There are half a billion people who are poor over many years or for a lifetime or possibly pass their poverty onto their children. They are trapped in poverty partly because of politics, the institutions or the markets which don’t operate in their favour.
Chronic poor people do not organise themselves very well. So they need ally. The international community can be a major ally for the chronic poor. They can set a poverty eradication goal which addresses chronic poverty. They can aggregate the progress made by bottom 5 percent or 10 percent, and also set specific goals on education and so on.
*Andrew Shepherd is Director for Chronic Poverty Advisory Network, Overseas Development Institute.
