Poverty Policy Research Articles

Environmental Management by Faith Based Organizations in Uganda: A SWOT Analysis

Faith Based Organizations (FBOs) play a significant role in environmental management in Uganda. Despite this, they have been largely ignored in scholarship leading to a significant gap in understanding activities they carry out and challenges they encounter in environmental management. This study explored the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats associated with environmental management by the FBOs in Uganda. FBOs selected and studied were the Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Church of Uganda, the Muslim Faith, Pentecostal Assemblies of God and the Seventh day Adventist, since they consist over 86% of Uganda’s population. Qualitative and quantitative research strategies with systematic and purposive sampling techniques were used. SWOT analysis using Key Informant Interviews and questionnaires were carried out to obtain information from seven (7) key decision-making staff at the FBOs’ headquarters and 75 from regional centers. Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and content analysis respectively. Key strengths of FBOs in environmental management include; land ownership, skilled human resources and finances. Existence of good structures from grassroots to national level, knowledge in environmental management and an extensive following countrywide boosts the capacity of FBOs to engage in environmental management activities. Major areas that need improvement are; knowledge and skills in environmental management of leaders and followers; resource mobilisation skills and interest in environmental conservation among most clergy and Imams. Key opportunities were; existence of large number of employees and followers who can be trained in environmental management and the structures from grass-root to national level. Key threats were human population explosion, poverty, land grabbing and unfavourable land tenure and policy changes. FBOs are instrumental in environmental management but are constrained by financial resources, limited knowledge and skills in environmental management and fundraising abilities. This calls for capacity building in these aspects in order to impart the required knowledge and skills to FBOs leaders and followers. Government and other able stakeholders should support FBOs in their endeavor to conduct environmental management activities in Uganda.

Deconstructing African Development from Neo-liberalism, Ubuntu Ethics and African Socialism to Dignified Humanness

This paper argues that there is a need to reconstruct a new paradigm for poverty policy planning in Africa because Neo-liberalism, Ubuntu ethics and African Socialism as proposed paradigms for Africa’s development are untenable. This is so because the above trio are sexist, androcentric and oblivious to structural injustices that feminize poverty in Africa. The paper further argues that even in the Western world, the neo-liberal GDP metric has been challenged and the search for alternative development indicators and paradigms is on. In addition, there is a fully fledged post-neo-liberalism movement in Latin America and a de-growth and post-growth social movement in the West against neo-liberalism and its nebulous economic growth understanding of wellbeing. The paper contends that Africa cannot afford to remain aloof to all these developments. There is therefore a need to develop Pan African paradigms to articulate an endogenous perspective to African development. The paper thus advocates for the Dignified Humanness Paradigm (DHP) as an alternative to neo-liberalism, Ubuntu ethics and African Socialism. The paper also surmises that the actualization of the DHP requires an immediate awakening of the Pan African Moral Consciousness since this will militate on decolonization of the African mind from the amoral neo-liberal economism.

HOW CHINA’S TOURISM ASSISTING THE POOR POLICIES STRENGTHEN TOURISM-POVERTY LINK

Poverty eradication has been listed as SDG1 in the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. China has fulfilled SDG1 ten years ahead of the schedule in 2020. Tourism has played a significant role in poverty alleviation in China owing to the formulation and implementation of Tourism-assisting Poverty Policies (TAPPs), which is a typical example of pro-poor tourism (PPT) initiative in developing countries. However, the international academic circles have little knowledge of how TAPPs have made tourism a major poverty alleviation means that can be perceived by identifying the match of TAPP targets and TAPP instruments since 1980’s. This study is based on the Rothwell ‘s policy tool taxonomy that proposes a theoretical framework of TAPP targets-TAPP instruments and analyzes the evolution and distribution characteristics of policy tools in 64 Chinese national TAPP texts from 1984 to 2020. It’s found that the TAPP tool mix mainly consists of environmental policies, supply-side policies besides the less proportion of demand-side policies. Legal and regulatory, financial, public service and project development are the policy tools most frequently employed to achieve TAPP targets over time. The TAPP evolution follows the path from boosting regional economic development to promoting endogenous poverty alleviation capabilities in rural areas, which is consistent with the phased goals of Chinese tourism development strategies and poverty alleviation programs. This study aims to fill in the lack of the international academic community’s understanding of Chinese TAPPs’ role in pushing tourism to play a major role in poverty alleviation and generate fresh insight into the dynamics of policy instrument and mix. It provides reference for China’s efforts to consolidate the poverty alleviation achievements through tourism and sustain TAPPs’ positive role in China’s rural revitalization.

