ABSTRACT

Economic growth and poverty reduction occurred in the 1990s in China and India, but in both cases the state retained a key role and pursued heterodox economic policies. This chapter examines how the mechanisms of global governance have approached the issue of world poverty aims to demonstrate that resolving the problem will require those mechanisms to function more effectively. It presents a short historical and contemporary overview of how global poverty has been conceived and approached within the international arena, particularly since the mid-twentieth century when the first multilateral institutions capable of providing leadership on the matter were established. The chapter describes the multitude of actors who make up the vast framework of global governance structures active in attempted poverty alleviation. It explores potentially critical future issues and developments which are likely to have an impact on world poverty, as well as on efforts to reduce its severity.