POVERTY AS LACK OF POWER:
LIVELIHOOD RIGHTS AND POVERTY ERADICATION

Debating the Jo'Burg Memo
Date: September 1
Time: 18h15-18h45 (theatre) and 19h00-20h00 (debate)
Venue: Boell Forum at the Global People's Forum + [ where is it ]
With with Farida Akhter, UBINIG, Memorandum Group; Viviene Taylor, Commission on Human Security, Memorandum Group; Eduardo Doryan, World Bank

"While everybody agrees that poverty elimination has to have its due priority, opinions are sharply divided as soon as the key question is asked: poverty eradication, yes, but by whom? The first answer highlights the role of investors, transnational companies, and economic planners, emphasizing that the reduction of poverty will be the result of higher and broader economic growth. (...) The second response - which we favor - looks to the poor themselves and recognizes them as actors who shape their lives even under conditions of hardship and destitution. In this view, poverty derives from a deficit of power rather than a lack of money. Far from being needy persons awaiting provisions, the poor must be seen as citizens who are constrained by a lack of rights, entitlements, salaries, and political leverage. Any attempt, therefore, to mitigate poverty will have to be centered on a reinforcement of rights and opportunities. This is in particular true for women who are often legally marginalized." (The Jo'burg Memo, pp. 21).

The Jo'burg Memo emphasises livelihood rights as a key strategy to overcome poverty. This view challenges the conventional wisdom present at this summit. How can livelihood rights be strengthened, and sustainable livelihoods be secured? Farida Akhter is Economist (M.A.), Executive Director of UBINIG (Policy Research for Development Alternatives), Bangladesh, member of the national level women's movement and various international networks. Viviene Taylor (South Africa) is Deputy Executive Director at the Commission on Human Security, and a Member of the co-ordinating committee of DAWN (Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era). Eduardo Doryan is the World Bank's Special Representative to the United Nations.

The debate starts at 19h00. It will be preceded from 18h15 to 18h45 by "Fair Wealth?", a theatre play inspired by the Jo'burg Memo, by the Sibikwa Community Theatre Group.