ENV I R ON MEN T D E P A R T M E N T P-A P-E R S Paper No; 024 - hi TOWARD ENVIRONMENTALLY AND SOCIALLY SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SOCIAL ASSESSMENNT SERT FS 14941 Participatory Poverty Assessment Prsp chvs 11;, O ... /ItnXyftX a?{ IUjjr 1t 0 N4vertil Ast ssn.eni>t t\`Ork- - Law) i-cl L SaLin . AAugust I9>5 A Environmentally Sustainable Development The World Bank ESD Etnvironment Department Papers- Socal Assessment Series O 7 Azerbaijan: Bakku Water Supply EC3IV &,EMTEN Rehabiliation Project 023 Benewciariy Assessmnent: Lawrence F. Salmren An Ap Droach Described 024 Partic ipator Poverty Assessment: Lawrence F. Salmen Incorporating Poor People's Perspective inito Poverty Assessment Work Copies are available from the World Bank's Environment Department, Social Policy & Resettlemeht Division. Social Policy and Resettlement Division Participatory Poverty Assessment Incorporating Poor People's Perspectives into Poverty Assessment Work Lawrence F. Salmen August 1995 Papers in this series are not formal publications of the World Bank. They are circulated to encourage thought and discussion. The use and citation of this paper should take this into account. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the World Bank. kcrony--ys and Abbreviations FPP.TE.Rj Africa Technical Department - Human Resources Division P?A Participatory Poverty Assessment PTA Participatory Rapid Appraisal PTU'>. PTarent-teacber Association Contents Acknowledgments ii 1. Background 1 2. Listening to the Poor 3 3. Scope of Participatory Assessments 5 Popular Perceptions of the Problems Incentive and Regulatory Framework Public Expenditures and Institutions Informal Safety Nets Formal Safety Nets 4. Methodology for a Participatory Approach 8 Boxes 1. Cameroon - Trust and the Delivery of Social Services: Empowering the Poor 4 2. Mexico - Clientilisrno vs Horizontal Self-Help Associations 7 i Acknowledgments This paper is a revised version of a piece the Operations Policy Department distributed in 1993. Since then, it has been amended by the Latin American and Caribbean Office of UNIFEM and by ENVSP. Particular credit is due to Ana Maria Brasileiro of UNIFEM, John D. Clark, and Andrew Norton who shared the vision and contributed to the revisions and writing of this paper. In a general sense, this work can be considered a product of the World Bank's participation learning group representing an effort to involve poor people in borrowing countries in the policies, as well as the projects, which affect their lives. ii 1. Background A foundation stone of the World Bank's sharp- are intended. Particularly important is the ened poverty strategy is to conduct Country sustainabiLity of poverty work brought about Poverty Assessments in al:L borrowing countries by popular participation in and commitment to within the next two years. These assessments the programs involved. have the following principal elements: a poverty profile (which analyses the depth, The poor usually are disadvantaged not only social and cultural nature, gender disparities, with respect to resources, but also with respect and geographic spread of poverty); a review of to power. In terms of power, as well as access current government policies relating to pov- to resources, it is vital to recognize that the erty; an analysis of the pertinent public expen- poor do not form a homogeneous entity, but ditures and institutions; an overview of NGOs rather are a heterogeneous coLLection of like and community-based organizations working and unlike social and cultural groups whose toward the alleviation of poverty; an analysis interests and needs are sometimes at odds. of the safety nets (both government programs Among the poor, the burdens of poverty, the and sociocultural mechanisms) in place; and, lack of power, rights and representation, and based on the above, a suggested country the consequences of socioeconomic inequaLity strategy of priority measures the government are not shared equally by all. should take to reduce poverty. Proper economic and social policies can create Experience indicates that an effective poverty the needed opportunities for poverty reduc- strategy needs to be understood by its intended tion, but the poor must be able to seize those beneficiaries as their own; this is most likely to opportunities. While poverty is often ap- occur when the strategy is constructed with the proached through policies or structural reform participation of a wide range of people living in designed at the highest policy level, it is poverty and reflects the concerns voiced by the equally important to gain systematic under- poor themselves. Vital to this approach is a standing of the poor and of institutions in gender perspective, here defined as an under- which they are or may be involved to better standing of the ways in w]hich the identities of enhance their own efforts to move out of men and women are socially constructed and poverty. endowed with distinct responsibilities, roles, rights, perspectives, powers and privileges. This paper proposes to supplement conven- tional poverty assessments with an effort to When poor men and women are heard and involve key groups of vulnerable people, participate in the design of a poverty strategy, among them women and members of indig- governments have surer