Poverty eradication India’s biggest challenge

Bharat H Desai

Jawaharlal Nehru Chair & Professor of International Law, JNU

AS the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) at Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt kicked off on November 6, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) estimates show that by 2030, climate change could push more than 100 million people back into extreme poverty as well as displace some 200 million people. It is set to emerge as a major planetary-scale cause of upheaval, impinging upon essential ecological processes, flora and fauna and rapidly exacerbating human misery.

On October 17, the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty was observed amid the deepening of global poverty, hunger and malnourishment. It coincided with the release of the 2022 Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) by the UNDP and Oxford Poverty Human Development Initiative. It has estimated that 1.2 billion people in 111 developing countries are living in acute multidimensional poverty.

The largest number of the world’s poor people live is Sub-Saharan Africa (579 million) and South Asia (385 million). Around 84 per cent of the poor live in rural areas. It is double the number of people considered poor on the basis of criteria of living on less than $1.9 per day. The armed conflicts afflicting many parts of the world have taken a huge toll on the global poverty eradication programmes, humanitarian assistance and relief provided by the aid agencies.

Notwithstanding the pall of gloom, there are positive indications in the MPI. In a remarkable poverty alleviation initiative, in a span of 15 years, India has lifted around 415 million people out of multidimensional poverty. It comprises 140 million since 2015-2016. India still has 229 million poor people, out of which nearly 90 per cent (205 million) live in rural areas.

The MPI nodal agency, NITI Aayog, had in its 2021 report identified 25.01 per cent of India’s population as multidimensionally poor. Of the 1.3 billion population, about 32.75 per cent people in rural areas and 8.81 per cent in urban areas have been identified as multidimensionally poor. It shows that India needs to hold more vigorous drives to achieve the first of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — to end all forms of poverty by 2030.

In 2021 alone, the Covid-19 pandemic pushed 143-163 million people into poverty, almost half of whom are in South Asia. If people are the real wealth of nations, it raises serious questions about the parameters and trajectory of human development, comprising the right to live with basic dignity.

The extreme poverty rate in rural areas is three times higher than in urban areas. It is premised upon four indicators of deprivation: nutrition, cooking fuel, sanitation and housing. The extremely poor do not have access to productive resources, basic health, education, social protection services and basic infrastructure.

To add to the woes, the adverse effects of climate change push women and girls into the vicious cycle of chronic hunger, malnutrition and sexual violence. The 2022 projections indicate an addition of between 75 million and 95 million people to the 2018 figure of 659 million people living in extreme poverty. The Ukraine conflict has aggravated the global food crisis, pushing more people into hunger and poverty.

On September 8, the UNDP released another remarkable dataset — 2022 Human Development Report. It shows that the last two years of the pandemic proved devastating for billions of people. It shows, for the first time, that the human development has declined for nine out of 10 countries. The 2022 World Hunger Index added to this grim scenario by confirming that “progress in tackling hunger has largely halted.”

Similarly, the 2022 State of Food Security and Nutrition report showed that the number of undernourished people worldwide, as an indicator of chronic hunger, has shot up to 828 million. Of the world population of 7.9 billion, a multi-agency 2021 report (FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO) showed that nearly “2.37 billion people did not have access to adequate food.”

The UN General Assembly has consistently employed its principal tool of resolutions during 2021 (76/219), 2020 (75/232), 2019 (74/237) and 2018 (73/244). On October 13, a draft resolution for 2022, mooted by the Group of 77 and China, has been circulated to the UN member states. On December 20, 2017 (72/233), the UNGA considered the theme of the Third United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (2018-2027) to accelerate global actions for poverty eradication. There are several entities of the UN system such as Food and Agriculture Organisation, International Fund for Agricultural Development, International Labour Organisation, United Nations Development Programme and World Food Programme that play vital roles in the global efforts for eradication of poverty.

The UNSG’s 2021 report on the Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016-2025) highlighted the underlying drivers of all forms of malnutrition. It called upon the states to act with urgency for the elimination of “all forms of malnutrition and achieving the SDGs by 2030.” The Geneva-based Human Rights Council (HRC), a subsidiary organ of the UNGA, has five special rapporteurs with mandates that cover different facets of global poverty. They collate data from the grassroots and provide vital signals to the HRC to address chronic poverty as a violation of fundamental human rights.

In this vein, the UN Security Council’s (UNSC) ministerial-level debate on May 19 addressed the conflict-related food insecurity. Amid the spiralling global food shortage, high prices and hunger, the UNSG’s good offices led to the Black Sea grain deal on July 22 to allow shipments of wheat from both parties to the conflict area (Russia and Ukraine).

Ironically, there is lack of effective international law framework to make countries accountable for the past colonial plundering of wealth of the subjugated nations. As the UN target of 0.7 per cent official development assistance has dried up, the global drive for poverty eradication is facing an uncertain future. The multilateral developments banks and large aid agencies need to play enhanced roles in providing funds to eradicate the scourge of multidimensional poverty.

With its 1.3 billion people and the largest share of poor people, India faces the biggest challenge to uplift its own people from the cauldron of poverty. Eradicating poverty by the end of the 2030 cycle of SDGs must become the top priority goal of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.