Poverty Alleviation Programmes

The study aimed to analyze the food expenditure of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) of the 270 beneficiary and non-beneficiary households in selected barangays in San Pablo City, Laguna, Philippines. Focus group discussion (FGD) was done to investigate the practices of the beneficiary households in terms of cash transfer management. Food expenditure of the households through a survey was also determined. Based on the findings, the beneficiary households mainly allotted the cash transfers for school, health and nutrition of their children. On the other hand, survey results revealed that beneficiary households spent more on food (absolute value) compared to non-beneficiary households using T-test for independent samples. However, there was no significant difference in terms of food expenditure per capita. Furthermore, the results of the correlation analysis suggest that beneficiary households spend more on food with higher household size and income. Findings also imply that those who live in urban areas tend to have higher food expenditure compared to those who live in rural areas.

Since the development and implementation of Participatory Budgeting (PB) as a democratic process adhering to civic improvement demands through municipal budget allocations, it promised great potential as a governance tool. Its core intentions are inclusion, participation and the redistribution of wealth to serve vulnerable members of society. Since India has the second greatest unequal wealth distribution in the world, the implementation of PB seemed promising. Surprisingly, however, Pune is currently the only city with an actively utilized PB mechanism, which indicates various inefficiencies, discrepancies and intentional dualities, resulting in exclusion, low participation and the misappropriation of resources. The purpose and intentions of PB are therefore ultimately reversed, however still it is still labeled as PB due to the lack of a standardized and recognized PB definition. This study utilizes in-depth interviews and data sources provided by various members of the two Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) currently or previously active in PB in Pune. The outcome is a clear depiction of the NGO perspective upon the core intentions of PB, identifying two main hurdles to participation, which remains unattested due to a lack of governmental will. Contributions are made through the development of a definition, the expansion of existing participation theory in the unique context of governmental resistance in a developing country and practical recommendations for the city of Pune.

Using objective measures of investor protections in 170 countries, I establish that the level of investor protection matters for cross-country differences in GDP growth: countries with stronger protections tend to grow faster than those with poor investor protections.

Strategic objectives

Building our Brand – Building a Sustainable Business
Truly differentiated and sustainable brand for making responsible leadership

Building Leaders – Building Business
Strong pipeline of quality next generation leaders to shape the future

Unlocking Performance – Embracing Diversity
Full potential of our diverse network across organisational and national boundaries

Programme Benefits

Participant
Personal development
Responsible Leaders
Leadership Vision
Network – Local and Global
Cross-cultural integration
Branding – Position PwC
Dialogue - current and future

In the past decade, urban regeneration policy makers and practitioners have faced a number of difficult challenges, such as sustainability, budgetary constraints, demands for community involvement and rapid urbanization in the Global South. Urban regeneration remains a high profile and important field of government-led intervention, and policy and practice continue to adapt to the fresh challenges and opportunities of the twenty-first century, as well as confronting long-standing intractable urban problems and dilemmas. This Companion provides cutting-edge critical review and synthesis of recent conceptual, policy and practical developments within the field. With contributions from 72 international experts within the field, it explores the meaning of ‘urban regeneration’ in differing national contexts, asking questions and providing informed discussion and analyses to illuminate how an apparently disparate field of research, policy and practice can be rendered coherent, drawing out common themes and significant differences. The Companion is divided into six parts, exploring: globalization and neo-liberal perspectives on urban regeneration; emerging econceptualizations of regeneration; public infrastructure and public space;
housing and cosmopolitan communities; community centred regeneration; and culture-led regeneration. The concluding chapter considers the future of urban regeneration and proposes a nine-point research agenda. This Companion assembles a diversity of approaches and insights in one comprehensive volume to provide a state-of-the-art review of the field. It is a valuable resource for both advanced undergraduate
and postgraduate students in Urban Planning, Built Environment, Urban Studies and Urban Regeneration, as well as academics, practitioners and politicians.

