National and International Anti-Poverty Strategies and Poverty Reduction

* Links to Anti-Poverty/Poverty Blogs - links to over three dozen blogs from BC, from Toronto, from Fredericton, from Montreal, etc.
* News - Anti-poverty & poverty related news stories, current events, reports & press releases
* Online resources - Links to government websites, policies, acts, regulations & many other useful websites organized by issue (same as above) and by location (links to provincial/territorial resources, U.S. and other international links)
Source:
PovNet
PovNet is an online resource for advocates, people on welfare, and community groups and individuals involved in anti-poverty work.[ About PovNet ]

Make Poverty History (Canada)
Here's what we want in 14 words:
* More and Better Aid
* Trade Justice
* Cancel the Debt
* End Child Poverty in Canada

Campaign 2000
Campaign 2000 is a cross-Canada public education movement to build Canadian awareness and support for the 1989 all-party House of Commons resolution to end child poverty in Canada by the year 2000.

A poverty reduction strategy for Ontario (PDF file - 396K, 14 pages)
July 2007
Source:
Campaign 2000

Canada Without Poverty (official name : National Antipoverty Organization)
Based in Ottawa and governed by people with experience of living in poverty, Canada Without Poverty works to address the structural causes of and to promote lasting solutions to poverty. We are especially focused on federal, provincial and territorial government policies and legislation (existing and proposed) that may help or harm low-income Canadians.

CWP Advocacy Network
The CWP Advocacy Network is a new national non-profit but non-charitable organization. It exists to directly lobby politicians and other public policy makers, at all levels of government in Canada, for policies and legislation that help prevent, alleviate and eliminate poverty in Canada.

From the website of
Tony Martin, Federal NDP Poverty Critic:

Debate in the House of Commons on a national anti-poverty strategy
(Private Member's Bill - Tony Martin, NDP)
February 20, 2007

Related links:

The federal contribution to reducing poverty in Canada:
Evidence presented at Meetings of the Standing Committee
on Human Resources, Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA)
39th PARLIAMENT, 2nd SESSION
- this link takes you to another page of this site to specific evidence presented at six of the HUMA meetings (including a list of witnesses and the topics covered in each meeting)
Source:
Standing Committee on Human Resources, Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA)
(Tony Martin is a member of HUMA)
[ Parliament of Canada website ]

Envisioning Canada Without Poverty: A CPJ Call to Action
Momentum for poverty reduction is growing across Canada. As Ontario and Nova Scotia follow in Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador's footsteps by committing to poverty reduction strategies, the leadership of the provinces is setting an example for the federal government to follow. We believe that the time has come to increase the pressure on the federal government to develop a federal poverty reduction strategy for Canada.

Citizens for Public Justice (CPJ) has recently launched the Envisioning Canada Without Poverty: A CPJ Call to Action campaign. It is aimed at empowering citizens to advocate for a poverty reduction strategy. Our website offers both introductory information and a more detailed examination of poverty and poverty reduction strategies, as well as step by step instructions on writing your MP or arranging a meeting. We are calling for concerned citizens to write or visit your MP to ask for their commitment to working towards a federal poverty reduction strategy announced in Budget 2009.

Federal Liberal Party Antipoverty Plan
+ Caledon Institute of Social Policy Response

Dion Unveils the Liberal Plan to Win the War Against Poverty
November 9, 2007
TORONTO – Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion today unveiled a comprehensive plan to dramatically reduce the number of Canadians living below the poverty line by at least 30 per cent and cut in half the number of children living in poverty in five years. Mr. Dion called it the Liberal 30-50 Plan to Reduce Poverty.
Source:
Liberal Party of Canada

Caledon Response to Liberal Poverty Strategy (PDF file - 264K, 9 pages)
November 2007
The Caledon Institute of Social Policy applauds Liberal leader Stéphane Dion’s November 9, 2007 speech laying out his party’s poverty reduction strategy. It recognizes poverty as a serious national problem that needs political leadership and an explicit focus to achieve clear results.
Caledon offers some additional or alternative proposals, including:
* to properly set and monitor poverty reduction targets, devise a better poverty indicator than the current low income cut-offs
* rather than simply converting the non-refundable child tax credit to a refundable credit, as suggested in the Dion speech, the federal government should abolish the Universal Child Care Benefit and the child tax credit, using the savings to help build a stronger Canada Child Tax Benefit
* immediately bolster the federal Working Income Tax Benefit (WITB), but in future expand it from a federal-only to a joint federal-provincial/territorial undertaking. WITB should be made more flexible to allow each province and territory to adapt the program to its needs and circumstances, and to integrate it with its welfare system
* provide specifics and associated costs on the proposal to increase Guaranteed Income Supplement payments for the lowest income seniors
* base the income test for the clawback of Old Age Security benefits from upper-income senior couples on their combined income rather than on each spouse or partner’s individual income
* to encourage seniors and near-seniors who can and want to continue working to do so, eliminate the ‘employment test’ for receipt of a CPP retirement pension before age 65. Also, allow CPP beneficiaries receiving a retirement pension but still working to continue to contribute to the plan, with the additional earnings taken into account each year in re-calculating their pensions.
Source:
Caledon Institute of Social Policy
The Caledon Institute of Social Policy is a private, nonprofit organization with charitable status. It is supported primarily by the Maytree Foundation, located in Toronto. Caledon is an independent and critical voice that does not depend on government funding and is not affiliated with any political party.

Related links:

Half in Ten : From Poverty to Prosperity
A Campaign to Cut Poverty in the United States in Half in Ten Years
More than 46 million Americans live below the official poverty line—which is now approximately $22,314 for a family of four—and 16.4 million children are poor in this country. Inequality of wealth has reached record highs—it is greater than at any time since 1929.

Half in Ten : Our Key Issues
* Creating Good Jobs
* Strengthening Families
* Promoting Economic Security
* Cutting Poverty in Half
Restoring Shared Prosperity
Half in Ten provides a view on the statistics and data behind poverty, and show the path to restoring shared prosperity.
Visit now ?

Half in Ten is a project of:

* Center for American Progress (CAP) Action Fund
The CAP Action Fund is a progressive think-tank dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through ideas and action. (...) Our mission is to transform progressive ideas into policy through rapid response communications, legislative action, grassroots organizing and advocacy, and partnerships with other progressive leaders throughout the country and the world.
The Center for American Progress is a sister organization of the Center for American Progress (CAP).The Center for American Progress is dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through progressive ideas and action. (...) We believe an open and effective government can champion the common good over narrow self-interest, harness the strength of our diversity, and secure the rights and safety of its people.

* Coalition on Human Needs
The Coalition on Human Needs (CHN) is an alliance of national organizations working together to promote public policies which address the needs of low-income and other vulnerable populations.

* The Leadership Conference
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the civil and human rights of all persons in the United States.

United Kingdom

400,000 children will fall into relative poverty by 2015, warns Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS)
Number of children in absolute poverty in 2015 will rise by 500,000 to 3 million, says Institute for Fiscal Studies
By Randeep Ramesh
11 October 2011
The government shakeup of the tax and benefits system will result in a further 400,000 children falling into relative poverty during this parliament, leaving Britain on course to miss legally binding targets to reduce child poverty by 2020, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies. In a bleak assessment of changes in the government's new social contract, the IFS said the number of children in absolute poverty in 2015 will rise by 500,000 to 3 million. Even worse, by 2020 3.3 million young people – almost one in four children – will find themselves in relative child poverty.

[ 316 comments on this article ]

Source:
The Guardian

The IFS report:

Child and Working Age Poverty and Inequality in UK: 2010 (PDF - 668K, 69 pages)
October 2011
This Commentary presents forecasts of relative and absolute income poverty in the UK among children and working-age adults for each year between 2010---11 and 2015---16, and for 2020---21, using a static microsimulation model augmented with forecasts of key economic and
demographic characteristics. (...)
The Child Poverty Act, passed with all-party support in 2010, commits successive governments to the eradication of child poverty by 2020. The Act lists four measures of child poverty, each with their own target which needs to be met for child poverty to be said to be eradicated, but this Commentary concentrates on relative and absolute poverty, as the other measures cannot yet be modelled.

