Call for Research Proposals/abstracts : 9th EPRN Annual Research Conference

Venue : Kigali-Rwanda (Hotel to be determined soon).
Conference Dates : May 25th-26th, 2023

Theme : Boosting Economic resilience to economic shocks

1. Introduction

Beyond gloomy short-term perspectives, the world economy is undergoing several fundamental changes affecting the longer term : geopolitical tensions ; rising interest rates, supply-chains vulnerabilities ; the acceleration of the digital economy ; increasing risk of global pandemics ; increases in energy, transport, and food prices ; deepening of environmental regulations and climate change concerns ; and the ensuing production relocations and changing international trade flows. In addition, most countries have seen rising income inequality in the past decade, and many are facing risks of rising poverty due to some of these developments. According to the World Banks’s 19th edition of the Rwanda Economic Update Rwanda’s GDP growth is projected at 6% for 2022, after having reached 11% in 2021.

Rwanda’s Vision 2050 sets out the country’s long-term development objectives : moving toward zero poverty and becoming an upper-middle income country by 2035, and high-income country by 2050, achieving this through high savings and investment and structural transformation to a knowledge-based economy. To achieve this Vision’s targets, Rwanda needs to transform the structure of its economy to respond to current challenges imposed by technological progress and climate change. Furthermore, Rwanda has to overcome the limits of its small domestic market and landlocked position and find its place in global and regional value chains. Productive capacity development will play a pivotal role in achieving the economic and social objectives of Rwanda because it can foster structural transformation, diversification, and employment generation (UNCTAD 2022).

2. About the 9th Economic Research Conference

The Economic Policy Research Network and partners are organizing a 9th Economic Research Conference under the following theme : “Boosting Economic resilience to economic shocks”.

This theme is subdivided into the following sub-themes :
Regional integration and trade
Agriculture development and food security
Business innovations and technology development
Enhancing productive capacities
Green economy and climate change resilience
Inclusive growth and poverty reduction
Human capital development

This high-level interactive 2-days research conference is expected to convene more than 200 participants, including researchers, senior policymakers, representatives of the development partners, civil society, private sector and the media. During the conference, research papers and reports related to conference sub-themes will be presented and discussed. Policy recommendations will be formulated and share with concerned institutors as a contribution towards boosting Rwanda’s economic resilience during the current socio-economic shocks.

3. Venue, Dates and Logistics

The 9th Annual Economic Research Conference is scheduled on May 25-26, 2023, in Kigali, Rwanda. EPRN will cater for COVID-19 tests for all participants at the venue, in case this is mandated. Lunches will be served to all participants at the conference venue, courtesy EPRN. EPRN will not cover accommodation and transport costs of participants.

4. Guidelines

The following guidelines are for the abstract to be submitted for 9th Economic Research Conference.

Abstract of maximum 500 words should include :
Background and purpose : description of the problem, study objectives, research question(s) and/or hypotheses ;
Methods : study design, including a description of participants and selection strategies, data collection procedures, measures, and approaches to analysis ;
Conclusions and implications : description of expected results and policy implications.

EPRN Rwanda encourages researchers to submit abstracts (maximum 500 words per abstract) related to one of the sub-themes above, which, once accepted, will be developed into a full manuscript. Abstracts must be original, in English and submitted in Word or PDF format to : info@eprnrwanda.org and conference2023@eprnrwanda.org and copy to ed@eprnrwanda.org. A researcher may submit more than one abstract ; and a team of researchers may submit a joint abstract.

5. Key Dates

Deadline for abstract submission : 20th December 2022 (by 5 pm CAT)
Notification of acceptance of the proposal by the selection committee : 28th December 2022
Deadline for initial submission of full draft paper : 31st March 2023(by 5 pm CAT)
Comments from external reviewers sent to researchers : 14th April 2023
Submission of final papers : 08th May 2023 (by 5 pm CAT)
Final notification of acceptance of a paper for conference presentation : 12th May 2023
9th EPRN Research Conference : 25th-26th May 2023

For more information, contact us through : conference2022@eprnrwanda.org and copy to info@eprnrwanda.org or Phone number (office) : +250788357648. You may also visit our website : www.eprnrwanda.org.

Done at Kigali, October 3, 2022

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