SHARING THE EARTH’S

RESOURCES

By Marvin B. Gonzaga

About 700 million fewer

people lived in conditions

of extreme poverty in 2010

than in 1990.

Poverty rates have been

halved between 1990 and

2010, but1.2 billion people

still live in extreme poverty.

Proportion of

people living

on less than

$1.25 a day,

1990 and 2010

(Percentage)(source: The Millennium

Development Goals

Report 2013)

The economic and

financial crisis has

widened the global

jobs gap by 67 million

people.

did not consume enough

food on a regular basis

to cover their minimum

dietary

energy requirements

over the period 2010 to

2012.

According to new

estimates, about

870 millionpeople or

1 in 8 worldwide

Globally,

123 million youth

(aged 15 to 24) lack basic reading and

writing skills; 61 per

cent of them are young

women.

By the end of

2012, some

45.1 million people worldwide were

forcibly displaced due

to conflict or

persecution.

6.9 million children under

age five died in 2011—

mostly from

preventable diseases.

In 2011,

57 million children of primary

school age were out of

school

The global

ratio of employment to the

working-age population

declined from

61.3% in 2007 to

60.3 in 2012

In about

46 million

of the 135 millionlive births in 2011,

women delivered

alone or with

inadequate care.

Additional Statistics

Structural violence refers to the systems, institutions, and policies that meet

some people’s needs, rights, or wants at the expense of

others

Other Causes of Poverty

WAR

POLITICAL SYSTEMS

INEQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION

OF WEALTH AND RESOURCES

ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

OVER-UTILIZATION OF RESOURCES

LACK OF OPPORTUNITIES

LACK OF EDUCATION

CORRUPTION

OVERCONSUMPTION

GREED

Economic Globalization – refers to the economic integration of the world’s

countries through increased flow of goods and services, capital and labor

(Stiglitz, 2007)

Benefits:

the promotion of economic efficiency

the expansion of opportunities for growth and development thereby

reducing poverty and inequity and enhancing human development and

security

The “Promise” of Economic Globalization

Challenging Economic Inequity

Global

Establish a new economic order that is fair

Wealthy countries should open up their markets to

poor countries without conditionality

Developed countries should provide unconditional debt

relief

Assistance given to developing nations should be

given in the

form of grants without condition

Rich countries should open access to technologies

Reduce military expenditures so that more resources

would be

made available

National

A genuine agrarian reform program should be implemented

Government should increase subsidy for education

Government and private lending institutions should institute credit

reforms

Government should provide training skills programs

Progressive taxation reforms should be instituted to increase the

purchasing power of the poor

Rural infrastructure should be developed

The government should make itself more accessible and visible through

decentralization

Transnational corporations should be obliged to make contributions

A code of conduct should be set for transnational corporations to follow

Reduce military expenditures so that more resources would be

made available