Poverty and social exclusion are multidimensional concepts.

Poverty can be defined as a condition whereby individuals and communities are affected by severe deprivation of basic human needs, capabilities and rights, expressed for instance by low income and wealth, enforced lack of material goods necessary to live in dignity, environmental decay, lack of (or limited) access to labour markets and quality services (culture, education, housing, health care, training, employment and so on), scarce opportunities for social and civic participation.
In 1972, at the United Nations (UN) Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment (UNCHE), Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India, identified the significance of the linkages between poverty and the environment when she declared: “poverty is the worst pollution.”
Both scientific and political communities have progressively become more aware of these linkages by recognising that: 1) humans are an integrated part of ecosystems; 2) the ecosystems contribute to human well-being with vital functions and services; 3) a pronounced deprivation in well-being (i.e. poverty) is the result of how humans manage the available resources.
In 1992, the UN Rio Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) approved Agenda 21 as a vast and dynamic Programme of Action for Sustainable Development for the 21st century. Chapter 3 of Agenda 21 is dedicated to combating poverty and affirms that “An effective strategy for tackling the problems of poverty, development and environment simultaneously should begin by focusing on resources, production and people and should cover demographic issues, enhanced health care and education, the rights of women, the role of youth and of indigenous people and local communities and a democratic participation process in association with improved governance”.
The 1995 UN World Summit for Social Development (WSSD) underlined that: “poverty has various manifestations, including lack of income and productive resources sufficient to ensure sustainable livelihoods; hunger and malnutrition; ill health; limited or lack of access to education and other basic services; increased morbidity and mortality from illness; homelessness and inadequate housing; unsafe environments; and social discrimination and exclusion. It is also characterized by a lack of participation in decision-making and in civil, social and cultural life.”
In 2001 the United Nations (UN) Economic and Social Council (E/C.12/2001/10), endorsed a multidimensional definition of poverty, which reflects the indivisible and interdependent nature of all human rights, already stated in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. According to this definition, poverty is “a human condition characterized by sustained or chronic deprivation of the resources, capabilities, choices, security and power necessary for the enjoyment of an adequate standard of living and other civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights”.


Poverty is a component of social exclusion. However, social exclusion is not solely the result of poverty.

Social exclusion can be defined as both a state and dynamic process whereby scarcity (or lack) of mutual understanding, trust, solidarity and harmony among individuals, their plural identities and multiple affiliations creates inequality and affect the quality of life of individuals and the cohesion of society as a whole.
Social exclusion concerns the relationships within a given social context (e.g. between individuals, households, groups, communities, institutions and governments) and between different spatial dimensions (e.g. local, regional, national and worldwide).
Exclusionary processes can be embedded in family life, economic structures, work organisation, and political, cultural and other human systems.
According to a working definition adopted within the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), “social exclusion refers to limited/inequitable opportunities and capabilities to participate in decision making, gain access to meaningful livelihood opportunities and social services due to discriminatory institutional practices in the political, economic, social spheres based on gender, ethnicity, geographical location, age, income status, health status, educational attainment, and disability” (UNDP, Ghana, Human Development Report, 2007).