Energy poverty in the Czech Republic: Individual responsibility or structural issue?

Although energy poverty is now high on the EU agenda, pressing member states to adopt targeted policies, there are considerable differences in the state of play across individual countries. In this context, it is worth investigating how this agenda translates into policy. We aim to contribute to this underrepresented strand of research in the energy poverty domain by focusing on the discursive side. This paper starts with the theoretical assumption that bureaucrats are especially important in the initial stages of new policy formation. It further presupposes framing as a process that typically occurs in tackling the complex reality of an emerging policy problem. We have chosen the Czech Republic as a case study as it does not currently have any official energy poverty policies though a working group on the ministerial level has been tasked to define the issue in the Czech context. The research reveals how relevant Czech bureaucrats frame the question of energy poverty. We identify three distinctive frames. Whereas two frames follow the broader ideological debate on poverty (individualizing vs. structural view), the third builds on the concept of vulnerability. None of the frames is clearly predominant. Besides their conflicting views about the causes of energy poverty, responsibilities and policies, there are also disagreements over the appropriate level (national or regional) of governance and a widely held belief that external research actors should shed more light on the issue. The complexity of the discussion may complicate finding a common approach.

Öteki Mekânlarda Sosyal Sorunlar: Bir Literatür Taraması

Kentsel yoksulluğun, mekânsal ayrışmanın ve bunlara bağlı olarak sosyal dışlanmanın yoğun olduğu mekânlarda yaşanan sosyal sorunlar bu çalışmanın kapsamını oluşturmaktadır. Çalışmanın amacı; öteki mekânlardaki insanlarının yaşadıkları sosyal sorunları ortaya koymak ve bu sorunları sosyal politika bakış açısıyla değerlendirmektir. Nitel araştırma yöntemine uygun olarak Web of Science Core Collection endekslerinde taranan öteki mekân çalışmalarında, yoksulluk, kent yoksulluğu, sosyal dışlanma, sosyal içerme ve sosyal politika anahtar kelimelerinin başlıklarında yer aldığı, son on yılda yayımlanan 42 makale derlenerek sosyal hizmet ve sosyal politika perspektifiyle içerik analizine tabi tutulmuştur. Yapılan analiz sonucunda slum, ghetto, squatter, favela, banliyö ve gecekondu gibi öteki mekânlarda rastlanan başlıca sorunların; kentsel yoksulluk, temel ihtiyaçların karşılanamaması, barınma ve altyapı hizmetlerinden yoksunluk, eşitsizlik, gecekondu turizmi, yoksulluğun temsili, sosyal dışlanma, toplumsal sapma ve toplumsal cinsiyet ayrımcılığı olduğu bulunmuştur. Bu sosyal sorunların çözülebilmesi ve sosyal bütünleşmenin, sosyal gelişmenin sağlanabilmesi için sosyal hizmet uygulamalarına ve uygulanabilir sosyal politika önerilerine ihtiyaç duyulmaktadır

Targeting Policies for Multidimensional Poverty and Social Fragility Relief Among Migrants in Italy, Using F-FOD Analysis

In this paper, we apply the novel Fuzzy First-Order Dominance (F-FOD) methodology to rank migrant subpopulations in Lombardy (Italy), in terms of multidimensional poverty and social fragility, for the year 2014, with the purpose to possibly provide useful support to policy-makers, in targeting relief interventions from poverty and discomfort. The F-FOD methodology allows for the direct comparison of different distributions of poverty and fragility, assessed by means of suitable ordinal multi-indicator systems, so extending to this more complex setting, the usual univariate first-order dominance criterion. It also provides complimentary “incomparability” scores, to assess to what extent the final rankings are reliable or instead forcing. It turns out that the levels of poverty and fragility of migrant subpopulations are quite different and, in particular, that the time since migrations has a key impact, on the identification of most critical cases, which typically involve recently migrated people. Evidence also emerges that the temporal poverty/fragility trajectories of migrants, distinguished by country of origin, follow different paths, suggesting how policy interventions must be properly, and differently, tuned to be effective.

