Equity, defined primarily as equality of opportunities among people, should be an integral part of a successful poverty reduction strategy anywhere in the developing world, says a World Bank report released here Tuesday.

"Equity is complementary to the pursuit of long-term prosperity, " Francois Bourguignon, the bank's chief economist and senior vice president for development economics, told a press conference for the release of the annual 2006 World Development Report.

"Greater equity is doubly good for poverty reduction," he said. "It tends to favor sustained overall development, and it delivers increased opportunities to the poorest groups in a society."

The report makes the case for equity, not just as an end in itself, but because it often stimulates greater and more productive investment, which leads to faster growth.

It shows how wide gulfs of inequality in wealth and opportunity, both within and among nations, contribute to the persistence of extreme deprivation, often for a large proportion of the population. This wastes human potential and, in many cases, can slow the pace of sustained economic growth, it says.

Pro-equity policies can bridge these gulfs, the report concludes. The objective is not equality of incomes, but rather to expand access by the poor to health care, education, jobs, capital, and secure land rights.

Crucially, equity requires greater equality of access to political freedoms and political power. It also means breaking down stereotyping and discrimination, and improving access to justice systems and infrastructure, the report says.

To increase equity within developing countries, the report calls specifically for policies that correct for persistent inequalities in opportunity, by leveling the economic and political playing fields.

In addition to domestic reforms, the report also calls on nations to promote greater equity in the global arena, notably in the international markets for labor, goods, ideas and capital.

To achieve this, the report urges rich countries to allow greater migration for unskilled workers from developing countries, to press ahead with trade liberalization under the Doha Round at the World Trade Organization, to allow poor countries to use generic drugs, and to develop financial standards appropriate to developing countries.

It also reiterates the importance of increased and more effective development aid.

(Xinhua News Agency September 21, 2005)