This edition of Window on the World presents a selected number of initiatives and organizations working on poverty at community, regional and international level. The selection is divided into two parts: the first covers civil society grass-root activist movements based in the Global South working on poverty, the second multilateral or national governmental organizations and research institutes.
I Community, national, regional and transnational civil society groups, campaigns and research networks working on poverty
Afrodad
Afrodad (African forum & Network on Debt & Development) is a civil society organization that explores durable solutions to the Africa's debt burden and effective/sustainable alternative strategies to mitigate the debt impact on the developmental and growth process.
Afrodad's main programmes foresee policy-oriented research and analysis; lobby and advocacy activities; capacity building and knowledge dissemination on debt and poverty eradication strategies.
AIDC
The Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC) is a think tank based in Cape Town (South Africa) that promotes research, information dissemination, popular education and campaigning in order to challenge the dominant global economic system and to further the socio-economic transformation. It seeks to achieve its goals through the empowerment and mobilization of community groups and popular movements. The website contains a wide range of resources on different topics, from the critical thinking on WTO, regional integration, public goods and privatization to poverty, HIV/AIDS and gender analysis.
Assefa – The association for Sarva Seva Farms
www.actionvillageindia.org.uk/AVI/Assefa.htm
Established in 1969 in Tamil Nadu to support the landless people who benefited from the land reform during 1960s, Assefa works with poor households with more than 30,000 families in 13 districts, in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh. Assefa encourages community-based organizations (CBOs) as the foundation of its work in education and rural development as well as micro-enterprise development, micro-credit, community health care and social protection. Assefa's activities are supported by Action Village, a London-based agency, providing financial and non-financial support through networking, campaigning and fund raising support of the poorest in India.
Assembly of the Poor
http://www.irn.org/programs/pakmun/assembly.html
Assembly of the Poor is a network of people asserting their rights to land and other resources being marginalized and neglected by the economic and industrializing development policies in Thailand. Acting since the early 1990s, the movement comprises representatives from different networks of people and communities displaced by their homes and land because of land and forest conflicts, dam and other government infrastructure projects or affected by work's exploitation, slums problems and so forth.
The assembly was formed in 1995 under the leadership of Dan Kao Village (Khongchiam District), damaged by the Pak Mun Dam construction, with the aim of claiming for justice and peaceful resolution and to empower people to set their own developmental agenda. Their statements claim the need for the poor to be the real beneficiaries of development and to participate in the decision-making process of those projects that affect their lives.
Choike
Choike is a portal of southern civil societies implemented by the Third World Institute (http://www.item.org.uy/esp/index.php), an NGO based in Montevideo (Uruguay) with a special consultative status at the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. It gives space and visibility to NGOs and social movements acting in the South. It works out as a platform where information and in-depth knowledge on relevant current issues related to poverty, globalization, environment, human rights, etc. are selected and disseminated, with the value added of presenting the perspective of Southern Civil Society. The website provides a wide choice of articles and studies selected from different scholars, experts and research centres sorted out/organized in different categories and sub-categories. The 'In-depth Poverty' section provides a list of interesting documentations organized in the followings chapters: measurements and commitments, perceptions of poverty, multiple dimension of poverty, feminization of poverty, the policies of international institutions and aid policies.
Don't globalize hunger!
'Don't globalise hunger!' is a campaign for women's rights to food sovereignty, launched and supported by the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and development (APWLD) through its two task forces, Women and Environment (WEN) and Rural and Indigenous Women (RIW). The main objective is supporting marginalized women's rights and advocating against corporate control of food, land and other resources. The aim is also trying to improve the exchange of information and to favour opportunities of interaction with other groups on the same issue, overcoming the language gap and the limited resources available. APWLD is an independent NGO, based in Thailand, actively engaged in anti-WTO campaigns, as well as awareness raising campaigns on globalization, WTO and women's rights. It has the consultative status at ECOSOC, the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (www.apwld.org).
ENDA
Enda (Environnement et Développement du Tiers Monde) was created in 1972 in Dakar (Sénégal) as a joint initiative of UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme), Institut Africain de Développement Economique et de Planification and SIDA (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency); after a few years it was established as international NGO. The organization is structured with more than 20 working groups in Dakar in the field of development and environment and more than 40 local committees distributed in Africa, Latin America and Asia.
ENDA is mostly involved in field projects of poverty eradication, providing its support to local associations, grassroots movements/activities, marginalized and vulnerable people like children and women, both in rural and urban contexts.
The organization is actively devoted to pro-poor advocacy and lobby activities with policy makers at any level (local, national, regional, international), acting also as advisory and consultant for governments and bureaucrats of developing countries in the field of poverty eradication and sustainable development, challenging stakeholders and institutions/organizations from the South to work in synergy with community-based organizations and vulnerable groups.
