Poverty reduction (or poverty alleviation) is any process which seeks to reduce the level of poverty in a community, or amongst a group of people or countries. Poverty reduction programs may be aimed at economic or non-economic poverty. Some of the popular methods used are education, economic development, and income redistribution. Poverty reduction efforts may also be aimed at removing social and legal barriers to income growth among the poor. A boy from an East Cipinang trash dump slum in Jakarta, Indonesia shows what he found. ... Economic development is a sustainable increase in living standards that implies increased per capita income, better education and health as well as environmental protection. ... Income redistribution, or the redistribution of wealth, is a political policy usually promoted by members of the political left, and opposed, or less strongly supported, by members of the political right. ...

Economists such as Hernando de Soto see improvement in property rights as being instrumental in poverty reduction. Other economists also highlight government corruption as a chief problem in reducing poverty in the developing world. Hernando de Soto (born 1941 in Arequipa) is a Peruvian economist known for his work on the informal economy. ... This page deals with property as ownership rights. ... For the Jamaican reggae band, see Third World (band). ...

How Poverty May Be Reduced

Free Trade

What could broadly be called free market reforms are another strategy for reducing poverty. For example, the most dramatic reductions in poverty in the 20th century have been in India and China, where hundreds of millions of people in the two countries grew out of poverty, mostly as a result of the abandonment of collective farming in China and the cutting of government red tape in India. This was critical in fostering their dramatic economic growth.^[1] However, UN economists argue that for the market reforms to work, good infrastructure is needed. For example, today, China is investing in railways, roads, ports and rural telephony in various African countries as part of its formula for economic development.^[2]

Economic growth

World GDP per capita rapidly increased beginning with the Industrial Revolution.

• The anti-poverty strategy of the World Bank depends heavily on reducing poverty through the promotion of economic growth^[3]. The World Bank argues that an overview of many studies show that:
  • Growth is fundamental for poverty reduction, and in principle growth as such does not affect inequality.
  • Growth accompanied by progressive distributional change is better than growth alone.
  • High initial income inequality is a brake on poverty reduction.
  • Poverty itself is also likely to be a barrier for poverty reduction; and wealth inequality seems to predict lower future growth rates.^[4]
• The Global Competitiveness Report, the Ease of Doing Business Index, and the Index of Economic Freedom are annual reports, often used in academic research, ranking the worlds nations on factors argued to increase economic growth and reduce poverty.
• Business groups see the reduction of barriers to the creation of new businesses ^[5], or reducing barriers for existing business, as having the effect of bringing more people into the formal economy.
• The 2007 World Bank report "Global Economic Prospects" predicts that in 2030 the number living on less than the equivalent of $1 a day will fall by half, to about 550 million. An average resident of what we used to call the Third World will live about as well as do residents of the Czech or Slovak republics today. However, much of Africa will have difficulty keeping pace with the rest of the developing world and even if conditions there improve in absolute terms, the report warns, Africa in 2030 will be home to a larger proportion of the world's poorest people than it is today.^[6] However, economic growth has increased rapidly in Africa after the year 2000.[1]
• Microfinance, banking services for poor people, is now a powerful player in poverty reduction throughout Asia and Latin America.

Image File history File links World_GDP_per_capita_(1000-1998). ... Image File history File links World_GDP_per_capita_(1000-1998). ... Per capita is a Latin phrase meaning for each head. ... The Industrial Revolution was a major shift of technological, socioeconomic, and cultural conditions that occurred in the late 18th century and early 19th century in some Western countries. ... ... World GDP/capita changed very little for most of human history before the industrial revolution. ... World map of the 2006-2007 Global Competitiveness Index. ... World map of the Ease of Doing Business Index. ... Map of Economic Freedom released by the Heritage Foundation. ... Microfinance is a term for the practice of providing financial services, such as microcredit, microsavings or microinsurance to poor people. ...

Direct aid

• The government can directly help those in need. This has been applied with mixed results in most Western societies during the 20th century in what became known as the welfare state. Especially for those most at risk, such as the elderly and people with disabilities. The help can be for example monetary or food aid.

A shanty town in Manila, Philippines.