Social capital has captured the attention of social policy-makers and development administrators, with its emphasis on social relationships, civic participation, collaborative action and norms of reciprocity. Social funds support small-scale community-based development projects aimed primarily at reducing poverty. This article synthesizes the relevant literature and explores the nexus between social capital and social funds in relation to poor communities. Drawing upon primary research in Jamaica, the article reports the outcomes of eight social fund sub-projects that involved local organizations in community-driven development processes. It analyzes the role of social networks and the influence of community power structures in social capital creation. Social policy implications of the findings are discussed.

THE GRADUATION STRATEGIC OPERATIONAL FRAMEWORK represents the BRAC's vision and approach to the Graduation Approach. BRAC recognizes the critical role the Graduation Approach plays in furthering and accelerating progress around poverty eradication, food security and nutrition, agriculture development, social protection, and resilience building. Three quarters of the chronically undernourished and those living in poverty are not covered by adequate social protection, rely predominantly on natural resources for their livelihoods, and are particularly vulnerable and exposed to multiple risks. Yet, they play a critical role in ensuring global food security in the long term, and in sustainably managing the natural resource base in the most fragile ecosystems. Ensuring their access to integrated Graduation programs is not only a social imperative, but it is critical to ensure their participation as partners in development and economic growth.

BRAC's commitment to helping national governments to eradicate hunger and poverty of present and future generations through Graduation is reflected in the following: BRAC VISION: A world free of extreme poverty BRAC MISSION: to equip Governments, International non-Governmental Organizations, and multilaterals to achieve SDG 1 by 2030 through the adoption of the Graduation Approach In this context, and to achieve such a vision, BRAC is committed to promoting a SYSTEMS APPROACH to the Graduation Approach to avoid fragmentation of interventions, together with partners, build, and strengthen NATIONALLY OWNED GRADUATION PROGRAMS that are well integrated in broader livelihood promotion and rural development strategies.

BRAC's Graduation Approach adopts a comprehensive outlook encompassing four key foundational pillars - SOCIAL PROTECTION, FINANCIAL INCLUSION, LIVELIHOODS PROMOTION and SOCIAL EMPOWERMENT.

The Framework presents BRAC's forward-looking contribution to maximizing the impact of Graduation on hunger, extreme poverty and resilience by building and strengthening nationally owned social protection systems that are well integrated in broader livelihood promotion and rural development strategies. As part of this work, BRAC is committed to contributing to the global and regional social protection agendas by strengthening the CASE TO EXPAND AND SCALE UP GRADUATION PROGRAMS.

BRAC supports governments and other stakeholders through KEY STRATEGIES of engagement: (1) Build a strong, context- specific evidence base on the delivery and impact of the Graduation Approach. (2) Support a constructive and informed public awareness of the Graduation Approach. (3) Establish institutional capacity to efficiently and effective deliver the Graduation Approach (4) Support comprehensive national Graduation programs. (5) Support a sustainable financing framework. (6) Establish a supportive policy framework

This short essay discusses the issue of poverty in Nepal. Despite a number of poverty-reduction programs run by a myriad of actors, poverty in Nepal is still rampant, and the country remains one of the poorest countries in the world. In this essay, I argue that many poverty alleviation programs in Nepal failed because they isolated poverty as an economic and growth problem, whereas, poverty should have been identified and tackled as a political and a human rights issue. I begin the essay by briefly sharing my own experience of poverty while growing up in rural Nepal. I, then, explore the overall poverty scenario in Nepal and analyze a few major causes and consequences of poverty in the country. After offering an overview of poverty reduction approaches in Nepal, I conclude the essay with a few recommendations intended for organizations and policymakers formulating poverty-alleviation strategies in Nepal.

Chap 1 (pages 1-24) excerpted from the book, Venezuela´s Polarized Politics:  The Paradox of Direct Democracy Under Chavez. Ana L.Mallen and Maria Pilar Garcia-Guadilla . First Forum Press. Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc. 2017.
How Participatory democracy led to profound polarization in Venezuela

City  centers go  through  cycles of growth, decline and  revitalization, but not everybody benefits equally. The main research question discussed in this paper is: how has the city
of Phoenix addressed its homelessness issues? Using Phoenix as a case study, this paper uses  an  eclectic  array  of  data  sources  from  personal  interviews,  focus  groups,  media
sources,  public  reports  and  technical  studies  to  identify  how  institutional,  civic  leaders and citizens are responding to  the presence of homeless people in the city. The thesis is
that ending homelessness should be part of the process of revitalizing urban areas. Land is the support for the revitalization process but people with their hopes and dreams are the real asset of the city. And there will not be a livable downtown until everybody benefits from  the  revitalization process.  In  the  framework of  the  just city  this might  seem  like a utopian goal, but nonetheless,  its practical  realization does provide  a direction  to  strive for.

