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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

Assessing the potential for multi-tiered child benefits in Viet Nam – A policy brief

In this report, we examine the potential for a multi-tiered child benefit in Viet Nam.

Economic responses to COVID-19 and child sensitive social protection in Bangladesh

Development Pathways is supporting UNICEF in Bangladesh in assessing the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and their families. The goal of the project will be to aid future planning that adequately addresses local needs by feeding into timely policy and decision-making, evidence and data-driven analysis.

Investing in the future: A universal benefit for Sri Lanka’s children

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how a universal child benefit can help children in Sri Lanka reach their full potential.

Potential impacts of social pensions in Viet Nam

A report, commissioned by the International Labour Organization, that focuses on Viet Nam's social pensions and examines two options for expanding it to achieve universal coverage.

Assessing the potential for multi-tiered child benefits in Viet Nam

This report, commissioned by the International Labour Organization, examines the potential for a multi-tiered child benefit to help the Government meet these multiple objectives in Viet Nam.

Building a National Social Protection System Fit for Uzbekistan’s Children and Youth

This paper examines the challenges faced by the population of Uzbekistan, in particular those faced by its children and young people, and aims to assess the effectiveness of the current social protection system in addressing these challenges.

Kenya Social Protection Sector Review 2017: Main Report

The Kenya Social Protection Sector Review Report, released by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, offers a strategic review of the evolution of Kenya’s social protection sector between 2011 and 2017 and includes many lessons for other countries as they seek to expand their social protection systems.

Analysis of Refugee Vulnerability in Uganda

The aim of this report was to review the current selection criteria for food assistance in Uganda by presenting an in-depth vulnerability study.

Building A Better Future A child-sensitive social protection system for Uzbekistan

The proposals set out in this paper aim to re-design the national system of child benefits. If implemented, the reforms could become an important means of building a more prosperous and inclusive Uzbekistan.

Analysis of the Situation of Women and Children in Kosovo

This report captures both the significant achievements and the enduring challenges which institutions and people face as they move towards the full and equitable realisation of the rights of all children and women in Kosovo.

Building Inclusive Social Protection Systems for Persons with Disabilities

Leaving No-one Behind: Building Inclusive Social Protection Systems for Persons with Disabilities

This report examines how to make social protection systems and schemes more inclusive of persons with disabilities. Social protection can play a key role in empowering persons with disabilities by...

Vietnam social protection

Reviewing Vietnam social protection spending to protect and enhance benefits

Government spending on social protection in Vietnam, as in many places, is at risk. Beyond the continual need to justify current and proposed future expenditures, there is a more pressing...

Quantitative Impact Analysis of Uganda’s Senior Citizens Grant

An impact analysis by Development Pathways’ Bjorn Gelders and Diloa Bailey-Athias, who employ a novel, low-cost approach to identifying the impacts of Uganda’s Senior Citizens Grant. Their work provides further...

Realization of the Sustainable Development Goals By, For and With Persons with Disabilities: UN Flagship Report on Disability and Development 2018

The United Nations has released – for the first time ever – a flagship global publication on disability and the sustainable development goals (SDGs). It brings together contributions from more...

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...

What can data tell us about international commitment to providing access to disability benefits?

Written by Patrick Llewellin, Diloá Athias, and Bjorn Gelders In recognition of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Development Pathways is launching the 2019 edition of our Disability Benefit Database – a unique inventory of tax-financed disability benefits in low- and middle-income countries around the world. Persons with disabilities – and their households – face a higher risk of living in poverty than people without disabilities. Even when incomes are similar, people with disabilities tend to...

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.

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.

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...

Exclusion by Design: An assessment of the effectiveness of the proxy means test poverty-targeting mechanism

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...

Launch of new Disability Benefits Database

Development Pathways launch the 2019 edition of our Disability Benefit Database – a unique inventory of tax-financed disability benefits in low- and middle-income countries around the world

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.

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...

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...

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.

The situational analysis for UNICEF Ethiopia is to inform Ethiopia development efforts

Strengthening Ethiopia development efforts by reaching people with disabilities or living on the streets

Social services for people with complex needs must be improved to ensure that Ethiopia development efforts leave no one behind, according to an analysis of the situation of people with...

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...

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...

Pension promotes wellbeing and impacts economy, evaluation for Uganda concludes

Findings of a new quantitative assessment of the impact of the Senior Citizens Grant in Uganda show that the programme has made deeper impacts than previously discovered. The findings of...

The development progress for persons with disabilities is flagged

Fresh evidence on global development progress for persons with disabilities unveiled

17th December 2018: The first global United Nations report to examine disability and the Sustainable Development Goals provides fresh evidence on the need for progress to close the gap in outcomes...

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 that it is the only developing nation to introduce universal child benefits! Worldwide, close to one in seven...

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