Poverty Development and Well being: Ethical Challenges none January 26, 2008 By Ishara Mahat Poverty Development and Wellbeing: Ethical Challenges Abstract: Poverty is often seen as having low income and inability to access standardized services for living. However, poverty measures have failed to measure the deprivations which are more detrimental in achieving the human freedom and thereby their well being. Accordingly, development goal is intended to achieve the benefit that are materially sufficient and disregards the resources which are intrinsically important. Individual’s intrinsic capabilities are often undermined that function for their overall well being. The challenges are then to increase the capabilities of the people with adequate freedom and choices that enable them to enjoy the positive state of life that hey value. Poverty and Development The relationship between poverty and development is a complex one. It is rather worth to examine poverty in terms of relative deprivations that create absolute poverty. Poverty is created through multiple deprivations which reinforce each other (Allen and Thomas, 2000). Development becomes handicapped with multiple deprivations, and thus the relationship between poverty and development can not be only seen in terms of material advancement. Especially in this age of technocrats, development is often viewed as advancement in technology and spreading its effects all over the world including those in territories. However, there are some observations which reveal that the great danger to the poor seems to be the concentration of political power (Attwood, Bruneau, and Galaty, 1988). Economic development often comes ahead of social justice and equities. However, economic output does not always predict social performance. For instance, when comparing poorer nations having about equal GNP per capita, eg. South Asia and Sub Saharan Africa, the average life