Nelson Mandela once said: 'Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice.' Poverty is about not having enough money to meet our basic needs such as food, shelter and clothing. However, poverty is much more than just having not enough money. Therefore, the question remains: what are the factors that lead to poverty in the world and how can we alleviate it?
Natural calamities are one of the leading causes of poverty on a global scale. Natural disasters lead to destruction of houses, loss of finance and injury. In some countries, the inhabitants have to leave behind their destroyed possessions and migrate to lesser developed nations. In 2022, Madagascar was hit by two consecutive cyclones which affected 270000 people. Thousands of houses were flooded and destroyed. It is also reported that natural disasters force some 26 million people into poverty every year. Overseas private companies and investors can support by investing, for example, in cyclone-proof houses and efficient irrigation in affected countries.
Social injustice is indeed another factor that results in poverty. In some communities, many people are victims of racial discrimination, sexism or ageism. Worse, they struggle to get a good education, job opportunities and other resources so that they can combat indigence. Groups such as women and religious minorities are the most vulnerable to social injustice. In the United States, for many residents living in poverty, certain human rights are out of reach. They may lack access to basic needs and suffer from unequal treatment and discrimination. Campaigners have to investigate the intersections between rights violations and poverty and advocate for reforms that will end them.
Poverty is also a consequence of brain drain which occurs when highly educated people who reside in third world countries migrate to developed countries to have a better standard of living. They prefer to leave their home country due to political instability, limited access to health care and poor quality of life. The country with by far the largest brain drain is Guyana, from which more than 70 percent of individuals with a tertiary education have moved to the United States. Many initiatives can be taken to prevent brain drain such as rural development and providing more job opportunities.
Poverty is a result of outdated beliefs and practices. People who are poor often have cultural values that are different from mainstream society. People born in poor families learn certain values and this shapes their life choices and opportunities. They internalise the values that they grow up with which explains why people who grow up poor remain poor. The anthropologist Oscar Lewis, who studied poor families in Mexico and Puerto Rico found that children who grew up in very poor conditions will internalize feelings of hopelessness or desperation that characterise these living conditions. He argues that when they will grow up, they will remain poor. This can be alleviated by opening educational institutions in areas where conservative families live.
Wars bring about poverty in many countries. Apart from causing violence to people, conflicts disrupt food systems, water availability and education among others. Sometimes, citizens have to leave behind their war-affected country and migrate to other nations with only a few important belongings. For example, ten years of war in Syria has led to 6.6 million refugees. The Syrian children can no longer get access to formal education as schools have been bombed. World leaders have to advocate for peace in all conflict zones and invest in humanitarian effort to stop wars.
Digital divide also brings about poverty. The digital divide is a gap between those who have access to new technology and those who do not. The rich and educated are more likely to have access to digital resources, whereas those with limited access tend to be from lower-income families. Digital illiteracy reduces the chance of finding a job which has a negative impact on the workers’ economy. As of May 2020, only 39.3 percent of Africans had access to the Internet compared to 94.6 percent of Americans. Governments can give tariff subsidies to encourage people to buy technological devices.
Undoubtedly, there are many factors that provoke poverty in the world. While progress has been made, more work is needed to reach the target of ending global poverty. Apart from that, the world also has to deal with issues such as violent crimes, civil wars and epidemics. As Nelson Mandela mentioned: ‘Poverty is not an accident. Like slavery and apartheid, it is man-made and can be removed by the actions of human beings.’
BY: Muhammad Farhaan Azmatally
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