Since the early 1990s, there has been an increasing global emphasis upon poverty and the search for means to reduce a condition which affects up to twenty per cent of the total global population. The drive to reduce poverty has become a major international as well as national policy objective. Rapid urbanization and industrialisation in many formerly agricultural countries has given poverty reduction greater importance for unemployment and disorder pose political risks for authorities. Food shortages, high prices and riots have added to concerns that poverty is becoming more deeply entrenched in some of the poorest countries.

POGO 8004 is intended to give students an understanding of:

• a) the historical character of poverty, including its changing forms, and explanations regarding poverty's persistence;
• b) debates about the measurement of poverty, including the most appropriate measures;
• c) the changing methods adopted for poverty alleviation and reduction.

At the conclusion of the course, students are expected to have:

• 1) a substantial knowledge of arguments regarding the causes of poverty;
• 2) an appreciation of various means for assessing the extent of poverty; and
• 3) an understanding of the most important steps being taken by multilateral and bilateral agencies, regional organisations as well as national governments and non-government organizations (NGOs) to reduce poverty.

30 contact hours over 12 weeks; with a one hour lecture and one and a half  hours seminar-workshop each week