r4d (Research for Development) Conference
Job Creation and Conditions for a Social and Environmental Impact
Discussion of Results from Current Research on Labour Markets
Goal: Explore the findings of r4d research in Bangladesh, Bolivia, Ghana and Switzerland on job creation and employment conditions, and examine their impact for future projects within the International Cooperation community.
The conference took place on October 28th, 2021, 2:30-6 pm CEST/GMT+2
Hybrid conference: University of Lausanne, Switzerland (UNIL, Amphimax) and online
Post conference teaser video
Video Panel 2
Future changes
How can the research results influence projects in the field and initiatives of implementing agencies, NGOs and the donor community?
Conference video – full length
Please contact us to receive the code to view this video.
Programme
Job Creation and Conditions for a Social and Environmental Impact
Discussion of Results from Current Research on Labour markets
Research Results
The results are presented in panel discussions by researchers involved in recent studies carried out in Bangladesh, Bolivia, Ghana and other partner countries of the r4d programme.
The panels are enlivened by short films on research findings and interactive breakout sessions, enabling active participant engagement.
Opening Speakers
Santosh Mehrotra
Visiting Professor, Centre for Development Studies, University of Bath, UK
Caroline Revaz
Swiss Politician, Member of the Green Liberal Party, Scientific Advisor at the Federal Department for Foreign Affairs (FDFA)
RESEARCH FINDINGS AND FILMS
TEXTILE
Skills for Industry – Bangladesh
- Markus Maurer
Professor of Vocational Education, PHZH, Zurich, Switzerland - Atonu Rabbani
Professor, BRAC University, Sylhet, Bangladesh
Atonu Rabbani also acts as a research partner for the Skills for Industry Project.
AGRAR
Feminisation, Agricultural Transition and Rural Employment (FATE)
– Bolivia
- Sabin Bieri
Director, Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), Bern, Switzerland - Elizabeth Jiménez
Coordinator of the Multidisciplinary Doctorate in Development Sciences, Bolivia
Elizabeth Jiménez also acts as a research partner for the FATE Project.
DEBATE AND DISCUSSION
PANEL 1
Modernization, professionalization, productivity increase: what are the consequences?
Framework conditions, trade policies, formal and informal sectors: what conditions are required for a positive social and environmental impact?
Daniel Hitzig
Moderator
- Atonu Rabbani
Associate Professor of Economics, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh - Sabin Bieri
Director, Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), Bern, Switzerland - Valérie Berset Bircher
Ambassador, SECO, Switzerland
SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
- Nicolas Depetris Chauvin
Professor of International Economics, HEG, Geneva, Switzerland - Mina Baliamoune-Lutz
Richard de Raismes Kip Professor, University of North Florida, USA - Annick Vollmar
Senior Advisor on Market Systems and Value Chain Development, Helvetas, Switzerland
ACTIVIST’S STATEMENTS
- Dan-Thomas Elbaum
Student International Relations, UNIGE. Member of Green Switzerland - Jessica Gauch
Co-Programm Leader Migration at foraus, Switzerland
DEBATE AND DISCUSSION
PANEL 2
Future changes
How can the research results influence projects in the field and initiatives of implementing agencies, NGOs and the donor community?
Daniel Hitzig
Moderator
- Hans-Peter Egler
Director Sustainable Infrastructure, South Pole, Switzerland - Mina Baliamoune
Kip Professor of Economics and Distinguished Professor at the University of North Florida, USA
- Guido Beltrani
Co-Head, Expert Team Inclusive Economic Development, SDC, Switzerland - Hilda Liswani
Tech4Dev Sustainability Engagement Manager, EPFL, Switzerland
WHAT’S NEXT?
Take Aways and Future Direction
Interactive plenary discussion
Moderated by
- Irenka Krone-Germann
Co-Head of Networks, Knowledge Management and Communication, cinfo, Switzerland
- Hans-Peter Egler
Director Sustainable Infrastructure, Public Sector, South Pole, Switzerland
Closing statements and key messages
Moderator, Speakers and Panelists
Prof. Mina Baliamoune-Lutz
Richard de Raismes Kip Professor, University of North Florida and Senior Fellow, African Center for Economic Transformation
Mina Baliamoune-Lutz is Richard de Raismes Kip Professor of Economics and Distinguished Professor at the University of North Florida. She formerly served as Director of Research at the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET) and is currently a senior Fellow at ACET and the Policy Center for the New South, and a Fellow at the Economic Research Forum and the Global Labor Organization.
