This address will be in three parts:

• The first will reaffirm who we are as HSRC, in terms of our mandated objectives

• The second part will look back on our recent achievements

• The third part will look ahead, towards new challenges and opportunities

Who we are

The HSRC – who we are and what we do

• First, we promote, support and co-ordinate research in the human and social sciences. In this regard I see the HSRC as a doer, a catalyst, and as an energizer

• Second, the HSRC provides advice to decision-makers, based on this research

• Third, we distribute the results of research

• Fourth, we conduct public interest research and evaluate implementation of programmes

• Fifth, we train young and upcoming researchers, particularly women and black South Africans, something about which I am personally very passionate, for obvious reasons

who we are and what we do (cont.)

To achieve these goals, we are supported by

• Government – at all levels;• Donor organisations and other

funders of research; • Other research entities: universities,

fellow science Councils, NGOs, as well as the media, and

• Individuals who participate as participants in surveys or interviews; and the potential beneficiaries of our research

Our recent achievements

What we have achieved in the year under review

• Sound financial management and overall performance in terms of the Public Finance Management Act (Income Statement on page 134)

• Received a positive report by the Auditor-General (page 98 of the Annual Report)

• For every R1 it received from the Parliamentary Grant, the HSRC has raised nearly R2 from other sources (page 141 Annual Report)

• Not accumulated either an undue surplus or a deficit, despite having to manage an overall turnover of close to R240 million for the year

Excellent performance against its rigorous ‘COUPE’

benchmarks:• C for contracts and grants (to expand the

HSRC’s funding base in a sustainable manner);

• O for outreach (to improve external collaboration, thereby benefiting research capacity, quality and impact),

• U for user needs (to ensure that our research remains relevant),

• P for performance (focusing on improved organisational performance in terms of both

• E for excellence

COUPE indicators Mar.‘01-'05COUPE Definition Contracts/grants

Research earnings as a percentage of total research income

62

OutreachPercentage of projects with external participation

55

UsersPercentage of competitive tenders that are successful

33

Performance: Equity

Percentage of black researchers (excluding interns)

55

Performance: Efficiency

Percentage of researchers in total staff 60

Excellence: Publications

Refereed journal articles, per researcher head, as %, unadjusted

75

Excellence: Qualification

Percentage of researchers with Masters or Doctorate degrees (excluding interns)

90

30 40 50 60 8070

21

64

51

22

24 43

5330

23 79

% 90Target 05/06

4051 *

* 58% including interns

20

9264

Special achievements for the year

• Large-scale survey of training in private enterprises for the Department of Labour

• Developed a model, ‘AQEE’ (literally, a key) to evaluate the functioning of education systems (Access, Quality, Efficiency, Equity)

• Comprehensive survey, with UKZN and MRC, of demand and supply of educators, taking into account the effects of HIV/AIDS (in cooperation with labour movement, policy makers, Council)

Special achievements for the year (cont.)

• HIV front: groundbreaking study with MRC and University of Stellenbosch on HIV exposure risk to children in Free State

• Exposed risks in dental, maternal and neonatal services resulting in appropriate interventions

Special achievements for the year (cont.)

• SAHARA is a continent-wide network• Facilitates multi-country,multi-site

studies• Collaborates with SADC, NEPAD,

universities, governments and NGOs• Transfers income to research

partners in Southern, Eastern, Central and West Africa

Special achievements for the year (cont.)

• ‘Birth to 20’ largest and longest running study of child youth and health, currently looking at sexual and reproductive health risks, and risks for chronic diseases

Special achievements for the year (cont.)

• Commissioned by government: large repeat-visit monitoring survey to track service delivery, evaluate performance and measure efficacy of interventions

• HSRC data officially designated ‘Official Statistics for the National R&D’; also recognised by the OECD in Paris

• HSRC and partners have established FIVIMS for monitoring food insecurity for Department of Agriculture

The future

My vision for the future:• Make HSRC both a human and social

sciences research council• Use history, philosophy, arts, culture,

heritage, language, religion to gain new insights into our society

• The HSRC will be the knowledge hub for research, debate and generation of solutions on public policy challenges

• The HSRC will create implementation research networks of researchers, policy makers, NGOs, donors to implement evidence-based programmes

My vision for the future: (cont.)

• Outreach into Africa not in ‘coloniser or imperialist’ mode, but as research catalyst and to promote collaborative research for capacity building

• The HSRC will endeavour to create Africa-wide networks to jointly explore their history better to understand their milieu

• The HSRC will seek to attract African visiting scholars, fellows and scientists to harness their energies and scientific expertise

Policy Analysis Unit (PAU)

• To serve as a ‘think tank’ targeting critical challenges facing our country

• To bring together multidisciplinary theorists and intellectuals

• To provide forum for discussion of key societal issues and inform policy makers, activists, donors

• To host time-limited initiatives on critical issues such as employment and quality of education

Current time-limited PAU initiatives

• Employment , Growth and Development initiative will identify scenarios and strategies for unemployment reduction and employment creation

• National Education Quality Improvement initiative to harness regional collaboration to develop a systems model for incorporation of relevant knowledge in policy making

Organisational Restructuring

• Restructuring objectives:• To streamline institutional

governance• To promote greater synergy

between cognate research initiatives• To streamline donor support• Increase efficiency• Facilitate greater collaboration

between research programmes

Structure of the HSRC• International Liaison•Business Development•Corporate Communications•Council Secretariat• Internal Audit

HSRC COUNCIL

PRESIDENT AND CEO Dr Olive Shisana

SOCIAL ASPECTS OF HIV/AIDS

& HEALTHVacant

CHILD, YOUTH & FAMILY

DEVELOPMENTProf. Linda Richter

SOCIETY,CULTURE &IDENTITY

Dr Xolela Mangcu

URBAN, RURAL &ECONOMIC

DEVELOPMENTDr Udesh Pillay

EDUCATION, SCIENCES & SKILLS

DEVELOPMENTDr Andre Kraak

DEMOCRACY &GOVERNANCE

Prof. Adam Habib

RESEARCH PROGRAMMES

SUPPO

RT

SER

VIC

ES

PUBLICATIONSMr Garry Rosenberg

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICERMr Mike de Klerk

FINANCEMr Martin Fox

ITMr Gerald O’Sullivan

HRMs Vicky Tlhabanelo

ISMs Faye Reagon

OPSMs Adeola Adesanya

CR

OSS

CU

TT

ER

S

GENDER & DEVELOPMENTProf. Cheryl Potgieter

POLICY UNITVacant

CAPACITY DEVELOPMENTDr Romilla Maharaj

SAHARADr Gail Andrews

KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMSProf. Michael Kahn EMPLOYMENT,

GROWTH & DEV.Dr Miriam Altman

EDUCATIONQUALITY

Dr Anil Kanjee

Organisational Restructuring (cont.)

• Restructuring objectives: • Need to strengthen the role and

position of the human sciences, alongside the social sciences, in our research. Currently, the human part of the HSRC is silent. The HSRC has not

• Need to systematically used history, philosophy, arts, culture, language, religion and tradition to gain new insights into, and make sense of our continent and society