Thousand faces of poverty

Measuringpoverty is important because it helps governments, organizations, and communities understandthe extent, causes and consequences of poverty, so that they can take effective actions. Poverty is acomplex phenomenon. It is notlike height or atmospheric pressure that could be measured accurately. Objective measurement of poverty is dependent on data of incomeand expenditurewhich are, fearfully, susceptibleto errors ofreporting, recording, aggression, and interpretation atthehand of agencies with politicalinterests

- 

Poverty is as misunderstood as any subject can be. At one level, it could mean no food, no clothes, bad health, and recognized inadequacy of shelters, amenities, and services. But at another level, it becomes so elusive and slippery that it slides through the slick fingers of all the manipulators of figures and wielders of statistics. In the words of Nelson Mandela, "Abject poverty is demeaning, it is an insult on the dignity of those who suffer it. In the end it demeans us all." Eradication of poverty is an ethical, social, political and economic imperative of mankind.

The World Development Report 2000/2001 mentioned that the voices of poor people bear eloquent testimony to the meaning of poverty. The report is based on the Voices of the Poor study that captured realities faced by more than 60,000 poor people living in 60 countries. The silhouette of poverty depicted in the report appears thus: "To be poor is to be hungry, to lack shelter and clothes, to be sick and not cared for, to be illiterate and not schooled. But for the poor people, living in poverty is more than this. Poor people are particularly vulnerable to adverse events outside their control. They are often treated badly by the institutions of state and society and excluded from voice and power in those institutions."