Source:
Institute for Fiscal Studies
Our goal at the Institute for Fiscal Studies is to promote effective economic and social policies by understanding better their impact on individuals, families, businesses and the government's finances.

United States

Poverty and Opportunity: What Difference Can a Task Force Make? (PDF - 478K, 21 pages)
By Jodie Levin-Epstein et al
July 2011
Nearly 44 million Americans live below the federal poverty level. In the wake of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, policymakers in many states are working to advance measures to reduce poverty. Twenty states, including Washington D.C., have established a state government poverty and opportunity task force. Eleven of these states have set poverty reduction targets, such as cutting poverty in half in a decade. CLASP has profiled four of these poverty task forces in its new report, Poverty and Opportunity: What Difference Can a Task Force Make? With poverty on the rise, there are lessons to be learned from the task forces in the four following states.

Reports dated July 26, 2011:
* Minnesota (PDF - 264K, 5 pages)
* Ohio (PDF - 254K, 5 pages)
* Illinois (PDF - 273K, 5 pages)
* Colorado (PDF - 234K, 5 pages)

Related links:

State Poverty Task Force Recommendations (PDF - 696K, 49 pages)
March 2011 (revised)

Poverty and Opportunity: Chart of State Government Task Forces (PDF - 196K, 2 pages)
Updated April 2011
- includes links to almost two dozen Task Force reports

Seizing the Moment: State Governments and the
New Commitment to Reduce Poverty in America
April 2008
Joint report from CLASP and
Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity

Source:
CLASP (Center for Law and Social Policy)
Since 1969, CLASP has been a trusted resource, a creative architect for systems change, and one of the country's most effective voices for low income people. We develop and advocate for federal, state and local policies to strengthen families and create pathways to education and work.

From the
New York Times Opinion Pages:

July 14, 2011
Out of Poverty, Family-Style
An initiative that brings struggling families together to help each other out of poverty is providing a new model for social welfare.

Trusting Families to Help Themselves
By DAVID BORNSTEIN
July 19, 2011
To give support to struggling families without prescribing solutions requires respect and discipline.

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Family Independence Initiative (FII)
Recreating the conditions under which generation after generation
of Americans secured a future for their children and communities
The Family Independence Initiative is a national center for anti-poverty innovation that over this last decade has demonstrated that investing in people’s strengths and initiative delivers stronger, more sustainable and cost effective outcomes for working poor families. Our strength-based approach, as radical and as old as our democracy, is inspired by the historical successes of poor and immigrant communities in the U.S.

FII’s work with cohorts of families in cities across the country shows that low-income people can advance together if we:

* Make resources and funding available more directly to people, not just institutions
* Allow families the freedom to determine their own paths, instead of taking direction from case managers and social workers
* Encourage and reward personal initiative, instead of penalizing or reducing eligibility for help if a family makes progress
* Support and promote mutuality and building social capital, instead of helping individuals outside of the context of their families and communities
* Honor resident leadership and expertise, instead of professionals and outside intervention
* View families as consumers with valuable feedback entitled to hold services and programs accountable, instead of needy victims

Read evaluations of our work in San Francisco (January 2011, PDF - 2MB, 22 pages) and Boston (January 2011, PDF - 1.4MB, 33 pages)

FII Initiatives - San Francisco - Oahu - Oakland - Boston

- Go to the Links to American Non-Governmental Social Research (A-J) Links page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/us2.htm

Poverty in Numbers: The Changing State of Global Poverty from 2005 to 2015
By Laurence Chandy and Geoffrey Gertz
January 2011
Poverty reduction lies at the core of the global development challenge. For the international development community, this objective serves not only as a source of motivation, but as a defining theme across its work. Many of the world’s most prominent aid organizations cite poverty reduction as their overarching goal. (...) How many poor people are there in the world, and how many are there likely to be in 2015? In which countries and regions is poverty falling? How is the composition of global poverty changing and where will poverty be concentrated in the future? These are central questions for which we currently have few, if any, answers. This policy brief attempts to fill this gap by providing a best approximation in response to each of these questions, before offering policy recommendations based on these findings.

Complete report (PDF - 2.3MB, 23 pages)
Executive Summary (PDF - 26K, 1 page)

Source:
The Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, DC. Our mission is to conduct high-quality, independent research and, based on that research, to provide innovative, practical recommendations that advance three broad goals:
1. Strengthen American democracy;
2. Foster the economic and social welfare, security and opportunity of all Americans, and
3. Secure a more open, safe, prosperous and cooperative international system.

Anti-Poverty Proposals in the U.S.
Links to 150+ reports, some as recent as a few months old and some going back to the early 2000s, from a variety of sources (ranging ideologically from the Cato Institute to the Brookings Institute) dealing with a broad range of subjects related to poverty and poverty reduction in the U.S..

Source:
Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity
Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity was launched in October 2007 by major U.S. foundations to foster non-partisan debate during the 2008 campaign season about policy approaches for addressing poverty and opportunity. Today, Spotlight provides a platform for ongoing discussion about how best to address the needs of those who have fallen into poverty during the Great Recession and those who have struggled for generations to move up the economic ladder. (...) Spotlight has attracted interest from public figures of all political stripes who write for the website’s exclusive commentary section, participate in webcasts and rely on the one-stop shop website for the latest news, research, data and commentary about poverty and opportunity.
- incl. links to : * Characteristics of Poverty * Poverty Measurement * Consequences of Poverty * Mobility and Opportunity * Anti-Poverty Proposals * Immigration and Poverty * Asset Poverty * Place and Poverty * Polling

Gates Foundation pledges $500 million to help the poor save money
Co-chair Melinda Gates and others at a Seattle forum look into cellphone
banking in the developing world and other ways to help some of the world's
poorest families begin much-needed savings accounts.
November 17, 2010
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation pledged $500 million Tuesday to help create new banking systems that will reach into the world's most impoverished corners and allow families earning $2 a day or less to begin saving money. After years of promoting microcredit borrowing to help impoverished farmers and bottom-of-the-rung entrepreneurs expand their business opportunities, foundation leaders said it was increasingly apparent that saving, not just credit, is crucial to helping poor families weather crises, pay for schooling and make small investments to expand their incomes.
Source:
Los Angeles Times

Related links:
Go to the Asset-Based Social Policies Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/assets.htm

Tearing apart the British welfare state
November 11, 2010
By Doug Saunders
LONDON—Almost a century after the modern welfare state was created by Liberal prime minister David Lloyd George, his successors in Britain’s Conservative-Liberal coalition government are hoping to tear it apart completely in a radical act of cost slashing. In a huge and risky experiment sure to be watched closely by other countries wrestling with public debt, government budget deficits and shrinking work forces, Prime Minister David Cameron’s government Thursday announced sweeping plans to change the lives of 5 million people dependent on government payments in an effort to push hundreds of thousands of people into the work force
Source:
Globe and Mail

Institute of International Social Development
The Institute of International Social Development (IISD) encourages "holistic development and empowerment of disadvantaged communities and societies and improving the quality of life all around." There are several welfare projects the organization runs, in India and Switzerland, as well as training for their programs, in New York. The "Programs" tab near the top of any page, allows visitors to see a list of the long-term projects of the Institute, as well as read the "objective" of each project, a "description" of it, and the "achievements". Each program is run to accomplish one or more of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) of the UN, and visitors can read the MDG listed in the objective of each program. Visitors shouldn't miss the link on the far right hand side of the programs page "Arts and Craft", which is a ten-page PDF that showcases one of the projects in West Bengal, India. The report includes photos, a map, and text that explain how IISD has encouraged teams of women artisans to create and execute traditional embroidery to be used in the creation of hats, saris, and coin purses. The items are then sold by the artisans themselves, in order to empower their community.
Review by
The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2010.

