The Former Prime Minister Dasho Tshering Tobgay delivered the main key note address at the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford University on 9th January as the main event of the three-day International Society of Bhutan Studies (ISBS) conference.
Read the full article here.
The International Society for Bhutan Studies (ISBS) inaugural conference in Magdalen College, Oxford University made the important first step of discussing and studying the diverse and less discussed aspects of Bhutan in a large international academic setting. More importantly, it set up and gave shape to an independent international ‘Bhutan studies’ group in its own right.
Read the full article here.
Monday 28 November
OPHI Briefing 52 (pdf 6 pages)
La publicación de dos cifras de pobreza, una de ellas multidimensional, constituye un reto comunicacional para cualquier gobierno: no solo hay que explicar las razones por las que se ha decidido llevar adelante ambas mediciones, o la razón detrás de cifras diferentes, sino que se debe hacer frente al reto de traducir aspectos muy técnicos a un lenguaje entendible para una audiencia general. Durante el proceso colombiano se presentaron algunas dificultades comunicacionales que fueron particularmente evidentes a través de una serie de errores en la difusión de la medida en los medios de comunicación. Para enfrentar esta situación, el DANE diseñó un taller para periodistas con el objetivo de explicar las diferencias entre las cifras y metodologías de pobreza.
Author: Silvia Botello
Language: Spanish
Year: 2019
Citation: Botello, S. (2019). ‘¿Cómo explicar la medición de la pobreza multidimensional a la opinión pública? Taller para periodistas en Colombia.’ OPHI Briefing 52, University of Oxford.
OPHI Briefing 51 (pdf 6 pages)
En julio de 2016, se emitió en Costa Rica la Directriz Presidencial N°045-MP en que se instó a todos los funcionarios del sector social a utilizar el Índice de Pobreza Multidimensional nacional como una herramienta oficial de medición, de información para asignación de recursos, de seguimiento y evaluación de los programas sociales. Previo al trabajo de cada institución para comenzar a planificar sus presupuestos considerando el IPM-CR, se realizó un ejercicio de simulación del posible impacto que tendría esta labor sobre la reducción de la pobreza multidimensional, cuyos resultados son el interés de este artículo. Este trabajo teórico fue realizado gracias a la alianza público privada entre el Gobierno de Costa Rica y la Asociación Horizonte Positivo, quienes se apoyaron en la firma consultora Cocobolo para el análisis estadístico de los datos.
Author: Andrés Fernández Arauz
Language: Spanish
Year: 2019
Citation: Fernández Arauz, A. (2019). ‘El IPM para alcanzar las metas de reducción de la pobreza’. OPHI Briefing 51, University of Oxford.
Wednesday 9th January 2019, Sheldonian Theatre, University of Oxford, 2.30pm- 6.30pm The Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) is delighted to announce an afternoon of two Distinguished Public Lectures on Bhutan, by the Former Prime Minister of Bhutan, His Excellency Dasho Tshering Tobgay, and the President of the Center for Bhutan Studies & Gross National Happiness, Dasho Karma Ura. This event is free, and tickets are open to the public. Please book your ticket here. Event details, 9th January 2019, Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford: 2:30-4:00pm His Excellency Dasho Tshering Tobgay will speak on The First Ten Years of Democracy: Reflections from Bhutan. 5:00-6:30pm Dasho Karma Ura will give a lecture on Development with Integrity: Bhutan’s development and its Gross National Happiness Index, chaired by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, Professor Louise Richardson. Discussants include Martine Durand (Chief Statistician, OECD) and James Foster (Professor of Economics and International Affairs at George Washington University). This event is part of the International Society of Bhutan Studies (ISBS) launch conference, taking place at Magdalen College, Oxford during 8-10th January 2019. The conference seeks to develop the study of Bhutanese culture, life and nature in all aspects and encourage, inspire and motivate interest in lesser known aspects and promote and strengthen the areas of existing concentration. ISBS exists primarily to encourage academic exchange, among both Bhutanese and foreign scholars, and secondarily to contribute to the happiness of future generations. For information about the wider conference, please visit the conference website here. For further information please email: isbsbhutan@gmail.comThe purpose of this research is to evaluate the short-term impact and long-term sustainability of Kenya’s Hunger Safety Net Programme (HSNP). Difference-in-difference and propensity score matching estimations are used to determine the impact of programme participation on the household multidimensional poverty index (MPI). We found that programme participation reduced the MPI significantly, which is mainly driven by the food insecurity dimension, and that the reduction in poverty is due to the reduction in the incidence and intensity, the latter in particular, of poverty among the ultra-poor households. Our analysis of the political economy of Kenya suggests that, while the government is making progress in the institutionalisation of social protection, weaknesses in the implementation and financing of the programme, as well as the short-term focus of impact evaluation, may undermine the programme’s potential to help build a strong state that is accountable for the eradication of poverty.
