[afro-nets] In preparation of People's Health Assembly II - part 36

[Claudio Schuftan <claudio@hcmc.netnam.vn>]

In preparation of People's Health Assembly II - part 36
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ON POVERTY (3)

17. Privatization has weakened the role of the state who is thus
failing to deliver the promised benefits to the poor.

18. In the global battle against poverty, success in only a few
countries, no matter how large, is not enough!

19. Poverty's non-economic dimensions and attributes are:
- powerlessness/voicelessness,
- vulnerability/deprivation,
- low capacity to cope,
- limited choices, no access to basic services,
- discrimination,
- inability to influence or control what happens to one's family,
- lack of connections (dependence only on the informal network of
   kin while the rich are organized and connected),
- no assets/no skills/ill equipped to absorb external shocks,
- lack of information,
- thinking in terms of very short time horizons (surviving the
   present),
- no direct access to resources (always mediated by institu-
   tions),
- precarious seasonal livelihood,
- unofficial (under the table) payments for government services,
- crime and violence/widespread violence against women,
- unequal gender relations,
- cut off from information about one's rights (abused and ex-
   cluded by the more powerful),
- disconnected (no organization into networks that can exert
   pressure).

20. Poor people are not the problem. Poor people work hard, are
remarkably resourceful and show determination in providing for
their families.

21. If a government is not fully committed to consulting the
poor, it is unlikely to act on research results that run counter
to its own interests.