The needs of the poor in developing countries for more productive and satisfying ways to earn their living, and for better nutrition, education and health care are tremendous. God in his grace moves his people to contribute money, skills and other resources to meet these needs, often through the work of Christian development organizations. But the resources forthcoming from a fallen world are limited, and the call to exercise good stewardship over them is pressing. This book equips Christians for "thoughtful stewardship": the application of God-given analytical abilities in making the most of the limited resources available. In particular, it calls Christian development professionals to collaborate in thinking flexibly about the range of programs and policies that might be used to help the poor, and in gathering the evidence required for making wise program and policy design choices. For those in all stages of relief and development efforts, this book provides an expert and accessible introduction to the choices and challenges that development organizations face today, it challenges received wisdom and pushes readers to consider ways of improving the status quo, and highlights areas in which research and participation might be especially useful to Christian development efforts.

At the start of each decade the World Development Report focuses on poverty reduction. The World Development Report, now in its twenty-third edition, proposes an empowerment-security-opportunity framework of action to reduce poverty in the first decades of the twenty-first century. It views poverty as a multidimensional phenonmenon arising out of complex interactions between assets, markets, and institutions. This Report shows how the experience of poverty reduction in the last fifteen years has been remarkably diverse and how this experience has provided useful lessons as well as warnings against simplistic universal policies and interventions. It shows how current global trends present extraordinary opportunities for poverty reduction but also cause extraordinary risks, including growing inequality, marginalization, and social explosions. The World Development Report 2000/2001 explores the challenge of managing these risks in order to make the most of the opportunities for poverty reduction.

"Relying on contributions from the International Movement ATD Fourth World, this book deals with questions such as: What does it mean to live in poverty, and especially in extreme poverty? How can very poor people be reached through development projects? How can we assess whether projects succeed in changing the lives of the poorest individuals? In answering these questions, the emphasis is on exploring what type of knowledge is needed to fight extreme poverty. A key argument is that apart from academic knowledge, a concerted effort is needed to listen to the knowledge of poor people themselves, as well as to the knowledge of practitioners who are engaged with them on a daily basis to fight poverty. After the introductory chapter, the text of a speech by Joseph Wresinski (founder of the International Movement ATD Fourth World) at a congress of social scientists held at UNESCO, is reproduced. The next contribution is based on comments by the International Movement ATD Fourth World on the World Bank's World Development Report 2004 Making Services Work for Poor People. Thereafter, case studies are provided on participatory approaches to attacking extreme poverty in both developing countries (Madagascar and Tanzania, as well as Bolivia, Guatemala, and Peru) and developed countries (the United States and Belgium)."

..this book...gives us a history lesson and a guide on how to build commercial finance that fits the needs of the world's poorest majority. Policy makers, finance leaders, and anyone who wants to join this revolution in banking must read this book. Around the world, a revolution is occurring in finance for low-income people. The microfinance revolution is delivering financial services to the economically active poor on a large scale through competing, financially self-sufficient institutions. In a few countries this has already happened; in others it is under way. The emerging microfinance industry has profound implications for social and economic development. For the first time in history, capital is well on its way to being democratized. The Microfinance Revolution, in three volumes, is aimed at a diverse readershipAcirc;-economists, bankers, policymakers, donors, and social scientists; microfinance practitioners and specialists in local finance and rural and urban development; and members of the general public interested in development. This first volume, Sustainable Finance for the Poor, focuses on the shift from government- and donor-subsidized credit systems to self-sufficient microfinance institutions providing voluntary savings and credit services. Acirc;"A magnificent workAcirc;" Elizabeth Littlefield, CEO, Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest (CGAP) Acirc;"A much-needed wake-up call for economistsAcirc;" David E. Bloom, Clarence James Gamble Professor of Economics and Demography, Harvard University Acirc;"A major work that will unquestionably lie at the very center of microfinance literatureAcirc;" Robert Peck Christen, Senior Adviser, CGAP Secretariat; Academic Director, Microfinance Training Program, Naropa University Acirc;"A seminal workAcirc;" Ira W. Lieberman, former CEO of CGAP; Senior Manager, World Bank

In this hard-hitting polemical Karnani demonstrates what is wrong with today's approaches to reducing poverty. He proposes an eclectic approach to poverty reduction that emphasizes the need for business, government and civil society to partner together to create employment opportunities for the poor.