Poverty and the Sustainable Development Goals

Ending Poverty

More than half a billion people, or almost 8% of the world’s population, will live in poverty if the COVID-19 epidemic continues at its current pace, according to some estimates. The COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund, which is overseen by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, was formed by the United Nations in April 2020 as a framework for a quick social and economic response to COVID-19.

It is managed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations. While poverty had been reduced in East and Southeast Asia before the epidemic, up to 42 per cent of the population of Sub-Saharan Africa was still considered to be below the national Poverty and the Sustainable Development Goals line, according to the United Nations Development Programme.

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What is Poverty?

Poverty involves not only being unable to provide for one’s own needs, but also being unable to provide for those of one’s family. Additionally, there is a lack of participation in the decision-making process, as well as societal bias and marginalisation. At the time of this writing, the United Nations estimated that a total of 736 million people were deemed to be living in poverty throughout the world.

The world’s population was living in great poverty before the outbreak, with many of their most basic necessities, such as access to clean water and sanitation, as well as access to medical treatment, being ignored. Every 100 men in the same age group lived in poverty, whereas every 122 women in the same age range did. The United Nations Development Programme estimates that 160 million children are at risk of living in poverty by 2030, with an expected total population of 160 million youngsters.

Poverty facts and figures

• In 2015, one out of every 10 people on the planet, or 734 million people, lived on less than $1.90 a day.
• Southern Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are likely to have an increase in extreme poverty as a result of the outbreak, which will affect 32 million and 26 million people, respectively. These are the areas that are most vulnerable.
• Since 2010, more than half of the world’s working population has lived in extreme poverty, a figure that has decreased from 14.3 per cent to 7.1 per cent.
• According to basic projections, 6 per cent of the world’s population will still be living in extreme poverty by 2030, which is well behind the international aim of eradicating poverty by that time. More than 70 million people are at risk of falling into poverty as a result of the epidemic’s consequences.
• Every fifth child lives in extreme poverty, and the catastrophic impact of poverty and hardship on a child’s development during their formative years can be life-altering.
• According to the United Nations, there were more than 4 billion individuals in the world in 2016 who did not get any type of social security.

Poverty and the Sustainable Development Goals

One of the goals of the Sustainable Development (SDG) of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda is to eradicate all forms of poverty, which is the first of 17 SDGs in the 2030 Agenda. In September 2015, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted.

Specific to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), target 1. A calls for “significant integration of resources from a variety of sources, including improved co-operative development, to provide adequate and predictable mechanisms for developing countries, especially less developed countries, to implement them”. Poverty alleviation programs and policies at all levels. “This is the most common approach to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”.

The implementation of national and regional policies in favor of the poor and gender equality is an integral part of the Sustainable Development Goals to ensure that by 2030, all men and women have equal access to economic resources and services, as well as equal access to assistance. Land, heritage, natural resources, and appropriate new technologies, among other things.

Measuring Poverty

Significant progress has been made in the fight against poverty over the last few decades. Recently released estimates indicate that 10% of the world’s population lived on less than $1.90 a day in 2015, according to the most recent available data. Since 1990, the percentage has decreased from 36 per cent to 16 per cent. This demonstrates that we can eradicate extreme poverty. Despite this, the rate of deterioration has slowed to a significant degree.

The World Bank established a new aim in 2013: to eliminate extreme poverty among the next generation. Within three decades, only 3 per cent of the world’s population should be able to survive on less than $1.90 a day on average, according to estimates.

The evaluation of poverty assists us in determining which interventions are effective and which are not. Two of the most important activities for measuring poverty in developing countries are assessing the effectiveness of development programmes and developing development strategies in light of the constantly changing economic environment. These are two of the most important activities for measuring poverty in developing countries.

Global Action

No one will be left behind under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which will be used globally. A visionary approach to inclusive, sustainable and equitable economic growth is needed to achieve this ambitious goal of development.

This approach should be based on principles that promote full employment and decent work for all while minimizing inequality and increasing productivity, while creating a conducive environment. Predatory poverty in all its manifestations around the world is widely accepted as the most serious global problem facing the world today and as an important need for long-term development, as stated in Goal 1 of the 2030 Agenda.

Despite great progress in eradicating extreme poverty, it continues to be a major problem in Africa, in less developed countries, in smaller developing islands, and in other middle-income countries, as well as in or even out of countries of conflict. In response to these concerns, the General Assembly, in its 73rd session, agreed to announce the Third Declaration of the United Nations on Poverty Alleviation.

The third decade of the UN Development Program focuses on two key objectives: to maintain the momentum built over the past decade, and to achieve poverty eradication. Global development goals linked to the eradication of poverty, such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), will be developed effectively and integrated over the next decade, according to expectations (SDGs).

How do we make poverty a history?

