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Bjorn Gelders

Bjorn Gelders

Senior Social Policy Specialist

Bjorn is our Head of Social and Economic Analysis. His main areas of expertise include poverty dynamics and vulnerability, inclusive growth, monitoring and impact evaluation. He has worked in more than 20 countries with governments, the UN and development agencies across Africa, Asia and the Pacific.

Bjorn Gelders' Work

Child Vulnerability Kenya

Child Vulnerability and Social Protection in Kenya

This report highlights evidence that targeting social protection at orphans, 7.5% of Kenya’s children, with a Cash Transfer for Orphans and Vulnerable Children inadvertently leads to the exclusion of other children who are equally or even more vulnerable. It

Transfer Values Kenya

Transfer Values in Kenya’s National Social Security System

This report seeks to examine the current transfer values of Kenya’s tax-financed social security schemes and assess whether they are set at an appropriate level.

Assessment of the Geographical and Community-Based Targeting of WFP’s Cash and Food for Assets Programme in Kenya

This report provides an in-depth assessment of the targeting mechanisms used for the cash and food for assets programme by WFP and the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA).

Children in Indonesia: An analysis of poverty, mobility and multidimensional deprivation

Children in Indonesia: An analysis of poverty, mobility and multidimensional deprivation

This Indonesian Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) report provides estimates of monetary child poverty, poverty dynamics and welfare mobility, and multidimensional child deprivation. It also presents results from a micro-simulation...

Providing a comprehensive picture of child poverty in Indonesia

We supported the Government of Indonesia and UNICEF with a comprehensive analysis of child poverty and well-being in the country.

Uganda Refugee Study

Pinpointing refugees’ vulnerability in Uganda and recommending food assistance improvements

Uganda has a long history of hosting refugees from neighbouring countries. Our assignment for WFP involved research to improve the evidence on refugee vulnerability.

Towards a Strong and Prosperous Indonesian Society

We have provided technical support in order to help the Government of Indonesia to improve the quality and effectiveness of programmes to reduce poverty.

Securing child-sensitive social protection in Fiji

Fiji is one of the largest and most developed Pacific island countries. Yet, despite its status as a middle-income country, a high proportion of children live in poor and income-insecure...

Multidimensional poverty

Five things we learnt about poverty dynamics in world’s fourth most populous country

I recently had the pleasure of working with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Indonesian Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) on a year-long project on poverty and child well-being, writes Bjorn Gelders. It was a productive collaboration: we ran a series of technical workshops with statisticians; crunched data...

SDG Baseline Indonesia

SDG Baseline Report on Children in Indonesia

The Government and Unicef SDG Baseline Report on Children in Indonesia, provides a snapshot of where the country’s children stand at the start of the period up to 2030, when the goals are due to be met.

Monitoring Global Goals progress and disparities among children in South Africa

South Africa has undergone significant transformation since the end of apartheid in 1994. The country boasts one of the most progressive constitutions in the word and has put in place...

The limits of using ‘Big Data’ for development – an economist writes

Get your inner nerd out! The World Bank has launched a competition to help them better predict a households’ poverty status based on easy-to-collect information and machine learning algorithms. Build a statistical model that works well, and you could win a cash price of up to US$ 6,000! So what’s...

Identifying good practices on using data for policy and advocacy on ageing

Population ageing is poised to become one of the most significant social transformations of the 21st century. Virtually every country is experiencing growth in the number and proportion of older...

Exclusion by Design: the effectiveness of the Proxy Means Test

In recent years, the proxy means test (PMT) has become the predominant targeting mechanism for social assistance schemes in developing countries. It has many powerful advocates and claims that it...

Sustainable Development Goals Baseline Report on Children

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals form a ground-breaking plan to end poverty, promote sustainable development, and ensure prosperity for all of the world’s citizens by 2030. The Government of...

Global Goals for Every Child

Global Goals for Every Child: Progress and Disparities Among Children in South Africa

The report is one of the first to use the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations to chart progress and to highlight critical challenges that directly affect the lives of children.

Inclusive lifecycle social security: An option for Uganda?

Inclusive lifecycle social security: An option for Uganda?

Inclusive lifecycle social security: an option for Uganda? considers the feasibility and likely effects of introducing a comprehensive social protection system in the low-income country. The report, available for download below, for...

Good Practices and Barriers in the Use of Data for Policy and Advocacy On Ageing in Asia-Pacific

Good Practices and Barriers in the Use of Data for Policy and Advocacy On Ageing in Asia-Pacific

This report provides a wide range of good practice examples where the use of data has had a positive effect on policy and programming and looks at strategies for overcoming barriers to data in policy and practice.

Child wellbeing and social security in Georgia

Child wellbeing and social security in Georgia: the case for moving to a more inclusive national social security system

This UNICEF paper examines a range of options for increasing the impacts of the national social security system on children. It suggests that if Georgia is considering extending the Child...

Child-Sensitive Social Protection in Fiji: Assessment of the Care and Protection Allowance

UNICEF and Fiji’s Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation commissioned Development Pathways to carry out the assessment of the Care and Protection Allowance, a national scheme that provides monthly cash transfers and food vouchers to children in vulnerable and low-income families.

Universal child benefits: The curious case of Mongolia

Up to now, Mongolia has been famous for Genghis Khan, nomadic herders and grand wrestling competitions in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar. But, it can now add to its list of fame the developing world’s only universal child grant! Worldwide, close to one in seven countries provide non-contributory child benefits...