How will COVID-19 impact global poverty?

Boris Mints Institute laureate Professor Sabina Alkire presents the latest research on global poverty.

An illustration, created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), depicts the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (photo credit: MAM/CDC/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)
An illustration, created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), depicts the 2019 Novel Coronavirus
(photo credit: MAM/CDC/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)

The Boris Mints Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions to Global Challenges will hold its first-ever digital awards ceremony for the presentation of its Boris Mints Institute Prize, on Thursday, May 14th, at 4 P.M. Israel time. The event will be live-streamed on the JPost website.  

Register to join the ceremony as a guest at https://www.bmiglobalsolutions.org/registration

Since 2017, The Boris Mints Institute has awarded a $100,000 prize to an exceptional individual who has devoted his or her research and academic life to the solution of a strategic global challenge, and whose research, public action, and ideas have made a transformative impact on global policy formation that has contributed to the welfare of a significant number of communities worldwide.

The laureate of the 2020 BMI Prize is Professor Sabina Alkire, Director of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative at Oxford University, for her exceptional contribution to the understanding of the dynamics and implications of poverty. Her work has had a direct impact on the struggle against poverty throughout the world, and in particular, in developing countries.

Together with Professor James Foster, Professor Alkire developed the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) to provide accurate and actionable data on poverty. The MPI involves counting various types of deprivation that individuals and households experience at the same time, such as a lack of education or employment, poor health or living standards. These profiles are analyzed and used to construct a comprehensive picture of people living in multidimensional poverty, both in terms of the number of people experiencing poverty and the intensity and the level of deprivation. Through this initiative and in collaboration with the United Nations and the World Bank, she has led the effort to employ the MPI as a means to identify the challenges of poverty, and the impact of policy on it, in over 100 developing nations. 

Professor Alkire has devoted much of her career to address poverty in different societies through her leadership at the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI). 

Professor Sabina Alkire (Photo Credit: Courtesy)
Professor Sabina Alkire (Photo Credit: Courtesy)

With the COVID-19 pandemic set to increase global poverty rates for the first time since 1998, the 2020 BMI Prize is being awarded to Professor Alkire in recognition of her groundbreaking work and the vital importance of the MPI in facing a projected upsurge in global poverty. As part of the first digital Prize Ceremony, Professor Alkire will be giving a short TED-style talk on the importance of her research to address global poverty in the wake of COVID-19.  Professor Alkire, in keeping with BMI Prize protocol, will contribute 20% of the prize for scholarships to research students. 

The Boris Mints Institute is a part of the School of Social and Policy Studies at Tel Aviv University in Ramat Aviv, and was founded by Dr. Boris Mints in 2015 to encourage research, planning and innovative thinking in order to promote a significant positive change in the world. The institute is focusing on delivering strategic policy recommendations and detailed blueprints for implementation to decision-makers worldwide, based on research conducted by the finest researchers and students in five research labs: Inequality, Renewable Energy, Sustainable Development, Water and Conflict Resolution.  

Register to join the ceremony here – https://www.bmiglobalsolutions.org/registration