This is post two of: A newbie learns about global poverty.
Step 2. Attend a session of the Global Poverty Project presentation. The Global Poverty Project is run by two Australians, Hugh Evans and Simon Moss and aims to educate the public on global poverty, and outline how we can help lift the world’s 1.4 billion people out of extreme poverty. Much like Al Gore’s original presentation on climate change and as seen in The Inconvenient Truth, it’s a fantastic layman’s overview on a seemingly complex problem.
A simple yet ground-breaking presentation, 1.4 billion reasons, is traveling the world, inspiring and empowering audiences in its path. Based on leading research, the 90 minute presentation clearly articulates the facts of extreme poverty and demonstrates that by making simple changes everyone can be a part of the solution. Compelling and challenging, the presentation moves audiences to take action and become a part of the movement to end extreme poverty. (Global Poverty Project)
After watching the presentation, followup by heading to the website in order to find out how you can learn more about global poverty, and get involved. That’s the thing with any activity, including activism and social change. It’s so much more fun and effective when you do it with others. You learn more, you make new friends, you keep each other inspired and generate more energy and enthusiasm. Plus combined, directed effort is so much more effective than each person off doing their own thing.
Stay tuned as I chart my own involvement.
And if you don’t have the time (or the interest) in getting involved, the site points you to links to donate money or sponsor a child. I’ve been a sponsoring a child for about a decade now, and recently World Vision wrote to me saying the project I had been sponsoring was closing up. And they were transferring me to a new project in Rawanda, and introduced me to my new kid, Emmanuel:
Not to get all Ja’mie King on you, but how cute is he? In his little hipster pink button up shirt and black bow tie! And check this out:
His favourite subject is “business”! How come five-year-olds are learning about business?
Little support from either side of the party lines.
But we’ll get there in the end.
Read more posts documenting my campaign to support same-sex marriage.
Step 1. I read the Wikipedia page on “poverty”, lolz! Every newbie needs to begin with an easy to read, all encompassing map which is exactly what Wikipedia provides. (However, being such a topical and complex issue, it’s a page constantly shifting under the hand of new authors. The highlights I’ll take you through are from the page a month ago and today).
Global poverty feels like this big rock that we’ve been carrying forever and nothing’s worked to make it smaller, but in fact the percentage of the world’s population living in extreme poverty has halved since 1981, according to the World Bank. Go us! Most of this improvement has happened in East and South Asia. Meanwhile Sub-Saharan Africa has experienced an increase of poverty, from 41 percent in 1981 to 46 percent in 2001.
And let’s not forget, pre the Industrial Revolution, poverty was the norm. In 1820, 75% of humanity lived on less than a dollar a day, while in 2001, only about 20% did. The dawn of the Industrial Revolution led to high economic growth, and when matched with improvements in medicine and science, was instrumental in eliminating mass poverty in what is now considered the developed world.
The World Bank defines extreme poverty as living on less than US ($1.25) per day, and moderate poverty as less than $2 a day. It estimates that “in 2001, 1.1 billion people had consumption levels below $1 a day and 2.7 billion lived on less than $2 a day.” (The Global Poverty Project gives a more up-to-date figure of 1.4 billion people living in extreme poverty.)
The World Bank also predicts that,
In 2030 the number living on less than the equivalent of $1 a day will fall by half, to about 550 million. An average resident of what we used to call the Third World will live about as well as do residents of the Czech or Slovak republics today. Much of Africa will have difficulty keeping pace with the rest of the developing world and even if conditions there improve in absolute terms, the report warns, Africa in 2030 will be home to a larger proportion of the world’s poorest people than it is today. (Wikipedia)
Possible causes of poverty:
- Unwillingness of governments and feudal elites to give full-fledged property rights of land to their tenants, which prevents the poor from establishing new enterprises.
- Poor governance. You know the story: corruption, poor management of resources and failure to provide the essentials (infrastructure, education, health services).
- Also, new enterprises and foreign investment can be driven away by the results of inefficient institutions, notably corruption, weak rule of law and excessive bureaucratic burdens. Such costly barriers favor big firms at the expense of small enterprises, where most jobs are created.
- War and political instability.
- Brain drain.
- Recessions.
- Health issues. A country of malnourished and diseased people means a loss of human capital and resources being diverted to combat these problems.
- Shortage of basic needs like lack of clean water, sanitation, food and health care. Poor people spend a greater portion of the budgets on food, so shock increases in food prices has a greater impact on them. As does environmental factors, such as erosion, desertification and overgrazing, deforestation, climate change, lack of natural resources, drought and water crises.