Review of the Evidence: The Interface between Poverty, Livelihoods, Institutions, and Community Development

This paper seeks to critically review the existing literature on the links or interfaces between poverty, livelihoods, institutions, and community development. This discussion gives a clear understanding of how poverty is created and gives a clue of how sustainable policy intervention could be developed. The study adopted the Sustainable Livelihood Approach as an overall theoretical framework that guides this discussion. The reviewed literature shows that there are strong and complex interfaces between poverty, livelihoods, institutions and community development and they influence each other in several ways. The interfaces between these concepts influence the choices and nature of livelihood strategies that people employ to pursue their livelihood outcomes. The livelihood outcomes may be positive or negative and it is determined by how these concepts are linked together. For instance, the existing empirical evidences shows that having access to livelihood assets, investment in infrastructure, presence of enabling policy and institution result in positive livelihood outcomes whereas lack of access to assets, increased vulnerabilities, low investment in infrastructures, lack of popular participation, poverty and weak policy and institution together result in adopting of failed livelihood strategies which in turn resulted in negative livelihood outcomes. Thus, to formulate policies, strategies and programs that can effectively address poverty and result in sustainable development, policy makers should consider and understand the connection between these concepts before the formulation of policy, strategies or programs. Without understand this it is difficult to formulate policies, programs, and strategies that can positively contribute to poverty reduction and sustainable development.

Submerged for Some? Government Visibility, Race, and American Political Trust

Scholarship concerning American government visibility has focused on the state’s growing submergence, yet these accounts contrast with racial and ethnic politics research focusing on the American state’s conspicuousness in the lives of people of color. Attending to this disconnect, I ask how government visibility varies across racial groups. Combining interviews and quantitative analysis within a policy feedback framework, I argue that five public policy trends have created a racial split in the American state’s visibility. For whites, submerged state policies have grown alongside the rising visibility of racialized poverty policies and taxation. As a result, whites are less aware of how government benefits them and more aware of how government uses tax dollars to fund programs perceived as solely benefitting racial others. For people of color, the decline of civil rights legislation has contrasted with criminal legal policies that have made the criminal legal system a uniquely visible manifestation of government in their lives. To demonstrate the political importance of this racial divide, I uncover a racial heterogeneity in people’s political trust attachments, wherein white trust is connected to welfare attitudes, while trust among people of color is associated with feelings about the police.

(Dis)United Kingdom? Potential for a common approach to energy poverty assessment

The UK has an extensive research base in the field of energy poverty, to the extent that other countries have based their policy approaches on the UK model. Despite this, there is no common method for measuring this condition across the UK. Additionally, sustaining meaningful reductions in UK energy poverty remains a challenge. While significant regional differences in UK energy poverty have been identified, it is not possible to draw direct comparisons between devolved countries. This paper explores the causes of these regional differences and contests that a common measurement across the UK countries would be insightful for resource allocation and policy design. The potential for applying a common multidimensional method of energy poverty assessment across the UK countries is investigated, with a strong focus on the value and viability of this process. Findings demonstrate that while there is a high level of data availability for input into a high spatial resolution index, this data is not compatible between countries and would have to undergo a process of data and metrics equivalisation before direct comparisons could be drawn. With increasing interest in the potential of multidimensional indexes to guide EU energy poverty policy, this paper provides useful insights into the practicalities of upscaling indexes between varied socio-political contexts.

