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The Annual Poverty Report for the SADC Region
Introduction
The Southern African sub-region incorporates some of the poorest countries in the world, with the proportion of those living on less than US $1 a day averaging about 40% for the region as a whole. Inequality in the sub-region is manifested through rising levels of impoverishment, the paradox of "jobless growth", entrenched patriarchal systems, rising unemployment and the inability of the majority of people to access sources of livelihood or basic services
To improve our understanding of poverty, further work is needed in a number of areas:
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Finding an inclusive definition that gives a true reflection of poverty in the Southern Africa region;
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Indicators, data and trends related to non-income dimensions of poverty;
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Integration of data from sample surveys with information obtained through participatory techniques.
In response, SARPN has initiated a process of producing an annual review of poverty trends in the SADC region. The annual Poverty Report would be differentiated from other development publications by the centrality of civil society input, which would take the form of broad civil society interaction on an annual basis culminating in a high level annual publication.
The Annual poverty publication
The annual poverty publication proposes to explore poverty in the region through structured, interrogative and concise research and commentary on various pertinent poverty themes. Specifically, the annual Poverty Report is intended to:
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Review levels of poverty, drivers and trends pertaining to efforts to reduce poverty;
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Set the agenda for civil society action towards poverty reduction;
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Coordinate and thereby strengthen civil society efforts towards the reduction of poverty;
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Serve as an opportunity for SARPN to capture data relating to, as well as contributions from, civil society actors, for the Poverty Report.
The first volume of the Poverty Report will address the Drivers of Poverty in the SADC Region. Included among these will be:
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Social Protection, Social Safety nets and Poverty
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Agrarian Reform, Land Distribution and Poverty
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Natural resources and the New Scramble for Africa
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Democracy, Governance and Poverty
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Health, HIV/AIDS, and Poverty
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Social Protection and Safety Nets
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Trade and economic justice
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Poverty in the Middle Income Countries of SADC
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Gender, Power, Politics and Poverty
The process towards the Poverty Report will be divided into five critical stages:
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Conceptualisation and consultation of the concept
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Identification and commissioning of thematic papers
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Convening of the poverty conference to ensure broad civil society engagement with the themes
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Compilation of first Poverty Report volume by editorial team
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External review by selected partners
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