Persistence of widespread poverty is the greatest human development problem that the world is facing today. Currently, there are about 1.2 billion people in the world who are living on less than one dollar a day. Despite a slight decline in global poverty levels during the last decade, the regions of Sub- Saharan Africa, Middle East and North Africa have shown an increase in the levels of poverty. South Asia , with approximately 500 million poor, is home for over 40 per cent of the total poor in the world. Moreover, many social indicators related to poverty for a number of regions including South Asia , showed little or no improvement in the living conditions of people during the last decade. In this context, today, poverty reduction has been recognized as an explicit goal in all the global, regional and national development agendas.
Poverty is an outcome of a number of economic, social, cultural and political factors. These factors and processes contributing to poverty are diverse and can vary across countries and across regions within the same country. As the World Development Report 2000/2001 has portrayed, poverty is not mere low income; it is a multi-dimensional phenomenon that includes a wide range of attributes such as material deprivation, low achievements in health and education, vulnerability to risks, powerlessness, lack of voice, etc.
In designing policies and strategies to reduce poverty, it is crucial to understand the concept of poverty and its multiple dimensions, causes and dynamics of poverty and its implications on economic, social and political spheres. In this regard, rigorous and in- depth research on issues related to poverty in different countries and regions is needed.
The Poverty and Economic Policy (PEP) Research Network plays an important role in global poverty reduction by bringing together and providing technical and financial support to researchers from developing countries, who are working on poverty related issues. Currently, over one hundred researchers from about 40 developing countries- in Asia , Africa and Latin America- are involved in this network. PEP Research Network is funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), in Canada.
The objectives of the PEP network include better understanding of the causes and consequences of poverty, proposing alternative/accompanying policies for reducing poverty and improving the monitoring and measurement of poverty. In addition, the network aims at developing and strengthening local research capacity in poverty monitoring and analysis, and developing new concepts and methodologies through research activities.
The PEP Network comprises three constituent networks:
- Poverty Monitoring, Measurement and Analysis (PMMA) – aims at developing and applying analytical tools to monitor, measure and analyze a wide range of poverty issues.
- Modeling and Policy Impact Analysis (MPIA) – uses economy-wide models to identify and analyse the links between specific policies and shocks and their eventual impacts on poverty.
- Community-Based Monitoring S ystem (CBMS) – designs and pilots community based monitoring and local development systems of poverty in its multi-dimensional sense.
