DMR A2007-000305 TP 261007CPR4_4E.doc
UNITED NATIONSECONOMIC
ANDSOCIAL COUNCIL
GENERALE/ESCAP/CPR(4)/424 September 2007
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ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFICCommittee on Poverty ReductionFourth session12-14 December 2007Bangkok
URBAN POVERTY AND THE WORKING POOR
(Item 6 of the provisional agenda)
FACING THE CHALLENGES OF URBANIZATION AND URBAN POVERTYIN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
Note by the secretariat
SUMMARY
Poverty has often been seen as a purely rural problem. In the coming years and decades, urban povertywill become a major challenge for policymakers in the Asian and Pacific region. As the urban population of theregion is growing, so is urban poverty. Poverty reduction tools and approaches that have been developed for rural poverty reduction will not work in urban areas, because urban poverty is different in nature from rural poverty. To address urban poverty effectively, policymakers at the national and local levels need a goodunderstanding of the nature of urban poverty as well as accurate data that present its dynamics, trends andconditions. The present document provides a broad overview of the characteristics and, if available, the extentof urban poverty, using the three dimension of poverty: lack of income, lack of access and lack of power. Itintroduces policies and programmes to address urban poverty, but also shows that the available data on urban poverty in the region are not detailed enough to enable the development of effective and sustainable urban poverty reduction policies. It prioritizes three aspects of urban poverty that could form the basis for future work by the secretariat.The Committee is requested to advise the secretariat on directions for further work to enhance theunderstanding of urban poverty and to identify effective approaches to urban poverty reduction.
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