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Through research, advocacy and direct services, the Church and Family Life Program assists the Catholic Church in addressing the social and spiritual needs of Filipino families, especially those in underprivileged communities.

Specifically the program aims to:

• Influence Church and State policy on issues affecting population and family life

• Organize seminars and conferences on Catholic Social Teaching and establish and strengthen networks with other Church-related groups

• Promote research-oriented agenda that help the Church to be a Church of and for the poor

• Work with government and nongovernment agencies to promote research and advocacy for juvenile justice

• Assist Filipino families in poor communities through the Pag-asa ng Pamilya Program which runs three direct service programs in Payatas: the Sagip Bata Program which helps feed malnourished children; the Landas ng Pag-asa Educational Scholarship Program which helps underprivileged students pursue their education; and the TAHANAN program which helps couples make intelligent decisions on how to plan their families using natural family planning methods.

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The Urban Poverty and Governance Program addresses urban poverty and its principal manifestation - the lack of access to humane and secure housing. Through research and advocacy, the program aims to alleviate urban poverty by empowering urban poor groups to work for better urban governance.

The program's main thrusts are:

• Working with government agencies and funding institutions providing official development assistance to improve resettlement policy and practice

• Collaborating with urban local governments for the development of poverty focused plans and interventions, particularly in housing.

• Assisting peoples’ organizations and engaging them in participatory researches such as a city-wide urban poverty profile

• Conducting studies on security of tenure and formulating alternative tenure arrangements for possible application in areas proclaimed as socialized housing sites

• Disseminating information gathered from conducted researches through lectures and published articles and

• Networking with government institutions and other urban poor related groups to create a stronger advocacy base for urban development and housing reforms.

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The Environmental Economics Program uses the tools of economics to understand and help solve the many environmental problems facing people today, especially the poor. The Program recognizes that one of the biggest environmental problems that threaten humanity is climate change. Thus, the Program’s research and advocacy center on solutions which reduce the risks climate change presents. Special focus is given to the Clean Development Mechanism, a market-based instrument that allows for additonal investments that will make possible climate-friendly and environmentally-sound projects. These projects contribute to a reduction in greenhouse gases, the main cause of climate change, and help promote sustainable development.

The Program also seeks to analyze the impacts of various environmental problems on the poor and to find ways of dealing effectively with poverty without jeopardizing the environment. The research and advocacy agenda include:

• Cost-benefit evaluation and cost effectiveness of various carbon sequestration and carbon reduction projects

• Analyses of the diffent carbon markets

• Economic valuation of environmental problems (e.g. air and water pollution, forest degradation)

• Economic instruments to provide clean water and other environmental services to the poor

• Financial sustainability of community-based natural resource management

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The Rural Development Program of the Institute recognizes that the majority of the Filipino poor live in rural areas. It also sees that the lack of access to land and other productive resources hinders the rural poor from participating in economic activities to improve their incomes.

In the face of formidable structures that perpetuate poverty in the countryside, the Rural Development Program sets its sight on alternatives, substitutes or options that would address the issue of access, along with control and management of resources. Primary areas and topics of concern for research and advocacy include:

• Access to land - agrarian reform, alternative and secure tenure arrangements, land use policy and mining

• Access to capital and credit - microfinance services and schemes, and other sustainable financing approaches towards savings and capital build-up

• Access to technology - diversification through intercropping and processing of value-added products, and promotion of sustainable technologies

• Access to market - alternative trading and marketing, and fair trade