Poverty reduction

This chapter’s brief examination of how the mechanisms of global governance have approached the issue of world poverty aims to demonstrate that resolving the problem will require those mechanisms to function more effectively. It begins with a short historical and contemporary overview of how global poverty has been conceived and approached within the international arena, particularly since the mid-twentieth century when the first multilateral institutions capable of providing leadership on the matter were established. It then asks why poverty persists and where in the world it is most pervasive, before exploring the various arguments which have been advanced over time as to how the problem may be solved. The chapter then describes the multitude of actors who make up the vast framework of global governance structures active in attempted poverty alleviation. It ends by exploring potentially critical future issues and
developments which are likely to have an impact on world poverty, as well as on efforts to reduce its severity. The seemingly unattainable feat of consigning poverty to history may not be as unrealistic as might be believed.