Our Experts on Child Poverty

CHIEF OF CHILD POVERTY AND SOCIAL PROTECTION, UNICEF HEADQUARTERS

Jenn is the Chief of the Child Poverty and Social Protection Unit at UNICEF HQ. 

Over a 23-year career in international development, Jenn has worked on issues of social inclusion, inequality and economic justice, including over 17 years focusing specifically on child poverty and social protection. She brings applied knowledge of poverty and economic analysis, and extensive experience working on social protection systems and programmes in developing countries. Her work has also included leading and managing multi-stakeholder initiatives at the nexus of research and policy, for example as a founding member of the Transfer Project and as a partner in the Young Lives Project. 

Jenn started with UNICEF as the first Social Protection Specialist in NY, before moving to the Ghana office as the Social Protection Unit Chief. More recently, she worked on beneficiary data management in the Humanitarian Cash Team, including provision of technical and surge support to humanitarian cash responses. Prior to joining UNICEF she led Save the Children UK’s Poverty and Economic Justice team, and worked for Oxfam in various roles. She holds an MSc in Economics from the School for Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 

X: @JennYablonski

Email: jyablonski@unicef.org

SENIOR RESEARCH ADVISER & SOCIAL POLICY LEAD, SAVE THE CHILDREN UK

Oliver Fiala is a Senior Research Adviser & Social Policy Lead at Save the Children UK, leading the research and data work within the Global Policy, Advocacy and Research Department. His work covers a wide range of thematic areas, including child poverty, public finance, child health, education, and child protection. He also oversees the development of the Child Atlas, Save the Children's data platform to visualise child outcomes globally. Oliver holds a PhD in Economics from TU Dresden, Germany.

X: @oliver_fiala

Email: o.fiala@savethechildren.org.uk

RESEARCH FELLOW / DEPUTY DIRECTOR, CHRONIC POVERTY ADVISORY NETWORK, INSTITUTE OF DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

Vidya Diwakar is A Research Fellow and the Deputy Director of the Chronic Poverty Advisory Network, with over 10 years of experience working in development research at universities and think tanks.

Her mixed methods research focuses on education and empowerment of women and girls in sustained pathways out of poverty, and the role of armed conflict in creating poverty traps. Vidya has authored and reviewed journal articles, book chapters and reports on human development, conflict, and poverty dynamics in South and Southeast Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the MENA region. She has also led various policy-oriented multi-country, multi-year, and multi-partner research projects on poverty dynamics for international organizations and bi-lateral aid agencies.

X: @vidya_diwakar

Email: v.diwakar@ids.ac.uk

SENIOR ADVISER STATISTICS AND MONITORING (CHILD POVERTY AND GENDER EQUALITY) DATA & ANALYTICS SECTION, DIVISION OF DATA, ANALYTICS, PLANNING & MONITORING, UNICEF

Enrique Delamónica, the UNICEF Statistics and Monitoring Senior Adviser for Child Poverty and Gender Equality, was Social and Economic Policy Regional Advisor for Latin America and the Caribbean and Chief of Social Policy and Gender Equality in Nigeria.

He has written and co-edited books and articles on economic development, children’s rights, social protection, macroeconomic trends impacting on children, socioeconomic disparities, the green economy, quality of life, social exclusion and discrimination, and financing social services - always focused on improving the lives of children, adolescents, and their families.

He has advanced degrees in political science and economics. He has taught economic principles, macroeconomic policy, international development, policy analysis, statistics, and research methods at, among other places, Columbia University, the New School for Social Research, and Saint Peter’s College (New Jersey). He is at the board of the Research Committee on Poverty, Social Welfare, and Social Policy of the International Sociological Association.

Email: edelamonica@unicef.org

PROFESSOR OF POVERTY AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND DIRECTOR OF THE OXFORD POVERTY AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE (OPHI)

Sabina Alkire is the Professor of Poverty and Human Development and directs the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) at the University of Oxford. Previously, she worked at the George Washington University, Harvard University, the Human Security Commission, and the World Bank. She has a DPhil in Economics from the University of Oxford.

Together with Professor James Foster, Sabina developed the Alkire-Foster (AF) method for measuring multidimensional poverty, a flexible technique that can incorporate different dimensions, or aspects of poverty, to create measures tailored to each context. With colleagues at OPHI this has been applied and implemented empirically to produce a Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI). The MPI offers a tool to identify who is poor by considering the range of deprivations they suffer. It is used to report a headline figure of poverty (the MPI), which can be unpacked to provide a detailed information platform for policy design showing how people are poor nationally, and how they are poor by areas, groups, and by each indicator.

Sabina was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in the UK 2021 and was voted one of the top 100 thinkers by Forbes magazine in 2010. 

