SRC Projects and Grants

List of grants received/served by Social Research Center 2013 to date

Lead researcher	Hoda Rashad
Granting agency	International Development Research Center (IDRC)
Start date	March 1, 2021
End date:	February 28, 2024
Description	The overarching goal of this grant is to support the ongoing regional efforts to strengthen the role of Health Information System (HIS) in guiding policies for health equity and in implementing programs anchored on equity and adopting a social determinants approach.

Lead researcher	Hania Sholkamy
Granting agency	University of Ghana, Carnegie Corporation of New York
Start date	January 1, 2021
End date	December 31, 2022
Description	This project is situated in an African feminist alliance and network of scholars keen to address the rising precarity of work in general and the gendered burdens of risk, low pay, and vulnerability in particular. This alliance is led by the University of Ghana at Legon and includes scholars in Kenya and in Egypt. The team proposes to examine the question of precarity in three different African countries across different regions, East, West and North Africa. The subject of precarity is an essential concern considering the continued casualization of African labor over the past three decades. But the project goes further than simply applying a precarity lens to Africa. It recognizes the sometimes incomplete fit of the concept of precarity to countries in the Global South where the formal economy has always been more of an aspiration than a reality. As such, it seeks to extend the conceptualization of precarity to consider seriously the nature of the labor market in Africa. Scholars in Egypt will focus on the intersections of social protection systems and work. This research will investigate how four categories of economic agents’ experience protection deficits and how to address these deficits. The four categories are: Women working in informal spaces of formal value chains specifically in the circular economy Women who are on social benefits and who work Young mothers who are on social benefits but do not work Women who work for their families

Lead researcher	Hania Sholkamy
Granting agency	AUC Associate Provost for Research, Innovation and Creativity, Bartlett
Start date	June 1, 2021
End date	June 30, 2022
Description	Egypt has introduced significant legislative and constitutional changes that have redressed long-standing gender inequalities. These formal rights are bolstered by social and economic policies (such as Karma and Takaful, Micro-credit schemes, inclusive educational and health policies and family planning programs) that aim to enfranchise and enable women. Moreover, a number of significant development strategies that should frame the national responses to issues such as violence against women and women’s social and economic rights are being or have been drafted such as the National Strategy for the Empowerment of Egyptian Women 2030, and the National Strategy for Combating Violence Against Women.

Lead researcher	Hoda Rashad
Granting agency	The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)/Arab States Regional Office (ASRO)
Start date	April 1, 2021
End date	December 31, 2021
Description	The United Nations Population Fund - Arab States Regional Office UNFPA/ASRO, in partnership with the Social Research Center (SRC), plans the support to regional efforts enhancing ageing issues. A policy paper on ageing will be developed, in addition to organization of two regional policy dialogues. A section on ageing will be created within the AUC regional SDGs platform.

Lead researcher	Hoda Rashad
Granting agency	GIZ
Start date	March 15, 2021
End date	September 30, 2021
Description	The Employment Promotion Project (EPP III) aims to strengthen the evidence-based labour market orientation of the transition-to-employment process for technical school students and technical school graduates. The Social Research Center at The American University in Cairo (SRC/AUC) is to implement a study that aims to understand and quantify the effectiveness of the Technical Education system and the transition-to-employment services including career guidance, entrepreneurship education, and placement within the Qalyubia and Gharbeya governorates.

Lead researcher	Hania Sholkamy
Granting agency	United Nations - Women
Start date	November 1, 2020
End date	September 30, 2021
Description	The Safe Cities program aims to empower women socially, economically, and politically in public spaces and to create a physical and organizational model of spaces that enables women to navigate their daily professional and social lives while free from sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence. The theory of change informing this model links women s empowerment to a physical and social ecology, to locally relevant interventions that create safe public spaces, and to comprehensive policies that enable the safety and economic viability of public spaces. Women's and girls’ access to public spaces that are free from sexual violence enables empowerment because the risks of sexual harassment and violence are reduced through sustainable local solutions.

