A review of World Bank participatory poverty assessments : consultations with the poor

Poverty is pain. Poor people suffer physical pain that comes with too little food and long hours of work; emotional pain stemming from the daily humiliations of dependency and lack of power; and the moral pain from being forced to make choices such as whether to pay to save the life of an ill family member or to use the money to feed their children. The poor are not lazy, stupid, or corrupt. Why then are they poor? Why is poverty so persistent? In this book the author address these questions by bringing together two strands of thinking. An understanding of poverty, the author believe, must be informed by the experiences and perspectives of poor men and women, and it must be approached from an institutional standpoint. With this in mind, the author has drawn upon 73 Participatory Poverty Assessment (PPA) reports, which are based on discussions with poor women and men, and other stakeholders. These studies were conducted in the 1990s in 46 countries around the world. The analysis leads to five main conclusions about the experience of poverty. First, poverty is multidimensional. Second, households are crumbling under the stresses of poverty. Third, the state has been largely ineffective in reaching the poor. Fourth, the role of Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the lives of the poor is limited, and thus the poor depend primarily on their own informal networks. Finally, the social fabric, poor people's only 'insurance,' is unraveling.