Poverty

Poverty is a multi-dimensional phenomenon. The Beijing Platform for Action recognized that “poverty has various manifestations, including lack of income and productive resources sufficient to ensure sustainable livelihoods; hunger and malnutrition; ill health; limited or lack of access to education and other basic services; increased morbidity and mortality from illness; homelessness and inadequate housing; unsafe environments; and social discrimination and exclusion. It is also characterized by a lack of participation in decision- making and in civil, social and cultural life”. Thus, while the economic dimension remains central, other factors such as lack of opportunities, vulnerabilities and social exclusion are recognized as important in defining poverty. The use of a broad concept of poverty is considered essential for integrating gender into countries’ poverty reduction strategies as well as for monitoring, from a gender perspective, progress towards achieving the first Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger.

Related Subject(s): Women and Gender Issues