• Private charity. This is often formally encouraged within the legal system. For example, charitable trusts and tax deductions for charity.
• The Copenhagen Consensus is a listing of the most cost-effective methods for advancing global welfare.

There are three main interpretations of the idea of a welfare state: the provision of welfare services by the state. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 191 KB) Summary A shanty town in Manila, beside the Manila City Jail. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 191 KB) Summary A shanty town in Manila, beside the Manila City Jail. ... Shanty town in Manila, Philippines. ... For other meanings of the word, see Manila (disambiguation). ... A charitable trust is a trust established for charitable purposes. ... Copenhagen Consensus is a project which seeks to establish priorities for advancing global welfare using methodologies based on the theory of welfare economics. ...

Improving the social environment and abilities of the poor

• Subsidized housing development and urban regeneration.
• Subsidized education.
• Subsidized health care.
• Assistance in finding employment.
• Subsidized employment (see also Workfare).
• Encouragement of political participation and community organizing.
• Community practice social work.

Section 8 is an American sponsored public housing program divided into two programs, tenant-based and project-based. ... Workfare is an alternative model to conventional Social Welfare systems. ... Community organizing is a process by which people are brought together to act in common self-interest. ... Community Practice is a branch of social work in the United States that focuses on larger social systems and social change, and is tied to the historical roots of United States social work. ...

Millennium Development Goals

Eradication of extreme poverty and hunger by 2015 is a Millennium Development Goal. In addition to broader approaches, the Sachs Report (for the UN Millennium Project) ^[7] proposes a series of "quick wins", approaches identified by development experts which would cost relatively little but could have a major constructive effect on world poverty. The quick wins are: Hunger is a feeling experienced when the glycogen level of the liver falls below a threshold, usually followed by a desire to eat. ... The Millenium Development Goals The Millennium Development Goals are eight goals that 192 United Nations member states have agreed to try to achieve by the year 2015. ... Jeffrey Sachs Jeffrey David Sachs (born November 5, 1954 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American economist known for his work as an economic advisor to governments in Latin America, Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Asia, and Africa. ...

• Access to information on sexual and reproductive health.
• Action against domestic violence.
• Appointing government scientific advisors in every country.
• Deworming school children in affected areas.
• Drugs for AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.
• Eliminating school fees.
• Ending user fees for basic health care in developing countries.
• Free school meals for schoolchildren.
• Legislation for women’s rights, including rights to property.
• Planting trees.
• Providing soil nutrients to farmers in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Providing mosquito nets.
• Access to electricity, water and sanitation.
• Supporting breast-feeding.
• Training programs for community health in rural areas.
• Upgrading slums, and providing land for public housing.

A sexually transmitted disease (STD) is an illness caused by an infectious pathogen that has a significant probability of transmission between humans by means of sexual contact, including vaginal intercourse, oral sex, and anal sex. ... “Domestic disturbance” redirects here. ... Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS or Aids) is a collection of symptoms and infections resulting from the specific damage to the immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). ... Tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB for tubercle bacillus) is a common and deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacteria, mainly Mycobacterium tuberculosis. ... Malaria is a vector-borne infectious disease caused by protozoan parasites. ... Tuition means instruction, teaching or a fee charged for educational instruction especially at a formal institution of learning. ... Fee-for-service is health care coverage in which doctors and other health care providers receive a fee for each service such as an office visit, test, procedure, or other health care service[1]. Fee-for-service health insurance plans typically allow patients to obtain care from doctors or hospitals... The term free school meal refers to a sum of money provided for individual pupils in schools throughout the United Kingdom to purchase a lunch time meal. ... Feminism is a diverse, competing, and often opposing collection of social theories, political movements, and moral philosophies, largely motivated by or concerning the experiences of women. ... It has been suggested that fertilization (soil) be merged into this article or section. ... A political map showing national divisions in relation to the ecological break (Sub-Saharan Africa in green) A geographical map of Africa, showing the ecological break that defines the sub-Saharan area Sub-Saharan Africa is the term used to describe the area of the African continent which lies south... A bed covered by a mosquito net. ... Rural electrification is the process of bringing electrical power to rural and remote areas. ... Impact from a water drop causes an upward rebound jet surrounded by circular capillary waves. ... E. Coli bacteria under magnification Sanitation is the hygienic disposal or recycling of waste, as well as the policy and practice of protecting health through hygienic measures. ... A breastfeeding infant Breastfeeding is the practice of a woman feeding an infant (or sometimes a toddler or a young child) with milk produced from her mammary glands, usually directly from the nipples. ... Community Health Community health is a discipline that concerns itself with the study and betterment of the health characteristics of a given community. ...

