Poverty Reduction: Approaches and the Role of Political Institutions

Abstract

The policy concern about poverty and income distribution among multilateral organizations goes as far back as 1970 when the United Nations Committee for Development Planning, in preparing for the United Nations’ Second Development Decade, referred to the necessary ‘war on poverty’ (United Nations 1970). The Committee declared poverty reduction through accelerated development, improved income distribution, and other social changes (including employment, education, health, and housing) as the paramount objective of an appropriate international development strategy.