A inserção das misericórdias num volume como este pressupõe o reconhecimento de que se trata de uma instituição que desempenhou um papel  importante na história de Portugal no que  toca  à  organização  da  assistência  aos  pobres  e  excluídos. Por  outro  lado,  trata-se  de uma instituição viva, e os seus responsáveis tem estado atentos à vaga de estudos históricos sobre as misericórdias e todos aqueles que estas envolveram: pobres, nas suas mais diversas tipologias e definições, e menos pobres, até aos mais ricos, que nelas pontificaram sempre como  irmãos.  Falamos  hoje  de  exclusão  social  e  de  solidariedade,  de  desigualdades económicas  e  de  processos  de  auto-exclusão;  no  passado,  como  veremos,  usavam-se
expressões  diferentes  que  se  referiam  a  realidades  também  diferentes,  embora  se reportassem sempre a situações de desigualdade que subsistem nos dias de hoje. Obras de misericórdia,  caridade,  beneficência,  pobres,  mendigos  e  vadios,  pobres  envergonhados, órfãs e dotadas, presos pobres: muitas destas palavras perderam impacto na realidade actual e  deixaram  de  se  lhe  adequar,  precisamente  porque  se  referem  a  um  passado  do  qual sobrevivem apenas vestígios que o historiador está apto a interpretar e traduzir para os seus leitores. É esse esforço que nos propomos  fazer aqui, o de enquadrar a  longa história das misericórdias nos diferentes momentos da história de Portugal.

Non-Governmental Organization projects has become very important economic empowerment tool for reducing poverty across the globe. The assumption is that by increasing the beneficiaries of economic programs, poor households will be able to generate income that is aimed at reducing poverty both at household and community levels.  Literature revealed that the debate on the impact of NGO projects on rural poverty has generated mixed responses and views. On the one hand there are strong proponents who advocate that NGO projects can do the trick of reducing if not wholly eradicating poverty. On the other hand there are skeptics who believe that the role of NGOs in rural areas has been exaggerated and is therefore insignificant. The major objective of this study was therefore to examine the effects of NGO programs on rural poverty. The study used Shackleton, Jones and Richmond rural communities of Makonde District, Mashonaland West Province as case study. Pamuhacha beneficiaries and other key informants provided rich pool data that informed the study findings. The researcher used quantitative research. The study findings revealed that NGO programs have a significant positive impact on rural poverty. The study has recommended a holistic and coordinated approach by policy makers and all relevant development practitioners that will create an enabling environment for rural poverty reduction.

The World Basic Income Program can give all citizens in less fortune nations a modest, unconditional income, and let them top it up at will with income from other sources. We hope to work hand-in-hand with nations of the world to bring prosperity to all people. The World Basic Income Program is created by Mother Earth Trust through the issuance by the Earth Dollar Association of a complementary asset backed currency called the Earth Dollar. For our pilot project, a World Basic Income will be paid in cash (Earth Dollars), tax free, on a monthly basis to all people in selected regions in the world.

This article examines the function of documents as a data source in qualitative research and discusses document analysis procedure in the context of actual research experiences. Targeted to research novices, the article takes a nuts-and-bolts approach to document analysis. It describes the nature and forms of documents, outlines the advantages and limitations of document analysis, and offers specific examples of the use of documents in the research process. The application of document analysis to a grounded theory study is illustrated.

