Poverty Alleviation and Poverty of Aid

Fayyaz Baqir has served as CEO of the Trust for Voluntary Organizations (TVO), Senior Civil Society Advisor of the United Nations, and a development professional at Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP). He has researched and taught at McGill University, Georgetown University, Harvard University, University of Idaho, Wellesley College, Tilburg University (The Netherlands), Gothenburg University (Sweden), Quaid e Azam University, Punjab University and National Defence University (Pakistan) on themes relating to inclusive governance, participatory development and sustainable change. He received a Top Contributors’ Award from UNDP’s Global Poverty Reduction Network in 2007 and 2008 and an Outstanding Performance Award from UNDP for creating a vibrant small grants programme for low-income communities in Pakistan. He has travelled to more than 40 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and North and South America as part of his professional work.

‘Fayyaz Baqir’s book, Poverty Alleviation and Poverty of Aid, offers a brilliant exposure of how international assistance operated in Pakistan; and how the measures undertaken for poverty reduction fell short of addressing the major issues that needed attention. Using stories of development and historical and conceptual analyses, Fayyaz provides a rich account of how Pakistan’s key problem has not been lack of financial resources but of efficient and effective use of the resources’ — Nipa Banerjee, Senior Fellow, School of International Development & Center for International Policy Studies, University of Ottawa Sprott School of Business- Carleton University, Senior Advisor, Rideau Institute'This book is fascinating. The examples are so clear and detailed and heartbreaking . Everyone in the development field should read it. The examples of what has been effective and what hasn't are concrete and well-supported. I look forward to the next book by this author examining examples of effective programs from several countries.' — Barbara Neuwelt, former volunteer, CUSO, Canada"I found your insights into what makes effective development both powerful and well documented. I fully agree that development works best when it is organically designed bottom-up with local communities and that very little seed money from international aid agencies is needed, and in fact can weaken ownership and sustainability and add to the debt burden. I also have found that farmers and the poor can pay (and indeed as you point out, often pay more than others informally) for services if they are given ownership and responsibility. I thought your description of the "business" of aid on page 30 was chillingly accurate [..] Twenty years ago, based on strong evidence that local ownership was of critical importance, the World Bank began moving away from the "Washington Consensus" to listening harder to clients, recognizing the need for inclusive and differentiated national strategies." — Anthony Cholst, World Bank’s Former Operations Adviser, Pakistan

• 1. NGO’s Ladder to Development - knowledge and the Path of Solicitation 2. Access to Water and the Science of Financial Patronage 3. Informal Settlements, Land Mafia and Failure of Government Policy 4. Women Cotton Pickers in Pakistan: Lost Between the Civil Society and the State 5. Why ‘Education for All’ Does Not Turn into ‘All for Education’? 6. Universal Health Coverage; Is Health Micro Insurance the Answer? 7. Poverty Alleviation and Arithmetic of the Poor