This assessment report follows the IFAD Rural Poverty Report 2001. It is one of the series of regional assessments prepared by the five regional divisions of IFAD’s Programme Management Department. Considering the enormity of the problem of rural poverty in the region and IFAD’s experience, but its limited resources, the assessment tries to identify the Fund’s niche area for intervention, with the objective of playing a catalytic role in rural poverty reduction. The report hopes to galvanize action for coordinated and sustained efforts on the part of governments, civil society and donors, to make the dream of an Asia and the Pacific without poverty, a reality.