Her work focuses on policy and institutional reforms, gender and globalization, and aid effectiveness in Africa. Prof. Baliamoune-Lutz has contributed to research themes at the United Nations World Institute of Development Economics, United Nations Economic Conference on Africa, and African Development Bank.
Guido Beltrani
Co-Head, Expert Team Inclusive Economic Development, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC
Guido Beltrani holds a master degree in physics and a second master degree as well as a doctoral degree in economics.
Mr. Beltrani worked for eight years as a private sector consultant in the fields of environmental protection and economic development. Since 2005, Guido Beltrani is employed at the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), where he held different positions at the Head Office in Switzerland, at the Swiss Cooperation Office in Kosovo, at the Swiss Cooperation Office in Ukraine and at the Swiss Contribution Office in Poland. In his professional career, Mr. Beltrani managed development assistance projects and programs in several countries and in areas such as economic development, vocational education and training, environment and climate change, water, agriculture, sustainable tourism, decentralization and regional development, good governance, health and migration.
As of July 2018 Guido Beltrani took over the position of Head of the Expert Team “Inclusive Economic Development” at SDC’s Head Office. In this position, he is responsible for managing a team of thematic experts in the four areas of Private Sector Development, Financial Sector Development, Vocational Skills Development and Private Sector Engagement in development cooperation initiatives.
Valerie Berset Bircher
Ambassador, Head of International Labour Affairs, SECO
Valérie Berset Bircher holds a PhD in law from the University of Geneva and from the University of Strasbourg (France). Her PhD focused on the impact of new technologies on labour law (international law – labour law – human rights – comparative law).
Valérie Berset Bircher has in-depth knowledge of international labor law issues. Valérie Berset Bircher deals with issues related to the global supply chain, sustainability, social responsibility of the company, international labor regulations and social partnership. She represents Switzerland in the International Labor Organization and in the United Nations (UNO) with regard to economy, finance and development. She was in charge of the SECO portfolio of Swiss-ILO technical cooperation projects. Valérie Berset Bircher is a member of two federal committees: the Federal Commission for the Advisory Board of the National Contact Point for the OECD and the Tripartite Commission for ILO Affairs.
Since 2017, she is a member of the Committee on Freedom of Association at the ILO and she represents the governments. Between 2017 and 2021, she was member of the ILO Governing Body where she co-chairs the democratization process at the ILO
Sabin Bieri
Sabin Bieri is Co-Director of the Centre for Development and Environment CDE at the University of Bern. As one of Switzerland’s leading centres of excellence for sustainability science, the CDE is committed to cutting-edge research and education in sustainable development and transformation.
Sabin is an expert in sustainable development, her main field of interest being the social dimension of sustainability, specifically questions of inequality, poverty and labour in a global perspective. She has been the project manager of the FATE – Feminization, Agricultural Transition and Rural Employment – project, a 7-year initiative funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC and the Swiss National Science Foundation SNSF. This research investigates into the effects of boom crops and export orientation in agriculture in the global South (www.fate.unibe.ch). As co-principal investigator in another SNFS-funded interdisciplinary project on integrative sustainability assessments of food systems, Sabin specializes in multistakeholder deliberation to assess value chains from the producers’ as well as the consumers’ side.
Sabin has always invested in the bridge between academic debates, policy and practice. She is regularly commissioned with thematic mandates by the public administration such as the SDC, the Federal Office for the Environment, UN bodies e.g. UN women or the International Fund for Agricultural Development IFAD, as well as international NGOs and civil society organisations such as the International Land Coalition. Apart from scientific publications, she regularly contributes to public debates in newspapers, magazines and policy pieces.
Prof. Nicolás Depetris Chauvin
Professor of International Economics, International Business Management Department of the Geneva School of Business Administration (Haute école de gestion de Genève HEG).
In the past, he was Senior Economist at the French Prime Minister Service, Senior Advisor at the African Center for Economic Transformation, Regional Manager of World Energy Council, and Senior Policy Advisor of the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme.
He has held academic positions at the University of Oxford, the Dubai School of Government, the University of Buenos Aires and IEMS-Skolkovo Business School.
He has been visiting professor and researcher at Sciences Po, HEC-Paris and INSEAD among others.
Nicolás is an international economist with extensive research and policy analysis experience in Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East.
His area of research is on the intersection of international trade and development economics. He has published several articles on agriculture supply chains, food security, wine economics, resource-rich economies, debt relief, emerging market economies, and the economies of the Gulf and Africa.
