URU, Alm.del - 2009-10 - Bilag 231: UNRISD Research and Policy Brief 10

UNRISD Research and Policy Brief10Combating Poverty and InequalityUNITEDNATIONSRESEARCHINSTITUTE FORSOCIALDEVELOPMENTUNRISD research highlights three crucial elements of a sustainable andinclusive development strategy: sustained growth and structural changethat create jobs and improved earnings for the vast majority of people;comprehensive social policies that are grounded in universal rights;and civic activism and political arrangements that ensure states areresponsive to the needs of all citizens.The IssuePoverty reduction is a central feature of theinternational development agenda. A number ofkey social development objectives were agreed byworld leaders at the Millennium Summit, with thegoal of significantly reducing poverty by 2015.What then accounts for the persistence of povertywhen concern for its reduction has been high onthe policy agenda?time periods. UNRISD research shows instead thatprogress has occurred principally through state-directed strategies which combine economicdevelopment objectives with active social policiesin ways that are mutually supportive. It also showshow poverty outcomes are shaped by complexinterconnections of ideas, institutions, policies andpractices in the social, economic and politicalspheres.The research highlights the following crucialelements of a sustainable and inclusivedevelopment strategy:patterns of growth and structural change(whetherin the agricultural, industrial or service sectors)that generate and sustain jobs that are adequatelyremunerated and accessible to all, regardless ofincome or class status, gender, ethnicity orlocation;comprehensive social policiesthat are groundedin universal rights and that are supportive ofstructural change, social cohesion and democraticpolitics; and

Research FindingsIn contrast to the experiences of countries thatwere successful historically in reducing poverty andinequality, contemporary poverty reductionstrategies have increasingly focused on “targetingthe poor”. Such approaches often fail to considerkey institutional, policy and political dimensionsthat may be both causes of poverty and inequality,and obstacles to their reduction. They run counterto the evidence from countries that havesuccessfully reduced poverty over relatively short

UNRISD Research on Poverty Reduction (2006–2010)UNRISD research engages with current policy debates on poverty reduction from a developmentaland social policy perspective. It has assessed a range of contemporary approaches to poverty reduction;identified key institutional, policy and political issues that are not being addressed in current povertyreduction strategies; and examined the contradictions, complementarities and synergies betweendifferent components of “policy regimes”, including social, labour market and macroeconomic policies,and political and regulatory institutions.The research has involved two sets of activities. The first, under the projectPoverty Reduction and PolicyRegimes,has involved in-depth case studies in Botswana, Brazil, Costa Rica, India, Kenya, Malaysia, SouthAfrica and Taiwan Province of China; and country overview papers on China, Finland, Ireland, theRepublic of Korea, Mozambique, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Viet Nam and the former Soviet Union.The second has been the preparation of the forthcoming UNRISD flagship report,Combating Povertyand Inequality,which brings together inputs from the case studies and overview papers, 41 speciallycommissioned background papers, and research across all UNRISD programmes. The report will bepublished in September 2010.For resources and further reading, visit www.unrisd.org/poverty

and social protection. Social policies must also addressthe unpaid work that goes into sustaining families,households and societies by investing in infrastructureand basic services, and thus reducing the unpaid carework done largely by women.The linkages between policies and institutions in thesocial, economic and political spheres must be recognizedif poverty is to be fought effectively. Poverty reductionis not just about having the right economic policies; it isalso about pursuing appropriate social policies and typesof politics that elevate the interests of the poor in publicpolicy. Similarly, policy coherence goes beyond effectiveimplementation and coordination. Securing the benefitsof potential synergies between policies requires consciousdesign of both economic and social policies, backed bysufficiently powerful coalitions to ensure theirimplementation.Politics matters for poverty reduction.The protectionof civic rights, active and organized citizens, well-organized and representative political parties, and effectivestates with redistributive agendas are all important forsustained progress towards poverty reduction. Theparticipatory framework of the PRSPs (often“consultation” without the power to effect real change)is of limited effectiveness in the absence of theseconditions. Strategies to reduce poverty and inequalityrequire institutionalized rights that allow citizens toorganize and contest public policies as autonomous actors;political parties that are embedded in broad socialcoalitions; social pacts that give a broad range of groupsvoice and influence in shaping development policies andoutcomes; and democratic regimes that are sufficientlycompetitive to allow for periodic alternations in powerand prevent ruling parties from becoming complacent.There is no one right way to reduce poverty.Mostcountries that have successfully reduced poverty adoptedheterodox policies that reflected their national conditions,rather than fully embracing market-conformingprescriptions. Countries and peoples must be allowed thepolicy space to adopt different models of developmentwhere aspects of livelihood and food security, land reform,cultural rights, gender equity, social policy and associativedemocracy figure prominently.

Policy ImplicationsEconomic growth is important, but alone it does notnecessarily reduce poverty and inequality.Employmentrepresents an important channel through whichadditional income generated by growth can be widelydistributed throughout a population. Where poverty hasbeen reduced successfully and sustainably, governmentsused policy interventions to facilitate employment-centred structural transformations of their economies.They invested substantially in infrastructure; channelledcredit to specific productive activities; and pursued well-managed industrial and agricultural policies, as well associal policies that improved the skill levels and welfareof the population.Equality and redistribution matter for poverty reduction.The MDGs and PRSPs do not directly address inequality.It is often assumed that absolute poverty or income level,rather than distribution, matter. However, high levelsof inequality make it difficult to reduce poverty evenwhen economies are growing; and poor countries aregenerally more unequal than rich ones. Poverty andinequality are part of the same problem. Inequalitymanifests itself in relation to class or income status,gender and ethnicity, and also across various dimensions,such as employment, earnings and access to socialservices. There is a strong case for redistributive policiesto address these dimensions of the poverty problem.Social policy is an integral part of the developmentstrategies of countries that have transformed theireconomies and reduced poverty relatively quickly.Anumber of welfare policies are feasible and affordable forcountries at fairly low levels of income. For social policyto be effective as a transformative instrument againstpoverty and inequality, it must transcend its residual roleof safety net and engage with broad public policy issuesof distribution, protection, production and reproduction.Successful countries have tended to invest substantiallyin education and skills development, as well as in health

UNRISD Research and Policy Briefsaim to improve the quality of development dialogue. They situate the Institute’sresearch within wider social development debates, synthesize its findings and draw out issues for consideration in decision-making processes. They provide this information in a concise format that should be of use to policy makers, scholars, activists,journalists and others.Funding for this research has been provided by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida); the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Finland; andUNRISD core funds provided by the governments of Denmark, Finland, Mexico, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.Download thispublication free of charge fromwww.unrisd.org/publications/rpb10e.Copyright UNRISD. Short extracts from this publication may be reproduced unaltered without authorization on condition that the source is indicated. Forrights of reproduction or translation, application should be made to UNRISD, Palais des Nations, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland. UNRISD welcomessuch applications.

The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) is an autonomousagency that promotes research on pressing social issues of development. Multidisciplinary studiesare carried out in collaboration with the Institute’s extensive network of scholars and researchinstitutes, mainly in developing countries.For more information on the Institute, contact UNRISD, Palais des Nations, 1211 Geneva 10,Switzerland; phone 41 (0)22 9173020, fax 41 (0)22 9170650, [email protected],www.unrisd.org.