Voices of the Poor was an effort in the 1990s through 2000 by the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
to collect the experiences of the poor across the world. The name is also used for the reports that were eventually published from the effort. The effort consisted of two parts: primary research using
participatory poverty assessment Participatory poverty assessment (PPA) is the approach to analyzing and reducing poverty by incorporating the views of the poor. PPAs attempt to better understand the poor, to give the poor more influence over decisions that affect their lives, and ...
(PPA)
[McGee, Rosemary, ed. ''Knowing Poverty''. London, GB: Routledge, 2012. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 11 May 2016.] in 23 countries, and reviews of existing PPAs and other participatory research. The project was originally called "Consultations with the Poor", but was changed to "Voices of the Poor" in late 1999.
[
Voices of the Poor also informed the 2000 ]World Development Report
The World Development Report (WDR) is an annual report published since 1978 by the World Bank. Each WDR provides in-depth analysis of a specific aspect of economic development. Past reports have considered such topics as agriculture, youth, equity ...
.[
]
Publications
The three volumes of books published as part of the project are:
* ''Can Anyone Hear Us?'' (D. Narayan, R. Patel, K. Schafft, A. Rademacher, S. Koch-Shulte, 2000), which looks at 81participatory poverty assessment Participatory poverty assessment (PPA) is the approach to analyzing and reducing poverty by incorporating the views of the poor. PPAs attempt to better understand the poor, to give the poor more influence over decisions that affect their lives, and ...
s carried out by the World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
during the 1990s, and includes the voices of over 40,000 people in 50 countries;
* ''Crying Out for Change'' (D. Narayan, R. Chambers, M. Shah, P. Petesch, 2000), which looks at fieldwork done in 1999 involving over 20,000 people in 23 countries;
* ''From Many Lands'' (D. Narayan, P. Petesch, 2002
Key findings
The key findings of this study include the following:NGO
A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...
s have a limited role in the lives of the poor.
Reception
Writing in 2003, Hiroki Nogami praised Voices of the Poor for its use of qualitative analyses, but noted that the study did not sufficiently take into account how the opinions of the poor change with time and location.[
]
See also
* '' Moving Out of Poverty''
* Disease Control Priorities Project
The Disease Control Priorities Project (DCPP) is an ongoing project that aims to determine priorities for disease control across the world, particularly in low-income countries. The project is most well known for the second edition of the report '' ...
References
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International medical and health organizations