2. Almost half the world - about 3 million people - live on less than
USD$2.50 a day.
The poorest 40 percent of the world's population accounts for 5
percent of global income. The richest 20 percent accounts for
three-quarters of world income.According to UNICEF (United
Nations International Children's Emergency Fund), 22,000
children die each day due to poverty. And they "die quietly in
some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the
scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in
life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death."
Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on
weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year
2000 and yet it didn't happen.According to the Unesco (United
Nationals Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation), it
was reported that one in five adults is not literate today and two-
thirds of them are women.
3. Climatic factors- The hot climate of India reduces the capacity of people
especially the ruralites to work for which production severely suffers.
Frequent flood, famine, earthquake and cyclone cause heavy damage to
agriculture. Moreover, absence of timely rain, excessive or deficient rain
affect severely country’s agricultural production.
Rapid Population Growth- The growth of population exceeds the rate of
growth in national income. Population growth not only creates
difficulties in the removal of poverty but also lowers the per capita
income which tends to increase poverty. The burden of this reduction in
per capita income is borne heavily by the poor people. Population growth
at a faster rate increases labour supply which tends to lower the wage
rate.
Unequal Distribution of Resources- Land and other forms of assets
constitute sources of income for the ruralites. But, unfortunately, there
has been unequal distribution of land and other assets in our economy.
The size-wise distribution of operational holdings indicates a very high
degree of concentration in the hands of a few farmers leading to poverty
of many in the rural sector.
4. Widespread diseases and hunger - One third of deaths, some 18 million
people a year or 50,000 per day, are due to poverty-related causes: in total
270 million people, most of them women and children, have died as a
result of poverty since 1990. According to the World Health Organization,
hunger and malnutrition are the single gravest threats to the world's
public health and malnutrition is by far the biggest contributor to child
mortality, present in half of all cases.
Illiteracy - In the US educational system, these children are at a higher
risk than other children for retention in their grade, special placements
during the school's hours and even not completing their high school
education.
Homelessness - Slum-dwellers, who make up a third of the world's
urban population, live in a poverty no better, if not worse, than rural
people, who are the traditional focus of the poverty in the developing
world, according to a report by the United Nations.
Violence - 51% of fifth graders from New Orleans (median income for a
household: $27,133) have been found to be victims of violence, compared
to 32% in Washington, DC (mean income for a household: $40,127).
5. International Day for the Eradication of Poverty - This
call was made by Joseph Wresinski, founder of the
International Movement ATD Fourth World, and was
officially recognised by the United Nations in 1992.
Government Schemes - Conditional cash transfer
(CCT) programs aim to reduce poverty by making
welfare programs conditional upon the receivers'
actions. The government only transfers the money to
persons who meet certain criteria.
Voluntary Welfare Organisations - Examples include
the Center for Global Development (CGD), Child
Poverty Action Group, End Poverty Now (EPN), and
the United Nations Development Program Millennium
Development Goals (MDG), Poverty Assessment and
Monitoring.