Supplemental Federal Poverty Measure Explained (2.5 minute video)
March 2010 (Posted here Oct. 24)
The U.S. Census Bureau announced that it will be developing an alternative way to measure poverty. This new method will better reflect the realities facing struggling families and ways in which current government programs can help them to get back on their feet. Unlike the traditional poverty measure, which is based in a 1960s reality, this supplemental measure will provide a more accurate accounting of household budgets and better determination of whether a family has enough resources to meet its most basic needs.
Source:
Half in Ten: From Poverty to Prosperity
The Campaign to Cut Poverty in Half in Ten Years
More than thirty-seven million Americans live below the official poverty line (which is now $21,203 for a family of four), and more than 13.3 million children are poor in this country. Inequality has reached record highs – it is greater than at any time since 1929. (...)

Links to Federal Poverty Measurement Resources
- links to key organizations that study and track developments on the federal poverty measure.

Millennium Development Goals:
The Good News of the Decade? - video, 15 minutes
- A TEDxChange talk by Hans Rosling on the MDGs
September 20, 2010
Hans Rosling is Professor of International Health at Karolinska Institute and co-founder of the Gapminder Foundation. Throughout his career, he has researched the links between economic development, agriculture, poverty, and health in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. He has served as health adviser to various aid agencies, including the World Health Organization and UNICEF. In his 15-minute TEDxChange talk, Dr. Rosling takes us to his wonderful world of statistics, where he shows concrete examples of progress in child health, shows why family planning helps save children's lives, and explains why Millennium Development Goals for child mortality are entirely possible.

Presentation from:
TEDxChange
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED has created a program called TEDx. TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Our event is called TEDxChange, where x=independently organized TED event. At our TEDxChange event, TEDTalks video and live speakers will combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events, including ours, are self-organized.
[ TED : Ideas worth spreading ]

Source:
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Our foundation is teaming up with partners around the world to take on some tough problems: extreme poverty and poor health in developing countries, the failures of America’s education system.
[ Fifteen Guiding Principles of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation ]

Related links:

Gapminder Foundation - "Unveiling the beauty of statistics for a fact based world view"
Gapminder is a non-profit venture – a modern “museum” on the Internet – promoting sustainable global development and achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Gapminder is an operating foundation that provides services as defined by the board, sometimes as collaborative projects with universities, UN organisations, public agencies and non-governmental organisations.

World Health Organization
WHO is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system. It is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends.

UNICEF
UNICEF is the driving force that helps build a world where the rights of every child are realized. We have the global authority to influence decision-makers, and the variety of partners at grassroots level to turn the most innovative ideas into reality.

MDG Report Card and Development Progress Stories
In 2000, every member of the United Nations adopted the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – eight time-bound, measurable goals across a range of health and development outcomes. As the world recognizes the ten-year anniversary of the MDGs, Overseas Development Institute (ODI) has published two reports that analyze progress against these goals, and highlight advances in development efforts.

The first, MDG Report Card: Measuring Progress Across Countries (PDF, 18.3MB, 118 pages), provides a country-by-country analysis of progress toward meeting the MDGs, and flags inequities and uneven progress.

The second, Development Progress Stories, is a series of case studies that highlight progress in different countries, as well as key lessons about what has worked in development, and why.

Source:
Overseas Development Institute (ODI)
ODI is Britain's leading independent think tank on international development and humanitarian issues. Our mission is to inspire and inform policy and practice which lead to the reduction of poverty, the alleviation of suffering and the achievement of sustainable livelihoods in developing countries.

2010 Global Hunger Index
The challenge of hunger: Focus on the crisis of child undernutrition
As the world approaches the 2015 deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – which include a goal of reducing the proportion of hungry people by half – the 2010 Global Hunger Index (GHI) offers a useful and multidimensional overview of global hunger. The 2010 GHI shows some improvement over the 1990 GHI, falling by almost one-quarter. Nonetheless, the index for hunger in the world remains at a level characterized as “serious.” The result is unsurprising given that the overall number of hungry people surpassed 1 billion in 2009, even though it decreased to 925 million in 2010, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- includes links to a half-dozen related resources

Improve Child Nutrition to Reduce Global Hunger, Says New Global Hunger Index
Press Release
October 11, 2010

Complete report:

2010 Global Hunger Index
The Challenge of Hunger:
Focus on the Crisis of Child Undernutrition (PDF - 3.4MB, 56 pages)
October 2010

Background Facts and Key Findings

Source:
International Food Policy Research Institute
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) seeks sustainable solutions for ending hunger and poverty. IFPRI is one of 15 centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), an alliance of 64 governments, private foundations, and international and regional organizations.

Exit Poverty Empowerment (Kenya)
Exit Poverty Empowerment is a non-partisan, non-profit advocacy organization founded in 2009 on grounds that poverty is multi facet issue that require multi facet solutions, As one active, effective, and respected non-profit organizations working for economical empowerment with nearly 300 groups and thousands of supporters, we remain committed to empowering citizen participation in eradicating poverty.

Exit Poverty is a movement of people working together to make a difference for the poor in Kenya today. The organization depends on the unpaid work of many thousands of volunteers who organize, carry out local fundraising initiatives large and small, and who campaign to change the systems that keep people poor.

Poverty reduction does not occur by finance ministers reforming economy or by citizens getting a new constitution. Poverty is a multifaceted issue that requires multi faceted solutions and action from all society agents. Exit Poverty attacks 5 causes of poverty; economic block, bad governance, corruption, tribalism and interlink issue. It also bridges all the 5 agents; government, civil society, donors, the private sector, and poor people themselves on 5 empowerment pillars:
* Promoting economic opportunity
* Empowerment on governance
* Empowering citizens to fight corruption
* Anti Tribalism Empowerment
* Mainstreaming cross-cutting

UNRISD Director to Present Poverty Report at German Development Cooperation
News Release
7 October 2010
Director Sarah Cook of the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) is presenting the 2010 Flagship Report, Combating Poverty and Inequality: Structural Change, Social Policy and Politics, at an expert talk organized by the German Development Cooperation (GTZ) headquarters in Frankfurt, on 8 October. (...) To achieve sustainable social development, social cohesion, reliable and remunerated employment and political participation are necessary, according to the UNRISD report. Poverty reduction is a central feature of the international development agenda. World leaders agreed to social development objectives and strategies for achieving them at the Millennium Summit in 2000, with the goal of significantly reducing poverty by 2015. Yet poverty and inequality persist: on current trends, about one billion people will still be living in extreme poverty in 2015.

Complete report:

Combating Poverty and Inequality: Structural Change, Social Policy and Politics
October 2010
(Click the link above to access the individual sections from the table of contents below)
(For the complete report in a single PDF file, click "Additional Information" (top right corner of the page), then "Full Report".)

Table of contents:

Contents, acknowledgements, foreword and preface
Overview

Section 1: Socially Inclusive Structural Change
* Towards Employment-Centred Structural Change
* Income Inequality and Structural Change
* Tackling Ethnic and Regional Inequalities
* Gender Inequalities at Home and in the Market

Section 2: Transformative Social Policy and Poverty Reduction
* Towards Universal Social Protection
* Universal Provision of Social Services
* Care and Well-Being in a Development Context
* Financing Social Policy

Section 3: The Politics of Poverty Reduction
* Business, Power and Poverty Reduction
* Building State Capacity for Poverty Reduction
* Democracy and the Politics of Poverty Reduction

Concluding Remarks
References, acronyms and list of boxes, figures and tables

- includes eight overview papers commissioned to examine the following countries:
China, Finland, Ireland, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, the former USSR and Viet Nam.
- incl. links to 40+ thematic background papers commissioned in preparation for the Flagship Report, all viewable in the ‘Thematic Papers’ section

Source:
United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD)
UNRISD is an autonomous UN agency engaging in multidisciplinary research on the social dimensions of contemporary problems affecting development.

