We should be the first generation to eradicate poverty

Saloni
Maharaja Sawai Man Singh Vidyalaya
India

What is it like to be poor? People who do not have enough to eat, or a place to live, or other basic essentials for life, are clearly poor. One way of looking at poverty is to say that anyone who has a standard of living far below the average for the whole country is poor. Poverty is the inability to attain the goods and services, which are necessary to maintain an adequate standard of living. No society distributes income evenly. But some reasons for inequality are more acceptable to the society than others.

It is estimated that 1.3 billion people live on less than US $1 per day. This number is growing steadily as civil wars, loss of employment and the restructuring of societies are creating new groups of poor people. Childhood should be a happy time spent playing with friends, enjoying a favorite toy - even planning for the first day of school. But children in the developing world spend most of their childhood struggling to survive, without much hope for a secure, productive life.

There are many reasons for poverty. Some countries have too few resources to support the number of people living there. They may also be affected by natural disasters. To make matters worse, 10 of the 13 worst affected countries also suffer from war, fighting and refugee problems. Some of the poorest countries in the world spend a large part of their national income on their armed forces, even though many of their people are starving to death.

The continuous increase in the number of people living below the poverty line has meant that the eradication of poverty has been one of the major objectives of development strategies. The current anti-poverty strategies of governments are based on two major ideas:

• the promotion of economic growth
• targeted anti-poverty programs.

The higher economic growth rates have significantly helped to reduce poverty. There is a strong link between economic growth and the reduction of poverty. Economic growth widens opportunities and provides the resources needed to improve social conditions. This also encourages people to send their children, including girls, to schools in the hope of getting better economic returns from investing in education. At present, growth in the agricultural sector is far below expectations. This has a direct bearing on poverty as a large number of poor people live in villages and are dependent on agriculture.

Income-support programs are the main form of assistance to the poor. Respect for human rights, meeting basic human needs and the more equitable distribution of wealth, are clear priorities for the eradication of poverty. Ultimate success, however, will only be ensured when there is a willingness and commitment on the part of the non-poor to assist in the elimination of the human degradation which poverty creates.

The United Nations Decade for Poverty Eradication (1997-2006) is a worldwide endeavour to confront the problem of human degradation caused by abject poverty. In this context, education plays an important role. The question still arises, however: 'What can education do?' In response, UNESCO has initiated a program in education that will contribute towards poverty eradication.

Some programs provide goods and services directly to the needy to supplement their cash income. Whatever the merits of helping the poor with cash or in-kind income, public attention is at least being focused on a specific problem and thus ensuring that it receives some political attention.

We can also help families to have a planned family with a maximum of two children. This is a productive way of eliminating poverty. Proper care for the mother and the child will increase the chance that the children will be healthy. The government also provides some education from preschool to college for children of the poor.

National strategies aimed at substantially reducing overall poverty should include measures to remove the structural barriers that prevent people from escaping poverty. Such measures should have a specific commitment to eradicate absolute poverty by a target date, which is to be specified by each country according to its own national context.

We can expand opportunities to enable people living in poverty to enhance their overall capacities and improve their economic and social conditions, while managing resources sustainably.

We should frame policies that strengthen the family and contribute to its stability in accordance with the principles, goals and commitments contained in the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and in the Program of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development.

We can elaborate, at the national level, the measurements, criteria and indicators for determining the extent and distribution of absolute poverty. Each country should develop a precise definition and assessment of absolute poverty.

Only through collective efforts can we hope to eradicate poverty.

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