Disability, poverty and poverty dynamics: a preliminary analysis of panel data, policies and politics in Bangladesh- A Synthesis

This report is a synthesis of the research developed in the framework of the project 'Disability, poverty and poverty dynamics: a preliminary analysis of panel data, policies and politics in Bangladesh' and aims to summarises its main finding and policy implications. 

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Unpacking Disability-Extreme Poverty Links in Bangladesh through Household Income and Expenditure Survey: A Quantitative Exercise

Persons with disability are often considered as a specific chronic poverty group. However, little empirical evidence exists for developing countries on the size of disabled population. Even less is known about the interface between disability and poverty. The present study aims to provide statistically robust analysis of the state of disability and its interface with poverty and vulnerability through different pathways. 

Authors: Binayak Sen, Mainul Hoque 

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Practical measures to enable the economic empowerment of chronically poor women

This paper focuses on the economic empowerment of poor and very poor women and girls. Advice  on  the  practical  interventions  to  enable  WEE  is  rarely  disaggregated  by  the  intersecting inequalities that magnify poverty and inequality. As such, it fails to address the significant barriers to WEE for chronically poor women. This paper seeks to fill this gap in the literature. 

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(In)tangible assets: The road to economically empowering poor women in Bangladesh and Nigeria

This report assesses drivers of the economic empowerment of chronically poor women and girls in rural Bangladesh and rural Nigeria. The focus is on drivers related to assets, both intangibly in terms of education, and tangibly in terms of ownership of consumption and productive assets including land.

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What works for the poorest, and especially for the poorest women and girls? An assessment of (selected) donor contributions

Thispaper provides the latest analysis of development policies and programmes that work best for the poorest people. It has a particular focus on the poorest women and girls and it also focuses on the work carried out by a number of leading donors, assessing the extent to which they attempt to reach the poorest, and among them the poorest women and girls.

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Can locally-developed indicators catalyse more responsive local government? Findings from the research

This briefing paper provides recommendations for stakeholders on how toimprove accountability and performance in local governance through a local governance performance index (LGPI) at the district level in Tanzania. 

Authors: Rachel Hayman, Anna Mdee and Patricia Tshomba

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Designing a Local Governance Performance Index (LGPI): a problem-solving approach in Tanzania

This working paper details the process of creating a Local Governance Performance Index (LGPI) in Mvomero and Kigoma-Ujiji Districts of Tanzania and of studying its applicability. 

Authors: Anna Mdee, Patricia Tshomba & Andrew Mushi 

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Poverty dynamics and disability in rural Bangladesh: learning from life-history interviews

This paper explores the relationship between disability and poverty dynamics in rural Bangladesh drawing from 293 life-history interviews conducted by the author and a small team of researchers in 2007. The aim of the paper is to use existing life-history interviews to provide initial insights into the relationship between poverty and disability in Bangladesh.

Author: Peter Davis 

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Exploring development and accountability: laying the basis for a local governance performance index in Tanzania

This briefing paper summarises findings around the key questions of what ‘development’ means at the local level, who is responsible for it, and how local government can be held to account in practice. Findings are illustrated with selected quotes from interviews, focus groups and workshops, which demonstrate the challenges that need to be overcome to design and implement a performance index.

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Exploring the Links Between Poverty and Disability in Rural Bangladesh

This paper explores the links between poverty and disability drawing from 60 qualitative life-history interviews conducted in rural Bangladesh, in 48 households, in three districts, in March 2016. The paper provides insights into the relationship between poverty and disability with the aim of informing policy and practice concerned with both reducing poverty and improving the life chances of people with disabilities.

Author: Peter Davis

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A tale of triple disadvantages: Disability and poverty dynamics amongst women in rural Bangladesh

The focus of the paper is on persistently poor women with disabilities in Bangladesh. It seeks to contribute to the disability and chronic poverty policy discourse and work towards developing effective poverty reduction measures by investigating daily activities and coping strategies of poor persons with disabilities.

Author: Vidya Diwakar

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Anti-discrimination measures in education: A comparative policy analysis

Efforts to tackle discrimination in access to basic services have shown mixed results in different country settings. This study examines the positive and negative outcomes attributed to anti-discrimination measures adopted in different country contexts and analyses the factors contributing to these outcomes, with a specific focus on anti-discrimination measures in education.

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Exploring lines of blame and accountability in local service delivery

The selection of indicators for the creation of an index is critical if it is to be used as a mechanism to hold local government to account. Clear lines of responsibility and accountability need to be incorporated into the selection of indicators so the index can be applied at the local level.

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Do Anti-Discrimination Measures Reduce Poverty Among Marginalised Social Groups?

This report is a rigorous review of 470 pieces of evidence on the effectiveness of anti-discrimination measures in low and middle-income countries. The review focuses on women and girls, children, young people, disabled people, marginalised ethnic and racial groups and marginalised castes.

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How can public policy enhance female employment and empower women economically as countries urbanize?

Urbanisation and labour force participation can be powerful drivers of women economic empowerment. This paper reviews the empowering and disempowering effects of urbanisation on the the main areas of work performed by women in cities and analyses the interventions which have been implemented to support the different types of female urban livelihoods

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Good governance, local government, accountability and service delivery in Tanzania

A performance index for local governance in Tanzania needs to provide a clear indication of how effectively local government and partners are delivering public services, supporting livelihoods and ensuring peace and security.  This paper sets out the context of good governance, local governance, accountability and local service delivery in Tanzania.  

Authors: Anna Mdee and Lisa Thorley

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Improving the delivery of public services What role could a local governance index play?

One of the most powerful ideas in development in recent years has been good governance. This review of available evidence considers how the performance of local governance can be improved in relation to the better delivery of services, through the use of a local governance performance index. It also considers how the public tracking of locally meaningful measures of governance can be used to improve the accountability of local government bureaucracies and politicians.

Authors: Anna Mdee and Lisa Thorley

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