The poorest and poverty alleviation has become the object of concern nowadays both at national and international levels. And both the national and international communities have committed to the targets set by both the OECD’s (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) International Development Goals and, most recently, the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) which focus on poverty alleviation for those living on less than a dollar a day.
According to the report of MDG one third of deaths – some 18 million people a year or
50,000 per day – are due to poverty-related causes, i.e. 270 million people since 1990, the majority of women and children, roughly equal to the population of the US (Reality of Aid
2004). Also every year more than 10 million children die of hunger and preventable diseases
– which is over 30,000 children per day and one every 3 seconds (WHO, 2003). Further among these poor communities, one child in every five does not live to see his or her fifth birthday. A study in 2006 showed that the ratio of the income between the 5% richest and 5%
poorest of the population is 74 to 1 as compared to the ratio in 1960, which was 30 to 1
1 Quantitative change or expansion in a country's economy. Economic growth is conventionally measured as the percentage increase in gross domestic product (GDP) or gross national product (GNP) during one year. Economic growt h comes in t wo forms: an economy can either grow "extensively" by using more resources (such as physical, human, or natural capital) or "intensively" by using the same amount of resources more efficiently (productively). When economic growt h is achieved by using more labor, it does not result in per capita income growth. But whe n economic growth is achieved through more productive use of all resources, including labor, it results in higher per capita income and improvement in people's average standard of living. Intensive economic growth requires economic development. (source: www.51lunwen.org)
(Mohammad & Rahaman, 2007). This indeed reflects the urgent need for development and
spade of the tool which will help to overcome the issue.
Source: socialentrepreneurguide.com
Figure 1.1: Percentage population living on less than $1.25 per day (2009).
As per world bank statistics we can observe that , geographically most of the world’s poor live in South Asia (over 40 percent), Sub-Saharan Africa (almost 25 percent), and East Asia (about 23 percent). Also almost half of the world’s poor live in world’s two large countries-- China and India. However, the highest incidence of poverty is observed in Sub-Saharan Africa. That is almost half of its population living below the $1 poverty line
Many different factors have been cited to explain why poverty occurs (Iran Daily, 2006). The notable factors inc