Saturation is mentioned in many qualitative research reports without any explanation of what it means and how it occurred.
Recognizing the saturation point presents a challenge to qualitative researchers, especially in the absence of explicit guidelines for determining data or theoretical saturation. This research note examines the saturation concept in naturalistic inquiry and the challenges it presents. In particular, it summarizes the saturation process in a grounded theory study of community-based antipoverty projects. The main argument advanced in this research note is that claims of saturation should be supported by an explanation of how saturation was achieved and substantiated by clear evidence of its occurrence.

The Family 100 Research Project is a collaborative study undertaken by the Auckland City Mission in conjunction with researchers, Professor Kerry Chamberlain (Massey University), Professor Darrin Hodgetts (University of Waikato), Dr Shiloh Groot (University of Auckland) and Yardena Tankel (Auckland City Mission). It was born out of the belief that a more constructive dialogue about the plight of people living in poverty can be achieved by hearing directly from the people who live in those circumstances.

To that end, the Family 100 Research Project engaged 100 families living in poverty in Auckland and, over the course of a year, documented and explored their experiences of everyday life including their joys, achievements, frustrations and dilemmas. All Family 100 Research Project participants were long-term users (two to five years) of the Auckland City Mission’s food bank and were selected to be representative of those who regularly access the service (40% Maori, 25% Pacific Islander, 22% European, and 13% Asian and other minority groups, approximately 80% female).

Families were matched with social workers so they could develop a long-term relationship. Fortnightly interviews involving a range of mapping and drawing techniques documented and deepened the conversations between families and social workers. These interviews sought to gain a comprehensive understanding of the ways in which these people dealt with the issues relating to poverty, and how these issues often work in concert to limit and constrain their lives. The project involved a total of 1,400 interactions during which the Family 100 participants were interviewed, over 390 hours of which were recorded and transcribed. This report provides some of the stories that we heard across the course of the project, in the voices of the participants.

A critical element that contributes to the success of community-based enterprises is social capital. Gawad Kalinga (GK) has successfully used social capital to improve the living conditions of the poor in more than 2,000 communities in the Philippines and in other developing countries such as Cambodia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea.

A showcase of how social capital has borne fruit is the GK Enchanted Farm in Angat, Bulacan, which is being transformed into "a landscape of vast potential that will sustain communities for generations to come" (gk1world.com).

Simandan D (2009) Industrialization, In R Kitchin & N Thrift, (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Human Geography , Oxford: Elsevier, volume 5, pp. 419-425.
ABSTRACT: This article (1) defines industrialisation and indicates ways in which it can be measured, (2) highlights the importance of the timing of industrialisation and the inherent limits to the proper scientific explanation of this phenomenon, (3) disentangles the often confused conceptual relation between industrialisation and capitalism, (4) explicates the causal links between industrialisation and modernisation, (5) undertakes a brief assessment of the relative costs and benefits of industrialisation, and (6) discloses the defining contours of scholarship on industrialisation in Anglo-American human geography and illustrates it with a recent attempt to integrate the field with the help of a master metaphor called ‘recursive cartographies’. Its portrayal of economic reality as interplay of legacies, rhythms, and events conveys the usefulness of spatial thinking in industrialisation research.

Shimla town, popularly known queen of hills in Himachal Pradesh, is facing the problems typically faced by any hilly region like unplanned urbanization, illegal encroachments, violation of planning/ building norms, soil erosion, flooding, scarcity of buildable land, emergence of linear urban corridors, inaccessibility of certain areas, uneven development of urban system etc. The development pattern of Shimla is governed by its topographical constraints like steep slopes, elongated hilly spurs, forest areas, and zones of perpetual sun shades. Due to extremely limited vehicular accessibility and dependence on pedestrian movement, the development of Shimla is concentrated in limited area. The ridge and southern side are densely populated due to gradual slopes and sunny side of the southern side which are more amenable for development. Thus all major land uses are located on the
southern face of Shimla. The high growth of population coupled with the floating population is exerting heavy pressure on the existing infrastructure and also leading to encroachments, unauthorized constructions, construction activities not incompatible with the traditional culture and heritage of the city.  The study highlights important issues in the city in the context of housing, basic services and urban poverty alleviation. Housing for the urban poor has emerged a crucial issue as it is skewed in favour of rich sections. The pace of housing and basic services under JNNURM is very slow which is affecting the quality of life in the city. The tourists exert additional pressure on crucial infrastructure and basic services and disturb the living equilibrium of the local citizens during peak tourist months. The pace of poverty alleviation programmes is also very poor and slums and poverty are affecting social fabric of the city. The study suggests actionable strategies for  improving housing, basic services and livelihood for eradication of urban poverty.