grounds to be confi- enous communities and racial and ethnic dent that their poverty alleviation policies and minority groups. It is to be conducted on a pilot programs are having a positive impact on the basis in a number of countries during the day-to-day lives of the people for whom they period FY93 through FY97. While central data Social Assessment Series Participatory Poverty Assessment gathering and dialogue with government The approach proposed here will not only remain essential elements of the approach, the enrich Poverty Assessments, but it will also proposal here is to complement these with a develop in-country participatory research modest participatory research exercise designed capacity and increase cooperation and ex- to "listen to poor people" to learn how individu- change of expertise among government and als from various social groups (such as men and multilateral personnel, social scientists, devel- women, landless laborers, small landholders, opment practitioners, NGOs, activists, action- organized cooperatives, members of religious, oriented researchers and members of social ethnic and racial minorities, etc.) assess their and women's movements. In-country expertise own poverty and existing poverty reduction and increased partnership between govern- strategies; how various survival strategies ment officials and actors in civil society is a operate; which poverty reduction strategies of useful legacy for further exercises. government different types of people prefer; and which they are prepared to support. The Participatory work is generally acknowledged findings would refocus, elaborate or validate to require longer lead time than non-participa- conclusions drawn from conventional poverty tory approaches and a staff skill and practice assessments. An effective strategy for poverty mix that includes social scientists, activists reduction must be responsive to the different with research experience and others who have categories of poor people, both in terms of their experience and are adept at working with immediate needs for goods and services and different social and ethnic groups, as well as their strategic needs for empowerment and self- with both women and men. determination. 2 Environment Department Papers 2. Listening to the Poor Development may be seen as a process of reproductive health services, the school and increasing the options available to improve day care center where they may send their living conditions. Developmental interventions children, the male and female extension are most effective when based on an workers (in rural areas) and community understanding of how poor men and women development officers (in urban areas)? The are now living, what survival strategies they different ways in which female, male, old, and are pursuing, and what survival strategies they young poor people of different religious and choose not to or cannot pursue. The more ethnic groups perceive the services intended for promising of the strategies that they are them is a crucial indicator of the worth of these following may well be enlhanced to serve as services, the extent to which they will be used foundations for poverty reduction activities. In and who will be using them; this information addition, if certain groups are unable to should provide valuable feedback to planners employ survival strategies that work for and managers interested in improving and others, the reasons for this failure (for instance, reevaluating the quality and impact of public legal or societal prohibitions against land services for the poor. ownership or certain kinds of work for women or low-ranking social groups) should be Finally, how do the poor see themselves getting examined and solutions proposed. out of poverty? What skills do they feel would be the most beneficial? Do they perceive a lack Useful insights would be provided by more of or, as in the case of many women and most clearly ascertaining what kind of material and indigenous groups, a total absence of sociocultural constraints they experience, and representation? Or is the problem more one of what sort of changes in their lives, if any, lack of material resources to enter into would help them reduce their poverty. As entrepreneurship, send the children to school, potential or actual users of actual or proposed or afford the transport to move products to the government services, it would be important to market? In-depth listening to the poor about have the poor assess these services; comparing the world as they perceive it should be an women's and men's assessments would yield important building block in laying the useful information about their impact and foundation for sustainable policies for poverty effectiveness. What do they think of the local reduction (see Box 1). health center and its family planning/ Social Assessment Series 3 Participatory Poverty Assessment Box 1 Cameroon - Trust and the Delivery of Social Services: Empowering the Poor One of the primary limitations to the effective delivery of social services in Cameroon is the people's lack of trust in various levels of government. While essential to the development process, access to adequate medical care, education, nutrition, and sanitation are frequently disrupted by government officials who have the power and resources