Subjective versus objective energy burden: A look at drivers of different metrics and regional variation of energy poor populations

Energy poverty is typically assessed using the energy expenditure-to-income ratio as a metric. This metric fails to account, though, for residents' demographics and regional variation in energy consumption. In the United States, policymakers dealing with energy poverty have faced challenges estimating the needs for energy-assistance programs. This study seeks to explore regional variations in energy poverty. Using Texas as the region of study, this work also explores differences in the populations captured via objective and subjective metrics (i.e., those who are unable to pay their bill and those who state they struggle to do so). Drawing on survey data, this work uses statistical analyses to (1) assess the regional variation of energy poverty defined as a ratio of household income spent on electricity bills, (2) determine if there is an association between objective and subjective metrics of energy poverty, and (3) identify statistical drivers of objective and subjective energy poverty metrics. Of respondents, 51% of objectively energy-burdened individuals indicated they struggled to pay electricity bills and 53% faced great stress due to the electricity bill. If policymakers can use metrics that are more accurate in capturing populations facing energy poverty, more effective energy poverty policies might be formulated.

The validity of the index of vulnerable homes: evidence from consumers vulnerable to energy poverty in the UK

ABSTRACT Energy poverty is a multidimensional issue, and this means that it is difficult to understand the different levels of vulnerability to this phenomenon and its relationship with households’ quality of life. This paper presents the validation of an innovative index for the analysis of vulnerability to energy poverty according to monetary, energy, and thermal comfort factors: The Index of Vulnerable Homes (IVH). The IVH goes beyond the use of single self-reported indicators of thermal comfort, and instead uses the adaptive thermal-comfort model defined in the normative UNE EN 15251:2007 to assess thermal comfort in relation to energy poverty. Furthermore, it has the potential to evaluate the societal impacts of current energy poverty policies by providing the economic analysis of different situations of vulnerability. The IVH is validated by comparing its results to those obtained from a survey conducted in a small-scale study undertaken in Salford, UK. To this end, evidence from households living in terraced houses built before 1980 is used to analyze health status in terms of vulnerability to energy poverty vulnerability according to their monetary situation and the characteristics of the dwelling. In the end, the results show good agreement between both the IVH’s assessment and households’ evidence, leading to consider the IVH as a suitable approach to understanding different levels of vulnerability to energy poverty.

Social policy or energy policy? Time to reconsider energy poverty policies

In this short communication piece, we draw attention to the discussion on policies for reducing energy poverty in European Union member states. We urgently need a policy approach able to support the transition from the current rising levels of energy poverty to a sustainable community with a greener and healthier future. Analysing energy prices, the policy framework and household income, we conduct a preliminary investigation of energy poverty from a macro-level perspective and associated policy interventions in the EU. Obtained from a non-classical fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, our results clearly show that energy poverty is a product of substantial interdependence that may be summarised in two paths: (PP1) low or median household income and energy-policy focus, and (PP2) high energy prices and energy-policy focus. Surprisingly, our findings indicate that an energy-policy focus is found in EU member states with the highest levels of energy poverty. One step further, we also offer an insight into the absence of energy poverty, where social policy seems to play the key role. Taken together, we argue that member states facing above-average energy poverty are captured in an energy-poverty trap, whereby the existing energy-policy focus does not yield the desired results and the social policy is often too costly to implement due to the problem's magnitude. Our main concern is that prioritising any of the policies may slow down the transition to a sustainable energy society. We, therefore, call on scientists to not only further examine the energy-poverty phenomenon but to also participate in creating effective policies.

Strategic management of sustainable development in the Sverdlovsk region

The implementation of the sustainable development goals requires the coordinated activities at all levels of government and administration, including the regional level. The Sverdlovsk Region, one of the leading regions of the Russian Federation, actively uses the mechanisms of the strategic management in making the socio-economic policy, however, the coordination of the traditional strategic priorities and goals of sustainable development of the UN is required. Comparison of the SDGs and strategic policy directions implemented in the Sverdlovsk region made it possible to identify three groups of SDGs: highly reflected in strategic documents, partially implemented and not yet reflected in making a regional strategy. Despite the high level of coordination of the SDGs and the strategic objectives of the region, there are the problematic areas, including the activities to combat poverty and gender policy.

