SDG 1 – No poverty

Economic capabilities enable people to generate an income, become consumers and purchase property – basic prerequisites for a secure food supply, material well-being and social status. These aspects are often raised by impoverished people themselves, along with the need for secure access to financial and material production factors: land, tools, cattle, forests and fishing stocks, access to credit and decent work.

Some of the prerequisites for developing interpersonal skills are health, education, adequate nutrition, clean water, and safe and secure accommodation. These are key factors for personal well-being, while simultaneously being pivotal to improving material living conditions. Illness and illiteracy obstruct productive work and, consequently, the development of key skills for tapping into the economic and other aspects of poverty alleviation. The ability to read and write makes communication easier, which is extremely important for participating in social and political life. Education, particularly for girls, is the most effective means of defeating poverty and some of its main causes, such as illnesses (primarily AIDS) and excessively high birth rates.

Political capabilities are based on human rights, the right to have a say, and the opportunity to have a certain level of influence over policy-making by the state and the setting of political priorities. Being deprived of basic political freedoms and human rights is an important aspect of poverty. This condition also involves being at the mercy of arbitrary, unjust – and sometimes even violent – conduct by the police or other state officials. Powerlessness also exacerbates other forms of poverty. If an individual is politically weak, they do not have any say over political reforms, nor do they have secure access to the resources needed to find a way out of poverty.

Socio-cultural capabilities enable people to participate in community life as a respected member of society. They relate to social status, dignity and other cultural conditions for belonging to a society, factors to which impoverished people themselves attach a great deal of value. Participative poverty studies show that geographical and social isolation is regarded as the most important consequence of poverty by many communities, while other dimensions are regarded as compounding factors.

The ability for an individual to protect themselves enables them to withstand economic and external shocks, making this an important part of poverty prevention. Uncertainty and a lack of protection are key dimensions of poverty and are strongly correlated with all of the other forms. Impoverished people list hunger and an insecure food supply as major concerns, along with other risks such as illness, crime, war and hardship. Poverty is often a phenomenon experienced on a periodic basis, resulting from seasonal fluctuations or external shocks, e.g. natural disasters, economic crises and armed conflicts.