Eradicating Poverty: Moving Forward as One The crisis of global
poverty has, at long last, been accorded a high priority on the
international agenda. This propitious development has sparked a
flurry of discussion and research concerning the means for
eradicating this debilitating condition from human life. Yet as
renewed pledges for action pour in from governments, as long-
held theories and conventional approaches fail to quell long-
held prejudices, conflicts, and exploitation, a feeling of
rudderlessness looms over the global enterprise of poverty
eradication. At the same time, a palpable optimism emerges from
the attention and momentum generated by the search for solutions
to this worldwide challenge. The mechanisms of poverty
eradication have long been defined in primarily material terms.
Indeed, the central pillar of the international community’s
poverty alleviation efforts has been the transfer of financial
resources. Approximately $2.3 trillion have been spent on
foreign aid over the last five decades.