to exploit the desperation and lack of alternatives available to those in need of services. For example, poorer individuals are likely not to receive proper medical attention unless they are able to participate in the increasing practice of remunerating hospital staff members. Parents, too, engage in illicit financial contribution to teachers and/or administrators to ensure admission and even, at times, boost the grades of their children in the school system. A 1994 survey of nearly 1600 households in various areas of Cameroon concluded that in the viewpoint of the poor, the government is not supporting the country's most valued asset in poverty reduction: its people. Empowering themselves to participate in their own development process is hindered by their lack of faith in government presence at the local level and their feeling of powerlessness to make themselves heard. There is a widespread perception of disparity between the government and the governed as most of the respondents see public institutions as unresponsive and inefficient largely due to this high level of corruption. As a result of their mistrust in government, many communities in poor areas of Cameroon are relying on themselves to meet their basic needs. Along with staffing schools and health centers, providing small loans, and paying salaries, there is a strong tradition of maintaining the infrastructure through community groups such as parent-teacher associations (PTAs) and neighborhood leaders. While this system has proven effective, it is done at great personal sacrifice. The utilization of intra-household and kinship-based networks is reaching its limit and must be complemented by strategic Government intervention. Without such cooperation, the sustainabilitv of community efforts alone is unlikely. Source: Diversity, Growth, and Poverty Reduction in Cameroon, 1995. 4 Environment Department Papers 3. Scope of Participatory Assessments The emphasis in PPAs is action oriented, i.e. of the poor respond to them and to whom are helping policy makers attune their programs they geared? How are diverse groups of poor more effectively to the needs of the poor. affected by price increases of key commodities Elaborating on the general issues mentioned (producers of the affected goods, consumers of above, in reference to specific topics covered by varying degrees of poverty, non-producing poverty assessments, one can see the following rural poor)? What changes in incentive sys- sets of issues as being potentially relevant for tems would be most welcomed by the poor? study: What impact would these have on the issues described above and on the poor's productive Popular Perceptions of the Problems capacity, both in terms of paid work in the How do poor people perceive various manifes- formal and informal sectors and unpaid tations of poverty? This would include income household labor? Which aspects of the regula- factors, work opportunities and conditions, tory framework are seen as impeding the poor? nutrition/food security, propensity to ill-health and disability, and vulnerability to drought, Public Expenditures and Institutions pests, natural calamity, robbery, and violence. What do they see as the root causes of poverty, In assessing the effectiveness of service deliv- rather than the symptoms? These might include ery, it is vital to understand the factors underly- war, exploitation by the stronger, geophysical ing client reaction, the value beneficiaries factors, insufficient assets or access to services, ascribe to services intended to improve their gender inequalities, sexual or ethnic discrimi- lives. Wherever a poor person is supposed to nation, and lack of representation, due either to avail herself or himself of a particular public the lack of capacity to organize or govemmen- good, be it a health center, family planning tal or societal constraints affecting organiza- guidance, school, or job creation program, the hon. effective and sustainable execution of this program will depend on an in-depth apprecia- Incentive and Regulatory Framework tion of the motivation for the use or non-use of the service and its impact on the user's life. For In keeping with the aforementioned importance example, factors restricting access to schooling of the poor as actors (real and potential) on include the need for child labor to supplement their own behalf, what are the micro and household income, while factors restricting macro-level factors, as the poor see it, that women's access to adult training programs affect the accumulation of human capital and include the need to provide care for small access to land and credit in the country con- children. Also the poor's access to services may cerned? How seriously are men and women of be limited by the capacity of middle classes to various ages and ethnic and racial groups grab first shares (the absolute volume of service affected by imperfections and inequalities of delivery is an important consideration, as well the labor markets? Are labor-intensive policies as the effectiveness of those services). Which in place and, if so, how do different segments aspects of public services and institutions, such Social Assessment Series 5 Participatory Poverty Assessment as marketing mechanisms, credit schemes, Formal Safety Nets extension services, etc. do