Best of UNICEF Research 2017 features work by Oxford Policy Management consultant

For the fifth year, UNICEF have published a selection of its research from the past year under the title The Best of UNICEF Research (BOUR).

BOUR covers a broad range of topics, themes, and methodologies, as well as highlighting research from across the globe. The work published, UNICEF state, ‘identif[ies] issues that are of relevance at national and local levels but which also have widespread application and the potential to shape the agendas of academic and policy communities’.

Stephanie Allan, an OPM consultant in our Public Financial Management (PFM) portfolio, co-authored one of the featured pieces of research (undertaken when she worked at Mokoro). Much of the focus in BOUR 2017 is on child protection, and Allan’s analysis (written alongside Mokoro’s Alta Fölscher) looks at Indonesia, asking: ‘how much should a government spend on protecting children?’.

Allan and Fölscher’s research explores the issue of government funding aiming to tackle child exploitation and abuse, using a financial benchmark methodology to provide an accurate estimate of per-child expenditure. UNICEF established this methodology in 2014, and this research was its first application within a particular country.

The piece was commended for innovatively and honestly piloting a new research approach, as well as effectively building capacity for UNICEF staff and allowing broader access to government counterparts.

You can read all the highlights in BOUR 2017 on UNICEF’s website, including Allan and Fölscher’s research (pp.38-43). The full report is forthcoming. Stephanie Allan is a development economist and public finance specialist with specific interest in PFM in social sectors, and experience in public sector planning and budgeting, expenditure tracking, PFM diagnostics, and evaluations.

 

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