Committee: United Nations Development Programme
Topic: Eradication of Poverty
Country: India
Delegate: Kiki Katsumata-Smith
Poverty is an epidemic worldwide that cannot be solved with a simple solution. It’s true that poverty rates have declined significantly since 1990, from a decrease of 36% of the world’s population impoverished to 10%. That being said there are still 736 million people in the world who live on less than $1.90 day and don’t have vital resources such as food, and clean water. Along with that there is another 1.3 Billion people who live in multidimensional poverty.
Furthermore, the country of India has suffered from the impacts of poverty and is struggling to find solutions. India is the second most populated country in the world and 30% of the population lives in extreme poverty- surviving on $1.25 a day, and another 640 million people live in multidimensional poverty. There are 200 million people do not have a consistent access to food. These people are exposed to unhygienic conditions that cause make them susceptible to diseases such as cholera, typhus and dysentery. Due to these conditions India has one of the highest child mortality rates, and 1.4 million children die before the age of five. There are laws in India regardering child labor however they are not strict and children over 12.5 million children have joined he workforce illegally, and only 25% of children have access to education.
The Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) was enacted to provide rural housing benefits, it’s predicted to create 20 lakh houses and 65% of these houses will be in rural areas. Along with that the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) is working to provide financial assistance to those in need by proving things such as a basic savings account, insurance, credit as and when needed, pensions and remittances. We agree with these initiatives, however there needs to be more done to solve the apparent issues with poverty, such as initiatives that can provide more jobs, and raising the minimum wage to a wage that people can live on.
- Kiki Katsumata-Smith
