The present article analyses the strategic role played by the educational vector in the alleviation of poverty at the present time. For that purpose, it articulates in three sec-tions: in the first one, it analyses the most significant actions undertaken by international organizations on the fight against poverty. Secondly, it reviews the discourses of educational reforms during the 1990¿s, and the emerging topics of attention and interest within the lat-ter. Finally, in the third section, it offers an overview of the state of the question regarding poverty in Latin America and how this is affecting education, social expenditure cuttings, the situation of subemployment; while socio-cultural and family origin prove to be strong determi-nants. In view of this results, the conclusion deals with educational proposals, which react critically and pursue a higher degree of awareness and sensibilisation towards these problems, coinciding with the evaluation guide-lines of the ´Education For All´ plans.