Poverty in the region can be analyzed through the deep analysis on trends in national poverty lines, the distribution pattern of poverty incidence among rural/urban areas, across gender and various socio-economic classes, and the governments’ efforts to eradicate poverty through various poverty alleviation programs. The various ongoing policies aimed at maintaining, indeed accelerating, decline in poverty levels, such as, macroeconomic stability; focus on agriculture, roads and telecommunication as sectors for pro-poor growth; safety nets for the poor; and improved delivery of basic services were particularly highlighted. The role of university is considered to be one of the important tools for poverty alleviation and many efforts have been made to broaden such access for poverty eradication.

Realizing the impact roles that can be played, we took the initiative to build a network of universities in Asia under the name Regional Network on Poverty Eradication, abbreviated as RENPER. Our objective of developing RENPER is to strategizing, energizing, and synergizing ideas and activities by researchers, individually or institutionally, relating to all efforts for poverty eradication within the region. The objective includes sharing knowledge and experience in carrying out research and poverty reduction practices. The RENPER will be the platform for the sharing of best practices of initiatives and strategies for poverty eradication conducted by all member universities in various countries. The network was launched by the Minister of Higher Education, Malaysia, in October 2010 in conjunction with the UNESCO World Decades of Poverty Eradication. An inaugural seminar was organized by University Malaysia Kelantan (UMK), Malaysia, in Kelantan Malaysia, during the launching of RENPER, 26 – 28 October 2010.

Regional Network on Poverty Eradication (RENPER) was initiated and founded by 9 Universities in Asia including: Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (Kelantan, Malaysia), University of Bengkulu (Bengkulu, Indonesia), Andalas University (Padang, Indonesia), Universiti Sains Malaysia (Penang, Malaysia) University of Battambang (Battambang, Cambodia), Banking University of Ho Chi Minh City (Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam), Dhaka University (Dhaka, Bangladesh), and Prince of Songkhla University (Pattani, Thailand). Several universities joining in the following years including San Beda University (Manila, the Philippines), Universiti Teknologi MARA (Selangor, Malaysia), Universiti Putra Malaysia (Selangor, Malaysia), Universiti Utara Malaysia (Kedah, Malaysia), Sri Venkateswara University (Tirupati, India), and Bangladesh Agricultural University (Mymensingh, Bangladesh).