Lead researcher	Sherine Shawky, Zeinab Khadr
Granting Agency	GIZ
Start date:	December 15, 2019
End date	April 30, 2020
Description	The grant is for launching and managing a small Research and Training Program (RTP). It will build capacities of researchers to produce high quality research that address the challenges faced in Egypt Dual System of Education. It will also help produce scientifically sound research to guide decision making; This small program aims to contribute to strengthening the links between research and policy making in Egypt Dual System.

Lead researcher	Ramadan Hamed
Granting agency	GIZ
Start date	December 10, 2019
End date	April 30, 2020
Description	Implement a study that informs an expansion strategy for the dual system for the upcoming five years (2020-2025) considering the currently available and projected resources of the Ministry of Education and Technical Education and the current and projected capacity of public and private companies. This assignment focuses on three main objectives: Conducting a study on the current growing and potential emerging economic sectors, sub-sectors, and relevant occupations on a macro and governorate level Conducting a study on the potential for converting schools Conducting a study on company disengagement from the Dual System

Lead researcher	Linda Herrera
Granting agency	British Embassy
Start date	November 1, 2019
End date	April 30, 2022
Description	Engage in research, capacity building, and generating and sharing of relevant analysis, evidence and learning. The RPD would also investigate causes for public resistance to parts of the reforms, particularly digital exams at the secondary level which in May 2019, led to wide scale parental complaints, a social media storm, and student demonstrations and arrests. The RDP constitutes a unique opportunity to learn about how to use research in fragile states to support and document policy change in inclusive ways, taking into consideration local voices and perspectives. The Project will undertake research and document sector transformation, establish a Knowledge Management System (KMS), and work towards developing the capacity of the National Center for Research and Development. For more details, click here.

Lead researcher	Hoda Rashad, Zeinab Kkadr, Sherin Shawky
Granting agency	World Health Organization (WHO) Jordan
Start date	October 1, 2019
End date	December 31, 2019
Description	SRC will produce a report on social determinants of health and multidimensial inequalities in Jordan through analysing the recent data set for "Jordan Population and Family Health Survey 2017-2018". The analysis will build on previous two studies on Demographic and Health Survey 2012 supported by World Health Organization Jordan and UNFPA/ASRO.

Lead researcher	Hania Sholkamy
Granting agency	London School of Economics (LSE)
Start date	August 1, 2019
End date	July 31, 2022
Description	The proposed project will revisit the gender theory that undergirds social protection programs in general and cash transfers in particular to interrogate the linkages between theory and practice and to inform future program designs and implementation.

Lead researcher	Kate Ellis
Granting agency	World Health Organization (WHO)
Start date	June 1, 2019
End date	August 31, 2019
Description	The Department of Social Research Center at the American University in Cairo (AUC) in coordination with the WHO (Country office, Egypt and Regional office for the Eastern Mediterranean Region) will deliver a 10-day residential program to both national and international participants. The work envisaged under this agreement will be based on a curriculum developed by a panel of local and international experts with WHO support.

Lead researcher	Hoda Rashad, Laila El Zeiny, Ramadan Hamed
Granting agency	World Health Organization (WHO)
Start date	May 20, 2019
End date	October 30, 2020
Description	Development of a learning platform to facilitate regional learning, sharing of information and policy practices towards achieving the health related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Such a learning platform is envisioned to bring together government, non-government and research organizations across at least three countries, and draw on a diversity of regional experiences, including intersectoral policies and approaches for health, advancing universal health coverage, strengthening the humanitarian-development nexus, and participatory governance.

Lead researcher	Hoda Rashad, Ramadan Hamed
Granting agency	World Bank
Start date	March 25, 2019
End date	June 30, 2020
Description	The EBRD-EIB-WBG enterprise survey is a joint initiative of the World Bank Group (WBG), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB). It is a firm-level survey whose objective is to gain an understanding of firms’ experience and perception of the environment in which they operate. The EBRD-EIB-WBG enterprise survey will include re-visiting previously interviewed establishments, whenever possible, which will promote the expansion of the panel data set. The panel data set allows researchers to track changes in the business environment, to measure the effect of these changes on firm performance over time and to assess the effects of reforms on the business environment.

