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The European Report on Development (ERD) is the main outcome of the Mobilizing European Research for Development Policies, an initiative promoted and financed by the European Commission together with seven EU Member States: Germany, Finland, France, Luxembourg, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
The aim of this initiative is to help the European Union refine its vision of development and enrich its policies on the basis of knowledge, innovation, and the building of common ground between the European research community, policymakers, and a broad public.

The ERD is led by a multidisciplinary team based at the Robert Schuman Centre of the European University Institute. The team works with a broad network of scholars, from both developed and developing countries.

In 2009, the first edition of the ERD – “Overcoming Fragility in Africa – Forging a New European Approach” – focused on the various dimensions of fragility, their implications for development policies, and the approaches needed to tackle the issue.

This year, the ER2010 deals with the issues of poverty, inequality and social protection, with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. Many African countries are stuck in a situation of chronic poverty and are increasingly vulnerable to external shocks, such as climate change, food and fuel price volatility, or the recent financial crisis. These shocks are undermining progress towards the MDGs, and increasing demand for new and more substantive social protection programs in many African countries. Social protection – which is increasingly recognized as an effective tool to protect people from risks and reduce vulnerability – is thus rapidly becoming a priority in the development agenda, both for donors and local governments.