The world has probably already met the MDG target of halving the share of the population living in extreme poverty (USD 1.25 per day). Yet progress towards the MDGs across countries, localities, population groups and gender has been uneven, reflecting a fundamental weakness in current approaches.
This report shows that ending poverty does not only mean meeting the target of halving the the share of the population whose income is less than USD 1.25 per day. It offers ways of improving the definition and measurement of poverty, in its many forms. It also looks at local solutions for measuring poverty and tackling poverty in a number of developing countries.
Key findings:
- Over the past decade, almost 30 countries have become middle-income. Over the same time period, two-thirds of developing countries have achieved GDP per capita growth rates of more than twice the average of those of the OECD countries. This economic growth must occur hand-in-hand with a decline in inequality within countries in order to end poverty.
- Special attention needs to be given to the fact that much of the world’s poverty is concentrated in about 20 populous countries. As such what happens in countries such as Bangladesh, DRC, China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and Pakistan will be critical.
- Donors need to adapt new modes and kinds of co-operation to individual country contexts when tackling persistent poverty. In middle-income countries, donors should focus on supporting economic growth that is more equitable; ensuring that policies and programmes are coherent; encouraging new types and sources of finance; and exchanging knowledge and experience on poverty reduction.
- The USD 1.25 per day indicator as a measurement of poverty appears to be reaching the limits of its usefulness. To address the relativities of the international poverty line and PPP comparisons, and of the poverty problem in many countries, other approaches are needed. An approach focused on internationally co-ordinated national poverty measurement might be a way to address both issues, but requires detailed feasibility testing.
- Ending poverty as measured by the MPI is a very sensible goal to have. Getting to zero on the MPI means that no person experiences a critical mass of deprivations. Thus the eradication of poverty based on a global MPI 2.0 would not only be far more appropriate than considering indicators one by one – it would represent a solid milestone, and one worthy of profound celebration. It would mean we have definitely dismantled a critical mass of deprivations.
- Social protection is an essential element of policy framework to effectively tackle poverty and promote inclusive growth. It promotes human capital and other productive investment, strengthens households’ capacity to take productive risks, boosts livelihoods and employment, increases national economic resilience, and builds social cohesion and opportunities for economic reforms that benefit the poor.
- Tackling chronic poverty however requires moving beyond social protection to a root-and- branch re-appraisal of how each sector can contribute. Economic growth needs to benefit the poorest; the hardest to reach need to be included in human development progress; empowerment strategies need to address the systematic discrimination and exclusion that in certain situations keep people poor over long periods of time; and social protection needs to be systemic.
- Addressing poverty in fragile states is a key to getting to zero poverty. Here, as elsewhere, primacy must be given to national-level action. Politics are critical – and democracy is not the only route, although it is generally helpful in the long term.
- African countries should carefully examine China’s experience, identify what can work for them and adjust and adapt the lessons to their national contexts. Above all, they need to make their own agricultural plans and continue to develop the human and fiscal resources to implement them.
- Grassroots participation and ownership of a project, as well as a functioning public service institutional infrastructure with local champions as drivers are key to making interventions work on the ground.
- The new framework for ending poverty needs to be broader, encompassing not only goals that can effectively communicate core aspirations and targets – and that facilitate monitoring – but also strategies for economic and social transformation. It should recapture the vision of the Millennium Declaration to end the scourge of poverty.
- Global public goods (GPGs) which refer to goods whose benefits or costs are of nearly universal reach or which potentially affect anyone anywhere can play a major role in putting an end to extreme poverty. Fostering enhanced coherence between GPGs and poverty reduction requires first, building poverty eradication into the design of the provisioning of GPGs; and second, adjusting existing governance systems so that GPG and poverty reduction agendas of international co-operation are intertwined.