"Poverty means waking up without perspective. Poverty robs you of your aspirations for the future."  --Representative of Trinidad and Tobago's Association of NGOs. 

"The rights enshrined in our new constitution will be empty and our democracy will remain fragile if they do not bring with them improvements in people's lives, especially whose who bear the burden of poverty and inequality."--Nelson Mandela 

Traditionally, poverty has been defined in terms of shortfalls of consumption or income.  Income poverty lines are set against the cost of a basic diet for a group and/or the combination of dietary needs and a few non-food essential items.  One commonly used income poverty definition is subsisting on US$1 per day¹ or less.

UNDP addresses poverty as a denial of human rights. Good health, adequate nutrition, literacy and employment are not favours or acts of charity to be bestowed on the poor by governments and international agencies. They are human rights, as valid today as they were 50 years ago when the Universal Declaration of Human rights was adopted. UNDP defines poverty from a sustainable human development perspective.  Poverty is the denial of various choices and opportunities basic to human development.  These include the ability to lead a long, creative and healthy life, to acquire knowledge, to have freedom, dignity, self-respect and respect for others, and to have access to the resources needed for a decent standard of living.

Dimensions of Poverty

The Human Development Report 1997 introduced the concept of human poverty with a view to look beyond income poverty. Dimensions of human poverty are rooted in general deprivations such as powerlessness and lack of capabilities.  The concept of human poverty also includes more specific dimensions that are difficult to measure - lack of political freedom, inability to participate in decision-making, lack of personal security, inability to participate in the life of a community and threats to sustainability and intergenerational equity.

 The Report also introduced a measure of human poverty, the Human Poverty Index (HPI).  The Human Poverty Index measures deprivation by looking at five real-life attributes of poverty: illiteracy, malnutrition among children, early death, poor health care, and poor access to safe water. Combined, they provide a composite Human Poverty Index measuring the degree of deprivation in a particular society. Measures of both income and human poverty are needed in combination to capture the complex nature of poverty.

Eradicating Poverty

The 1997 Human Development  Report presents six policy measures for the eradication of extreme poverty:

• Gender equality and empowerment of women as an end in itself and as a means to end poverty 
• "Pro-poor" economic growth in the 100 developing and transitional countries where growth has been failing 
• Improvements in the management of globalization, including better trade policies and fairer rules and terms that allow poor countries to enter markets.
• Actions to give the poor and poor communities power to organize and act collectively.
• Special measures to prevent economic reversal in countries in particularly difficult circumstances: peace-building efforts, debt reduction, and support for their entry into the global economy.
• Promotion of accountability, transparency, and openness in governance, a strong role for civil society actors, and political participation for all.

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