Now, to better understand the Oligarchy or the 1% (actually, those who are really in control of our world are of much less than 1%, but it is easier to just say, "the 1%"), we need to not only ask questions, but to answer them as well. It just so happens that I had already been researching the Oligarchy for more than 20 years before people like Jimmy Carter, Jesse Ventura and Bernie Sanders started talking about it.

Thus, I am perhaps the one main person who not only knows the most about them, but who will also tell you about what I now know. Others who know, may not know as much, and they may not want to tell you what they know. The fact of the matter is that you most likely will not find out anything about the Oligarchy or the 1% via an education from within present day academia. In fact, what you "learn" or are told from within academia today, most likely will steer you away from what you would need to know about the subject.

Poverty is endemic in Nigeria, with more than half of the country’s population living below a dollar per day. At various times, the Nigerian government at various levels has developed youth empowerment schemes with the intention of lifting excluded sectors of the populace out of poverty. Laudable schemes like NAPEP, SURE-P, O-YES, N-POWER etc are foremost examples of Nigeria’s attempts at combating the twin problem of unemployment and youth restiveness. It has been argued that successive Nigerian governments were more fixated on alleviating poverty rather than combating the malaise head on. Such palliative approach has skyrocket the country to the top of global poverty index. This paper critically examines some of Nigeria’s youth empowerment schemes in its current democratic dispensation with regards to SURE-P, O-YES, N-Power and TraderMoni. It x-rays the origin, development and impacts of these schemes on the lives of ordinary Nigerians. It argues that Nigeria's poverty alleviation and youth empowerment schemes is reeked in the country's clientelist and prebendal politics. Perhaps youth empowerment were not entirely designed to eradicate poverty but to cultivate and sustain a marleable voter base for the ruling political party. Thus, this paper recommends viable ways through which existing youth empowerment schemes could be improved, and how the Nigerian government and its agencies can significantly reduce the unemployment rate and poverty gap in Nigeria.

Determining whether a slum prevention or upgrading initiative has been successful depends on expectation and what the goals of the initiative are. The recent reviewing of some of the poverty alleviation initiatives is a clear indicator that the current governance of Botswana is determined in improving its people’s lives. Provision of urban services like water, sanitation, and access to housing also indicate that the government accepts urbanization. Generally, as adequate policies are implemented and the local economy grows slums gradually disappear as residents invest in their homes and upgrade them over time. The shack slowly becomes a house, and the slum becomes a decent suburb. How quickly this process happens depends largely on how fast a city’s economy grows and how effective the urban policies are. It must also be understood that turning a poor, informal settlement into an integrated city and establishing the necessary linkages into the economy can take years. Therefore, with a growing economy, the government should be commitment to slum prevention and upgrading, and with the community dedication, the slum will gradually transform into a suburb.

