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Poverty & Hunger

Trinidad & Tobago

In the early years of the 21st Century

Description: Description: Trinidad&Tobago

CAUTION:  The following links and accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Trinidad & Tobago in the early years of the 21st Century.  Some of these links may lead to websites that present allegations that are unsubstantiated, misleading or even false.   No attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content.

HOW TO USE THIS WEBPAGE

Students

If you are looking for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on this page and others to see which aspects of poverty are of particular interest to you.  You might be interested in exploring the relationship between distribution of labor and per-capita GDP, for example.  Perhaps your paper could focus on life expectancy or infant mortality.  Other factors of interest might be unemployment, literacy, access to basic services, etc.  On the other hand, you might choose to include some of the possible outgrowths of poverty such as Human Trafficking, Street Children, or even Prostitution.  There is a lot to the subject of Poverty.  Scan other countries as well as this one.  Draw comparisons between activity in adjacent countries and/or regions.  Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources that are available on-line.

Teachers

Check out some of the Resources for Teachers attached to this website.

*** Extreme Weather ***

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warns that higher-than-normal temperatures will extend into 2024, and these weather extremes will become the “new norm” in Trinidad and Tobago.  adapted from Microsoft BING Copilot

*** ARCHIVES ***

The World Factbook – Trinidad & Tobago

U.S. Central Intelligence Agency CIA

www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/td.html

[accessed 17 November 2020]

World Factbook website has moved to ---> www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/trinidad-and-tobago/

[accessed 11 January 2021]

ECONOMIC OVERVIEW - relies on its energy sector - oil and gas typically account for about 40% of GDP and 80% of exports; has one of the highest per capita incomes in Latin America, a sovereign wealth fund, and considerable foreign exchange reserves

GDP - per capita (PPP): $31,300 (2017 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture: 3.1%

industry: 11.5%

services: 85.4% (2016 est.)

Unemployment rate: 4.9% (2017 est.)

Population below poverty line: 20% (2014 est.)

Maternal mortality rate: 67 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)

Infant mortality rate: total: 20.1 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 73.9 years

Drinking water source: improved: total: 99.3% of population

Physicians density: 3.36 physicians/1,000 population (2017)

Sanitation facility access: improved: total: 99.3% of population

Electricity access: electrification - total population: 100% (2016)

The Borgen Project – Trinidad and Tobago

borgenproject.org/category/trinidad-and-tobago/

[accessed 16 March 2021]

The Borgen Project works with U.S. leaders to utilize the United States’ platform behind efforts toward improving living conditions for the world’s poor.  It is an innovative, national campaign that is working to make poverty a focus of U.S. foreign policy.  It believes that leaders of the most powerful nation on earth should be doing more to address global poverty. From ending segregation to providing women with the right to vote, nearly every wrong ever righted in history was achieved through advocacy. The Borgen Project addresses the big picture, operating at the political level advancing policies and programs that improve living conditions for those living on less than $1 per day.

~ Addressing Healthcare Worker Emigration

borgenproject.org/healthcare-worker-emigration/

~ Healthcare In Trinidad And Tobago

borgenproject.org/healthcare-in-trinidad-and-tobago/

~ Homelessness In Trinidad And Tobago

borgenproject.org/homelessness-in-trinidad-and-tobago/

~ Top 10 Facts About Living Conditions In Trinidad And Tobago

borgenproject.org/top-10-facts-about-living-conditions-in-trinidad-and-tobago/

~ Food Waste And Hunger In Trinidad And Tobago

borgenproject.org/hunger-in-trinidad-and-tobago/

~ Why Is Trinidad And Tobago Poor?

borgenproject.org/why-is-trinidad-and-tobago-poor/

~ How To Help People In Trinidad And Tobago

borgenproject.org/help-people-in-trinidad-and-tobago/

~ Common Diseases In Trinidad And Tobago

borgenproject.org/common-diseases-in-trinidad-tobago/

~ 10 Facts About Refugees In Trinidad And Tobago

borgenproject.org/facts-refugees-in-trinidad-and-tobago/

People desperate ... as unemployment, hunger, poverty grip T&T

Raphael John Lall, The Guardian, 5 June 2021

www.guardian.co.tt/news/people-desperate-6.2.1338483.a250b61f2a

[accessed 6 June 2021]

Unemployment, hunger and poverty have been gripping the population of T&T with the closure of businesses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The restrictions put in place by the Government to help curb runaway numbers of infections and deaths have forced businesses to close their doors and lay off employees and it has also impoverished working people who were already struggling.

Some people who have lost their jobs have become desperate as they do not know where their next meal will be coming from or how they will pay their bills. Many people are being evicted from their homes and their mental health are being affected. While thousands have been clamouring for help from the Government and have received food relief hampers and employment relief cheques, hundreds of others have not been so lucky.

Looking back a few years …

Advameg, Inc., Encyclopedia of the Nations

www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Americas/Trinidad-and-Tobago-ECONOMY.html

[accessed 12 January 2021]

Oil revenue windfall after 1973 brought unprecedented prosperity. However, this prosperity was not sustained when oil prices began to fall in 1982. Only after a further steep decline in the price of oil in 1986 did the government face the challenge of a fundamental adjustment in economic policy and initiate a program supported by the World Bank and the IMF. The country began the difficult transition from an oil dependent, public sector dominated economy, to a more diversified, market-oriented, private sector-led one.

After a decade of almost uninterrupted economic decline, growth returned in 1995, when real GDP increased 2.4%.

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