Here's something of interest
for proponents of asset-based social policy:

Saving: a simple solution to the fight against poverty [Australia]
If we want to end poverty, we’ve got to start championing policies to build families’ assets, writes Gerard Brody
Commentary
09 August 2010
Source:
Australian Policy Online (APO)
APO is a news service and library specialising in Australian public policy reports and articles from academic research centres, think tanks, government and non-government organisations. The site features opinion and commentary pieces, video, audio and web resources focussed on the policy issues facing Australia.
[ About APO ]

South Australia's strategic plan: what progress on poverty?
27 September 2010
This information paper uses the South Australian Government's own ratings to analyse progress in different areas of South Australia's ten year Strategic Plan.

Source:
South Australian Council of Social Service

High-level Plenary Meeting of the 65th Session of the
UN General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals
("The Millennium Development Goals Summit")
New York, September 20-22 (2010)

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The official summit website:

Summit on the Millennium Development Goals
20-22 September 2010
With only five years left until the 2015 deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on world leaders to attend a summit in New York on 20-22 September 2010 to accelerate progress towards the MDGs.

Programme
The High-level Plenary Meeting will consist of six plenary meetings, on the basis of two meetings a day, and six interactive round-table sessions to be held in concurrence with plenary meetings.
Roundtable themes:
* Poverty, hunger and gender equality * Health and education * Promoting sustainable development * Emerging issues * Addressing the special needs of the most vulnerable * Widening and strengthening partnerships

MDG Summit Documents

Live video stream

Read the latest news
from the United Nations News Centre - including coverage of the MDG summit in New York

News releases from the Summit:

'The Clock is Ticking,’ Secretary-General Says, Urging World Leaders
to Generate Resources, Political will to Achieve Millennium Development Goals by 2015
20 September 2010
Despite obstacles, scepticism and a fast-approaching 2015 deadline, the Millennium Development Goals could be achieved if the global community stayed true to the promise made a decade ago to end the dehumanizing conditions of poverty by making smart investments in infrastructure, opening export markets and generally rethinking conventional wisdom, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told world leaders today as he opened the General Assembly’s high-level meeting to take stock of progress.

Poorest countries at epicentre of
development emergency, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warns
21 September 2010
With just five years remaining until the deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today sounded the alarm that the world’s least developed countries (LDCs) continued to be mired in poverty.

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The Secretary-General's report

12 February 2010
Keeping the promise: a forward-looking review to promote
an agreed action agenda to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals by 2015:
Report of the Secretary-General (PDF - 166K, 35 pages)
Follow-up to the outcome
of the Millennium Summit
"(...) The Millennium Development Goals have triggered the largest cooperative effort in world history to fight poverty, hunger and disease. They have become a rallying cry in poor and rich countries alike, and a standard for non-governmental organizations and corporations as well. Nearly 10 years after they were adopted, they are alive and stronger than ever, which is a rarity among global goals. The world wants them to work." [Report, p.31]
- Four main sections:
1. Examination of the importance of the Millennium Declaration and how it drives the United Nations development agenda.
2. Progress review re. achieving the Millennium Development Goals, presenting both shortfalls and successes in the global effort and outlines emerging issues.
3. Summary of lessons learned to shape new efforts for accelerating progress to meet the Goals and identifies key success factors.
4. Specific recommendations for action.
The report calls for a new pact to accelerate progress in achieving the Goals in the coming years among all stakeholders, in a commitment towards equitable and
sustainable development for all.

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The CBC coverage:

Millennium Development Goals summit opens
UN meeting to review progress in getting rid of extreme poverty, hunger, disease
September 20, 2010
World leaders gathered at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Monday for the Millennium Development Goals summit, two days aimed at measuring their success in eradicating global poverty. The summit focuses on the Millennium Development Goals, a series of "quantified, time-bound targets for addressing extreme poverty, hunger and disease, and for promoting gender equality, education and environmental sustainability," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon wrote in a pre-summit report. (...) The goals were agreed to 2000 by 189 of the UN's member states; they committed to achieving them by 2015.
Source:
CBC

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Related links:

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The MDGs offer us a roadmap to end poverty and its root causes. In September 2000, 189 world leaders adopted the MDGs as part of the Millennium Declaration, agreed to at the United Nations Millennium Summit.
The MDG's set an unprecedented global framework for development that is a crucial step towards ending poverty and inequality by 2015.

What are the Millennium Development Goals?

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development
Source:
United Nations

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Latest MDG annual reports:

Millennium Development Goals Report 2010 (PDF - 49.5MB, 80 pages)*
Annual assessment of global progress towards the Millennium Development Goals
[ *Aside to the nice people of the U.N. website team: lower filesizes will increase
the number of visitors who download your reports. This file is HUMONGOUS!]

[ Millennium Development Goals 2009 report (PDF - 8MB, 60 pages) ]

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Poverty Reduction
Through the Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals the world is addressing the many dimensions of human development, including halving by 2015 the proportion of people living in extreme poverty.
Source:
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
UNDP advocates for nationally-owned solutions to reduce poverty and promote human development. We sponsor innovative pilot projects; connect countries to global good practices and resources; promote the role of women in development; and bring governments, civil society and outside funders together to coordinate their efforts.

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End Poverty 2015 Millennium Campaign
"We are the generation that can end poverty"
"End poverty by 2015" is the historic promise 189 world leaders made at the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000 when they signed onto the Millennium Declaration and agreed to meet the Millennium Development Goals.

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Poverty Reduction: Country Briefings
These OneWorld briefings assess progress in poverty reduction for over 60 developing countries. Now more than midway to the 2015 target date for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the overall picture is not encouraging, reinforcing conclusions of the 2010 UN Millennium Development Goals Report.
- also includes links to info on :
* Living with Poverty * Global Trends * Economic Recession * Measuring National Poverty * Measuring Global Poverty * Causes * Why Should We Care? * MDGs *
Climate Change * Solutions
Source
One World UK
OneWorld UK aims to provide the UK's best online coverage of human rights and sustainable development.

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Make Poverty History - Canada
The Canadian Make Poverty History campaign was launched in February 2005 with the support of a wide cross-section of public interest and faith groups, trade unions, students, academics and literary, artistic and sports leaders. Make Poverty History is part of the Global Call to Action against Poverty (the third link below). National campaigns are now active in over 100 countries. The global campaign, which also launched in 2005, presses G8 leaders for action on global poverty issues.

End Poverty in Canada Campaign

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Make Poverty History.org - U.K.
The Make Poverty History campaign in the UK officially came to an end in 2006. However, the Global Call to Action against Poverty, the world’s largest civil society anti-poverty alliance continues, and organisations across the world continue to work together to make poverty history.

Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP)
GCAP is a growing alliance that brings together trade unions, INGOs, the women’s and youth movements, community and faith groups and others to call for action from world leaders in the global North and South to meet their promises to end poverty and inequality.

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Canada Without Poverty (CWP)
Canada Without Poverty is a federally incorporated, non-partisan, not-for-profit and charitable organization dedicated to the elimination of poverty in Canada.

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Dignity for All - The Campaign for a poverty free Canada
The Dignity for All Campaign calls for vigorous and sustained action by the federal government to combat the structural causes of poverty in Canada.

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Poverty Elimination Bill Introduced
July 6, 2010
On Thursday, June 17, NDP MP Tony Martin tabled private member’s Bill C-545, An Act to Eliminate Poverty in Canada.

