Postscript to poverty

By Marifi Jara

QUELIMANE, Mozambique–As I write this piece, the world is supposedly observing the UN’s International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

It is a day when we, meaning us people everywhere on the planet, are called to stand up to remind our leaders of their responsibility to address the needs of the poor which comprise half the global population.

Last year, almost 44 million people in 127 countries joined the “Stand Up” campaign (with seven million of those coming from the Philippines) which included peaceful rallies, walkathons and even musical concerts.

I think this is also a good day for us to recognize the efforts to make life a little better for the poor by those who are not in power. We have many silent heroes in our midst who give donations for small projects, extend their expertise for health missions, or support scholars who are not their relatives. Their contributions mean a lot to those who benefit from it, and for some it could actually even be life-changing. These people and their deeds keep our faith in mankind’s generosity and kindness amidst all the political corruption and collective greed.

But such an aid system works well only at the small scale and dole-outs are not really sustainable in the long term. Even non-government organizations and civil society groups focused on poverty alleviation services could only do so much. In the bigger scheme of things, it is the task of our governments and the leaders who run it to institutionalize policies and reforms that will address poverty and make sure these are actually implemented.

Addressing poverty begins with food security. (The BBC last week released the results of an interesting survey they conducted about the global impact of rising food prices and respondents from the Philippines claim to be among those hardest hit -http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7671612.stm).

Then there are the basics of health and housing. And then there’s education. (It escapes my simple logic how the province, for example, can spend all those millions for guns when there are more fundamental and real issues than imagined safety concerns. And at the global level, all that money spent for war when half the world is starving, so many without a decent home, nor the opportunity to learn at the very least how to read and write!).

Studies everywhere show the strong co-relation between education and poverty eradication. It is not just about everyone simply earning a university degree but matching human resource development with our economic needs. And it should be education that is not just about academic standards but human development. Poverty makes people feel not just tired but trapped.

Being poor does not simply mean being hungry, homeless or illiterate. Poverty alleviation involves getting people into a decent quality of life and creating an environment where there are opportunities for them so they can make their own choices. That, by and large, is the responsibility of governments.

And that is what we want to stand up for today, and we want to stand up for it as global citizens because the face of poverty is without age, gender or race.

(Readers may reach columnist at marifijara@gmail.com. For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/roots/
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