Fundamentals of Social Policy and Development: An Introductory Course

Details of the #WebPolicyLearning:

Dates: Mar (21, 28) & Apr (4, 11, 18, 25), 2027
Six Consecutive Sundays
Time: 4 – 6 p.m. IST
Platform: Zoom 

Registration Form: https://forms.gle/baKo8vw9aoGwCkwz6

Course Fee in INR (inclusive of GST): Professionals: INR 3999 | Students: INR 2999

Special 20 percent discount for IMPRI Alumni. Bulk Discounts can be availed for groups of more than 5 participants. IMPRI Alumni can avail benefits through the IMPRI Referral Policy for Alumni & Friends.

Payment of Course Fee: https://rzp.io/rzp/coursefeesimpri
Alternatively, can use any payment method from here: https://www.impriindia.com/payment-details/

Every society must decide how to meet human needs, share resources and reduce inequality, and the answers it chooses shape health, education, work and dignity for millions of people. Social policy is the study of those choices, and development is the test of whether they work.

This twelve-session introductory online certificate course, convened by IMPRI, introduces the core concepts, institutional frameworks and analytical tools of social policy and human development. Participants explore how states, markets and civil society identify needs, distribute resources and address systemic inequalities, using comparative case studies from India and across the world. The course covers social protection, health, education, gender and care, and poverty alleviation, and pairs each academic expert with a practitioner from administration, civil society or law so that concepts meet implementation realities. No prior background is needed.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Explain the relationship between social welfare models and economic development
• Identify the stages of the policy cycle: agenda-setting, design, financing, implementation and evaluation
• Analyse social safety nets and social protection systems in high-income and developing countries
• Evaluate social interventions using basic equity, efficiency and rights-based frameworks
• Draft a concise two-page policy brief on a specific development challenge

Key Themes & Focus Areas

• Foundations: What social policy is, human needs and social rights, citizenship, and paradigms of development from GDP-centric growth to human development and the capability approach.
• Welfare Regimes and State Models: Liberal, corporatist and social democratic welfare states, and developmental welfare in the Global South, where informal work and agrarian transitions shape what is possible.
• The Policy Process: Agenda-setting and problem definition, stakeholders and political will, financing and delivery mechanisms, and the roles of the state, donors, NGOs and private providers.
• Poverty and Social Protection: Absolute, relative and multidimensional poverty, inequality, universal versus targeted transfers, and cash transfer programmes.
• Sectoral Interventions: Universal health coverage, education and human capital, gender, the care economy, and vulnerable groups including children, persons with disabilities and older persons.
• Evaluation and Future Frontiers: Monitoring and evaluation, impact assessment, just transitions, digital welfare delivery and artificial intelligence in welfare.

This course is structured for undergraduate and postgraduate students, early-career professionals, researchers, civil servants, NGO and civil society practitioners, and anyone entering social policy and development work. No prerequisites are needed.

Participants would:

• Learn from nationally and internationally renowned economists and practitioners
• Gain first-hand insights and networking opportunities
• Get the course outline and a curated pre-session reading kit of policy briefs, working papers and data snippets
• Get access to session videos for 15 days
• Receive a certificate of completion
• Have the opportunity to publish their course reflection article on the IMPRI Insights Blog, which features articles of eminent people from around the globe

Upon successful completion of the program, each participant will be awarded a Certificate of Completion.

Chair:

Experts:

coming soon

Convener:
Dr Simi Mehta, CEO & Editorial Director, IMPRI
Dr Arjun Kumar, Director, IMPRI, New Delhi