🌐Imagine... A Digitally Inclusive Pacific🌐

💡 Imagined Endstate: 

A Pacific region where secure and accessible digital identities empower all communities, driving financial inclusion and economic resilience.

🔗 Link:

Retrieved from https://www.aspeninstitute.org/blog-posts/5-priorities-to-enable-digital-identity-in-financial-services/

📚 Source: 

The Aspen Institute. (2024). 5 Priorities to Enable Digital Identity in Financial Services. 

💥 What’s the Big Deal: 

In the Pacific, where geographical isolation often hampers access to financial services, the adoption of secure digital identities can be a transformative force💳. By prioritizing digital identity in financial services, Pacific Island nations can bridge gaps in financial inclusion, providing citizens with secure, reliable access to essential financial tools. 🌱 This initiative is crucial for fostering economic resilience, allowing more people to participate fully in the digital economy, from remote villages to urban centers. 🏦 Digital identity is not just a technological advancement; it’s a pathway to economic empowerment, enabling better access to banking, credit, and entrepreneurship opportunities. 🌍 As the Pacific navigates the complexities of modern financial systems, the establishment of secure digital identities stands as a cornerstone for inclusive growth, equitable access, and sustained economic development across the region.

#DigitalIdentity, #FinancialInclusion, #PacificResilience, #EconomicEmpowerment, #InclusiveGrowth, #DigitalTransformation, #FinancialAccess, #Poverty, #ParadigmShift, #Inequality, #Participatory, #Intersectional, #RICEWEBB #IMSPARK, 

🏠 IMSPARK: A Pacific Future with Fair and Equitable Access to Homeownership 🏠

🏠 Imagine… A Pacific Future with Fair and Equitable Access to Homeownership 🏠

💡 Imagined Endstate: 

A region that has fostered a culture of inclusion and diversity, where everyone has equal opportunity to build wealth and stability through homeownership.

🔗Link:

Ref Here: 

📚Source: 

Brown, J. R., & Cookson, J. A. (2024). Lender-reported reasons for mortgage denials don’t explain racial disparities. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. 

💥 What’s the Big Deal: 

The article by Brown and Cookson (2024) reveals that Black and Hispanic applicants are more likely to be denied mortgages than White applicants, even after controlling for income, credit score, and other factors. 🏦  The authors find that the lender-reported reasons for denials, such as debt-to-income ratio, credit history, and collateral, do not fully account for the racial gap in mortgage outcomes. 🌈 This suggests that there may be other factors at play, such as discrimination, bias, or structural barriers, that prevent people of color from accessing homeownership.

Homeownership is a key source of wealth and economic security for many Americans, especially in the Pacific region, where housing prices are high and rising. 🏘️ However, the racial gap in homeownership has persisted for decades, contributing to the racial wealth gap and intergenerational inequality. 📈 By addressing the root causes of mortgage denials and ensuring fair and equitable access to homeownership, the Pacific region can empower more people of color to achieve their financial goals and improve their quality of life.

#homeownership,#racialequity, #Mortgage,#WealthGap,#Pacific,#Poverty, #Inequality, #Participatory,#RICEWEBB, #IMSPARK,

🌅 IMSPARK: A New Pacific Perspective on Poverty and Inequality🌅

🌅 Imagine... A New Pacific Perspective on Poverty and Inequality🌅

💡 Imagined Endstate:

Imagine a future where Pacific islanders are not only free from material deprivation, but also empowered to pursue their valued goals and aspirations. A future where human development is measured not by income or consumption, but by the capabilities and opportunities that people have to live a life they value.

🔗 Link:

Poverty, Inequality and Development: A Discussion from the Capability Approach’s Framework

📚 Source:

Alkire, S. (2010). Poverty, inequality and development: A discussion from the capability approach’s framework. In J. Soler, F. Sabaté, & J. Serrano (Eds.), Open Mind: Philosophy and the Mind Sciences in the 21st Century (pp. 133-164). MIT Press.

💥 What’s the Big Deal:

The capability approach is a normative framework that focuses on what people are able to do and be, rather than what they have or lack.🌴 It challenges the conventional views of poverty and inequality that rely on income or consumption indicators, 🌺 and instead proposes multidimensional and participatory approaches that respect the diversity and agency of human beings. 🌊Applying the capability approach to the Pacific context can help us understand the complex and interrelated challenges that Pacific islanders face, such as climate change, health, education, gender, culture, and governance, and design policies and interventions that enhance their capabilities and freedoms 🙌.

#poverty,#paradigmshift, #CapabilityApproachFramework,#inequality, #Participatory, #intersectional,#RICEWEBB,#IMSPARK, 

 

🚨IMSPARK: How Child Labor Became a Problem in the US in 2023🚨

🚨Imagine... How Child Labor Became a Problem in the US in 2023🚨

💡 Imagined Endstate: 

A future where every child has the right to education, health, and safety, and where child labor is abolished and prevented.

🔗 Link: 

Ref Here

📚 Source:

 Economic Policy Institute. (2023). Top 10 EPI reports and blog posts of 2023. 

💥 What's the Big Deal: 

Child labor is a violation of human rights and a threat to the well-being and development of children. 👶It deprives them of their childhood, their potential, and their dignity. It also harms the economy and society by perpetuating poverty, inequality, and social injustice.📉 In 2023, child labor re-emerged as a major problem in the US, as many states moved to weaken child labor laws and expose children to long hours, low wages, and hazardous conditions.🛑 This report reveals the alarming trend and its consequences, and calls for urgent action to protect the rights and interests of children. 

 

#childlabor #humanrights #education #poverty #inequality #socialjustice