World Poverty

Running Head : World Poverty

World Poverty

[Writer 's Name]

[Institute 's Name] World Poverty

Introduction

Poverty can be defined as a synonym of want or need . When you need food and you don 't have enough to fulfill your requirement or to completely satisfy the hunger , or when you are sick and you don 't have money to pay the doctor bills and but medicine , or when you are acquiring for knowledge and cant afford to go school , its lack of job , lack of proper drinking water which can

bring lots of diseases , lack of proper shelter and many more such circumstances can be collectively give birth to poverty (The World Bank : PovertNet , 2008

Poverty can be described in many ways it varies from place to place and people to people . It even has different forms in different state of affairs . Poverty in everyday life is termed as something cursed therefore it is regarded as the most disliked and worst situation one can face in life . The solution to this problem is simply to diversify the circumstances , this means to make such arrangements which helps the hungry to eat meals properly , sick to have cure and medicine unsheltered to have shelters and illiterate to attend schools . Poverty is a global problem it is faced by a number of countries around the globe

The question , which arises most commonly and is very important regarding this , is , how to assess poverty ? And how to decrease it ? Since this problem has many forms , faces and degrees it cannot be studied simply through one pattern or stencil (The World Bank : PoveryNet , 2008 Poverty can be assessed at two levels

Country wise

Globally

Let us take a look on how can we assess poverty at these two levels

Country wise

Country Wise assessment reveals the fact poverty is something what a common man earns daily ? And how he spends it ? This the most basic way of assessing poverty at an individual or more appropriately we can say at a country level . If an individual earns less than what is set as a minimum level of income then he /she is termed as poor . What happens actually is , each country set its poverty line , which is the least requirement for any person to satisfy the basic needs of life , hence if a person is getting wages below that level then in general terms he /she is living below the poverty line . Doing sample surveys collects the data for researches of poverty and people are asked to fulfill questionnaire about their incomes , and living standards etc (The World Bank : Povertyet , 2008

Globally

It is known that each country has setup its own poverty line to term a person as poor . But to assess poverty globally the World Bank has setup certain standards and fix 1 - 2 as daily wages that a person can earn According to World Bank report 1 .1 billion people had per day income below 1 in 2001 , and 2 .7 billion people around the globe were earning less than 2 a day in the same year (The World Bank : Povertyet , 2008

Facts and Figures

Poverty , around the globe has been reduced from 29 in 1990 to 18 in 2004

Although poverty has been reduced but its reduction is not appropriate and equally declined in all regions of the globe (Anup Shah , 2008

It is estimated from the research that by 2015 almost 10 of population in third world as well as underdevelop countries will be earning 2 a day only (The World Bank : Povertyet , 2008

From the world 's population the poorest people financial records show 5 share in global income while on the other hand the richest population has 20 share in financial accounts of global revenue (Anup Shah , 2008

Recently the research done by UNICEF reveals the fact that 26 ,500-30 ,000 children die daily because of poverty (Anup Shah , 2008

If we see globally almost 27-28 of the children are weak and undersized , the most commonly known regions for this deficiency are South-Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa

Unfortunately the curse of poverty lack a billion people to read and write properly even in the 21st century (Anup Shah , 2008

Regardless of whatever progress , advancement and researches happening in the world the poverty affected people still suffering from HIV and are uncured the figure is 40 million is not negligible (Anup Shah , 2008

There exist around 1 .1 billion people who don 't have clean and safe drinking water and 2 .6 billion people are lacking from adequate sanitation facilities (Anup Shah , 2008

This is incredible to know that the world is 2 .2 billion among which 1 billion are suffering from poverty this shows that every second child on earth is poor and has lack of basic necessities of life (Anup Shah , 2008

Still 2 .5 billion people globally are using charcoal , animal dung and fuel wood for cooking purposes

(The World Bank : PoverytNet , 2008 After viewing the concepts of poverty the contemporary situation of the world regarding poverty and statistics related to it we would move the discussion toward the core literature of the i .e . comparing two conditions where one condition contains two poverty-suffering countries and the other contains developed and prosperous countries

