Solutions To The Issue Of World Poverty

Introduction

Numerous world’s pressing issues are still ongoing today due to the lack of ‘proper’ leaders that are willing to take on a plan and being committed to strategically solve these growing problems. A perfect example of this is seen through the case of poverty around the world, specifically Asia. Where approximately 783 million people globally are living below the International Poverty Line of $1.90 USD per day, with the majority belonging to sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia.

Causes

As a growing leader, I believe identifying the root causes of the issue is the key to implementing effective and appropriate solutions to reduce and possibly, end poverty. As almost 60% (59.66%) of the world’s population is in Asia, the ratio of the growing population to shortage of resources is one of the core causes of poverty. This then generates poor governing of the country to provide proper health services, equality in education, shelter, clean water and food. Hence, resulting in discrimination among members in society; especially gender inequality, unemployment and the development of diseases which may hinder their lifestyle to be able to survive. This is evident through the amount of people that are in the state of extreme poverty by living under the International Poverty Line mentioned above, although those who live higher than the line to a certain degree are still characterized by poverty. This also applies to those who are living in Occidental countries that are struggling to make money and deliver back to their families in Asia.

CARE Organization

As a result, there are multiple global organizations and institutions that developed programs to discover solutions to this issue. Such can be seen through ‘CARE’, an organization that focuses on helping women and young girls to overcome poverty as they believe the only resolution to achieve this is if all has equal rights and opportunities and thus, being able to live with dignity and security. This, in turn, has been an extremely successful method in advancing towards ending poverty in Asia. Evidently in the success story of Khen, 25, who used to earn as little as $3 per day as a laborer in sugar plantation in a rural village in Koh Kong Province, Cambodia. She then joined CARE for two years, trained to become a demonstration farmer that have resulted her to become a leader and adviser in her community. “Now that we have money, we can afford to buy better food so my family is healthier. I have also been able to save money in our community savings group, and I’ve made enough income to build my own house”, Khen said. She is also earning the respect from those within her community with her leadership skills, reducing the wide gender gap and discrimination that was seen as the root cause of poverty. This highly exemplifies the above notion of ‘by identifying causes to a problem, an appropriate solution can be implemented’ which leads to a successful outcome as seen in the story. Not only does this demonstrate the effectiveness of these solutions, but also exhibits the concept of how a proper leader is needed in order to ‘solve’ a problem rather than to ‘create’ new ones.

As CARE works on a global level, many from all around the world has been provided with useful services that facilitates their needs and hence, acts as an action towards discontinuing poverty. Moreover, once a suitable leader has been established, it prompts society to unify, live in harmony and work collectively in the long term. However, the problem is that in order to accomplish this, not only the leader must maintain its own community with competent and efficient governing skills, but also improve it.

United Nations

In addition, the United Nations’ ‘Sustainable Development Goal 1’ also aim to end poverty by 2030, by providing a list of methods that advocates for what each member in society at the macro level should take into action in order to reach its goal. There are suggestions if one is a young person, policy maker, work in the private sector or part of science and academic community; with recommendations such as engage in policy making to ensure that rights are promoted to transform people’s lives, create an environment to create job opportunities, ensuring economic growth is inclusive, increase awareness about the impact of poverty and providing foundational approaches to undertake the problems of ending poverty, respectively (United Nations, 2018). United Nations in this sense acts as the leader, assigning roles which allows individuals from around the world to work together to produce a solution that would reduce poverty not just in Asia, but worldwide.

Own Proposed Solutions & Vision

I would personally focus on accessibility and inclusivity for disabled people as they are often marginalized from fields of work. With already so little job opportunities for those with a lack of education from poverty, individuals with disability within this group would have no chance. As of right now, disabled individuals are still being discriminated against, despite having laws put in place. Hence, my vision for the future would be by creating more specific programs follow by jobs that would suit their needs, it will result in more individuals receiving income to live a sustainable life and ultimately, help to reduce poverty.

Potential Challenges & Solutions

However, problems that may hinder these potential solutions may be insufficient funds.

The fire incident of Notre Dame Cathedral is an example of if only billionaires cared about the ongoing issues around the world today, goals might have been achieved faster. Billionaires have donated much of their money to help rebuild the cathedral, with only 4 donours, the amount has exceeded $500 million and there’s many more. This issue however, has received backlash from citizens from around the world. Such as Philippe Martinez, head of CGT trade union said “If they can give millions to rebuild Notre Dame, then they should stop telling us there is no money to help with the social emergency.” To overcome this obstacle, obtaining less than one percent of the combined income from the richest countries in the world would be sufficient to help end poverty by 2030. According to the UN, economist Jeffrey Sachs calculated that the total cost it would take to help achieve this goal would be approximately $175 billion, which is less than one percent of combined income.

Easier said than done, this would be a long process in achieving my proposed solution and solutions from the UN. Yet, if all would stop turning a blind eye away from those in need and seriously addresses the issue, then goals would successfully be achieved.