ODI is Britain's leading independent think tank on international development and humanitarian issues.
Home > Events > Public event
Email/share | Print |

MDG midpoint: Chronic poverty - Do people in chronic poverty gain anything from the MDGs?

23 July 2007 12:00-13:30 (GMT+00) - Public event, London

  • At this event, a panel of speakers bridging the worlds of research and policy discussed their perspectives on how the MDG agenda relates to chronic poverty in areas such as economic growth, health and social protection.

  •  

    Panel:
    Tony German    , Co-founder, Development Initiatives
    Armando Barrientos, Research Fellow, IDS
    Margaret Kakande, Poverty Monitoring and Analysis Unit, Government of Uganda
    Martin Prowse, Research Officer, ODI
    Chair:
    Kate Bird, Research Fellow, Poverty and Public Policy Group (PPPG), ODI

     

  • An ODI and Chronic Poverty Research Centre public event in the The midpoint of the Millennium Development Goals series.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set out an agenda for international development that is at once highly ambitious, and yet has been criticised for its modesty. The first target for goal one is to halve world poverty by 2015. Even if the target is met, there is a real danger that many, if not most of the chronically poor could miss out. This will mean that in a generation's time, poverty will still blight the lives of at least 900 million people.

A rigid interpretation of the MDGs could encourage a focus on those “easy to reach”, and away from chronic poverty. But do the MDG and chronic poverty agendas overlap anywhere? Can policies aimed at the MDGs be made consistent with action to tackle chronic poverty?

At this ODI and Chronic Poverty Research Centre (CPRC) event, a panel of speakers bridging the worlds of research and policy discussed their perspectives on how the MDG agenda relates to chronic poverty in areas such as economic growth, health and social protection.