WORLD POVERTY

Most of us live in comfort and security, but over one-fifth of the world’s population lives in poverty. Around the world poverty appears when people are not able to achieve the standard of living that is usual for their society. Today, standards of living vary greatly among nations; however, the effects of poverty remain constant: hunger, homelessness, lack of education, and resources to fulfill basic human needs.

Poverty is not only having no money. For 

those in developing countries it also is not having the materials and resources to fulfill their basic needs. A person can be poor when they don’t have access to employment and basic healthcare, education and essentials like food, clothing and water.

There are many causes and effects of poverty. The most obvious effect of poverty is hunger, however hunger can also be a cause of poverty. This is because hunger deprives those living in absolute poverty of the skill and strength to carry out productive work. Millions of people, including over six million children under the age of five, die each year as a result of hunger. One in seven children born in countries where hunger, and therefore poverty, is most common will die before reaching the age of five. Hunger affects mental and physical growth, causing undernourished smaller and slighter body frames, which in turn earn less in jobs involving physical labour, contributing to the overall poverty of a country and community.

Voicelessness/powerlessness is a cause and effect of poverty because people living in absolute poverty often have no political power and are subjected to exploitation by the state. They lack protection, and report widespread corruption within state education and health care systems. Poor people in many countries speak of being kept waiting endlessly while the rich of the country go to the head of the queue. Situations like these create more problems for those already in absolute poverty, and continue to divide the rich from the poor without providing any help. The problem with a lack of voice and power as a cause of poverty is that it enforces a lack of voice and power as an effect of poverty, creating a continuous cycle that deliberately separates the poor of a country from the rich.

The last major cause and effect of poverty that is covered in this essay is vulnerability. Natural disasters, economic crises, and conflict leave the poor very vulnerable, with nobody to help and a lack of resources to use to help themselves. This idea is best expressed through the story of a poor villager from Benin, in the World Development Report 2000/2001: Attacking Poverty. 'Three years ago was a very bad year. The flood washed away all our crops, and there was a lot of hunger around here, to the point that many people actually died of hunger. They must have been at least a dozen, mostly children and old people. Nobody could help them. Their relatives in the village had no food either; nobody had enough food for his own children, let alone the food for the children of his brother or cousin. And few had a richer relative somewhere else who could help.' This is a perfect example of the vulnerability that is both a cause and effect of poverty. The relatively poor can become absolutely poor through disasters, both economic and natural, and conflict, which causes more vulnerability that affects their ability to escape poverty.

The fate of these people is so sad. They are not interested in having luxury things- jewels, fancy clothes, big houses or expensive cars. All that they want is to have health and not to see how their closest are dying every day because of hunger. They want to have better conditions to live and it is the only thing that can make these people happy. In my opinion we can give them happiness. I realize that it cannot happen for one day, or one week because supplying food and immunizations demand more time but it is possible to happen.

If we stop poverty, we will save many peoples’ lives. Life is so hard and if we don’t help these people, who will do that? Let’s support this cause, because this is the way that we can see smiles on childrens’ faces and we can make some childrens’ dreams come true. Poverty destroys many childrens’ dreams and it is time to say stop. It is time to integrate with each other for one cause because these people need us, it is time to show that we have golden hearts and we really understand how serious the problem with hunger is and it is time to be people and to show that we care not only for ourselves, but also for others in our planet. So let’s help before it is too late and let’s show these people that they are not alone and somebody, somewhere cares about them.