No Poverty 

“To end poverty in all its forms everywhere by 2030.” – is the mission this time

Or so, we have been told

Do you find this possible?

I say I find it possible

Of course, with some work done

Because more than 700 million peo­ple still live in extreme pov­erty and are struggling to fulfill the most basic needs like health, education, and access to water and san­itation, to name a few.

That’s a lot of people.

Yes. The overwhelming majority of people living on less than $1.50 a day live in Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa and they account for about 70 per cent of the global total of extremely poor people.

Lower middle-income countries, including China, India, Indonesia and Nigeria, are home to about half of the global poor.

However, this issue also affects developed coun­tries. Right now there are 30 million children growing up poor in the world’s richest countries.

Why is there so much poverty in the world?

Poverty has many dimen­sions, but its causes include unemployment, social exclusion, and high vulner­ability of certain popula­tion to disasters, diseases and other phenomena which prevent them from being productive.

I’m not poor. Why should I care about other people’s economic situation?

There are many reasons, but in short, because as human beings, our well-being is linked to each other.

Growing inequality is bad to economic growth and undermines social cohesion, increas­ing political and social tensions and, in some circumstances, driving instability and conflicts.

Can we actually achieve this goal?

Yes.

To end extreme poverty worldwide in 20 years, economist Jeffrey Sachs calculated that the total cost per year would be about $175 billion. This represents less than one percent of the combined income of the richest countries in the world.

Is there something I can do to make this dream come to life?

If you are a young person, your active engagement in policy-making can make a difference in addressing poverty.

It ensures that your rights are promoted and that your voice is heard, that inter-generational knowledge is shared, and that innovation and critical thinking are encouraged at all ages to support transfor­mational change in people’s lives and communities.

Then, if you are a policymaker, governments can help create an enabling envi­ronment to generate pro­ductive employment and job opportunities for the poor and the marginalized. They can formulate strate­gies and fiscal policies that stimulate pro-poor growth, and reduce poverty.

Most of all, if you work in the private sector, the private sector, as an engine of economic growth, has a major role to play in determining whether the growth it creates is inclusive and hence contrib­utes to poverty reduction.

It can promote economic opportunities for the poor, focusing on segments of the economy where most of the poor are active, namely on micro and small enter­prises and those operating in the informal sector.

Also, if you are part of the sci­ence and academic com­munity, the academic and education community have a major role in increasing the awareness about the impact of poverty. Science provides the foundation for new and sustainable approaches, solutions and technologies to tackle the challenges of reducing poverty and achieving sustainable development.

The contribution of sci­ence to end poverty has been significant. For exam­ple, it has enabled access to safe drinking water, reduced deaths caused by water-borne diseases, and improved hygiene to reduce health risks related to unsafe drinking water and lack of sanitation.

I feel ready!!!