I am a humble woman, born in the rural village of Matatiele in the EC, grew up among the poorest rural communities. I canuse18 language- speak, write, read, work. I hold a DSc (UKZN) in Epidemiology of human intestinal parasites (NTD) published knowledge of infectious transmission in school-going children living in poor living in urban slums. Published 35 journal articles, 3 Books, 293 Publications Citations, 82 High Confidence, 286 authored. Completed an altitudinal transect geohelminth transect of parasites associated with wasting, stunting, 3rd degree PEM children. 14yrs as National Director Epidemiology & Surveillance. Managed 33NMC & H1N1 pandemic in SA. Established largest CMN integrated web-based surveillance system currently residing at NICD piloted during the 2010FIF WC, 58 PEO to monitor importation of dangerous High threat pathogens into SA. Dev. the 2010 FIFA WC Surveillance Strategy, Guidelines, SOPs & tools for information flow across the 200 Private Hosp. Ensured that SA is on high alert not to import the 2014 EDV Outbreak. Daily reporting on June 2005 WHO IHR. As Prof. Epidemiologist wrote & improved the data accuracy of the APP used triangulation data sources outside NDoH wrote clear demographic & endemicity of the quaternary BoD & dual impact of ART, HIV & NTP. Published the HIV prev. trends 15-24years MDG Goal 6 (2008-2015). Trained in Public Health Emergency, Strategy, SDH, UHC & Political economy. Led investigations during outbreaks from 2007. Cholera, Malaria & Nutrition outcomes. Chaired expert workshops to reach consensus on baseline SA LE, MMR & CMR. Published HIV prev. 10-14yrs managed, CTOP data. Planned, Coordinated Prevention, Emergency response, Assessed & managed RA at at levels thru. the most successful collaboration of the Multi-sectorial, DP, emergency APPRRR, Prevention, Response goal to strengthen the HCS & Health & Safety for future emergency. Led H1N1 pandemic control in SA. Dev. NATHOC National EPR ACT tools. 12 years University teaching. Managed National Household HIV community survey & HIV Nosocomial HIV in Dental fatalities. Trained in genomic sequencing, impact of Climatic Change to COVID on Animal-Human interface food-chain ecosystems, & GLWES. My Zoology & Chemistry & 35yrs Research gave me a solid foundation to understand pathogen characterization, route & mode of transmission & lifecycle. Public Health Research & PH Intelligence, Policy, Global epidemic overview reporting & M &E, Policy. Conducted 24 research designs. Expert use MSExcel, MSWord, MS Power-point, SPSS, Epi Info, STATA, Atlastis, Nvivo, MS Word, MS, PowerPoint, MS Word Excel, UNAIDS HIV EPP & Spectrum.

This paper dwells in a large space of encounter between theorizing poverty and the poverty of theorizing, through operating with ‘theory’ as means for [and end of] activating tropes as, and for, political interventions. In the first part, I explain how the paper weaves that space of encounter (the theoretical tools), why it weaves it on (and for) a vigorously located empirical background (The Romanian Carpathians), and what are the stakes of the whole enterprise. Then, the second part unpacks the cultural circuit of poverty, resource management, and industrialisation in the Romanian Carpathians along three relations (industrialization and poverty, justice and poverty, patriotism and poverty) creatively activated by the communist practices of governmentality, so as to make scarcity more bearable. The rather optimistic conclusion signals the need to consider the body an effective site of resistance to the practices of governmentality, and alternative directions of thinking scales and regions, and insists on the politics and potentialities of critical theorizing.

Key words: governmentality, materialist semiotics, environmental transformation, human and natural resources, poverty, development, justice, nationalism

This chapter looks at poverty from a perspective which argues that the conscious and deliberate perpetuation of poverty is a form of fundamentalism with its associated principles and values. There are people who are parasitic and are incessantly feeding off and on the sweat of the 'povertised' of society. The chapter explores how poverty prevents the fulfilment and enjoyment of human rights and results in the deferral and postponement, abandonment and foregoing of the destination of people as happiness, freedom, self-and collective affirmation, and self-actualisation. It explains why poverty, as a form of fundamentalism, affects many Africans relative to other groups from different continents. Furthermore, it explores the ways in which what I call appropriates are complicit in the perpetuation of poverty and the fundamentalism associated with it. It also examines how the measurement of poverty speaks to the 'fundamentalisation' of poverty. This is evident in the manner in which poverty statistics are derived and interpreted to express the primacy of the exclusivity of the rich and a system of neoliberalism in which the 'trickle-down effect' – a hollow hypothesis-that should benefit the so-called poor has yet to materialise for inclusivity. The first part of this chapter discusses the povertisation of the masses through the processes of appropriation. The term 'povertised' is deliberately used to show that the povertisation of the masses is a deliberate outcome of a process of making people poor – a form of poverty production. Poverty is neither accidental nor inevitable. Povertisation gives this notion the elements of a process as opposed to being an event; it systematises poverty, and makes it