A year earlier:

Canada to UN: We'll decide what rights we will choose to observe...
June 8, 2009
By Michael Shapcott
Canada has signed a significant number of international human rights treaties that are legally binding in international law, but the federal government believes that it can pick and choose among its obligations - according to the official document tabled at the United Nations' Rights Council in Geneva today. The good news is that the federal government has accepted its responsibility to take a stronger role in ensuring all Canadians are adequately housed, but the federal government says that companion initiatives to address deep and persistent poverty and income inequality are mostly the responsibility of provinces and territories (and not the national government)...
Source:
Wellesley Institute Blog
[ Wellesley Institute ]

-----------------------------------------------

Media commentary and analysis

From
The Toronto Star:

Find the will to cut hunger
September 19, 2010
Much lip-service will be paid to global poverty when Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other leaders gather at the United Nations this week to open the General Assembly and to review their lofty development goals. Canada is lobbying for a seat on the Security Council, and Harper intends to make two “pretty robust” speeches to showcase Ottawa’s activism on economic, aid and security issues. (...) But when all is said and done, Canada is anything but a generous donor. This year we will spend just 0.33 per cent of our wealth (measured as gross national income) on aid. Of the major donor countries, we rank 18th. Nine of our partners give 0.5 per cent or more. It will be interesting to see what, if any, additional hard cash Harper is prepared to put on the table in New York this week to advance the UN goals.

Global Voices: Seeing a future in UN's development goals
September 20, 2010
By Craig and Marc Kielburger
(...) When we kicked off the millennium, we didn’t call the MDGs indicators. We called them a legacy, when the largest-ever gathering of world leaders collectively put the most vulnerable members of our society first. Today, as those leaders regroup to talk progress on the 10th anniversary of the targets, there is now a feeling of discouragement. That’s because the indicators show many countries are falling behind.

Source:
Toronto Star

From The Scout Report:

Interest grows in the conditional-cash
transfer program designed to alleviate poverty
August 6, 2010

Brazil's Bolsa Família: How to get children out of jobs and into school
http://www.economist.com/node/16690887

Conditional cash transfer helps Pinoys beat poverty trap
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/07/30/10/conditional-cash-transfer-helps-pinoys-beat-poverty-trap

Anti-poverty programmes: Give the poor money
http://www.economist.com/node/16693323

Conditional Cash Transfers
http://tinyurl.com/27unlpu

Conditional Cash Transfers: A Global Perspective
http://www.undg-policynet.org/ext/MDG_Insight/MDG_Insights_Feb_2010.pdf (PDF - 362K, 6 pages)

Oxfam GB
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/

Solving the problems of the world's poor is an issue that has consumed the attention of many non-governmental organizations (NGO's) for decades, and there is much debate about the most effective methods involved in combating this situation. One idea that has been garnering increased attention is conditional-cash transfers (CCT). CCT's are distributed to poor families on the condition that they make sure that their children are attending school, receiving medical checkups, and so on. Policy-makers are intrigued by the findings in the favelas (slums) of Sao Paulo, where these programs have been in place for several years. While they seem to be fairly effective in urban settings, they seem to work best in rural areas thus far. The program is not without its critics, as some think that it may erode incentives to work, and that it has failed to reduce child labor in cities. Interestingly enough, the program is slowly being adopted in the developed world, and there are now similar initiatives in large American cities, including the "Opportunity NYC" program in New York.

The first link will take visitors to a recent article from The Economist that reports on the possibilities and pitfalls of the CCT program in Brazil. Moving on, the second link leads to a piece from ABS/CBN News that discusses the use of the CCT program in the Philippines. The third link leads to another recent piece from The Economist that discusses potential improvements to the CCT program. The fourth link leads to a webpage from the World Bank website which offers a host of details about how the CCT program functions. The fifth link leads to a thoughtful reflection on the use of CCT's by Gaspar Fajth of UNICEF and Claudia Vinay of the United Nations' Development Programme. The final link leads to the homepage of the Oxfam GB organization, which has been working on a variety of anti-poverty initiatives since 1942.

Source:
The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2010

Anti-poverty policies 'failing the poorest'
Ten years on, global poverty reduction strategies failing poorest people – new report
August 5, 2010
Press Release
More than 10 years on, global poverty reduction strategies introduced by multilateral organisations including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), have failed to remove many of the poorest communities, especially minority and indigenous communities, out of poverty, Minority Rights Group International says.
Source:
Minority Rights Group International - "Working to secure the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples"

Complete report:

Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers:
failing minorities and indigenous peoples (PDF - 1.1MB, 44 pages)
by Samia Liaquat Ali Khan

Related links:

Global Poverty guide
Updated March 2010
(...) Whatever the difference of opinion on the extent of global poverty, one thing is certain: our prevailing economic system of wealth creation is largely blind to the injustice imposed on a significant proportion of the world’s population. Its vicissitudes impact disproportionately on the poor – recession, volatile food and fuel prices, and climate change.

Poverty Reduction: Country Briefings
These OneWorld briefings assess progress in poverty reduction for over 60 developing countries. Now more than midway to the 2015 target date for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the overall picture is not encouraging, reinforcing conclusions of the 2009 UN Millennium Development Goals Report (PDF - 8MB, 60 pages)
- also includes links to info on :
* Living with Poverty * Global Trends * Economic Recession * Measuring National Poverty * Measuring Global Poverty * Causes * Why Should We Care? * MDGs *
Climate Change * Solutions
Source
One World UK
OneWorld UK aims to provide the UK's best online coverage of human rights and sustainable development.

UN Millennium Development Goals website
"When 189 Heads of State and government from the North and South, as representatives of their citizens, signed onto the Millennium Declaration at the 2000 UN Millennium Summit, there was a palpable sense of urgency. Urgency to 'free our fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty, to which more than a billion of them are currently subjected.'"

First Nations announce Poverty Reduction Approach:
http://www.cnw.ca/en/releases/archive/July2010/20/c5025.html

Time to end the Indian Act:
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/839638--it-s-time-to-end-the-indian-act

United Kingdom

From HM Treasury:

Ending child poverty:
mapping the route to 2020 (PDF - 718K, 52 pages)
March 2010
This paper sets out the Government’s strategic direction for ending child poverty by 2020 and beyond to inform the National Strategy to be published within 12 months of the date of Royal Assent of the Child Poverty Bill. (which was 25 March 2010). The new bill enshrines the pledge to eradicate child poverty in the UK by 2020 as a binding duty on the Government.
(...)
The Child Poverty Bill sets out four challenging UK-wide targets to be reached and sustained from 2020:
• Relative poverty – to reduce the proportion of children who live in relative low income (in families with income below 60 per cent of the median) to less than 10 per cent;
• Combined low income and material deprivation – to reduce the proportion of children who live in material deprivation and have a low income to less than 5 per cent;
• Persistent poverty – to reduce the proportion of children that experience long periods of relative poverty, with the specific target to be set at a later date; and
• Absolute poverty – to reduce the proportion of children who live in absolute low income to less than 5 per cent.
Source:
Budget 2010 Documents

Related links from the
Office of Public Sector Information:

The Child Poverty Act, 2010
Public Acts of 2010, Chapter 9
Full text of The Child Poverty Act, which received Royal Assent on 25 March 2010.

Explanatory notes - Child Poverty Act 2010
- good contextual and background information

From Save the Children UK:

UK child poverty
March 2010
We’re outraged that 4 million children are living in poverty and a staggering 1.7 million children are living in severe and persistent poverty in the UK — one of the richest countries in the world. The Child Poverty Act is now law and is a historic milestone in the fight against child poverty. This places a legal obligation on all future governments to act to end child poverty in the UK by 2020. However, after the Spring Budget 2010 which failed to deliver the scale of support that children living in poverty today need, it's clear that the Act alone is not enough.
(...)
The number of children living in severe poverty in the UK has shot up to 1.7 million — 260,000 higher than in 2004, according to our latest briefing Measuring Severe Child Poverty in the UK - commissioned from the New Policy Institute. Shockingly London, one of the world’s richest cities, is home to a fifth of all children living in severe poverty in the UK.

Source:
Save the Children UK
We’re working flat out to ensure children get proper healthcare, food, education and protection. We're saving lives in emergencies, campaigning for children's rights, and improving their futures through long-term development work.

Related links:

Measuring Severe Child Poverty in the UK, (PDF 102K, 9 pages)
January 2010

New Policy Institute (NPI)
NPI is a progressive think tank, founded in 1996 by Guy Palmer and Peter Kenway. Wholly independent, we have neither financial backers nor political patrons.

