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Skills Building Workshop on Poverty and Social Impact Analysis (PSIA)
Poverty and Social Impact Analysis (PSIA) is the analysis of the distributional impact of policy reforms on the well-being of different social groups, with particular focus on the poor and vulnerable.
A core objective of Poverty and Social Impact Analysis (PSIA) is to provide policy-makers with valid information on the expected distributional effects of policy reforms on different social groups. A PSIA identifies potential winners and losers of a proposed reform and helps governments to make decisions about the design, sequencing, timing and appropriateness of the reform before it is actually implemented. It should also enable decision-makers to better prepare for compensatory and complementary policy measures where adverse effects are anticipated.
However, policy formulation and decision-making are embedded in a political negotiation process, in which empirical evidence is only one ingredient. The political interests of stakeholder groups are often a very powerful and dominant element in these negotiations. PSIA encourages stakeholder participation and a policy dialogue around reform options as ways of including people affected by reform in the political process. The value added of a PSIA is measured by the extent to which it has an observable impact on policy design and implementation.
The Belgian Government has provided funds to UNDP and the World Bank to jointly support PSIA initiatives at the country level through the Global PSIA project. The project’s objective is to raise awareness among national stakeholder involved in policy formulation on what PSIA is and how it can assist in making national policies more pro-poor, transparent and evidence based. The Global PSIA project supports capacity building for PSIA in Africa and The Middle East through training and workshops, and finances PSIA proposals submitted by government departments to the Global PSIA Project. Shortly after the skills building workshops in Senegal and South Africa, a call for proposals will be issued by the Global PSIA Projects, which allows government departments to submit PSIA proposals for funding.
The workshop has five related objectives:
- Raise awareness and interest for PSIA type analysis,
- Develop participants’ capacities to identify the need for PSIA,
- Develop participants’ skills to design and commission PSIA work,
- Create a forum to share relevant experiences and lessons learned from existing PSIAs,
- Establish a community of practice to contribute to the development of PSIAs.
The workshop is conceived for:
- Government representatives responsible for the implementation of Poverty Reduction Strategies,
- Researchers from national research institutes,
- Representatives of Civil Society Organizations that are involved in policy advocacy,
- Country Office staff and Economists from UNDP and the World Bank.
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