Further Reading
The MDG fundamentals: improving equity for development
Milo Vandemoortele, ODI Briefing Papers 59, April 2010
Five years from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) deadline, there is growing debate on how to accelerate progress in human development - particularly around the 2010 MDG review process. Historically, progress in development has been seen in terms of economic conditions. A more complete understanding of development is captured by the MDGs, which include indicators for health, gender equality, education and the environment. This paper argues that promoting equity in human development by reducing the gap between the haves and the have-nots will acceler ate progress towards the MDGs.
Download the document here from the >> ODI resources page
Addressing the Extreme Poor Through Community Engagement: The Experience of Intercooperation in Bangladesh
Dhaka: Intercooperation Bangladesh (2008)
The purpose of this publication is to share Intercooperation’s (IC) experiences and lessons learned on addressing extreme poverty in a rural context in Bangladesh. The publication provides an overview of the poverty situation in Bangladesh, followed by the causes of poverty, the main characteristics of extreme poverty in Bangladesh and the definitions of poverty adopted by the communities themselves.Subsequent chaptersdescribe the development and results of IC's approach of working with whole communities, rather than directly with extreme poor people.Lessons learned cover: the sustainability of the community approach, facilitation of equitable power sharing, combining HID, market development and micro-finance, diversification and intensification of livelihoods, farm and non-farm activities, local service providers, and increased responsiveness from support agencies and local government. Download (PDF)
Understanding Poverty
Yamuna Ghale, Senior Programme Officer, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Nepal (2008)
Poverty is a complex phenomenon. Even till the date, defining, understanding and interpreting poverty has been remained as a domain of planners and service providers without meaningful participation and representation of poor in most of the cases. In Nepal, poverty reduction has been the core thrust of all periodic development plans since 50’s. However, the trend of poverty reduction remained sluggish and is still a major challenge. Economic deprivation has been considered as a dominant indicator of poverty for the long time. It has therefore limited the space for broader understanding of poverty. Tapping available economic opportunities also requires self-empowerment of citizen. Hence, to understand poverty, understanding an individual is utmost essential. Without understanding the social and psychological contexts of each citizen along with their economic deprivation, understanding of poverty will not be complete. Without empowering each citizen, it is difficult to expand their circle of concern and their influence from the household to a larger sphere. Therefore, empowering each citizen from within is a point of departure to fight against poverty. Thus, understanding of causes of economic deprivation, social and psychological context and potential of each citizen is important rather than keeping poverty reduction as a numerical target. Download (PDF)
The World's Most Deprived: Characteristics and Causes of Extreme Poverty and Hunger
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) (2007)
Despite much progress reducing poverty worldwide, a substantial number of the world's poorest people are being left behind, according to this new report by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). The report finds that 162 million of the world's poorest people—the "ultra poor"—survive on less than 50 cents a day. If concentrated in a single nation, they would comprise the world's seventh most populous country. The report concludes that dismally slow progress in reducing ultra poverty and the relative lack of success in reaching the very poorest clearly demonstrate that “business as usual” will not be good enough to reach the poorest within an acceptable timeframe. As the world moves toward the deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goal of cutting hunger and poverty in half, it cannot be content to focus only on the marginally poor and hungry—the desperate, grinding poverty of the world’s absolute poorest must also be assuaged. Download the fulltext of the report (2.9MB) or by chapter at the website of the IFPRI.
Securing Enough Food for All
SDC (2007)
"According to the conclusions of the Task Force dealing with the first of the Millennium Objectives (MDG1), hunger is an essentially rural phenomenon that affects groups or individuals who live in a precarious political or geographical situation. The majority of these people are smallholders and landless farmers who have limited access to productive resources or do not have the necessary knowledge and means to use available resources. While natural and human-induced disasters can jeopardize the production and distribution of food, limited access to food, chronic hunger and malnutrition result from discrimination and marginalisation related to the means of production and the possibility of generating income." Read more: in English (PDF 6200 kb) En français (PDF 6500 kb)
DAC Guidelines Poverty Reduction
OECD, Paris (2001)The Guidelines developed by the Development Assistance Commitee (DAC) of the OECD represent an emerging international consensus and a shared commitment and understanding of how to work together more effectively to support developing country partners in reducing poverty. The underlying principles of the guidelines are an important framework for donors in shaping their cooperation strategies.