the poor most value and which are of least relevance to them? What Useful insight can be gained from learning to are their views on cash transfers versus directed what degree, if any, officially provided safety subsidies? nets increase or reduce risk-averse behavior. As with the topics mentioned above, this kind Informal Safety Nets of understanding is often best gained from qualitative research methods, based around The nature of existing safety nets among the conversational interviewing and participant poor, as part of traditional redistributive observation and grounded in ethnographic systems, is an important topic for qualitative practice and knowledge rather than more research. In Sub-Saharan Africa, many of the traditional data gathering techniques, such as poor fall outside the scope of formal govern- questionnaires used in household surveys. ment safety net provisions, if those exist at all. Which safety nets bring poor people most For these people, institutions of kinship and benefits, and which ones are least relevant to community provide a vital framework for them? How does safety-net use vary by mutual aid and support. The extent of these and gender, age, and ethnicity among the poor and the way in which they function in practice for what are its different impacts on risk-adverse persons of different age, gender, class and behaviors? What changes could make the influence vary considerably. They are also beneficial ones even more welcome, and what different in urban and rural settings. An under- changes would they wish to see in the others? standing of how such informal networks work Can existing institutional arrangements be and of coping strategies that individuals, relied upon to target the benefits more households and communities employ when carefully? Are there other organizations (such facing crises (illness, debt, drought, violence, as NGOs, women's organizations, social etc.), can assist policymakers to look at the role movements, labor unions, associations, of official provision in a realistic light (see Box churches, political parties) that would do a 2). An understanding of informal safety nets is more effective job, or help ensure that the particularly important when dealing with official institutions do more effective targeting? displacement and mass migration in the after- How are official safety nets held accountable math of armed conflict, epidemics and natural and whose opinions matter in assessing their disasters; traditional safety nets could be seen effectiveness? as models for the creation of relief mechanisms. Possible linkages between informal safety nets and formal institutions should be explored as well. 6 Environment Department Papers Scope of Participatory Assessments Box 2 Mexico - Clientilismo vs Horizontal Self-Help Associations Many poor Mexicans attribute their poverty to excessively low salaries, little opportunity for remunerative employment and poor quality public services such as health and education. They also identify the preva- lence of clientilismo, or the custom of a political leader providing a service or favor in exchange for political loyalty, as a barrier to their development. This trading of services for votes is often the only way that the poor acquire land, housing, and urban infrastructure such as water and electricity. Exemplifying the extent of their dependence is the difficulty they face in gaining access to programs, services, and employment due to the lack of needed documentation. Without identity cards, mothers are denied access to milk-feeding programs, men are refused employment and titles to land are not distributed to their rightful owners. Although many participate in this system, people resent it highly, which has led to a deep distrust and disrespect for government. The strength of vertical channels along which people are forced to operate has undermined their initiative to take action either as individuals or as a collective group organized horizon- tally. This lack of participation is a reflection of the limited opportunities they perceive to be available for their own self-enhancement. The PPA conducted to ascertain the mind-set of the poor in Mexico did, however, discover a few institu- tions that encourage participation along horizontal lines. One such institution is a parent-teacher associa- tion (PTA) in a large urban area within the State of Mexico where the parents of the neighborhood organize fund-raising activities for the school and take turns preparing school breakfasts, and the teachers, in turn, engage in civic projects that include talking to parents on such topics as AIDS, family planning, and nutrition. A more generic form of participation was found in the indigenous institutions of tequio and guetza, communal self-help movements which are used to build and improve houses, cultivate land, manage fiestas, and pay for funerals. These were, however, located in the largest indigenous State of Oaxaca, where the people rely less on Government and more on each other. Source: Mexico PPA, 1995. Social Assessment Series 7 4. Methodology for a Participatory Approach The methodology described below integrates large enough to be considered significant established principles drawn from both benefi- by decision-makers is advisable. Informa- ciary assessments and participatory