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Chair: Tarun Khanna, Harvard Business School, Harvard University

9:00 a.m.

Lázaro I. Rodríguez, United Nations Consultant - Transformatorio Cultural para el Desarrollo

Intercultural approach as a tool for social inclusion and poverty eradication in Central America

Discussant: Ajantha Subramanian, Anthropology, Harvard University

The paper presents the intercultural approach to promoting inclusion of culturally excluded groups living in disadvantaged areas in Central America and Southern Africa. Acknowledging that reducing the economic gaps is not enough to eradicate exclusion, it looks for inclusive ways to address complex forms of discrimination, violence and stigmatization based on cultural values, related to ethnicity, race, skin color, identity and sexual orientation, gender, physical or mental disability, religion, migrant status or nationality. It presents some experiences of inclusion of vulnerable populations in local-level policy decision‐making and its impact on improving access to services and participation in social, cultural and political life.

9:45 a.m.

Dr. Babatunde Omilola, Head of Development Planning and Inclusive Growth, United Nations Development Program, New York

Human Rights-Based Approach for Addressing Poverty and Social Exclusion in South Africa in the Era of the SDGs

Discussant: Alberto D. Cimadamore, Comparative Research Programme on Poverty (ISSC/UiB)

Based on a comprehensive review of the literature and with both quantitative and qualitative data, the paper explores the complex relationship between poverty, growth and inequality. The paper further explores how the human rights-based approach can address poverty and social exclusion in South Africa based on overall definition of poverty adopted by the United Nations to tackle ‘social discrimination and exclusion’ and ‘lack of participation in decision-making civil, social and cultural life’.