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Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF) Profile
The Economic and Social Research Foundation was established in 1994 as an independent, not-for-profit institution for research and policy analysis.
The formation of ESRF was based on the assumption that there was need and demand for an improved understanding of policy options and development management issues, and that the capacity for this was lacking in the Tanzania civil service.
ESRF addressed this gap by putting into place qualified professional staff, modest resources and a favourable research environment for the analysis and discussion of economic and social policy.
The primary objectives of the Foundation are to strengthen capabilities in policy analysis and development management and to enhance the understanding of policy options in the government, the public sector, civil society, and the donor community and the growing private sector.
ESRF ‘s Strategic Plan for the period 2003 – 2006 focuses on three main components.
These are: Consolidation, Innovation and Sustainability of its four activities namely
Policy Research ,
Capacity Building,
Policy work and Dissemination
Knowledge and Information Sharing.
Of these, the Policy Research is the core activity around which all other activities evolve.
Realising this six institutions from Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia founded the Southern and Eastern Africa Policy Research Network (SEAPREN) in November 1999, which was officially launched in February 2000.
In addition, the network was joined in November 2001 by a Kenyan institution. The main objective is to enhance capacity building in policy analysis in the region through among others exchange of best practices, learning from each other and optimise the use of existing human resources.
Eventually, this should strengthen the use of regional research and consultancy capacities for region-wide policy analysis.
The active promotion of the network on national, regional and international levels will increase the demand for local research resources. Instead of looking for and contacting various local institutions in the region potential clients will benefit from the existence of a network secretariat that provides information, arranges contacts and co-ordinates regional research activities.
