Intermediate 
A new report has warned that up to a billion people will remain in extreme poverty by 2030 unless countries confront the social, economic and cultural forces that keep them in poverty. The report by the Chronic Poverty Advisory Network says that many people may rise above the poverty line of $1.25 a day, but slip back again when they experience problems such as drought or illness and insecurity or con ict.
The report found that, in parts of rural Kenya and in South Africa, 30 to 40% of people who escaped from poverty fell back again, rising to 60% in some areas of Ethiopia between 1999 and 2009. Even in successful countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam, the proportion was 20%.
Individual examples show how easy it is for people to slip back into poverty. Amin, from rural Bangladesh, has seen his livelihood gradually decline, due to his own and his wifes illnesses, the cost of his sons marriage, the death of his father and loss of goods such as  shing nets. Lovemore, from Zimbabwe, has become one of the poorest people in his village. He recently lost his job due to bad health and had to take in his  ve grandchildren after the death of his daughters.
We need to ensure that people who are lifted out of poverty remain above the poverty line permanently. Too many families are slipping back into poverty because they struggle to recover from personal or bigger setbacks. Governments shouldnt assume that, just because somebodys income reaches $1.25, that means job done, said Andrew Shepherd, lead author of the report.
A UN high-level panel said it was possible to achieve the goal of eliminating extreme poverty by 2030. The report, however, argues that more of the same will not get to zero. Despite a drop in extreme poverty from 1.9bn in 1990 to 1.2bn in 2010, the report says that progress in the next 15 years will be much harder. The big gains in China are unlikely to be matched by similar progress elsewhere, while climate-related shocks and deep poverty in parts of sub-Saharan Africa will slow down progress.
The report says the focus should be on the chronically poor  those who are poor for many years or their entire lives  and on stopping the descent into poverty. Governments have been quite good at moving people over the poverty line because that is relatively easy. But they have shied away from the more dif cult job of trying to solve chronic poverty, said Shepherd.
The report says progress on poverty reduction has had less of an impact on the chronically poor than on those who were already closer to the poverty line. It will not be possible to get to zero unless development policies focus on the chronically poor, it adds. The report suggests three policies, all of which require massive global investment.
The  rst is social assistance  to bring the poorest people closer to a decent standard of living. The second is education, from early childhood to the start of work, to enable people to escape and stay out of poverty. The third is economic growth policies that ensure that the bene ts of increasing national prosperity reach the very poorest people.
All this will cost money and the report says one obvious implication is that countries will need greater tax revenues. Aid will also be needed for the start-up costs for social assistance, universal health coverage and to  nance education, including scholarships for the poorest children. There remains a huge role for aid in the next 20 years, as many developing countries spend less than $500 on each of their citizens a year. Even Nigeria, with its oil wealth, spends only $650 per person, Shepherd said.
With the current crises in Syria, South Sudan and the Central African Republic, the report says it is essential that governments try to reduce the risk of con ict and to create peace.
The report also argues that, if the inequalities which affect the poorest people  such as access to land, labour markets and the power relationships between men and women  are addressed, this would tackle two goals at the same time: reducing chronic poverty and inequality.
The authors urge governments to develop an inclusive national development plan and to work with civil society to ensure that the poorest people are represented politically as well as trying to stop dif cult social norms, such as dowries and witchcraft, that contribute to extreme poverty: This often means challenging parts of the status quo.