In September 2000, participants at the United Nations Millennium Summit adopted a set of goals for the international community in the 21st century in the form of the United Nations Millennium Declaration. The first of the Millennium Development Goals agreed to on the basis of this declaration is "the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger." Specifically, this means reducing by half the proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day, and reducing by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger, by 2015.
So, just how many people do you think there are living on less than a dollar a day? One in every thousand people? One in every ten thousand? Not even close. In fact, one in every five people around the world is living on less than one dollar a day. That's a total of 1.2 billion people. As many as 2.8 billion people (over two in every five people!) are living on less than two dollars a day. Try thinking about this in terms of your own school or workplace. For example, if we take a class of 40 students as representing the entire population of the world, then eight students would be living on less than one dollar a day. Eighteen would be living on less than two dollars a day. This is the reality of the world today.
Distribution of people living on less than one dollar a day
Source: "Human Development Report 2003" (UNDP)
The most serious of all the problems associated with the poverty situation are hunger and malnourishment. At present, we know that 24,000 people around the world die every day due to hunger. A total of 850 million people suffer from hunger or malnutrition. This is equivalent to around 13% of the world's population. (At the same time, over 1 billion people suffer from obesity!)
There is a big difference between hunger and poverty. This is because not having anything to eat today (rather than not having any income) is truly a matter of life and death. It is not a problem that we can afford to sit back and think about over time, but one that will result in the loss of one life after another unless we extend a helping hand right now.
Click on "Hunger situation" below the Earthrium globe. The results are based on the "Hunger map" created by the WFP (World Food Program).
There are various causes of hunger. The distribution of food may be interrupted due to a conflict of some kind. Even if there is food, people may not be able to buy it because they are too poor. Cropland or grazing land may be lost due to a natural disaster or conflict. In fact, the possible causes are so numerous it is impossible to mention them all. One thing we can say is that recently natural disasters due to climate change have become yet another cause of hunger. And because it is said that the cause of global warming is the large-scale emission of carbon dioxide and other gases into the atmosphere by the developed nations, we could perhaps say that the lifestyle of those living in the developed nations is one factor contributing to poverty and hunger.
Farmers who lose the livestock that sustains their livelihoods have difficulties obtaining food (Kenya)
Photo: WFP/Peter Smerdon
An email that once did the rounds all over the world contained the following phrase.
"If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy."
We are indeed living in a world of great disparity.