POVERTY: THE CURRENT CONTEXT OVERCOMING HUMAN POVERTY UNDP Poverty Report 2000

n Until 1996, the number of poor people was on the decline, but by 1998 it was on the rise again n Today there are more than 1.3 billion chronically poor people in the world n Human poverty remains persistently high— higher than income poverty in some regions, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa OVERCOMING HUMAN POVERTY UNDP Poverty Report 2000

What is the international response? Donors are reducing levels of aid and failing to focus what remains on poverty OVERCOMING HUMAN POVERTY UNDP Poverty Report 2000

Trends in World Aid as a Percentage of GNP OVERCOMING HUMAN POVERTY UNDP Poverty Report 2000

Debt burdens have grown among least developed countries and remained high in Sub-Saharan Africa The Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Country Initiative aims for faster, deeper debt relief OVERCOMING HUMAN POVERTY UNDP Poverty Report 2000

External Debt as a Percentage of GNP OVERCOMING HUMAN POVERTY UNDP Poverty Report 2000

But the indebted countries are wary of new conditionalities and reductions in development assistance to finance debt relief Many rich country markets remain closed to exports from indebted countries — a major reason why they are unable to pay off their debt OVERCOMING HUMAN POVERTY UNDP Poverty Report 2000

UNDP Poverty Report 2000 OVERCOMING HUMAN POVERTY

1. ORIENTATION n Takes stock of progress by countries on Social Summit commitments n Draws policy lessons from UNDP’s support to poverty reduction activities n Pays special attention to the role of governance in poverty reduction OVERCOMING HUMAN POVERTY UNDP Poverty Report 2000

2. SCOPE n Draws on 23 special assessments of national poverty programmes n Benefits from input on poverty policies from 134 UNDP country offices n Covers 140 countries on poverty estimates, targets and plans 1. ORIENTATION OVERCOMING HUMAN POVERTY UNDP Poverty Report 2000

Two ways of measuring poverty n The $1 per day is an income measure of poverty: it measures the percentage of people who live on less than $1 per day The Human Poverty Index (HPI) OVERCOMING HUMAN POVERTY UNDP Poverty Report 2000

n The HPI measures deprivation in basic human development. It takes into account –% of people expected to die before age 40 –% of adults who are illiterate –% of population without access to health services –% of population without access to safe water –% of children under five who are underweight The following maps compare Income and Human Poverty OVERCOMING HUMAN POVERTY UNDP Poverty Report 2000

Population living on less than US$1 Per Day (per cent) OVERCOMING HUMAN POVERTY UNDP Poverty Report 2000

Countries that may not be very poor in terms of income poverty may suffer from high levels of human poverty — for example, when a large percentage of the population is illiterate or malnourished. Human Poverty Index for Developing Countries OVERCOMING HUMAN POVERTY UNDP Poverty Report 2000

World Summit for Social Development In 1995, all countries committed to: Estimate overall and extreme income poverty Set time-bound goals and targets Implement national anti-poverty plans OVERCOMING HUMAN POVERTY UNDP Poverty Report 2000

World Summit for Social Development Progress in Last 5 Years Of the 140 countries surveyed by UNDP: 77% have nationally recognized estimates for poverty 69% have some form of planning for poverty reduction but only 29% have explicit stand-alone poverty plans And only 31% have set targets for eradicating extreme poverty or substantially reducing overall poverty OVERCOMING HUMAN POVERTY UNDP Poverty Report 2000

3. CENTRAL THEMES A. Progress against both income and human poverty B. Developing national anti-poverty plans C. Governance for poverty reduction: the missing link 1. ORIENTATION 2. SCOPE OVERCOMING HUMAN POVERTY UNDP Poverty Report 2000

A. Progress against Income and Human Poverty : A major shortcoming of current anti-poverty planning: The lack of achievable time-bound goals and targets Where new initiatives are needed: Countries should explicitly adopt human poverty targets –Malnutrition –Shortened life span –Illiteracy How to make a monitoring system workable: Supplement large income and expenditure surveys with –Rapid monitoring surveys –Participatory assessments OVERCOMING HUMAN POVERTY UNDP Poverty Report 2000

B. Developing National Anti-Poverty Plans n Anti-poverty plans need to be comprehensive: Much more than a few projects “targeted” at the poor Poverty — a multidimensional problem — should be addressed by a multisectoral approach Move beyond the traditional social-sector focus OVERCOMING HUMAN POVERTY UNDP Poverty Report 2000

n Anti-poverty plans should be nationally owned and determined — not donor driven External donors provide much of the funding –but outside regular government channels –and for a disconnected array of individual projects OVERCOMING HUMAN POVERTY UNDP Poverty Report 2000

n Linking poverty to national-level policies A new generation of poverty programmes is needed Poverty can no longer be addressed –after the fact (in response to structural adjustment) –as a residual social issue Merely supplementing rapid growth with social spending and safety nets has proved inadequate Poverty programmes should be formulated to –focus on making growth more pro-poor –target inequality –emphasize empowering poor people OVERCOMING HUMAN POVERTY UNDP Poverty Report 2000

n Linking poverty to international economic policies This is a connection that is rarely made –External debt is now clearly linked to poverty through the Enhanced HIPC Initiative –Hopefully the link will not involve new conditionalities –Trade policies are still not connected, however, as witnessed in the Seattle WTO meeting OVERCOMING HUMAN POVERTY UNDP Poverty Report 2000

If trade expansion is to benefit the poor, the international rules of the game must be made fairer Where to start: With rich-country protectionism biased against developing country exports OVERCOMING HUMAN POVERTY UNDP Poverty Report 2000

C. Governance for Poverty Reduction: the Missing Link The vital link between anti-poverty efforts and poverty reduction is a responsive and accountable governance system Having regular elections — free and fair Accountability in the use of public funds Devolving authority and resources to local government But democratic forms are no vaccination against poverty and decentralization is only a partial solution Poor communities must organize themselves to advance their interests OVERCOMING HUMAN POVERTY UNDP Poverty Report 2000

The Neglected Reforms Campaigns against poverty have bypassed local government, hampering the campaigns’ effectiveness local governments need to be strengthened a long-term project — taking time, resources and capacity-building OVERCOMING HUMAN POVERTY UNDP Poverty Report 2000

The Foundation of Poverty Reduction n Self-organization of the poor at community level What the poor most need: –Not so much resources for safety nets as for building their own organizations –This is the best antidote to powerlessness, a central source of poverty OVERCOMING HUMAN POVERTY UNDP Poverty Report 2000

n How to effectively “target” benefits to the poor –Effective “targeting” follows from empowerment, not the other way around –Do not treat the poor as passive beneficiaries –It is better to talk about “focusing poverty reduction resources” than about “targeting” OVERCOMING HUMAN POVERTY UNDP Poverty Report 2000