Walker Broadbent, Mattawan High School
Seychelles
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP): Eradication of Poverty
The issue of poverty pervades every nation around the world. 736 million people around the world live in extreme poverty, and countries have been working tirelessly to try and relieve this issue. However, poverty persists. It’s important to ensure that as many citizens as possible are able to participate effectively in society, rather than only provide temporary support. The people’s potential to succeed is hindered by their country’s lack of adequate structural support. Some primary concerns should be to combat sources of poverty in replacement of the relief missions that only generate dependency.
According to global rates, there are 1% in extreme poverty earning less than $1.90 a day and 2.5% earning less than $3.10 per day. These rates are very low, and without context they look optimistic. However, Seychelles as a nation report 39.3% of citizens using a poverty line of 3,945 Seychellois Rupee, or about $10 a day. The country relies on tourism and fishing for national income. While the economy is currently strong, the growth is unsustainable. The cost of living is incredibly high, and many citizens who aren’t well off don’t have access to clean water, food, and electricity. This is the effects of an economic inequality between people. Additionally, there is a deceivingly low unemployment rate; many jobs are low in quality. As of now, Seychelles is currently conducting a short term intervention program to assist poor families by making sure they have access to basic needs, however this relief is only temporary. It will not address the root causes of the problems, and they will likely fall back into worse conditions in the future.
To address this problem, Seychelles wishes to develop a way for countries in need to receive support so that they can stabilize their economies so that they can then support their people. Our priority is to gradually eradicate the root causes of poverty. For Seychelles, that means developing the economy so that there isn’t such a heavy reliance on tourism and fishing. To do this, we believe that education should be improved so that more people can take on quality work. We look forward to the ideas of other nations on how we can improve this issue.
- Walker Broadbent
