SPRI Global is currently working with UNICEF Sierra Leone, Statistics Sierra Leone (Stats SL), the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development of Sierra Leone (MoPED), and other relevant stakeholders in measuring child poverty, using the Multidimensional Overlapping Deprivation Analysis (MODA) approach.
The MODA analysis is being conducted based on the 2019 Demographic and Household Survey (DHS), which provides an opportunity to update previous child multidimensional poverty estimates. The objectives of the assignment are:
1) To generate updated measures on multidimensional and monetary child poverty in Sierra Leone in alignment with SDG indicator 1.2
2) To further strengthen national capacity in Sierra Leone to generate estimates on multidimensional and monetary child poverty
The results will be disaggregated by gender, age group, districts and urban/rural location of residence, as well as by any other criteria that are relevant for the national context. The results of this analysis will help to develop policy recommendations on how to best approach child poverty in Sierra Leone, in line with SDG goal 1.2.
As we enter the final stages of this project, part of our research team visited Freetown from October 18 to 22 of this year to provide a capacity-building training on the MODA methodology. The training included a conceptual training on the basis of MODA, a discussion on the indicators and thresholds used, and a presentation and discussion of the analysis results. Moreover, the training included a technical session where the team provided the fundamentals of coding MODA using the statistical software STATA.
The training was attended by the team of Statistics Sierra Leone (Stats SL), as well as sectoral representatives from relevant ministries such as MoPED. While we were in a capacity-building role, our team also benefited by learning more about Sierra Leone’s context and its stakeholders’ expertise in the field of child poverty.