Building Forward Together: Ending Persistent Poverty

“Poverty is a moral indictment of our times.”- António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations. The World Bank states the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to have pushed between 143 and 163 million people into poverty in 2021. We do not need the World Bank to tell us that we have become poorer. On each visit to the grocery shop or wholesale our purchasing power decreases; one only has to look at the shopping cart. As consumers we have very little choices, it’s either we do without or we purchase if we can. We have been forced to cut back on some basic items. Unfortunately, not only has there been an increase in poverty, there has also been an increase in malnutrition. Many have had to skip a meal or two. Many mothers have had to go hungry in order to ensure that their children eat. Persistent poverty is a vicious cycle made worse by the insatiable appetite of the super-rich, who have become richer during the COVID-19 pandemic, and corrupt governments. The poorer one becomes the more likely one can be controlled. Is this a strategic tactic to have sections of a population remain in persistent poverty? Interestingly, the new endeavour of the super-rich is space tourism as they trip over themselves in a mad rush to fork out millions of dollars to orbit space just for a thrill rocket flight. The United Nations asserts poverty entails more than the lack of income and productive resources to ensure sustainable livelihoods. Its manifestations include hunger and malnutrition, limited access to education and other basic services, social discrimination and exclusion, as well as the lack of participation in decision-making. In 2015, more than 736 million people lived below the international poverty line. Around 10 per cent of the world population (pre-pandemic) was living in extreme poverty and struggling to fulfill the most basic needs like health, education, and access to water and sanitation, to name a few. There were 122 women aged 25 to 34 living in poverty for every 100 men of the same age group, and more than 160 million children were at risk of continuing to live in extreme poverty by 2030. The COVID-19 pandemic that gripped the world during the past year has resulted in reversing decades of progress in the fight against poverty and extreme poverty. According to the World Bank, between 88 and 115 million people are being pushed into poverty as a result of the crisis, with the majority of the new extreme poor being found in South Asian and Sub-Saharan countries where poverty rates are already high”. In 2021, this number is expected to have risen to between 143 and 163 million. These ‘new poor’ will join the ranks of the 1.3 billion people already living in multidimensional and persistent poverty who saw their pre-existing deprivations aggravated during the global pandemic. It is debatable that some of the anti COVID-19 measures imposed to reduce the spread of the pandemic further pushed marginalized sub-groups into poverty. The informal economy which enables many people in poverty to survive has been curtailed and in many instances has been shut down in many countries. According to the most recent estimates, in 2015, 10 percent of the world’s population or 734 million people lived on less than $1.90 a day. Disturbing! The observance of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty can be traced to 17 October 1987. On that day, over a hundred thousand people gathered at the Trocadéro in Paris, where the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed in 1948, to honour the victims of extreme poverty, violence and hunger. Through resolution 47/196 adopted on 22 December 1992, the General Assembly declared 17 October as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. The theme for International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is Building Forward Together: Ending Persistent Poverty, Respecting All People and our Planet. Fostering A Culture of Global Solidarity The Secretary- General of the United Nations declares that the number of women in extreme poverty far outpaces that of men. He added that even before the pandemic, the 22 richest men in the world had more wealth than all the women in Africa. Let this sink in for a minute or two. This is quite alarmingly and speaks to the glaring global inequalities of income and wealth. Despite the talk and some amount of global action led by the United Nations through the Sustainable Development Goals, especially, goal #1 which speaks to ending poverty in all forms; much more intervention is required to end poverty. The minimum wage in Jamaica is currently at $7,000 per week; the exchange rate is approximately $J152 for US$1. A recent report states than more than 400,000 Jamaicans live in poverty and 14,000 live in extreme poverty. Jamaica’s population is approximately 3 million. Despite recording a 20% drop in the poverty rate in 2018 the lowest in ten years; many Jamaican families are struggling to keep food on the table. According to Finance Minister, Dr. Nigel Clarke, in 2018, the poverty rate was 12.6%. The minimum wage in Barbados is $8,50 per hour or US$4,25 per hour. In Trinidad and Tobago the minimum wage is $17.50 hourly. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development promises to leave no one behind and to reach those furthest behind first. The United Nations states that meeting this ambitious development agenda requires visionary policies for sustainable, inclusive, sustained and equitable economic growth, supported by full employment and decent work for all, social integration, declining inequality, rising productivity and a favorable environment. In the 2030 Agenda, goal #1 recognizes that ending poverty in all its forms everywhere is the greatest global challenge facing the world today and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development. The 3rd United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (2018-2027) The United Nations has been at the helm of the global fight to eradicate poverty. The plan of action for the Third Decade focuses on issues on which strengthened operational and policy integration by the United Nations system could yield improved support to Member States priorities and capacity to pursue institutional and policy coherence. In that regard, a focus is proposed on promoting collaboration across the United Nations system on policy issues where an integrated approach has most salience and that addresses key issues in transforming development processes. Experience with existing system-wide plans of action can inform the identification of key objectives and core principles for collaborative inter-agency action. The plan of action is founded on 10 basic principles that will guide the work of the United Nations system collectively and the individual contributions of system entities. Among them are: poverty is multidimensional in the forms it takes and its underlying causes, and new forms are emerging; gender mainstreaming is vital for policy design and implementation; discrimination, marginalization and exclusion are major causes of poverty and the barriers to the full participation in society and the economy of poor people and people in vulnerable situations, and must be removed; respect for internationally recognized human rights is an essential foundation for action; inclusive and strategic partnerships based on these principles will pull together resources and deliver action globally, regionally, nationally and locally. Ending Poverty There is no magic wand to eradicate poverty. The Bible in St. Matthew 26:11 states, for ye have the poor always with you. This clearly does not mean governments should sit back and relax. Perhaps the world should focus more on poverty reduction which is both practical and achievable. Globally, governments have embarked on COVID-19 stimulus programmes and cash transfer initiatives to alleviate at least temporarily some of the suffering sections of the population are experiencing. However, people need to be inspired; an inspiration that allows folks to believe in themselves and the leadership. Too often we see the wealth and opportunities in societies confined only to a exclusive group of the well connected; this model has not worked and will not work. There needs to be an inclusive approach to eradicate poverty. Rural poverty is oftentimes different from urban and this needs specific attention. Women are oftentimes left out of the conversation regarding poverty reduction this is problematic and needs to be fixed. We need to interrogate the education system which is rather elitist and in many ways contribute to some of the problems we currently have in the society. We need to have more opportunities for the youth. A reduction in crime is also critical. Too many individuals continue to fall through the cracks and into poverty. The extent to which governments can inspire hope among their population will be the extent to which governments globally will be able to adequately tackle poverty. Undoubtedly, access to quality education is important in the fight to end poverty. Governments must redouble their efforts to end poverty in all its forms. It is clear that a multi-sectoral approach is required; civil society, the church, non-governmental organizations, international lending agencies, the private and public sectors must speak with one voice to tackle poverty as we build forward together. In the words of Nelson Mandela, poverty is not an accident. Like slavery and apartheid, it is man-made and can be removed by the actions of human beings. Wayne Campbell is an educator and social commentator with an interest in development policies as they affect culture and or gender issues. waykam@yahoo.com @WayneCamo #EndPoverty #SDGs #InternationalDayfortheEradicationofPoverty ©