by Donald Lee

“At the start of the new Millennium, one in five of the world’s population – 1.2 billion people – live in abject poverty, without adequate food, water, sanitation, healthcare or education for their children.... It is now completely possible to remove extreme poverty from the human condition.... To do that, we need a focus on systematic poverty reduction in developing country governments, the UN system, the international financial institutions and the OECD countries.”

The Hon. Clare Short, U.K. Secretary of State for International Development,
the Rockefeller Foundation, New York, 2001.

The year 2001 marks the mid-point of the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (1997-2006) that was launched following the Copenhagen Social Summit. One of the major milestones during the first five years of the Decade has been the commitment of the global community to the international development goal to halve income poverty by 20151, a commitment that was first made at the twenty fourth special session of the General Assembly of the United Nations in June 2000 and subsequently re-affirmed at the Millennium Summit.


What has been achieved so far?

Overall progress in income-poverty reduction during the 1990s, and in particular during the first five years of the Decade for the Eradication of Poverty, has been slow and uneven. The five-year review of the 1995 World Summit for Social Development concluded that much of the global decline in poverty reduction achieved during the 1990s was to a large extent a reflection of the success of efforts in East Asia, most notably in China. The picture elsewhere is less encouraging:

  • In South Asia, the proportion in poverty declined moderately through the 1990s but the actual numbers of poor people in the region in 1998 is estimated to be larger than in 1987;
  • In Sub-Saharan Africa, the proportion of people in extreme poverty declined through the 1990s, but the numbers in poverty increased during the same period;
  • In Latin America, although the share of poor people remained roughly constant since 1990, the numbers living in poverty increased during the period;
  • In the countries with economies in transition both the share and the numbers in poverty have increased sharply during the 1990s.

On the basis of present trends, it seems likely that global poverty can be halved by 2015. But many countries, particularly those in Africa, will find it difficult to meet this target. It is imperative, therefore, that every effort be made to enable every country to meet the poverty target and the other international development targets.


What needs to be done?

The reality is that many countries continue to face intractable problems for poverty reduction. Lack of financial resources, compounded in most cases by the worsening terms of trade, as well as weak infrastructures and inefficient administrative systems have all undermined measures to eradicate poverty in developing countries. In some developed market economies continuing high unemployment, increasing inequality in income distribution and changes in welfare policies have done very little to reduce poverty.

Therefore, at the national level, policy-makers will need to ensure that their poverty reduction strategies will:

  • Accelerate economic growth. This is a critical element to achieving higher living standards, but faster growth will require policies that encourage macroeconomic stability, shift resources to more efficient sectors, and integrate with the global economy;
  • Improve the distribution of income and wealth. The benefits of growth for the poor may be eroded if the distribution of income worsens; and,
  • Accelerate social development. Although improvements in economic growth and income and wealth distribution can lead to improvements in social indicators, there is still room for interventions that accelerate health and educational outcomes, in particular, female education, safe water and sanitation, and child immunization, as well as safety nets for the most vulnerable. Due attention also is needed to support and enhance the social structures and institutions which promote development.

Donors and international agencies and organizations, on their part, must support countries that take up the challenges of the international development goals for the 21st century.


United Nations strategy for halving extreme poverty

The United Nations has developed a system-wide strategy for halving extreme poverty that was approved by the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) in October 2000. The strategy represents concrete follow-up by the United Nations to the Millennium Declaration and provides a practical tool for United Nations Country Teams in their work on Common Country Assessment (CCA) and the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), as well as for engaging with other partners, including, for example, the development of national Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs).

The UN Poverty Strategy2 describes the various manifestations of poverty, and proposes measures that could be taken at three levels:

  • Global Level. The Secretary-General and senior UN staff will undertake a major effort of anti-poverty advocacy: galvanising world opinion towards achieving the targets for 2015; mobilising support among world leaders for a global anti-poverty campaign; engaging the Bretton Woods Institutions in a coordinated campaign; getting leading figures from the private sector involved, among other initiatives;
  • Programmatic Level. The Options for Action is the most comprehensive outline of a UN approach to poverty reduction. Its five priority areas ‘for concerted UN action in support of poverty eradication’ are:
    - Promoting rights and responsibilities and empowering the poor to bring about change;
    - Undertaking poverty and vulnerability assessments, mapping, planning and evaluation;
    - Strengthening the basic capabilities of poor people through basic social services for all;
    - Strengthening the asset base and livelihood opportunities of poor people;
    - Promoting macroeconomic and social policies that are pro-poor and pro-equity.
  • National Level. This includes proposals for UN Country Teams to monitor progress towards the International Development Targets, assess the impact of crises - including HIV/AIDS - on poverty and review the impact of national strategies.

The strategy does not identify or assign its different parts to individual agencies or organisations — instead, the system as a whole has signed up to the strategy in its entirety. The final version of the complete Strategy and Options for Action were sent out to all United Nations country teams in December 2000.


Global Campaign for poverty eradication

The Twenty-Fourth Special Session of the General Assembly introduced the idea of a global campaign to eradicate poverty when it decided to:

“Invite the Economic and Social Council to consolidate the ongoing initiatives and actions established in the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action, the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (1997-2006) and the recommendations contained in the [outcome document] with a view to launching a global campaign to eradicate poverty.” (A/S-24/8/Rev.1, paragraph 155)

The launching of a global campaign can have a critical role in ensuring a globally coordinated attack on poverty in its many dimensions. Although the discussion of the global campaign is still in its early stages in the United Nations, it is worthwhile, nevertheless, to reflect here on some elements that could usefully be considered for inclusion in such a global campaign. One might include, but not be limited to, the following key elements:

  • Advocacy. There is a need for a strong advocacy role for the global campaign in order to galvanise world opinion to achieve the target for the year 2015. The UN poverty strategy, for example, has also identified opportunities to take advantage of global gatherings such as the G8 meetings, WTO summits and United Nations sponsored events such as the International Day for Poverty Eradication, and the five and ten year reviews of the international conferences to promote the global poverty campaign.
  • Consolidation and Coordination. There is need for the campaign to promote greater coherence and focus of global efforts to eradicate poverty in the long term, and to halve poverty by 2015. There are different modalities to this end, and one worth considering is the establishment of a full-fledged joint secretariat for the Campaign comparable to UNAIDS.
  • Poverty Network. There may also be a need to establish a focused network of professionals working in the area of poverty – this can serve as an important bridge between professionals in developed and developing countries. Such a network would enable the sharing of knowledge, expertise and research between professionals and would draw on the most creative leaders in private industry, civil society and economic policy to explore imaginative approaches to this difficult challenge.

Donald Lee is Chief, Poverty Eradication and Employment Unit, Division for Social Policy and Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations, New York.

1 The proportion of population living on less than PPP $1 a day.
2 The UN strategy paper is available at the United Nations Development Group website: www.undg.org.