Reaching the unreached

Research by the University of Amsterdam (Prof. Ton Dietz, Dr. Anika Altaf) in which we participated, revealed that most development initiatives reach the poor but often fail to reach the poorest of the poor- despite this being the explicit aim of many programmes. This realisation has served as a wake-up call for Woord en Daad, prompting us to focus more intentionally on reaching the poorest of the poor. This diverse group is often characterised by a combination of material, relational, and cognitive poverty, making them highly vulnerable and frequently excluded, often unintentionally, from development initiatives.

These often excluded groups include geographically isolated people, those excluded from services due to gender-related and culturally embedded norms, including people with disabilities and exploited children. We have learned the importance of intentionality in combating exclusion and ensuring that all individuals within the communities we work have access to our initiatives. This requires setting specific goals and assessing which exclusion risks are relevant in each context. To this end, we conduct exclusion risks assessments to identify groups at risk of exclusion and develop targeted strategies to include them more effectively, while also monitoring the success of such strategies. Conducting exclusion risks assessments together with our partners increases awareness of this problem and strengthens the collective commitment to addressing it. Our current efforts to prevent exclusion are particularly focused on gender-related issues, people with disabilities and exploited children, working in close collaboration with national and international expert organisations, local churches and community organisations to reach these underserved populations.

Recommended reading: Annual progress report on our focal policy themes