The Politics of What Works in Reducing Chronic Poverty - A Synthesis Report for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Netherlands


Book Description

There is a growing consensus concerning the forms of politics that are most likely to lead to successful forms of pro-poor policy, including the role of decentralisation and civil society, evidence-based policy and the opening of policy to the poor. This paper critically explores this consensus by examining the extent to which these forms of politics have underpinned actual examples of successful poverty reducing interventions. The focus here is on social protection policies, namely old age pension schemes in India, Lesotho, Namibia, and South Africa, vulnerable group assistance programmes in Bangladesh and Mozambique, and recent efforts to mainstream social protection within national development plans in Uganda and Zambia. This comparative case-study analysis reveals that the consensus bears little resemblance to the actual politics of what works in terms of implementing and sustaining policies for the poorest. A synthesis suggests the need to shift attention towards political rather than civil society, to issues of discourse and ideology rather than simply poverty data, and to a closer understanding of how political contracts for social protection might be supported and developed.




The Politics of Domestic Resource Mobilization for Social Development


Book Description

At a time when the development community is grappling with the challenge of raising the required investment—estimated in the trillions of dollars—for attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), countries’ mobilization of their own fiscal revenues is receiving increasing attention. This edited volume discusses the political and institutional contexts that enable poor countries to mobilize domestic resources for global commitments and national development priorities. It examines the processes and mechanisms that connect the politics of resource mobilization and demands for social provision; changes in state-citizen, state-business and donor-recipient relations associated with resource mobilization and allocation; and governance reforms that can lead to improved and sustainable public revenues and services. The volume is unique in putting a spotlight on the political drivers of domestic resource mobilization in a rapidly changing global environment and in different country contexts in Latin America, Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. It will appeal to a broad academic audience in the fields of economics, development studies and social policy, as well as practitioners, activists and policy makers.




Public Health Genomics and International Wealth Creation


Book Description

In 2003, the secrets of the human genome were cracked open, creating a flurry of anticipation (and more than a little commercial buzz) about the role that genetic modification would play in years to come. This burgeoning field stands poised to redefine old paradigms and reshape industries such as medicine, agriculture, pharmacology, and biotechnology. Public Health Genomics and International Wealth Creation seeks to explore new opportunities and challenges in genomic commercialization by presenting a roadmap of current research, setting forth clear guidelines for how genomics can be wielded safely and ethically in a manner concordant with public welfare. Addressing problems such as chronic disease, world hunger, and global economic disparity, this book is an essential reference source for doctors, bioethicists, human genome specialists, and scientists in the fields of genetics and genomics. This authored monograph contains chapters on topics ranging from agronomics and biotechnology to commercial genomics, genome sequencing, cancer genomics, and more.




Professional Social Work in East Africa


Book Description

Prevalent poverty and related problems in the East African region call for substantial action from various stakeholders, including social workers. This book, based on comprehensive empirical research, portrays an emerging yet powerful profession that has a significant role to play in the endeavour towards social development, social justice, human rights and gender equality. The book is the first of its kind to provide first-hand theoretical and empirical evidence about social work in East Africa.




Poverty Reduction


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Poverty Reduction


Book Description




Global Monitoring Report 2014/2015


Book Description

The Global Monitoring Report 2014/2015: Ending Poverty and Sharing Prosperity was written jointly by the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund, with substantive inputs from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. This year's report details, for the first time, progress toward the WBG's twin goals of ending extreme poverty by 2030 and promoting shared prosperity and assesses the state of policies and institutions that are important for achieving them. The report continues to monitor progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Also for the first time, the report includes information about high-income countries. It finds that while gaps in living standards have been closing in many countries, the well-being of households in the bottom 40 percent, as measured by the non-income MDGs such as access to education and health services, remains below that of households in the top 60 percent. The focus of this year's report is on three elements needed to make growth more inclusive and sustainable: investment in human capital that favors the poor, the best use of safety nets, and steps to ensure the environmental sustainability of economic growth. These three elements are imperative to all countries' development strategies, and are also fundamental to global efforts to achieve the twin goals, the MDGs, and the Sustainable Development Goals that will succeed the MDGs. Global Monitoring Report 2014/2015 was prepared in collaboration with regional development banks and other multilateral partners.




Shock Waves


Book Description

Ending poverty and stabilizing climate change will be two unprecedented global achievements and two major steps toward sustainable development. But the two objectives cannot be considered in isolation: they need to be jointly tackled through an integrated strategy. This report brings together those two objectives and explores how they can more easily be achieved if considered together. It examines the potential impact of climate change and climate policies on poverty reduction. It also provides guidance on how to create a “win-win†? situation so that climate change policies contribute to poverty reduction and poverty-reduction policies contribute to climate change mitigation and resilience building. The key finding of the report is that climate change represents a significant obstacle to the sustained eradication of poverty, but future impacts on poverty are determined by policy choices: rapid, inclusive, and climate-informed development can prevent most short-term impacts whereas immediate pro-poor, emissions-reduction policies can drastically limit long-term ones.




Conditional Cash Transfers


Book Description

Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programs aim to reduce poverty by making welfare programs conditional upon the receivers' actions. That is, the government only transfers the money to persons who meet certain criteria. These criteria may include enrolling children into public schools, getting regular check-ups at the doctor's office, receiving vaccinations, or the like. They have been hailed as a way of reducing inequality and helping households break out of a vicious cycle whereby poverty is transmitted from one generation to another. Do these and other claims make sense? Are they supported by the available empirical evidence? This volume seeks to answer these and other related questions. Specifically, it lays out a conceptual framework for thinking about the economic rationale for CCTs; it reviews the very rich evidence that has accumulated on CCTs; it discusses how the conceptual framework and the evidence on impacts should inform the design of CCT programs in practice; and it discusses how CCTs fit in the context of broader social policies. The authors show that there is considerable evidence that CCTs have improved the lives of poor people and argue that conditional cash transfers have been an effective way of redistributing income to the poor. They also recognize that even the best-designed and managed CCT cannot fulfill all of the needs of a comprehensive social protection system. They therefore need to be complemented with other interventions, such as workfare or employment programs, and social pensions.