Category Archives: How To

A Study about How Civil Society Helped the Poor?

Abstract: This paper sets out to explore the achievements of civil society in the area of poverty reduction. The focus is mainly on three domains (1) Advocacy; (2) Policy Change and (3) Service Delivery. Three case studies illustrate how poverty can be addressed at various levels and through different approaches:
(1) Shack Dwellers International (SDI) operating internationally to advocate for the urban poor’s rights;
(2) Civil society organizations participating in the formulation of PRSPs to call for pro-poor policy reforms at the national level; and finally
(3) The example of BRAC (formerly the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee) providing services to the poorest at the grassroots level.

Drawing on these case studies, the paper explains the keys to success and reasons for failure of civil society organizations in tackling poverty reduction effectively.

Introduction: The 1990s saw many changes as the Cold War ended and globalization began to drive social and economic change. Two of these have particular significance for the subject of this paper. First, the evolution of a global consensus that extreme poverty had to be tackled, culminating in the MDGs. Secondly, the belief that civil society should be a major player in this task – mobilizing communities, delivering services and shaping policies. The question is then: can civil society play a major role in delivering the world’s biggest promise, i.e. poverty reduction? Despite the importance of global poverty reduction, no movement has ever been developed around this issue. Why are there environmentalists and feminists but not ‘poverty-reductionists’? The growing international interest in poverty reduction results mainly from the efforts of aid and donor agencies and the energies of thousands of civil society organizations – rather than a selfsustaining social movement on poverty. Keep reading…