The Poverty-Suffering countries

Africa

According to World Bank 's report comparing to any other part of the world , the African region requires management and help to reduce poverty . The major earning sources of African people are agriculture mining or extraction of biological resources etc , if due to any natural calamity or exogenous shocks ruin these sources then it 's very hard to overcome the loss and damage . However it is understood that whenever any loss occurs poor are the most affected part of society . In Africa poverty is in many forms , it involves environmental problems , food problem , sanitation and drinking water problem and so on . Reducing poverty in African region is a confrontation now . From the world overview it has been observed that Africa will be the only continent which will face a rise in poverty in future

In 1950 , the soil deprivation affected 00 million hectares of land , which included 65 of agricultural land since then the food crises rise rapidly and the undernourished people were increased from 100 million in 60 's to 200 million in 1995 . It is also observed that more than 14 countries of Sub-Saharan Africa are expected to face safe water supply problem . Another incredible fact about this huge region of the world is that it consumes only 3 .5 carbon dioxide comparing to other countries of the world , and analyst expects that it will only increase by 3 .8 till 2010 (Conserve Africa , 2008

Africa being rich in minerals , agricultural lands , and natural resources is so poor and at starvation level , the reason is simply poverty . This poverty has affected the region so badly that it raises many issues including the deforestation , soil degradation , water scarcity , and marine resources , decreasing biodiversity etc . A bit progress in the field of environment to protect agriculture which is main source of income of Africans have been observed but due to lack of capital , well-trained staff , and funds it didn 't become fruitful Poverty is a very serious problem in Africa since it has the major affect on environment and environment has a major affect on the most frequent earning source i .e , agriculture . In current situation , the need is to develop some organizations to reduce poverty , this is what the develop countries do therefore their poverty level is much lower than the developing countries (Conserve Africa , 2008 GLOBAL PRIORITY US BILLION

Cosmetics in the United States 8

Ice cream in Europe 11

Perfumes in Europe and the United States 12

Pet foods in Europe and the United States 17

Business entertainment in Japan 35

Cigarettes in Europe 50

Alcoholic drinks in Europe 105

Narcotics drugs in the world 400

Military spending in the world 780 Comparatively the Global Priority for basic necessities is

GLOBAL PRIORITY US BILLION

Basic education for all 6

Water and sanitation for all 9

Reproductive health for all women 12

Basic health and nutrition 13 (Anup Shah , 2008

Bangladesh Bangladesh has a population of 144 ,319 ,628m the literacy rate is 43 .1 and the GDP per capita is found to be 2 ,000 . Since its birth till now this country is term as the poorest country of the world . Sometimes even poverty and Bangladesh are used as two words with same meaning . Bangladesh is one of the many countries in South-East Asia , which are suffering from illiteracy , backwardness and poverty . The reason for being the poorest country might be the unwillingness of its people or authorities concern to bring any change . Although a small amount of change with time has been observed i .e . less children , a fewer literate women , changing ways of earning but still the starvation problem is at its place . It is also said by analyst that this bit improvement in family planning will not bring effect since the observation reveals the fact that the population of Bangladesh by 2050 will be 300 million which is a very big figure for such a small region . Hence it is obvious that the circumstances will be worst and the problem of poverty will come to front with more clear picture and more adverse effects (Simeon Mitropolitski , 2005

Whatever may be lacking in these underdeveloped and poverty facing countries can be fully understood by comparing them with develop or modernize country of today . Therefore we take an example of United Kingdom

United Kingdom

United Kingdom is considered as one of the developed and rich country of the world with an area of 243 ,000 sq . km . and population of 60 .8 million (US Department of State , 2008

Culture

The culture of British people is so historical and unique It is the birthplace of Shakespeare , Beatles , and Newton etc it is said about the culture of UK that its funny and full of comedy people living there like jokes and smiling

Economical position

The GDP of UK is 2 .15 trillion with a per capita income of 35 ,300 . It is said that U .K has the fifth-largest economy in the world , and is considered as a great trading authority globally (US Department of State , 2008