Email: sabina.alkire@qeh.ox.ac.uk

X: @ophi_oxford

PROFESSOR OF SOCIAL JUSTICE AND THE DIRECTOR OF THE TOWNSEND CENTRE FOR INTERNATIONAL POVERTY RESEARCH AND THE BRISTOL POVERTY INSTITUTE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL

David Gordon was a member of the UN Expert Group on Poverty Statistics (Rio Group) and contributed to its ‘Compendium of Best Practice in Poverty Measurement’. He advised the United Nations Department for Economic & Social Affairs (UNDESA) on poverty and hunger issues amongst young people (aged 15 to 24) and contributed to the 2005, 2007 and 2009 World Youth Reports. He worked with UNICEF on its first ever Global Study on Child Poverty and Disparities, providing scientific advice and support to over 50 UNICEF country offices.  Professor Gordon was also an international advisor for the development of the official multidimensional poverty measure in Mexico and has advised the New Zealand and UK Governments on poverty measurement and anti-poverty policies.  He led the Poverty and Social Exclusion in the United Kingdom project, which was the largest project of its kind in UK history.  In 2018, the European Union adopted its first measures of child deprivation based upon the work of Professor Gordon and his colleagues.

In 2006 and 2007, he was given the tremendous honour of addressing the General Assembly of the United Nations about child and youth poverty.  In 2009, he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (FRSA) and in 2018, he had the honour of being elected as a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA) for his work on poverty research.

X: @bristolpoverty

Email: Dave.Gordon@bristol.ac.uk

MAIN REPRESENTATIVE TO THE UNITED NATIONS, INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT ATD FOURTH WORLD

Maryann Broxton is the Main Representative to the United Nations for the International Movement ATD Fourth World and has been an ATD Fourth World Activist for over ten years.

She draws on her personal and professional experience to explore best practices for organizations in setting the conditions for people impacted by poverty to share their knowledge on an equitable footing with other actors. As the US coordinator for the Multidimensional Aspects of Poverty (MAP) participatory research, she has spoken at the OECD and the World Bank, to share the dimensions of poverty beyond a monetary standard. She has developed and facilitated trainings on equitable participation and the MAP results for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the Center for Law and Social Policy, and the Aspen Institute, along with social worker students at the New School in New York, Harvard, Columbia, and Fordham University.

Maryann holds a B.A. from Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

PRACTICE AREA LEAD FOR SOCIAL SAFETY NETS, NUTRITION INTERNATIONAL

Richard Morgan has worked in international development for over 4 decades with a strong focus on children’s rights, food security, social policy, poverty reduction, and social protection. His experience includes 21 years working in Eastern and Southern Africa, including as a civil servant in Botswana and as head of UNICEF emergency programs in Mozambique. He later provided leadership for UNICEF in Policy and Practice and for Save the Children International on child poverty.

Richard was a founder member of the Global Coalition to End Child Poverty and is currently the global lead for Nutrition International on Social Safety Nets. He has an MA in Development Economics from the University of East Anglia.

X: @rmorgan4kids‍ ‍

Email: rmorgan@nutritionintl.org

PROGRAMME MANAGER, AFRICAN CHILD OBSERVATORY, THE AFRICAN CHILD POLICY FORUM (ACPF)

Yehualashet Mekonen is the Programme Manager of the African Child Observatory at the African Child Policy Forum (ACPF), a pan-African centre for policy research and advocacy on children.

Mr. Mekonen has worked for more than 20 years in policy research, programme management and development of research tools and methodologies. He developed the Child-friendliness Index of African governments, a quantitative framework for measuring government’s performance in realising the rights and wellbeing of children. This composite Index is being used as an advocacy tool to promote greater commitment to children in Africa and beyond.

Mr. Mekonen is also the lead author of the African Report on Child Wellbeing series, a flagship biennial publication of ACPF that monitors the extent to which African governments are living up to their obligations to international and regional child rights laws. He has authored and co-authored numerous papers, articles and reports focusing on issues related to children. Before joining ACPF, Mr. Mekonen was the Team Leader of Researchers at the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia. As an Independent Consultant, he has also served several non-governmental organisations, UN agencies and private firms in undertaking surveys and data analysis on a range of social, economic and governance related issues.

X: @AfricanChildFrm

Email: mekonen@africanchildforum.org

FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, EQUITY FOR CHILDREN, THE NEW SCHOOL

Alberto Minujin is a professor at the Graduate Program in International Affairs at the New School, with a special focus on topics related to social policy and children's rights.

He serves as Executive Director of Equity for Children and Equidad para la Infancia, The New School. He is a member of the Latin American Observatory (OLA). Until 2005, Professor Minujin was senior program officer for policy analysis in the Division of Policy and Planning of UNICEF Headquarters, New York.

Prof. Minujin is the editor and author of books: "Global Child Poverty and Well-being. Measurement, concepts, policy and action"; "Social Protection Initiatives for Children, Women, and Families: An Analysis of Recent Experiences" that focus in the experiences around the world on cash and in-kind transfers to poor families; and "Poverty and Children: Policies to Break the Vicious Cycle (2006)", that discusses concepts, measurement and policies related to children living in poverty.

