ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with some of the most contentious issues in the field of economic development. The first section sets the stage with a discussion of the importance attached to poverty reduction by the international community. World leaders have repeatedly proclaimed their commitment to poverty reduction at various summits. In addition, a set of internationally agreed development targets and indicators for measuring progress have been accepted by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations General Assembly. In general these targets relate to various aspects of poverty. Sections 8.2 and 8.3 describe the international poverty targets and lay out the main features of the different strategies proposed by international organizations for achieving pro-poor growth.
