Serving through 2023
Nana Akua Anyidoho is Associate Professor at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research and Director of the Centre for Social Policy Studies (CSPS), both at the University of Ghana. Her research focuses on the ways in which marginalized social groups (in particular, young people and women) respond to globalizing and neo-liberalizing policy structures in their struggles for social and economic rights. Given the complexity of the person-policy nexus, she brings an interdisciplinary perspective to my research: she has a BA in Psychology (1997) from the University of Ghana and a PhD in Human Development and Social Policy (2005) from Northwestern University, with additional training in African Studies, statistics, and economics, and in both quantitative and qualitative methodologies.
She has published in development studies, gender studies, and African Studies journals, and is on the editorial boards of African Affairs, African Review of Economics and Finance, and Policy Studies. She has further presented her work widely, including through visiting fellowships at Boston University, Penn State University, and the University of Sussex.
In terms of policy engagement, Nana Akua Anyidoho was the lead consultant for the development of a Social Development Strategy as part of a long-term national development plan for the Government of Ghana. She was co-lead for UNECA’s report, ‘The Situational Analysis of Youth in Africa’, which resulted in the development of a policy toolbox for African governments. She has also carried out commissioned projects for the British Council, DFID, IDRC and the World Bank, among others.
She serves on the Executive Committee of the Council for the Development of Social Research in Africa (CODESRIA) and the Advisory Board of the SSRC’s Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa program. She is the immediate past President of the Ghana Studies Association (GSA).
Details of her projects, publications and professional service can be found at https://anyidoho.me