Lead researcher	Ramadan Hamed
Granting agency	World Bank
Start date	February 4, 2019
End date	December 31, 2019
Description	The EBRD, EIB and WBG will jointly implement the surveys in Egypt. Which will be funded and contracted by the World Bank. These surveys are implemented as part of a broader project that includes other economies and contracts not listed here. 2000 interviews are expected to be carried out by means of face-to-face surveys with managers from the private sector under this contract in Egypt.

Lead researcher	Hoda Rashad, Sherine Shawky, Zeinab Khadr
Granting agency	UNFPA
Start date	February 1, 2019
End date	December 31, 2019
Description	In 2019, UNFPA ASRO in partnership with the Social Research Center at the American University in Cairo plans to build on the in-depth analysis of SRH inequities in five Arab countries conducted in 2018 and dig deeper through further in-depth policy analysis identifying specific policy entry points to address SRH inequities. Additionally, in 2019, expert validation and publishing of scientific and policy advocacy tools is planned to disseminate and maximize the benefit from the developed methodology and methods, in addition to dissemination through other appropriate means including UNFPA regional events of relevance.

Lead researcher	Ramadan Hamed
Granting agency	World Bank, Ministry of Investment
Start date	May 17, 2018
End date	December 31, 2019
Description	AUC will be preparing a detailed listing of informal enterprises based on the World Bank's agreed screening criteria across different parts of Egypt. AUC also will be conducting a baseline survey of approximately 2500 informal entrepreneurs drawing from the listed entrepreneurs with approximately fifty percent of this sample being women informal entrepreneurs.

Lead researcher	Hoda Rashad, Ramadan Hamed
Granting agency	World Bank
Start date	September 1, 2017
End date	August 31, 2019
Description	The project aims at promoting women’s economic empowerment through enhancing gender equality in access to and retaining employment in the schools extends to mapping out the dangers and threats that girls face on a daily basis on their way to schools and working with the schools' private sector. The proposed research will develop the intervention with a focus on preventing Gender-Based Violence (GBV) domestically and in the workplace. Through monitoring and evaluation, the effectiveness of the intervention will be assessed such that the eventual expansion of the Gender Equity Model, Egypt (GEME) will be evidence-based.

Lead researcher	Hoda Rashad, Ramadan Hamed
Granting agency	World Bank, Ministry of Investment
Start date	August 28, 2018
End date	December 15, 2018
Description	Women and Youth Entrepreneurship Ecosystem: Psycho-social and Behavioural Barriers respond to the interests and objectives of the World Bank to understand the social, psychological, and behavioral patterns and processes that may influence participation, engagement, and sustainability in youth and women entrepreneurs, and to identify modifiable behaviors that can be targeted through interventions; to design effective behaviourally-informed capacity-building interventions.

Lead researcher	Hoda Rashad
Granting agency	UNFPA, Governmental Bodies in Jordan, Morocco, Sudan, Oman
Start date	February 12, 2018
End date	December 31, 2018
Description	ASRO in partnership with the Social Research Center plans to conduct an in-depth analysis of SRH inequities in five Arab countries. The research's output will be used to develop a regional policy brief to be used for high-level advocacy. Added to that, a future road map for addressing identified gaps will be developed and disseminated in a workshop setting together with the report and policy brief towards the end of 2018. In addition to the above, SRC will compile data, analyze it and write the regional ICPD review report

Lead researcher	Heba Nassar
Granting agency	University College Dublin
Start date	October 1, 2016
End date	June 30, 2018

Lead researcher	Heba Nassar
Granting agency	Ford/Suez Canal Authority (Ahmad Darwish)
Start date	October 1, 2016
End date	June 30, 2018
Description	The objective of the proposed project is to carry out a comprehensive mapping of the socio-economic indicators and labor market conditions in the Suez Canal economic zone with a special focus on, Ain Sokhna and Suez, with the aim of proposing proper policy advice to encourage inclusive growth in the region.

