Mission Statement

The mission of the Social Research Center is to conduct and encourage multidisciplinary social science research in Egypt and the Arab region, to train researchers, and to guide and assist graduate students, scholars and organizations engaged in social science research in the region. The center strives to inform policy formulation and implementation while contributing to knowledge in the social sciences. It aims to contribute to developing skills and building institutional capacity in the region as well as to advance public debate about important issues.
The center does not carry out research on a for-profit basis and does not undertake any confidential research. It does not accept funding from any sources that cannot be publicly acknowledged. All research is designed to assure the rights of subjects to confidentiality and informed consent

History of the Center

The Social Research Center (SRC) was established in 1953. It has functioned continuously ever since, carrying out multidisciplinary research on a broad range of subjects.

 

Recent research activities encompass a broad range of topics including studies of population and fertility, poverty, political participation of women, the effects of economic liberalization, urbanization, social epidemiology, maternal and child health and the environment. Research at the Center is conducted in collaboration with national and international agencies, and the Egyptian government. It is directed toward providing and analyzing data relevant for policy making, and initiating an informed dialogue on issues of public policy. The Center undertakes its own research, and can also be subcontracted to provide research support to other institutions. More details on SRC research projects.

Other activities of the Center include training, seminars and support for graduate students and scholars from Egypt and the Arab region. These activities are designed to strengthen social research and scholarly collaboration in Egypt and in the larger region. More details on SRC training programs.

As a practical service to the research, policy, and action communities concerned with the situation of women and children in the Arab region, the SRC is developing a series of online 'Resource Sites' focused on different social policy topics. The sites offer access to relevant background information, literature, and research findings and analysis. The first site addresses issues of Working Children in Egypt. Topics under development include Women's Employment, Female Education, and Street Children.

Staff and Resources

The current director of the Social Research Center, Dr. Hoda Rashad, assumed her post in 1995, following the five year tenure of Dr. Saad Nagi. Dr. Laila El-Hamamsy was director of the Center for almost 25 years prior to 1990. Dr. Saad Gadalla served as director from 1975-83, and Dr. Helmi Tadros was acting director from 1983-85. Dr. John Provinse was the first director of the Center, from 1953-57.

Professional staff at the Center have research faculty status. With the exception of the post of director, all such posts are based on funded projects. Research faculty are appointed on a full- or part-time basis. Other forms of appointment include task contracts or consultancy posts. The professional research staff are supported by experienced specialists in field research, in the preparation of qualitative and quantitative field studies, and in data entry and computer analysis. Administrative and technical support staff provide support for the smooth functioning of operations at the Center and in the field, including secretarial needs, organization of workshops and conferences, and transport and travel arrangements. Drivers and vehicles are available for field work. To contact SRC staff members, see the SRC staff directory.

Technical resources include extensive hardware and software for data entry, storage, management, analysis and presentation; an active center website; in-house computer training facilities; and access through AUC to intranet, internet, and computing services expertise and facilities.

The Center maintains a strong network of institutional and individual linkages across the Arab region, Africa, South Asia, North America, and Europe. SRC faculty collaborate with faculty of other AUC departments and with many Egyptian, regional, and international colleagues, in undertaking research projects.

With fifty years experience in applied research and training, the SRC has well-developed skills and resources for conducting field research in Egypt and for training and support within Egypt and in the Arab region.

Donors and Funding

The Social Research Center depends on a wide range of donors for its research and training activities, as it is largely self-financed. The SRC has received U.S. $1,530,430 in new and pending grants in 2005/2006.

