On 21 March, the Gender Institute co-hosted with the Development Policy Centre a public forum Measuring Poverty and Gender Disparity. The event showcased the work of an interdisciplinary group of academics, development practitioners, and researchers who are engaged in a multi-year research project to design measures of deprivation that improve on existing indices, are gender sensitive, and are capable of revealing gender disparities.

Philosophers Thomas Pogge and Alison Jaggar provided critiques of existing measures of poverty and gender disparity, and articulated a critical feminist methodology for developing new measures of deprivation grounded in the perspectives of poor men and women. Jo Crawford from the International Women’s Development Agency and Alice Banze from Oxfam Great Britain spoke to the importance of measurement in guiding research, advocacy, and policy to secure the rights of the world’s most deprived people. Field researchers Priya Chattier, Maggie Banda, and Fatima Castillo presented initial findings from their work with poor communities in Fiji, Malawi, and the Philippines to understand how poor men and women conceive of poverty, hardship, and their gendered dimensions.

Further information on the event and the broader research project can be found on the project website.