Poverty: An Enigma of Development

Poverty is the denial of basic human It is today of concern to all societies. The main theme of the research is to highlight the factors behind this evil. The study also focuses on the role of international iststitutions. The research discusses the different socio-economic and political factors in this regard. The Approach of the research is analytical and comparative. The study also analyzes the role of international institutions to eradicate the poverty. The efforts made by big powers are also discussed. The researcher uses original and secondary sources. The references and conclusion is in the end. Introduction Modern poverty reduction and development programmes often have dignity as a central theme. Dignity is also a central theme of the Universal Declaration of Rights, the very first article of which stars with: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. The concept of dignity in development has been extensively explored by many, and related to all of the development sectors. The Asian Rights Commission released a statement in 2006 claiming that: Human dignity is the true measure of human development. (Asian Rights Commission)1. During the decades, development thinking has shifted from modernization and structural adjustment programs to poverty reduction. Under the former system, poor countries were encouraged to undergo social and economical structural transformations as part of their development, creating industrialization and international industrial policy. Poverty reduction rejects this notion, consisting instead of direct budget support for social welfare programs that create macroeconomic stability leading to an increase in economic stability leading to an increase in economic growth. Poverty is a denial of basic human rights and is today of concern to all societies. The injustices, exclusions, deprivations and inequalities that poverty and especially extreme poverty, engenders and, above all their causes, must effectively be dealt with, if social justice and cohesion, economic and social progress, democracy and ultimately peace are to be further strengthened. Extreme poverty today affects 1.2 billion persons, of which three quarter live and work in rural areas. Fact Sheet  1.2 billion People live on less than U.S. $1 dollar a day.  Women represent the large majority of the world poorest.70% of the people living in poverty worldwide are female.  Over 50% of Africa's population today lives below the poverty line.  The number of poor people in Africa has almost doubled between 1981 and 2001 and the continent is home to virtually all the planets ultra poor. While they were approximately 264 million poor individuals in sub-Saharan Africa in 1981 the figure increased to 316 million in 2001.