Refocusing the Battle against Global Poverty

The World Bank estimates that 1.4 billion people live under $1.25 a day. Through the Millennium Development Goal (MDGs) the international community committed to reduce the proportion of people worldwide, between 1990 and 2015, who live on less than a $1 per day by one-half http://www.globalissues.org/issue/2/causes-of-poverty. Yet, global poverty remains the most important problem of this century. Considering the recent global food crisis, increased cost of energy and drought, at least 100 million more people are expected to fall into the poverty bracket. We need to act now with resolute, creativity and increased efficiency in tackling global poverty by targeting fundamental contributors to poverty like education and health.

Poverty eradication in an economic crisis

It would be helpful to start by addressing an equally important issue that pre-occupies the development community and governments; the global financial crisis. There are people who question the importance of poverty eradication programming especially beyond national borders. Others have urged for complete freeze of Overseas Development Assistance (ODA). This position ignores our moral responsibility to poverty eradication but also takes away national competitiveness in opening new markets that could spur growth and more jobs as the economy emerges from the crisis. For instance, Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia represent a huge untapped market which Canadian businesses could engage when the economy recovers. But first, these regions need to emerge out of extreme poverty and become consumers of goods and services. There is a security dimension too. People struggling at the bottom of the pyramid are more likely to be lured into terrorism and drug trafficking - the cost of the two is well documented. Canada should care about global poverty because the cost of doing nothing is too high and it is the right thing to do.

Practical strategies on global poverty

Increasing access to quality education is a key to poverty eradication. Gary Becker, the 1992 Nobel laureate in economics contends that the primary determinant of a country’s standard of living is how well it succeeds in developing and utilizing the skills, knowledge, health and habits of its population. While there has been a tremendous gain in elementary school enrolment in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia through national and international efforts, serious challenges remain (Albert-Eneas Gakusi, African Development Review, Vol. 22 No.1, 2010, 208-264) -
Irrelevant curriculum, poor learning outcomes, weak link with world of work and financing continue to undermine the net contribution to poverty eradication. To increase effectiveness, support to education needs to also include adult literacy, vocational training and strengthening education system capacity. Peasant farmers need new skills to cope with increasing drought, loss of soil fertility. The introduction of improved seed varieties will help to fight hunger if accompanied with training in reduction of huge on-farm post harvest losses.

Health is yet another important contributor to poverty. According to the WHO, health is “a state of physical, mental, and social well-being in all matters relating to the reproductive system at all stages of life” (WHO 2004). Overall, poor health constrains productivity and undermines poverty eradication programs. Africa accounts for 11% of the world’s population but the continent has the highest burden of disease, seven times higher than high income countries. South-East Asia and Africa bore 54% of the global burden of disease in 2004 (The global burden of disease: 2004 update – WHO). HIV/AIDS, diarrhoeal, malaria, neonatal infection and lower respiratory infection were the main causes of burden of disease in the two regions. Malaria remains the leading cause of infant mortality in Africa with more than 90% of the estimated 300–500 million clinical cases of malaria that occur across the world every year. Additionally, of the 20 countries with the highest maternal mortality rates, 19 are in Africa. In 2002, in the African Region, an estimated 231 000 women died due to pregnancy and childbirth complications. The African Region’s neonatal death rate is the highest in the world. An estimated 43 out of every 1000 babies born in 2005 died during their first 28 days of life http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs314/en/index.html

The core causes of the burden of disease are preventable. Tapping the full potential of women has to be a major part of poverty eradication in Africa and Asia. Women are the back born of house hold productivity - working on small holder farms, trading in road side goods or keeping poultry. Yet, poor family health impacts women’s productivity more than men. We need to increase access to primary health care, early childhood development (ECD), strengthen African capacity to manage main causes of the burden of disease, leverage new technology to share expertise with the West in clinical case management and broaden women’s empowerment. Across the developing world, small initiatives have shown the way to improving health with limited resources. In Uganda for instance, in 2004, an association of traditional birth attendants helped to significantly reduce maternal mortality rates in Kamuli district using cell phones to provide 24/7 assistance to women in need.
Poverty eradication is a huge challenge. Nevertheless, the international community has made tremendous progress by enacting various instruments to eradicate it. There is no doubt that the upcoming G8 and G20 Summits in Huntsville, Ontario will provide Canada an excellent opportunity to re-affirm its commitment to global poverty eradication.