By: Keetie Roelen and Vidya Diwakar Blog in observance of 17 October 2023, the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty Source: Shutterstock ‘Decent Work and Social Protection: Putting Dignity in Practice for All’ is the theme of this year’s UN International Day for the Eradication of Poverty held on 17 October. Enabling these outcomes and practices is more pertinent than ever. According to recent reports, the world is currently off track to meet the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 1 on ending extreme poverty by 2030. The Covid-19 pandemic, rising food and fuel prices, debt and oth ..read more

 Mixed methods research and evaluation are critical to international development professional and practitioner roles across all specialisms. Yet undertaking this method of research and evaluation on complex issues can be challenging. Which is why we’re pleased to announce that the Chronic Poverty Advisory Network (CPAN) is offering a specialist professional course on mixed methods – within a poverty and inequality context. The new, live, online short course “Mixed methods research and evaluation: addressing poverty and inequality in a complex, fast-changing world” will run this October ..read more

By: Vidya Diwakar and Orzala Nemat One year ago the Taliban took control of Afghanistan. This was preceded by existing multiple crises, including drought, Covid-19, and political insecurity, and all have affected the prospects for young women and men to develop pathways out of poverty. What happened to Afghanistan? After the widespread  outcry accompanying the shift in power last year, other global challenges have since dominated the international media. Yet, the latest data from our new research shows that 80 percent of Afghan households reported that they faced a much worse economic sit ..read more

Photo credit: IDS After 11 years at ODI, the Chronic Poverty Advisory Network (CPAN) has moved to the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) at the University of Sussex. With its strategic focus on reducing extreme inequities in ways that can foster more fulfilling lives, IDS is a very appropriate host for the network. It has a strong tradition of fostering participatory development, long-term multi-disciplinary research partnerships and civil society advocacy which makes it well placed to assist with CPAN’s further development. IDS is located at the University of Sussex, and we're looking fo ..read more

By: Vidya Diwakar and Adeniran Adedeji Cassava processing, a source of employment to Nigerian women Photo credit: International Institute of Tropical Agriculture Nigeria has a large and growing share of people living in poverty. Roughly 40.1% of its population live below the national poverty line, while a similar share (46.4%) are multidimensionally poor. Covid19 has amplified these concerns, forecasted to push an estimated additional 10 million Nigerians into extreme poverty by 2022. Research by CPAN and CSEA investigated key drivers associated with descents into and exits from relative ..read more

Our latest research is the first of three bulletins investigating the negative social and economic impacts of the pandemic in the Philippines, Zambia, Malawi and Ethiopia. We found that for many people living in poverty, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and related restrictions are double shocks upon existing vulnerabilities and crises, such as drought, natural hazards and conflict. Read the key findings summarised below and sign up for our newsletter to keep up to date with the bulletins. Ethiopia key findings Higher costs of food staples combined with reduced income are causing househol ..read more

Covid-19 and related restrictions will reportedly set back decades of progress fighting poverty, hitting the most vulnerable in society the hardest. A recent World Bank report estimates that the pandemic will push as many as 115 million more people into extreme poverty in 2021 alone. All of this against a background of a global scramble for vaccinations that might leave lower-income countries years behind, and some donors, such as the UK, significantly cutting their aid budgets.  Often inconceivable numbers are thrown around, overwhelming and hard to imagine the real and personal impacts ..read more

The world is on tenterhooks as we all wait for news of a Covid-19 vaccine and a return to some state or ‘normal’ social and economic life. Latest predictions are that a vaccine could be in production in a matter of weeks. But new research from Launch and Scale at Duke University suggests that people in low-income countries will be at the back of the line for vaccines. The study found that richer countries, including the UK, EU and Canada, are negotiating “side deals” for large vaccine shipments, leading to “a smaller piece of the pie available for equitable allocation”. These actions are in co ..read more

In addition to the devastating impacts that Covid-19 is having on health and health systems, the pandemic is continuing to wreak havoc on social and economic activities around the world. A great deal of attention and research has been initiated around the impacts of the pandemic on economic growth, food production and service delivery. But to understand more fully what is needed to address the negative social and economic impacts of the pandemic, we must put people at the centre of this analysis. The Chronic Poverty Advisory Network’s new Covid-19 Poverty Monitoring Bulletin interviews people ..read more

Dear members of the Chronic Poverty Network: we have been deeply saddened and shocked with the news of Flora Kessy’s passing earlier this month, which was completely unexpected. Flora was a very important member of the network, its key researcher in Tanzania, with us since 2008. She edited the book ‘Translating Growth into Poverty Reduction: Beyond the Numbers’, published by Mkuti Na Nyota Publishers, led the writing of several reports on poverty dynamics, and was a contributor to the 2014-5 Chronic Poverty Report. She was a great fieldworker and companion. She passed while writing an article ..read more