Policy Brief: Chronic Poverty and Violent Conflict: ‘Fragile States and the Social Compact

Summary

Between 320 and 443 million people are now trapped in chronic poverty, poverty that often lasts for their entire lifetime. Sixty per cent of the chronically poor live in the most chronically deprived countries. Violence is a problem for the poor in all societies, but especially so in these countries: of 32 countries classed as ‘across-the-board chronically deprived’, 19 have experienced major violent conflicts since 1970 (a higher proportion than for other classes of country), and internal conflict is associated with chronic deprivation

In. In the Chronic Poverty Report 2008–09 we discuss how violent conflict, state fragility and chronic poverty are related and how conflict contributes to the five poverty traps identified in the report.