The Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD is organizing an international conference on “Evaluating Rural Inequality: Identifying effective approaches to reduce rural disparities”, which will explore critical questions regarding whether strategies and programmes that aim to eradicate rural poverty reduce disparities within rural areas.

The conference will examine approaches to rural poverty reduction that have had an impact on four main areas of inequality in rural areas:

• Resources. Rural poverty results from inequalities in groups’, households’ and individuals’ access to resources (such as income, land, inputs, capital, education and public transfer payments), their ability to use these resources, and their ownership of them.
• Resilience. The rural poor often lack the ability to cope with environmental degradation, climate change and economic shocks and risks.
• Relationships. Social relationships are a key determinant to an individual’s ability to access resources and cope with shocks. Unequal power relationships tend to underlie other inequalities, particularly for women, youth and indigenous peoples, and can perpetuate intergenerational poverty.
• Rights. Political rights and voice, ensured through the enactment and enforcement of laws and policies, are fundamental to truly eradicate rural poverty, particularly with regards to labour and land for marginalized groups, such as women, youth and indigenous peoples.

Conference participants include representatives from the United Nations Evaluation Group and the Evaluation Cooperation Group of the multilateral development banks, plus a wide range of partners that have technical expertise and/or play a pivotal role in the evaluation of development. They also include technical staff from bilateral and multilateral development and humanitarian organizations; academic institutions and specialized research centres; foundations; and counterparts from development and policy institutions.

For more details, please read the concept note.

NOTE: This event is being organised by IOE IFAD. Questions regarding the event should be addressed to the international conference secretariat: evaluation@ifad.org.