UK appears in the following list

It appears in the list of most educated countries of the world

A country with most noble prizes and billionaires

A country with the largest economies

Countries with the most workers and the highest per capita income

Country with the most working hours etc (aneki .com-u .k , n .d

Scotland v UK annual growth 1999-2006 Q2 (The Scottish Govt , 2006

Conclusion

A rough estimate shows that there are almost 25000 people who die every day due to hunger . Although nature has blessed this earth with lots of food and productive land but still the hunger is not satisfied , the reason is , the lack of opportunities , work , and means to make the best use of these resources . The poor becomes poorer with time since the inefficient food supply makes them weak and less willing to work , which increases unemployment and disturbance in the whole society

However , the discussion above started from the definition of poverty that it is a synonym to need or want . It has many forms and it is the most cursed situation anyone can face . The main aim of this research was to focus on countries that are suffering from poverty their condition , their problems and the contemporary situation . On contrary another example of a develop country with less or no poverty is taken to make comparison . On comparing we find that the major reason for a country being on starvation level is the ignorance from authorities to bring a change in the society or more appropriately the less willingness of the people to work and live above the poverty line . But one fact cannot be neglected here that until and unless opportunities are not provided by the Government people will find nothing to work on . This means no projects no investment leads to no work and no progress . Also it is required to provide proper facilities for the major earning source of any country such as in a case of Africa we studied that due to poverty the environmental position is affected so badly there is no proper provision of water to the crops there is no compensation to the affected people of exogenous shocks etc and this is mostly observed in developing countries while on the other hand developed countries have proper arrangements to tackle any such situation they focus on economic progress , opportunities to people , and food supply maximization

The research also reveals that the population explosion is much higher in developing countries which are already living below the poverty line however the develop countries have control on population They have develop a culture in a way which brings awareness to the people to expand families according to their income level so as it feed each child properly which is hi /her basic right . It is incredible to know that there are altogether 2 billion children in the world out of which 1 billion are not getting enough food even

Hence , the whole study draws the conclusion that within this world there exist different circumstances . Some are blessed while a major portion is cursed with poverty . How can it be reduce is the biggest challenge even in 21st century since the prosperous and givers are few and takers and poor are many . But still a change even a little can make a difference if one with sincerity

References

Anup Shah (2008 , HYPERLINK "http /www .globalissues .org /TradeRelated /PovertyAroundTheWorld .asp http /www .globalissues .org /TradeRelated /PovertyAroundTheWorld .asp

Accessed on 8th April 2008

Conserve Africa (2008 , HYPERLINK "http /www .conserveafrica .org .uk /more_environ .html http /www .conserveafrica .org .uk /more_environ .html

Accessed on 8th April 2008

Anup Shah (2008 , HYPERLINK "http /www .globalissues .org /TradeRelated /Facts .asp http /www .globalissues .org /TradeRelated /Facts .asp

Accessed on 8th April 2008

Simeon Mitropolitski (2005 ) HYPERLINK "http /www .ired .com /news /mkt /bangladesh .htm http /www .ired .com /news /mkt /bangladesh .htm

Accessed on 10thth April 2008

US Department of State (2008 , HYPERLINK "http /www .state .gov /r /pa /ei /bgn /3846 .htm http /www .state .gov /r /pa /ei /bgn /3846 .htm

Accessed on 10thth April 2008

aneki .com-UK (n .d , HYPERLINK "http /www .aneki .com /uk .html http /www .aneki .com /uk .html

Accessed on 10thth April 2008

PovertNet , Understanding Poverty (2008 , HYPERLINK "http /web .worldbank .org /WBSITE /EXTERNAL /S /EXTPOVERTY /EXTPA /0 ,con tentMDK menuPK :435040 pagePK :148956 piPK :216618 theSitePK :43036 7 ,00 .html http /web .worldbank .org /WBSITE /EXTERNAL /S /EXTPOVERTY /EXTPA /0 ,cont entMDK menuPK :435040 pagePK :148956 piPK :216618 theSitePK :430367 ,00 .html

Accessed on 8th April 2008

The Scottish Govt (2006 , HYPERLINK "http /www .scotland .gov .uk /Publications /2006 /12 /3 http /www .scotland .gov .uk /Publications /2006 /12 /3

Accessed on 10thth April 2008

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