He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Princeton University.
Hans-Peter Egler
Director Sustainable Infrastructure, Public Sector, South Pole, Switzerland
Hans-Peter Egler is economist and has over 25 years of experience in international cooperation in the areas of trade, production, investment and infrastructure including environment and social issues. Thereby he has worked with businesses and financial entities of all kinds, the World Bank, regional development banks, various UN organisations, non-governmental organisations, industries and retailers as well as government agencies in many countries around the globe. He also has 18 years of experience in innovative project management at the interface between the economy, environment and development cooperation. From 1988 till 2014 Hans-Peter worked in different positions at the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs with an interruption of two years a postage for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bolivia between 1992 and 1994. From 2014 till 2017 he was heading the Global Infrastructure Basel Foundation and since November 2017 he is working with South Pole as Director for Sustainable Infrastructure / Public Sector.
Dan-Thomas Elbaum
Student, University of Geneva – Member of “Les Vert-e-s”.
Dan-Thomas Elbaum is a 21 year old student of International Relations at the University of Geneva. He is fascinated by the international world and politics. Subjects such as global development peak his interest.
From September 2019 to February 2020, he had the opportunity to volunteer at Maison Chance, a Swiss NGO that provides housing, health care, education and vocational training for disadvantaged people.
He is also member of “Les Vert-e-s”, as environmental sustainability is in his opinion a major issue that will have to be addressed in the coming years.
Jessica Gauch
Researcher, Active Member of foraus, PhD candidate, UNIFR, Switzerland
Programm Manager Migration of the grass-roots organisation foraus, foraus.ch
Jessica completed her Master’s degree in law at the University of Fribourg in July 2020.
She has been able to gain experience in the field of asylum law in a law firm in Berne and has subsequently been able to deepen this experience at the AsyLex association, where she is now part of the board. One of her greatest successes has been winning a ruling on deportation detention at the Federal Supreme Court.
Since July 2020, Jessica has furthermore started her PhD at the Chair of Constitutional and Administrative Law II of the University of Fribourg. There she focuses on the subject of climate change and financial market law.
Daniel Hitzig
Moderator, Editor, Consultant
Daniel Hitzig has worked for Swiss National Radio and Television SRF for 24 years as presenter, host, editor and producer. As delegate for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) he was stationed in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Iraq. He first collaborated with Swiss NGOs for the Swiss National Exposition Expo02 inviting experts from less well-off countries to hold up a mirror to Switzerland.
In 2013 he joined Alliance Sud, the Swiss alliance for development organizations, being responsible for its media and communication work.
Today he is a member of the board of HQAI, the Humanitarian Quality Assurance Initiative and a freelance communication specialist.
Professor Elizabeth Jimenez
Coordinator of the Multidisciplinary Doctorate in Development Sciences, Bolivia
Elizabeth Jimenez is professor and researcher at CIDES – UMSA, the Multidisciplinary Graduate Program on Social Sciences at the Universidad Mayor de San Andres, in La Paz Bolivia. She has a Ph.D in development economics from the University of Notre Dame (Indiana, USA) and currently coordinates the Ph.D Multidisciplinary Program on Development Sciences: Economy, Society and Globalization. She is also the Bolivian research coordinator of the FATE -Feminization, Agricultural Transition and Rural Employment- funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the Swiss National Science Foundation SNSF. In Bolivia, this research investigates into the effects of the Quinoa Boom in the livelihoods and in the local eco-systems.
Elizabeth’s areas of research and publications include, extractivism, labor and employment, agricultural transformations, sustainability and climate change.
More information at cides.edu.bo
Irenka Krone
Co-Head of Networks, Knowledge Management and Communication, cinfo, Switzerland
Irenka Krone-Germann is co-Head Knowledge Management, Communication and Network at cinfo. She has a previous experience of more than 10 years at the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) as senior project manager in the field of economic cooperation with a focus on trade issues. She holds academic degrees in Economics, Business and International Relations from universities in both Switzerland and the USA.
Hilda Liswani
Tech4Dev Sustainability Engagement Manager, EPFL Tech4Impact
Hilda holds an M.Sc. in Migration, Mobility and Development from The School of Oriental and African Sciences, London.
She has gained over 7 years of experience in inclusive innovation. She has worked with organisations such as The European Commission, the MasterCard Foundation and Siemens in the negotiation and implementation of inclusive innovation strategies.