Citation: Song, S. and Imai, K.S. (2018). ‘Does the Hunger Safety Net Programme reduce Multidimensional poverty?: Evidence from Kenya’, OPHI Working Paper 124, University of Oxford.
Authors: Sophie Song and Katsushi S. Imai
Publication date: December 2018
JEL Codes: C23, I31, I32, I38, O22
ISBN: 978-19-1229-115-1
Copyright holder: Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative
Final Communiqué Presentations Photos Agenda Concept Note
The 6th Annual Meeting of the Multidimensional Poverty Peer Network (MPPN) was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 30 October – 1 November 2018. The meeting was hosted by the Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation responsible for Statistics South Africa, with the support of the Department of Social Development and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI).
This dynamic meeting featured South-South exchanges about how countries and institutions were measuring and tackling multidimensional poverty to help improve the lives of the poor. Special attention was given to how the measures could be used for policy action and how to report the measures for tracking progress towards the SDGs.
At the opening session on 30 October, participants heard a keynote address from Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who also answered questions from the attendees about her experience with poverty reduction policies in South Africa. As the Minister said: “This meeting gives us a chance to work together in a South-South cooperation, to listen to each other, to hear about examples of best practice initiatives, and, most importantly, to learn from one another.” This was followed by a panel discussion on MPI uses from different regional participants. The afternoon was spent on an excursion organized by the Department of Social Development to two nearby community centres working with the poor at the grassroots level.
On 31 October, there was an introduction from Sabina Alkire, Director of OPHI, reviewing the MPPN’s activities for the past year. The substance then opened with a keynote address by Gonzalo Hernandez Licona, Executive Secretary of CONEVAL in Mexico. The first in-depth panel discussed experiences in developing, communicating, and launching a National MPI, with presentations from Malaysia, Morocco, Mozambique, and South Africa.
In the afternoon, representatives from the Seychelles, Chad, Kenya, Thailand, and Tanzania presented on the work they were currently doing to develop multidimensional poverty measures. The OPHI team then shared key findings from the recently revised global MPI 2018. This was followed by the second in-depth panel, focused on using an MPI for policy action, with inputs from Chile, Mexico, Panama, and Vietnam.
1 November opened with the third and final in-depth panel, featuring presentations from representatives of international agencies, including SADC, Sida, UNDP, UNICEF, UN-ECLAC, UN-ESCWA, and OPHI. The day continued with the final keynote presentation, this one from Risenga Maluleke, Statistician General of Statistics South Africa. The participants then had an open dialogue about negotiating different measures of multidimensional poverty and reporting progress towards the SDGs. The meeting closed with discussion of the communiqué and work plan for the coming year.
Oxford-based theatre company Justice in Motion have produced a short play on behalf of OPHI, exploring the multidimensional layers of poverty. Watch a video of the performance below.
A high resolution version of this video is available to watch on YouTube.
Find out more about multidimensional poverty.