Micro finance groups are doing a great job. There are just not enough of them.

Creating more of them would help. ( No I have no idea how to do that.)

The IMF and World Bank are only interested in Macro economics. To create wealth at the bottom, you must start at the bottom.

This requires:
Education. People must know how do do something or produce something other people are willing to pay for.

Capital. The people who are capable of producing value must have access to the capital to buy the tools necessary. The capital MUST be provided in the form of a loan and the borrowers MUST be required to pay them back. This is human nature. If you give them a gift of a machine, they may use it and perhaps even prosper, but if you make them struggle to pay for it, they will acquire a sense of pride and self worth that they will not acquire from the gift. This is part of the reason the Micro groups are working so well.

Distribution. You must have some way to get the products to market. I would really like to see a 15 year old transporting products to the market in the next village on his bicycle than to see established businesses coming in and doing it. After a year, the 15 year old will have a scooter, after another year, he will have an old pickup. This way the entire society develops an internal economy that can now trade with the outside.

Ultimately trade is the only way to create wealth and any taxes or barriers to trade ultimately decrease the total wealth of the people.

If you find a gold mine under your grass hut, it will not make you rich unless you can trade the gold.

In terms of large scale results I think only your last point will work. In order to get wealth from the people that have it to the people that don't on a huge scale you need socialism.

Consider that the amount our presidential candidates spent promoting themselves could have fed every homeless person in the country for the next 4 years.

The best realistic way to improve standards of living is to choose one standard at a time and address each of them in turn. For example, I think it was in scientific american that I read about cheap eyeglasses that could be made for $2 each and then adjusted on the spot. This allowed thousands to be able to see better. Seeing better is an improvement in and of itself, but it also means the person is more likely to be able to read and that is a huge deal.

The best solution is to teach people to help themselves, and to help them in a way that gives them the tools to do that long-term.

First address the overall society. Most third-world nations are largely agricultural. Heifer International has a great program that gives people in these countries the animals they need to farm. My childrens' 4-H group regularly donates flocks of chicks, knowing that they will be given to farmers in areas that, due to economic conditions brought about by war, can't afford chicks on their own. When most of the people in an area who need to farm can, the area is more peaceful. And because it's not big gifts of cash or food that would be targets for political parties in a war, it's likely to stay with the farmer. People can live quite well as farmers--maybe not on par with people in Santa Barbara, but they can have healthy, happy children and long lives.

The second thing, after basic food/living needs are met, is education. Everyone does need at least a basic education, with opportunities for the talented to move ahead. Many church groups run schools all over the world, but more is always needed. Often these groups are trusted because they come into areas asking nothing in return, not siding with any political party and not bolstering those in power, but serving the weakest and poorest people. If you want to help in this way, just check with a local church of most denominations. Ask if they have a missionary program they support, and they can put you in direct touch with people working in real schools all over the world.

There is yet another program that puts manual water pumps with filtration in areas that don't have accessible, clean water so that the women, who normally spend half their day on obtaining water and making it drinkable, can have more time freed up to be productive in other ways.

Note that all of the above programs are run completely independently of government support, thus meaning no pork barrel taxes needed. And they put the person doing the given in touch with the people receiving the gifts.

At that point, when there is a stable population providing food for themselves and others, and a population with basic education, then is the time to start thinking about business opportunities. But the biggest problem in many countries, particularly in Africa, is that regimes often steal the money and aid meant to put business programs in place. Until there are people of character with their countries' best interests at heart, large-scale aid will continue to be stolen and misappropriated.

You've probably heard the story about the girl walking along the beach, finding starfish and throwing them back into the surf, and the cynical old man who asked why she was doing it, because there were hundreds of stranded starfish. "You can't possibly make a difference doing this." Her response, as she picked up another and threw it back: "It made a difference to *that* one."

I shoot video for several non-profit groups and have come to a personal opinion about one definite thing. I believe that our standard of living should never be applied to another country. The western or American view of conditions in Africa is deplorable. At one level I agree, but to attempt to build a three bedroom house, clothe villagers, put computers in every house... these are a few of the things that stress me out.
To take care of medical, food and drink, shelter, education... these are the things that the third world needs. They don't need our standard of living applied to their situation. To feel sorry for them because they live in mud huts is pathetic.
The standard of living in the third world would improve dramatically if we just took care of the "stupid poverty" - life saving medicine that costs a dollar a day when they make .50.
The developer of Acholi Beads, James Pearson, lived in Uganda for a couple of years taking care of operations for Invisible Children. He has some fantastic ideas on how to help improve conditions.

Education is the single most effective long-term solution. The rest of your list is good, but poverty will never end until every single child on the planet has access to a quality education.

When a poor person has respect for himself, internal hope for change and the tools to so, everything gets better. Thats why when you start giving the basics like food and clothing with a job through personel contact a person feels they have value. Create the real or percived value in that person an most of the time thats all thats needed . Get out there and help the less fortunate. It will come back to you 10 fold. That's for sure !

I have been a fan of microcredit since 2007. Continuously supporting http://kiva.org has allowed me to fund over 170 loans to hundreds of hard working entrepreneurs in 35 countries and it's a great feeling. Yunus won the Nobel prize for his work. He says we can relegate poverty to the museum someday if we try hard enough. I'm trying.