„Szegény a koldus, ha király is a neve” : Koldulás és bírói gyakorlata a Kbtk. tükrében

A koldulás problematikája Európa-szerte szorosan kötődött a szegénység, a szegénygondozás kérdéseihez, a „szegény” fogalom felölelte a koldusokat, a vándorlókat, a beteg, család nélkül élő felnőtteket, valamint az árvákat és a családból kiesett, magukra maradt gyermekeket is. A rendi korszak felfogásában a koldusok, csavargók, munkakerülők elsősorban a társadalomra veszélyes emberek, akikkel kapcsolatban számos jogszabály született. Ezek a jogszabályok elsősorban rendészeti, igazgatási vonatkozásban foglalkoztak a koldulással (és ezzel párhuzamosan a csavargással), valamint annak akár büntetőjogi következményeivel is. Kialakult a koldusok osztályozásának rendszere is. E szerint voltak javíthatatlan, munkaképtelen, valamint eseti koldusok. Magyarországon a 19. század második felétől a szegénypolitika alapvető jellemzője volt, hogy az állam döntően a magánjótékonyságra, illetve a községekre hárította a szegénység, ezzel együtt a koldulás kezelését. A koldulás társadalomra veszélyesebb eseteit az 1879. évi XL. tc., a magyar büntető törvénykönyv a kihágásokról rendelte büntetni.

Kosovo's social policy during self‐management, UNMIK and independence: Persisting high inequality and social exclusion

This study examined: (i) Kosovo's social policy's poverty and inequality outcomes in recent history, namely during Yugoslav self‐management socialism (1952–1989), the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) (1999–2008) and independence (2008 onwards), and (ii) the impact of local politics in the more recent trajectory of social policy. The study shows that the poverty rate after the war (1999) is significantly lower than it was during socialism, but that there is persistent high and deepening Gini inequality and social exclusion. Transfers and taxes of the residual‐liberal policy have reduced more pretransfer–pretax inequality, and especially poverty, compared with self‐management's insurance‐dominated socialism, but their effectiveness is declining due to the policy's underlying long‐term, pro‐market logic and its increasing particularism with respect to short‐term transfers. The article argues that the main local political cleavages have originated from self‐management socialism's extensive stratification. These cleavages matter in distributive conflicts, and they mattered also during the UNMIK period by easing the pathway for the unprecedented influence international organisations have had on policy formation.

The Politics of Poverty

The reduction in the official poverty rate seen in relation with increasing morbidity status, a mammoth income gap between the rich and the poor, ambiguous methodology followed to calculate Below Poverty Line Census and government policies on poverty reduction tends to question the whole poverty line debate. The official commitment to higher economic growth may reflect booming economic growth but it also has led to a large gap between the rich and the poor in both regional and social dimensions. To look into the causes and ameliorate poverty levels, various committees and policies have identified poverty levels. Using different criteria and methods, they still have failed to look at the social and political aspects. It is politics that has engulfed the whole discourse over universalisation of social welfare policies as some sort of justification behind the nation’s fiscal deficit and subsidy constraint-related questions.

Poverty Policy, the Market, and the Metropolis

This essay focuses on three recent books that examine contemporary trends and policy responses to poverty and urban regeneration: Places in Need: The Changing Geography of Poverty, by Scott W. Allard; The Servant Class City: Urban Revitalization versus the Working Poor in San Diego, by David J. Karjanen; and Urban Policy in the Time of Obama, edited by James De Filippis. Each examines the issue with a substantially different focus—the increase and nature of suburban poverty, the role of market-based urban revitalization in poverty production, and the approach and limitations of national urban policy under Obama—to shed light on the possibilities, limitations, and unintended consequences of our efforts to regenerate our cities and address poverty in urban areas.