GCAP
The Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) is a global coalition of people and organizations from more than 100 countries including community groups, trade unions, faith groups, campaigners, and so forth, all committed to the fight against poverty. The coalition is structured in country-based groups, pressuring governments and institutions to eradicate poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals. All the GCAP supporters and campaigners use a white band representing/symbolizing their anti-poverty message.
Grameen Bank
Grameen Bank is the famous banking system based on 'mutual trust, accountability, participation and creativity', founded by the Nobel Prize professor Muhammad Yunus, in Bangladesh in the 1970s. It is based on the belief that poor people if provided with financial resources may identify their needs and be able to engage in income-generating activities, contributing to their own developmental process. The bank provides credit to people who are poor and therefore considered not bankable and marginalized by the economic and financial system, contributing in this way to break the vicious cycle of poverty. The Bank is owned 90 per cent by the poor-borrowers whom it serves and 1 per cent by the government. The successful experiment of Grameen Bank and micro-credit system is recognized and replicated all over the world in many cooperation for development programmes. It earns the merit to have produced many side virtuous effects especially in terms of gender equality, recognizing the women's role in the domestic economic management and favouring their access to the job market and other remunerative activities.
Jubilee South
Jubilee south is the network of jubilee and debt campaigns, social movements, people's organizations and NGOs from 40 different countries. Based on the belief that the third-world debt is immoral and illegitimate, it undertakes advocacy work with the aims of: promoting public awareness and critical understanding of economic and debt issues; reorienting public expenses from the debt services to public spending for developmental purposes; questioning the effects of the structural adjustments programmes; fighting unequal wealth distribution and income inequalities.
Monlar
Monlar (Movement for National Land and Agricultural Reform) is a network founded in 1990s, based in Rajagiriya (Sri Lanka), which brings together farmer's organizations, NGOs, people's organizations, intellectuals, women's organizations, etc., working on the issue of poverty, malnutrition and food security. Monlar works with poor and grass-root organizations, particularly in the rural sector. It also undertakes activities of advocacy, education, rising awareness and people's empowerment, with the double aim of strengthening the local civil society responses to development processes and policy changes at macro and micro level; and building alternative strategies for sustainable development and policy changes. Monlar participates in the 'Asia Pacific Civil Society Forum' and supports many international and regional campaigns against poverty and hunger. See 'The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger', Discussion paper, Asia Pacific Civil Society Forum, Bangkok, Thailand, October 2003 (http://www.unescap.org/pdd/CPR/CPR2003/PDD_CPR_INF2.pdf).
Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra
The Brazil landless workers movement is the largest social movement in Latin America made of around 1.5 millions landless members from more than 20 countries. Depart from the unequal and unfair land distribution in Brazil, in 1985 the movement has started to peacefully occupy abandoned or unused lands, implementing cooperative farms, houses, schools, hospitals and other services, according to the Brazilian constitution which envisage the occupation of unused land for social purposes. Apart from land and food security, the members are committed to ensure and facilitate a sustainable socio-economic development system as an alternative to the dominant economic model of globalization. They also promote the indigenous cultures, gender equality and a sustainable and healthy environment.
PADEAP
PADEAP (Pan African Develoment Education and Advocacy Programme) was established in 1997 with the strategic purpose of coordinating advocacy and development education initiatives. Based in Kampala (Uganda), Padeap has three branches in Nigeria, Gambia and United Kingdom and works as a link between African community organization, NGO's, governments and other partners in African development.
Padeap main aims and objectives are on the one side, educating and informing partners, governments and NGOs on developmental needs of Africans from an African perspectives. On the other side, Padeap aims to empower African groups with knowledge, information and advocacy skills. Activities and project are carried out with a multi-disciplinary approach based on a combination of campaign, advocacy, training, research, consultative meetings and conferences. The main focus areas are: citizenship and conflicts, education, gender and health, youth development.
Probe International
Probe international is an environmental advocacy organization committed to monitor the effectiveness of projects funded by the Canadian aid agency, the World Bank and the other international financial institutions, holding a very critical position on their impact on developmental process. It works with grassroots organizations from all over the world denouncing the negative effects of the international cooperation for development programmes, fighting to protect environments and livelihoods of the poorest, lobbying against environmental ruin and economic marginalization, spreading documents and information about corporations and aid agencies policies and activities.
SAAPE
SAAPE (South Asia alliance for poverty eradication) is a network of NGOs, mass-based organizations, academics, trade unions and community-based organizations, based in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. working together towards the eradication of poverty and protection of human rights and social justice in the region.
