Issues on poverty are strategic issues that require immediate attention from all stakeholders in terms of policy formulation. The SMERU Research Institute, as a leader in socioeconomic research in Indonesia, supports the discourse on inclusive public and private sector policies through the analysis of poverty reduction policies and their impacts. Therefore, SMERU collaborated with the State Administration Agency (LAN), Knowledge Sector Initiative (KSI), and the Indonesian Policy Analyst Association (AAKI) to hold Training on Poverty Reduction Policy Analysis in Jakarta, 3–5 December 2019. The participants are government employees, academics, and others. The training is conducted as part of SMERU's efforts to encourage the improvement of the quality of evidence-based development policies.

The training offers basic understandings of the context, concepts and techniques of evidence-based poverty analysis policy analysis. The modules used in this training are in line with the policy formulation cycle, which includes mapping of poverty issues in the policy agenda, poverty measurement, policy formulation, as well as monitoring and evaluation of poverty reduction policies. The modules can thus be guides for policy analysts to formulating and analyzing policies that are sensitive to poverty.

During the three-day training, participants were given in-depth explanations of the roles of policy analysts, the concept of poverty, poverty measurement, the formulation of poverty reduction policies, the urgency of monitoring and evaluating poverty reduction policies, and the theory of change in policy designs and evaluation. In addition, the training included practices of in-depth interviews and focus group discussions to collect poverty data. Participants were also given notes on how to write policy briefs before getting the task of writing their own.

To view photo documentation of the training, visit The SMERU Research Institute Facebook page.

If you are interested in joining the training, contact us at http://www.smeru.or.id/en/contact.