A broad demand has emerged as a result of the Gleneagles summit in Scotland, calling on the wealthier countries to do more to aid in the eradication of global poverty. This project has been in the works for more than a year and a half. As a result, this is a good opportunity to judge whether or not Gleneagles has lived up to its claims. This is the goal of an increasing number of research programmes, all of which are geared toward achieving this goal:

• Oxfam 
• ActionAid 
• The BBC 

Later this week, DATA, the Bono and Bob Geldof research group, will release a comprehensive report on their findings. Premier Tony Blair recognised yesterday that not all of the pledges made at Gleneagles had been met and announced the formation of a new panel of world leaders to monitor progress. This was part of a bigger statement.

Demands

Debt reduction, as well as increased access and quality of assistance, were the three requirements of the Make Poverty History campaign. The total number of points looks like this.

On the trade side, disappointing progress has been made. Although an agreement was reached in the Doha Round of trade negotiations, there is little chance of greater freedom as a result of this agreement. Because of its desire to free up a large portion of its agricultural products that are highly protected from tax cuts, the EU is a major source of this problem.

Talking about debt relief makes a difference, but in a big deal, it doesn’t matter. The four poorest countries in the world will be forgiven by the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the African Development Bank as part of a global debt reduction program, according to the IMF.

Nigeria and its creditors have reached the largest debt relief agreement in history. Debt reduction, on the other hand, should be a very small amount compared to the total cost of assistance: the total effort is approximately equal to a one per cent increase in relief costs.

High-quality support – There were no new commitments made at Gleneagles this year. According to the Paris Declaration on Assistance, which was adopted in 2005, donors agreed to Monterey in 2002 to free aid and reduce the cost of replication and transactions.

They also agreed to increase transparency, regulate certain conditions, and make help predictable as part of their responsibilities. However, only the United Kingdom government has committed itself to significantly reducing policy conditions and increasing support for support, and this has made little progress.

The quality of help, the Gleneagles made a lot of promises, but it brought a lot less than they had promised. Tax increases had been planned in several G8 countries, so the huge increase announced in 2005 was more than just the re-packaging of the proposed tax increase.

Wealthy countries are not donating enough to what they have promised to give. Germany and Italy have slammed the EU’s fiscal deficit, due to the expected increase in administrative aid to the United States, which has been severely curtailed by Congress. Thanks to Live8, the total amount of aid provided in 2005 was less than the total amount of assistance provided in 1995 for Live Aid.

We did not record a history of poverty in 2005, but we could not do that. A global campaign against poverty that has gained momentum in Europe but not in the United States has forced increased funding and legal reforms that could have long-term implications for the world’s poorest nations, according to the World Bank.

Looking forward

Even in the absence of decent governance in poor countries or even at a snail’s pace in the reduction of corruption, wealthy nations have no right to make light of poor countries’ efforts to better their living standards. It is too late for the wealthiest nations to clean up their act, because there is so much they can do to aid the underprivileged throughout the world if they only get their act together.

A successful trade agreement must be made a priority for affluent countries as soon as they can if they are serious about ending poverty. According to Greg Mankiw’s blog article published yesterday, the $ 54 billion annual revenues of the world’s poorest countries as a result of a successful Doha round will be considerably more useful to the world than anything Warren Buffett could offer the world in his lifetime as the world’s best investor.

A successful trade agreement will need the cessation of all attempts by rich countries to negotiate trade deals with poorer countries in order to obtain the tax breaks and subsidies to which they are entitled. In order to reach an agreement, both the EU and the United States will have to considerably slash agricultural tariffs and farm subsidies, according to the European Commission.

Two points should be made: first, more money should be devoted to global public resources, such as scientific research and development. New vaccines and pesticides are being developed around the world, new plant varieties that will allow Africa to achieve the Green Revolution at a faster rate than Asia, and less expensive and more effective methods of purifying water, using solar energy, and preventing erosion are all expected to have significant positive impacts.

In addition to prioritising research and development (R&D), rich countries should make major investments in lowering regional violence and strengthening financial stability. People who are wary about international assistance agree that expanding investment in these highly profitable projects is a good idea. It is vital to note that the G8’s initial pledge to experiment with the Advance Market Commitment, which has the potential to encourage the development of novel vaccines to protect countries at risk of disease, is a significant component of this commitment.

The third point to mention is the work being done to combat HIV. Wealthy countries made promises to provide anti-retroviral therapy to 3 million individuals by 2005, but they were unable to keep their promises.

There is a new commitment by the United States and other countries to increase access to medicines by 2010, which will necessitate substantial extra cash from the Global Fund in the form of additional donations. When the filling meeting takes place on July 4 and 5, 2006, it is anticipated that a large increase in money would be required.

International institutions must be rehabilitated in order to avert war and strengthen international security, as well as to provide better representation for countries that are underrepresented in international affairs. The Reform Plan of the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) lays out a road map for organisational transformation.

The final point is that extra assistance is required. The Development Plan outlined in the Paris Declaration is essentially meaningless and can be easily squandered, but it is nonetheless significant. By increasing their ability to predict and transparently commit to a long-term strategy and independence from external pressures, by reducing transaction costs, by providing state-of-the-art technical assistance, by conducting advanced testing, and by providing evidence-based assistance and results, developing countries can significantly increase their dependence on international aid.

The fact that funders have provided constant support for these improvements has not prevented them from being delayed in many regions.

