Press Release No 20 –
National Financial Inclusion Taskforce Launches First Poverty Scorecard in the South Pacific
Press Release No. : 20/2014
Date : 17 July 2014
The National Financial Inclusion Taskforce (NFIT) led by the Reserve Bank of Fiji, is collaborating with South Pacific Business Development (SPBD) Microfinance (Fiji) Limited and Good Return (an initiative of World Education Australia), to officially launch the first Poverty Scorecard, also known as the “Progress Out of Poverty Index” (PPI) in the South Pacific. The launch will be held at a workshop on 21 July 2014 at GW Conference Room, Level 7, Kadavu House in Suva.
The PPI is a simple country-specific poverty scoring tool which has been developed for 45 countries and used by more than 200 organisations involved in poverty alleviation. The tool is developed from the country’s Household Income and Expenditures Survey (HIES) through a rigid process of statistical analysis. The tool is being promoted by the Grameen Foundation for institutions which want an objective way of targeting beneficiaries below the poverty line and tracking them across time.
After the launch, a four day intensive Trainer’s Training will be held at the SPBD Office. The workshops shall be facilitated by Good Return’s Social Performance Specialist, Mr Muhammad Awais Butt. The trainer’s training will build the first team of trainers on the use of the PPI tool and its corresponding software analysis. The institutions and companies that have already signed up for the workshop include the Poverty Monitoring Unit of the Office of the Prime Minister, Reserve Bank of Fiji, Westpac Banking Corporation (WBC), Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT), Ministry of Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation (MSWWP), Australian High Commission (DFAT), Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme (PFIP), Fiji Council of Social Services (FCOSS), the National Council for Small and Microenterprise Development (NCSMED), Fiji Development Bank (FDB), SPBD, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LICI), and Market Development Facility (MDF).