“Proponents and analysts of SD [sustainable development] need to clearly reject the attempts to focus on economic growth as a means to poverty removal and/or environmental sustainability” (Lele 1991: 618). Do you agree with this statement? Explain your position.
Introduction
The concept of ‘sustainable development’ is one that has faced heated debates for decades now. A seemingly harmless concept, it raises a lot of questions as to what it really entails and how exactly it can be achieved. But with more than 1.3 billion people living in abject poverty (less than $1.25 a day), and with a reported 22,000 children dying every day as a result of poverty (UNICEF), the debate for Sustainable Development becomes interesting as it questions the extremity of economic growth policies, in the war against poverty. Many note economic growth and development as the only tool for poverty alleviation. Roemer and Gugerty, for example, report that GDP growth of 10% per year is associated with income growth of 10% for the poorest 40% of the population. However, others question the extent to which economic growth should be put above other socio-economic factors. Lele points out that the focus on economic growth has led to important ecological and social sustainability, taking the backseat. He argues that due to strong emphasis on economic growth, not enough attention is paid to social equity, and economic stability within the development discourse. This essay will argue that although
Poverty can be defined in a variety of ways. However, it is certain that there is no definite definition alone that would equally suffice to be the meaning of poverty everywhere in the world. Poverty is something real and something that should not be ignored. To define poverty, we shall take in consideration its impact on human development as well as other factors, such as financial stability. Poverty should be defined not only by how it is measured but by how it co-exists with a delay or an impact on childhood and human development. The effect of poverty on human development include: arising health issues that are due to food deprivation and lack of health care, physical health risks, mental problems, scarce education, poor
Promises not Kept: Poverty and the Betrayal of Third World Development by John Isbister is a balanced, penetrating, and exciting account of why most people on the planet are poor, who has betrayed the promise for social change, and what we can do about it. Isbister gives a superb overview of third world development. He challenges people in developed nations to accept their share of responsibility for Third World stagnation and examines and analyzing international development issues. Promises not Kept offers provocative answers to the question of increasing world poverty.
To what extent is reducing the number of people living in absolute poverty sufficient to achieve economic growth and development?
Over 20 percent of the global population live in unsustainable impoverished conditions, surviving on less than a dollar a day, with approximately 50 percent living on less than two dollars. Over 2 ½ billion people have a 10% infant mortality rate versus the 0.006% of infant deaths in developed countries. As conditions worsen the poor-rich gap widens through progressive decades, reaching an average per capita income of 74:1 in 1997.1 A debate has emerged as the whether developed countries possess a duty to ameliorate the living condition of the global poor and on what grounds said duty is justified.
Ending world poverty is not an easy task. Many have tried to end this global problem with the notion that there is enough for the whole world. However, some regions have failed to succeed in the trial to end deprivation. In spite of the failure to end poverty, people like Jeffrey Sachs continue to have the optimism to demolish poverty. Class assignments reading and discussions have enabled the inspiration to acquire policies that could stop the cyclical development of poverty. These policies include the improvement and affordability of primary education in the developing region of sub- Saharan Africa. The prevention and cures of treatable diseases. As well as, the elimination on the food crisis in sub-Saharan Africa. The inspired
Poverty reduction and environmental conservation represent two of the main global challenges. The two targets constitute part of the eight Global Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Arising from the thinking that Environmental degradation and poverty reinforce each other since the poor are both agents and victims of environmental destruction; the poverty-environment hypothesis has become a major concern of international development agencies and policy makers. It is often argued that the poor are often the biggest victims of environmental destruction since they depend
One can easily identify the fact that poverty is generally considered as one among the most serious problems in human life. But the mainstream society provides less importance to this serious problem because human life did undergo transformation from empathy to disinterestedness. The western nations are comparatively safe from poverty and related issues, but the third-world nations are under the threat of the same. The problems related to global poverty is unimaginable because it forces human beings to do anything, just for survival. Still, world nations, especially the developed nations, can play the most important role in alleviating poverty from the world. Thesis statement: Global poverty, the most serious problem faced by humanity primarily
Unfortunately, it was estimated that roughly 1.2 billion people in 1993 lived in extreme or absolute poverty, that which Robert McNamara regards “‘a condition of life so characterized by malnutrition, illiteracy, disease, squalid surroundings, high infant mortality and low life expectancy as to be beneath any reasonable standard of human dignity’” (Singer 219, 220). These estimates can be projected at nearly 2 billion today. A large majority of the people living in absolute poverty resides in underdeveloped countries. Among the nearly 4.4 billion people in these countries, “3/5 lives in societies lacking basic sanitation; 1/3 go without safe drinking water; 1/4 lack adequate housing; 1/5 are undernourished, and 1.3 billion live on less than $1 a day” (Speth 1).
