The Challenge of Global Poverty Poverty is unevenly distributed across the world Poverty means being unable to afford basic things such as safe drinking water, food, shelter, sanitation, health care and education. There are different ways of measuring poverty worldwide. For example: Economic indicators can be used such as gross domestic product (GDP) or the international poverty line (the percentage of the population living on less than a certain amount each day). Indexes such as the Human Poverty Index can be used – it includes several measures such as life expectancy, adult literacy, access to safe drinking water and the proportion of children who are underweight. All of the measures of poverty show that it is unevenly distributed across the world.

The map shows the percentage of people living on less then $1 per day in 2009 0.6% - Former Soviet Union 3.8% - Middle East 1.4% - North Africa North America, Western Europe, Japan and Australia have the lowest levels of poverty. 9.9% - East Asia 6.8% - South East Asia 8.7% - Latin America and the Caribbean 41.1% - Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest levels of poverty. 29.5% - South Asia

Other indicators of poverty Poverty: pronounced deprivation which comprises many dimensions Extreme Poverty: living on less than $1.25/day Moderate Poverty: less than $2/day 2010 > ½ of Sub-Saharan Africa lived in extreme poverty- globally 900m GDP Birth rate Death rate Fertility rate Infant mortality rate Life expectancy Access to drinking water Amount of children enrolled in primary school Adult literacy Num of people per doctor Telephone ownership Urban populations Physical quality of life index (summarises infant mortality, life expectancy at 1 year and basic literacy) Human development index (measures life expectancy, educational attainment, Real GDP per capita)

There are many causes of poverty Economic Factors Inequalities within FDI, EU with 7.6% of the pop attracts 46% of FDI whilst Africa with 14% receives 3.4% Close correlation between international trade, economic development and poverty. International trade is dominated by developed countries. Africa & Asia have 75% of the worlds pop but have only 30% of world trade Lack of infrastructure Physical factors Landlocked countries- no links to sea, reduced international trade/development Arid/ Semi-Arid climates- droughts= endemic, soils leached or saline & low fertility. Poverty is increased by tropical diseases i.e. malaria- limit productivity Social factors Human capital includes education & skills of the workforce Tradition and religion discriminate against the education of women- Gender inequality reduces working capacity and productivity Historical factors Colonialism caused many resources to be sent to Western world Separatist movements cause civil war, political instability Political factors Corruption- money that should be used for dev is often given to political figures Demographic factors Rapidly expanding populations (exceeding a growth rate of 2%)

Poverty usually has a mixture of causes Poverty is usually the result of a combination of causes. The causes of poverty are often linked to each other and can create a cycle of poverty that becomes difficult to break. For example: Drought can lead to famine and poverty as water and food resources decline. This can cause a war over natural resources. War increases poverty (e.g. by causing destruction and reducing productivity). War can also result in refugees, who may move to an area where they contribute to overpopulation and put further pressure on resources.

Practice Questions The map shows the percentage of children who are less than five years old and underweight. Using the map, describe and comment on the global distribution of poverty (7 marks).