By Samuel Zan Akologo
From a positive perspective, global poverty benchmark has seen a remarkable reduction since 1990 from 36% to 10% of the world population by 2015. However, the recent progress report of the UN Secretary General for the first round of four-year implementation of the SDGs indicate a dismally performance towards the 2030 transformative development trajectory. Of particular concern is progress towards eliminating poverty by 2030!
Let me give you a random data on the situation of poverty. An estimated 1.3 billion people still live in extreme poverty with about 805 million people not having enough to eat. According to UNICEF, 22,000 children die each day due to poverty. The World’s 10 poorest countries in 2017 were from sub-saharan Africa. About 25% of India’s population, nearly 200 million people, are poor. An average of 9.8% of people in the European Union live below the poverty line in 2018. One in four children lived in poverty in the Middle East and North Africa in 2017. Oxfam International Gender Inequality Report in 2017 reveals why women are still more likely than men to live in poverty.
Admittedly, these are selective data on poverty. Nevertheless, they make the following points clear:
- Poverty remain a global issue.
- Poverty has a human face and account significantly for conditions of human indignity and exclusion.
- Poverty has a social dimension with women, children, persons with disabilities and those at the margins and periphery of society being disproportionately impacted.
- Addressing poverty has a positive multiplier effect on other targets of the SDGs.
A global campaign on poverty need to adopt a comprehensive and integrated approach encompassing both causes and effects. According to Pope Francis in Laudato Si, the cry of the Earth is also linked to the cry of the Poor; both of which demands our listening ear. We need a campaign that engages, mobilizes, conscientizes and empowers the poor to set their own agenda for progress. We need a new discourse that places the poor at the centre instead of the usual statistical calculations and mathematical logics! This is an important discourse for the Caritas Confederation on the eve of Laudato Si @ 5 in 2020!
Thank you.
