Gender-sensitive Anti-Poverty Initiatives

During the three decades since the reform and opening-up, China’s rapid economic growth and development have made tremendous achievements in anti-poverty cause, and have made special contribution to poverty reduction around the globe. In 2009, the Chinese government lifted standard poverty line to 1192 yuan and adjusted impoverished population to 40.07 million, which, however, still could not meet the international standard. Meanwhile, the rapid economic growth has decreased the effects of poverty reduction. The sharp social transform has rendered poverty issue more complicated than ever, and the gap among different social groups in incomes, capital ownership, opportunity access and rights is becoming increasingly wider. During these two decades, China's income inequality condition continued to intensify, and China’s Gini coefficient has gone up from 31.7% in 1990 to 49.6% in 2007. Research has shown that the income of the 10% wealthiest population is over 27 times higher than that of the 10% poorest population (World Bank, 2009).

Moreover, a series of new problems have emerged from economic and social development, such as financial crisis in globalization, extreme climate and frequent natural disasters brought by the deteriorating environment, energy crisis and blind appropriation of land in modernization and urbanization which have led to property loss and hard life of farmers. All these problems, along with other problems in social classed and structure, bring about new impoverished population who are subject to social repel, more fragile livelihood and vulnerability to damages, thus lead to more complicated situation and greater challenges in anti-poverty work. This impoverished population is decentralized and diversified, thus we should adopt a multidimensional perspective towards the poverty issue and innovatively formulate anti-poverty plan and strategy.

UNDP has explicitly pointed out in its 1997 human development report “Human Development Eradicates Poverty” that, whether as ends or means, promoting gender equality should be included in the anti-poverty strategies of all nations. Innovative commitment to gender equality would help actions in all aspects, for women, as the main strength for poverty reduction, could bring about new energy, vision and organizational foundation. If gender is not taken into consideration, then development would full of challenges; if poverty reduction strategy could not successfully empower women, then it could neither empower the whole society (UNDP, 1997).

Today, new changes have taken place in China’s anti-poverty field from strategies to specific measures. Poverty-relief development, poverty aid, capability and capital accumulation and social insurance are combined according to different impoverished population, thus to further the development of poverty reduction.

http://www.womenwatch-china.org/en/newsdetail.aspx?id=3904