On this Democracy Sausage Extra during Anti-Poverty Week, Mark Kenny discusses creating a future without poverty with three of the world’s leading voices on poverty measurement, research, and eradication – former United Nations Special Rapporteur Philip Alston, Oxford University’s Sabina Alkire, and Crawford School’s Sharon Bessell.


How can policymakers better measure and understand poverty? Is ideology the main impediment to poverty alleviation? And are the Sustainable Development Goals insufficient to deal with major global challenges like climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic? On this Democracy Sausage Extra for Anti-Poverty Week, Professor Mark Kenny discusses poverty eradication with former Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights Professor Philip Alston, Director of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative Dr Sabina Alkire, and Crawford School of Public Policy’s Professor Sharon Bessell.

Sabina Alkire is Director of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, an economic research centre within the Department of International Development at the University of Oxford. She is also a Fellow of the Human Development and Capability Association.

Philip Alston is John Norton Pomeroy Professor of Law at New York University and served as United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights.

Sharon Bessell is Professor of Public Policy and Director of Gender Equity and Diversity at Crawford School of Public Policy at The Australian National University (ANU).

Mark Kenny is a Professor in the ANU Australian Studies Institute. He came to the university after a high-profile journalistic career including six years as chief political correspondent and national affairs editor for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Canberra Times.

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