Accueil 9 letter 9 A useful tool in the fight against extreme poverty
A useful tool in the fight against extreme poverty
Letter 106 Our dialogue with 40 readers of the Letter to Friends Around the World about the Hidden Dimensions of Poverty Research has been most encouraging in this respect. It shows that the research output – nine dimensions of poverty and five modifying factors – is used by those active in the fight against povertylike […]

Having helped coordinate the international programme of collaborative research that culminated in the publication of The Hidden Dimensions of Poverty report, I can attest the great lengths to which the researchers went in order to ensure that the results were of the highest quality, despite the difficulties they sometimes faced. For three years, university professors, professional practitioners and people living in poverty worked extremely hard together, in five languages, to produce a report of which they are justifiably proud and which they very much hope will be genuinely useful in the fight against extreme poverty.

The highly collaborative research method has encouraged the participants to think carefully about how they operate and about the nature of their relationships with those who live in the greatest poverty. What in reality is the best way of involving them in projects so that no-one is left behind? How can we gain their confidence rather than do their thinking for them? How can we – before we ask them to share ideas with others – give them time to formulate their thoughts with their peers, thus increasing their “power to act”? “This report helps us to position ourselves. Let’s make it our bible”, wrote one practitioner.

Joseph Wresinski, founder of ATD Fourth World, said: “All who humbly walk with those in extreme poverty go from pain, to surprise then to wonder”. So it was with this international programme of collaborative research.

When the COP26 climate summit opened in Glasgow a young ecologist from Kenya declared “With my own eyes I have seen three young children in tears by the side of a dried-up river after walking 20 kilometres with their mother to find water”.

Let us continue to walk hand in hand with these children and their parents, so that we can both appreciate their pain and help them to dispel it, working together to reduce poverty whilst showing respect for our planet and for all those who inhabit it.

Xavier Godinot,

The Hidden Dimensions of Poverty Research Coordinator

Everyone carries a message for the world

by | Mar 31, 2023 | letter,yellow page letter | 0 Comments

From powerlessness to empowerment

by | Dec 7, 2022 | letter,yellow page letter | 0 Comments

Special 17 October 2022

by | Oct 6, 2022 | letter,yellow page letter | 0 Comments

Learning from the involvement of others

by | Aug 26, 2022 | letter,yellow page letter | 0 Comments

This Letter to Friends Around the World 107 has real-life stories of commitment rooted in the life of people who resist poverty and exclusion daily. For example,...

A useful tool in the fight against extreme poverty

by | Aug 26, 2022 | letter,yellow page letter | 0 Comments

Letter 106 Our dialogue with 40 readers of the Letter to Friends Around the World about the Hidden Dimensions of Poverty Research has been most encouraging in this...

Special 17 October 2020

by | Aug 3, 2022 | letter,yellow page letter | 0 Comments

A A