Joint efforts will defeat poverty

MUCH has been written about poverty eradication in recent years. Poverty means not having enough money for basic needs such as food, drinking water, shelter, or toilets. Many people in different countries live in poverty.
Causes of poverty are changing trends in a country’s economy, associated with the lack of education, high divorce rate, overpopulation, epidemic diseases such as AIDS, malaria and environmental problems such as lack of rainfall.
In Papua New Guinea, about 39.9 percent of the population live below the national poverty line. Rural poverty is especially prevalent, causing agriculture to suffer.
The run-down health system demonstrates years of a less-than-successful governmental approach.
Maybe PNG’s poverty rate can be largely attributed to a lack of knowledge of effective farming methods and an uncommitted government.
Poverty is a complex concept, which may include social, economic, and political elements.
Absolute poverty, extreme poverty, or destitution refers to the complete lack of the means necessary to meet basic personal needs such as food, clothing and shelter.
Poverty is the state of being poor, having little money or being in need of a specific quality.
In the past couple of decades, significant improvements in life expectancy, literacy rates, and reduction in child mortality have taken place in many countries around the world.
Nonetheless, human development – understood as development that prioritises human well-being and the enlargement of opportunities, freedoms and choice to pursue a life they value – continues to proceed slowly.
And despite a considerable amount of resources mobilised by the international community, hundreds of millions suffer daily the anguish of deprivation of a decent and dignified living, the causes of which are nested in complex webs of poverty and social exclusion.
Indeed, almost a billion people today are estimated to live in a condition of extreme poverty, with their daily lives characterised by widespread deprivations related to lack of adequate and nutritious food and clean water, inadequate clothing and shelter, and with little opportunities available to live a life with dignity and basic security.
Poverty reduction and the promotion of overall human development are now also well-accepted as major international goals. Nearly all possible consequences of poverty have an impact on children’ lives.
Poor infrastructures, unemployment, lack of basic services and income reflect on their lack of education, malnutrition, violence at home and outside, child labour, diseases of all kinds, transmitted by the family or through the environment.
Poverty has remained a recurrent problem.
Poverty is an old enemy with many faces and defeating it will require many actors to work together.
Last Thursday (Oct 17) was the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, declared 25 years ago in December 1992, by the United Nations General Assembly. The day presented an opportunity to acknowledge the effort and struggle of people living in poverty, a chance for them to make their concerns heard, and a moment to recognise that poor people are the first ones to fight against poverty.
Poverty is not just about poverty but also about inequality. It is not easy for men to rise when they are affected by poverty.
Only by creating and nurturing a genuine partnership with people living with poverty will it be possible to build an inclusive world where all people can enjoy their full human rights and lead lives with dignity.
Government policies alone cannot create the social inclusion that is fundamental to reaching those left furthest behind and overcoming poverty in all its dimensions.