X: @equity4children

Email: minujina@newschool.edu

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR OF EXTERNAL ENGAGEMENT AND PROGRAMMING, LIVELIHOODS AT WORLD VISION INTERNATIONAL

Yukiko is Technical Director of External Engagement and Programming, Livelihoods at World Vision International. She provides strategic leadership on World Vision’s Savings for Transformation programmes and environmental management and climate resilience work in collaboration with World Vision’s Disaster Management Cash and Voucher Programming team and VisionFund, World Vision’s microfinance network.

She joined World Vision in 2020 as the Senior Policy Advisor for Child Poverty and Vulnerability with a specific focus on climate action and child sensitive social protection to address child poverty and vulnerability.

Yukiko has been working in the field of international development for over 15 years. Before joining World Vision, Yukiko worked for ChildFund Alliance serving in a variety of roles, including policy advocacy, external engagement, and programming, in both development and humanitarian contexts, covering multiple countries in Asia, Central America and West Africa.

Yukiko holds an MSc in Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics and is based in Barcelona, Spain.

Email: yukikoyamada_morovic@wvi.org

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF EQUITY FOR CHILDREN

Gabriel Crespo is the Associate Director of Equity for Children, a child poverty research center housed at The New School University in New York.

He oversees program areas including project design and implementation, and strategic communications. His research focuses on social policies for the reduction of poverty and inequality in urban contexts to develop evidence-based advocacy tools and key messages to inform policy.

Gabriel has a Human Rights Law degree (LL.B) from Universidad de Salamanca, Spain. He received an M.A. in International Affairs from The New School. He is a certified project manager, with training in monitoring & evaluation, and experience in design methodologies to ensure projects' measurable impact. He has ten years of professional experience in the private sector and NGOs.

Email: mgcrespo@newschool.edu

DIRECTOR OF THE SOCIAL POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Chris de Neubourg is the Director of the Social Policy Research Institute (www.spriglobal.org ) and Professor of Public Policy Analysis at Tilburg University (NL). He was the founder and Academic Director of the Maastricht Graduate School of Governance and Chief Social and Economic Policy Research at UNICEF Office of Research Innocenti. He has longstanding experience with projects and research oriented consultancies for UNICEF, the World Bank, UNDP, OECD and several bilateral donor agencies in Africa, Asia, Central Asia and Europe. He is specialized in and he published on (child) poverty analysis, social protection, public economics and labour economics.

X: @spriglobal

Email: c.deneubourg@spriglobal.org

DIRECTOR OF THE INTERFAITH INITIATIVE TO END CHILD POVERTY, ARIGATOU INTERNATIONAL

Fred Nyabera is the director of End Child Poverty, a multi-faith, child centered, global initiative of Arigatou International that mobilizes faith-inspired resources to end child poverty. As a social scientist and trained theologian, Nyabera’s interest is in development and peacebuilding work.

He previously served as pastor at the Nairobi Baptist Church and Karen Community Church respectively; and the Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa (FECCLAHA), where he worked together with faith-based, civil society, government, inter-governmental and multilateral organizations to improve the wellbeing of communities in Eastern Africa by supporting accountable governance and promoting peace and security.

He holds B.A in Sociology and Anthropology; BD (MDiv equivalent); and post graduate studies in Conflict Transformation and Organizational Leadership.

X: @NyaberaFred

Email: f.nyabera@arigatouinternational.org‍ ‍

SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW AT THE CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT AT THE OPEN UNIVERSITY

Dr. Keetie Roelen is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Global Development at the Open University.

She is a development economist by training and current research interests include the dynamics of (child) poverty, social protection and the linkages between child protection and social protection.

Keetie has worked with many international organisations such as UNICEF, FAO and Concern Worldwide, performing research and policy advice work in South East Asia, Southern and Eastern Africa and Central and Eastern Europe. She has quantitative and qualitative research skills and has designed and delivered lectures and training courses for Masters students, professionals, practitioners and policy makers. Her work has been published in the form of peer-reviewed journal publications and book chapters, working papers and project reports.

X: @KeetieRoelen

Email: k.roelen@ids.ac.uk

Olivier Thevenon is an Economist at Social Policy Division at OECD.

He is currently coordinating OECD work on child well-being and child poverty, and is responsible for the OECD Child-Well-Being Data Portal. He is also a member of the French Haut Conseil de la Famille, which advises the government on reforms to be undertaken in the area of family and child policies. He conducts research on child and family policies and its impact on child, fertility, and labour market outcomes.

He has contributed to the development of the OECD family Database, and to Babies and Bosses, Doing Better for Families, Closing the Gender Gap, Dare to Share, Preventing Ageing Unequally.

X: @othevenon

Email: Olivier.thevenon@oecd.org