20 page Summary Download (Pdf 500 kb English French).
For full versions Download (Pdf 800 kb English French Spanish)
Creating the prospect of living a life in dignity: Principles guiding the SDC in its commitment to fighting poverty
SDC (2004)
The guiding principles of SDC in its fight against poverty form the frame of reference for the concrete implementation of SDC's activities in a given context. They are designed to assist SDC staff to always keep in mind the organisation's vision and objectives, and to be a compass in engagement in favour of the disadvantaged. Download (Pdf 270 kb)
Poverty Guidelines of the East and South Africa Division (SOSA)
SDC (2001) Poverty Wellbeing: an orientation, learning and working tool for fighting poverty The Poverty Wellbeing tool is divided into two parts: Part I discusses the context in which poverty presents itself, Part II describes SDC procedures in the fight against poverty along the steps of the project cycle. The value addition of this document is the incorporation of both the views of the poor, as the persons affected, as well as the views of development institutions. Several project examples illustrate the processes of poverty assessment and pro poor Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation.
The poverty guidelines of SOSA draw on the experience of SOSA staff and are as such an operational tool for SOSA to implement the poverty agenda. The SOSA poverty matrix represents the core of the guidelines and is structured in three sections: (I) Basic principles and crosscutting issues (II) Sectoral tables showing pro poor activities at micro-meso-and macro level (III) Tasks and responsibilities, outlining the implications for SDC and its partners. Download (Pdf 95 kb)
Dowonload (Pdf 1.7 MB English French Spanish German)
Views of the poor: The perspectives of rural and urban poor in Tanzania as recounted through their stories and pictures
SDC (2003)This Views of the Poor Study was commissioned by SDC primarily to assist in strengthening the poverty focus of the new Swiss Country Programme for Tanzania (2004-10). The objective was to gain understanding and insights into the lives of the poor through a qualitative participatory study at household level. The study is impressive in terms of by the wealth of emotionally charged stories, photos and drawings by poor people in Morogoro and Kilombero Region of Tanzania, about their understanding of wellbeing and illbeing and their aspirations and dreams. Download (Pdf 3 MB)
IV Evaluators' Report: SDC’s Bilateral Engagement in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) Process
Development Initiatives and GersterConsulting (2003)This independent evaluation was commissioned by SDC in June 2002 to assess SDC's contribution to PRSP processes and how SDC's own approach was being influenced by PRSPs. The evaluation involved an SDC-wide survey on PRSP experience to date, and country case study visits to Burkina Faso, Vietnam, Nicaragua and the Kyrgyz Republic. This report synthesizes the findings of the SDC-wide survey and the country case study reports. One main finding of the report is that, even a small donor (in terms of funding volume) like Switzerland can add value and have significant influence in the context of PRSPs.
Download (Pdf 515 kb)
Engaging Elite Support for the Poorest? BRAC’s Targeted Ultra Poor programme for rural women in Bangladesh
BRAC (2007)
This article draws preliminary lessons from the experience of engaging village elites in support of a BRAC programme for ultra-poor women in rural Bangladesh. It describes the origins, aims, and operation of this programme, which provides comprehensive livelihood support and productive assets to the extreme poor. Based on field research in the rural north-west, the article examines the conditions under which elites can support interventions for the ultra-poor, and the risks and benefits of such engagement. It describes the impact of committees mandated to support ultra-poor programme participants, and attempts to understand the somewhat paradoxical success of this intervention. Conclusions and lessons from the experience involve revisiting assumptions that dominate scholarship and programmes relating to the politics of poverty in rural Bangladesh. Download
