Some participants from the developing countries wanted poverty to be declared a proscribed basis of discrimination, while others argued that poverty is far too vague a concept to be the subject of legal rights and duties. Some contended that absolute poverty differs from relative poverty, or asked what responsibility individuals have to raise themselves out of poverty through education and work?
一些来自发展中国家的与会者希望把贫困宣布为被禁的歧视的基础，而其他人则认为，贫困的概念太过模糊，因而不能作为法定权利和义务的一项内容。而有些人争辩道，绝对贫困有别于相对贫困，或责问人们应该有怎样的责任，通过受教育和工作，把自身从贫困中解救出来。