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
Measuring Poverty
Watch the video and make some notes… is it easy to
measure?
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
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.
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
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 |
TASK 4 Have a read of the information on the following website and make notes:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/millennium-development-goals
Progress with the MDG
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/report-2013/2013_progress_english.pdf
TASK 5 USE the following link to produce a summary CASE STUDY
http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/mdgoverview/mdg_goals/mdg1/
