Global Poverty

Competence AimsInternational English

Culture, society and literature

The aims of the studies are

to enable pupils to

–  elaborate on and discuss a number of international and global challenges

Developing and Developed Countries

Third World countries are often described as “developing”

– A developing country is a country that often has:

• low standards of democratic governments

• poorly developed industrialization

• inadequate social programs

• few human rights guarantees for its citizens

• a low level of material well-being

First World countries or industrialized nations are often described as “developed”

Blue: Advanced Economies

Yellow: Emerging and developing economies• Not the least developed

Red: Emerging and developing economies• The least developed

What is Poverty?• Poverty is hunger

• Poverty is lack of shelter/home

• Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor – no access to medical treatment

• Poverty is not having a job

• Poverty is fear for the future -living one day at a time

• Poverty is losing a child to illness brought about by unclean water and poor sanitation

• Poverty is powerlessness, lack of representation and freedom

Living Below the Poverty Line

Poverty Line:

• A common method used to measure poverty is based on incomes or consumption levels

• A person is considered poor if his or her consumption or income level falls below some minimum level necessary to meet basic needs

• This minimum level is usually called the "poverty line”

Living below the poverty line:• Extreme economic poverty today is defined

as living on less than $ 1 to1.25 per day

The Wealth Divide IGlobal Poverty

• An estimated 1.2 billion people live on less than a dollar a day

• 2.7 billion people live on less than $2 a day.

• The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the poorest 48 nations (of the world's countries) is less than the combined wealth of the world's 3 richest people

• 10 million people die every year from hunger and hunger-related diseases.

– Almost half of the victims are children.

• Approximately 790 million people in the developing world are chronically undernourished

- almost two-thirds reside in Asia and the

Pacific.

• 1,3 billion have no access to clean water

• 3 billion have no access to sanitation

• 2 billion have no access to electricity

• 923 million people worldwide suffer from hunger (1 in 8)

– 907 million of the the hungry are from developing countries

• Nearly 1 billion people are unable to read a book or sign their names

The Wealth Divide IIGlobal Wealth

• A few hundred millionaires own as much wealth as the world's poorest 2,5 billion people

• The richest 50 million people in Europe and North America have the same income as 2,7 billion poor people

• 12% of the world's population use 85% of its water.

– These 12% do not live in the Third World

• 20% of the population in developed nations consume 86% of the world's goods

• 0.13% of the world's population controlled 25% of the world's assets in 2004.

This Is How We Spent Our Money in 1998

Global Priority $U.S. Billions

• Cosmetics in the United States 8• Ice cream in Europe 11• Perfumes in Europe and the United States 12• Pet foods in Europe and the United States 17• Business entertainment in Japan 35• Cigarettes in Europe 50• Alcoholic drinks in Europe 105• Narcotic drugs in the world 400• Military spending in the world 780

Estimated Costs Providing Basic Education, Water, Sanitation, Health and Food

for All in Developing Countries

Global Priority $U.S. Billions

Basic education for all 6

Water and sanitation for all 9

Reproductive health for all women 12

Basic health and nutrition 13

Child Poverty

• Number of children in the world:– 2.2 billion

• Number of children in poverty: – 1 billion – Every second child in the

world lives in poverty

”There is plenty of food in the world – still they die from starvation”

• Poor people lack money to buy enough food

• They are constantly malnourished

• They become weaker and often sick

• This makes them increasingly less able to work

• Inability to work makes them even poorer and hungrier

• This downward spiral often continues until death for them and their families.

Death Rates for Poor Children

• 26,500-30,000 children die each day due to poverty (UNICEF)

• 10,6 million children died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5

• 1,4 million children die each year from lack of access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation

– 400 million people with no access to safe water (1 in 5)

• Almost 5 million children die every year from hunger and hunger-related diseases

– More than half of these deaths are caused by malnutrition

– malnutrition claims a child's life every 5 seconds.

• Approximately 146 million children in developing countries are underweight

• The majority of 1.8 million child deaths each year are from diarrhea caused by dirty water and poor sanitation

- almost 5,000 every day - making diarrhea the second largest cause of

child mortality

• 640 million children without adequate shelter (1 in 3)

- 1.3 million people die from malaria each year due poor sanitation

- 90% of these are children under the age of five

- 1,700,000 children will die needlessly each year because world governments fail to reduce poverty levels

• Most of these children are from developing countries

Lack of Education

• Children without access to education worldwide:

– 121 million

– more than 115 million children are out of school

• some 62 million of them are girls.

Health of Children

Worldwide: – 270 million children with no access to

health services (1 in 7)

– 2,2 million children die each year because they are not immunized

– 39.5 million people live with HIV/AIDS • 63 percent of which live in Sub-

Saharan Africa • More than 10 million children in

Africa have been orphaned by AIDS

– Girls and women are especially vulnerable to HIV infection and AIDS

– Globally, more than half of all people living with HIV are female

Goals for the 21st centuryMillennium Development Goals (MDGs)

• The Poverty Goal by 2015– Reducing the number of people living on less than a

dollar a day by half by 2015– A reduction of extremely poor by 363 million people by

2015

• 189 countries signed the Millennium Development Goals Declaration in September 2000

• The MDGs consist of eight goals to be reached by 2015:

– Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger – Achieve primary education for all (basic education)– Promote gender equality and empower women – Reduce child mortality – Improve maternal health – Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases – Guarantee environmental sustainability – Develop a global partnership for development

By Nina Sandström Angelsen

Selbu videregående skole