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The
Global Assets Project is a joint venture between the Center
for Social Development and the New
America Foundation
The
Center for Social Development and the New America Foundation's Asset Building
Program launched the Global Assets Project (GAP) in July 2006 to inform
and promote development of asset-building policies and programs worldwide.
This coordinated initiative seeks to build on successes of domestic asset-building
programs to an international level by informing new policies, testing
their effectiveness, creating networks of scholars and policy makers,
building the global knowledge base, and promoting meetings and information
sharing. See more information at the GAP
website.
GAP
Highlights:
On
January 23, 2007, GAP partnered with the World Bank’s Consultative
Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) in an event to discuss strategies to advance
savings and assets amongst the poor. The keynote address was delivered
by Michael Sherraden, director of CSD and co-director of GAP.
To watch the video, click here.
GAP
News:
GAP
Initiatives:
AssetsAfrica
AssetsAfrica
is a demonstration and research initiative designed to test asset building
innovations in Africa. No continent is in greater need of asset accumulation--at
all levels--than the African continent. The focus of AssetsAfrica is asset-building
among impoverished households and communities. Assets Africa currently
has a pilot project in Uganda. This project, which will run for five years,
has just completed the first round of asset building and purchasing. Participants
include men and women from a wide range of ages, educational backgrounds,
professions and geographical locations. Some common assets obtained by
the participants include motorcycles, bicycles, goats, chickens, oxen
and land. The project uses an asset-building model that is modified to
be socially, culturally, and economically relevant to the African context.
The hope of this pilot project is to expand asset building techniques
into other African countries and improve the economic livelihoods of participants.
China:
Inclusive Asset-Based Policy
The Center for Social Development (CSD) at Washington University in St.
Louis has introduced the idea of asset-based policy in China. CSD has
played a central role in several conferences on this topic held in China
since 2004. These meetings introduced the topic of asset building in the
context of social policy in China. Following these conferences, CSD presented
asset-building concepts to a committee of consultants who advise the Chinese
government on social policy every five years. A major pilot study on asset-building
is underway in China’s western Xin Jiang region. Chinese-language
publications on this topic are now available in the form of a translated
version of Sherraden’s book, Assets and the Poor, several other
CSD publications, and articles from Chinese social policy experts. Discussion
of asset-based policy is becoming widespread in China. CSD has identified
a number of research and policy directions to inform an inclusive asset-based
policy in China.
Hong
Kong: Asset-Based Policy Development
The government
of Hong Kong is considering a proposal to establish a Child Development
Fund (CDF), featuring children's development accounts as a tool to, in
the words of Hong Kong's Financial Secretary, Mr. Henry Tang, "help
disadvantaged children and prevent intergenerational poverty." CSD
research and experience in asset building were central to this development.
Hungary
and Slovakia: Matched Savings Initiatives
Two asset-based
matched savings initiatives are underway in Southern Hungary and eastern
Slovakia. These three-year asset-building pilot programs will focus on
the rural poor with the goal of encouraging low-income families to save
for assets that will pave the way to a better life.
Indonesia:
Asset-Based Policy Development
This project
introduced the idea of asset-based policy in Indonesia, and helped to
design and draft a major asset-based poverty alleviation pilot project
being incorporated into the Indonesian government’s 5-year plan
(2006-2010). CSD’s efforts began with a conference on poverty alleviation
held in Indonesia in March 2005, which introduced the topic of asset building
in the context of social policy in Indonesia. Following this conference,
CSD collaborated with the Indonesian Ministry of Social Welfare and researchers
from the State Islamic University (UIN) to design a pilot study, which
will be run in impoverished localities in parallel with Indonesia’s
successful micro-finance program (Cooperative Micro Businesses, or KUBE
program). Bahasa-language publications on asset-building are becoming
available in the form of a translation of Michael Sherraden’s book,
Assets and the Poor, and articles from Indonesian social policy
experts. Discussion of asset-based policy is growing in Indonesian government
circles. CSD has identified a number of research and policy directions
to inform an inclusive asset-based policy in Indonesia.
Kenya:
Asset-Building and Investment
An
asset-based development project has been initiated in the Korogocho shantytown
outside Nairobi, Kenya. The program is operated through Ecosandals Investment
Limited (EIL). EIL is a joint venture of Ecosandals Kenya, a small, partially
employee-owned producer of sandals produced from used tires, and Ecosandals,
Inc., a US-based non-profit organization that serves as an advisory board.
The central goal of this program is to enable Korogocho residents to accumulate
savings and then make investments in the Nairobi Stock Exchange.
Peru and Colombia: Asset Building Initiatives
Three
asset-based poverty alleviation initiatives are underway in Peru and Colombia.
The goals of all three projects are to build assets and increase access
to financial services (such as savings deposits, micro insurance, non-cash
transfers, remittances management, and micro-credit) among the rural poor,
especially poor women.
Singapore:
Post-Secondary Education Account Policy
Post-Secondary Education Accounts (PSEAs) will be opened for every Singaporean
age 7 to 20 in 2008. The PSEA program is the latest of three national
asset-building programs targeting children in Singapore. The other two
programs are the Children Development Account (CDA) targeting children
from birth to age 6, and the Edusave account for school-going children
aged 6 to 16. Unused balances in CDAs, Edusave accounts and PSEAs will
be rolled over to the Central Provident Fund (CPF) account which follows
the account holder for the rest of his/her life. Together, these four
accounts provide a comprehensive cradle-to-grave asset building system
for Singapore’s new generation.
South
Korea: Asset-Based Policy Development
The Center for Social Development (CSD) at Washington University in St.
Louis is developing strategies to support the Korean government and researchers
from leading South Korean research institutions in ongoing efforts to
introduce asset building as a tool for poverty alleviation. A three-year
(2007-2009) asset-building demonstration program for low-income families
is currently under consideration by the Korean government, which views
this as a promising, incentive-based approach to poverty alleviation.
Taiwan:
Demonstrations and Policy Progress
Asset
building is emerging across Taiwan as a central socioeconomic policy theme.
Momentum has built since the success of the Taipei City government's three-year
"Taipei Family Development Account" (TFDA) pilot program in
2000. The TFDA demonstrated that low-income families in Taipei can accumulate
assets for the future and that institutionalized incentives play an important
role in long-term saving and investment plans of the poor. Experience
with Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) in the United States has informed
implementation of the pilot TFDA program.
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