The first decade of the 21st century has illustrated the power of economic growth (especially in China) and human development to bring large numbers out of poverty. But a large number of people remain abjectly poor, among them almost half a billion people who are poor over long periods of time, their entire lives, and who may pass poverty to their children. The essential argument advanced in this report is that if these people are to escape poverty beyond 2015, they require additional policies and political commitment, underpinned by greater understanding and analysis, compared to what is currently practiced at global and national levels.

The changes in policy emphasis required now to make greater progress towards the eradication of poverty and deprivation include the following 5 critical areas:

1. Specific policies and programmes are needed to target the poorest people
2. To be effective, policies need to be designed to address the structural causes of chronic poverty
3. Exiting poverty requires attention to job quality, as well as access to quality health services and education
4. Better data is required to inform the design and monitoring of policy
5. The post-2015 development framework needs to retain the eradication of poverty as its central goal

Author: Andrew Shepherd

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