GEOG @ GSAL: The challenge of Global Poverty

Most of the poorest countries are in sub-Saharan Africa and, until very recently, almost all have huge debts. Few have any hope of repaying the debt as interest alone exceeds the value of their exports consequently many face a long term challenge to erradicate poverty.

Bill Gates & Hans Rosling addressing 2012 conference to end extremme poverty

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mFHctW3zQgg

Measuring Poverty

Watch the video and make some notes… is it easy to measure?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mFHctW3zQgg

Economic indicators

The International Poverty Line

$1.25 per day, adjusted for PPP (set in 2008)

Estimated 1.4 billion live at or below this line

Is this a good way to measure poverty?

Poverty Gap Ratio

Expresses the total amount of money which would be needed to raise the poor from their present incomes to the poverty line ($1.25PPP), as a proportion of the poverty line, and averaged over population, which measures the depth of poverty.

The mean distance separating the population from the poverty line(with the non-poor being given a distance of zero), expressed as a percentage of the poverty line.

In other words it measures the depth of poverty as well as the incidence.

Are economic indicators enough?

Literacy Rate
Life expectancy
Access to clean water
Number of people per doctor
BMI
Children enrolled in primary school
Mobile phone owners?
Internet users?

Composite Quality of Life Indices

PQLI Physical Quality of Life Index

Combines life expectancy, infant mortality rate and literacy rate
Devised by M.D. Morris in mid 70s
Measured on a 1-100 scale (100 being best)
In 1960 53%world population lived in countries with PQLI averages of less than 50
By 1995 only 11%
From 1960 1995 1.7 billion to 584 million

Composite Quality of Life Indices

UN Indices:

HDI Human Development Index
HPI Human Poverty Index

IHDI Inequality-Adjusted Human Development Index
GII Gender Inequality Index
MPI Multidimensional Poverty Index

http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/indices/

The Causes of Global Poverty

Debt

Many of the poorest countries have on-going conflict which makes it very difficult for them to develop and get out of poverty.

E.g. The DR of Congo, Djibouti, Nigeria, Sudan and Afghanistan all have on-going conflicts. They also have the lowest HDI and MDPI in the world.

Corruption is both a cause and result of poverty. Sudan, Afghanistan and the DR of Congo rank very low in the CPI.

http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2010/results

Environmental Factors

Changes in global climate, long term drought, natural disasters and flooding have all contributed to disrupting food supplies, agricultural and industrial production in the developing world and affected living space.

Ways forward to address Poverty

STUDENT TASKS ~

Research and Make Notes on:

(1) The Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC)

TASK 1 - Make Notes from the Fact Sheet

http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/hipc.htm

TASK 2 Produce a 2 page Case Study on Debt Cancellation in Uganda - use the following as a basis for your research.

(2) The Millennium Development Goals

TASK 3 - USE the links below to summarise each MDG

The 8 MDGs were set by the United Nations with a deadline of 2015. These 8 goals all aim to reduce global poverty in poorer nations of the world. As the 2015 deadline looms closer, there is much discussion over their achievement, the future beyond 2015, their successes and failures.
The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), agreed on by world leaders at a UN summit in 2000, set targets to:


MDG 1: Eradicate Extreme Hunger	MDG 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education	MDG 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women

MDG 4: Reduce Child Mortality	MDG 5: Improve Maternal Health	MDG 6: Combat HIV AIDS Malaria and Other Diseases

MDG 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability