The Hidden Dimensions of Poverty: A New Framework for Action Webinar
Above: Screenshot from a video about The Hidden Dimensions of Poverty research.
A Webinar in French hosted by the French Development Agency and ATD Fourth World
Thursday 27 January 2022, 5 pm – 7 pm (French time)
Register online here.
Many studies convey a limited view of poverty and its origins, often portraying it in terms of hardships and economic situation. These studies focus on symptoms of poverty such as lack of income, poor diet, housing challenges, difficulty accessing basic services, etc. However, this view obscures the structural causes of poverty.
In an effort to look beyond traditional perspectives on poverty, ATD Fourth World undertook a multi-year participatory research project in collaboration with Oxford University. This project, called “The Hidden Dimensions of Poverty”, was conducted in six countries: Bangladesh, Bolivia, France, Tanzania, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The objective was a better understanding of poverty and how it is measured. Research teams created a diagram illustrating a new definition of poverty that includes nine interdependent dimensions common to all the participating countries: disempowerment; suffering in body, mind, and heart; struggle and resistance; lack of decent work; insufficient and insecure income; material and social deprivation; institutional maltreatment; social maltreatment; and unrecognised contributions.
This research was carried out with financial support from the French Development Agency (AFD). The project’s final international report was made public in 2019 and received considerable attention.
The Hidden Dimensions of Poverty research used the Merging of Knowledge methodology. In this original approach, people with a lived experience of poverty worked alongside researchers and professionals involved with people in poverty. Together they created the diagram that provides a framework for building new indicators and tools for poverty reduction policies.
This conference, conducted in French, will present The Hidden Dimensions of Poverty research in detail. Following the presentation, there will be discussion focused on two issues: the project’s results and their added value in terms of method and scientific knowledge; the operational potential of this framework for donors and development professionals.
Program
5:00-5:45 pm The Hidden Dimensions of Poverty: research approach and results
- Xavier Godinot, Research Director, ATD Fourth World, and Abdallah Bendjaballah, ATD Fourth World Activist and member of the national research team in France
- Professor Kitojo Wetengere, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs, University of Arusha, Tanzania
Upendo Sipora Christopher, Deputy Headmistress, Bunge Primary School, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania - Rehema Mapunda, ATD Fourth World Activist, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
5:45 -7:00 pm Round table
How do these research results help to better understand and reduce poverty?
How to develop new indicators and operational tools for development and international aid?
- François Bourguignon, Professor Emeritus, Paris School of Economics, Director of Studies at EHESS (School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences)
- Sylvie Bukhari-de Pontual, President, CCFD Terre Solidaire
- Marie-Hélène Loison, Deputy Director General, AFD
7:00 pm Conclusion
- Thomas Melonio, Executive Director of Innovation, Research, and Knowledge, AFD
Thank you for posting or sharing this article. I was able to gain plenty of information. It is indeed great.