Earth Today | Poverty reduction symposium coming

THE SECOND hybrid observance of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is set for later this month, thanks to the collaborative efforts of the Caribbean Development Bank’s (CDB) Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNTF) and partners.

Those partners include KoboToolbox, the World Bank, the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin American and the Caribbean, and the Jamaica Social Investment Fund.

This year’s event is to begin with a workshop on ‘Improved Capacity for Data Collection and Analysis for Enhanced Project Monitoring and Evaluation’ from October 14-18 in Jamaica.

Key experts from the World Bank’s Geo-Enabling initiative for Monitoring and Supervision and KoboToolbox teams will jointly implement the workshop with over 60 participants from the BNTF implementing agencies, community development and disaster risk management officers from select CDB borrowing member countries (BMCs), as well as other CDB project teams, and other partners.

The workshop will include a hybrid symposium on October 17, which will highlight best practices and lessons learnt, while seeking to inspire and equip participants with practical strategies for implementing sustainable poverty reduction programmes. The global theme for the day is ‘Ending Social and Institutional Maltreatment: Acting together for just, peaceful and inclusive societies’.

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“Based on the success of last year’s event, we decided to repeat the collaboration, while also adding the capacity-building element,” said CDB Division Chief, Social Sector Division, Martin Baptiste.

“Collecting and analysing data accurately is crucial for informed decision-making to support poverty reduction, including in key domains such as environmental protection, healthcare and education,” he added.

According to Baptiste, interventions such as these allow for more targeted solutions to deliver the development results that CDB is aiming for, while also supporting the achievement of development goals in BMCs.

The symposium will also highlight the voices of vulnerable and beneficiary groups with testimonials from the BNTF, the bank’s premier poverty reduction programme, and its Enhanced Country Poverty Assessment programme.