Poverty

Poverty is the state of being without the necessities of daily living, often associated with need, hardship and lack of resources across a wide range of circumstances. For some, poverty is a subjective and comparative term; for others, it is moral and evaluative; and for others, scientifically established. The principal uses of the term include:

Eliminating poverty

The main responses to poverty are:

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• Poor Relief, or giving aid direct to poor people. This has been part of the approach of European societies since the middle ages. For example, the relief of poverty was recognised as a legal charitable purpose by the English Statute of Charitable Uses (Statute of Elizabeth) in 1601.
• Responses to individual circumstances. A variety of measures have been taken to change the situation of poor people on an individual basis, including e.g. punishment, education, social work, employment, and workfare.
• Provision for contingencies. Rather than providing for poor people directly, many welfare states have provided for categories of people who are likely to be poor, such as old people or people with disabilities, or circumstances which may impoverish people, like the need for health care.
• Strategic intervention. Many people have argued that poor people can be helped to change their circumstances through focusing on selected, specific measures. Examples have included political participation, urban regeneration and the development of social capital.
• Economic development. The anti-poverty strategy of the World Bank depends heavily on preventing poverty through the promotion of economic growth. It is often argued that "a rising tide lifts all boats," though as critics comment, it can also sink those that are held down.

Most developing countries have produced Poverty Reduction Strategy papers or PRSPs http://www.imf.org/external/np/prsp/prsp.asp. In addition to broader approaches the Sachs report (for the UN Millenimum Project)http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/reports/ proposes a series of "quick wins", approaches identified by development experts that would cost relatively little but could have a major effect on world poverty. The quick wins are:

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• eliminating school fees
• providing soil nutrients to farmers in sub-Saharan Africa
• free school meals for schoolchildren
• supporting breast-feeding
• deworming school children in affected areas
• training programmes for community health workers in rural areas
• providing mosquito nets
• ending user fees for basic health care in developing countries
• access to information on sexual and reproductive health
• drugs for AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria
• upgrading slums, and providing land for public housing
• access to electricity, water and sanitation
• legislation for women?s rights, including rights to property
• action against domestic violence
• appointing government scientific advisors in every country, and
• planting trees.