Innovations in Governance and Public Administration for Poverty Reduction: Overview of Concepts, Issues and Practical Implications / Ahmed Mohiddin. pp. 9-34

Innovations for Grass-Roots-Level Development: The Case for a Global Compact of Effective Partnerships among Government, Civil Society and Private Sector Businesses / John-Mary Kauzya. pp. 35-42

Innovations in Governance and Public Administration for Poverty Reduction in Thailand / Orapin Sopchokchai. pp. 45-55

Innovations in Governance and Public Administration for Poverty Reduction in Post-Conflict Countries in a Globalized World: the Experience of Rwanda / Protais Musoni. pp. 56-74

Innovations in Governance and Public Administration for Poverty Reduction in Transitioning Countries in a Globalized World: Experiences of Bulgaria and Other East European Countries / Emilia Vasileva Spiridonova. pp. 75-87

Building Public Sector Capacity for Community Engagement: the Experience of Australia / Diane M. Guthrie. pp. 88-103

Monitoring, Benchmarking and Evaluating Poverty Alleviation Programmes: the Experience of India / Prahlad K. Basu. pp. 104-140

This publication is dedicated to promoting the exchange of experiences and ideas on the key
issues related to poverty reduction, which is a major concern in all societies throughout the world.
There is virtually no country where there is not a single pocket of poverty. There are far too many
countries where poverty is not the exception but rather the common plight of large numbers of
citizens. Governments, in partnership with citizens, non-governmental organizations and the
private sector, have a responsibility to remain aware of the conditions in the country, steer their
policies, practices and resources toward the problems of poverty, effectively implement
programmes to eliminate inequalities in society, and facilitate the evolution of communities
toward the full empowerment of all citizens.
Public administration needs to be transformed into a responsive instrument to meet the needs of
the poor and to be accountable to the most vulnerable populations. To accomplish this
transformation, public administration needs to innovate how it is organized, its practices and
capacities, and the way it mobilizes, deploys and utilizes the human, material, information,
technological and financial resources for service delivery to remote, disadvantaged and
challenged people. The belief that poverty reduction will be achieved through the availability of
financial resources alone must be re-examined, because without political will, social will, human
resource competence, responsive institutional arrangements, transparent and accountable
behaviour, frugal management of resources as well as partnerships among all stakeholders and
involvement of the poor themselves in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation
of poverty reduction programmes, there will be little success.