International Social Work 1–19 © The Author(s) 2017 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0020872816673890 isw.sagepub.com isw Community participation for rural poverty alleviation: A case of the Iban community in Malaysia Kwok Chin Hoe University of Malaya, Malaysia Haris Abd Wahab University of Malaya, Malaysia Siti Hajar Abu Bakar University of Malaya, Malaysia M Rezaul Islam University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and University of Malaya, Malaysia Abstract This study aimed to uncover the influential factors of community participation in a rural poverty alleviation programme in Malaysia. A quantitative approach was used, and data were collected through a self-administered survey questionnaire from 260 respondents of the Iban community in Malaysia. The study considered 22 influential factors (18 as independent variables and 4 as dependent variables) to measure the level of community participation in decision-making, implementation, benefits sharing and evaluation. The study explored how these influential factors interacted with participation in a rural poverty alleviation programme. The results found a diversity of interacting factors within the forms of participation at the implementation level. The article contributes a dynamic and multi-dimensional understanding of how influential factors shape community participation processes. The findings are an important indicator to policy-makers and development practitioners. Keywords Community participation, Iban community, Malaysia, rural community, rural poverty Corresponding author: M Rezaul Islam, Department of Social Administration & Justice, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia. Email: rezauldu@gmail.com 673890ISW 0 0 10.1177/0020872816673890International Social WorkHoe et al. research-article 2016 Article