Lead researcher	Hoda Rashad, Zeinab Khadr
Granting agency	UNFPA-Egypt/The National Council for Childhood and Motherhood
Start date	August 1, 2018
End date	December 31, 2018
Description	UNFPA engaged the SRC/AUC in order to provide Policy Brief On Towards Zero Tolerance For Early Marriage In Egypt, Policy Dialogue And Develop Outreach Strategy.

Lead researcher	Hoda Rashad, Sherine Shawky, Zeinab Khadr
Granting agency	WHO/Participants from Arab region
Start date	January 20, 2017
End date	November 30, 2017
Description	The overall objective of this phase is to contribute to regional capacity by availing open access to relevant pieces of knowledge and tools. Development of robust comprehensive regional guidelines PRO-Human Rights and Health Equity package to guide health policies and programs in promoting health equity and human rights promoting the progressive realization of SDGs adapting and scaling up the WHO tools, series of meetings, production of regional cases studies and consultative meeting are proposed to end in the development of Phase II proposal.

Lead researcher	Hoda Rashad, Sherine Shawky
Granting agency	WHO/Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office
Start date	January 20, 2017
End date	November 30, 2017
Description	SRC will coordinate inputs from a technical team of experts with different backgrounds and experiences, civil society roles, Social Determinants of Health, equality monitoring, governance to review the WHO/Health in All Policies (HiAP) manual and prepare all technical inputs accordingly for a 3-day workshop on HiAP.

Lead researcher	Ramadan Hamed
Granting agency	World Bank
Start date	May 1, 2016
End date	June 1, 2017
Description	SRC will conduct face to face survey of formal firms to assess various dimensions of the investment climate in Egypt and how these are affecting firm performance in terms of growth, productivity, jobs, and market access (both domestic and international).

Lead researcher	Hoda Rashad, Sherine Shawky
Granting agency	Ford Foundation
Start date	November 1, 2015
End date	October 31, 2017
Description	The grant would allow 25 researchers/trainees to attend the 3-month training course and accomplish the degree of Professional Diploma in Research Methods and their Applications in Guiding and Evaluating Policies and Programs. The core scholarship support (around 18 scholarships) will continue to be earmarked to three public universities: Beni Suef, Menoufia and Suez Canal. The remaining scholarships would allow a larger pool of trainees from other institutions to compete for them. The objective here is to focus on expanding the pool of research capacities in Egypt and also to emphasize the translation of these capacities into community capacity-building development efforts.

Lead researcher	Hoda Rashad, Ray Langston
Granting agency	Care
Start date	August 1, 2017
End date	November 30, 2017
Description	This project aims at improving the overall educational experience for students in the 10 chosen schools with a specific emphasis on girls. This is through building the capacity of teachers and social workers while emphasizing the importance of implementing gender-sensitive practices in those schools as well as encouraging girl participation in the school's Student Union and other extracurricular activities.

Lead researcher	Hoda Rashad, Ramadan Hamed
Granting agency	PLAN
Start date	August 2, 2015
End date	June 30, 2017
Description	This grant to support capacity building and providing technical assistance to PLAN and other partners to enhance evidence-based research on socio-economic projects conducted by PLAN Egypt.

Lead researcher	Hoda Rashad, Ramadan Hamed, Laila El Zeini
Granting agency	UNFPA/ASRO
Start date	August 1, 2015
End date	July 31, 2017
Description	SRC has two roles within this project; an organizational support role and a technical support role. ASRO will provide support to SRC for building the structure of the Forum of Arab Parliamentarians on Population and Development (FAPPD). The project is envisioned as an incubation period cumulating in the demonstrated capability of FAPPD to stand on its own as a nucleus of Arab parliamentarians actively contributing to the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda through advocacy, law-making, and holding governments accountable.

