburg on the COVID-19 democracy survey, with five rounds of the survey conducted from April 2020 to November 2021. Before joining the HSRC, Bohler-Muller spent sixteen years as an academic, during which time she taught numerous courses in law and legal philosophy, beginning her career at the Port Elizabeth campus of Vista University. During the past decade, she has mostly conducted research in the area of human rights and social justice within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as gender equality and socio-economic rights.
Bohler-Muller has published 49 scientific articles in local and international peer-reviewed academic journals, 6 books, 15 book chapters and 30 research reports. She has also presented more than 100 papers at local and international conferences, many of them as an invited keynote speaker. She is on the editorial board of one national and two international accredited journals, regularly conducts peer reviews for journals and writes book reviews. She is often called upon to assist with the National Research Foundation's researcher ratings. Bohler-Muller has officially represented South Africa at international forums, including BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa economies), IBSA (India Brazil and South Africa dialogue), the W20 (Women20) and IORA (the Indian Ocean Rim Association. She has completed visiting research fellowships at Birkbeck University (London), Griffith University (Brisbane) and the BRICS Research Centre (Rio de Janeiro).
DCES Events + Govt Requests
DCES EVENTS AND GOVERNMENT REQUESTS - RING FENCED ALLOCATION....
Social Norms and Behaviour tracking: Measuring Attitudes to Corruption in SA - (GIZ)
The objective of the project is to provide credible evidence-based data that promotes a shared understanding of let drivers and enablers of corruption....
NRF Funded:The Citizens Environmental Awareness Index (CEAI) Development and Implementation Project
The CEAI is meant to provide a measure of the environmental literacy of the South African population which, in turn, provides a tool to measure the im....
Enhancement, Editing and Publishing of Military Veterans Manuscripts Project
The project entails the enhancement, editing and publishing of draft manuscripts developed by seven military veterans. These are draft memoirs and/or ....
The Establishment of the Research Infrastructure for the Future of Democracy in South Africa
Conduct research on the work of the members of the Zondo commission need in research performance, knowledge management, provision of data analytics on....
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....
State Capacity Phase II - GIZ
To extend the scope of the synthesis evaluation on State Capacity with a Special Focus on Directors-General and Heads of Departments by interviewing M....
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 ....
The Impact of and Amendments to the Political Party Funding Act 6 of 2018 (PPFA)
To access the Implications of the Operationalisation of the Political Party Funding Act, 2018 (PPFA) drafted by the Department of Home Affairs (DHA, M....
Government Printing Works Ministerial Review Panel: Review Draft Report
To probe and make recommendations on information and communications technology systems failure, loss of critical State information, leaking of informa....
An assessment of the effectiveness and efficiency of the selected support mechanisms implemented to mitigate and alleviate the effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Africa
To assess: How have the selected support mechanisms performed in mitigating and alleviating the most severe impacts of Covid-19 and assisted the vic....
Strengthening disaster risk resilience through enhance coordination mechanisms at local level flood hazard prone areas: Case study of Kwazulu-Natal
The aim of this study is to facilitate strengthening disaster risk resilience by improving coordination mechanisms through developing impact-based ear....
A Synthesis Evaluation Study of New District Development Model: the case of the three piloted municipalities in Limpopo, Eastern Cape and Kwa-Zulu Natal provinces
Also outlined in Concept Note: New District Coordination Model to Improve the Coherence and Impact of Government Service Delivery and Development. 17-....
Advancing human security agenda for development through resilience-building and risk reduction
The aim of this study is to facilitate strengthening disaster risk resilience by improving coordination mechanisms through developing impact-based ear....
Exploring the role of urban agriculture in promoting the resilience of urban food systems: Rapid Case study of the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa
(a) To explore the role of urban agriculture on food system resilience; and (b) Provide knowledge that contributes towards evidence for urban food pol....
The 2021 Social Unrest in South Africa: Primary survey-based research
With reference to the unrest in KZN and Gauteng and its far-reaching social and economic impacts on the country, this research is to better understand....
Wentworth: A Social Economic and Political History
This study aims to examine transformations in social, economic and political circumstances and the impact of these changes on one urban community ??? ....
UKRI GCRF NEWTON FUND COVID COLLABORATION
The study will investigate the experiences and perceptions of people with diverse impairments (PWD), revealing whether they feel their human rights ha....
Synthesis evaluation of State Capacity - Focus on DGs & HoDs
The system under which DG's and HoD's operate including but not limited to leadership, skills, configuration, processes and functioning, employment co....
Conduct and Transcribe Qualitative interviews on the interviews on the institutional environment and personal values of Soweto Entrepreneurs
The overall aim of the study is to investigate how the personal values of Soweto entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial interventions from their institutio....
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 ....
National Health Insurance Project (NHI)
AIM: 21- 22 FY: To assess South African's public perceptions and attitudes towards NHI and the confounding effects of Covid-19. More specifically th....
South Africa Democracy Expert Survey
We propose that HSRC develops and administers a survey of South African social scientists to study views of the importance of a set of democratic prin....
Assessment of the implementation and enforcement of the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (AUCPCC)
Development of rating metrics / scorecard to objectively assess South Africa's compliance with Articles 5, 6, 8 and 10 of the AUCPCC design and imple....
A Synthesis Evaluation Study of New District Co-ordination Model
The scope and aim of the study are presented herein as follows: Conduct a desktop and empirical study on the practical workings of the DDM to determi....