The Secretariat is based in Kathmandu at Rural Reconstruction Nepal. The mission of SAAPE is to facilitate people's participation in the decision-making process – at any level – on poverty eradication and provide alternatives to minimize the side effects of globalization, liberalization and privatization endangering marginalized and poor people.
The specific targets are: monitoring governmental policies for poverty eradication; acting as a pressure group on governments and regional organizations; encouraging development cooperation initiatives among state and non-state actors; encouraging and supporting civil society joint initiatives; facilitating information dissemination and stimulating dialogue at all levels, and supporting people's advocacy for human rights and social justice.
Sangonet
For over 20 years, Sangonet has worked as a development information portal for NGOs in South Africa representing a very active civil society organization, strictly connected to the social and political changes experienced by South Africa. It is mainly engaged in the field of information communication technologies (ICTs) providing different kind of services in this regard for NGOs to develop institutional capacity, create space for civil society exchange, promote knowledge and information sharing, mapping NGO's activities, facilitate fund raising, and so forth. The portal includes the 'Radical Thinking' section devoted to collect analysis and discussions on the state of institutional development of the NGOs in South Africa and their impact on poor urban and rural communities.
II International governmental organizations working on poverty
CIESIN Global Poverty Mapping Project
http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/povmap/
The project started/was implemented in 2004 at Centre for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) at the Earth Institute at Columbia University, with the support of World Bank and Japan Policy and Human Resource Development Fund.
The project aimed to gain a better understanding of the global distribution of poverty, focusing the geographical and biophysical conditions of areas where poverty is dominant. The project study was meant/conceived in support of policy makers and development agencies efforts to define and plan policies for poverty eradication. The output of the project Where the Poor are: an atlas of poverty (2006), collects maps from various continents and countries and gives an indication on how to use this tool in planning poverty interventions. The atlas can be ordered or downloaded at the address: http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/povmap/atlasMedia/
Chronic Poverty Research Centre
CPRC was implemented in 2000 with the initial support of DFID. It is as an international partnership initiative of universities, research centres and NGOs committed to address human and social marginalized contexts in their policy-oriented research and analysis on poverty.
CPRC explores and investigates life condition of people living in marginal areas, victims of exclusion and social discriminations, like disabled, displaced persons, refugees, child-headed household, old people, etc. The main objective of the centre is to enhance and create knowledge on chronic poverty moving along a three pillars approach: (1) a thematic research, exploring poverty dynamics and determinants; (2) a policy analysis, assessing the impact of current policies on poverty; (3) a policy engagement, identifying appropriate policies to 'promote escape from and prevent entry into chronic poverty'.
International Poverty Centre/United Nations Development Programme
http://www.undp-povertycentre.org/pub/IPCPoverty_in_Focus009.pdf
The IPC is a joint project of UNDP and the Brazilian government to promote South–South cooperation on applied poverty research. The International Poverty Centre (IPC) provides publications (country studies, newsletters, online bulletins, policy research briefs and working papers, etc.) in order to deepen the policy debate on poverty and key related issues.
POVNET/OECD
http://www.oecd.org/document/1/0,2340,en_2649_34621_36573761_1_1_1_1,00.html
POVNET is the network on Poverty Reduction, a subsidiary body of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the OECD.
The Povnet is committed to poverty analysis with a focus on the relationship between inequality, economic growth and poverty reduction in developing countries. It provides a forum for debate and exchange on the subject of poverty alleviation, addressing strategies and policies in key relevant areas such as agriculture, trade, investment and infrastructure. Povnet includes Gendernet (www.oecd.org/dac/gender) and Environet (www.oecd.org/dac/environment), two fora for officials and experts from development cooperation agencies to define common strategies and policies in the field of gender equality and sustainable development.
PovertyNet – World Bank
The PovertyNet section of the World Bank provides information and in-depth knowledge both for experts and non-specialists, researchers and operators, on key issues on poverty. The PovertyNet team studies poverty measurement, monitoring, evaluation and analysis. It also undertakes programmes committed to poverty reduction strategies and retrospective studies exploring/investigating factors enabling people to access to resources and economic opportunities. Through its activities and programmes, the PovertyNet group aims to facilitate the exchange and dissemination of information, providing a forum for multidisciplinary dialogue that links together different stakeholders on policy dialogue.
UNRISD Poverty Reduction and Policy Regimes
Poverty Reduction and Policy Regimes is a policy-oriented research project of UNRISD for the time period 2006–2009, conducive to the elaboration of a report on poverty and development to be published in 2009. The research aims at contributing to the current policy debate on poverty reduction from a developmental and social policy perspective. The project will focus on eight case studies exploring how the political and institutional context as well as the social and economic policy may influence poverty reduction and how a social and human developmental approach may be properly addressed.
Compiled by Angela Zarro