Lead researcher	Hoda Rashad, Ramadan Hamed, Hania Sholkamy
Granting agency	PROMUNDO
Start date	November 15, 2015
End date	February 28, 2017
Description	SRC in collaboration with El-Zanaty and Associate, will prepare The International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES), is a qualitative survey for Egypt, SRC will also work on writing the final analytic report and coordinating the Technical advisory group.

Lead researcher	Zeinab Khadr
Granting agency	Ford Foundation
Start date	July 1, 2014
End date	March 31, 2017

Lead researcher	Habib Ayeb
Granting agency	AUB
Start date	July 15, 2015
End date	August 1, 2016
Description	SRC will document and analyze public policies and environmental conditions impacting rural communities in Egypt and Tunisia, also SRC will analyze the effect of these policies in changing the structure of rural communities. SRC will work on increasing awareness among the Arab public and policymakers about the conditions that underpin food security and the well-being of farm communities.

Lead researcher	Hania Sholkamy
Granting agency	UN Women
Start date	May 1, 2016
End date:	November 30, 2016
Description	SRC will conduct a research study in two governorates identified as priority regions by the National Council for Women (NCW), and to provide technical support to the NCW to enable their delivery of a strategy that will provide to tailor the global 2030 Agenda to the context and needs of Egypt while building on existing commitments to gender equality.

Lead researcher	Karima Khalil
Granting agency	American University in Beirut (AUB)
Start date	December 15, 2014
End date	December 31, 2016
Description	This is the second year of the grant research to study if the multifaceted strategy combining clinical audit, feedback and engaging opinion leaders acceptable feasible and effective to improve quality of care in the health service contexts of four countries of the Middle East.

Lead researcher	Zeinab Khadr
Granting agency	Ford Foundation
Start date	March 1, 2012
End date	June 1, 2016
Description	The grant is made to support SRC to carry out a comprehensive investigation on the structural and behavioural factors underlying early marriage and risky reproductive health practices among the youth in urban settings.

Lead researcher	Hoda Rashad
Granting agency	Sawiris Foundation
Start date	January 1, 2016
End date	March 31, 2016
Description	SRC in collaboration of the Association for Improving Health Non-Governmental Organisation will conduct a need assessment study at Al Shohada Village in Suhag, to identify the eligibility and services needs of beneficiaries in the village.

Lead researcher	Heba Nassar, Ramadan Hamed
Granting agency	UN Women
Start date	December 1, 2010
End date	December 31, 2015
Description	In the context of the integrated strategy for the working woman launched by the Ministry of Manpower and Emigration. The Salheya initiatives seek to advance gender equity by enabling women to participate effectively in the economic sphere; supporting them to improve their economic security and rights as well as institutionalizing norms and values of gender equity in the workplace and accordingly the overall society. SRC will provide support to this initiative by conducting baseline data, identifying needs; providing technical support to the Ministry and conducting monitoring and evaluation of impact.

Lead researcher	Sahar El Shenety
Granting agency	UN Women
Start date	January 1, 2013
End date	December 31, 2015
Description	The grant will support the following activities for the project: Design the Impact Evaluation Strategy for the Cairo SC project Provide support to the main project partners, stakeholders and duty bearers Undertake a mid-term evaluation survey to monitor the performance of the interventions and produce a survey report

Lead researcher	Hoda Rashad, Sherine Shawky
Granting agency	Ford Foundation
Start date	July 1, 2013
End date	June 30, 2015
Description	SRC in this phase is proposing a new direction that targets institutional capacity building, as well as an increased emphasis on the translation of the acquired capacities into community efforts to address the many development challenges. This new direction seeks to achieve a more sustained institutional impact and to strengthen the service of these institutions to their society. This new direction responds well to the post-Egypt uprising phase. The people s aspirations for improved well-being and their call for social justice demand a new role of academic institutions.