Institutional Donors
The center is especially grateful to three donors who have provided flexible core support grants which often emphasized the strengthening of its programs. These grants have also enabled the Center to expand its computer and software support, add new professional staff and provide support for researchers to formulate new research projects and training programs.
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, USA
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, USA
Ford Foundation, Middle East Regional Office

Other Donors
Other donors have provided grants which have principally been directed towards research in specific subject areas. Among them are:
Dutch Foreign Ministry
ENRECA
The Population Council, USA
Spencer Foundation
UNDP
UNICEF
Wellcome Trust
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

Funding for all SRC projects is in the name of the American University in Cairo. Contracts are submitted through the Office of Sponsored Programs. The Office of Sponsored Programs reviews all research proposals from the Center to ensure conformity with relevant university procedures and regulations, including US federal regulations such as human subject reviews, and those of the Egyptian government. Budget and accounting procedures for the Center are provided through the Office of the Controller and the Budget Office at AUC; and all university accounts are audited annually.

For more details on funding, see also: Recent sources of funding by project.

Future Thematic Directions:

SRC research and training activities emphasize three features:
1- A policy and action orientation, where the knowledge produced by SRC’s high quality research is relevant and responsive to development needs, and gets translated into policies and actions.
2- Nurturing and supportive environment, where SRC is providing training and capacity building services and the necessary supportive environment that allow the development of individual skills and institutional capabilities.
3- Regional orientation, where SRC is expanding its service beyond Egypt and becoming a leading focal point of policy related research and training in the region.


The following discusses the thematic directions that are planned for the near future.
II. Thematic Directions
Five programs are expected to receive an increased focus in the near future.
They are:
1. Gender and women’s empowerment (Regional)
2. Health inequities and their policy implications (Regional)
3. Investment climate assessment (Egypt)
4. Public Goods and Services’ Efficacy in augmenting Human Capability in Egypt
5. Towards more accurate, relevant, and open information systems (Egypt).

A brief description of each research focus follows.
1. Gender and Women’s Empowerment
The overall purpose of this research focus is to support effective policies in Arab countries to realize gender equity and to extend social citizenship, voice, rights and opportunities to women with a particular emphasis on the links between gender inequities and poverty. The gender gap persists in most Arab countries and is a major factor in low human development measurements in many countries including Egypt. SRC will make operational significant experience and an extensive regional network of scholars, activists and gender specialists.

Two activities that fall under this theme have already been funded:
a. Supporting Illiteracy Eradication Efforts in Egypt: Developing a demonstration model in Fayoum Governorate.
Funding Agency: Ford Foundation
Amount: $ 250, 000
End date: 30 April 2007
This is a collaborative activity between The National Council for Women, The General Authority for illiteracy Eradication and Adult Education and a number of governorates in Egypt which aims to monitor and evaluate the performance of the general authority and to support the adoption of new developmental strategies which address the illiteracy and poverty of women in 30 villages in Fayoum.
b. Pathways for Empowerment: Engaging with the Practical Lives of Arab Women and Youth
Funding Agency: Ford Foundation
Amount: $ 294,055
End date: 31 March 2007
This initiative focuses on the reasons why youth and women in Arab countries have yet to attain their full potential and voice. The obstructions that explain limited progress lie in daily life. This initiative will develop tools to better understand these obstructions, and in the case of youth, work with organizations and youth groups to develop effective programs that can secure youth civic participation.


Another Two Activities are proposed for Funding
c. The Empowerment of Women
Funding Agency: DFID
Amount: $700, 000 (Five Years)
Changing power relations in favor of women living in poverty is contentious and difficult. There is often a mismatch between the policy response and the nature of the challenge. It has been easier to pay lip service to the gender agenda than to deliver results. The current nature of public policy has encouraged governments and international agencies to build motorways to nowhere, blind to those less obvious pathways that are successfully changing women’s lives. This project aims to discover these pathways and make them visible for a fundamental shift in how policy for women’s empowerment is conceived and implemented. This initiative is a comparative and collaborative one involving partners from Britain (IDS), Ghana (Univ. of Ghana at Legon), Begladesh and Pakistan (Shirkat Gah), and Brazil (Univ. of Bahia) as well as Unifem and Care International.
The project has been awarded subject to contract which should be finalized by the end of October.
d. Analysis of Women, Work and Gender Survey Findings
Funding Agency: The World Bank
Amount: In discussion
The SRC in collaboration with the Ministry of Investment and the World Bank has undertaken a survey of the conditions and perception of men and women in industrial enterprises as a follow-up to the original Investment Climate Assessment activity. The survey yielded a valuable data set on the impact and significance of gender in the workplace and in the households of working persons. The Ministry of Investment is keen on pursuing a program of analysis for this rich data set through a call for expression of interest to work with SRC faculty to produce publications and policy relevant research on gender and work in Egypt. The World Bank will contribute to this process.


