Poverty blogs
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Community-led COVID-19 response: the work of the Philippines Homeless People’s Federation
9 June 2020Based on member interviews and accounts, the Philippines Homeless People’s Federation describes how community organisations have rallied to support vulnerable groups, hit hardest by the pandemic
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COVID-19 and the sites of rights resilience
26 May 2020As we reflect on the place of human rights in the COVID-19 crisis, we should shine a light not only on ‘the state’ but on the local actors and processes that have contributed to the resilience of human rights constructs in the face of obstruction and repression
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The impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on the diets of Hanoi’s urban poor
8 April 2020The urban poor in Vietnam depend heavily on informal food systems. How will COVID-19 lockdown measures impact their food security and what will be the knock-on effects for daily life?
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Making the market work for nature while helping to tackle poverty
3 March 2020Marking World Wildlife Day today (3 March), IIED is proposing a new system that would help protect biodiversity and also reduce poverty, bringing conservation and development together
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Urban poor community voices take to the stage at the World Urban Forum
19 February 2020Stories from urban poor communities inspired international audiences at the 10th World Urban Forum
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Bearing the climate burden – Bangladesh families are paying too much
20 September 2019A new report by IIED reveals how much rural households in Bangladesh are spending on repairing the damage caused by climate change. Governments and international funders need to do more to support local priorities
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Mozambique case study shows that poverty is about much more than income
29 August 2019Poverty is often defined by assessing income. But guest bloggers Sam Jones and Inge Tvedten say that using a wider lens can help to understand the social and political mechanisms that help to create and reproduce poverty
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For street vendors, finding water and toilets isn’t just a nuisance, it’s cutting into earnings
12 August 2019Guest blogger Carlin Carr argues that providing street vendors access to safe, clean water, sanitation, and hygiene resources benefits not just sellers but the wider community
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Tackling widespread hunger in cities means listening to the urban poor
5 August 2019As urban food insecurity attracts growing interest in policy debates, Cecilia Tacoli makes the case for ensuring that the views of poor urban residents both inform and shape solutions.
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The rise of Nairobi’s concrete tenement jungle
31 July 2019Guest blogger Baraka Mwau describes how the transition to ‘low-cost’ rental housing in Nairobi is unfolding
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How Bus Rapid Transit can make housing affordable to low-income households
6 June 2018A paper in the latest issue of the journal Environment and Urbanization explores how affordable public transport – via a Bus Rapid Transit system – can make housing affordable for low-income groups. David Satterthwaite describes how a roll-out of this public transit could work in Mumbai
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If you go down to the woods today, you're sure of a big surprise…
27 October 2017Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is a magnet for tourists wanting to see gorillas in the wild, but surrounding communities don't get much revenue from the tourist trade. Dilys Roe describes a project that is helping local people who live close to the edge of the forest to develop products and activities that will attract visitors – and much-needed income
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Who can we trust to measure urban poverty?
13 June 2017International definitions of the poverty line don't take into the account the additional costs of living in cities. Sarah Colenbrander says the urban poor can help institutions such as the United Nations and the World Bank develop accurate, local, definitions of urban poverty
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Action to protect nature and tackle poverty gathers momentum
2 November 2016An IIED workshop heard how new global agendas and advances in ways to measure the benefits of natural resources are reframing the debate on how to protect the environment while reducing poverty
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How serious are the SDGs about tackling inequality?
4 October 2016The international commitment to reducing inequality marks a welcome breakthrough. But without clearer targets for measuring progress, driving change to tackle rising inequality will be a challenge
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Can global funds be accountable at the local level?
9 August 2016Is it possible for global funds to be accountable to local communities – especially those whose needs the funds should address?
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Will the UK be left behind on sustainable development?
25 July 2016The global goals, which UN members signed up to last year, are for all countries, not just poor ones. How is the UK going to implement them?
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Five challenges for Least Developed Countries in the post-2015 era
28 June 2016Can the Least Developed Countries reimagine development? A meeting in London looked at the key issues
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Country progress on putting the sustainable development goals into action
23 June 2016The 21st Poverty Environment Partnership (PEP) meeting, held earlier this month by IIED and partners, focused on putting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into action
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A valuable learning experience
19 April 2016An intern looks at the lessons he has learnt during his internship with IIED
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Broadcasting to Bwindi
28 July 2015What happened when a project to get the message out on the need to balance conservation efforts with reducing poverty in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda, took to the airwaves?
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Putting ourselves out of business – forward planning for the PEP
29 June 2015The 20th Poverty Environment Partnership (PEP) meeting focused on the opportunities for an integrated approach to development as embraced by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but recognised that key challenges still remain to make implementation a reality
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Taking an integrated approach to eliminating poverty and sustaining natural resources
28 May 2015As the UNDP-UNEP Poverty Environment Initiative celebrates its 10th anniversary in Edinburgh, guest blogger Michael Stanley-Jones explains how its integrated approach is key for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals
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How India's slum and pavement dwellers made sanitation affordable
5 April 2015In India, slum and pavement dwellers' organisations have designed and managed a programme of community toilets and washing facilities that are used by hundreds of thousands of households. Guest blogger Sheela Patel describes how this was achieved
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Stopping rural people going to cities only makes poverty less visible, and stripping migrants of rights makes it worse
18 March 2015There is growing concern that rural migrants transfer poverty to urban areas, but excluding them is not the solution. Ensuring full citizenship rights to all groups and proactive planning for urban growth are more effective ways to reduce disadvantage and poverty