Poverty reduction strategies:
Economic growth/ liberalisation. The World Bank concludes increasing land rights is ‘the key to reducing poverty’ citing that land rights greatly increase poor people’s wealth, in some cases doubling it. Opening up trade is also listed on Wikipedia as a strong contender.
Trade liberalization increases total surplus of trading nations and foreign investment and export industries helped fuel the economic expansion of fast growing Asian nations. However, trade rules are often not free as they block access to richer nations’ markets and ban poorer nations from supporting their industries and agriculture. Deals can sometimes be negotiated to favor the developing country such as in Thailand, the 51 percent rule compels multinational corporations starting operations in Thailand give 51 percent control to a Thai company in a joint venture. (Wikipedia)
Good governance. While politics and corruption seem to go hand in hand, and at times an almost insurmountable problem, one only need look at the “South Asian Tiger” countries for a cheering story:
Examples of good governance leading to economic development and poverty reduction include Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia, South Korea, and Vietnam, which tend to have a strong government, called a hard state or development state. These “hard states” have the will and authority to create and maintain policies that lead to long-term development that helps all their citizens, not just the wealthy. Multinational corporations are regulated so that they follow reasonable standards for pay and labor conditions, pay reasonable taxes to help develop the country, and keep some of the profits in the country, reinvesting them to provide further development. (Wikipedia)
Investments in human capital, infrastructure and technology. Get people healthy and educated, then give them infrastructure and technology – and they’re unstoppable!
I am particularly interested in the life-changing effects of mobile technology for the poor. Communication and information is certainly power (or empowerment!) For example, mobile phone networks can bring the market to poor or rural sections, allowing a remote farmer to know what specific crops to produce to sell to buyers that brings the best prices. Read these two articles to learn more about this fascinating and exciting new development.
Aid, debt relief, micro-financing and welfare. Read founder of Grameen Bank, Muhammad Yunus’ ‘Banker To The Poor’ for a great introduction into the world of micro-financing. Micro-finance also takes into account another vital aspect of poverty reduction: empowering women. Women constitute the majority of the world’s poor, and concurrently when give more influence act more responsibly (than men) in helping people of the family or village.
As Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan once said:
There is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women. No other policy is as likely to raise economic productivity, or to reduce infant and maternal mortality. No other policy is as sure to improve nutrition and promote health – including the prevention of HIV/AIDS. No other policy is as powerful in increasing the chances of education for the next generation. And I would also venture that no policy is more important in preventing conflict, or in achieving reconciliation after a conflict has ended.
I can basically summarise this letter in one sentence: listen kiddo, we’ve given gay couples the same rights as straight de facto couples (but we’re still not going to call it a “marriage”.)
Read more posts documenting my campaign to support same-sex marriage.
Over the last few years I’ve felt an ambivalence about nationalism, no doubt spurred on by numerous travels overseas. A growing awareness of the great injustices and suffering in less fortunate countries than our own, while we here in Australia grow fat in our warm, safe houses made me feel indignant. Why should I pledge allegiance to this country over all others? I am a citizen of the world, and I care about every soul on this planet, not just the Australian ones.
But learning about the three duties Australian citizens must fulfill – duties I’ve effectively been born into – really brought it home to me. While I still very much like to believe I am a global citizen, like it or not, I am also an Australian, and that citizenship comes with certain rewards and obligations.
And one such reward – or is it an obligation – is the ability to shape the laws of this country.
I know this is civics 101, but it’s only recently hit me what laws really represent. They’re rules that, as a country – you, me and every other citizen -, we’ve decided to come together, create and abide by, because they make the place a safer, fairer and more prosperous place to live.
Do I agree with all the laws? No, but out of respect to this place I abide by them because this is what the country has democratically agreed is the way we want to live. Will I also fight to change the laws I don’t agree with? YES! And thankfully, because we live in a democracy, each of us, as a citizen has the ability to be a part of that process.
As many of you will have been following, I’ve recently been exercising my citizenship by getting in contact with my electorate MP (Mr Philip Ruddock of Berowra.) At first I simply wrote him a letter expressing my desire for marriage laws to be changed so as to allow for same-sex marriage. I didn’t receive a reply, but then I, quite accidentally, saw him at a charity event and was given the opportunity to speak to him in person.
Following our little tete-a-tete, I resent my original letter. And yesterday I received a reply! (Click on the image below to view the large version.)
Mr Ruddock, if you’re reading this, and to all the future young Liberals to take the Berowra seat (one of the most conservative in the country), this won’t be the last time you’ll be hearing from me. And that’s not said in a threatening way – moreover I’m simply glad to know you, and look forward to being in continual dialogue with you, as my representative in government.
Note: I’m not entirely certain of the legality of publishing the letter. Does anyone know? As my journalist friend said his old boss used to say, “if in doubt, publish!”
