Freedom of Choice is a Feature of a World without Poverty

Under mediation of World Bank Brazil director Deborah Wetzel, the first session provided a historical overview of the concept of poverty and the different ways to measure it. To begin the debate, Professor James Foster (PhD in Economics from Cornell University) provided an outline of this evolution. “As an index, we often draw a “poverty line” to define the poor population – we then classify those living below this threshold as poor,” explained Foster. “However, over a hundred countries now measure poverty by multidimensional indices, which – in addition to income and consumption – also take other factors into account, such as levels of education, health, water and sanitation.”

A Professor at the University of Cape Town, in South Africa, specialist Murray Leibbrandt shared his country’s experience in fighting poverty. “South Africa is a middle-income country – which, in itself, makes it a noteworthy experience,” he said. “After the country became a democracy, in 1994, our fight against poverty required no international pressure. For us, it was not just a matter of income, but of several different factors that perpetuate inequality. As such, we also consider health and education issues.  We have not set a poverty line.”

The director of the office in charge of the Human Development Report at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Selim Jahan, agreed with Leibbrandt in defending the use of a multidimensional index to measure poverty. “The fact that a population lives above the poverty line does not spell the end of poverty, as this particular index is based solely on income and consumption,” he explained.” In reality, a world without poverty means more opportunities for everyone.”

The participants also advocated a methodology that uses a qualitative assessment of the multiple factors that determine poverty. “The impact of inequality is not only economic in nature, but also social and political. It is often seen as a social injustice. That is why there are so many outstanding issues we still need to tackle,” concluded Jahan.

In the afternoon, Ms. Tereza Campello – Minister of Social Development and Fight against Hunger – took part in the panel entitled “The Brazilian Experience in Overcoming Extreme Poverty”.  Mediated by the UNDP Representative to Brazil, Jorge Chediek, the panel was also attended by Margaret Grosh, the World Bank’s chief economist of Human Development for Latin America and the Caribbean; Professor Nora Lustig, from Tulane University; and Professor Emir Sader, from the State University of Rio de Janeiro.

The event ends this Wednesday. In the morning, Mr. Kaushik Basu, senior vice president and chief economist at the World Bank, opens the event with the panel “Is a World without Poverty Possible?” Other panel participants are Magdy Martinez-Solimán, Director of the Department for Development Policy of the UNDP; Sergei Soares, president of the Institute for Applied Economic Research (IPEA); and Tiago Falcão, from the Ministry of Development and Fight against Hunger.

The full agenda is available at http://mundosempobreza.mds.gov.br/