Lahore, Pakistan
2005 - 2008 IPF Fellow

Journalist and researcher Syed Mohammad Ali brings voices from the provinces of Pakistan to policymakers and the public.

Promoting informed policies to reduce poverty.

During his IPF fellowship, independent research consultant, newspaper and television journalist Syed Mohammad Ali investigated the lack of civic participation in donor-driven poverty reduction programs and offered recommendations for positive change.

Affiliation: Independent IPF consultant and journalist; former research consultant for a wide range of civil and international organizations, Lahore, Pakistan. In 2010 he commenced a Ph.D. programme at the University of Melbourne examining state and donor interactions relating to agricultural land fragmentation in Pakistan.
e-mail: ali@policy.hu
website: http://www.policy.hu/ali/

Study: Participation as the means of assessing the effectiveness of Pakistan's the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper process

Fellow projects

2007 - 2008: The prospect of land reforms under the PRSP
The objectives of the project are to conduct a research focusing on how the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) process has dealt with the issue of land use, what measures have been adopted by various countries currently implementing the PRSP approach; and write a policy study with recommendations to make the PRSP process a more effective tool for agrarian redistribution for the World Bank, relevant Pakistani government line departments and international as well as local civil society organizations concerned.

Working groups: Economic Development and Microfinance Policy, Policy Networks and Administrative Reform, Modernization, Globalization, and Islam
Relevant countries: Pakistan, Bangladesh


2005 - 2006: Civil participation in the Pakistani government's poverty reduction programs
The objectives of the project are to write a research paper and a policy study and work to improve the quality of analysis, highlight lessons learned and provide recommendations to enhance local ownership of international poverty alleviation and development initiatives by encouraging greater participation through means feasible both for the Pakistan Government (Ministry of Finance and other relevant ministries) and its donors (World Bank, major bilateral donors), and international non-governmental organizations development programs.
Working groups: Economic Development and Microfinance Policy, Policy Networks and Administrative Reform, Modernization, Globalization, and Islam
Relevant countries: Pakistan