World Poverty & Hunger
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The World Bank
Group and the board of governors of the International Monetary Fund meet regularly
to determine how current international monetary issues should be addressed.
The International Development Association (IDA) is the branch of the World
Bank Group that lends money to the world’s poorest countries. In most cases,
though, the assistance hasn’t helped largely because recipients have failed
to address the main causes of their economic ruin -- corruption, repressed
economies, weak judicial systems and excessive state ownership of key
enterprises. When governments
establish strong courts, strong property rights and strong rule of law, when
they lower or eliminate tariffs, make it easy to open businesses, privatize
state-owned enterprises and reduce barriers to foreign ownership, incomes
rise and economies flourish1. 1. adapted from an
article by Ana Eiras, The
Poverty of Nations [The Heritage
Foundation, 2003] *** ARCHIVES ***
How bad will the
global food crisis get? Chelsea Bruce-Lockhart and Emiko Terazono, Financial Times, London, 27 July 2022 [accessed 1 August 2022] But the price
declines do not mean the food crisis is over. Analysts say the underlying
factors that drove markets higher are unchanged. The ongoing war is only one
of a multitude of problems that could sustain higher hunger rates for many
years to come. The Ukraine
conflict came at a time when food prices were already being pushed upwards by
a range of factors — mainly droughts affecting key crop-producing countries
and supply chains dealing with the residual effects of the pandemic. In
poorer countries whose economies have been left in tatters by Covid-19
lockdowns, the war only exacerbated a grim situation. “What sets this
global food crisis apart from previous similar situations is that there are
multiple major causes behind it,” says Cary Fowler, US special envoy for food
security. TOP 5 CAUSES OF
GLOBAL POVERTY Sam Bostwick, The
Bogen Project, 30 September 2019 borgenproject.org/top-5-causes-of-global-poverty/ [accessed 26 January 2021] Of the population
of the world, over 3 billion people live on less than $2.50 a day. This is a
staggering number that begs the question, why? What are the causes of global
poverty? There is a multitude of reasons as to why poverty devastates countries,
but here are the top five causes of global poverty. 1. War 2. Little to No
Education 3. Corruption 4. Inflation 5. Natural
Disasters. Towards a better
society Rajyogi Brahmakumar
Nikunj ji, The pioneer,
15 February 2021 www.dailypioneer.com/2021/vivacity/towards-a-better-society.html [accessed 15 February 2021] Another factor that
is responsible for this critical situation is the highly consumeristic and wasteful
lifestyle of affluent nations or of affluent sections of society in the same
country. It is not known to many that about 80 per cent of the gross
world-products are consumed by the developed countries which constitute only
20 per cent of the world-population while remaining world population that
dwell in developing countries gets only 15 per cent of gross world products. So again
there is need to give clarity to the people about the urgent need for
simplicity in life. Hence, what people of developing nations should made to
be understood that mere charity cannot solve the problems of poverty and
hunger, created by exploitation, social injustice and the utterly selfish and
wasteful life-style of some nations or some sections of society. In fact, some
people have recently raised this vital question about the end-result of
charity after a controversial documentary was made by a popular director in
the West on charity work done by the organisations
there. Global Community
Steps Up with $93 Billion Support Package to Boost Resilient Recovery in
World’s Poorest Countries World Bank, Washington D.C., Press Release,
15 December2021 LONG URL [accessed 15 December 2021] The World Bank
today announced a $93 billion replenishment package of the International
Development Association (IDA) to help low-income countries respond to the
COVID-19 crisis and build a greener, more resilient, and inclusive future.
The financing brings together $23.5 billion of contributions from 48 high-
and middle-income countries with financing raised in the capital markets,
repayments, and the World Bank’s own contributions. The financing
package, agreed over a two-day meeting hosted virtually by Japan, is the
largest ever mobilized in IDA’s 61-year history. IDA’s unique leveraging
model enables it to achieve greater value from donor resources – every $1
that donors contribute to IDA is now leveraged into almost $4 of financial
support for the poorest countries. |
