This week we kick off debate over how a post-2015 framework ought to measure poverty – with a blog by Martin Ravallion arguing that a new poverty target should continue to be based on a $1.25 a day poverty line alongside a ‘weakly relative’ poverty line, so that absolute poverty is given primacy but relative poverty is also taken into account.
Preparing a market stall - Abidjan, Ivory Coast
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Credit: babasteve
Source: Flickr
This event aimed to explore the views of those investing and doing business in Africa and to understand how best to harness business as an engine for economic development in the context of a new set of development goals.
'By looking at averages when measuring progress, we are looking at a biased view of what we have been able to achieve. Only by looking at inequitable distributions of our progress, can we really understand whether or not we are achieving progress.'
Inequality doesn’t just hurt the poorest people – it hurts whole societies, leading many to argue that tackling inequality should be at the centre of the next development framework – not on the periphery.
Children play with garbage in Phnom Penh’s Stung Meanchey slums, where some 2000 people live on the garbage dump and make their living selling recyclable refuse.
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Credit: United Nations Photo
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Should our concern be with inequality, per se, or rather the situation of the most deprived? Which inequalities are most pressing? Do we need a goal on inequality, or should it be incorporated as a ‘cross cutting’ issue? Which individuals or groups should we be most concerned about? In the light of the HLP’s forthcoming report, we invite our panellists to reflect upon its recommendations and give their own insights on the questions above.
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Credit: JohnConnell
Source: Flickr
As we approach 2015, the target date for the internationally-agreed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), discussions on what will replace them are gaining momentum. While there have been a number of conversations about the role of the private sector in a new framework, there have been few specific suggestions on how businesses could become involved in a new set of goals. This event, co-organised by Business Fights Poverty, Stakeholder Forum and ODI aims to shift the focus of the conversation towards a more practical discussion of proposals.