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(SatyaBhavna :: What we feel about a few truths!)

WORLD ISSUES

Poverty is the most critical threat to sustainable development. The gap between the poor and the rich is widening by the day.
(Mohammed Valli Moosa)

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Suggested Citation: Satya, B. and Satya J. (2003). World Poverty. Retreived from http://www.truefeeling.com/poverty.htm

World Poverty
A cycle of economic hardship, extreme hunger, poor health care and sanitation is a lifestyle for many on this earth. More than 1.2 billion people across the world - two-third of them women - live in crushing poverty, facing challenges of getting access to food, safe water, sanitation, basic education and health services, according to the U.N. Development Program. Poverty is not just an economic issue, it is an issue of political economics!

While estimates suggest that progress since 1990 puts the world on track to reach that goal by 2015, most of that progress has occurred in East Asia, especially in China. Excluding China, the overall decline in global poverty in the period 1990-98 was less than half the rate needed for reaching the 2015 target. HIV/AIDS has become a major obstacle to achieving these targets. The income gap seems to have widened between regions, gender groups, rural and urban areas, and ethnic groups. Evidence also suggests that the gap is growing with respect to under-five mortality, child malnutrition and basic education. As per the recent reports by World Bank, "many of the poorest countries will not reach the millennium development goals unless all partners take decisive action without delay." The bank estimates around 1 billion people in the developing world are living without access to safe drinking water while each minute a woman dies in pregnancy or child birth, with 99 percent of maternal deaths occurring in developing countries. Poor people are often treated badly by the institutions of state and society and excluded from voice and power in those institutions. Low incomes, deprivation in health and education, voiceless/powerlessness in the society makes them an invisible group.

If the poorer nations are not given the sufficient means to produce their own food, if they are not allowed to use the tools of production for themselves, then poverty and dependency will continue

Some facts:

More than 840 million people in the world are malnourished—799 million of them are from the developing world. More than 153 million of them are under the age of 5.
6 million children under the age of 5 die every year as a result of hunger.
Of the 6.2 billion people in today's world, 1.2 billion live on less than $1 per day
The proportion of people living on less than $1 a day has fallen from 29 percent to 23 percent in the past 10 years, although that masks significant regional differences. (East Asia - from 28% to 14 %; South Asia - from 44 % to 37 %; Africa - from 48 % to only 47 )
The amount of money that the richest 1 percent of the world's people make each year equals what the poorest 57 percent make. 51 percent of the world's 100 hundred wealthiest bodies are corporations.
20% of the population in the developed nations, consume 86% of the worlds goods.

Finally, a thought provoking inquiry by Singer, an Australian philosopher, "... what is the ethical distinction between a Brazilian who sells a homeless child to organ peddlers and an American who already has a TV and upgrades to a better one — knowing that the money could be donated to an organization that would use it to save the lives of kids in need?"

Organizations/Programs:
UN Development Programme (UNDP)
World Banck: Poverty Net
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Bread.org
Eldis.org

Dates:
International Day for the Eradication of Poverty: October 17
World Health Day:

Resources:
Annan, K. (2002). Secretary-General Warns World Falling Short of Millennium Summit Commitments -      Press Release. Retreived from: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/sg2079e.htm
FAO. (2002). State of Food Insecurity in the World 2002.
     Retreived from:http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/y7352e/y7352e00.htm
IPS. (1998).Holding Transnationals Accountabl
Reuters. (2003). World Bank: U.N. Poverty Goals Off Track, Need Cash. The New York Times.
      Retreived from: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-economy-
      worldbank-poverty.html
Singer, P. (1999). Singer Solution to World Poverty. The New York Times. New York.
Terrorism: Questionand Answers. Causes of 9/11: World Poverty?
      Retreived from:http://www.terrorismanswers.com/causes/poverty.html
UNDP. (2001). UNDP Thematic Trust Fund: Poverty Reduction. New York.
       Retreived from: http://www.undp.org/trustfunds/povredttf.pdf
UNDP.(2002). Human Development Report 2002, Deepening Democracy in a Fragmented World.        Retreived from: http://www.undp.org/hdr2002/
-----. (1998). Human Development Report 1998.
      Retreived from:http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/1998/en/
World Bank. (2001). Poverty Report 2000-2001.
       Retreived from: http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/wdrpoverty/report/index.htm

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	(SatyaBhavna :: What we feel about a few truths!)

