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This is a resource book designed primarily for development workers working within the field of the rural poor. It describes a range of first-hand experiences with participatory approaches in the context of projects funded by The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and governments in Asia and the Pacific. The book is divided into a number of sections. Part One examines poverty and participation and explains why the poor should be targeted and in what ways this is possible. Part Two describes in detail the actual participatory approaches. Part three concentrates on participation in the project planning and implementation stage. Part Four assesses the monitoring impact and Part Five examines issues in participation with regards to institutions, partnerships and governance.
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This issue of the newsletter of the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights focuses on how poor people deal with eviction. It contains articles from all over Asia providing examples of how people have responded to eviction or threat of eviction. The articles look at the causes of eviction and ways to prevent it. It has special sections focussing especially on the situation in from India, Philippines, Indonesia, China, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Pakistan, Cambodia, South Africa, Japan, and Zimbabwe. Other themes include street vendors and eviction, eviction and law, local law and practice, and backup for communities under threat of evictions. Some of the main features focus on how to prevent eviction with information, alternative planning and collective action, including the examples of the Philippines Homeless People's Federation that survey vulnerable communities living in environmentally dangerous areas and use their information to negotiation resettlement or upgrading options with local governments; the struggle of a coalition of NGOs, community organisations, professionals and civic groups in Karachi, Pakistan, to stop the Lyari Expressway that would cause the city's largest ever evictions of poor communities; and the organisation of footpath dwellers in Mumbai, India, to defend their rights.