rural tion revealed is both qualitative and appraisals. What is proposed is not a blueprint descriptive, including numbers and but an elaboration of principles, together with quotations. (An example of this approach some methodological suggestions. It is impor- was the beneficiary assessment of the tant for two reasons to allow flexibility for National Sericulture project in India.) modifying the methodology to suit the country in question. First, the optimal approach de- * Focus group interviews are much like the pends on the nature of poverty, the social conversational ones except that they are structures, the interest of government and other done with groups (usually 6-12 persons) factors. Second, the PPA will be most effective if rather than on a one-to-one basis. The the research team, government officials and key groups are usually homogeneous (single actors of civil society at the community level mothers, teenage boys, the elderly, etc.). share ownership in its design. The advantage of this method is that it captures the prevailing opinion on a given To understand the poor on their own terms one issue among a larger number of people in a must use methods that encourage the poor to short time. The disadvantages of focus express their perceptions in an open manner. groups are that they do not lend them- Experience indicates that the research method- selves to easy quantification (within the ology that most closely realizes this goal is group) and that thev may not bring out qualitative. Keeping the focus on the poor as valid information on topics about which actors, there are at least four largely qualitative people feel inhibited in front of their peers. research methods that have been used already In addition, strong individuals may in Bank-supported operations and would be dominate, creating false consensus and useful for participatory poverty assessments: skewing the results. (AFTHR found this method useful in the Agenda for Action * The conversational interview is the corner- program, for planning of population work stone of qualitative research. This kind of in Africa.) interviewing is done on the basis of an interview guide and is generally adminis- * Participant observation is the most in- tered on the basis of recall. The interviewer depth method of thefour, and one which memorizes the topics of the guide and, to could combine elements of the other three. avoid obstructive writing in the presence of The basic method of social anthropology, the interviewee, remembers the comments participant observation involves prolonged made by the interviewee for transcription to residence in the community being as- writing shortly after the interview. Repre- sessed. The participant observer could be a sentative sampling of a population size somewhat detached individual already 8 Environment Department Papers Methodology for a Participatory Approach living in the community (recommended methods aimed at bringing the voices of the where any outsider would be overly poor into the policy dialogue on poverty can be suspect) or, more usual[ly, an outsider used. Of particular relevance are a number of familiar with the local culture who endeav- techniques developed under the designations ors to make herself or himself a part of the of rapid and participatory rural appraisal. One community. Participant observation in such technique is "mapping"-an exercise for development work may take anywhere assisting people organize their thoughts and from two or three weeks to several months, assessments spatially, for example, in compil- depending on the complexities of both the ing a list of critical issues affecting their com- topics covered and the areas assessed. It munity; this might start with preparing a normally entails a small number of in-depth sketch of the community, indicating, for case studies with representative members example, where the poorest live or when of the community, as well as an elaborate problems arise. Another technique is "ranking" presentation of the economic and socio- -exercises designed to stimulate debate political factors in a community as related within a group about the relative importance of to its development potential. (The Lesotho problems, assets, opportunities or threats. Health and Family project provides one These have been widely used in Rapid Rural example of this approach; others are Appraisal in India and elsewhere as described described in Listen to the People, Salmen in the newsletter "PRA-Notes", produced by 1987). the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). Women's groups in Latin Institutional Assessment. This technique America and elsewhere have developed other involves interviewing persons who may group techniques for identifying critical issues, benefit from or who lead key institutions in such as the "tree of life," in which drawings a community. The institutions covered representing important moments of the life should include all that pertain to the history of each woman in the group are indi- development of the poor: community vidually made and collectively discussed. associations, local government, social movements, NGOs, religious entities, Since the development organization with women's associations of different types whom poor people are used to interacting (feminist