by Olivier de Schutter | Jun 24, 2026 | News
A roadmap for eradicating poverty beyond growth
Together with United Nations agencies, governments, civil society, academics, trade unions and others, the former Special Rapporteur is developing a Roadmap for Eradicating Poverty Beyond Growth.
The Roadmap will be presented to the UN on June 25 2026, providing policymakers with a catalogue of concrete measures that can shift our economy away from profit-at-all-costs and towards fulfilling human rights.
Read more and see a video presentation by Olivier De Schutter, click here.
by Olivier de Schutter | Nov 22, 2024 | News
As more countries are facing a secular stagnation and as it is becoming clear that it is unrealistic to hope to increase total economic output (measured as the gross domestic product GDP)) without further worsening the environmental crisis, a new question emerges: how can we make progress towards eradicating poverty without growth? While the Pact for the Future adopted on 23 September 2024 reaffirms the need to “urgently develop measures of progress on sustainable development that complement or go beyond GDP”, indicators alone, while useful, remain insufficient: what matters is the reorientation of the economy — of our ways of producing and consuming.
The Special Rapporteur proposed a range of answers, which include strengthening the social and solidary economy, identifying new sources of financing for State services that do not depend on growth, better valuing care work and better aligning wages with the social utility of work. The overall objective should be to expand the toolbox of governments in the fight against poverty. This will allow to move beyond a grow-tax-transfer approach to poverty reduction (the dominant post-market model to combating poverty), to focus more on pre-market measures (including investing in early childhood education and care) and on market reforms (to make markets more inclusive).
To read the full document, click here.
by Olivier de Schutter | Oct 22, 2024 | News
Social protection schemes should be implemented to
the fullest extent possible, without excessive targeting or
conditionalities. Universal basic income schemes should be
seriously considered, and pilots carefully evaluated, given their
role in providing economic security and predictability.
Read the full two-page summary report by clicking here.
by Olivier de Schutter, Philippe van Parijs | Oct 21, 2024 | News
Photo: Skorzewiak/shutterstock.com
Recent UBI trials reveal that guaranteed income provides immediate mental health relief, but sustaining long-term benefits may depend on lasting economic security.
Interest is surging in the idea of a Universal Basic Income (UBI) – a regular income paid by the government to each adult member of society, regardless of their personal or financial circumstances. But can it achieve its stated goals of reducing poverty, improving working conditions and increasing well-being? Thanks to a global flurry of pilot programmes putting these claims to the test, answers to this question are starting to trickle in.
To read the full article, click here.
