The Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) process is an initiative by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) and various Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) deal with poverty. It is in some sense an updated and improved version of the Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) that were implemented in the 1980s. This study examines one of the central aspects of the PRS process which is national ownership that is expected to be achieved by means of the participation of various interested groups and individuals in the formulation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRS Paper). These would include: non – governmental organizations, civil society organizations, faith based organizations, academics, women’s groups, academics and members from the private sector. National ownership of the formulation of the RPS Paper is examined by looking at 4 country studies, namely, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.

This study examined the perceptions of three inner city principals on how poverty impacts the school experience and success for children attending high poverty schools in the Winnipeg School Division. This study focused on how three principals defined and understood poverty; how they created a vision for their school as well as exploring the sustainability of their work. The study examined and explored the frameworks and strategies that each principal worked from in an effort to address the impact of poverty on their schools. In doing this, the thesis attempts to tell the stories of three school principals who spent their entire careers working in the inner city district of the Winnipeg School Division. The schools examined in this study exist within a current reality in stark contrast to the one sought in the Mission and Vision for all students by Manitoba Education. The study found that there is a need for greater professional development for principals on the issue of complex poverty and how it impacts schooling. Although participants outlined a great deal of programming that is already in place to support children attending high poverty schools, all felt that much more can, and should, be done to improve conditions for children impacted by poverty. Findings suggest that policy and practice at the school, district, and provincial levels need to be examined and, where necessary, changed to address the needs of students and families impacted by poverty.

This thesis explores the multidimensional nature of poverty as well as the impact of units of analysis on the creation of poverty pictures. The multidimensional nature of poverty is explored through the comparison of income and an asset-based measure (Living Standard Measure) and is conducted across five South African Development Community countries. This is done via six main avenues of investigation: income and its predictors; the asset-based Living Standard Measure; the consistency of the Living Standard Measure; a comparison of income and the Living Standard Measure; a comparison at different units of analysis of poverty across the five countries; the multidimensional nature of poverty. Socio-economic and political secondary data obtained from the Human Sciences Research Council was used for the comparisons. In total, 5927 respondents were drawn from the five countries. Findings from this study indicate that there is a large degree of agreement and overlap as to the poverty pictures created by income and the Living Standard Measure. There also appears to be a convergence in poverty picture created at different levels of analysis as well as with different measures. Despite these similarities, and the fact that different dimensions and units of analysis do not alter the general poverty picture drastically, an argument is made that these two elements do have important roles in poverty measurement as they provide details to the general picture. These details have an impact on the success of the interventions chosen. In conclusion this thesis suggests that there is a possibility that the multidimensionality of poverty has been over-emphasised in recent literature. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toronto, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-112).

Thesis (M.A.)--Villanova University, 2009. / Sociology and Criminal Justice Dept. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (J.U.D.)--Catholic University of America, 1929. / Vita. Series note covered by label. Bibliography: p. ix-xxx.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 54-57).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 54-57). Also available in print.

Thesis (M. Sc. (Geography))--Rhodes University, 2006.

Magister Commercii - MCom / With the transition to a democratic society, one of the challenges to emerge was to provide economic freedoms for all – that is, freedom from isolation, freedom from powerlessness, freedom from hunger, and freedom from poverty. Fighting poverty has always been high on the agenda of the democratic government since the transition. Numerous measures and policies were instituted aimed at reducing poverty. Researchers initiated serious efforts to try and understand the nature and extent of poverty, through various studies being conducted. Many of these studies focused only on money-metric measures, despite the fact that poverty is a multidimensional concept. What has resulted are various poverty-measurement methods producing different results on the extent of poverty. In addition, certain aspects of these money-metric approaches have serious shortcomings. The fuzzy sets approach addresses many of these shortcomings, as it is a multidimensional approach. Few studies have used this approach to measure poverty in South Africa. This thesis plans to use this method to analyse poverty levels and trends in South Africa, focusing on multidimensional, non-money-metric poverty. Data from Census 1996, Census 2001 and Community Survey 2007 will be used for the study. From the results of the analysis it was established that there is some divergence in the findings of money-metric approaches and those of fuzzy sets. A key result to emerge is the difference in poverty trends over the period 1996 – 2007. Most studies reviewed in Chapter Three that used the money-metric approach showed that poverty trends were upward in the 1990s, before a downward trend took place in the 2000s. This took place irrespective of the survey data used. The non-money-metric poverty trends derived in this chapter, however, show a continuous downward trend over the period. The overall mean deprivation in South Africa has declined since 1996. For people residing in provinces such as Limpopo, the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, they are more likely to be poor under the fuzzy sets approach. This may be an indication of inadequate service delivery and the extent to which recent government measures to address poverty have been successful or not. In terms of race, blacks still have the highest mean deprivation, but enjoyed the biggest decline of mean deprivation between 1996 and 2007. Finally, mean deprivation for female-headed households in South Africa was also higher than for male-headed households over the period.