A Research on Anti-poverty through Employment Promotion from the Perspective of Vulnerability to Poverty

The poverty prevention in relatively poor areas attaches great reference significance to the construction of poverty alleviation framework in the post-2020 poverty alleviation era in China. As a key index of poverty prevention, vulnerability to poverty addresses the future welfare of rural population. This paper takes Suqian, a state-level poverty alleviation reform pilot area, as a sample to study the characteristics of poverty vulnerability of farmers in relatively poor areas and the impact of the anti-poverty project through employment promotion on the alleviation of poverty vulnerability. Our study aims to achieve four basic goals: firstly, we measure the vulnerability to poverty in relatively poor areas; secondly, we analyze the relationship between current poverty and current vulnerability （future poverty）, and judge the deviation degree of the current poverty identification target; thirdly, we clarify the relationship between participating in work and alleviating the vulnerability to poverty, and analyze the reasonable direction of policy adjustment by distinguishing the different effects of work on poor households and non-poor households; fourthly, we further analyze the difference of the impact of two employment flows, i.e. local workers and migrant workers, on the vulnerability to poverty, and give reasonable suggestions based on their advantages and disadvantages in practice. The study through the Chaudhuri prediction method shows that under the three poverty lines of 4 000 yuan, 6 000 yuan, and 8 000 yuan, the proportion of vulnerable households in the total sample is 30.70%, 43.57% and 52.63%, respectively. The proportion of vulnerable households is lower than the current sample poverty incidence which is 55.85% under the poverty line of 6 000 yuan, and the current poverty is independent of current vulnerability. Participation in employment can significantly reduce the vulnerability of the total sample. The separate tests for poor and non-poor households also have significant effects. Further analysis shows that from the perspective of income, migrant work is more advantageous than local employment in reducing the vulnerability to poverty. Regarding the possible endogenous effects on research results, this paper uses Propensity Score Matching （PSM） to test the results, and the conclusions are consistent. Based on the research conclusions, this paper points out that: the poverty policy should pay more attention to the revision of the target of poverty alleviation policies and focus more on future poor farmers; the government should further implement industrial supporting policies to promote employment-driven poverty alleviation, promote the development of the labor market in rural areas, and thus achieve poverty alleviation sustainability; although migrant workers can alleviate future poverty, in practice we should also weigh the expenditure-type poverty caused by migrant work, the problem of three-stays” and the transfer of the rural poor to cities.

Determinan Variabel Makroekonomi Terhadap Kemiskinan di Indonesia

This study aims to determine and analyze the effects of (1) Economic Growth, (2) Unemployment and (3) Poverty Alleviation Poverty Policy in Indonesia using the method of multiple linear equations (OLS). The results of estimation of multiple linear equations show that (1) economic growth with national income indicators has a significant negative effect on poverty in Indonesia, (2) unemployment has a significant positive effect on poverty in Indonesia, (3) poverty alleviation policies have no significant negative effect on poverty in Indonesia. Indonesia. Based on the results of this study, the government is expected to be able to make certain policies and programs for the poor through increasing economic growth, development and providing employment for unemployed people and it is hoped that poverty reduction policies made by the government can reduce poverty in Indonesia.

Energy poverty policies and measures in 5 EU countries: A comparative study

Energy Poverty (EP) is the inability to attain a socially and materially necessitated level of domestic energy services. In the EU this occurs primarily due to low incomes, poor energy performance of buildings and high energy costs. The impacts of EP range from impaired social lives to unhealthy living conditions, with further consequences in the physical and mental health of energy poor individuals. Member states have been assigned by the EU with the responsibility of dealing with EP within their own territories. This is attainable mainly by creating effective policies, while also encouraging synergies among policies of different fields. However, scientific knowledge is gathered and action is taken on a national level only in a limited number of EU countries. For this reason, this paper aims to fill in the gap and capture snapshots from five EU countries (Cyprus, Spain, Portugal, Bulgaria and Lithuania) where EP has not been exhaustively examined. The study provides an overview of selected policies and measures directly or indirectly targeting EP alleviation and analyses their history and evolution at an EU level as well as at national level. It considers the different geographical dimensions, conditions and aspects (e.g. national or regional) where EP is encountered, in an attempt to identify any variances or similarities in the approaches adopted. Through this comparative study, strengths and weaknesses of national strategies are identified and analysed. Conclusively, based on this analysis, recommendations are made on how to utilise policy tools and provide the most efficient support to energy poor households in the corresponding countries.