Social mobilisation entails deliberate actions and processes to reach, influence, and involve all relevant segments of society, from the national to the local level, to create an enabling environment, and impact positive behaviour and social change. ISSER desires to research these dynamics to build a deep understanding of civil society interaction with development practitioners contributing to Ghana's social and economic transformation.
Social protection programmes, on the other hand, are a powerful tool for combating poverty. They include social assistance, social insurance, social care services and labour market programmes targeted at those who are poor, vulnerable, marginalised or dealing with risks through large national safety net programmes and experimental pilot programmes. By transferring resources to the vulnerable, often with incentives to improve the livelihoods of poor children, women, older people, and people living with disabilities, as well as the displaced, the unemployed, and the sick, these programmes aim to limit the long-term effects of chronic deprivation and to reduce poverty traps. On this theme, ISSER plans to conduct research on crucial social, economic, and political issues related to the design, scope, and implementation challenges of social protection programmes.
ISSER’s research on the social mobilisation and social protection theme is closely aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG1, SDG2, SDG3, SDG8 and SDG10.