Development aid

Most developed nations give some development aid to developing nations. The UN target for development aid is 0.7% of GDP; currently only a few nations achieve this. Some think tanks and NGOs have argued, however, that Western monetary aid often only serves to increase poverty and social inequality, either because it is conditioned with the implementation of harmful economic policies in the recipient countries ^[8], or because it's tied with the importing of products from the donor country over cheaper alternatives,^[9] or because foreign aid is seen to be serving the interests of the donor more than the recipient.^[10] Critics also argue that much of the foreign aid is stolen by corrupt governments and officials and that higher aid levels erode the quality of governance. Policy become much more oriented toward what will get more aid money than it does towards meeting the needs of the people.^[11] It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Aid. ... This article is about the institution. ... NGO is an abbreviation or code for: Non-governmental organization Nagoya Airport (IATA code) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Supporters argue that these problems may be solved with better audit of how the aid is used.^[12] Aid from non-governmental organizations may be more effective than governmental aid; this may be because it is better at reaching the poor and better controlled at the grassroots level.^[13] The Borgen Project, an anti-poverty advocacy organization, estimates the annual cost of eliminating starvation and malnutrition globally at $19 billion a year.^[14] As a point of comparison, the annual world military spending is over $1000 billion.^[15] The most general definition of an audit is an evaluation of a person, organization, system, process, project or product. ... A non-governmental organization (NGO) is a private institution that is independent of the government although many NGOs, particular in the global South, are funded by Northern governments. ...

Commodities Exchange

Another method in helping to fight poverty is to have commodity exchanges that will supply necessary information about national and perhaps international markets to the poor who would then know what products and where it is sold will bring better profits. A boy from an East Cipinang trash dump slum in Jakarta, Indonesia shows what he found. ... This article is in need of attention. ...

For example, in Ethiopia, remote farmers do not know have this information. Ethiopian farmers produce crops that may not bring the best profits. When they sell their procucts to a local trader, who then sells to another trader, and another, the cost of the food rises before it finally reaches the consumer in large cities. Economist, Gabre-Madhin proposes warehouses where farmers could have constant updates of the latest market prices, making the farmer think nationally, not locally. Each warehouse would have an independent neutral party that would test and grade the farmer's harvest, allowing traders in Addis Ababa, and potentially outside Ethiopia, to place bids on food, even if it is unseen. Thus, if the farmer gets five cents in one place he would get three times the price by selling it in another part of the country where there may be a drought. Already, farmers in Ethiopia are switching from their traditional crops to more profitable export crops, such as sesame seeds that are destined for the Middle East, even though they are not used in local Ethiopian cuisine. Over the past three years, sesame-seed production has risen nearly 200 percent, from 199,000 tons in 2001 to 380,000 in 2005.^[16] Fields outside Benambra, Victoria suffering from drought conditions A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ...

Other approaches

Some argue for a radical change of the economic system. There are several proposals for a fundamental restructuring of existing economic relations, and many of their supporters argue that their ideas would reduce or even eliminate poverty entirely if they were implemented. Such proposals have been put forward by both left-wing and right-wing groups: socialism, communism, anarchism, libertarianism, binary economics and participatory economics, among others. Socialism refers to a broad array of doctrines or political movements that envisage a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to control by the community[1] for the purposes of increasing social and economic equality and cooperation. ... Communism is an ideology that seeks to establish a classless, stateless social organization based on common ownership of the means of production. ... Anarchism is a political philosophy or group of philosophies and attitudes which reject any form of compulsory government[1] and support its elimination,[2] often because of a wider rejection of involuntary authority. ... This article does not adequately cite its references. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Participatory economics. ... Participatory economics, often abbreviated parecon, is a proposed economic system that uses participatory decision making as an economic mechanism to guide the allocation of resources and consumption in a given society. ...