		WORLD ISSUES
	Poverty is the most critical threat to sustainable development. The gap between the poor and the rich is widening by the day. (Mohammed Valli Moosa)	WORLD ISSUES
		Home Education Environment Gender Inequity Human Rights Population Poverty About us \| Email
	Suggested Citation: Satya, B. and Satya J. (2003). World Poverty. Retreived from http://www.truefeeling.com/poverty.htm World Poverty A cycle of economic hardship, extreme hunger, poor health care and sanitation is a lifestyle for many on this earth. More than 1.2 billion people across the world - two-third of them women - live in crushing poverty, facing challenges of getting access to food, safe water, sanitation, basic education and health services, according to the U.N. Development Program. Poverty is not just an economic issue, it is an issue of political economics! While estimates suggest that progress since 1990 puts the world on track to reach that goal by 2015, most of that progress has occurred in East Asia, especially in China. Excluding China, the overall decline in global poverty in the period 1990-98 was less than half the rate needed for reaching the 2015 target. HIV/AIDS has become a major obstacle to achieving these targets. The income gap seems to have widened between regions, gender groups, rural and urban areas, and ethnic groups. Evidence also suggests that the gap is growing with respect to under-five mortality, child malnutrition and basic education. As per the recent reports by World Bank, "many of the poorest countries will not reach the millennium development goals unless all partners take decisive action without delay." The bank estimates around 1 billion people in the developing world are living without access to safe drinking water while each minute a woman dies in pregnancy or child birth, with 99 percent of maternal deaths occurring in developing countries. Poor people are often treated badly by the institutions of state and society and excluded from voice and power in those institutions. Low incomes, deprivation in health and education, voiceless/powerlessness in the society makes them an invisible group. If the poorer nations are not given the sufficient means to produce their own food, if they are not allowed to use the tools of production for themselves, then poverty and dependency will continue Some facts: More than 840 million people in the world are malnourished—799 million of them are from the developing world. More than 153 million of them are under the age of 5. 6 million children under the age of 5 die every year as a result of hunger. Of the 6.2 billion people in today's world, 1.2 billion live on less than $1 per day The proportion of people living on less than $1 a day has fallen from 29 percent to 23 percent in the past 10 years, although that masks significant regional differences. (East Asia - from 28% to 14 %; South Asia - from 44 % to 37 %; Africa - from 48 % to only 47 ) The amount of money that the richest 1 percent of the world's people make each year equals what the poorest 57 percent make. 51 percent of the world's 100 hundred wealthiest bodies are corporations. 20% of the population in the developed nations, consume 86% of the worlds goods. Finally, a thought provoking inquiry by Singer, an Australian philosopher, "... what is the ethical distinction between a Brazilian who sells a homeless child to organ peddlers and an American who already has a TV and upgrades to a better one — knowing that the money could be donated to an organization that would use it to save the lives of kids in need?" Organizations/Programs: UN Development Programme (UNDP) World Banck: Poverty Net International Monetary Fund (IMF) Bread.org Eldis.org Dates: International Day for the Eradication of Poverty: October 17 World Health Day: Resources: Annan, K. (2002). Secretary-General Warns World Falling Short of Millennium Summit Commitments - Press Release. Retreived from: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/sg2079e.htm FAO. (2002). State of Food Insecurity in the World 2002. Retreived from:http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/y7352e/y7352e00.htm IPS. (1998).Holding Transnationals Accountabl Reuters. (2003). World Bank: U.N. Poverty Goals Off Track, Need Cash. The New York Times. Retreived from: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-economy- worldbank-poverty.html Singer, P. (1999). Singer Solution to World Poverty. The New York Times. New York. Terrorism: Questionand Answers. Causes of 9/11: World Poverty? Retreived from:http://www.terrorismanswers.com/causes/poverty.html UNDP. (2001). UNDP Thematic Trust Fund: Poverty Reduction. New York. Retreived from: http://www.undp.org/trustfunds/povredttf.pdf UNDP.(2002). Human Development Report 2002, Deepening Democracy in a Fragmented World. Retreived from: http://www.undp.org/hdr2002/ -----. (1998). Human Development Report 1998. Retreived from:http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/1998/en/ World Bank. (2001). Poverty Report 2000-2001. Retreived from: http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/wdrpoverty/report/index.htm
	About us \| Email