Welcome!
NEW PUBLICATION
In the beginning of 2019 – ten years after the pilot project evaluation – another series of interviews with residents of Otjivero were conducted and compiled in a report. This publication aims to give a voice to the people at the centre of the BIG pilot project who experienced what changed and what remained after the BIG ended and how lives look like ten years later. The publication highlights the political developments since the pilot project. Most importantly it provides a long term analysis of the effects of a Basic Income on household and community level from the perspective of the people concerned. This publications wants to ensure that their voices and opinions are heard.
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Welcome to the Homepage of Rev. Dr. Claudia and Rev. Dr. Dirk Haarmann,
Our studies and work in the fields of development and theology have taken us from Germany to Namibia, South Africa, Switzerland, and back to Namibia. In the 90s, we studied social development and theology in Southern Africa and Germany and worked, inter alia, for the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), two South African Government Commissions, and the South African Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Social Development. Both of us hold a PhD in Social Development from the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and a Masters in Theology from Bochum University (Germany).
We are ordained pastors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia (ELCRN). From 2003 to 2009, we coordinated the Basic Income Grant (BIG) Coalition in Namibia, as well as the implementation and impact assessment of the worldwide first BIG Pilot Project in Otjivero, Namibia (www.bignam.org). In 2013/14, we organized the Namibian Drought Relief Cash Grant of the Lutheran churches and the ACT-Alliance.
From 2015 to 2023, we served two congregations in Switzerland and are members of the Synod of the Reformed Church in Graubünden (Switzerland).
Since 2019, we are social policy advisors with the Economic Policy Research Institute (EPRI) in Cape Town. We have worked extensively in Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, amongst others, as regional coordinators for Southern Africa of the Advanced International Training Programme (SIDA-ITP) in Social Protection for Sustainable Development.
Since 2022, we have been the programme convenors of the GRAPE Training programme for the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC). The GRAPE programme is a global initiative of the World Communion of Reformed Churches, together with EPRI. It delivers an advanced training and support programme tailored for the Global Reformed Advocacy Platforms for Engagement (GRAPE) and their campaigns. This program brings together churches, NGOs, and other activists in the field of economic and climate justice. It aims to bring about tangible change from LOCAL to GLOBAL to LOCAL.
Our interests are economic and social security, climate justice, poverty, HIV-AIDS, alternative economic models, participatory action research and micro-simulation, contextual theology, and theology and development.
Our webpage showcases some highlights, research projects, publications, and pictures of our work and provides links to other organisations in the field.
Please feel free to contact us. We are happy to exchange experiences and assist where we can. Towards a better world for all!
Our studies and work in the fields of development and theology have taken us from Germany to Namibia, South Africa, Switzerland, and back to Namibia. In the 90s, we studied social development and theology in Southern Africa and Germany and worked, inter alia, for the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), two South African Government Commissions, and the South African Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Social Development. Both of us hold a PhD in Social Development from the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and a Masters in Theology from Bochum University (Germany).
We are ordained pastors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia (ELCRN). From 2003 to 2009, we coordinated the Basic Income Grant (BIG) Coalition in Namibia, as well as the implementation and impact assessment of the worldwide first BIG Pilot Project in Otjivero, Namibia (www.bignam.org). In 2013/14, we organized the Namibian Drought Relief Cash Grant of the Lutheran churches and the ACT-Alliance.
From 2015 to 2023, we served two congregations in Switzerland and are members of the Synod of the Reformed Church in Graubünden (Switzerland).
Since 2019, we are social policy advisors with the Economic Policy Research Institute (EPRI) in Cape Town. We have worked extensively in Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, amongst others, as regional coordinators for Southern Africa of the Advanced International Training Programme (SIDA-ITP) in Social Protection for Sustainable Development.
Since 2022, we have been the programme convenors of the GRAPE Training programme for the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC). The GRAPE programme is a global initiative of the World Communion of Reformed Churches, together with EPRI. It delivers an advanced training and support programme tailored for the Global Reformed Advocacy Platforms for Engagement (GRAPE) and their campaigns. This program brings together churches, NGOs, and other activists in the field of economic and climate justice. It aims to bring about tangible change from LOCAL to GLOBAL to LOCAL.
Our interests are economic and social security, climate justice, poverty, HIV-AIDS, alternative economic models, participatory action research and micro-simulation, contextual theology, and theology and development.
Our webpage showcases some highlights, research projects, publications, and pictures of our work and provides links to other organisations in the field.
Please feel free to contact us. We are happy to exchange experiences and assist where we can. Towards a better world for all!