‘Vulnerable’ and ‘vulnerability’ are common terms in the lexicon of development, but their use is often vague. They serve as convenient substitutes for ‘poor’ and ‘poverty’, and allow planners and other professionals to restrain the overuse of those words.
Some precision can be found in the use of ‘vulnerable groups’ where this refers to pregnant and lactating women, to children, or to disadvantaged communities such as scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in India. More often, though, vulnerable is used simply as a synonym for poor.
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