United Nations calls for action and investment to eradicate global poverty
Conflict, chronic poverty and high food prices threaten children’s well-being in the eastern DRC
17 October 2009 – The United Nations today marked the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon declaring that the fight against a scourge that afflicts over a billion people around the world is at a critical juncture.
Source:
United Nations

Related links:

Stand Up and Take Action
Last year, more than 116 million Stood Up and Took Action to end poverty and in support of the Millennium Development Goals.
This year, join the growing movement.
Stand with us.

Make Poverty History - Canada

The Millennium Development Goals (UN)

United Nations

End Poverty 2015 Millennium Campaign
"End poverty by 2015" is the historic promise 189 world leaders made at the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000 when they signed onto the Millennium Declaration and agreed to meet the Millennium Development Goals.

United States

President Obama and antipoverty policy : What does the stimulus bill do to fight poverty, educate citizens and improve public health ?, (PDF - 239K, 3 pages)
By T. Smeeding
March 2009
Source:
Institute for Research on Poverty (Madison, Wisconsin)

From OBAMA '08:

BLUEPRINT FOR CHANGE:
Obama and Biden’s Plan for America (PDF - 483K, 43 pages)
(The section on poverty reduction starts on page 55.)

Barack Obama : Plan to Combat Poverty
At a Glance:
* Expand Access to Jobs
* Make Work Pay for All Americans
* Strengthen Families
* Increase the Supply of Affordable Housing
* Tackle Concentrated Poverty

Barack Obama's Plan to Fight Poverty in America (PDF - 64K, 8 pages)

Final Report of the
Legislative Commission to End Poverty in Minnesota by 2020 (PDF - 1MB, 72 pages)
January 2009
The Legislative Commission to End Poverty in Minnesota by 2020 began its work in June 2007 and finalized its recommendations in January 2009. The Commission’s overall mission and vision are captured in both
its name and its guiding principles, which were first articulated in the Minnesota faith community (see below).

Source:
Legislative Commission to End Poverty
in Minnesota by 2020
Mission Statement:
"Develop guidelines to end poverty.
Prepare recommendation on how to end poverty in Minnesota by 2020."

A Minnesota Without Poverty
A Minnesota Without Poverty is a statewide, interfaith movement to end poverty in Minnesota by 2020, and a program of Minnesota Council of Churches. We believe that ending poverty is indeed possible, and people of faith from all over the state—public leaders, business people, educators, ordinary citizens of faith—are coming together to respond to God’s call to make this vision a reality.

Target Practice: Lessons for Poverty Reduction (PDF - 355K, 20 pages)
January 2009
By Jodie Levin-Epstein and Webb Lyons
Target Practice outlines how governments (local, state and the federal) can use targets (goals and timelines to achieve those goals) as a policy tool for reducing poverty by drawing on lessons learned from targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and homelessness.
Source:
Poverty and Opportunity
[Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) - U.S.]
CLASP is a national nonprofit that works to improve the lives of low-income people. CLASP’s mission is to improve the economic security, educational and workforce prospects, and family stability of low-income parents, children, and youth and to secure equal justice for all. ]

Obama puts poor back on agenda
Social policy expert John Stapleton believes new federal tax programs for working-age adults may one day be as important as today's pensions and child tax benefits.
New U.S. leader has vowed to cut poverty. Now it's time to see what Canada can do.
November 8, 2008
Laurie Monsebraaten
As part of his compelling "Yes We Can" campaign to make meaningful change in the lives of average Americans, President-elect Barack Obama promised to cut poverty in half within a decade. Canada has no plan to fight poverty. And Stephen Harper's Conservatives didn't offer one during our recent federal election. But with Obama's historic win this week, many anti-poverty activists here believe new pressure is on Ottawa to address social and economic inequality. However, social policy expert John Stapleton argues in a new report that the foundation of a Canadian plan is already in place.
Source:
The Toronto Star

Barack Obama's Innovative War On Poverty
October 13, 2008
Source:
Huffington Post

A poor measure
Let's modernize the definition of poverty.
Better information will yield better anti-poverty results
July 25, 2008
On Thursday, workers who are paid the federal minimum wage got a little salary boost. As the second of a three-step increase that will take the nation's minimum wage to $7.25 an hour, this week's 70-cent rise brought baseline hourly pay to $6.55, only slightly closer to being a living wage. For the struggling Americans known as the working poor, the bump in pay has got to be welcome. But no one should fool himself about how much relief an extra few cents an hour will mean to lean budgets pinched tight by the rising costs of fuel, food, housing and health care. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposes to tackle the poverty problem from a different angle. In mid-July, Bloomberg's office announced the city would employ a much broader method of measuring poverty than the one used since the mid-1960s by the federal government. Congress should carefully consider the merits of the New York plan.
Source:
Houston Chronicle

Related links:

Center for Economic Opportunity
The Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO) was established by Mayor Bloomberg in 2006 to identify and implement innovative ways to reduce poverty in New York City. The CEO works with City agencies to design and implement evidence-based initiatives, including strategies and programs, aimed at poverty reduction.

Recent release from CEO:

First Strategy and Implementation Report
In December 2007, the Center for Economic Opportunity released its first Strategy and Implementation Report. This report describes CEO’s anti-poverty agenda and its first year of operation. In 2007, CEO launched 31 innovative, new anti-poverty efforts. The report describes CEO’s commitment to implement and evaluate new approaches to poverty reduction among the working poor, young adults, and children under five. Program descriptions are also included in the appendices.
Executive Summary (PDF - 2.3MB, 12 pages)
Complete report (PDF - 25.5MB, 153 pages)

NEW YORK CITY MAYOR BLOOMBERG ANNOUNCES
NEW ALTERNATIVE TO FEDERAL POVERTY MEASURE
First Government Ever to Reformulate Faulty 40-Year Old Federal Poverty Measure
New York City to Share New Model With Other Cities Throughout the United States
News Release
July 13, 2008
Source:
New York City website

Edwards Poverty Campaign Met With Media Blackout
Posted May 15, 2008
On Tuesday, the day before he announced his support for Barack Obama, former Senator John Edwards launched a campaign to cut the nation's poverty rate in half in the next ten years. You can be excused if you hadn't heard about it. Only one major daily newspaper -- the Philadelphia Inquirer -- covered the event, which took place at a Baptist church in North Philadelphia.
(...)
The Half in Ten campaign will focus on policy solutions identified in the Center for American Progress' poverty task force report issued last year. These include expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit; raising both state and federal minimum wages; increasing the number of low-income families receiving child care assistance; increasing eligibility for unemployment insurance; and preventing predatory lending practices and preserving home ownership. The last time the U.S. committed itself to dramatically tackling poverty was during the early 1960s.
Source:
Huffington Post
[NOTE : recommended reading --- includes a good snapshot of the poverty situation in the U.S., along with an historical overview of poverty and poverty reduction from President Johnson's War on Poverty (mid-60s) to date, and links to related information - Gilles]

Edwards backs Obama
By Chuck Babbington, Associated Press
May 14, 2008
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Democrat John Edwards endorsed former rival Barack Obama on Wednesday, a move designed to help solidify support for the party's likely presidential nominee even as Hillary Rodham Clinton refuses to give up her long-shot candidacy. (...)He said Mr. Obama “stands with me” in a fight to cut poverty in half within 10 years.
Source:
The Globe and Mail

Groups Launch "Half in Ten" Anti-Poverty Campaign
May 13, 2008
On May 13, four of the nation's most prominent social justice organizations announced a new multi-year campaign to cut poverty in America in half in 10 years. The campaign, Half in Ten, will be chaired by former presidential nominee Sen. John Edwards, D. N.C. (...) "Half in Ten" is a partnership of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAPAF), the Coalition on Human Needs (CHN), and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR).
Source:
CivilRights.org
"The civil rights coailition for the 21st century"

Half in Ten : From Poverty to Prosperity
A Campaign to Cut Poverty in the United States in Half in Ten Years
More than 46 million Americans live below the official poverty line—which is now approximately $22,314 for a family of four—and 16.4 million children are poor in this country. Inequality of wealth has reached record highs—it is greater than at any time since 1929.

