Helping to shape global conversations on poverty to 2015 and beyond: A shame-proofing Toolkit.

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This project implements a multi-media, multi-agency dissemination and utilisation strategy developed from the findings of the ESRC/DFID research project; Shame, Poverty and Social Exclusion: A comparative analysis in seven countries (Grant Reference: RES-167-25-0557). In the context of global discussions on the future of the Millennium Development Goals, the overall goal is to influence public, media and policy debates around poverty and to help improve the effectiveness of national and global policy by focussing attention on the benefits of promoting the dignity of people living in poverty. A central component is a 'Shame-Proofing Toolkit', a web-based resource specifically designed with differentiated materials to alert policy makers, practitioners and the public to the psychological and social impacts of poverty.The ESRC/DFID research indicates that people in poverty often experience shame as a consequence of being unable to afford fully to participate in society and because they feel shamed by political and media discourse, and in their dealings with public agencies. Poverty related shame limits individual agency and ultimately helps to perpetuate poverty; therefore there is an economic imperative to consider its implications. Anti-poverty policies from social security floors to micro finance initiatives need to be 'shame-proofed' to ensure that they promote rather than undermine human dignity and agency. Equally, mechanisms are required through which we can sensitise public opinion to a) how negativity towards people in poverty (the shaming) is culturally and socially constructed and b) how everyone has a role to play in challenging it. The Toolkit comprises: 1) Core materials, including key principles for policy and practice, best practice guidelines, illustrative case studies and curriculum materials. These will be drawn from the ESRC/DFID research but shaped for dissemination outputs via a series of workshops held with people living in poverty in six countries. The workshops will be conducted in collaboration with ATD4th World as part of wider conversations on poverty in advance of the World Summit in 2013 on global development. 2) Supplementary popular media resources devised in collaboration with other key partners including: a) With Mediae (Education for Development NGO) story lines incorporated into the soap opera - Makutano Junction (screened to millions of viewers in East Africa and used as an educational resource across schools in the UK) b) With the Media Trust (NGO) the production of a series of short films about the experiences of poverty-related shame in five of the ESRC/DFID research countries (the UK, Norway, Uganda, South Korea and India) c) With Pegasus Youth Theatre (NGO), the design and production of a theatre in education programme based on the book 'The Heap' (about children's experiences of poverty and shame). The project will also produce curriculum materials for English/Drama in UK schools. The final play will be toured in the UK and internationally and recorded and digitalised for wider dissemination including via the project website. As well as being directly broadcast, these media will form part of the 'Shame-Proofing Toolkit', launched via an interactive website purpose-built by another partner, Soft Innovators (SI). The website will offer a platform for global discussions on poverty and provide links to an extensive range of related initiatives and resources. It will be moderated and its use monitored as a part of the process of measuring impact of the dissemination and utilisation project as a whole. The research findings will also be used directly to influence national and global anti-poverty policy (a process which has already begun via a series of workshops presenting findings to international policy forums such as the World Bank and the ILO, and national government and NGO policy forums in the UK, India, China, Norway and Uganda)