Skills formation for an Inclusive and Sustainable Future of Worker(ers) in Eastern and Southern Africa
The Call for Research on “Skills formation for an Inclusive and Sustainable Future of Worker(ers) in Eastern and Southern Africa” offers grants of up to ZAR 400,000 for institutions in Eastern and Southern Africa to conduct original, policy‑relevant research on skills formation, labour markets and just transitions.
Opportunity overview
The call is led by the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies (SCIS), the Centre for Researching Education and Labour (REAL) at the University of the Witwatersrand, and the International Labour Organization (ILO), as part of the FutureWORKS Collective supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). It aims to build a regional network of leading research institutions generating rigorous evidence to support labour policies and skills interventions for a Just Transition in the context of demographic change, digitalisation and decarbonisation in Eastern and Southern Africa.
In this second round, the call will fund original empirical research on skills formation systems at three levels of analysis – education and learning systems, sectors and occupations, and firms – with a strong emphasis on gender equity, inclusion and power relations. Proposals must be theoretically grounded, methodologically coherent, and explicitly show how they will use an intersectional gender lens and meet high ethical standards, including institutional ethics approval.
Funding, themes and duration
Each project can receive up to ZAR 400,000 for the grant period 1 April 2026 – 31 March 2027, with funds disbursed in tranches based on outputs (contract, inception report, working paper, journal article and summary brief). Research teams are expected to produce:
- A working paper on Wits WIReDSpace (open access).
- A journal article for a special issue or edited volume.
- A summary brief in a prescribed format for wider audiences.
Projects should address one or more of four thematic areas:
- Education and Learning Pathways – how education and training systems align (or not) with young people’s transitions into stable, skilled and decent work, including governance of skills systems, TVET pathways, workplace learning, and employment outcomes.
- Occupations and Occupational Change – how occupations are constituted and restructured, how standards and licensing interact with labour processes, and how occupational systems reflect African realities and support decent work.
- Labour Process and Worker Power – workplaces as sites of class relations, managerial and worker power, and how restructuring, decarbonisation and digitalisation shape skills, precarity and bargaining power.
- Entrepreneurship and Self‑Employment – skills, work and livelihoods in SMMEs and community‑based economies, and the role of intermediaries and interventions in supporting (or not) sustainable livelihoods.
Interdisciplinary methods are encouraged, including statistical analysis, surveys, interviews, ethnography, community‑based methods and innovative qualitative or digital methods, with a clear rationale and analysis plan.
Eligible organisations and countries
The call welcomes proposals from researchers based at or affiliated with research institutions in Eastern or Southern Africa. Eligible institutions include:
- Public or private universities.
- Independent research centres.
- Non‑governmental organisations with research capacity.
Where teams involve more than one institution, one must be designated as the lead institution, responsible for the contract with the University of the Witwatersrand. The Principal Investigator must have a strong track record of high‑quality, policy‑relevant research on labour markets, conditions of work, social reproduction and/or skills systems, and the team must be able to work in English and the relevant local working languages.
The geographic focus is Eastern and Southern Africa, with projects either single‑country or comparative across multiple ESA countries; research must make a clear conceptual, empirical and policy contribution to debates in the region. Proposals must also show how gender equity and inclusion are integrated into team composition, research design, analysis and dissemination.
Not eligible as applicants:
- Multilateral organisations.
- Government departments.
- Consultancy companies.
- For‑profit organisations.
Application process and key dates
Applications consist of two parts submitted via the online platform:
- Part A (online form): Basic details on researchers and institution, country focus, thematic area and a max 250‑word abstract.
- Part B (uploaded document): Full proposal following the Appendix 1 template, within specified word limits, plus annexes:
- Compiled CVs of all team members.
- Stage 1 Data Management Plan.
- Proof of legal status of the institution.
File naming convention: [Country].[Surname].[File Type] (e.g. Mozambique.Dhlamini.Proposal).
Key dates:
- Information session: 28 January 2026 at 15:00 SAST / 16:00 EAT (online; registration required).
- Proposal deadline: 15 February 2026, 23:59 SAST (online submission).
- Notification of results: by 2 March 2026.
- Grant cycle: 1 April 2026 – 31 March 2027, with an anticipated project start date of 1 September 2026.
Queries and information‑session registration: Dept-Info.SCIS@wits.ac.za.
- Click here to register for the information session: 28 January 2026, 3pm SAST / 4pm EAT
- Download the documents for the FutureWORKS Call for Research_2026 application.