Chronic Poverty- A Global Concern

For all of you who receive dozens of global/public health emails each day (or more!) this blog is for you.

I was just pondering about the effectiveness of mass mailings and more importantly multiple mailings from the same organizations. I'm certain that at some point SUNSIH's been guilty of this activity, although we are conscious of the benefits of consolidating relevant information in a single communication. Perhaps what I think of most is whether there is a better way to share news and information without overwhelming you. I know we can all scan through our emails and draw out the important data, but wouldn't it be nice to have it come to you completely sorted out? If you have any suggestions for a more accessible way for us to share event information please do let us know! Also if you would like to suggest the type of content you would like to receive we would like to hear from you. general@sunsih.ca

Anyway, once in a while you do come across a great gem which is what I would like to share with you today. This report actually showed up in my inbox a few weeks ago but I've recently shared it with a colleague and so I thought I would share it with you as well. Of course as always, I do urge you to take it with a grain of salt.

Chronic Poverty Research Centre CPRC - UK’s Department for International Development (DFID)

July 2008

Available online PDF [164p.] at: http://www.chronicpoverty.org/pubfiles/CPR2_whole_report.pdf

‘…..Over the last five years, in an era of unprecedented global wealth creation, the number of people living in chronic poverty has increased. Between 320 and 443 million people are now trapped in poverty that lasts for many years, often for their entire lifetime. Their children frequently inherit chronic poverty, if they survive infancy. Many chronically poor people die prematurely from easily preventable health problems.

For the chronically poor, poverty is not simply about having a very low income: it is about multidimensional deprivation – hunger, undernutrition, illiteracy, unsafe drinking water, lack of access to basic health services, social discrimination, physical insecurity and political exclusion. Whichever way one frames the problem of chronic poverty – as human suffering, as vulnerability, as a basic needs failure, as the abrogation of human rights, as degraded citizenship – one thing is clear.

Widespread chronic poverty occurs in a world that has the knowledge and resources to eradicate it.

This report argues that tackling chronic poverty is the global priority for our generation. There are robust ethical grounds for arguing that chronically poor people merit the greatest international, national and personal attention and effort. Tackling chronic poverty is vital if our world is to achieve an acceptable level of justice and fairness.

There are also strong pragmatic reasons for doing so. Addressing chronic poverty sooner rather than later will achieve much greater results at a dramatically lower cost. More broadly, reducing chronic poverty provides global public benefits, in terms of political and economic stability and public health….”

“….Priority goes to two policy areas – social protection (Chapter 3) and public services for the hard to reach (Chapter 5) – that can spearhead the assault on chronic poverty. Alongside these are anti-discrimination and gender empowerment (Chapter 5), building individual and collective assets (Chapters 3, 4 and 6) and strategic urbanisation and migration (Chapters 4 and 5). Working together, these policies reduce chronic poverty directly and create and maintain a just social compact that will underpin long-term efforts to eradicate chronic poverty (Chapter 6). Such social compacts ensure a distribution of public goods and services that contributes to justice and fairness….”

Content:

PART A – Chronic poverty as a key policy issue

Chapter 1 – Foundations for understanding and challenging chronic poverty

A. Chronic poverty and justice

B. The nature and extent of chronic poverty

C. Why address chronic poverty?

D: How to address chronic poverty?

E. Chronically Deprived Countries and Consistent Improvers

F. Conclusion

Chapter 2 – The policy and political challenge

A. Introduction

B. Where are the chronically poor in PRSs?

C. Policy responses/policy choices in PRSs

D. Political systems and ownership

E. Institutional mainstreaming and participation of the poor

F. Implementation

Obstacles to implementation

G. Conclusion

PART B – Four sets of policies for poverty eradication

Chapter 3 – Addressing insecurity through social protection

A. Introduction

B. The central role of vulnerability

C. The importance of social protection

D. Lessons from existing social protection programmes and policies

E. Country context

F. Conclusion

Chapter 4 – Economic growth and chronic poverty

A. Introduction

B. Poor people and the growth process

C. Disaggregation matters for policy

D. Transformative growth

E. Growth and strategic choices

F. Social protection as a policy lever for growth in Chronically Deprived Countries

G. Conclusion

Chapter 5 – Transformative social change

A. Introduction

B. Gender equality, social inclusion and increased ‘agency’: social goals to end chronic poverty

C. Politics

D. Policy contexts

E. Conclusion

Chapter 6 – Ending violent conflict and building a social compact

A. Introduction

B. Violent conflict and impoverishment

C. Redefining the fragile state

D. Towards a social compact

E. Financing the social compact

F. Conclusion

PART C – Conclusion

Chapter 7 – Eradicating chronic poverty

A. Eradicating chronic poverty

B. Five key poverty traps 1

C. Policy reponses to chronic poverty traps

D. Country context

E. Regaining the promise of poverty reduction

References

Background Papers :

http://www.chronicpoverty.org/cpra-background.php