Inequality can be reduced by progressive taxation, wealth tax, and inheritance tax.^{[citation needed]} A progressive tax, or graduated tax, is a tax that is larger as a percentage of income for those with larger incomes. ... Because of the broad term wealth, property tax, capital transfer taxes (inheritance tax, gift tax) and capital gains taxes are sometimes referred to as wealth taxes. // Net worth tax Some countrys governments will require declaration of the tax payers balance sheet (assets and liabilities), and from that ask for... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ...

In law, there has been a movement to seek to establish the absence of poverty as a human right.^{[citation needed]} Lady Justice or Justitia is a personification of the moral force that underlies the legal system (particularly in Western art). ... Human rights are rights which some hold to be inalienable and belonging to all humans. ...

The IMF and member countries have produced Poverty Reduction Strategy papers or PRSPs.^[17] Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) are in many ways the replacement for Structural Adjustment Programs, and are documents required by the IMF and World Bank before a country can be considered for debt relief within the HIPC programme. ...

In his book"The End of Poverty"^[18], a prominent economist named Jeffrey Sachs laid out a plan to eradicate global poverty by the year 2025. Following his recommendations, international organizations such as the Global Solidarity Network are working to help eradicate poverty worldwide with intervention in the areas of housing, food, education, basic health, agricultural inputs, safe drinking water, transportation and communications. Jeffrey Sachs Jeffrey David Sachs (born November 5, 1954 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American economist known for his work as an economic advisor to governments in Latin America, Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Asia, and Africa. ...

The Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign is an organization in the United States working to secure freedom from poverty for all by organizing the poor themselves. The Campaign believes that a human rights framework, based on the value of inherent dignity and worth of all persons, offers the best means by which to organize for a political solution to poverty. The Poor Peoples Economic Human Rights Campaign is a coalition of grassroots organizations, community groups, and non-profit organizations committed to uniting the poor across color lines as the leadership base for a broad movement to abolish poverty. ...

Organizations That Promote Poverty Reduction

(please help by expanding this list)

• World Bank
• International Monetary Fund

... This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ...

Fields of Study That Deal With Poverty Reduction

• Development economics explains economic growth of developing countries
• Macroeconomics deals with entire economies while Microeconomics with individual players in the economy

This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Circulation in macroeconomics Macroeconomics is a branch of Economics that deals with the performance, structure, and behavior of the economy as a whole. ... Microeconomics is a branch of Economics that studies how individuals, households, and firms make decisions to allocate limited resources,[1] typically in markets where goods or services are being bought and sold. ...

See also

• Poverty
• Poverty in the United States
• Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper
• Poverty threshold
• Community economic development
• Debt relief
• Heavily Indebted Poor Countries
• Millennium Development Goals
• Make poverty history
• Inclusive business
• Ecological sanitation

A boy from an East Cipinang trash dump slum in Jakarta, Indonesia shows what he found. ... Percent below each countrys official poverty line, according to the CIA factbook. ... Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) are in many ways the replacement for Structural Adjustment Programs, and are documents required by the IMF and World Bank before a country can be considered for debt relief within the HIPC programme. ... The poverty threshold, or poverty line, is the minimum level of income deemed necessary to achieve an adequate standard of living. ... Community Economic Development (CED) is action taken locally by a community to provide economic opportunities and improve social conditions in a sustainable way. ... Debt relief is the partial or total forgiveness of debt, or the slowing or stopping of debt growth, owed by individuals, corporations, or nations. ... The 38 states recognized as the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC). ... The Millenium Development Goals The Millennium Development Goals are eight goals that 192 United Nations member states have agreed to try to achieve by the year 2015. ... // The Make Poverty History campaign (which is written as MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY) was a British and Irish coalition of charities, religious groups, trade unions, campaigning groups and celebrities who mobilized around the UKs prominence in world politics in 2005 to increase awareness and pressure governments into taking actions towards relieving absolute... Within the international development community, an inclusive business is a sustainable business that benefits low-income communities. ... Ecological Sanitation One person produces about 500 litres of urine and only 50 litres of faeces per year. ...

External links

• "Educate a Woman, You Educate a Nation" - South Africa Aims to Improve its Education for Girls WNN - Women News Network. Aug. 28, 2007. Lys Anzia

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of

Information and Communication Technologies for Poverty Alleviation