Details of the Strategy:

From Poverty to Prosperity:
A National Strategy to Cut Poverty in Half
Executive summary (HTML)
Complete report (PDF - 8.1MB, 80 pages)
Source:
Center for American Progress Task Force on Poverty

The three links below point to relevant content from the Barack Obama and John Edwards websites on the subject of poverty.
[ NOTE : both plans below predate the launch of Half in Ten, so both websites will likely be updated in the near future to reflect the renewed commitment to poverty reduction. I assume.]

A National Goal: End Poverty Within 30 Years
NOTE: it appears that John Edwards has raised the bar with respect to his anti-poverty goals since dropping out of the presidential election campaign at the end of January 2008. The new Half in Ten goal is a ramped-up version of the anti-poverty commitments from the John Edwards' presidentail campaign website. On that site, John Edwards calls poverty 'the great moral issue of our time', and he challenges our country to cut it by a third in a decade [bolding added] and end it within 30 years.
Source:
John Edwards campaign website

BLUEPRINT FOR CHANGE:
Obama and Biden’s Plan for America (PDF - 483K, 43 pages)
(The section on poverty reduction starts on page 55.)

Barack Obama's Plan to Fight Poverty in America (PDF - 64K, 8 pages)
File dated April 20, 2008

Barack Obama : Plan to Combat Poverty
(undated Issues page - no timeframes or targets)
At a Glance:
* Expand Access to Jobs
* Make Work Pay for All Americans
* Strengthen Families
* Increase the Supply of Affordable Housing
* Tackle Concentrated Poverty

Source:
OBAMA '08

Seizing the Moment: State Governments
and the New Commitment to Reduce Poverty in America
April 2008
By Jodie Levin-Epstein and Kristen Michelle Gorzelany

The three leading presidential candidates are now on record with a public commitment to address poverty and opportunity in the United States. This is in concert with growing state efforts and signals a dramatic turnaround in tackling poverty. In just the last two years, one of every five states has taken action to put poverty on the political agenda. This joint report from CLASP and Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity outlines those efforts and provides charts detailing action by policy area.

Complete report (PDF - 540K, 53 pages)

Sources:
Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) - CLASP is a nonprofit public policy and advocacy organization. We conduct research, policy analysis, technical assistance, and advocacy on issues related to economic security and family stability for low-income parents, children, and youth.

Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity - "...to make sure that 2008 sets the stage for concerted action on poverty and opportunity in 2009 and beyond."

Targeting Poverty: Aim at a Bull’s Eye (PDF - 156K, 16 pages)
Updated October 2006
By Jodie Levin-Epstein and Webb Lyons
[The following summary of the paper is taken from the CLASP web site,
augmented by a sentence from the report itself, and a few clarifications for non-U.S. readers]:

Forty years after the War on Poverty and a year after [Hurricane] Katrina struck, commitments to tackle poverty are beginning to come back onto political and policy agendas [in the United States]. This report considers why poverty is reemerging as a political issue; how poverty is a “purple” rather than a red or blue state [Republican or Democratic] issue; what the picture of poverty looks like in the U.S.; and where poverty targets and related efforts are underway. The report identifies efforts around the nation to set poverty targets -- numerical goals and timelines -- for the reduction or elimination of poverty. For example: In California, a 2006 bill calls for child poverty to be eliminated by 2026; in Connecticut, state law already establishes that child poverty is to be reduced by 50 percent by 2014. Among the reasons why poverty may be gaining attention is the increasing concern among many Americans that at some point they and their families may experience poverty.
Source:
Center for Law and Social Policy

More U.S. initiatives to reduce poverty:

* Catholic Charities USA’s Campaign to Reduce Poverty in America by 50% by 2020
* State-level approaches to reducing poverty in Minnesota, New Mexico, California, and Missouri
* the Economic Policy Institute’s Agenda for Shared Prosperity [with a focus broader than poverty only]
* Connecticut’s Policy to Reduce Child Poverty by 50% by 2014.

U.S. House of Representatives Embraces Poverty Goal
January 25, 2008
Last April, the Center for American Progress released the report of CAP’s Task Force on Poverty, From Poverty to Prosperity [see the link below], calling for a national goal of cutting poverty in half in 10 years. This week, the House of Representatives endorsed this goal, when on January, 22, 2008, the House passed House Concurrent Resolution 198 via voice vote without objection, declaring the sense of the Congress that the United States should set a national goal of cutting poverty in half over the next 10 years.

Related links:

European Anti Poverty Network (EAPN) Ireland
EAPN Ireland is a network of groups and individuals working against poverty. It is the Irish national network of the European Anti Poverty Network (EAPN Europe), which aims to put the fight against poverty at the top of the EU, national and local agenda.

What the poor need: A strategy
Ireland dramatically reduced its poverty rate, so why can't rich Canada do the same?
September 20, 2006
By: LAURIE MONSEBRAATEN
When Ireland decided in the mid-1990s to tackle the pervasive and grinding poverty dogging the country, the national government crafted a plan and set a goal. Ten years later, the country has cut its poverty rate from 15 per cent to less than 5 per cent.
Source:
The Toronto Star

Poverty Reduction Strategies in the United Kingdom and Ireland
By Chantal Collin (Political and Social Affairs Division)
2 November 2007
HTML version
PDF version (98 Kb, 15 pages)
[ version française ]
Table of Contents:
* Introduction
The United Kingdom’s Strategy to Reduce Poverty and Social Exclusion
(...)
Ireland’s National Anti-Poverty Strategy
* A. Multi-dimensional Approach
* B. Key Targets
* C. Measuring Success
* D. What’s Next? National Action Plan for Social Inclusion
* Summary
From the Parliamentary Research Library:
(Government of Canada)

[GO BACK TO THE TOP OF THIS PAGE]

United Kingdom

-----------------------------------

From 2008 Budget documents (HM Treasury) :

Ending child poverty: everybody's business
12 March 2008
In 1999, the Government set an ambitious target to eradicate child poverty within a generation. Child poverty doubled in the 20 years from the late 1970s to the mid 1990s, but this rise has been reversed: 600,000 children have been lifted out of relative poverty since 1997. However, a significant number of families still experience relative poverty. (...) Ending child poverty: everybody's business sets out the next steps, including the measures announced in Budget 2008, that will make further significant progress to halving child poverty by 2010. The document also sets out the Governments vision for a renewed drive on child poverty for the next decade including a number of areas of further work and approaches the Government will pilot that will help develop the strategy for 2020.

Ending child poverty: everybody's business (PDF file - 1.3MB, 87 pages)
March 2008

Source:
Budget 2008
Stability and opportunity: building a strong, sustainable future
12 March 2008

Department for Work and Pensions
"The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is here to:
* promote opportunity and independence for all
* help individuals achieve their potential through employment
* work to end poverty in all its forms."

Our Child Poverty Strategy - March 2007
* Working for Children (PDF - 721KB)
* Executive summary (PDF - 105KB)

New Joint Child Poverty Unit
On 29 October 2007 DWP and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) announced the creation of their Joint Child Poverty Unit. This Unit brings together the child poverty policy officials and analysts in the two departments, along with Neera Sharma on secondment from Barnados, to take the Government’s child poverty strategy to its next stage of development.
The role of the Unit is to:
- provide an integrated approach across Government to tackling child poverty
- build on the Child Poverty Review, by taking stock and taking forward the strategic direction to eradicate child poverty by 2020
- engage all our stakeholders, learning from their expertise
- engage those in local service delivery to take ownership to support our commitments
- undertake research and analysis to support the development of successful policies.
* Read the press release ( 29 October 2007)
* Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) website

'Working Together' – United Kingdom National Action Plan on Social Inclusion 2006-2008
Working Together' is the third UK National Action Plan (NAP) on social exclusion. It explains how people from across the UK will be co-operating from 2006 to 2008 to tackle social exclusion and make a decisive impact on poverty.
- includes links to several related reports

The Poverty Site
This site monitors what is happening to poverty and social exclusion in the UK and complements our annual monitoring reports. The material is organised around 50 statistical indicators covering all aspects of the subject, from income and work to health and education.

