Eradicating Poverty: Moving Forward as One

• Since the creation of the United Nations, the concept of the common fate of humankind and the need for solidarity has increasingly taken root in the public consciousness and, with increasing frequency, has been articulated by the Secretary-General, by member states, by UN agencies and certainly by NGOs. Every succeeding challenge, it seems, confirms the reality of our inter-connectness and interrelatedness of challenges before us: security, human rights, gender equality, the rights of children and minorities, migration, sustainable development – to name but a few.
• We are beginning to see that the lack of ability to understand challenges on the world stage within the paradigm of interconnectedness has caused us a tremendous amount of difficulty: a focus on economic growth blind to environmental and employment concerns; a focus on security blind to human rights violations and gender inequalities; a focus on poverty blind to questions of governance, etc.
• Progress is evident on two fronts: the ability to articulate connections between previously disparate issues and the understanding of the practicality of this approach. Previously disparate agendas are beginning to merge (if only conceptually at first): security and gender; sovereignty and responsibility; finance and gender equality; climate change and health; employment and sustainable development; conflict and climate change.
• Our worldview is able to take in more complexity in the form of seeing connections where we didn’t see them before. This view is beginning to replace a fragmented paradigm of human development. Unless we want to risk making the same mistakes as we have in the past, we need to approach the problems with a new mind, a new “lens”. This paradigm shift is similar, in some ways to that generated by the Copernican Revolution – which displaced the earth as the center of our solar system and proposed that the system of planets revolves around the sun.
• Our new understanding of relationships between various challenges and underlying dynamics defines the way forward. How does this relate to poverty? We know that poverty is an interplay of social and material variables – of legal, geographical, governance, cultural, educational and geopolitical variables; none of which is captured by the $1/day measure. Yet poverty alleviation efforts are still defined primarily in terms of financial inputs. We need to  articulate clearly and persuasively the other part of the equation.
• Poverty can be described as the absence of those “ethical, social and material resources needed to develop the moral, intellectual and social capacities of individuals, communities and institutions.”

   

• Ethical resources refer to a framework of moral values and ethical principles and an accompanying program for their implementation.

   

• Social resources refer to support structures such as the family, the community and the nation.

   

• Moral capabilities[1] refer, for example, to moral reasoning, service to humanity, non-adversarial decision-making; cultivation of dignity and self-worth. Together, these capabilities enlarge an individual’s capacity for moral action.
• Social capabilities encompass, for example, parenting and leadership skills. Together, these capabilities enlarge an individual’s capacity to advance the well-being of his or her community. 
• Community refers to a social unit able to make its own decisions, to understand itself in relation to other communities and to care for the well-being of its members.
• Institutions refer to social structures which serve to channel human potential to serve the common good.
• We would like to put forward two principles that we believe to be core to poverty alleviation efforts.
• Unity – this principle underlies the reality that progress is relational and systemic; that progress moves in the direction of greater unity. In effect, solidarity and coherence become the new criteria for progress.
• Justice – this principle enables us to harness human potential. It refers to the exercise of impartial judgment in determining the truth of facts and principles that guide action. The purpose of justice is to facilitate increasingly greater degrees of unity and order in a society.
• The statement addresses 11 themes which are key to poverty alleviation efforts. These include:
• Governance
• Justice and Human Rights
• Individual Responsibility
• Gender
• Economic Activity
• Extremes of Wealth
• Employment
• Agriculture
• Sustainable Development
• Employment
• Knowledge

[1] “Moral capabilities identified by Bahá'í­ educational institutions include the ability to: participate effectively in non-adversarial collective decision-making (this includes the transformation of exploitative patterns of behavior based on the use of force and falsely rooted in the idea of conflict as a mainstay of human interaction); to act with rectitude of conduct based on ethical and moral principles; to cultivate one's sense of dignity and self-worth; to take initiative in a creative, disciplined form; to commit to empowering educational activities; to create a vision of a desired future based on shared values and principles, and to inspire others to work for its fulfillment; to understand relationships based on dominance and to contribute towards their transformation into relationships based on reciprocity and service.” Beyond Legal Reforms: Culture and Capacity in the Eradication of Violence Against Women and Girls (2006). New York: Bahá'í International Community.