Lead researcher	Ray Langston
Granting agency	Ford Foundation
Start date	September 1, 2012
End date	August 31, 2015
Description	The grant supports SRC to mentor graduate and junior faculty from public universities conduct research on equity to higher education in Egypt and disseminate findings

Lead researcher	Hoda Rashad
Granting agency	WHO
Start date	December 1, 2013
End date	May 31, 2014
Description	SRC will work in close collaboration with the Medical Officer, Health and Human Rights PHP/HSD to develop the training materials, identify the trainers for a course on Right to Health. SRC will deliver the one-week course and offer it to 10-15 Egyptian nationals in collaboration with WHO EMRO and WHO Country Egypt in the second quarter of 2014.

Lead researcher	Ramadan Hamed
Granting agency	World Bank
Start date	March 12, 2014
End date	December 31, 2014
Description	The Egypt Enterprise Survey 2014, Egypt Enterprise Survey 2014 will be standardized to reduce measurement error and to improve cross-country comparability with other World Bank enterprise surveys.

Lead researcher	Hassan Zaky, Ramadan Hamed
Granting agency	UNFPA/Iraq
Start date	December 15, 2013
End date	November 20, 2014
Description:	SRC will organize four training sessions for Kurdistan Region Statistics office staff: Analyzing population data Mortality Fertility Migration Each session for around five days.

Lead researcher	Laila El Zeini
Granting agency	Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Start date	December 10, 2012
End date	June 1, 2014
Description	The overall objective of the LoA is to provide the FAO Regional Offices for the Near East (RNE) and the five-country offices (Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman and the Emirates) with a baseline and an action plan on how to improve practices, mechanisms, processes and project and programme development. To promote gender equality in rural areas necessary for the successful implementation of FAO's Policy on Gender Equality and for increased food and nutrition security in the region.

Lead researcher	Habib Ayeb, Reem Saad
Granting agency	Ford Foundation
Start date	May 1, 2010
End date	December 31, 2013
Description	The project seeks to achieve an in-depth understanding of the dynamic relationship between resource rights, marginalization and environmental well-being.

Lead researcher	Ray Langston
Granting agency	Ford Foundation
Start date	September 1, 2010
End date	August 31, 2013
Description	The main scope of work is to assess equity of access to higher education, higher education outcomes and the transition between education and work, producing evidence based results that will help policy makers determine the best approaches to improve access and outcomes. SRC will also mentor six junior social sciences graduates each academic year, hold two workshops at which the work of the trainees will be presented.

Lead researcher	Hania Sholkamy
Granting Agency	UNDP
Start date	May 1, 2013
End date	September 30, 2013
Description	The centre will author a manuscript on The Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) experience as an illustration of the challenges that face the Egyptian state in providing effective social protection for families in poor areas/villages and of the burdens of poverty shouldered by families who would be eligible for immediate and effective cash transfers. The Manuscript will refer to international experiences in the realm of social protection with a focus on CCT's so as to provide readers with a contextual and global understanding of effective redistributive policies and programs. The SRC will also organize events to disseminate this publication in cooperation with UNDP.

Lead researcher	Hania Sholkamy
Granting agency	Ford Foundation
Start date	September 1, 2008
End date	July 31, 2013
Description	The grant is made to support the Social Research Center to initiate a program testing, assessing and developing innovative social protection schemes based on policy-related research.

Lead researcher	Sherine Shawky
Granting agency	WHO
Start date	December 15, 2012
End date	April 30, 2013
Description:	The SRC will perform the study on Regulating the Private Health Sector, by conducting a training workshop in Egypt and Yemen, also in-depth interviews and focus group discussions in both countries.

Lead researcher	Hoda Rashad, Sherine Shawky
Granting agency	Ford Foundation
Start date	January 1, 2011
End date	April 30, 2013
Description	The grant is made for the next two year to allocate a number of training scholarships to promising teaching faculties in the Egyptian Institutions to attend its three-month training course "Social Science Research Methods for Guiding Policy and Evaluation".

Lead researcher	Hoda Rashad
Granting Agency	Hewlett
Start date	March 22, 2010
End date	March 22, 2013
Description	The grant will support the three months training program on “Research Methods for Guiding Policy and Evaluation with special Application to Population and Health”, and will also support the development and launching a new training workshop: “Social Determinants of Health Equity: Implications for Research and Policy”.