Participation in Poverty Assessments "This paper provides an overview of current World Bank experience of expanding the participatory involvement of various stakeholders in the preparation of Poverty Assessments. For purposes of analysis, the paper looks at participation at the level of "primary stakeholders"-the actual poor in the country however defined-and at the level of "institutional -stakeholders"-those govemment and societal actors who are responsible for defining a country's poverty problerns and policy solutions, as well as those institutional actors responsible for implementing agreed poverty reduction measures. The paper also distinguishes between "participation in Poverty Assessments" (PAs) and "Participatory Poverty Assessments" (PPAs), the latter term referring to the use of various research techniques to explore the perceptions of the participants (for example, beneficiary assessment and Participaory Rapid Appraisal)."

Contents list: Executive Summary 1. Introduction: Types of Stakeholders, 2. Primary Stakeholders: Giving Voice to the Poor in the Preparation of Poverty Assessments, Methodological Issues and Research Design, Uses and Applications of Participatory Poverty Assessment Methodologies, The Policy Impact of Participatory Poverty Assessments, The Management of Participatory Poverty Assessments, Limitations of Participatory Poverty Assessments and Problems Encountered . 3. Working with Institutional Stakeholders: Defining the Research Agenda, The Speciai Case of the Poverty Profile, Undertaking the Analytical Work, Formulation of Policy Prescriptions, Dissemination of Results  4. Conclusions,  References  27 pages in all. Authors email address: a.norton@odi.org.uk (Added to MandE NEWS Archive, 8/10/01)