Maria Klara Kuss is Professor of Social Protection Systems at the Department of Social Policy and Social Security Studies at the University of Bonn-Rhein-Sieg. Her work is interdisciplinary and sits at the intersection of politics, development sociology, and social anthropology. Her research focuses on social protection systems, the political economy of development, and social and gender norms, with particular attention to how policies can be designed and implemented to address inequality, support vulnerable people, and create transformative change.

Maria Klara holds a PhD in Public Policy and Policy Analysis from the United Nations University’s Maastricht, an MA in Governance and Development from the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, and a BA in Social Work. Her research has been published in high-ranking academic journals, including Social Policy and Administration, the European Journal of Development Research, the IDS Bulletin, and the Journal of Development Studies.

Maria Klara’s work bridges academic research and development practice to strengthen social policy and advance social justice. As an international consultant and development practitioner, she has led research, training, and advisory projects for UNICEF, UN Women, GIZ, FCDO, and ILO. At UNICEF Innocenti, she authored the flagship Gender-Responsive and Age-Sensitive Social Protection report (2024) and supported UNICEF HQ (New York) to integrate gender into social policy systems in various countries across the globe. She also contributed to UN Women’s World Survey on the Role of Women in Development (2024) and was part of the consulting team that developed UN Women’s Global Women’s Economic Empowerment Strategy (2024).