“The good thing about the work we are doing is that there is direct interest by the government to make sure that the project works, comes to fruition, and also informs their budget policies.” -Ismael Cid Martinez
Last week we sat down with Ismael Cid Martinez to discuss the collaboration of Equity for Children with the Social Policy unit of the UNICEF country office and Equatorial Guinea’s Office of National Statistics to monitor public financing for children. The interview focuses on how this partnership came about and the importance of using the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) in the work. As Ismael states in the interview, “The CRC views the child as a human being with a distinct set of rights instead of being passive objects of charity.” We also talk about using both direct and indirect spending to enhance child welfare, the importance of working directly with the national government, and how we can use the work we are doing in Equatorial Guinea as the basis for future projects in other countries. Enjoy!
Ismael is a current Ph.D. student in the Department of Economics at The New School for Social Research focusing on social insurance, child well-being, and development. Ismael is also a research assistant here at Equity for Children.