Poverty and social exclusion monitoring reports
- incl. links to studies and reports on the following: * UK * Ethnicity * Disability * Scotland * Wales * Northern Ireland * Rural England * Social exclusion * Low pay * Government strategy

Links
- incl. links organized under the following topics : * Income * Work * Low pay * Education * Health * Housing * Crime * Services * Social cohesion * Children * Datasets

Reports

Source:
New Policy Institute

Joseph Roundtree Foundation
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation is one of the largest social policy research and development charities in the UK. We spend over £10 million a year on our research and development programme. For over one hundred years we have been searching out the causes of social problems, investigating solutions and seeking to influence those who can make changes.

Monitoring poverty and social exclusion 2007 (December 2007) - United Kingdom
- the annual report on the state of poverty and social exclusion in the United Kingdom covers low income, work, education, health, housing, disadvantaged children and exclusion from services. Provides a comprehensive analysis of trends and differences between groups; examines the progress being made on reducing poverty and social exclusion, in light of the Government's ambitious target to halve child poverty by 2010.
Complete report (PDF file - 480K, 140 pages)
Key Points (Selected findings):
* Half of children in poverty are still in working families.
* Overall poverty levels in 2006 were the same as in 2002.
* Child poverty in 2006 was still 500,000 higher than the target set for 2005.
* Overall earnings inequalities are widening.
* Disability rather than lone parenthood is the factor most likely to lead to worklessness

Labour’s welfare reform: Progress to date
November 2004
Since 1997, the Government has pursued a number of inter-related policies aimed at reforming the welfare system for people of working age, getting more people into work and reducing poverty. Joseph Rowntree Foundation research had identified many of the needs of targeted groups, and the Foundation has been involved in commenting on reform plans and tracking progress. This Foundations, written by Donald Hirsch with Jane Millar, is a round-up of what JRF has had to say about welfare reform and related issues since the late 1990s, and provides an assessment of the progress made.

Source:
Joseph Roundtree Foundation

The UK Commitment: Ending Child Poverty by 2020 (PDF file - 100K, 17 pages)
by Elisa Minoff
January 30, 2006
In 1999, the United Kingdom (UK) announced its pledge to cut child poverty by one-quarter by 2004 and eliminate it by 2020. This paper examines the history of this ambitious commitment, and the progress to date. It also analyzes the components of the national effort—which range from employment supports, asset building initiatives, and child-targeted assistance to tax, welfare, and education policies—and the next steps the UK is considering to meet the goal of eradicating child poverty.
Source:
Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) - U.S.
"...a national, nonprofit organization founded in 1968, conducts research, policy analysis, technical assistance, and advocacy on issues related to economic security for low-income families with children."

Child Poverty Action Group: fighting the injustice of poverty (CPAG)
CPAG is the leading charity campaigning for the abolition of child poverty in the UK and for a better deal for low-income families and children.

Meeting the Government's Child Poverty Target: progress to date (PDF - 120K, 11 pages)
September 2007
CPAG briefing summarising key facts and figures from the latest issue of Households Below Average Incomes, an annual report of the Department for Work and Pensions that is the source of the data which is used to measure progress against the Government's child poverty targets, i.e., to halve child poverty by 2010/11 and eradicate it by 2020. The latest issue covers the period 1994/5 to 2005/06..

Poverty Reduction Strategies in the United Kingdom and Ireland
By Chantal Collin (Political and Social Affairs Division)
2 November 2007
HTML version
PDF version (98 Kb, 15 pages)
[ version française ]
Table of Contents:
* Introduction
The United Kingdom’s Strategy to Reduce Poverty and Social Exclusion
* A. A Multi-pronged Approach
* B. Key Objectives and Measures
* C. Measuring Success
* D. Key Challenges
* E. What’s Next? Reaching Out
Ireland's National Anti-Poverty Strategy
(...)
Source:
Parliamentary Research Library
(Government of Canada)

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Australia

A stronger, fairer Australia (PDF - 3.7MB, 92 pages)
19 February 2010
Launched on 28 January 2010, A Stronger, Fairer Australia sets out the Australian Government’s vision and strategy for social inclusion, now and into the future. Social Inclusion means ensuring no Australian is left behind by giving all the opportunities, resources, capabilities and responsibilities to learn, work, connect with others and have a say in community life. The statement sets out a new approach to break down the barriers that stand between the most disadvantaged Australians and participation. Despite a strong economy in recent years, disadvantage still prevents many Australians from getting a fair go.
Source:
Social Inclusion
[ Australian Government ]

Miscellaneous international poverty reduction resources

The World Bank

PovertyNet
PovertyNet provides an introduction to key issues as well as in-depth information on poverty measurement, monitoring, analysis, and on poverty reduction strategies for researchers and practitioners.

Poverty Reduction Strategies
Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) describe a country's macroeconomic, structural and social policies and programs to promote growth and reduce poverty, as well as associated external financing needs. PRSPs are prepared by governments through a participatory process involving civil society and development partners, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Source:
The World Bank
The World Bank is like a cooperative, where its 185 member countries are shareholders. The shareholders are represented by a Board of Governors, who are the ultimate policy makers at the World Bank. Generally, the governors are member countries' ministers of finance or ministers of development.

International Monetary Fund
The IMF is an international organization of 185 member countries. It was established to promote international monetary cooperation, exchange stability, and orderly exchange arrangements; to foster economic growth and high levels of employment; and to provide temporary financial assistance to countries to help ease balance of payments adjustment.

Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP)
Last updated March 28, 2008
- incl. links to the latest PRSPs, organized by country or by date, PLUS (at the bottom of the list) a collection of links to policy papers and other related documents
Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) are prepared by the member countries through a participatory process involving domestic stakeholders as well as external development partners, including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Updated every three years with annual progress reports, PRSPs describe the country's macroeconomic, structural and social policies and programs over a three year or longer horizon to promote broad-based growth and reduce poverty, as well as associated external financing needs and major sources of financing.

Joint Staff Advisory Notes
of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) or Interim PRSPs
Last updated: March 27, 2008
The Joint Staff Advisory Notes (JSANs) are documents prepared by the staffs of the Bank and the Fund containing an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the poverty reduction strategy of the member concerned and identifying priority areas for strengthening the poverty reduction strategy during implementation.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
The OECD brings together the governments of countries committed to democracy and the market economy from around the world to:
• Support sustainable economic growth • Boost employment • Raise living standards • Maintain financial stability • Assist other countries' economic development • Contribute to growth in world trade. The OECD also shares expertise and exchanges views with more than 100 other countries and economies, from Brazil, China, and Russia to the least developed countries in Africa.

What Works Best in Reducing Child Poverty:
A Benefit or Work Strategy? (PDF file - 450K, 54 pages)
Working Paper No. 51
March 5, 2007
By Peter Whiteford and Willem Adema
Table of contents : * Family and child poverty – trends, risks and composition * Tax and benefit policies and their effect on poverty and employment * The effect of “benefit” and/or “work” strategies * Conclusions

Source:
OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers
[ Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs ]
[ Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ]

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NOTE:
For links to information from
the Canadian provinces and territories,
see Provincial and Territorial Information
(This link takes you to a separate Canadian Social Research Links page)

Search for content on the
Canadian Social Research Links website

National and International Anti-Poverty Strategies and Poverty Reduction

Les stratégies antipauvreté nationales et la réduction de la pauvreté au Canada et ailleurs dans le monde

National and International
Anti-Poverty Strategies
and
Poverty Reduction

Les stratégies antipauvreté nationales
et la réduction de la pauvreté
au Canada et ailleurs dans le monde