Just Give Money to the Poor? Insights from Recent Basic Income Pilots in India and Bangladesh
What happens if you help the poor without preconditions and address the precarity at the heart of their poverty? In this talk and documentary screening, Dr. Neil Howard will share results from two inspiring policy experiments in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Hyderabad, India. These experiments sought to turn the traditional approach to social security on its head. Both provided all residents of six slum communities unconditional basic income combined with community organising support that enabled community members to identify and collectively address the problems they face in their daily lives. In this respect, the experiments attempted to model a new way of providing social assistance rooted in solidarity rather than charity. Their results point to a future for social security in South Asia that is universal and unconditional and ask whether it is time for a basic income pilot in Pakistan.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Neil Howard is Reader in International Development at the University of Bath. He is an anthropologist of development turned social protection scholar. His research explores innovative forms of labour and social protection, focusing on Unconditional Basic Income (UBI) combined with participatory community organizing. Dr. Howard co-leads international policy experiments trialling this combination in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Hyderabad, India. He also sits on the Executive Committee of the Basic Income Earth Network.
This session is free and open to all. Just visit the venue to attend it.
The Black Hole
Plot 5H, Street 100, G-11/3, Islamabad.
Click here for Google Maps Location