Governments blamed for global poverty

By Faiza Rady

Although global consumption has increased to unprecedented levels over the last few decades, absolute poverty is on the rise worldwide, according to the recently-released UNDP Human Development Report (HDR), 1998.

The South Asian sub-continent, with 510 million people defined as "income-poor", has the largest number of people living in poverty. Sub-Saharan Africa -- with 220 million poor, representing about 40 per cent of the population -- has the greatest proportional incidence and growth of poverty. While Latin America has reduced the incidence of poverty to 15 per cent of its population, more than 110 million people on the continent still fall below the poverty line.

According to the report, the former Soviet states and other countries of Eastern Europe have witnessed the greatest erosion of their real income since the fall of socialism. While only four million people in the region lived below the poverty line a decade ago, 120 million -- a quarter of the population -- are currently defined as poor.

About one third of the population of developing countries -- some 1.3 billion people -- still live on less than one dollar a day, more than two billion people are anaemic -- including 55 million in developed countries, and 30 million people die of hunger every year.

Commenting on the implications of such statistics, particularly when contrasted with massive national and global income disparities, political analyst Ignacio Ramonet said in the French monthly Le Monde Diplomatique: "The combined wealth of the three richest people in the world is higher than the [combined] GDP of the world's poorest 48 countries -- which account for a quarter of the world's nations."

As millions starve to death or lead stunted lives as a result of dramatic and oftentimes obscene income disparities, aggregate private and public consumption expenditures reached $24 trillion in 1998, twice the level of 1975 and six times that of 1950, notes the report. "Consumption per capita has increased steadily in industrial countries (about 2.3 per cent annually) over the past 25 years, spectacularly in East Asia (6.1 per cent) and at a rising rate in South Asia (2.0 per cent)."

Yet, on a global level, the poorest 20 per cent have no access to this "consumption explosion". The average African household currently consumes 20 per cent less than it did 25 years ago. Worldwide, over one billion people lack essential consumption needs. And in the South, 4.4 billion people -- close to three-fifths of the population -- are deprived of basic sanitation, one third have no potable water, while one fifth of the population have no access to health care. Likewise, one fifth of all children in the South drop out of school before reaching the fifth grade, and an equal number suffer from dietary, energy and protein deficiencies.

The report strongly denounces national governments for abdicating their responsibilities and contributing to massive inequalities by disinvesting from food security and social welfare programmes.

It cites the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which stipulates that "Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services... [as well as] the right to education." Yet, the report continues, governments are promoting "private affluence among public squalor."

As in previous years, the 1998 HDR uses a "Human Development Index" (HDI) to grade countries according to an aggregate index of life expectancy, educational achievement and a decent standard of living. In addition, the report includes a special "Human Poverty Index" (HPI), defined as "a country-by-country measure of poverty from the human perspective based on three variables: vulnerability of death at an early age; illiteracy; and a less-than-decent standard of living comprising lack of access to health services, safe water and adequate food."

The HPI is considered more accurate than conventional per capita measures of poverty that rely purely on income distribution. "The HPI looks at whether people have the basic choices and opportunities to lead a long and healthy life and to enjoy a decent standard of living," explains the report.

Despite high consumption patterns, the Human Poverty Profiles of industrial countries -- called HPI-2 -- show that between seven to 17 per cent of the populations are defined as poor. However, this poverty does not come across by examining the country's average income. "Sweden has the least poverty (seven per cent), although it is ranked only thirteenth in average income," the report says. "The United States, with the highest average income of the countries ranked, has the highest population share experiencing human poverty." Moreover, countries with similar per capita incomes may have differing profiles since poverty levels largely depend on governments' social investment choices and economic policies. A comparison between the Netherlands and Britain, for instance, shows HPI-2 values of eight per cent and 15 per cent respectively, although the two countries have similar per capita income levels.

The report also reveals that poverty and social deprivation are thriving among the marginalised underclass in the North. "HPI-2 show conclusively that underconsumption and human deprivation are not just for the lot of poor people in the developing world," the report says. "More than 100 million people in rich nations suffer a similar fate. Nearly 200 million people are not expected to survive to age 60. More than 100 million are homeless, and at least 37 million are without jobs."

Among countries of the South, the besieged island of Cuba has an outstanding HPI record among Latin American countries. Included among the countries of "medium human development", Cuba ranks lower than any other listed Latin American country in infant mortality rates (IMR). With an IMR of 10 per 1000 live births, Cuba outdoes Costa Rica (13), Uruguay (20), Venezuela (24), Mexico (27) and Nicaragua (44), among others. And with an adult illiteracy level of only 4.3 per cent, Cuba similarly leads Costa Rica (5.2), Venezuela (8.9), Mexico (10.4) and Nicaragua (34.3).

Despite the long-standing US embargo and consequent economic losses, the Cuban poverty profile shows that the country's leadership has continued to invest in its people's welfare.

The countries with the lowest rankings are Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Sierra Leone -- where poverty exceeds 50 per cent of the population, the highest level worldwide.

Maintaining that most countries have to redefine their priorities in terms of the struggle against poverty, the report urges governments to adopt strong public policies and reinvest in their people's welfare.