Poverty Reduction and Employment
Globalization has increased world attention on the widening gap between have and have-nots in the world. Countries often fall into one of two categories, those that have taken advantage of the new global system and have succeeded in adapting their labor markets and raising quality of life for their citizens, and those that have not. AIRD has acquired focused expertise in assessing the impact of globalization on workers and the need for global standards on treatment of labor. This often requires thorough analysis of factors determining labor productivity and employment. AIRD experience in this area relates to the following areas of expertise:
- Diagnostic framework for conceptualization and operationalization of poverty reduction analysis and programs.
- Analysis of coherence of government policy frameworks for reducing poverty.
- Workforce development
- Analysis of the demand for employment
- Preparation of country-level poverty audits.
Recent Activities:
AIRD has been involved in workforce-related issues in several areas. On the Global Workforce in Transition page on this site, see 1) a Workforce Assessment done for USAID/Morocco in anticipation of changes incurred through trade liberalization, and 2) a discussion paper on the need for USAID to integrate education and economic growth approaches to deal with the labor market effects of trade agreements. AIRD's Lynn Salinger also worked with USAID's Economic Growth office to develop and prioritize strategies for facilitating labor market transitions as countries undergo trade liberalization. AIRD also contributes to workforce development through the Garment Industry Productivity Center in Cambodia.
AIRD's poverty-related work has included a comparison of poverty reduction experiences of Bangladesh, Indonesia, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Peru, Mali, Uganda, and Morocco. Working for USAID's Policy and Program Coordination Bureau on an evaluation activity entitled "Comparing and Evaluating Poverty Reduction Approaches: The Emerging Poverty Reduction Paradigm versus Broad-Based Sustainable Development", the AIRD team conducted fieldwork in Mali, Uganda, and Romania to analyze the conceptual distinctions between two poverty reduction paradigms, as promulgated by the international development community (EPRP) and USAID (BBSD).
For the OECD's Development Assistance Committee, AIRD led a scoping study of donor poverty reduction practices.
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