Una de las estrategias más importantes del Programa A Trabajar Urbano es la focalización. Ésta tiene por objetivo seleccionar adecuadamente a los beneficiarios de modo que se incremente la eficiencia en la asignación de recursos y el impacto en la intervención. El programa usó tres criterios de focalización: (a) la autofocalización, que implicó establecer un salario suficientemente bajo como para no atraer a personas que ya estuvieran trabajando y suficientemente alto como para cubrir una proporción importante de la canasta familiar, (b) focalización geográfica, que implicó utilizar una fórmula de asignación presupuestaria para asignar fondos a aquellos distritos con altos niveles de pobreza y altos volúmenes de población a fin de priorizar ambas variables, y (c) focalización por atributos, que busca priorizar familias pobres con dependientes menores de edad a fin de atender a aquellos sectores más necesitados de la población. Utilizando esta estrategia y considerando la variable ingresos, el 95% de los beneficiarios del programa pertenecía a los dos primeros quintiles de mayor pobreza.

Among antipoverty nonprofit organizations (NPOs), a significant shift back to “relational work” has been occurring. This form of human services connotes strong bonds and durable engagement with clients on major life changes. Critics have associated such efforts with paternalistic and disciplinary regimes reinforcing broader neoliberal trends. Perhaps now, with mounting pressures toward (narrow) professionalization among nonprofits, these illuminating critiques can usefully be paired with investigations doing justice to relational work’s beneficial inner workings and effects. Informed by years of immersion in NPOs and insights from ‘late’ Foucault—ironically the central theoretical influence among critics of relational work—we show how and why researchers might approach even problematic aspects of this form of social action as unavoidable elements capable of contributing to the alleviation of poverty. The conclusion argues for pragmatic and multifaceted approaches to the study and management of antipoverty nonprofits balancing both the precariousness and promise of relational work.

En los últimos años Colombia ha logrado disminuir el número de personas pobres, estructurar una institucionalidad y una legislación más coherentes y articular políticas públicas más eficaces. Sin embargo, quedan desafíos abiertos, como la brecha entre las áreas urbanas y rurales, el aumento de la población vulnerable, y la persistencia de la desigualdad. Al respecto, este artículo analiza los elementos de continuidad y de cambios en las políticas de lucha contra la pobreza entre los Planes Nacionales de Desarrollo 2010-2014 y 2014-2018.

The 1990’s radical reforms of the Indian Economy opened the business enterprises of the nation to the global economy.  In the post-liberalization era which followed successful poverty alleviation strategies needed to deviate from norms established in the post- Indian Independence development period when much attention and resources were turned to social welfare.  New ways to empower and assist poor populations involving strategies viable in the market were sought.  Dependence on long-term, deep state subsidy, and governmental administrative and marketing structures which characterized effort in earlier development eras, were no longer viable. Economic development/poverty alleviation efforts needed to be self-sustaining and entrepreneurial.  Self help, profitability and longer term sustainability are the mantras of the current climate of poverty alleviation strategies which need to go hand-in-hand with consideration of social welfare and equity. 

This paper describes one grass roots effort which meets the above criterion and which has assisted municipalities in creating greener more sustainable futures.  Stree Mukti Sanghatana, a non-governmental organization, has assisted women rag pickers in the Mumbai (formerly Bombay) metropolitan area to more effectively and profitably engage in solid waste collection.  They have: 1) Organized solid waste sorting at municipal dump sites; 2) Taken on solid waste disposal and recycling contracts in privately owned housing colonies and large corporations, taking care of their solid waste on-site, off-grid, in more hygienic and less polluting ways; 3) Adopted innovations which have included: installation and use of bio-gas digesters for processing organic waste and generating usable methane gas;  4) Adopted construction and use of bio-gas digester prototypes which are scale appropriate to site and efficient; 5)  Utilized enriched soil from bio-digesters to develop nursery beds to grow and sell plants for landscaping, and, 6) Established contractual relationships with Tetra Pak, a multinational corporation, to recycle Tetra Pak’s juice boxes which are constructed of layers of paper board, aluminum and polyethylene.  Their efforts contribute to reducing the volume of solid waste that must be disposed of by the municipal waste management system. 

