Ponna Wignaraja (1926- ) was a development advisor in the UN system for some thirty years, beginning with the IMF (1951-1953) and the World Bank (1962-1967) and afterwards with the UN itself. He was secretary-general of the Society for International Development (1981-86). In 1991 he was appointed vice chairman of the Independent South Asian Commission on Poverty Alleviation, and he currently is chairman of the South Asian Perspectives Network Association. He was born in Sri Lanka and educated at the University of Ceylon and at Yale University. His publications include Towards a Theory of Rural Development; New Social Movements in the South; and Pro-Poor Growth and Governance in South Asia.

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