For the first episode of the Impact & Beyond PODCAST, I am delighted to be joined by my good friend and social protection experts, Fred Merttens.
Fred was a Principal Consultant in the Poverty and Social Protection team at Oxford Policy Management (OPM), where he spent most of his career. He is now working as a freelance consultant focusing on social protection and social policy across a large range of clients and countries, including in East Africa and Ethiopia.
This was such an interesting conversation, covering many different topics. We started by discussing Fred’s journey to become a social protection expert and then talked about some of his most impactful work, including the Hunger and Safety Net Programme (HSNP), in Kenya, and a recent targeting analysis, in Ethiopia.
Fred also shares insights into the importance of fostering strong relationships with stakeholders to ensure that evaluation findings are effectively implemented; the vital role of infrastructure and accurate population data in supporting social protection efforts; and the necessity of adopting a holistic approach that integrates multiple policy domains in order to tackle poverty and its the root causes.
Listen to the podcast to gain the full insights from our discussion!
Join the conversation by sharing your comments and sending your questions, either to me or directly to Fred.
#Ethiopia #Kenya #EastAfrica #SocialProtection #Evaluation #Podcast
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