Women rag pickers have continued to seek out, with SMS’s help, new ways to innovate and increase profitability.  These efforts have resulted in a number of soft-system gains as follows:

1. Women rag pickers have upgraded their social status with symbolic and functional changes such as use of clean uniforms which identify them as part of the group servicing a site; use of gloves, face masks, and other protective devices; and use of improved solid waste collection tools.  There is a sense of dignity and respect for the person which is communicated by the use of these tools.
2. Women rag pickers have attained leadership and team building skills and learned to work in cooperative groups that have brought them recognition and a higher social standing as well as increased remuneration.   
3. Women rag pickers have learned to interface and work with middle and upper class households, corporations and the city to negotiate the terms under which they will provide solid waste disposal services and to ask for cooperation and compliance in the manner in which waste is sorted and handed over to the rag pickers. 
4. Women rag pickers have, to some extent, professionalized their services and become adept at delivering on the more profitable contracts they have negotiated with municipal corporations and multinational corporations.

However there are some significant limitations to this effort.  Large scale use of informal sector service providers, such as Mumbai’s woman rag pickers, extensively and systemically to help with solid waste collection in metropolitan Mumbai will require formulation and codification of structured relationships between municipal government, the informal sector organizations, and NGO’s.  To grow and assume a system-wide presence NGO’s must forge collaborative arrangements with municipalities in Metropolitan Mumbai to obtain larger scale contracts for solid waste sorting and processing.  Enlarging the provision of such services to the private sector, and the multi-national, global, corporate sector is also needed.  Such growth can more substantially improve the lives of the rag pickers and can at the same time assist cities to move to greener and more sustainable futures.  In this paper some of the parameters that have made for success and the organization and relationships that must be established if this success is to be replicated, and grow beyond one organization and permeate the solid waste collection process for a major city, are discussed.  Worth considering is how cultural, social and political systems in particular countries have to be factored in to a successful approach.

What are the similarities and differences between crowdsourcing and sharing economy? What factors influence their use in developing countries? In light of recent developments in the use of IT-mediated technologies, such as crowdsourcing and the sharing economy, this manuscript examines their similarities and differences, and the challenges regarding their effective use in developing countries. We first examine each individually and highlight different forms of each IT-mediated technology. Given that crowdsourcing and sharing economy share aspects such as the use of IT, a reliance on crowds, monetary exchange, and the use of reputation systems, we systematically compare the similarities and differences of different types of crowdsourcing with the sharing economy, thus addressing a gap in the current literature. Using this knowledge, we examine the different challenges faced by developing countries when using crowdsourcing and the sharing economy, and highlight the differences in the applicability of these IT-mediated technologies when faced with specific development issues.

This review explores the relationships between poverty and well-being and the effectiveness of well-being interventions aimed at reducing poverty.

Key points
• Well-being can be subjective (such as whether an individual feels happy or satisfied with life) or objective (involving issues such as health, education, social relationships). Poverty can affect subjective well-being, but is ultimately different from it. However it is often a synonym for a low level of objective well-being.
• There is strong evidence that:
– people living in wealthier nations have, on average, higher subjective well-being;
– within nations, low income is associated with low subjective well-being, however, whilst life satisfaction raises steadily with higher incomes, positive feelings (e.g. happiness) rise only up to a certain income threshold;
– within nations, economic growth, that is increases in the income of all, do not bring lasting increases in subjective well-being.
• Household financial resources are important for children’s academic outcomes and educational support can improve social and emotional development.
• Conditional cash transfers can supplement poor families’ incomes and promote their children’s well-being by valuing educational effort and achievement, preventive health care, and training.
• There is little research on well-being interventions aimed at reducing adult poverty. Qualitative evidence shows that taking part in cultural activities can enhance self-esteem and facilitate inclusion in society and the labour market.
• Anti-poverty strategies can be more effective by increasing the income of those in poverty and by promoting individual and community programmes aimed at improving people’s wider well-being, e.g. health and education, which can improve life chances.