The Global Study team at UNICEF headquarters arranged for peer review of Global Study draft reports during the week of March 4-9th '09. During this week nineteen colleagues from various sections of UNICEF as well as outside researcher reviewed sections of six draft country reports. All the six country teams did an incredible job of providing rich info, both from the data and policy side. They provided wealth of data on child deprivation and the data presented was commonly properly disaggregated by sex/age, region, education, etc.
There were some important points that emerged from the peer review week that all participating countries need to bear in mind when developing their child poverty study reports:
1. Revisit the Global Study Guide
Revert to The Country Analysis chapter of the Global Study guide, in particular pages 24 – 25 that specify key questions that the analysis should answer in relation to policies, outcomes, causality and strategy.
2. Evidence based policy analysis
Throughout many reports there was some degree of disconnect between the statistical evidence and the key policy/strategy recommendations - the reports need to provide clear policy guidance based on evidence.
3. Clear storyline: making the case for emphasis on child poverty and the deprivation model
The key message/the main storyline derived from the analysis is of extreme importance and making a strong, convincing case for child-poverty linkages. Each report should provide:
1. A summary of the main deprivations affecting children in the country – here you need prioritize the challenges/needs
2. A summary of relevant current policies/programs, and assessment of how well they are oriented toward reducing deprivations
3. Recommendations for improving alignment between policies/programs and deprivation reduction
Please click here for the comprehensive outline of major points that countries need to consider when developing their reports.
Focal point: Solrun Engilbertsdottir, sengilbertsdottir@unicef.org