groups, mothers' clubs, etc.), labor typically gave away funds or other resources, unions, etc. The institutional assessments poor people can hardly be blamed for assum- should also extend to the entities (public ing that any outsider coming into a village has and private) that regulate the lives of the something to give away and tailoring their poor or that attempt to bring services to responses to his/her queries accordingly. them. The objective of the institutional Findings of qualitative research need, there- assessment is to see to what degree any fore, to be critically examined in this light to given institution is now helping, or might identify subjective or unreliable responses in the near future help,. with the realization which need further scrutiny. Triangulation of the developmental objectives of the poor techniques-testing out a hypothesis indicated and how outside intervention might help by one group or another-are used in both the institution fulfill its mission. (The beneficiary assessment and PRA to help Philippines Communal Project has used this development professionals verify what they approach.) are being told by poor people. In addition to the methods described above Participatory research tools have been prima- (what in the Bank is generally known as benefi- rily tested in rural contexts. Many techniques ciary assessment), other participatory research derive from work originating in farming Social Assessment Series 9 Participatory Poverty Assessment system research. It is important to be aware that qualitative/sociological research on assumptions deriving from rural research do poverty issues, identifying key issues on not always apply in urban (or indeed all rural) which to concentrate. The objective is to contexts. There may be no direct parallel to the define a clear enough list of priority issues ,village meeting' that provides the context for to enable the interviewing of poor people much community-oriented research in rural to be focused and to provide results that areas. One should also not assume that the give clear signals, whilst avoiding pre- 'village community' as presented to the arriving determining the outcome. research team is homogenous and inclusive. Very poor migrant share-croppers, for example, c) Recruit a team of local researchers who are may be found in temporary shelters away from sensitive to issues of gender, race and the village and may not be presented to outsid- ethnicity for a period of about two to three ers as 'community members.' Finding the poor months. At least some of these should have is often difficult because they are socially experience in participatory methodologies invisible. Finding women can be particularly and/or be representatives of local NGOs difficult, both because they are frequently or relevant central or local government missing from structures of power and because departments. Such a balance would ensure in some cultures it is not socially acceptable for that the team has the necessary linkages women to meet with outsiders, particularly if with relevant institutions from the outset, those outsiders are men. It is also common for as well as easing the 'introduction' to the husbands to present their own views as "the chosen communities. family position," i.e., as views that are shared by their wives and other members of their d) Organize a training process (two to three households. In reality, husbands and wives weeks). The first few days would comprise often see situations differently and have distinct training in the research methodology to be and sometimes conflicting needs and desires. used. In particular, the researchers would There is no simple methodological solution to be trained in one-on-one conversational these problems-researchers need to be socially interviewing and participant observation aware, alert to local tensions, mindful of the techniques and would be given basic diversity of interests among the poor, particu- gender training. It may be necessary to larly between men and women, and endowed bring in outside specialists for this, with sufficient experience and sensitivity to alongside the lead researcher. Training identify these issues and deal with them would also apprise the researchers of the adaptively. findings of the poverty profile studies, etc. A practical approach to poverty assessments e) The researchers would discuss the distri- using the participatory methods described bution of poverty in the country, particu- above, which should be modified in consulta- larly how it affects different social groups, tion with the lead researcher in question, could and decide on the basis of their existing typically be as follows: knowledge: (i) where poverty is more acute; (ii) how many communities should a) Recruit a lead researcher (preferably lo- be targeted in order to get a statistically cally). There are existing directories of relevant but workable number of commu- researchers skilled in participatory methods nities (12 to 20 might be sufficient in a that would help (such as those of the IIED). small country, but more would be required in populous countries; the number of b) The lead researcher would carry out a brief locations would also be dependent on the review of relevant completed or ongoing funding available) with urban/rural 10 Environment Department Papers