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Sustainable Development
Focus On Poverty Alleviation

By Chiranjibi Paudyal

THE increasing gap between the rich and poor nation, environmental degradation, lack of equitable and sustainable access to resources and information technology and surging population have made the process of sustainable development more complicated. Keeping in view the present situation the goal of sustainable development is not possible without making drastic changes and empowering the poverty-stricken people.

Hurdle

One of the most serious hurdles in the process of sustainable development in the world is the increasing gap between the haves and have-nots. About 2.8 million people live on less than dollar a day and around 800 million people, more than 150 million of them are children, are undernourished. A few rich people especially from the developed countries have utilised most of the resources. Majority of the population of the world is left without any resources in their disposal. According to the estimate, 80 per cent of the world's wealth is held by 15 per cent of the population, concentrated overwhelmingly in the developed industrialised nations. The 85 per cent population has only 20 per cent of the resources and that is also not distributed in an equitable manner. The majority of the poor people are living in the Sub Saharan Africa and the South Asia where the number of people living under the absolute poverty line is more than 50 per cent of the total population of the world.

The people of the developing countries have been living in a pitiable condition with scarcity of basic needs. The needs and priority of the developed countries and the developing countries is quite different. The developed world has gone far ahead in every aspect of their daily life whereas the developing countries have been languishing in the bottom. They are even failing to realise their own basic necessities. The situation of the poverty stricken population is heart rending. More than 1.1 billion people still lack access to safe drinking water, more than 2 billion people live in the condition of darkness withour the access to electriciry and 2.4 billion to improved sanitation. Majority of these population live in the Africa and Asia, especially in the South Asia region. The poor become the victims of the pollution. It is estimated that half of the world's rivers are seriously depleted or polluted. The pollution is mainly due to the industrialisation of the rich developed countries and the poor are the sufferers. The poor have been the victims of the problems of garbage and pollution, dirt and dust. The fruit of industrialisation goes only to the rich.

The malnourished children suffer from various diseases, which could be treated, and a large number of such children die every year due to the lack of basic needs. The tears and sorrow, the suffering and agony of the mother during the delivery period and after is also very pitiable. The corrupt and resource-crunched government of the developing world has no meaning of such deaths unlike in the developed countries where the life of every individual is precious. The distribution of the resources is not done on the basis of need, justice and equality. Pessimism is very bad but the real picture of the world does not show any basis to be optimist. The needs and priority of the developed and developing countries are quite different and the developing countries are learning the process from the developed countries, which are free from such difficulties.

The world population stands at more than 6.1 billion at present and is likely to grow by 50 per cent to 9.3 billion by 2050. The population of the developing countries will increase significantly. According to the United Nations Population Division, the world's 49 developing especially least developed countries will see numbers triple from 668 million to 1.86 billion. This will make the development process more complicated in the developing countries and the number of people living under the poverty line will increase dramatically and the government will have no any alternative expect to plunge into the mire of complex problem of absolute poverty.

The poor population lives on agriculture. The increasing population in the least developed countries will further deepen the problem. The increasing population pressures will decrease the forest area. According to an estimate of the World Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the forest, which cover a third of the land surface, have shrunk by 2.4 per cent since 1990 due to mining, logging and urbanisation. Due to this about 40 per cent of the remaining forests will be finished in the next 10 to 20 years. The over population will also invite serious problem in the soil erosion directly affecting the lives of the poor farmers of the developing countries. The picture of the world is very bleak and the hope for the sustainable development is not possible without the just and equitable distribution of the resources.

Poverty eradication with integrated approach with full participation of the poverty-stricken population should be the main focus of the development efforts and that only can lead the world towards sustainable development. The world cannot be divided in such an unjust way for a long time. The people of rich and poor nations are living in the same world and the problems of the earth are interrelated and cannot be isolated in the long run. The political division of the present world cannot divide the rich and poor nations forever. The nature has no political and geographical boundary and sooner or later the developing and the developed countries must solve these problems jointly and make the world an equitable and just home for all.

The most important thing for the sustainable development is the participation of the poor people in the decision making process of the programmes. The poor people should be empowered by involving them in the development process and provide them with resources. Their participation in the development process from the selection to the implementation of the programmes help empower the local people and it ultimately help improve their living standards. Democratisation for the development is essential for the sustainable development. For the people, by the people and of the people for sustainable development with equal distribution of resources is the only solution of sustainable development.

Reality

The words of one of the participants of the world summit held in Johannesburg. South Africa clearly reflects the reality of the present world and the solution for sustainable development. "We want the participation in the development process with full resources in our disposal with the total freedom of selection and implementation for the benefit of our children with clear message in our mind that we have borrowed the planet from our ancestors to our children."

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