Daily Times

According to the UN, poverty is “the per capita income of a person in a country is less than 2.15$ per day is considered poor and the country counts in poverty.”

In the real sense, poverty is not limited to the per capita income of the people, but it has linkages with other basic models for instance income inequality and environmental degradation of the country.

Wherever poverty exists, income inequality and environmental degradation arise. According to the UN reports on poverty alleviation of 2022, half of the East Asia workforce is informal, however, southeast Asia is close to 75 percent and South Asia has a 90 percent performed informal workforce.

The UN Report on Poverty and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proclaimed that poverty in developing countries has exponentially increased at an alarming rate from 2006 to 2015, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Southeast Asia.

The UN has proposed some key parameters to eradicate poverty, the world development institutions should focus more on developing countries rather than developed nations. Since 2015, various organizations have strived to reduce poverty, still, COVID-19 again reinvigorate the detrimental situation for the less developed countries and the normalization level.

The persistent level of poverty in third-world countries is mainly interlinked with other dimensions such as economic inequalities, exploitation of resources, and remote policies of the countries in progressive sectors.

The UN report of 2022 shows an 8.4 percent increase in poverty collectively, the report further highlights that 670 million people still live in extreme poverty across the globe. The report also highlights if the current patterns persist until 2030, the global population in developing countries will go under the poverty line and among them, the leading region will be the sub-Saharan Africa.

The persistent level of poverty in third-world countries is mainly interlinked with other dimensions such as economic inequalities, exploitation of resources, and remote policies of the countries in progressive sectors. The World Bank director says, “Ending poverty is a challenge that requires a multifaceted approach”. Nearly 50 percent of the world’s population lives on less than $8.85 a day, in upper-middle-income countries which is not a productive sign for the developing countries and their existing poverty conditions.

The layer of poverty mostly existed in those regions which are fragile, conflict-affected areas such as sub-Saharan Africa and rural areas of South Asia. Poverty cannot be reduced effectively without addressing global challenges in developing countries. Some key elements that hamper the growth rate include human property violation, inequality, and gender-based discrimination. Mainly the third world countries fail to address the root causes of poverty.

Poverty eradication is a constant efforts of the policymakers, veterans and stakeholders who provide open space for progressive economic policies, industrial advancements and employment opportunities. We have stepped into the Industrial Revolution 4.0 where human labour costs are replaced by machines that increase poverty in third-world countries.

Most countries in South Asia have adopted different measures to alleviate poverty by empowering women, girls and young people. Bangladesh for example has adopted the textiles and garments business to develop its export industries beyond agriculture as of recent years, the overall labor force participation rate in Bangladesh is around 56-58 percent.

This includes both men and women actively engaged in the labour market. Nepal has initiated social protection and community-based programs to enhance the life standard of common people like old-age pensions, and child protection allowances and empower community organizations to overcome poverty. On the other side Sri Lanka has started various programs for its poor people like the Samurdhi Program, the purpose of the program is to support its low-income families by providing them financial assistance and provide free meals to school children to reduce the malnutrition among children such project is called National School meals program.

In Pakistan, successive governments have always claimed that Pakistan is a welfare state. This commitment has been reflected in different development plans. The constitution of the country has assigned special importance to promoting the general welfare of the people with a focus on the alleviation of poverty.

The first constitution of 1956 in Pakistan mentioned the poverty which required constant policies. The subsequent constitution reiterated this national commitment. The 1973 constitution which, after some amendments, continues to be the mother source of socio-economic policies of the country has laid down clear guidelines for conceptualizing poverty.

Article 38 captioned promotion of social and economic well-being of people as well as the state shall provide necessities of life for instance food, clothing, housing, education and medical relief for all subjects. It also makes it obligatory on the part of the state that, the people would be provided suitable job opportunities so that they could be involved in the development process.

The state is also obliged to reduce disparities in the income and earnings of individuals. The government has always strained to give a high priority to social welfare and providing basic facilities to its marginalized society. A few worthy programs include Rural Development Scheme (RDS), Programs for Human Development Growth (HDG), Macroeconomic Policies Alleviating Poverty, Social Welfare Programs, and the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF).

Pakistan, being a nuclear power and progressive nation still has significant challenges to meet the end meals of its citizens. The country is grappling with extreme poverty due to its poor policy gaps in theory and practices, weak institutions, poor governance and deteriorating law and order situations are few other factors. The country failed to address the social sector and power structure in rural areas. The lack of effective targeting and high population growth are key factors that hinder the prosperity growth in the country.

The country strides to overcome poverty through various means like asset creation, growth inclusiveness, and macroeconomic stability. The government needs to enhance the capacity of institutions, integration of markets, and public investments. The government needs to generate new jobs, improve the livelihood of informal workers and expand the formal sectors.

The writer is freelance columnist, he can be reached at wajid@sdpi.org