Namira Samir is a PhD Candidate in Human Geography & Urban Studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her PhD research under the supervision of Professor Simona Iammarino and Dr Kasia Paprocki focuses on the bi-directional relationship between credit provision to low-income communities and individual capabilities, and how this relates to geography and socio-economic institutions. She explores this issue through Conventional and Islamic Microfinance in Indonesia. Her PhD research is interdisciplinary by nature. It intersects with poverty, inequality, informality, and political economy.

Namira is passionate about researching and alleviating poverty. She likes to analyse and comment on policies and poverty alleviation interventions in developing countries. Her opinions and commentaries have been featured in a number of national and international outlets.

Namira uses an interdisciplinary approach and mixed methods to understand poverty and inequalities. She has been working professionally on poverty studies since 2017. Prior to LSE, she worked as a Researcher at the National Team for the Acceleration of Poverty Reduction (TNP2K), Office of Vice President of Indonesia. During her term of office, she studied the impact of Pro-Poor Budgeting on Poverty Reduction in 5 provinces in Indonesia. The results were documented in a book titled, “Grounding Local Initiatives for Poverty Reduction Efforts.”

Namira also served as a Research Fellow at the Central Bank of Indonesia and concurrently as a Consultant for UNDP Indonesia, in which she worked on national and international-level poverty alleviation & Islamic finance projects.

Research interests

• Multidimensional Poverty
• Welfare & Capabilities
• Inequality within and between regions
• Informal Economy
• Development Economics

Supervisors
Prof Simona Iammarino
Dr Kasia Paprocki

Media

• International Financial Practices that will change the way you view money, 19 Dec 2019, Yahoo! Finance

Scholarships and awards

• PhD Scholarship granted by the Indonesian Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP), Indonesian Ministry of Finance
• Master’s Scholarship granted by the Indonesian Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP), Indonesian Ministry of Finance

Memberships

• Member of Young Scholars Initiative (since 2019)
• Member of International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (since 2019)

Positions held

• Researcher at The National Team for the Acceleration of Poverty Reduction (TNP2K), Vice President’s Office, Indonesia (2019)
• Research Fellow at The Central Bank of Indonesia (2018)
• Consultant at UNDP Indonesia (2017-2018)

View Namira's Academia profile