Then there’s the additional assistance. In contrast, assistance is not the most essential factor in determining whether poor countries will expand or not, much less eradicate poverty, but more funding may be utilised to encourage economic growth and improve the living conditions of inhabitants in impoverished countries. Wealthy countries should follow through on the pledges they made before the Monterey and Gleneagles conferences, and as the level of help improves and poor countries become more able to utilise aid, the capacity for aid should grow in proportion.

The last resort is for affluent countries to examine all of their policies to ensure that they are aware of the (often unforeseen) effects in developing countries. A limited number of minor policy tweaks will have a minimal influence on rich countries, but they will have a large impact on developing countries. To combat corruption in the industrial world, it is possible to improve small arms controls and remittances while also implementing complex intellectual property and information sharing policies and procedures.

Founded in 2005, Oxfam has grown into one of the world’s most successful anti-poverty organisations, and has since become a worldwide sensation. Increased aid is not the most pressing concern, although such an increase may be advantageous in some cases. More significantly, rich countries must make gradual but significant reforms to all aspects of their policy in order to assist poor countries in overcoming their poverty. The rapidity with which this transformation is taking place is depressing.

Can we really end poverty? 5 experts weigh in

THE ECONOMIST: VICTORIA KWAKWA

According to my estimation, it is possible to eliminate extreme poverty by 2030 and to increase common prosperity for the poorest 40 per cent of the population in every country.

Specifically, according to the World Bank Group, there are three potential paths to success in this situation. One way we can collaborate with our friends to ensure long-term, broadly based economic growth is through increasing private infrastructure investment in particular.

Given that a country’s ability to develop and compete is most highly influenced by the quality of education, health, and training of its population, we should begin investing in human capital as early as possible in a child’s development.

We can work together to improve our ability to endure global shocks such as mass migration, climate change, and pandemics, which have the potential to reverse the progress we’ve made in the battle for sustainable development.

THE PSYCHOLOGIST: STEVEN PINKER

An experimental psychologist and author of Harvard University Press has published his most recent book, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress.

People living in extreme poverty have dropped from 90% to 9.6% over the past 200 years.

As a result of the past 30 years, extreme poverty has been decreased by 75 percent, an accomplishment that is almost entirely ignored.

In its 2015 Sustainable Development Goals, the United Nations set a target of “ending extreme poverty for all people everywhere” by 2030. Poverty should be abolished for everyone on the planet! If I’m lucky, I’ll be around long enough to see it happen. However, it will be a long time before that happens. But while the numbers are dropping in countries like India and Indonesia, they are increasing in poverty-stricken regions of the world like the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Haiti, and Sudan.

THE GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVE: MARK GREEN

In my opinion, the goal of foreign aid should be to bring about the extinction of the recipient country.

Whether we realised it at the time or not, USAID and others have long held donors and governments to be the key drivers of progress. Keeping private enterprise at arm’s length was the most effective method to deal with the situation. Since then, we’ve made significant progress.

There has been a huge shift in the connection between the development community and private enterprise, and this is the most significant development in this subject yet. It appears to me that leadership in all sectors has now come to terms with the massive concerns and problems that they had before dismissed as insurmountable. I believe that foreign assistance should have as its ultimate goal the eradication of the need for it.

THE NGO CHIEF: DOMINIC MACSORLEY

We are capable of putting an end to extreme poverty.” In other words, do we possess the political will and fortitude necessary to make difficult choices? To alter the course of our destiny, political will demands more than an abstract commitment; it necessitates national sacrifice and significant policy reforms.

The Sustainable Development Goals’ central principle is “Leaving No One Behind,” which requires countries to prioritise reaching those who have fallen the furthest behind. This includes the 140 million individuals who are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance at the moment, as well as the stateless, dispossessed, and otherwise disenfranchised.

THE ROCK STAR: BONO

Just take a look at India and China, and you’ll see what I mean. Development aid is the bridge between where we are now and where we want to be. Businesses and large corporations were despised by us because of our arrogant attitude toward them. When you travel to a developing country, the most honourable gift you can give someone is a job. To solve one’s own difficulties, one must be employed. Capitalism can be a demon if we allow it to be, but it must and will follow our orders. As well, it may be a powerful force for good when it does.

This is an exciting time to be alive. After decades of progress, we must be careful not to become complacent in our efforts to eliminate severe poverty around the world. With the wealthy nations, there is a “let’s put ourselves first” movement.

Conclusion

Extreme poverty is unlikely to be eradicated in the foreseeable future, according to our panellists, who are optimistic about the future despite their optimism about the present. Our strategy for reaching our objectives through this method is another source of disagreement between us. Nonetheless, when it comes to poverty reduction, some of the recurring themes that have emerged include, among other things: equality; trade; political commitment; resilience-building; accountability; and transparency.

We have made enormous gains forward in the last three decades, as evidenced by the historical trend in international poverty rates, according to the World Bank. If we are to achieve our 2030 goal, we must sustain our current actions while also retaining our focus and determination. To simplify things, let us assume that the answer to this question is affirmative for this debate.