Producing Informed Policy Research
Rigorous, locally grounded research that gives policymakers in South Asia and their international counterparts a shared, credible evidence base.
SAFI aims to produce an annual flagship country report, and issue-based policy briefs on South Asia, which will be shared with a wide audience, including government and non-government organizations and policymakers.
SAFI’s research programme is built around a single conviction: policy in South Asia improves when the evidence behind it is produced in the region, by researchers accountable to the communities the policy affects. Our publishing schedule is designed to serve two audiences at once — decision-makers who need a concise, defensible answer, and scholars who need the underlying data.
The centrepiece is an annual flagship country report covering each of the nine nations SAFI works across. Each edition combines original survey data, expert assessment, and a review of the year’s legislative and diplomatic record, so that trends can be compared reliably from one year to the next.
Alongside the flagship series, SAFI publishes issue-based policy briefs responding to developments as they happen. Briefs are short by design, carry explicit recommendations, and are distributed directly to government and non-government policymakers as well as being published openly.
What this program produces
- Annual flagship country reports covering all nine nations
- Issue-based policy briefs with explicit recommendations
- Open access datasets and methodological appendices
- Direct distribution to government and non-government policymakers
To inform, engage, and equip policymakers in South Asia by addressing gaps in foreign and public policy through analysis, opinion research, and foster informed public discourse, focused on locally driven solutions and free from any regional dominance.
Who this program is for
SAFI’s targeted groups include, but are not limited to, youth, scholars, students, experts, academics, vulnerable populations, refugees, immigrants, and practitioners. Outputs from this program are written to be useful to each of them — not only to specialists.
Evidence that reaches the people who decide.
Partner with the Institute, join a policy lab, or apply for an internship. We work with researchers, institutions, and communities across all nine nations and the diaspora.