Methodology for a Participatory Approach balance, and geographic and ethnic spread prefer? This might lead to the raising of etc., and (iii) decide which specific commu- topics that would be missed by a broader nities to choose. The choice should enable macro study (e.g. abolition of licensing for researchers to look at both core and periph- petty trading, access to minor forest eral poverty (i.e. marginalized groups). products, women's tenurial rights, services that target domestic or sexual violence, day f) The researchers would divide into small care services, seasonal distress migration, teams (perhaps groups of two or three etc). The researchers would be equipped with at least one woman in every group). with open-ended checklists to help with For the next few days the teams would this exercise (detailing the key issues each go to one or two communities nearby identified by (b) above). It is important to to try out the approaclh. ensure coverage of the major issues/ strategies highlighted by the initial, con- g) The starting point would be participatory ventional poverty assessment. In this way mapping and ranking exercises. A wide the strategies indicated can be validated, cross section of people in the community refined or challenged. would be asked what they view as the ingredients, symptoms and causes of i) After the local "trial run," the research poverty in their particular cases. They teams would re-gather to conclude the would then be asked to rank these factors training/preparation process by reporting in order of importance and explain to the on findings, comparing notes, and ensuring interviewers why they had thus arranged that each team fully understands the them. Next they would be asked to sketch methodology and is applying it uniformly. out the community and indicate where, In particular, the key issues may need to be according to their priority factors, the modified to take into account responses to poorest people live (including identifying date. the poorest by household). This would generate the people's own indices of j) The teams would then conduct the research poverty and would contribute to develop- proper, spending two to four days in each ing rapport with the teams. community. h) The next step would be to organize "focus k) The teams would then reconvene for about groups." (In a community that lies in a very one week to report on findings and distill poor region, the focus group might contain the major conclusions. a broad cross section of the community, whereas in a better off region it is impor- 1) Analysis of findings: do the conclusions tant to be more targeted.) The group's from the participation exercise diverge preferred priorities could be ranked or from those of the conventional policy scored. Also the participants could describe assessment? What are the policy implica- their assessment of existing government tions of such divergences? and local government strategies for poverty alleviation and safety nets; whether they m) The researchers would conduct an Institu- know about them, trust them, who they tional Assessment. The purpose would be think benefit from therm, etc. Similarly they to review the process and findings of the could comment on plarned or possible field research, to identify areas where programs; whether they think them desir- institutional experience differs with the able, realistic, etc. What alternatives do findings and possible reasons for those they know about and which would they differences, and to discuss the possible Social Assessment Series 11 Participatory Poverty Assessment roles for the institutions in implementing * what progress has been made in imple- the preferred strategies indicated. Institu- menting these policies tional invitees would also be identified for (n) below. * the degree to which they have influenced the national debate about poverty (for n) A national-level workshop with govern- ment officials, "poverty experts" (research- example, changes in quantitative indica- ers and academics), NGOs, activists and tors of poverty used, mention of findings members of social movements, and official in government or donor reports, major aid agency staff to discuss the conclusions speeches, etc.); and consider necessary refinements to the * whether in-country capacity for participa- poverty strategy. EDI might help in organiz- tory research has been enhanced and ing these workshops. whether there is increased demand for As experience with PPAs evolves, it is critically such capacity; and, most importantly, important to monitor their effectiveness with a view to improving the approach for future * the degree to which the programs devel- application. Monitoring of PPAs should assess: oped as a result of PPAs have improved the quality of life, increased access to e if specific policy recommendation have resources, and expanded the range of been generated; options of the "poorest of the poor." In short, the assessment should ask this * whether these recommendations were question: have poor men and women been adopted; empowered to change their lives for the adopted; better? 12 Environment Department Papers Environment, Department The World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W. Washington, D,C, 20433 202 473 3641 202 477.0565 FAX Printed on 1 00% post-consumer recycled paper