Interconnected Nature of Poverty

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Do curso por Yonsei University

Sustainable Development in the 21st Century with Ban Ki-moon

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Yonsei University

Sustainable Development in the 21st Century with Ban Ki-moon

16 ratings

The course is designed for people that want to learn about the latest development agenda the international community agreed to achieve by 2030. Structured around the five pillars of Agenda 2030 – people, prosperity, planet, peace and justice, and partnership, students will learn that these pillars are interconnected and need to be integrated in practical policy-making and operational activities for development, in both developed and developing country settings. Following an introductory module on the main concepts of Agenda 2030 and the SDGs, successive modules will provide the foundation behind the SDGs for people, prosperity and planet, peace and partnership. A final module will explore the way forward and provide channels that the young generation can participate to integrate the SDGs in the policy-making of the students’ resident countries. To get a better idea of our course, we welcome you to take a look at our promotional video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KATSb73TeB4

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People

Within the SDGs, ending poverty remains a central objective of international development efforts. In Week 2, we will be looking at the concepts of poverty. The aim of this week is to examine different approaches to defining and measuring poverty and inequality and to understand the impact of global distribution of poverty. The causes and impacts of poverty such as unequal distribution of resources and power will also be discussed. Later, we will be looking at how the interrelationship between poverty and other issues, such as global health systems, hunger, gender equality and education will have an impact on the level of poverty. Furthermore, we will look into a specific case study of Bahrain’s health care reform.

Extreme Poverty2:54

Interconnected Nature of Poverty6:57

Call to Action: Eradicating Extreme Poverty3:09

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Ban Ki-moon
Distinguished Chair Professor
Institute for Global Engagement and Empowerment

[MUSIC]

When there was the world summit on social development in Copenhagen in 1995,

the UN Declaration defined absolute poverty as a condition characterized

by severe deprivation of basic human needs including food,

safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health,

shelter, education and information.

It depends not only on income but also on access to services.

Thus, we must look beyond monetary terms in our efforts to combat poverty.

Here I'd like to think about the close relationship between education,

health issues, such as children mortality and HIV prevalence, and

access to basic services, including water, sanitation, etc.

As a director of Medical Mission Center of Yonsei University Health System,

I often visit developing countries.

Several years ago, I visit Kenya.

I heard of woman who led Beacon of Hope on indigenous angio

told me this poignant African wisdom, the empty stomach does

not have ears [FOREIGN].

This African proverb, interestingly echos a study done with Indian

sugarcane farmers, who consistently scored better in cognitive

tests after they completed the sugarcane harvest and had more money.

It illustrates that the hunger and

poverty are giving great impact on human development.

Dealing with poverty is a prerequisite for

achieving educational or cognitive development.

The older Africans already know the impact of poverty on many aspects of

human life and development, and its interconnected nature.

This interconnectedness became a more tangible

during a conversation with a woman raising seven children on her own.

She got married when she was a teenager and had four children from her marriage.

Unfortunately her husband tested positive for HIV and shortly she did as well.

When her husband died, she could no longer stay with her in-laws,

forcing her to move back to her family's house.

But there was no home for her there either.

She was forced to leave once again, and

to worsen the situation, she had to take on her sister's three children.

She an her seven children moved to Nairobi in search of a living and

eventually settled in one of the biggest slums there.

In lieu of a stable job, he had little choice but to result to prostitution.

Her story gives us insight into how poverty affects

multiple aspects of life, simultaneously.

Moreover, this intensely personal and

particular story is actually indicative of a larger statistic.

During the four years, I lived in Uzbekistan as a director of an angel

hospital I've encountered these kinds of stories all too often.

Here is a map that illustrates which areas of the world have

the biggest population of people living in extreme poverty.

And this another map that highlights those areas and

then I will show you a series of maps about other issues.

The following maps show us healthcare issues, such,

as HIV prevalence, tuberculosis, maternal mortality, and

children mortality under the five years old.

These maps share understandable similarity with the poverty map and

you can also notice how closely the map for child labor,

teenage pregnancy, school enrollment status of girls, and illiteracy of women.

Which stands for gender in economy inequality and

social injustice mirrors, the aforementioned maps.

This maps and statistics tell us,

the interconnectedness of poverty with the sustainable development goals and

tell us that, what I heard from the mother of seven in Nairobi,

is not just a single story but a part of a larger issue.

Here we meet the challenge of interconnectedness of poverty?

When we realize this interconnectedness, we get to know

the huge task that lies ahead, and we are liable to be overwhelmed.

Of course, we are impressed when we hear statistics on how extreme

poverty was reduced to below 10%, but at the same time,

we are haunted by the shadow of a doubt when the World Bank announces

it's goal to eradicate extreme poverty by 2013 entirely.

It is true that some people doubt the success of the goal.

And they regard the goal as too ambitious.

Their concern is also coming from the understanding of complex and

interconnected nature of poverty.

Somehow, some people regard the poverty as a necessary evil,

or the hydra, in months that they can not ever be truly slain.

We have to take those critics seriously and

not to forget that poverty affects all aspects of life of people.

But I didn't think poverty is unquenchable, monster-like the hydra.

This interconnectedness is a suddenly huge challenge, but at the same time,

it is an opportunity to bring secure, the sustainable future.

The close interconnectedness means

that successful dealing with one issue can affect and change others.

For example, providing quality education and job training for

women in the poor regions, would let them read and have skills.

And would bring them chances to get a decent job and

would lead to a reduction in teenage pregnancy.

Yes, the problem is neither simple nor one dimensional,

however, the interconnectedness ironically

grants us multiple ways that we can solve the issues.

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