UJ-HSRC Covid-19 Democracy Survey
The main aim of this UJ-HSRC COVID-19 Democracy Survey was to provide critical social data with which to understand public perceptions of the economic....
Transforming the Civil Society Sector
To conduct a study on identifying and understanding the transformative requirements for civil society to facilitate the achievement of the full consti....
Regulatory Frameworks Requirements For the South Africal Civil Society Sector to Promote their Active Participation in a Developmental State
To conduct a study on regulatory frameworks for the civil society sector, the Democracy, Governance and Service Delivery (DGSD) Research Programme of ....
The Impact of Civic Engagement Programmes on Youth
The purpose of the project is for the development of a questionnaire to be used to survey a sample of 10 000 learners in a representative sample of So....
4th Industrial Revolution &Human; Development (OPP2019-4IRHD-6)
One (1) paper in press or published To produce one journal article/s for an accredited journal Submit evidence of the submission, acceptance and/or p....
Technical Support for 25 year Review: Chapter on Constitutional Development
To critically review and analyse the chapter on Constitutional Development.....
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....
Public Intellectuals in South Africa Manuscript
Develop a manuscript for a coffee table book profiling figures who emblematize intellectual contributions and the idea of the intellectual through the....
Damage to Property, Intimidation, Threats, Harm and Killings of Councillors, Municipal Officials, Senior Municipal Managers and Members of the Ward Committees
The purpose of the study is to develop a historical database for the period of 2000 to 2018 that looks at,1) the killing of Councillors, senior munici....
Development of a Consequences and Accountability Framework for Municipalities in South Africa
The aim of the project is for development of a local government consequences and accountability framework and/or implementation Support Framework with....
Strengtheneing Women Economic Empowerment in the Blue Economy
To provide technical advice and support on women's economic empowerment issues in the Indian Oceans Blue Economy to the IORA secretariat and Academic ....
Construction Sector Transparency Initiative (CoST) project
a) Identify how transparency and accountability within the current systems for delivering and procuring infrastructure needs to be improved at a natio....
BRICS Academic Cluster:Political and Economic Governance
The BRICS Cluster Team will organise and host a workshop in preparation for the 2018 academic forum....
A Survey on the State of youth in Gauteng
The objective of the project is to conduct a survey on the state of youth in Gauteng which specifically addresses the issues which are not only issues....
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....
A Review of the Implementation and Impact of Learning Interventions
There are successes and challenges in implementing learning interventions which the LGSETA needs to evaluate and assess their impact in order to iden....
State of Social Cohesion and Nation-building in South Africa
The primary objective of this project is to prepare the draft and final reports for the Working Group on social cohesion and nation-building. A draft ....
Corruption, Governance & Ethics
The NIHSS awarded the HSRC seed funding to augment the research proposal on Corruption, Governance & Ethics and broaden it into a larger theme by expa....
Repositioning Local Government
The Democracy, Governance and Service Delivery (DGSD) Research Programme of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) together with the research part....
State of Youth in Gauteng
The purpose of the study is to conduct a desktop literature review and assessment of the state of youth in Gauteng to enable the Office of the Premier....
African Peer Preview Mechanism - APRM
To develop a methodology for conducting a Preliminary Review mission in Kenya; To help pilot the methodology in the Preliminary Mission; To conduct t....
LGSETA- Local Government Sector Education & Training Authority
To develop a concept document on the challenges facing the AET in the local government with emphasis on municipalities. To provide a detailed analys....
Implementation of the Evaluation of the Integrated Justice System (IJS)
The study includes an analysis of challenges that the IJS has faced, and expects to face in its future execution of its mandate. This analysis will le....
Review of Commission for Gender Equity's (CGE's) 20 years of Existence, Achievements and Challenges
The purpose of the Study is to review and assess the work of the since its inception, focusing on its key achievements, impact within the gender secto....
Survey on Career Pathing and development of Women as part of promoting Gender Mainstreaming in the Electoral Commission of south Africa
Recent deliberations by the Commissioners of the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) raised concerns that very few women apply for and /or are ....
Final Evaluation Access to Justice and Promotion of Constitutional Rights
The Access to Justice and the Promotion of Constitutional Rights (AJ&PCR;) Programme with the Department of Justice & Constitutional Development (DoJ&....
Compiling a Publication on the Agenda 2063
DIRCO convened national consultations on Agenda 2063 with the following sectors of society: ??? Youth ??? Academia ??? Business ??? Women ??? Civil So....
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....
Development of a Blue Economy Core Group
The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), under the membership of the Republic of South Africa seeks to coordinate the development of the IORA Blue ....
Assessment of the Impact of the Decisions of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal
The overall aim of the research project is to assess the impact of the two highest courts, the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal on....
Millennium Development Goals 2,6,7
Statistics South Africa is leading the writing of a comprehensive progress report to measure the country's progress towards achieving the targets set ....
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....
Comprehensive Regulatory Framework: Policies and Procedures for the Royal Bafokeng Nation (RBN)
The aim of the project is to create a comprehensive, integrated regulatory framework for every facet of the Bafokeng institutional environment through....
State of the Nation
Between 2003 and 2008 the HSRC published its annual flagship publication State of the Nation. Taking the South African national agenda as its organisi....
Ad- Hoc Assignments:vuwani
Vuwani - R250 000 (July - Nov)....
HSRC CASS Project: Chinese Presence in South Africa & South African Presence in China: Phase II
In 2011 an HSRC research team collaborated with a CASS research team on the first phase of a project on Chinese in South Africa/South Africans in Chin....