Committee: United Nations Development Programme
Topic: Eradication of Poverty
Country: France
Delegate: Aneesa Berner
France is deeply concerned with the high numbers that are impoverished around the world and also within our countries borders. According to World Bank, from a population of 7.5 billion, 736 Million people live on less than $1.90 a day around the world. The most devastating part of this statistic is the number of children affected by poverty, 385 million. Furthermore, according to UNICEF, 22,000 million children die from poverty everyday. France recognizes that the cycle of poverty is difficult to overcome and, therefore, has recently implemented national policies that have a large focus on the eradication of poverty among children and teens.
Today in France, 8.8 million people live below the EU set poverty line and a third of these are children. Just over a year ago the government of France implemented a new string of policies that were designed to aid in reducing the number of impoverished people in France with specifics that are meant for long term reform. The policies included providing breakfast to children that attend schools in low-income neighborhoods, training 600,000 new people to work with children, and implementing compulsory job training until the age of 18 for those who dropout of school. Although the government of France has numerous policies to work to end poverty in the country’s borders, there is also a government run program that works to aid and fund programs for over 115 other countries. The program titled, The Agence Française de Développement, works to improve education, water and sanitation, agriculture, governing, and employment in specific poverty ridden areas. One example of work done by this agency was a program developed for the country of Cameroon to help employ their citizens in rebuilding infrastructure after the war. This allowed for the employment of 3,500 Cameron citizen’s who previously had no income. The French government focuses policies on poverty on preparing lower-income children and adults to join the workforce. The French delegation believes that policies focused on bettering lives for the future has a greater impact than simply implementing a financial support system.
The French delegation agrees with “Implementation of the Third United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty” when it acknowledges the importance of “multifaceted and integrated approach” to the eradication of poverty. France encourages that the recommendations put forth to achieve the eradication of poverty be all inclusive of social, economic, and governmental solutions. The French delegation stresses the importance of policies to better education, job training, and equality in the workforce, as children and women are unequally affected by poverty. The French delegation would support resolutions that stress the importance of bettering children’s education, the development of job training in poverty ridden areas, and the construction of daycares to allow more women to be employed.
- Aneesa Berner
