Swinburne University of Technology’s lecturer in International Management, Dr Mohshin Habib, is working in partnership with Credit Union Foundation Australia (CUFA) to implement a Poverty Alleviation Assessment Tool that will be used in Cambodia and Timor-Leste.
CUFA helps people lift themselves out of poverty by providing financial skills, and resources through developing and supporting financial cooperatives in communities that previously had little or no access to a financial institution.
For hundreds of families the ability to save money and take out small loans has allowed them to improve their diet, start a business and send their children to school.
With more accountability being expected of non-government organisations in Australia that rely on donor funds, CUFA needed a way to be able to measure its client’s current poverty levels to ensure they were working with their target group and to also be able to track their progress as they moved out of poverty.
Dr Habib said that as part of his research and development of the Poverty Alleviation Assessment Tool he visited Cambodia and Timor-Leste, where CUFA operates programs.
“Researching the assessment tool involved hiring teams of assistants in Cambodia and Timor-Leste to put a 45-point questionnaire to 2000 people in each country,” said Dr Habib.
“The final tool will have 10 to 15 very carefully phrased questions covering quantitative changes as well as qualitative factors such as social inclusion,” he said.
“The data collected in the future will assist CUFA in continuing to target the poorest of the poor in the assistance they provide.”
Earlier this year Dr Habib took 16 Swinburne undergraduate students to four remote villages in Cambodia to see how CUFA’s programs were helping some of that country’s poorest people.
Swinburne undergraduate student Bianca Whelan said the trip was motivating and inspiring.
“I never realised how sheltered I was until I experienced Cambodia,” Ms Whelan said.
“In Australia we are so lucky. We have access to fresh drinking water, proper toilets and plumbing, medicine and healthcare.”
Before moving to Australia in 2002, Dr Habib was a development practitioner working in non-profit and international development organisations in Asia and the Pacific. For his PhD he investigated a model of how microfinance could have an impact on poverty, social exclusion and human development.
Dr Habib has an ongoing research partnership with the CUFA and is also honorary research adviser to the Brotherhood of St Laurence, which helps people living in poverty and disadvantage in Australia.
The Poverty Alleviation Assessment Tool research is featured in the current edition of Venture magazine.