Free Sample of a Great Poverty Essay

Causes, Effects, and Viable Solutions in the Eradication of Poverty

If I had the ability to solve any issue that currently plagues the world, I would settle for eradicating poverty. Poverty is by far one of the most pressing problems in the world. Of the numerous problems that the world faces, none is as dire or affects as many people as poverty does. Poverty has an impact on a broad cross-section of the global population, rendering them unable to meet their needs or live a life of dignity. Of even greater concern is the fact that most of those that are adversely affected by poverty are women and children. UNICEF projects that over one billion children live in poverty. Of these, an estimated 22,000 died each day due to hunger in 2011, with another 165 million under the age of five having stunted growth due to malnutrition (UNICEF, 2016). Poverty should be eradicated because it has dire effects on a large number of people, most of them children, and can be eliminated quite easily.

Poverty affects a large number of individuals. An estimated three billion people, almost half of the world’s population, lives on less than $2.5 a day (Global Issues, 2016). Of even more concern is the fact that nearly half of these (1.3 billion) people live in extreme poverty since they earn less than $1.25 a day, most of them living in developing nations (Global Issues, 2016). So prevalent is the problem that the United Nations earmarked the elimination of poverty as one of their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The UN hopes to eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere by 2030, and in so doing reduce the poverty levels in the world by half (UN SDG, 2016). By eliminating poverty, it is thought that the 805 million people around the world without enough food to eat and the 750 million inhabitants of the planet that lack adequate access to clean drinking water or sanitation will not have to suffer the consequences of drinking or eating contaminated water or food. 

A large number of factors cause poverty. Often, people misconstrue poverty as a sign of laziness, but this is seldom the case. There are numerous reasons for being poor, but laziness is not necessarily among them (Davids & Gouws, 2013). Poverty, especially in its most extreme forms, is caused by discrimination and social injustices which prevent those of lower social standing from accessing the tools or resources that could uplift them (Ng, Farinda, Kan, Lim, & Ting, 2013). Moreover, poverty of nations is often caused by economic realities and national debt. Poorer countries typically have the highest levels of debt, and their citizens are usually poor and miserable in turn. While they may receive aid packages, they have to contend with paying an average of $2.30 to service debts for every $1 they get in grant funding (Coote, Greenham, & Kersley, 2014). Also, these countries are the most susceptible to political instability or weak governments that cannot protect the people. As a result, the environment in these countries cannot support the creation of wealth. 

Some simple interventions can eliminate poverty. First, since Official Development Assistance (ODA) comprises the largest flow of resources for the poorest countries, especially those in Sub-Saharan Africa, foreign grants and aid should be applied to create a favorable environment for the creation of wealth through private investment and developmental finance (Ng, Farinda, Kan, Lim, & Ting, 2013). Those countries or areas that demonstrate the most economic potential should receive the greatest levels of foreign aid. Secondly, efforts should be made to ensure every person in the world has access to food and water sources and can access affordable healthcare (Coote, Greenham, & Kersley, 2014). Such an effort would only work if all the governments committed to ending poverty. Local projects on the ground should have international efforts directed at them to assure their success (Ng, Farinda, Kan, Lim, & Ting, 2013). Third, data on poverty rates should be improved as it is only through having the necessary metrics that accurately scope the problem that it can be handled. Through these interventions, poverty will all but be eliminated.

In conclusion, poverty should be eradicated since it affects a large cross-section of the world populations despite the fact that it would be trivial to remove. Most of the people that are affected most severely by poverty are children, and as such reducing poverty would better the lives of the said minors. Through making food and drinking water available to the masses as well as ensuring that healthcare is affordable, as much as half of the world’s poverty levels would be eliminated. Financial aid could be used to make sure that the citizens of the poorest nations have access to the services they require. In essence, poverty which so happens to be the one of the most pressing problems around the globe would be eliminated.

References

Coote, A., Greenham, T., Kersley, H., & Laurence, R. (2014). Tackling the systemic causes of poverty. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation. 

Davids, Y. D., & Gouws, A. (2013). Monitoring perceptions of the causes of poverty in South Africa. Social Indicators Research, 110(3), 1201-1220.

Global Issues,. (2016). Poverty Facts and Stats — Global Issues. Globalissues.org. Retrieved 15 May 2016, from http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats

Ng, A. H. H., Farinda, A. G., Kan, F. K., Lim, A. L., & Ting, T. M. (2013). Poverty: Its Causes and Solutions. World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, International Journal of Social, Behavioral, Educational, Economic and Management Engineering, 7(8), 1199-1207. 

UN SDG,. (2016). Sustainable development goals – United Nations. United Nations Sustainable Development. Retrieved 15 May 2016, from http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/

UNICEF,. (2016). UNICEF – SOWC05. Unicef.org. Retrieved 15 May 2016, from http://www.unicef.org/sowc05/english/poverty.html