Poverty is often presented as an evolving concept linked to dominant development paradigms. However, changes in the meaning of specific topics comprising definitions of poverty have been largely overlooked. Therefore, Poverty will be discussed as a mean to governmental and constitutional recreation to economic resources. In addition, human development will be discussed within the system as the way to reduce poverty and how is used in non-governmental institutions. Component terms were investigated for their stability in meaning, through the application of De Saussure’s concepts of signifier and signified. The results illustrate that terms often did not share the same signifier and, therefore, were accorded different meanings. In this
Economic growth is a necessary but not sufficient condition of economic development. There is no single definition that encompasses all the aspects of economic development. The most comprehensive definition perhaps of economic development is the one given by Todaro: ‘Development is not purely an economic phenomenon but rather a multi – dimensional process involving reorganization and re orientation of the entire economic and social system. Development is a process of improving the quality of all human lives with three equally important aspects. These are: 1.
Fast-growing economies in the developing world have done most of the work. For instance, an article by the weekly publication The Economist states that between 1981 and 2001, China lifted 680m people out of poverty. Since 2000, the number of the poor living outside China has been “cut” by 280 million due to the growth of developing countries (“How Did..”). Surely a great feat for these developing countries and humanity in general. Finally, the most colossal problem that has plagued humanity for decades is undergoing a consequential decline and it is reaching its final lap. Does this signify that poverty will no longer be a threat to the world universally? Are we no longer going to discern ads showing children with no access to fundamental amenities suffering from malnutrition and other epidemic diseases? These questions do have answers. A postulation that poverty is reducing and will subsequently be eradicated is infeasible to conclude despite recent statistics exhibiting a remarkable decline in the rate of poverty in the world. We must consider the methods utilized by these international financial institutions in arriving at these figures. Withal, even if these statistics are true, a few countries still face major challenges in eradicating destitution.
Poverty is a major menace to humanity existence in recent times majorly in the third world countries; it is one of the greatest threats to stability and peace more than other tussles like terrorism. The Sustainable Development Goal of the United Nations to eradicate poverty everywhere in all its form and ensure quality education by 2030 shows the global commitment to ensure a higher standard of living for mankind.
The questions are raised as what and how the wealth is distributed or allocated among societies. Countries with similar average incomes can differ substantially when it comes to people’s quality of life such as social justice, access to education and health care, job opportunities, availability of clean air and safe drinking water, the threat of crime, freedom of speech, life expectancy, birth-death control, identity, culture, conservation, equal opportunities, environmental change. Development is important as it covers a wide range process involving cultural, economic, environmental, political, social and technological change of a country. Regarding goals and means of development, recent United Nations documents emphasize on human development measured by life expectancy, adult literacy, access to all three levels of education as well as people‘s average income which is a necessary condition of their freedom of choice. In other words, human development incorporates all aspects of individuals’ well -being from their health status to their economic and political freedom. The Human Development Report 1996 of UNDP focuses on development as the end and economic growth a
For many years, poverty in Brazil has been an issue; it is a key program according to the Brazilian government as of late. The government are finding different ways to address the so-called problem. For instance, there has been poverty alleviation programs and policies that could fix the problem; poverty would continue to decrease in size due to these programs and policies. Alleviation policies and programs tend to gear towards poverty reduction. It brings on more impact when it comes to the government. Poverty alleviation can lead to more tax and asset accumulation. For example, it could supplement tax coverage and increase overall security coverage. It also tends to bring more access to health and education. Alleviation could redistribute certain income through programs. The existence of poverty has trickled down in the past fifteen years. The rate of poverty affected the urban areas as well as in the rural areas of Brazil at roughly fifty percent. (World Bank Studies 2013). This means that poverty problem is being addressed very thoroughly. Poverty reduction remains a challenge, especially in the rural areas. The analysis of poverty is greatly constrained because of inadequacy of the given population data as opposed to urban areas. While alleviation policies and programs emphasizes poverty reduction in Brazil, they can lead to governmental impact, tax and
Belize’s development is an important economical, environmental, and political issue which continues to be the subject of discussion. Historically, Belize has passed through many stages of development, originating from a hunter and gathering society, during the Mayan revolution, to a post industrial society, following the advent of computers. Technological improvements, freedom of trade and the creation of a global market are some factors that have fuelled this rapid rate of development. The gross domestic product (GDP) is one of the primary indicators used to gauge the health of a country's economy. Belize has experienced times of economic prosperity, recording 8055.43 USD per capita GDP in 2014 and has had economic hardships of 5168.29 USD per capita GDP in 1990. Currently, Belize is experiencing what economist term a negative growth, recording a GDP of -1.2 Percent. Economic development is “the process by which a nation improves the economic, political, and social well-being of its people”. Economic development in any country is necessary for the quality of life and standard of living to be improved. The term “impact” must be considered in relation to development and the environment. Every form of development has a cost or environmental risk associated with it. In the 1980’s, there was a shift to a new kind of development often termed an alternate development. The establishment of the Brundtland Commission paved the pathway for future aggressive plans designed to