In November 2022 SPRI Global began its partnership with UNICEF Pacific Islands to carry out a multidimensional child poverty analysis for children living in Samoa, Fiji, and Tonga. The technical Partners during the assignment and training workshops, besides the UNICEF Pacific Country Office, are the host governments including national statistics offices, social sector line ministries, finance ministries and national planning authorities.

The main purpose of this study is to improve the quality and relevance of child poverty estimates in Samoa, Fiji and Tonga, in order to inform child-centred national policies, programs, plans and budgets that protect children from multidimensional vulnerabilities,  risk, adversity and disadvantages, to help them achieve their full potential.

The specific tasks of the assignment are as follows:

• Adapt UNICEF’s Multiple Overlapping Deprivation Analysis (MODA) methodology and measurement of monetary child poverty, taking into account the national contexts and interests;
• Organize participatory workshops attended by key local stakeholders to define the analytical parameters while giving consideration to the local reality as well as the limitations of the data sets.
• Conduct National MODA analyses based on the available data to produce a final report that incorporates feedback to a draft report from key stakeholders.
• Conduct capacity development for local stakeholders so that local researchers and experts will be able to repeat the analysis in the future.
• Present the results of the analysis to relevant stakeholders and build their capacity to interpret and use the findings to inform child-centred policies, planning and budgeting.
• Prepare recommendations on data collection/gaps that may facilitate future application of MODA and national surveys.

This assignment follows in line with SPRI Global’s expertise in carrying out multidimensional child poverty, deprivation, and equity analyses in support of UNICEF country offices around the world. To date, SPRI Global has carried out studies in this nature in over 60 countries worldwide. Visit our portfolio page to learn more about our research on child poverty and vulnerability.