AF Development Care is a social enterprise that conducts research, evaluates programmes, and designs policies. Our approach is ethical, academically rigorous, and based on first-hand experience in complex and fragile settings. We founded our research organisation to address protracted and challenging crises in Asia, Africa, and beyond. We are a growing network of local and international researchers, working together with civil society organisations, academic institutions, international and non- governmental organisations, foundations and the private sector.  Our five research areas are our areas of thematic experience. While our projects broadly fall under each of these pillars; we also recognise and work on the intersections of these themes through cross-sectoral collaborations.

AF Development Care focuses on the protection, contributions, and aspirations of women in informal labour and health. We provide an evidence base to ensure that the development and implementation of global, regional, and national policies are adapted to and incorporate local specificities. Our research contributes to a paradigm and narrative shift to showcase women informal labour as opportunities and actors of change for the societies that they belong to.

The Social Equity aims to understand and act on the growing social and economic inequalities of today’s world. We do this by conducting participatory research with marginalised communities to identify models of equity and equality for tomorrow. Based on our field research, AFDC team have identified three interrelated thematic dimensions for identifying new models of social equity: Climate Change, Urban and Gender.

Our Children & Youth research focuses on these key segments of the population whose needs, rights, and aspirations are little understood within contexts affected by migration, health, poverty. This thematic area delivers research that responds to the global explosion of this demographic and its central role in shaping the future. Over half the world’s population is currently under 30, the vast majority of which lives in developing countries. Rather than see them as a force for development, political, and societal change, the rhetoric around this youth “bulge” casts young people as a burden and children as “victims” to be protected.

Our Implementation Research area is designed, to: Ensure that monitoring and evaluation of humanitarian and development programmes consider the scalability and sustainability of actions, learning from best practices and challenges that commonly face practitioners and implementers. We focus on community-driven solutions and partnerships with a range of actors (incl. from the private sector and the tech sector) to roll-out innovations that support migrant and low-income communities, and that are sustainable and viable over the longer-term.

The Data Standards and Analytics area creates tools for use in the analysis and interpretation of field data. We rely on the experience and data accrued by AF Development over more than a decade of fieldwork in contexts to Asia. We look at data from novel perspectives, developing sampling methodologies, indices, statistical models, and predictive analytics. We strive wherever possible to collaborate in and contribute to the creation of global standards and best practices in the hope of informing spirited and rigorous policy debate.

We are over 20 core staffs with a range of cultures, ages, genders and perspectives. We continue to identify talent from the countries where we work. We have open vacancies year-round.

 

Our consultants and experts

We work with experts globally, including staff who have moved but remain with our organization as AF Development Care fellows. We have a roster of consultants for added technical skills. We are on the lookout for great minds specialising in legal analysis, financial inclusion, advanced modelling, and education, among others.

 

Our partners

Many of our research projects are led alongside academic institutions, as well as researchers and think tanks from around the world. Partnering with local organisations, has been invaluable in providing contextual expertise, navigating access to research sites, and working with local and national administrations – these partnerships are at the core of our work.

 

 

Each research project opens up spaces for academics, practitioners, policymakers, and communities to engage with us

Space for Collaboration in Design and Analysis

country/area expertise, method expertise and thematic expertise

Space for Peer Review and Quality Control
Apply standards of scientific peer review to our research and outline steps for quality control and over- sight

Space for Field Level Problem Solving
Anticipate and communicate on risks and mitigation strategies before, during and after fieldwork

Space for Exchanges with Partners
Identify issues to advocate for, identify opportunities for translation and opportunities for dis- semination

Space for Feedback and Thanks
Engage in validation exercises and give thanks to key informants and research participants

 

 

We maintain academic standards towards sampling methodologies, in complex and challenging contexts. Our field-based methodologies are developed to navigate the limitations of fieldwork in difficult regions, and address the biases inherent in such strenuous contexts. Our research teams are trained to implement advanced sampling strategies, including standard stratified sampling and cluster-sampling techniques, as well as more advanced reference-driven sampling methods necessary to reach sparse target groups.

We employ advanced data analysis and modelling techniques. It is important to be confident knowing what the data can, and cannot tell us. We constantly update our technical skills and tools to perform in-depth analysis, from confidence-based cross-tabulations to bespoke scoring and indexing techniques built to uncover trends and anomalies and tailored to test hypotheses.

We care about common standards and open access to data and tools. We are engaged in discussions with partners throughout the world to create a library of standard question sets, measuring well-established indicators and per- forming advanced analyses, open to the scrutiny of all.

JOIN US ON THE ROAD AHEAD

 

Our strategy is set for 2023–2025, recognising the global challenges that require us to set concrete and measurable goals. Through this period we will continue to check in with our partners and clients, develop new products and methods, and seek feedback.

Follow and engage with us on Twitter through which we share insights from our analysis, research, and stories.

 

Collaborate with us; we are always looking to partner with:

• Development-led organisations for research, storytelling and capacity-building initiatives.

• Local governments to help train and create effective policy responses.
• Local and global research organisations to develop projects, campaigns and advocacy strategies.
• Investors and donors to invest in projects which have the greatest impact. •Universities to host courses, guest lectures, and organise co-events.
• Journalists and media organisations to co-produce stories based on our understanding of fragile contexts.

 

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

 

Write to us with your thoughts, feedback and ideas – we value your voice and insight and would love to know what you think we should be researching and covering. Reach out to us at office@afdc.in we look forward to hearing from you.