The paper presents a new composite indicator - the poverty and hunger index (PHI) - to measure countries' performance toward achieving millennium development goal No.1 (MDG1) on halving poverty and hunger by 2015. Building on the statistical structure of the human development index, the PHI...

This paper reviews the growing literature on social protection. While not new, the concept evolved remarkably in recent years. It is approached from a multitude of perspectives, and intersects with broader bodies of literature - particularly around public policy, pro-poor growth, rights,...