She runs Webloom Africa, an initiative mainstreaming gender-lens investing in Africa. She achieves this by collaborating with African innovation hubs to co-design female targeted entrepreneurial programs and build a pipeline of investable women-led African enterprises.
She is currently the Tech4Dev Sustainability Engagement Manager at EPFL Tech4Impact’s where she is assisting in bridging the gap between technology, innovation and social impact.
As a World Economic Forum global shaper, she is part of a global community of changemakers and received an award from Queen Elizabeth II for her work, as well as receiving recognition as Forbes 30 under 30 listmaker.
Honors & Awards: Queens Young Leader Award Winner 2017 | AU-EU Youth Plug-In Fellow 2017 | Talent at Unleash Innovation Lab
2017 | World Economic Forum Global Shaper | Associate Fellow of The Royal Commonwealth Society | Executive Member of the
African Union Youth Advisory Board | G20 Young Global Changer | MasterCard Foundation Youth Advisory Committee Member
Prof. Dr. Markus Maurer
Lecturer for vocational pedagogy in the training of vocational school teachers, Pädagogische Hochschule Zurich, PHZH
Markus Maurer is professor of vocational education at the Zurich University of Teacher Education and acts as the principal investigator of the Skills for Industry Project. His research focuses on education and training policy reforms, on adults in vocational education as well as on comparative analysis of education and training systems. He is also involved in a number of mandates in development cooperation, currently in Cambodia and Macedonia.
Dr. Atonu Rabbani
Professor, Mushtaque Chowdhury Chair in Health and Poverty, BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University
Atonu Rabbani is an applied microeconomist with research interests in health, labor and organization economics. Currently, he is working on a number of research projects addressing intra-firm productivity and management issues in the ready-made garment (RMG) sector in Bangladesh and how promotion, monitoring, and incentive can motivate better health behaviors. He has a number of papers published in international peer-reviewed journals including American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, BMJ Open, Journal of Regional Science, American Economic Review, and The Lancet. Dr. Rabbani is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Dhaka and an Associate Scientist with the James P Grant School of Public Health at the BRAC University. He has a Ph.D. and an MA in Economics from the University of Chicago and an MSS and BSS (Honors) in Economics at the University of Dhaka.
https://atonu.weebly.com/
Caroline Revaz
Member elected of the General Council (legislative) of Fribourg, member of the Green Liberal Party, Master of Law from UZH with focused on International Humanitarian Law, experience in Morocco with the FDFA, currently working in Bern at the FDFA, passionate by Middle East politics.
Prof. Santosh Mehrotra, PhD (Econ) Cambridge
Visiting Professor, Centre for Development, University of Bath, UK
After an MA Econ from New School for Social Research, New York, and Phd., Cambridge University (1985), Santosh Mehrotra was Associate Professor of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Dehli (1988-1991, head of UNICEF’s global research programme at Innocenti Research Centre, Florence, and chief economist, global Human Development Report New York. He returned to India to head the Development Policy Division of India’s Planning Commission. He was also the Director General (2009-14) of National Institute of Labour Economics Research. From 2014-2020 he was Professor of Economics and Chairperson, Centre for Labour, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
RECENT BOOKS
1 Planning in the 20th Century and Beyond: India’s Planning Commission and NITI Aayog, Cambridge U Press 2020 https://amzn.to/3bPSDnE
2. Reviving Jobs: An Agenda for Growth, Penguin Random House, 2020. https://amzn.to/2XfWiFZ
3. Realising the Demographic Dividend, Cambridge University Press, https://bit.ly/2TmtjiZ
Annick Vollmar
Senior Advisor on Market Systems and Value Chain Development, Helvetas
Annick Vollmar holds an MA in Social Anthropology and Economics and an MAS in Development and Cooperation. She has more than 10 years of international, multi-country experience in Latin America, Asia, West Africa and Eastern Europe, including fragile states, which specific expertise in sustainable and inclusive economic development. She joined Helvetas in 2011 and held positions in Bhutan and Peru. Since 2016 she works as Senior Advisor on Market Systems and Value Chain Development based in Switzerland. She has extensive experience in providing strategic and technical advice and support, capacity building, coaching, strategic review of projects, project planning and monitoring in economic/market systems development programs with strong pro-poor & private sector led development.
Contact and Conference Communication
Juliette Fong
Communication specialist, cinfo
Juliette Fong is a web project manager, photographer and content creator.
r4d Information