2. Health inequities and their policy implications
The program pf research is driven by a concern that health equity is not realized and that out current policies have not effectively reduced the unfair and remediable inequalities in health
The focus of the program is on three aspects data collection documenting health inequities, analysis to guide public policy formulation as well as partnership and communication to bring health equity to the forefront of attention.

Two activities fall under this theme:
a. Program of Research and Training in Reproductive Health
Funding Agency: Ford Foundation
Amount: $375,000
End date: 31 December 2006 and expected to be renewed for another 3 years
The program emphasizes gender inequalities in health and the implications of this inequality for delivery of health services.
b. Social Science Partnership in Development
Funding Agency: Wellcome Trust
Amount: Third phase is under discussion. Previous phase: 3,547,477 LE
The program supports social science research skills and research performance with a focus on health equity. The third phase targets individual support through training and research internships as well as capacity building of select number of institutions. It also involves a field survey.


3. Investment climate Assessment (Egypt)
Funding Agency: Ministry of Investment/World Bank
Amount: in discussion
The Investment Climate Assessment (ICA) is a collaborative survey conducted by SRC under the auspices of the Ministry of Investment. The objective of this ICA was to support the new Ministry of Investment in designing its priority reforms and providing quantitative measurements of the nature of challenges and hence allowing reform recommendations.
The survey included a quantitative assessment of the Egyptian investment climate using a firm-level survey. The assessment covered a sample of 1036 firm of 10 or more employees. In addition, SRC is currently participating in the study of the working conditions of the workers at the ICA sample of firms.
Discussion are underway with Ministry of Investment for regular follow up and monitoring studies.


4. Public Goods and Services’ Efficacy in augmenting Human Capability in Egypt
Funding Agency: Ford Foundation
Amount: $400,000 in discussion
The SRC has conducted a survey on the efficacy of public goods and services in extending social citizenship rights, social assets, and opportunities to Egyptians with a particular emphasis on the poor. This survey was conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of Planning, the Information and Decision-Making Support Center as well as the UNDP. The survey was fielded in July 2005 amongst a nationally representative sample of households for the purposes of informing the Egypt Human Development Report 2005 for its vision for Egypt in 2015. The proposed activity is a follow up to SRC work on the survey and will involve a program of analysis of the existing data and the development of a module to re-asses the impact of currently proposed policies to lift the burden of poverty and extend social citizenship through better targeted, quality public goods and services.


5. Towards more accurate, relevant, and open information systems (Egypt).
Funding Agency: Ministry of Planning/UNDP
Amount: In discussion
SRC has undertaken a series of studies and research papers providing a critical assessment of information policy in Egypt and calling for a more open, accurate and inclusive information policy. Furthermore under the auspices of Ministry of Planning, SRC performed two analytical studies specifying the missing gaps in the existing information to guide development studies (Situation analysis/Needs Assessment Study of Indicators for Population and Development in Egypt - $ 20,000) and assessing accuracy of indicators quoted in Egypt human development report (Assessment of the Accuracy of the Main Indicators Reported in Egypt Human Development Report - $ 50,000).
SRC is currently discussing future activities, particularly in relation to the accuracy of governorate level development reports and how to influence accuracy of data produced by line ministries.