'For generations, poor people around the world have left their homes to seek better wages abroad. Today, the money they send home totals an estimated US$200 billion a year. In Latin America, remittances are worth more than direct foreign investment, official development assistance and foreign aid combined. They have a huge potential to reduce rural poverty. With this in mind, IFAD is exploring ways to lower the transaction costs of sending money home and is working with governments to make sure more...

'The paper discusses the application of the Water Poverty Index (WPI) as a monitoring tool for Benin's water sector. The Water Poverty Index allows monitoring of a combination of aspects affecting rural water management, including water sources, access to and use of water, human capacity to manage water, and environmental impacts. The application of this index is tested for Benin at the regional level. A series of variables have been chosen for inclusion into the index following data collection more...

This publication describes several examples of how ICTs have contributed to poverty alleviation, to a greater or lesser extent. Several case studies are given at the end. Some lessons learned from the examples are synthesized and it is shown how implementation efforts have to take into account the wide variety of factors that are critical for success. Published by the United Nations Development Programmer’s Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme (UNDP-APDIP) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.(pdf more...

'The HSBC Climate Partnership is a five-year programme on climate change to inspire action by individuals, businesses and governments.'

REPOA’s Research Report 08.2 examines:

•The contribution of small businesses to poverty alleviation:
issues covered are income generation, employment creation, salaries, profit margin and profitability.

•The influence of socio-economic factors:,
issues covered are gender, owner’s level of education, motivation for starting the business, sources of initial capital, owner’s prior activity, and use of technology.

•The impact of business formality on profit margins and empl more...

'Social entrepreneurship and social enterprise have become popular rallying points for those trying to improve the world. These two notions are positive ones, but neither is adequate when it comes to understanding and creating social change in all of its manifestations. The authors make the case that social innovation is a better vehicle for doing this. They also explain why most of today’s innovative social solutions cut across the traditional boundaries separating nonprofits, government, and more...

Summary: 'Important gaps remain in delivering on the global commitments in the areas of aid, trade, debt relief, and access to new technologies and to affordable essential medicines. In the countdown to 2015, urgent responses are needed to bridge the existing implementation gaps to make good on the promises made to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

A recently released report by the United Nations Millennium Development Goals Gap Task Force identifies these gaps in detail and provides more...

Interested in expanding financial services to remote-rural areas, the Ford Foundation Affinity Group for Development Finance commissioned the Coady International Institute and a global team of researchers to conduct a study on member-owned financial institutions (MOIs). A key assumption for the study was that member-owned institutions offer distinct advantages for remote rural outreach.
The study involved several facets and spanned three years. First, a literature review was conducted on MOIs more...

Social Policy and Human Development in Zambia is a book that is intended to
contribute towards a growing body of knowledge on development-related issues in the country. It delves into the theoretical debates relating to
social policy and human development, before situating the two processes in the context of a LDC.

Using material based on numerous disciplines the author systematically argues that if governed competently and with a great focus on 'people-centred' policies, Zambia has the po more...

'Part of UNDP's growing inclusive market's initiative, the report Creating Value for All: Strategies for Doing Business with the Poor showcases 50 case studies by researchers in both emerging market economies and developed economies around the world. These studies demonstrate the successful pursuit of both revenues and socio-economic impact by local and international small-and medium sized enterprises as well as multinational corporations.

The report emphasises that the power of poor people t more...