Charity law and the definition of poverty
All charities registered with the Charity Commission have to work towards specific charitable objectives. Most international development charities have as one of their objectives the prevention or relief of poverty. Under the Charities Act 2006, all charities need to demonstrate how their work is of public benefit, and the Commission consulted with charities in 2008 on how charities working on poverty issues can meet this requirement.
As part of this consultation, a debate took place as to the definition of 'poverty'. A submission from Bond members argued for a broad definition of poverty as including deprivation in rights, voice and security. However, although the final guidance, published in December 2008, does have some positive features, there are still some aspects which may be problematic for international development NGOs.
Bond's view of poverty
The guidance does recognise that there is no one absolute measure of poverty. This reflects Bond's view that poverty is both absolute, and relative with regard to the normative standards in any particular society. Bond argued that campaigning for change can be an effective way of tackling the root causes of poverty, and this is acknowledged in the new guidance.
Charity Commission - poverty always includes financial hardship
However, there remains a divergence on the definition of poverty. To its credit, the guidance acknowledges that poverty is multi-dimensional and about more than financial hardship alone. However it states clearly that financial hardship is always a necessary aspect of poverty. Bond has argued to the contrary, in line with much current thinking on development, that poverty is about deprivation in relation to material, social or economic resources and includes powerlessness, voicelessness, vulnerability and fear.
NGOs may need to change their charitable purposes
Problems could arise for charities whose principal purpose is the relief of poverty if they wish to focus their work on communities that suffer non-material deprivation in crucial areas - for example, lack of citizenship rights or insecurity caused by conflict. A number of NGOs are currently considering whether they should amend their charitable purposes to include, for example, the advancement of human rights, citizenship or environmental protection to ensure they are able to continue working on these wider development issues.
Charity Commission: The Prevention or Relief of Poverty for the Public Benefit
