8 Million Ways to Die

The most significant statement about defeating poverty was made recently by Jeffrey Sachs: �The end of poverty is a choice, not a forecast.� So let�s put into perspective the choice that we�re faced with. According to the Monterrey Consensus in 2002, developed countries would set aside 0.7% of their GDPs for aid to poorer nations. 7/10ths of 1% - that is how much we need to reverse poverty.
But why should your country or mine or anybody else�s set aside that kind of cash? I hope this fact helps - 8 million people die every year, because they are too poor to stay alive. One eighth of the population of the UK dies and will die every year because they cannot pull together enough resources to survive. Compelling enough for you?
Do you want to know what desperate poverty is like? Let�s look at it from the point of view of what is called moderate poverty. If you lived in Sub-Saharan Africa or South Asia and earned between 1-2 dollars a day, you would be moderately poor. That is between 360 � 720 dollars a year! The amount a single household spends on recreation alone every month in the UK is what one person in these regions can just about survive on for a whole year. Surviving means being able to afford what the middle class takes for granted � 2 meals, clothes on your back and a �shelter� to live in. It means having to completely forego the next set of basic human needs - the ability to educate your children or spend money on medicines or fit the daily newspaper into your monthly budget.
Where do we stand today? How much more do countries like the US or the UK need to pump in to help us reverse extreme poverty in 20 years? Well If the US gives about $55 billion in aid this year, it will provide 0.5% of its GDP in aid. Think that�s a lot of money? It�s about 1/10th of what they will spend on their military. But the important bit is not ensuring that monies promises are given � the important bit is ensuring that as much of the dollars that are given in aid actually reach the people who need them. Currently only 2 % of the money given in aid will actually reach the people on the ground. The rest will be spent on consultants, technology aid & wiping off debts of governments.
The problems are real and so are the dangers. You won�t be able to change the fate of the 16,000 people who will die the day after you read this because they are too poor� or the lives of the 500,000 who will die this month. As you finish reading this, one more person would have learned about the desperate poverty 1.1 billion people live in around the world today. What you do with this knowledge is your choice.