What kind of abuse or label is this according to international standards?
These articles address the issues of poverty and global inequalities. This not only constitutes deprivation of material or economic resources; it is also a violation of human dignity. According to Point 1.25 of The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (1993), extreme poverty and social exclusion is a violation of human dignity.[1] Point 1.14 of the same declaration states that extreme poverty constitutes social isolation as it prevents the full and effectual enjoyment of human rights. As such, poverty can be seen through the lens of the full package of human rights as being multi-dimensional, encompassing forms of deprivation like low income as well as the loss of human dignity.
- How many people and what kind of people are affected, in what locations, and over what time period?
According to The New York Times article, “the share of the world’s population in extreme poverty — subsisting on less than $1.90 a day [was] 10 percent in 2015.[2] While this number has drastically fallen from 42 percent in 1981, poverty is becoming increasingly concentrated in some parts of the world, particularly in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, while the fast-grwoing economies of Asia have contributed to the reduction in the world’s population in extreme poverty, they continue to record huge populations of poor people. Moreover, there is a rising issue of widening gap between the rich and the poor in such countries, and, in so doing, such populations have rising cases of inequalities. As such, there are two concentrations of poverty in the world. Unlike in the past, where poor people mostly lived in low-income countries, over half of them now live in middle-income countries.
- What are the consequences for victims and their societies?
The consequences for victims of extreme poverty is that it limits their capacity to exercise their freedoms, living in dignity, and enjoy their most fundamental rights. In addition, poor people experience social exclusion and marginalization by being denied full access to resources and opportunities, whether it is in the political front, education, healthcare, work, or even shelter. Social exclusion makes such people more vulnerable and victimized through violence, sexual exploitation, human trafficking, and child labor.
- II) The root causes of the violated human rights. What kind of power struggle, inequality, group conflict, ideology, or bias leads to the pattern of abuse?
The root causes of poverty and global inequalities is the rising global conflicts, weak institutions, bad leadership, neo-colonialism. These factors result in further entrenchment of poverty in such populations and it becomes institutionalized and more difficult to eradicate. It is economically short-sighted and morally reprehensible not to have eradicated extreme poverty by now considering the world has become more interconnected and with an abundance of wealth, expertise, and technological capacity. The bigger question is the growing levels of global inequalities as a result of the great misdistribution of global wealth and income disparities. As such, the widening gap between the super-rich and the poor is undermining the efforts to fight against poverty. Accordingly, “Over 2,000 of the world’s billionaires have more wealth than nearly 60 per cent of the planet’s population.”[3] While economic growth has been seen to reduce the percentage of the world’s population under extreme poverty, it is driving inequalities and, thereby, generating social and economic problems. It is now threatening to damage the global economy and tear our societies apart. The disparities in global wealth and income disparities highlight the biased priorities by global institutions and governments at a time when huge populations cannot access essential resources and opportunities that others take for granted. It is not surprising then that global justice campaigners often point out that the forces underlying this gross inequity are political in nature stemming from policy choices by governments, institutions governing economic relationships, as well as the rising power and influence of multi-national corporations. Consequently, there is a pressing need to address the disparity between faster economic growth and greater equality.
III) Steps taken to address it by state reforms, international interventions, social movement campaigns (Smith, Kuperman, Quinn, Glasius)? If not, why not? Have the steps been effective?
There have been efforts to reduce global poverty through strengthening institutions, particularly in the developing and low-income countries. For instance, donor governments and institutions have been calling for reforms in beneficiary countries in the form of short-term market-oriented reform agendas and long-term structural adjustment. However, the move by the Bretton Woods institutions like the World Bank and the IMF to impose neoliberal policies such as privatization, liberalization, and deregulations on developing countries has been suspected of worsening poverty rather than stimulating the economy. Part of the reason could be that imposing such reform policies on governments has been made without recognizing the link between poverty and social or economic rights. For instance, in the development cooperation front, there is no global consensus to the effect that poverty is a human rights violation despite the many declarations, resolutions, and reports by international bodies such as the United Nations or the Human Rights Watch. There are also conflicting interests and ideologies by donor and beneficiary countries which impede the efforts to prioritize poverty reduction. As such, governments and international bodies must act now in solidarity to formulate an economic and legal framework which will lead to the effective realization of socioeconomic and cultural rights worldwide. Such a move will facilitate the redistribution of wealth and opportunities, particularly owing to the opportunities and risks presented by globalization.
Bibliography
BBC News. 2020. Closing The Wealth Gap. Video. https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/c34nrzm2n0pt/economic-inequality. [Accessed 7 May 2020].
Hope, Katie. 2018. “World’s Richest 1% Get 82% Of The Wealth”. BBC.Com. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-42745853. [Accessed 7 May 2020]
Pande, Rohini, Vestal McIntyre, and Lucy Page. 2019. “Opinion | A New Home For Extreme Poverty: Middle-Income Countries”. Nytimes.Com. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/28/opinion/inequality-poverty-global-aid.html. [Accessed 7 May 2020]
OHCHR “Vienna Declaration And Programme Of Action”. 2020. Ohchr.Org. https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/vienna.aspx.
[1] OHCHR, “Vienna Declaration And Programme Of Action” (Ohchr.Org, 2020).
[2] Pande, Rohini, Vestal McIntyre, and Lucy Page, “Opinion | A New Home For Extreme Poverty: Middle-Income Countries,” (Nytimes.Com, 2019).
[3] BBC News, Closing The Wealth Gap, (Video, 2020).