New pilot programme provides online certification to professional education – and enhanced employment value As a working professional, Joshua Antwi from Ghana was unable to enroll in UNU-MERIT’s full-time Master in Public Policy and Human Development (MPP) programme, despite his desire to acquire some of its taught skills in order to apply them to his career. On Thursday 15 June 2023, Antwi celebrated his completion of a different route to achieving his goal: graduating from a short cour...
Capacity building is a term heard frequently in academic and development circles – but what does it actually mean? There are many definitions depending on the background of the user, but one general definition is “the process by which individuals and organizations obtain, improve, and retain the skills, knowledge, tools, equipment and other resources needed to do their jobs competently or to a greater capacity.” What does that mean in practice, though? And what does that mean when we’re talking...
For over a decade, we’ve been training Asian professionals on the latest developments in social protection. Led by the Universities of Heidelberg, Germany and Hanoi, Vietnam, the International Social Protection Studies Programme also has a Maastricht-based module: covering policy management, monitoring and evaluation. Every other year since 2007, a group of participants has joined us in Maastricht for around 5-6 weeks. A few years ago, discussions began on how to transform the course into a full...
Our course on Evidence-Based Policy Research Methods (EPRM) hones research skills at the highest of levels, including policymakers from national governments and international organisations. Dr. Mindel van de Laar sat down with course coordinator Cristina Mancigotti to discuss her recent experiences in this role. You’ve been in charge of the EPRM course for over a year now, with two full intakes. How is it to look after such a diverse group professionals in terms of nationality, age and research ...
The next deadline for scholarship applications to our ‘Evidence-Based Policy Research Methods’ (EPRM) programme is 21 March 2018. In this post we hear from recent participant Gilbert Riboni. … As part of reinventing myself after a 21-year career in a high-stress job, I was looking to reengage in some sort of activity that would bring me back into contact with the international community. My previous career afforded me opportunities to travel abroad and work with governmental and orga...